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03-19-2019, 10:22 AM | #15331 |
Dr. Salt NEO
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 727
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Quote:
I always enjoy reading your thoughts on Rider seasons ShyGuy, especially when I've seen them myself.
I like OOO too, and adding to your post I just want to mention one thing in particular: Akira Date. He was my favorite secondary Rider for a long time (until Ryuga Banjo came around to be precise), and I adore this character a whole lot. He's great. Thinking back to watching OOO – I really, really like this show. I have nothing but fond memories of it. I also agree with you about Date, he was one of my favorite characters. I had a lot to say about his and Goro's relationship but due to time I had to write the OOO post over the course of a few days, and realize now I forgot to mention them at all. Date was a really unique secondary Rider, being older than usual and with such a laid back and friendly personality. In a show with so many characters that have doubts about their abilities and motivations, his strong self-assurance really stands out and makes him very fitting for the mentor role he takes up. While he's primarily Goro's mentor, you really see how much impact he has on Eiji as well. I feel like he brings so much more than usual for secondary Riders in that he has the status as an experienced pro who can lead and teach the younger Riders. He's a type of Rider that really doesn't appear often, in fact that only other season I can think of that does something similar at all is Hibiki. His interactions with Goro are so good though, their scenes together were always highlights. Goro actually kind of reminded me of Nago from Kiva, in that they're both young hotheads who are obsessed with a Rider power they don't really deserve at the beginning. But unlike Nago who self destructs because he never really gets effective help, Goro is given a powerful role model in Date who helps him mature and gain a better understanding of himself and others. When he finally gets to become Birth, it's a powerful moment because it really feels earned after all of his time and experience under Date's guidance, you can really see how much Date's mentorship influenced him. Date definitely ranks among my favorite secondary Riders. |
03-20-2019, 12:45 AM | #15332 |
Man with a plan
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 4,297
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Kamen Rider Decade episodes 18 and 19
Man it's been a long time since I watched this. I don't know shit about Hibiki but the whole three clan dynamic felt kinda unnecessary? Like, there was already tension between the boy and his master Hibiki, why not focus more on that then cutting between Tsukasa and Daiki and them getting the clans to do what they want. Ex-Aid episodes 6 and 7 Been a long time for this too. It's nice that the characters of the week aren't just there to suck up air time like other Rider shows, but actually are used as methods for explaining our main characters' backstories. With Hiiro's being super sad and I love the twist with Kiriya's (if that sounds sadistic lol). Although I'm not a big fan of the hit effects in this show. I don't like having the action being blocked a bunch of the time. |
03-20-2019, 06:00 AM | #15333 |
Cold As Ice
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Cavite, Philippines
Posts: 462
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Got to watch the Rogue trilogy. It got dark didn't it. Hard to think of Gentoku as a fashionista after watching these episodes. Of course at this point he was still under the influence of Pandora's Box.
Episodes 2 and 3 were brutal as far as the beatings were concerned. Felt bad for the two assistants and that one prisoner. Overall a nice watch.
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Arrive. Raise Hell. Leave. |
03-20-2019, 09:52 PM | #15334 |
Man with a plan
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 4,297
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Ex-Aid 8-13
Man, and I thought Gaim handed out power ups like candy. I swear someone gets a new form every episode or two. I get the idea that it's all kind of like a game and everyone is trying to one up each other with regards to strength. And how it themetically ties in with mutating viruses. But it feels the show feel extremely frontloaded with the amount of stuff they're trying to sell. 5 Riders with level 3 forms for each and a few special ones in a span of 13ish Episodes? Holy shit. Hopefully the latter part of the show doesn't introduced nearly as much. To be fair, I feel like these other forms were at least used as much as possible once introduced, unlike Baron Mango Arms or Ryugen Kiwi. When Genm gets defeated in Episode 12, it was the first time I had seen him outside of Shahairiki Sports form since I started watching again. Also, good on the writers for continuing to tie the side characters' problems into the backstory for characters. |
03-21-2019, 08:17 PM | #15335 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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I just got done watching the Rogue trilogy myself. I kind of hated it? I don't know. I definitely wouldn't call it bad, but I don't think I was in the right mood for it at all. It's zero fun whatsoever. I usually love seeing Kamen Rider push its boundaries and do crazy out there stuff, but Rogue represents what I can only hope is the pinnacle of Toei's recent string of "too hot for TV" ultra-violent Rider spinoffs. I seriously don't mean to sound too negative, because they did exactly what they set out to accomplish here, and it does its job of fleshing out Gentoku more, but the most entertaining part of watching it for me was coming up with jokey names for what's become a bit of a sub-genre ever since Amazons started.
The best one I thought of was "ketchup noir", for the record.
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03-25-2019, 04:35 PM | #15336 |
Dr. Salt NEO
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 727
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Finished up Fourze. I know I just posted my thoughts on OOO very recently, but I didn’t actually get through the entirety of Fourze in only one week…I’m just behind on writing up my thoughts due to a lot going on, I actually finished Fourze a while back (In fact I’m almost finished with Wizard right now). But anyway, Fourze was one I was pretty interested to start because I’ve heard a lot of good things about it over the years, I’ve seen a lot of people list it among their favorites. Having now watched it myself, my feelings on it are kind of mixed. It sounds weird, but although I think it was good, I didn’t really care for it all that much. Basically, I think it was good at what it was trying to accomplish, but it just didn’t appeal to my particular preferences.
The general tone of the show is very silly and lighthearted, it kind of reminded me of Den-O in that regard. Sometimes I enjoy that kind of thing, (As I did with Den-O) but with Fourze I think there were a number of issues that hindered my ability to enjoy it the same way I enjoyed Den-O. The main thing with that is the overall cast and characterization. Most of the cast just really didn’t feel all that relevant to the story, outside of the four main leads. Each of the members of the Kamen Rider Club got their little episode arcs, but beyond that they barely contributed anything and what development many of them did get was fairly superficial. They almost felt like glorified accessories in that they existed just to fill out the cast and facilitate the whole friendship theme going on. It was frustrating because the show clearly wanted the audience to care about these characters, and I wanted to like them more than I did, but it barely ever gave me any good reason to. They just felt kind of like shallow archetypes more than characters in their own right. I think the core problem causing these issues is that the cast is simply too big. With W, there was just Shotaro, Phillip, Akiko, and Ryu. For OOO there was Eiji, Ankh, Hina, Goto, and Date. Then Fourze has a cast twice as big as either of those, and it simply can’t give equal time or development to all of them so it ends up spread too thin with minimal characterization across too many characters. This extends to the villains as well, who are without a doubt among my least favorite villains from any season. I found them very boring and generic with no compelling personalities or motivations, other than Virgo after their identity is revealed (Who I did think was a genuinely interesting character). These issues I have were compounded by the strict 2-episode arc format that characterizes early Neo-Heisei. While it existed in W and OOO, those shows also had ongoing larger stories that carried out across the whole season for both of them, along with an emphasis on character relationship development. Fourze I thought stuck far too strictly to the 2-episode arcs without having any kind of larger story being told, it lacked the kind of propulsive narrative that keeps things interesting and fresh. It didn’t really go anywhere until the very end, and by that point it felt like it was just trying to cram everything in while it still had time. I know this all sounds pretty harsh towards Fourze, but I honestly don’t think it’s a bad show. I feel kind of bad with a lot of my criticisms because my problems are with the things it didn’t do, but it wasn’t really trying to do those things in the first place. Fourze is clearly just aiming to provide a light, fun atmosphere without a lot of the more dramatic focus some other seasons go with, and that’s perfectly fine. Fourze really is good at what it wanted to do, unfortunately it just wasn’t a good match for my specific tastes and preferences.
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04-01-2019, 03:55 AM | #15337 |
AHHHHH!!!
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 511
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After Zi-O, it's goodbye Heisei Riders, hello Reiwa Riders.
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04-01-2019, 06:04 AM | #15338 |
Cold As Ice
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Cavite, Philippines
Posts: 462
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Finished watching Rider Time Ryuki ep 1. As a big Ryuki fan I just had a huge grin while watching this. I really enjoyed it.
So things I'd noticed. They used Abyss instead of Femme which... I don't know I would have preferred Femme. They mentioned Kitaoka. I hope they expound on why he isn't there. And why does Goro think Asakura is his master? And Tezuka really looked different. I wouldn't have recognize him. And his evil now too? Anyway I'm pretty excited for ep 2.
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Arrive. Raise Hell. Leave. |
04-05-2019, 02:40 PM | #15339 |
Dr. Salt NEO
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 727
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Finished Wizard, I was already close to the end when I posted my Fourze thoughts (I didn't actually finish it all in just two weeks). I was nervous about Wizard, because over the years I’ve become well aware of its overall negative reputation. Until Ghost, it was probably the season I always heard the most bad things about. So I was prepared for something bad when I went in, but…I actually kind of liked it? It’s certainly not perfect, and I think there are a lot of valid criticisms one can say about it, but I felt that the positives outweighed the negatives, at least for me.
One of the main criticisms I’ve seen aimed at Wizard is that Haruto is a boring protagonist, which I just can’t agree with at all. I think this perception comes from the fact that he doesn’t undergo the same kind of growth arc that many other main Riders experience. He actually reminds me most of Hibiki, in that by the time the show takes place, he’s already an established professional and expert Rider. We never actually see him go through the process of gaining his powers and learning how to use them, which sets him apart from the vast majority of other main Riders where that’s a central component of their character arc. I don’t think that makes his development any worse, just different. I really liked his determination to be an embodiment of hope, and how he uses his own personal history to connect with others going through difficult times so he can directly relate to them. I really liked Haruto as a protagonist. The cast in general for Wizard was strong I think, they had really good chemistry. Sometimes Shunpei was a bit much for me but he wasn’t that bad. Nitou is the other main standout besides Haruto, he gets a lot of good material as the show goes on. I liked how he functioned as a direct counter to Haruto in that while Haruto fights entirely for others with little regard for himself, Nitou is his thematic opposite as he fights Phantoms strictly for his own benefit. This came to a great conclusion at the end when it’s Nitou, not Haruto, who ends up being the one to stop Fueki’s plans. It’s a perfectly fitting conclusion to his arc where after spending the whole series fighting primarily for himself, he ends up sacrificing his power completely for the sake of others. Another reason I like this though is because it’s so rare for the secondary Rider to get the chance to be the main hero at the end, so it was cool to see something different like that. I think the overarching story of Wizard is really interesting as well, but that’s also where my main criticism comes in. Once again, the slavish adherence to the 2-part format hurts the overall narrative by dragging the pacing down. It establishes a lot of interesting plot points early on with the mystery of the White Wizard, Wiseman’s plans to once again activate the eclipse, Gremlin’s increasingly suspicious machinations. But most of this goes nowhere until the very end because the show is stuck in the 2-episode monster-of-the-week format that leaves little room for advancing the story. Once the story does get moving at the end I really like the direction it goes, with the reveal that Fueki is both the White Wizard and Wiseman and has been playing both sides. And along with that, how Gremlin starts setting his own plans into action and becomes such a deadly threat for everyone, including Fueki himself. So I think Wizard’s main narrative is really strong, with a lot of fun twists and turns, but it takes so long before it gets there. It doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the show, but I think it does hold it back from being as great as it had the potential to be. Overall I liked Wizard. While the format and pacing does hurt its ability to fully utilize its narrative, it still has a lot going for it in terms of characterization and fun. And on top of that, the suit design for both the Riders and the Phantoms is incredible. Easily some of my favorite Rider and monster designs in the franchise. So while Wizard does have its flaws and doesn't quite reach the level of some of my favorites, it's still one I had a really good time with and will remember positively.
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04-05-2019, 04:07 PM | #15340 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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Quote:
Finished Wizard, I was already close to the end when I posted my Fourze thoughts (I didn't actually finish it all in just two weeks). I was nervous about Wizard, because over the years I’ve become well aware of its overall negative reputation. Until Ghost, it was probably the season I always heard the most bad things about. So I was prepared for something bad when I went in, but…I actually kind of liked it? It’s certainly not perfect, and I think there are a lot of valid criticisms one can say about it, but I felt that the positives outweighed the negatives, at least for me.
One of the main criticisms I’ve seen aimed at Wizard is that Haruto is a boring protagonist, which I just can’t agree with at all. I think this perception comes from the fact that he doesn’t undergo the same kind of growth arc that many other main Riders experience. He actually reminds me most of Hibiki, in that by the time the show takes place, he’s already an established professional and expert Rider. We never actually see him go through the process of gaining his powers and learning how to use them, which sets him apart from the vast majority of other main Riders where that’s a central component of their character arc. I don’t think that makes his development any worse, just different. I really liked his determination to be an embodiment of hope, and how he uses his own personal history to connect with others going through difficult times so he can directly relate to them. I really liked Haruto as a protagonist. The cast in general for Wizard was strong I think, they had really good chemistry. Sometimes Shunpei was a bit much for me but he wasn’t that bad. Nitou is the other main standout besides Haruto, he gets a lot of good material as the show goes on. I liked how he functioned as a direct counter to Haruto in that while Haruto fights entirely for others with little regard for himself, Nitou is his thematic opposite as he fights Phantoms strictly for his own benefit. This came to a great conclusion at the end when it’s Nitou, not Haruto, who ends up being the one to stop Fueki’s plans. It’s a perfectly fitting conclusion to his arc where after spending the whole series fighting primarily for himself, he ends up sacrificing his power completely for the sake of others. Another reason I like this though is because it’s so rare for the secondary Rider to get the chance to be the main hero at the end, so it was cool to see something different like that. I think the overarching story of Wizard is really interesting as well, but that’s also where my main criticism comes in. Once again, the slavish adherence to the 2-part format hurts the overall narrative by dragging the pacing down. It establishes a lot of interesting plot points early on with the mystery of the White Wizard, Wiseman’s plans to once again activate the eclipse, Gremlin’s increasingly suspicious machinations. But most of this goes nowhere until the very end because the show is stuck in the 2-episode monster-of-the-week format that leaves little room for advancing the story. Once the story does get moving at the end I really like the direction it goes, with the reveal that Fueki is both the White Wizard and Wiseman and has been playing both sides. And along with that, how Gremlin starts setting his own plans into action and becomes such a deadly threat for everyone, including Fueki himself. So I think Wizard’s main narrative is really strong, with a lot of fun twists and turns, but it takes so long before it gets there. It doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the show, but I think it does hold it back from being as great as it had the potential to be. Overall I liked Wizard. While the format and pacing does hurt its ability to fully utilize its narrative, it still has a lot going for it in terms of characterization and fun. And on top of that, the suit design for both the Riders and the Phantoms is incredible. Easily some of my favorite Rider and monster designs in the franchise. So while Wizard does have its flaws and doesn't quite reach the level of some of my favorites, it's still one I had a really good time with and will remember positively.
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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