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10-29-2014, 10:25 PM | #11451 |
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 506
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10-30-2014, 05:00 AM | #11452 |
Dark Noir Black Schwarz
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Australia
Posts: 959
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10-30-2014, 05:07 PM | #11453 |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 506
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Watched Agito 36-44. Better batch of episodes than the previous. Really enjoy the "villains" this time around. Hikawa was good again but then irked me when he was dealing with Agito's identity. I guess in Japan people have much higher standards of idols & stuff. But when Shouichi is about to be shot in the face you don't stand there wondering why he's Agito, you try to save him like the cop & character you are. That part really felt forced. Ryo was great & thankfully got a proper power-up. His character moments with Kino & the kid Mana met were high points as well. Speaking of Kino he's a mixed bag for me. Yeah, he's supposed to come off as wrong but sympathetic. However I don't get his sudden urge to kill any other super-powered beings. Another instance of forcing characters to do certain things. Shouichi ended up being used better this time. His past as well as the origin of his powers was a cool one. Though his Shining Form was unnecessary. Again, forced. Like I've been saying this whole time Agito continues to do well despite its faults. Interested to see how the ending plays out.
Last edited by H3N51N; 10-30-2014 at 05:09 PM.. Reason: typo |
10-30-2014, 05:49 PM | #11454 |
Super Sentai Eien ni
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Germany
Posts: 2,862
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Quote:
But... as someone who dislikes his writing as well, I can calm you a bit. While there is a lot of Inoue stuff in early Heisei, there's still enough other stuff you'll enjoy. |
10-30-2014, 11:07 PM | #11455 |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 506
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Oh, I know there will be. And I am looking forward to what the early Heisei era has to offer. I'm just noticing some things I don't like is all. Thanks for reassuring me, though.
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11-01-2014, 06:47 PM | #11456 |
Neppu Yarou.
Join Date: May 2014
Location: TN
Posts: 951
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Kamen Rider Black RX
Alright, I finally watched a few of these a while back. I knew this wasn't going be the same tone as Black, but it is rather jarring at points because of ill-timed and forced "Humour" I don't believe something like child endangerment/kidnapping should have slapstick, very badly done slapstick, injected. You can mix sad moments with contrasting ones, but I don't believe this is the way to do it. There are also some deus ex machina moments too, such as when Kotaro travels to the demon world and Acrobatter and Ridoron are there. They explain that wherever Kotaro is, they will be too. I'm fine with that even if the how isn't explained, but my problem is that later on Ridoron is used to return to Earth, and it isn't explained how the hell that works. All that being said, I think the later episodes are really good. Inspite of the deus ex machina mentioned previously, the multi-part episode arc involving the demon world are the best episodes I've seen so far, the writing is strong, it knows when to be serious for the most part. RoboRiders début in particular is wonderfully handled, and I believe a lot of that is Tetsuo Kurata's really great performance. I don't think I've ever heard anyone scream like he does in episode 15. I also just love seeing when villains actively fuck with the hero. Btw, I can't help but think Deathgaron in episode 14 and 15 looks like a heavily mutated Shadow Moon. I seriously wonder if he started out as a White RX concept, because he has a belt with two green circles not unlike the sun riser, and he bares a strong resemblance to a grasshopper, even more so than RX, in much the same way Shadow Moon looked more robotic than Black. But maybe I'm just seeing things. Kamen Rider Stronger I've really been enjoying Stronger, and it's one of my favourites (so far) of the early shows. A lot of Black Satan's schemes are really fucking macabre which I kinda enjoy. Other times it's just petty for an organization such as them, which I find perplexing.(Although you can say this about most villains in the Showa era) Seeing really messed up thing like them trying to poison School Children, are things I can see an evil organization doing. But then you have petty things, like a Biker Gang causing wrecks. Yeah it's horrible, but it's not something I can see causing mass panic. Still, you can only take something with foot soldiers as goofy looking as the Black Satan "Owl" soldiers seriously. I think the regular mooks are the goofiest I've ever seen, even Shocker Combatmen were more intimidating. But it's entertaining as hell whenever they appear, for all the wrong reasons. Episode 3 in probably the Epitome of this, in which those things are in pedal boats. I'm also enjoying Tackle actually kicking ass, at least sometimes. It's really annoying whenever "her being a silly woman" is brought up in the first few episodes, But is thankfully played down later on. I can only get so upset at something from 1975, and from Japan no less. Still, having her not being able to take down regular grunts when the plot deems it convenient...it's frustrating to say the least. As for Shigeru, I don't have much of a strong opinion. Really there hasn't been much elaborated on him, the same could be said for Yuriko too but she at least has a big sister thing going for her with the Children featured. I do love how he came to be, basically tricking, or rather banking on Black Satan's incompetence and them not brainwashing him as a precaution. Seeing all the scientists with a "Oh shit, not again" look was just funny to me. Also if Bandai Premium ever does Showa era items, I want Shigeru's denim Rose jacket, because I love that thing. Kamen Rider OOO I started this up again. Really my opinion hasn't change much from the last time, mainly because I haven't gotten much further in the series. I still enjoy Eiji being a character that's fully aware that saving everyone is an impossibility, but that you must try as hard as you can, whenever you can. Ankh continues to be a loveable, arrogant, smartass. Even this early in the series though, I have a pretty good idea of where the characterization for these two is going, because I've seen this type of contrasting characterization in other works. Usually the good one becoming corrupt at some point and the not so bad guy becoming a bit more humble, sometimes reluctantly. How the subject of greed is handled is done well, that wanting material or frivolous things isn't a bad thing, but that you can't be consumed by it.(Bandai has to sell those figuarts after all ) As far as the Greeed go, my favorite so far is Mezool. I just love how she teases Eiji, calling him OOOs boy. Oh, and of course Kousei Kougami is a riot, but that's a given. Kamen Rider Blade. Only watched the first episode of this, but I really enjoyed it. I only have one complaint and that the Kurihara family's dialogue felt a bit unnatural and exposition heavy(Although I loved Amane being cheeky). Everything else was great, the atmosphere with B.O.A.R.D. (Which raises flags for me, I don't trust big organizations that capture monsters) I like the humor, I liked all the little set ups for later episodes, I like how it ends just as all hell breaks loose and a fight starts, making for a great cliffhanger. I will certainly watch more Blade when I can. |
11-02-2014, 04:35 AM | #11457 |
King of the Rolex
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Digital World
Posts: 452
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So I just got done watching Kamen Rider G and I got to say that I thought it was pretty good. The best part was the group's reactions to the cheesy wine-related one-liners.
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11-02-2014, 03:50 PM | #11458 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,433
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Kamen Rider Stronger episode 39
This is it, the finale of Stronger and, at the time, at least, the last episode of Kamen Rider. Ratings had been on a constant decline since X, hit new show Himitsu Sentai Gorenger had taken over the traditional time slot, and Stronger's episode run ended up shorter than anticipated (according to vague memory of hearsay). So this episode was meant to send off the Rider franchise with appearances from all the previous main actors, a final showdown with the Great Leader, and a nice montage of highlights from all five shows. Did it work? Eh, kinda. It is so awesome to see all seven of the classic Riders together outside of their suits. There are only a few short scenes of it, but it's hard not to grin when Tachibana Tobei wakes up to see those seven familiar faces looking down on him. I just really, really wish the show had set aside a minute or two for an all-Rider transformation sequence, poses and all. I am a huge sucker for those. Still, it was great to see them all together and all fighting to take down the remaining Delza generals. The fight with the Great Leader, though... it's hard not to see that as an anti-climax. The first part of the fight, where he's a giant rock monster is awesome. There's some great use of forced perspective and some decent use of props to create a giant fist, foot, and head to punch. I suppose the bits where the monster suit is obviously swinging around Rider dolls doesn't work that well, but I can accept that as a trade-off because we got to see Amazon jump on a giant rock leg and try biting it. The end of the fight, though... ugh. The Riders join hands, run through a tunnel, and then stand there while a brain monster babbles about returning to space then explodes. Not exactly a shining, epic victory. Still, it was a good episode and the final montage of stills from the first five shows accompanied by first V3's and then the original series' theme songs was a great way to cap off the last episode of Kamen Rider ever... Until 1979. |
11-03-2014, 07:56 AM | #11459 |
Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: Your Closet
Posts: 451
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Haven't had a whole lot of time recently, but I did get to watch the newest Drive episode at least. Dimension cab is a rather kool idea and finally seeing Dream Vega's finisher was awesome to boot.
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11-03-2014, 08:48 PM | #11460 |
Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 506
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Just closed off Agito 45-51. What a finale, or rather "What's a finale?" because I don't think the show knows. Lots of things I didn't like about the show came back in full force.
We're treated to a 1 month time-skip for reasons I'm still not sure off, and the time-skip didn't accomplish anything for the show. The show makes it feel like the time-skip's job was to make Houjou see future Agito's as more dangerous than the monsters when he could've come to that conclusion in less than 30 days. The G3 Unit was broken up & we're lead to feel bad about it despite the fact that we didn't get to see the Unit act as individuals long enough to care. Also Hikawa, my favorite character from Agito, is now suddenly okay with Shouichi being Agito? I don't get it. Aside from that he was pretty good through to the finale. Proving that he could play with the big boys despite just being human was cool & continuing to be a cop to the end fits him completely. Kino was killed.....that's it. He just randomly croaked on his couch in front of Ryou. I guess the kid that wants to be a doctor now wasn't important enough for us to see his reaction to Kino's death considering he looked up to Kino as a role model. That was a dumb move. And we never got an explanation for why his right arm only stops him at some times from hurting others. But the show tries to wave over that by redeeming him instead. Also dumb. Speaking of Ryou him & Shouichi shared some nice interactions with random characters that felt like they would've benefited from if they weren't so deep into the show. But of course it's not Agito if we don't make Ryou suffer for no good reason. Killing the girl that he was begrudgingly attached to.....what did it do for his character? What did it do for the story? All that happened was that Ryou literally became suicidal and let a monster kill him.......only for him to come back for no good reason shouting that he's immortal. Yeah, his character was ruined. He got a little dog a year later in the middle if nowhere. He was ruined. Shouichi at least faired a little better. That dude that used to be with his sister (didn't here his name enough times) made a great moment happen with Shouichi. Mana didn't do much but run from Shouichi for nothing. Does she not trust Shouichi & that's why she's pushing him away? Does she not want him to feel bad so she's pushing him away? And how did her growth occur? She learned she could be a potential Agito only for that to go nowhere. Shouichi didn't even try to comfort her about it like he halfassedly did with Kana. And why does she still have powers to begin with? Weren't they all used up reviving Ryou? Then there's the God-like entity that was the villain for the season. What was he doing for a whole month? Recovering? I dunno from what because he got hurt more from Shouichi after the time-skip than before. Don't get why all the meaningless symbolism was needed. So he's gonna kill all the humans. Right, that's what happens whenever a show puts a God-type character as the antagonist. Why kill only the Scorpios first? Probably just to make Ryou go into a catatonic state. Why make monsters from stars? We're they always like that? Why did the constellation make a cross-shape when the "light & darkness" stuff was all about Asian myths involving the Yin-Yang? Are they combining mythologies? Why? And if that's how the monsters were made why were the astronomers acting like it's the first time they've seen it? Then of course his defeat. It's difficult to handle having an omnipotent villain, but that's the writer's fault for putting one in there to begin with. So being kicked with Agito's power made him believe humanity the deserved a chance to grow on its own. Not really. All the kick did was prove that future Agito's had potential, not all humans. But the writers messed up the whole season so I don't doubt they messed up the message. Plus why were the two Gods fighting in the first place? They just hate each other? Why? Why did the light-one show up on the ship? He just randomly dropped there despite the fight happening long ago? You know what, I'm done talking about this because I'm just confusing myself. The best part of these episodes for me was seeing Shouichi's ending as a restaurant owner. He named it Agito! That was awesome! All in all Agito was okay at best. I think this season has the popularity it does in the fandom because of all the faux symbolism and the illusion that the show is being mysterious. It wasn't mystery to me, it was writing mistakes. We get Shouichi saying he remembers everything closing out an episode only to find that the next episode shows he actually doesn't & that it doesn't really matter anyway since he just lost it again. Then there inconsistencies with him reacting to only a select few Unknown instead of reacting to all of them like his powers were established to do. Ryou started off strong but had very shaky handling that didn't leave him in an acceptable position as a character. Hikawa was easily the best character & even he was done kinda iffy later on. I like all of the ideas Agito presented but they couldn't execute them to save their lives. I hope Ryuki does a better job, because while I do think Agito was better than the bare-bones, almost-boring Kuuga, Agito failed to deliver. It was just barely fine. |
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