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06-20-2019, 12:21 AM | #15401 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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OOO was the series I watched that got me into Rider again back in 2012 after not having been aware of the franchise since Faiz back in 2003. Needless to say, the 1000th episode celebration was a very confusing yet incredibly entertaining time. And hey, it's when Shout Out finally got played when I was wondering if they just skipped that song.
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06-20-2019, 09:14 AM | #15402 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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I rewatched that two parter very recently because I wanted to get a specific clip (Date screaming "TATOBA, TATOBA TA TO BA"), and it was so good I ended up watching the whole thing!
I maintain that my favourite part of it is just how much Ankh gets into the role of the Shocker leader. Marvelous |
06-20-2019, 09:28 AM | #15403 |
Dai Shogun
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 7,526
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That two-parter is fantastic.
For some reason I always remember Dr. Maki scaring this pop-idol with his doll, and when Date calls him back he does a sharp turn with this generic, cartoony car brake-noise. I don't know why myself but I find that scene simply hilarious. |
06-20-2019, 10:16 AM | #15404 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,410
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Drive was a little less overt about it (no one directly turned to the camera and said “go see the movie”), but it did have a lot of set-up for its summer movie in the series, too. Gain also had a whole episode dedicated to setting up the dumb soccer AU for its movie.
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06-20-2019, 11:38 AM | #15405 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,825
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They also had that Kikaider tie in that no-one remembers. What an episode.
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06-20-2019, 11:47 AM | #15406 |
Dai Shogun
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 7,526
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Quote:
That was a tie-in alright. By the way, I just remembered something weird: When that episode was teased I had no idea what a Kikaider was or that he was about to get a new movie. So when I saw this blue and red robot walking into Zawame City I was rather lost for a second. I really thought he would be a new, permanent addition to the show. |
06-20-2019, 10:35 PM | #15407 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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The timing for Ryuki and especially OOO here is a little messed up, but since I'm at that point in Den-O, and the whole concept of this endeavor is to compare and contrast, I'm going to go ahead and do a bit of a movie night special. I'm not sure if this comes across whenever I talk about most of them, but I actually like Rider movies a whole lot. The summer movies, anyway. There's just something appealing about pretty much all of them that keeps me coming back. I struggle to describe it, but for these three it shouldn't be too hard.
Ryuki: Episode Final I must confess I've always had a huge soft spot for this one. Part of it is probably down to it being the first Rider movie I ever saw, but even though I have my gripes with the story here, I find myself coming back to this one relatively frequently. I don't keep track or anything, but it's almost certainly up there with stuff like Paradise Lost in terms of Rider movies I enjoy rewatching every now and then. The big thing in Episode Final's favor is that it's from an era where the jump up in quality from the small screen is very evident. It feels like a huge movie, and having rewatched Project G4 recently, I think it pushes it even further than that in places. There's an inherent novelty to seeing all the Riders from Ryuki fighting each other with fancier camerawork, massively upgraded picture quality, and generally quite lavish production values. All the action in this movie is quite memorable and I've always remembered the final battle between Ryuki and Ryuga especially fondly. It's mostly a straightforward fistfight, and that simplicity keeps it pretty intense. The plot, on the other hand? Eh, it's alright. Inoue wrote it, and it definitely reeks of him a lot more than his work on Ryuki usually does. He managed to cram almost every one of his usual tropes just into Femme's plotline alone, and that's before mentioning how the actual ending part of this alternate ending pulled a Faiz before Faiz even existed. It's fairly schlocky, to say the least. And if we get on the subject of the movie's connection to the show... I honestly don't even feel qualified to talk about it. It would've actually been more convenient to do this after finishing the series again, because it's been way too long for me to remember how much of the lore revealed here looped back onto TV, meaning I can't touch on one of the big draws of the film. It's also more confusing the more you think about it. I mean, I like Ryuga because I'm a sucker for evil repaints of heroes, but I can't tell you a thing about who or why he is. I also don't know how or when Odin tapped out of the Rider Battle in this version of the story, because, presumably for the sake of streamlining the narrative, he's explicitly ignored here. It's serviceable enough, and Ryuki was already a show that kind of begs the viewer not to read too much into the mechanics of the universe, so it'd be hypocritical of me to complain too much about that. I do have a new observation after this rewatch that there was probably a real missed opportunity to give the movie a better through line by making it centered more on Shinji and Ren. The series at its core is their story, but while the very end comes back around to them, Ren is largely out of focus here, making things feel a bit more limp than they could've been. One last unrelated thing I wanna mention. The brief cameos from the Agito cast are awesome. They can't possibly live up to Hiroshi Fujioka popping up in Project G4, but once I had actually seen Agito, it was super cool watching this again and going "oh, I get it now". Den-O: I'm Born! This one, I haven't actually seen since the first time, and frankly, I'm kicking myself a bit over that right now, because this movie is great. I don't know why it didn't leave more of an impression at the time. Considering the amount of buildup the show gave it, maybe I was expecting some kind of be-all, end-all Rider movie, which it probably isn't. It is, however, a classy flick that, in choosing to explicitly be part of the show's continuity, gets to really represent Den-O as a whole, telling a simple but effective story about the Den-Liner getting hijacked by our obligatory movie-exclusive Rider that packs in all the humor, excitement, and sentimentality that make the series so great. The huge movie feel here is achieved by packing the adventure with loads and loads of really strong high concept ideas that just scream "come see this movie". A short film before the movie starts! Chibi Den-O! The Imagin get to run around with their weapons and everything for the first time! All of Den-O's basic forms fighting together! An adventure through multiple points in history culminating in going to the day our hero was born! I mean, dang. It has creativity in spades, and it's clear they wanted to make Den-O's chance to shine on the big screen count. Kobayashi delivers on the script as always, keeping things from being all flash and no substance by putting an emphasis on Ryoutarou's past. It's cool seeing him interact with his childhood self (who would ironically go on to become his future self, but that's a story for another day), and the through line with their shared desire to remember their parents more leads to a decently touching little ending. The theme song at the end complements the mood perfectly, too. Definitely one of the best songs a Rider movie has ever had. Even the weaker elements here still work well. Gaoh (shouldn't that be Ga-O?) is a ludicrously flat villain, but the guy playing him gives him enough gravitas I don't mind all that much. Come on, this is Den-O. We're nearly 30 episodes into the show and it still hasn't gotten its own big bad yet. It's always been about the heroes, and they're all great here. Momotaros steals the show for sure, but everyone gets a cool moment or two. OOO: Wonderful: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals I actually already watched this one a second time on a whim a couple years back, so I've already had the revelation that it was way better than I remember it. Actually, that seems to happen every time I watch a Rider movie twice, which would explain why I end up watching so many of them more than once. Anyway, aside from the fact that it's more "continuity adjacent" than straight up canon, and the way less to the point title, most of what I said about the Den-O movie applies here too. Lots of really cool ideas (seeing Eiji as Birth still doing OOO's poses has gotta be my favorite), and a story with a clear, focused theme. Even compared to I'm Born, it comes off as a real feel-good kind of movie. It's got that signature OOO bounciness to it and an emphasis on the heroic action. Eiji is portrayed great here, which is to be expected when this was also written by Kobayashi herself, but still. My biggest complaint was going to be that I don't miss the next Rider cameos we were getting for a while there, but then the movie made a liar out of me, because I just can't NOT be happy seeing Gentarou. Also, Eiji brings up his "Riders should help each other" line from his original appearance in the W movie, and I have to give points for continuity like that. There's simply not a whole lot to pick apart here. This is a rock solid Rider film with great pacing, a plot that doesn't overcomplicate itself, and all the characters you like from the show actually acting exactly like those characters, which puts it way ahead of a lot of the competition. Quote:
Quote:
Drive was a little less overt about it (no one directly turned to the camera and said “go see the movie”), but it did have a lot of set-up for its summer movie in the series, too. Gain also had a whole episode dedicated to setting up the dumb soccer AU for its movie.
Quote:
But then, I also think this sounds totally in-character for Kouta. You know what? Maybe I just shouldn't be talking about Gaim.
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06-20-2019, 11:39 PM | #15408 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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My memories must be getting mixed up, but then OOO had like seven insert songs playing throughout it's run so I don't feel too bad l about it.
Also while those cameos in the middle of the movies have probably never been the best way to go about it, Fourze in OOO's is probably the best. You see him both in and out of suit, and he has a fun interaction with our current rider. |
06-21-2019, 03:22 AM | #15409 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,825
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Quote:
No one remembers? How could anyone forget an episode that awesome?! Ryouma could've just stayed as Hakaider for the rest of the show and I would've been happy.
But then, I also think this sounds totally in-character for Kouta. You know what? Maybe I just shouldn't be talking about Gaim.
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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06-21-2019, 09:58 PM | #15410 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Ryuki 29-30:
I forget how many other shows did this too (Blade is by far the most memorable), but Ryuki goes completely insane for a bit around episode 30. A return to the Inoue Zone gives us two separate stories focused on Kitaoka. No, hang on, that's not quite accurate. They're about Kitaoka, but they're focused on being as wacky as humanly possible. The entire show becomes a cartoon. All the usual check marks for Inoue writing Ryuki are there, like ineffectual Shinji (which is fine because EVERYONE is ineffectual here), the ORE Journal crew getting some love, and the comedy. Oh dear, the comedy. Ryuki has always had its lighter moments, but absolutely nothing here is taken seriously. You know it's all one big joke when even the Mirror Monsters are getting in on the slapstick. Are the episodes good or not? I don't know. The tonal whiplash from watching Episode Final right before this has messed up my brain too much to think about it. But seeing Shinji, Ren, and Kitaoka turn into the Three Stooges has its charm, and I did say being unsubtle isn't always a bad thing. They certainly inject some variety into the show, at the very least. Den-O 28-30: Yeah, that's right, three episodes. Gotta keep those numbers nice and synced up. I was honestly hoping to skimp on talking about 29 and 30 to focus on 28, but that ain't happening, because as it turns out, these episodes were at a Climax from start to finish. First up is still the main event though. The other half of the bun of the metaphorical sandwich that is Den-O's summer movie and its tie-ins. The upside of the movie's simple plot is that you genuinely don't need to know anything more than what you were shown and told within the show itself to follow along here. The crucial element episode 28 plays off of, Ryoutarou getting taken from multiple time periods to be possessed by the Imagin for a big fight and returning with no memory of the events, was shown more on TV to begin with. All that's left to be confused about at that point is why this big important fight happened mostly offscreen, so I have to give credit to Kobayashi for pulling this whole stunt off about as well as I think anyone could. She also saved the best stuff for the small screen, because this entire episode is a masterpiece. You might've gathered from the increasingly gushy tone of the Den-O bits of these posts that this show just gets better and better, and that's because it does. I wasn't kidding when I said at the start this one was my favorite. Den-O improves so much from its already good start, and it hits a Climax here. Yeah, I used the same pun twice. I don't even care. It's the truth. Everything Den-O has been building up pays off big time here, and the result is the episode where I think I went from simply loving Den-O after Ryutaros showed up to being in love with Den-O. It sure didn't hurt that the plot here is explicitly about looking back and realizing how much something you were taking for granted means to you. The premise of all the Imagin except Momotaros disappearing is used to genius effect. Seeing how everyone reacts to what's going on solidifies the bond everyone on the Den-Liner has formed over half a series, and when it ultimately comes back down to Ryoutarou and Momo again, what used to be standard suddenly feels as lonely for the viewer as it does for the characters. The episode expertly leverages the great characterization of the show to tell a story that hits all the emotional marks it wants to without "cheating" of any kind. It doesn't exaggerate anything to make it more sappy, and that actually makes it way sadder. Everyone is very true to their personalities, and because you've gotten to know them so well by this point, you're liable to feel pretty heartbroken when you notice things like how Momotaros has just been sitting in a chair avoiding looking at anyone the entire time. He doesn't need to say he's upset about things for you to get what's going on, and all over this episode are those little bits I've been talking about, that here to serve to create real sympathy for the protagonists. It all culminates in one heck of a memorable form debut, turning all that despair on its head in the most satisfying way imaginable, bringing the comedy back in force after the darkest hour, and in the process giving Seiji Takaiwa the chance to prove for all time that nobody does suit acting like he does. It's a perfectly constructed narrative, and it perfectly encapsulates what makes Den-O a truly great show. It uses all that great humor to build your attachment to the cast, and then shows a remarkable ability to tell nuanced, emotionally engaging stories on top of that, all without sacrificing its upbeat atmosphere or ever doing a long-term tonal shift that leaves the series drifting away from its original purpose. This episode is truly first-rate, and watching it makes me feel this weird vicarious pride for Den-O, because I know it marks the point where whatever flaws it still had left have been totally ironed out, leaving the series to ride out the back half in spectacular fashion. Case in point, the next two episodes focus on Ryoutarou trying to do some team-building with the Taros, and Yuuto and Deneb's relationship respectively, and it's evident throughout how the dynamics between the characters are all pretty much effortless for the show at this point. These guys practically write themselves. It's hard to even know what to single out, but Yuuto chucking his last Zeronos card off a bridge to prove a point about how much he values Deneb is definitely up there. Everyone in this show is just so well-realized! And they're not even using the strict two-part formula! How cool is that?! You know what, I actually am just going to stop here for now. I wanted to dig into 29 and 30 too, but this is only going to get less coherent the longer I drag it out. Hopefully I'm making it clear how awesome this show is. OOO 29-30: Firstly, this arc marks a pretty big turning point for Maki, so I should really take the time to mention what a wonderful and unique character he is. I've mentioned a few times now that I feel OOO has a habit of throwing the cliche and the trite out the window in favor of doing its own, way more fresh and interesting things, and everything about Maki's character is the epitome of that. You simply can't slap a label on this guy and have it truly fit. He's certainly no hero, but is he evil, or misunderstood? Is he silly, or is he serious? Is he friend, or is he foe? He's none of that and all of it, and that's what makes him so great. The show portrays him in this very three-dimensional way where it kind of lets you draw a lot of your own conclusions on that kind of meta stuff. Because of the way OOO is written, simply having him be a character who acts according to his own developed and fleshed out motivations and beliefs was its only real priority, and that's more than enough to keep the show exciting. Secondly, we get quite a bit of backstory here, which is a perfect opportunity for me to further point out how incredibly natural OOO's writing feels again. I've touched on this too, talking about Birth and the Candroids and everything, but I'm constantly being blown away by how much I believe everything about the world OOO takes place in. I haven't totally pegged why that is yet, but I honestly feel at this point that OOO almost certainly has the most well-developed setting of any Rider show. It never feels like any of the things that exist are taken for granted, and it also never feels like it's making crap up as it goes along. It gives you all the details you need and exactly none of the ones you don't. I'm pretty sure the original OOO doesn't have a name even in some obscure guidebook, let alone the show, and that's great, because who cares what his name was? What's important is how his actions lead into the present day story, and they clearly put the thought into how those dots connect. And thirdly, I can't get over that I'm saying all this about a pair of episodes involving a ridiculous panda monster going around terrorizing people. OOO really is like, the absolute essence of why tokusatsu is awesome. Oh, definitely. It manages to not actually feel too arbitrary simply because the scene itself is so fun. The fact that Eiji and Gentarou do get to interact the whole time and build some chemistry also makes it feel more connected to what's going on than a lot of the other ones.
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