TFW2005
Hisstank
Thundercats
TokuNation
Toyark
Home
News
Garo
Godzilla
Kamen Rider
Metal Heroes
Power Rangers
Super Sentai
Ultraman
All News Categories
Forum
News & Rumors
Power Rangers
Kamen Rider
Super Sentai
Other Toku Series
Toys and Collectables
Marketplace
Creative
Galleries
Companies
Bandai Japan
Tamashii Nations
Saban Brands
Bandai America
Toei
Characters
Kamen Rider Ghost
Kamen Rider Specter
Kamen Rider Necrom
Mighty Morphin Green Ranger
Dino Charge Red Ranger
Toylines
S.H. Figuarts
S.H. MonsterArts
DX Mecha
Megazords
Legacy
Shows
Kamen Rider Ghost
Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger
Power Rangers Dino Supercharge
Power Rangers Movie 2017
TokuNation.com
>
TokuNation
Integration
User Name
Remember Me?
Password
Rules
Register
Community
Today's Posts
Search
Community Links
Members List
Search Forums
Show Threads
Show Posts
Advanced Search
Go to Page...
Thread
:
What are you watching? (Kamen Rider Edition)
View Single Post
02-08-2020, 07:57 PM
#
15733
Kurona
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
With all the actual series of Heisei Rider done, it's time for me to catch up on a bunch of miscellaneous side stuff I haven't yet watched. I'm starting off with a few movies!
Kamen Rider Blade: Missing Ace
I finished this movie a few hours ago, and I'm not gonna lie, I've already forgotten a lot of what happens in it. I didn't...
hate
it, but this movie genuinely failed to impact me and I didn't feel it accurately captured the feeling of the show like so many Heisei movies manage to do, even some of the worse ones.
I guess Inoue was just really on an 'Alternate Future movie' kick after Faiz so this is what we get this time, with a lot of rule changes and a lot of things that feel sort of pointless.
We finally get to see the Undead Blade uses to transform! It's not exactly a big thing for him to overcome or anything, it's just sort of there to stop him from transforming for half the movie.
There's a second Joker! ... alright, disregarding how that doesn't work at all with the Playing Card theming or the rules of the show, this feels very underutilised? Hajime doesn't have a terribly big rivalry with him or anything; he's not a parallel to Hajime or even Kenzaki, he doesn't even use Joker's powers in any significant capacity aside from sometimes having some mooks. He's just a standard villain who stole Hajime's look.
There's three new riders! They're horribly underdeveloped and are just kind of annoying assholes for most the movie that go nowhere before their deaths.
I dunno, this was just such a sad note to end on when Blade's ending was absolutely phenomenal and this leaves me with nothing. It actually took me until just now to remember that Hajime sacrificed himself, jeez.
Kamen Rider Build NEW WORLD: Kamen Rider Grease
... aaaagh, I don't like to be this negative so sequentially; but this one was even
worse
for me than not just Missing Ace, but even the Cross-Z movie. Build deserves so much better and this might just be, in my opinion at least; one of the worst Kamen Rider things I've ever seen.
I'm honestly not sure what to say about this movie other than it just made me really sad and that there's almost no decision here I like. I mean, okay, let's go with the positives here; I really like Katsuragi's little line about "when they're in your hands, they're not weapons; they're hope". That's great. Loved that. In a V-cinema duality which seems determined to tear down every single thing Build did, somehow a line like that which so perfectly encapsulates the season slips in. It's also nice to see Utsumui get to be part of the team, and... I guess Banjou looks cute with dark hair? Fights were kinda fun too.
Otherwise a lot of this is just very bad. Grease himself goes through no journey or lesson (at least Banjou did, even if he was re-taking the grade) -- if anything, he acts incredibly self-absorbed and whiny half the time; letting the fact he got rejected get in the way of
fighting off a terrorist
. The villains are just really boring and their only claim to fame is "really powerful, and inexplicitly half of us are American". There's a
new
macguffin gas that does anything you want it to; elements like the Katsuragis being here aren't given anywhere near the weight they should be; and once again we get half-baked romances that they didn't even try to form during the movie.
Gaaah, it just annoys me so much that
this
of all things is Build's final piece. At least V-cinemas for other series like Drive and Gaim had
something
good in there or were at least fun, even at their worst. But this was just bleak.
Kamen Rider Zi-O Episode 29 & 30
Anyway, time to move onto something better; like a Blade tribute that features Diend rolling up with Knight and Baron before any actual Blade riders get a chance to stroll in!
It makes me a little bit sad that just as Blade was my last Heisei series, this is my last Zi-O tribute rewatch. With Hibiki, Ryuki and Faiz I'd gotten into a kind of nice pattern with it, where even if I didn't enjoy the series itself I got a lot out of rewatching the tributes and what they did for what they're homaging. And... this is it; this is the last one.
If I can go on a tangent for a little bit about these, actually; I
LOVE
Zi-O's tributes to the Heisei 1 seasons. People have gushed about them a lot already and so have I, but it's only on these rewatches that I've realised just
how
much I like them. For one thing, it's really neat that I can come into them and understand everything that's going on straight away, even the basics of the current ongoing arc. Oh, sure, I've watched the series; but I don't remember everything that happened in it -- and yet, a few lines and flashbacks here and there mean that for once, a time travel series doesn't have me confused as to what's going on. That's
fantastic
, and surprising given how confusing Zi-O is as a whole! I can absolutely imagine, like, a Hibiki fan or a Kabuto fan not terribly interested in Zi-O jumping into just these tribute episodes and still being able to understand what's going on. I mean, until they whip out video game hammers against Kiriya. Ex-Aid armour was an interesting choice for the Hibiki tribute...
But as well, it's just really nice seeing this much devotion and effort given to what were essentially niche mid-2000s passion projects. Like, okay, yeah; it's
Kamen Rider
, but early Heisei in particular is when it was throwing everything at the wall and trying to get on its feet and was constantly seeing rewrites and low ratings and everything. It was such a messy time and yet, despite that; most of them managed to get out a unique story that really felt like it was something the writers wanted to tell. Yeah, on one hand it's a big merchandise-driven toy advert; but on the other hand that just felt like the means through which these writers could say what they wanted to say; show what they wanted to show with the window dressing of honouring a legend from the 70s. How they could write a story about an amnesiac being idealistic in the face of horror and protecting everything he loved despite not being grounded in any way; about a man sacrificing everything just so that he doesn't have to choose between the world and a single person he's grown to love; about unrelenting hope against monsters of our wildest dreams. That's what thrills me about Kamen Rider: it's exactly the sort of thing I want to see from media, even if they're at the same time trying to sell me a talking sword or a transformation phone. About people telling the stories they want to tell -- and then, a good decade and a half later; those stories being honoured and cherished in the best way they can.
Zi-O had plenty of faults, but when it was at its best; it served as an ode and a gallery to these weird mid-2000s projects and was able to continue those stories without going against the artistry of their endings.
... So anyway, this two-parter is awesome! My feelings on it are much the same as when I first saw it; in that it probably tries to balance a little too much -- Blade, Trinity, White Woz, Geiz & Woz; and then you throw in Diend for a big chunk of it too. But it's surprisingly a lot more balanced than you'd expect, helped by it having an impressive pacing that lets each and every one of those mini-arcs shine and feel properly resolved. Blade's stuff is what I'm here for, so I might as well focus on it; this was just a
superb
follow-up. Any lesser series taking Blade and Chalice's powers away might have felt like a cop-out and an insult to Blade's ending, but instead this all feels incredibly deserved. Kenzaki sacrificed everything to save Hajime 14 years ago -- and it was heroic, and beautiful, and tragic. But it's been 14 years. The idea that someone can sacrifice so much for someone, but that with enough time we can find a way to help that person and ultimately move all of them forward? It's so, so incredibly Kamen Rider and it is very Zi-O. And it's wonderful! I love seeing these two finally get a happy ending. Something a lot of people don't bring up either is Amane -- we don't get any mention of her mother, but it's awesome to see her grown up and managing the café on her own, and while understandably still pained by Hajime's disappearance, she's still able to move forward with her life. Just seeing all these characters happy warms my heart...
Though I will admit, it's not without its faults. Until his final scene, Kenzaki's attitude is just utterly
bizarre
in this. He's very aggressive and provokes fights with Hajime for no real reason; he says that as Jokers they're
forced
to fight, but it's hardly like he puts up any resistance. He goes out of his way to track Hajime down and fights him then and there!!
TWICE!!!
What the hell, dude?! It almost feels like the two are switched; with Hajime pleading to not fight and only putting up token resistance. It's an unfortunate mischaracterisation I feel in what is otherwise a very, very good tribute.
Still, point is: these episodes were great, and with each tribute rewatch I've had the more credit I think Zi-O deserves. They done Blade good.
__________________
Last edited by Kurona; 02-08-2020 at
07:59 PM
..
Kurona
View Public Profile
Send a private message to Kurona
Find More Posts by Kurona
TokuNation News & Rumors
Alternative Cut of "Day Of The Dumpster" Released
Shodo SUPER Kyoryuger Teaser
Figuarts/Seihou GRIDMAN
SH Figuarts BoonBoomger Red
Hasbro Licenses Power Rangers Toys to Playmates Toys
More New Posts
Fixing Kamen Rider Revice story (maybe movies and spin-offs)
Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger Episode 8- "Runaway & Divide!" Discussion
How is Everyone Today- New
Ultraman Discussion Thread
Thunderstrike's Wants
DreamSword Watches Unfamiliar Toku: Part 1 - GARO
What are you watching? (Kamen Rider Edition)
S.H. Figuarts (Toku Related) Thread
Kamen Rider Gotchard Episode 34- "Only One! All Roads Lead To Gorgeousness!"
Kamen Rider Gotchard Episode 33- "Legend Rider? 100 Years Too Early!" Discussion
Current Poll
How Would You Rate This Episode?
Excellent!
Good
Average
OK
Poor...
»
View Poll Results
»
Comment On This Poll
»
This Poll Has 0 Replies
Search Forums
»
Advanced Search
All times are GMT -5. The time now is
09:47 AM
.
Powered by vBulletin®
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
Powered by
vBadvanced
CMPS