Headscratchers / Shin Kamen Rider (2023)

• What does "periphalize" mean? The word is used over and over as something that needs to be done to the bad Augs, but it's not a real word as far as I can find.
  • "Pariphalyze" (パリハライズ pariharaizu) seems to be an original term for Ruriko's ability to hack and neutralize SHOCKER's prana-based technology and programming through her eyes. The word may be a combination of "paralyze" and "periphery"—both of which would apply to Ichimonji's brainwashing being stopped and isolated. Ruriko had also tried this against Ichiro and his Habitat project, but failed due to his prana being so overwhelming that it couldn't be stopped or isolated. This is just speculation, though; without information from Anno, there's no way to know why he deliberately picked an original word like "Pariphalyze" for this.
• Why was Takeshi’s helmet saved from the death-foaming effect, and yet his muffler wasn’t? Neither one was in contact with his body when he died, and yet his helmet just got rusted/damaged while his muffler completely vanished. This is especially odd as the helmet is actually part of the equipment he got from SHOCKER alongside his augmentations (so it should presumably fade into foam like the rest of him), while the muffler was something he got from Ruriko and was literally just some cloth. Adding to this is the case of Hiromi/the Hachi Aug, whose Haori was left behind when she died and foamed. So…what gives?
  • Ruriko mentions in a scene about halfway through the film that she's reprogramming the helmet to be exempt from Hongo's self-destruct feature, and to upload his prana sequence to itself if he dies.
    • Fair, but that still doesn’t explain why the muffler was destroyed. Or, for that matter, why the self-destruct DID activate for the helmet, but didn’t work all the way.
  • The self-destruct that SHOCKER uses for its agents completely dissolves the body of any agent who dies, including the clothing they wear. Apparently, a person's prana can become part of such inanimate objects, especially if that person considers said objects as their possessions (or in the case of Koumori's Bat Virus, an object infects them, thus giving said object the subject's prana). Somehow SHOCKER can use that to erase its agents bodies completely. And Ruriko, being prepared, gives Hongo a haven for his prana in the event of his death: his mask, with the self-destruct bypassed and replaced with said haven. On the other hand, any objects that belong to someone else are left behind (e.g. Hongo's scarf is left behind when Ruriko dies because the scarf belongs to Hongo, not Ruriko). It's possible that Hachi Aug's haori isn't that important to her for her to consider it a part of her.
• How was Hongo fighting Hachi Aug on even footing? He put the helmet on but he wasn't riding his bike, so he couldn't be tranformed.
  • Something that’s somewhat glossed over is that Takeshi does not need the bike in order to transform. Rather, he just needs enough wind to activate the transformation, or, potentially in this case, enough Prana from the atmosphere. The Cyclone (the bike) just so happens to be an easy way to get both. Considering that the battle with Hiromi/Hachi Aug takes place on top of a skyscraper with very close to a town of people, it’s likely there was enough of both wind and Prana present for Takeshi to fully activate his abilities.