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01-06-2012, 12:39 PM | #1 |
Live to Win
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Makati, Philippines
Posts: 546
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I'm more of a Showa era Kamen Rider fan, but Kamen Rider 555 was the first Heisei era title I watched. Granted, I'm not into these non-cyborg guys who just wear belts, but I was hooked by the show's dark storytelling. And Smart Lady is just so kawaii that it's hard to believe what Hitomi Kurihara looked like in Kamen Rider Ryuki.
Overall, until I start watching Kamen Rider W, I consider 555 my favorite Heisei era Kamen Rider title.
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01-06-2012, 01:07 PM | #2 |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 411
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I'm on the same boat as you. Despite Kuuga being the first heisei show that I watched, 555 was the first that I finished. Though the story got very strange near the end, the characters were full of sass. To this day I still consider Faiz to be my favorite rider.
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01-06-2012, 01:11 PM | #3 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,410
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Faiz is easily my least favorite Rider series (unless I'm allowed to count the second part of Hibiki). There were some very cool ideas in the show, it had some good characters, and the designs were great. But none of that really helped with all the poor concepts and execution that plagued the show.
When people bitch about Toshiki Inoue's writing, about 70% of it is talking about Faiz - so much of the show's plot could be easily resolved if two characters would just sit down and have a goddamn open conversation. But no, everyone in the entire series is intentionally and ludicrously vague about everything, as if they assume - despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary - that everyone else clearly understands what they're really intending to say. There's nothing wrong with characters keeping secrets or making mistakes, but Faiz takes it to such extreme levels that it becomes totally ridiculous. Second, the show is stupidly dark and depressing, again to ridiculous levels. Yuka's backstory has to be one of the most over-the-top bleak stories I have ever seen and it doesn't get much cheerier. You can tell that the writers were trying to go for a more melodramatic approach to the show, but they went way too far overboard and it becomes almost comically depressing. The ending is shit. I don't know what the Inoue was thinking by leaving virtually every damn plot point unresolved - maybe he was angling for a sequel series, I don't know - but it does not leave you walking away satisfied. Honestly, it's right up there with the last ten minutes of Lost on the "terrible series finales" scale. Really, it was just one of the many points in Faiz were it seemed like Inoue wrote himself into a corner and, instead of finding a way out of it, just gave up. The belt swapping was a neat idea that got horribly overused. Kusaka. 'nuff said. Also, Mihara. I dare you all to try and remember who this guy is without googling it. Now, after all that you probably think I completely and totally hate Faiz. Well, I don't. I don't like it very much, but it does still have its redeeming qualities. I like a lot of the characters when they aren't being stupid. The suit designs are great and the monster designs are really cool, even if the lack of color works against them in a lot of cases. The movie is great, too, although, again, it cops out at the end. Still, it's not a show that I really look back on fondly and not one that I am really interested in watching again. But then I used to think the same about Ryuki until I rewatched it and remembered all the parts I liked about it. I may do the same with Faiz someday, but I kinda doubt that anything will ever raise it up much in my opinion. |
01-06-2012, 01:51 PM | #4 |
New Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 40
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Sadly, to me, Faiz is the most mediocre series I've seen. It's not great, it's not terrible, it's meh. I found the character uninteresting, but some of the fights were very nice. Like the music, find the plot progression rather...random. I lost most of my interest around the episode 40 mark. Some good ideas, but as the cliche says...oh Inoue
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Last edited by GWolf; 01-06-2012 at 07:58 PM.. |
01-06-2012, 02:07 PM | #5 |
Kamen Rider
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Japan
Posts: 36
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I personally loved Faiz, though admittedly I wasn't interested in the show (didn't know anything about him, rather) until I watched Decade. When Decade entered Faiz's world, I seriously fell in love with Faiz's design. Curious to see whether or not the series was similar, I decided to check out Faiz (Decade was still coming out weekly at the time) and instantly was sold. Definitely one of my top 3 riders, and one of my most-favorite of the Heisei era.
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“I’ll fight. As a human. As Faiz!” |
01-06-2012, 06:12 PM | #6 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Long Island, New York
Posts: 1,156
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I haven't watched Faiz yet but I love the designs and based on the general plot synopsis I'm really interested in it (Not to mention Shimada from Ryuki is in it). However I'm a bit worried given it's supposed to be Inoue at his Inoue-ist.
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01-06-2012, 07:25 PM | #7 |
New Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 8
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555 for life. Second favorite behind Blade for sure. I understand the complaint addressed above about resolving so much of the plot by two characters just sitting down and having an honest conversation - but for me that works so well as a plot device because how perfectly it reflects life. It may not work for some and I can understand that but it really works for me.
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01-06-2012, 08:10 PM | #8 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 205
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Faiz is the 2nd worst KR series for me. It had the horrible belt swapping, a non-ending, some really out of the blue writing screw ups(Kaixa giving faiz a new attachment out of the kindness of his heart.. Yeah right), and the worst monster designs I have seen in a toku.
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01-06-2012, 10:29 PM | #9 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Quote:
When people bitch about Toshiki Inoue's writing, about 70% of it is talking about Faiz - so much of the show's plot could be easily resolved if two characters would just sit down and have a goddamn open conversation. But no, everyone in the entire series is intentionally and ludicrously vague about everything, as if they assume - despite the mountains of evidence to the contrary - that everyone else clearly understands what they're really intending to say. There's nothing wrong with characters keeping secrets or making mistakes, but Faiz takes it to such extreme levels that it becomes totally ridiculous.
The ending is shit. I don't know what the Inoue was thinking by leaving virtually every damn plot point unresolved - maybe he was angling for a sequel series, I don't know - but it does not leave you walking away satisfied. Honestly, it's right up there with the last ten minutes of Lost on the "terrible series finales" scale. Really, it was just one of the many points in Faiz were it seemed like Inoue wrote himself into a corner and, instead of finding a way out of it, just gave up. Also, Mihara. I dare you all to try and remember who this guy is without googling it. 1. Case-in-point, Takumi is saved by Yuka or some crap like that, then Kusaka starts beating her up. Does Takumi: A. Say he has reason to believe the monster Kusaka's busy punching isn't evil. or; B. Stand there for a full minute, before transforming and hitting Kaixa with his laser sword, without so much as a word. 2.The ending would be fine without that one scene showing the Orphenoch King alive. Think about that, Takumi is dying, so no one can be Faiz when he inevitably returns, leaving 'flippin Mihara as the planet's only real defense. 3.He was Delta, but only like 10 episodes after creepy-disintegration-kid became Delta, and you know, got bored and threw the thing in the trash.
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01-07-2012, 12:03 PM | #10 |
Ogami! Coyote! Usagi!
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Oregon
Posts: 25
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I really need to watch more of it before I genereate an opinion. Suits are cool, but the story is up and down for me so far.
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