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I'm also gonna buck a trend here slightly and say that I actually do not mind the Ganmaizer that much. Their robotic dispositions and complete lack of personality make for the perfect enemy to Takeru: faceless simple machines that are impossible to reach out to, yet are overwhelmingly powerful in the face of his spiritualism. It's just that the way they were handled and focused on so much means you very very quickly get tired of them and wish things would move on a little. A good example is how the fact there's so many of them and that they keep reviving even after utter defeat is a GREAT setup for an idea of hopelessness and despair, but it just leaves you really tired and makes the focus "No progress is being made. Yawn." rather than the ideal "Oh dear god, nothing he's doing is making any progress!! How is he possibly going to win this hopeless situation?!" |
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It's just, first, I think Adel embodies those qualities better, and he gets more a resonant conclusion to that thematic struggle. Takeru's answer to "lacks empathy" for Adel was "more, deeper empathy". His solution to "lacks empathy" for the Ganmeisers was "Omega Drive to face". It, y'know, it lacks depth. Second, you're absolutely right that the unstoppable, implacable, eternal Ganmeisers just came off as "Jesus, this AGAIN?!" That does not seem the optimal attitude an audience should take to an endstage adversary! Finally, they just had the most weird, muddled story. Like, they're part of the Great Eye? But then they're robots? That Eadith built for some reason? But now they have emotions? Or maybe not? I never felt like I got a clear view of what they were, how they worked, and what they eventually wanted. With Adel, it felt more realized. |
If only we'd got that second Ghost V-Cinema to explain the wondrous origins of the Ganmeizers and the Dark Necroms, instead of the Episode of Stinger. What a time it would have been to be alive.
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So, it's actually right that Kamen Rider cannot be all about Riders and monsters (as I think)! Despite obviously the "abnormal" things like Riders, monsters, or bizzare world being the interesting part of KRs. To me Tokusatsu isn’t about the suits or fighting, it’s about the people, the characters, the stories, instead of people fighting in silly colorful costumes, Which is the actual reason I follow KR, because for a toku mostly it has a proper plot. Quote:
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To me, the flaw of the beginning of Ghost (and basically all of Wizard) is that the emphasis was so heavy on the Rider elements that it was tough see what they were trying to say about their hero. Without a day job or a hobby or some non-monster-exploding aspect to his character, Takeru didn't feel as fleshed out as, say, Shinnosuke or Emu. The best shows, or at least the ones that've worked best for me, explore more facets of their hero than just When Does He Henshin So Something Can Happen. Plus, and Ghost was super guilty of this in the beginning, you need those other facets of a character to generate stories. If the only way a story starts is to have a monster attack, that's going to get old in a hurry. You need stories to generate internally as well as externally. Fourze was great at that, where you could have weird Zodiart stuff, but also just have one or two KRC members have a personal problem they need to solve. If a hero is solely reactive, never proactive, it's tough to keep coming up with fun stories to tell. Quote:
Specifically, with the beginning of Ghost, there was such a rush to get new EyeCons that, while a given power was crucial to defeating an episode's monster, it was just One More Collectible after that. It... it didn't feel additive to the story, if that makes sense. I didn't feel like it was an achievement that empowered the hero, so much as it felt like ticking something off a checklist. That's not how I want the character's power levels to work! Weirdly, I think Ghost eventually did the best job of reincorporating the early EyeCons into something relevant to its protagonist. (The show did a lot of work in its later episodes to redeem some of the terrible, terrible choices of the first dozen episodes.) There's, if memory serves, a whole story devoted to Takeru telling the original EyeCons that they have value. That's a sweet idea, and it's a nice acknowledgement from the show that the incessant power creep of Kamen Rider can minimize accomplishments if left unchecked. Quote:
Thanks for letting me think and talk about this show! I hope I made any sense! My memories on this show are not, uh, crystal clear. Still, I do remember enjoying this show eventually, and I hope my criticisms of Ghost and its cast (Takeru, Onari, Akari, Ankh, Miu, and Accel) don't feel unwarranted. Thanks again! |
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For the collectibles, I got mad at Ghost for doing them badly, not for doing them at all. Like, I love that shit. I unironically love Gashats and Eyecons and Shift Cars and all of that. It's totally for kids, but, y'know, so is Kamen Rider? What keeps me coming back to Kamen Rider, what keeps me watching series and falling in love all over again, it's how it's a franchise designed to sell toys to children AND a vehicle for exploring the need for empathy, the horrors of war, the value of cooperation, and a limitless number of other themes. I wouldn't want a Kamen Rider show to sacrifice either one of those ingredients to add more of the other. Quote:
But, like, I think it's fair to point out when a show is making it unnecessarily difficult on its viewers. I totally get why folks bailed on Ghost, and I can't say they made the wrong decision for their own happiness. If you're hating watching a show, it's okay to quit! You don't owe that show more than the time you've already given it. If the arc of a character starts Horrible and ends Great, it's hard to say that it's always worth the effort. I don't know. It's easy, I think, if you've seen the arc of a character to feel like it was time well-spent. It's a lot less easy to feel like you're on a good trajectory when you're having a bad time at the start. |
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They really are pretty great though. Just like Ghost's first stretch, in my opinion, and we probably already talked about this a bit before, but, man, those first dozen episodes are real special to me. It's like, I agree with basically all your points about what makes a Rider show better (the fights as punctuation thing! That's great!), and even that Ghost wasn't doing some of that early on. But I just find so much to love in there anyway? The way the show drills into Takeru's insecurities, whether it's through the intense fights with Specter, or the scenes with him talking to Akari where the show knows to slow down a bit. The character growth, and the great payoffs like him getting the Beethoven Eyecon. The magic hugs! Those are so great! And with a single, very important exception, you can only get that from the first arc. I also don't know if part if this is the difference between watching the show weekly, and plowing through it in a month or two, but honestly I'd say Ghost did a good job giving the Eyecons significance right away. Multiple forms tended to be used in one fight scene, so none of them fell out of use, and narratively, the show effectively capitalized on their importance to enhance the story on occasion through beats like Specter just straight up jacking one of the hero's forms for several episodes, underlining his early status as the "better" Ghost. Actually, Makoto's development throughout the first arc in general is a huge high point for me. Such a payoff when he finally fights alongside Takeru. I just don't know, man. I love Ghost, and the initial stretch is no exception. It might actually be my favorite overall chunk of it, even. |
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But, you know, it's art! People draw different things out of art, and it's fascinating to me how folks can enjoy stuff I don't and vice versa. I sincerely appreciate your ability to argue for what's worked for you in these shows. It's always contrary, but it's never just contrary, so it's fun to talk about. |
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