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08-10-2019, 11:59 PM | #15521 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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That was the standard of mid-season power ups (and this was before first quarter power-ups were a thing). Tajador debuted in episode 20 too, and FangJoker came in I think episode 16.
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08-15-2019, 01:36 AM | #15522 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,426
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Fourze 21-22
This arc is pretty memorable for a couple of reasons. The first of these is that it introduces the first new Horoscope, something which will stop being a huge detail when the show's pacing issues makes most of them ordinary monsters of the week near the end of the series. This one is a proper threat, though, and will be around for a good while to come. I remember not liking the guy very much, though, so I'm not exactly thrilled that I'm up to his arc. The other memorable thing is the main guest star, Nao Nagasawa.Nao is, of course, one of the most prolific tokusatsu actresses of the 2000s and 2010s, having appeared in all of the major toku franchises - Sentai, Rider, Ultraman, and Garo - plus several other shows and movies. She's a talented martial artist in her own right and one of director Koichi Sakamoto's major muses. She joins the cast of Fourze as Gentaro's new homeroom teacher, his new martial arts trainer, and the first non-evil teacher to learn his secret identity. This is an important role, which is why she won't appear again until a cameo near the very end of the series and/or the summer movie, I forget. Still, she's predictably great here as the reluctant face-kicking teacher; I would have happily traded getting more of her instead of the obnoxious Cancer guy. I did like how this episode tried to misdirect the viewer into thinking Nao was the monster. It didn't work as well on a rewatch, but there was some stuff with Virgo that makes way more sense if you know what her deal really is. This was a fun arc, overall, and probably one of the ones from this part of the show that I remembered most clearly. Has Yuki gone crazy yet? We're definitely getting there. She showed up for her career counseling appointment with her shuttle hat and some plush satellites on her wrists. That is not normal. Still, that was only one scene and nothing else really pushed deep into crazy town. If anything, I thought it was pretty funny when she and Tomoko tried to spar with each other. |
08-15-2019, 08:08 AM | #15523 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Just finished the episode of Kuuga with -that- scene. The one where he goes absolutely goddamn feral on a single Grongi.
And... damn. I mean the setup isn't exactly uncommon. The hero sees the cost of their enemies' destruction in a way that hits closer to home than before and that causes them to be a lot more violent in their next battle. It's a pretty common trope, and in the things I've seen it in it's usually done well. But something about this felt even more... holy heck. It was so violent and brutal. Maybe it's because of how Godai is of course usually portrayed as the loveliest kindest person; maybe it's because he didn't need to do half the shit he did to that Grongi, maybe it's the screams, maybe it's the contrast with the Kuuga mark written in blood; or just how this 2-parter in particular was extremely effective at creating a horror environment (yeah, aside this scene? God what a good 2-parter; that scene of the Grongi utilising psychological warfare on a family within their own home in particular is just terrifying). But something about this scene was... wow. Don't think I'll be forgetting this one any time soon. Also in hindsight because I have a general idea of what Ultimate is and when it's used? Seeing a glimpse of it this early just made this scene even more scary. |
08-15-2019, 01:47 PM | #15524 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 129
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Quote:
Just finished the episode of Kuuga with -that- scene. The one where he goes absolutely goddamn feral on a single Grongi.
And... damn. I mean the setup isn't exactly uncommon. The hero sees the cost of their enemies' destruction in a way that hits closer to home than before and that causes them to be a lot more violent in their next battle. It's a pretty common trope, and in the things I've seen it in it's usually done well. But something about this felt even more... holy heck. It was so violent and brutal. Maybe it's because of how Godai is of course usually portrayed as the loveliest kindest person; maybe it's because he didn't need to do half the shit he did to that Grongi, maybe it's the screams, maybe it's the contrast with the Kuuga mark written in blood; or just how this 2-parter in particular was extremely effective at creating a horror environment (yeah, aside this scene? God what a good 2-parter; that scene of the Grongi utilising psychological warfare on a family within their own home in particular is just terrifying). But something about this scene was... wow. Don't think I'll be forgetting this one any time soon. Also in hindsight because I have a general idea of what Ultimate is and when it's used? Seeing a glimpse of it this early just made this scene even more scary. |
08-15-2019, 02:29 PM | #15525 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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I really loved how Kuuga (and many of the early Heisei shows up till Hibiki?) conveyed how genuinely terrifying monsters-of-the-week would be in real life. The Grongi are quite literally a race of serial killers, and having them have such a high body count really made them horrifying antagonists. I thought Faiz also did that whole atmosphere of terror really well whenever the Orphenochs showed up and that creepy Psycho-type music started playing.
Agito definitely got that too, and I'm finding it interesting see how there are vague parallels between the two. Similar monsters; similar structure; similar police involvement - Ichijou would be a shoe-in for a G3 operator - similar worldviews and dispositions of the main heroes... though they do each handle it differently enough so as to not feel too repetitive. I've got 10 episodes left of this series and I'm looking forward to them. With only just over a week until the official end of Heisei Rider, I'm glad to see it out with the one who started it off -- especially when it's this bloody good. Last edited by Kurona; 08-15-2019 at 02:31 PM.. |
08-15-2019, 08:20 PM | #15526 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,327
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Ah, one of the best parts of Kuuga. I love that bit. I'm rather indifferent on Kuuga, not being grabbed by the hype since i found it to be rather uninteresting to watch. But watching him go ballistic on the porcupine grongi was genuinely good. Until then, I felt they always portrayed the grongi's kills as simply a statistic. Someone on the news will say "A mysterious creature has recently killed a hundred people" and that's that. But by showing the grongi taunting and haunting his next victims one by one, pushing Godai over the edge as he (And the audience) get to really see just how great the impact the Grongi has had, it was really quite the shining moment.
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08-25-2019, 03:57 PM | #15527 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,553
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Well given that Zi-O’s finale has come and gone, I’m watching another finale tonight. Specifically, that of Black RX. It’s not bad, but personally, I think the penultimate episode of this show is a lot stronger (and I’m not just saying that because it had Hidekatsu Shibata in it).
I’m also about to move onto Kabuto’s finale. Will post about that if I can remember to do it. |
08-27-2019, 08:52 PM | #15528 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Just finished Ryuki.
And... hoo boy I do not know what to feel. That sure was a ride. (And an actual ride, since the Survive forms actually give these guys bikes) One major thing I want to note is that I loved the pacing and episode structure. Rider tends to stick strictly to a 2-part episode structure which, not gonna lie, after so much of it I'm starting to get a little sick of it; so it's nice to see that Ryuki while you could kiiind of argue some of the earlier episodes have a 2-part thing going for them, in reality the whole thing is a lot more fluid and serialised. Reminiscent of one of the good points Gaim had for me really, and it kept me very, very invested. It's one of the reasons I ended up finishing this in only a week; it's been a while since I finished a series that fast. But as for what story that structure was serving? I... man, I have absolutely zero idea what to feel about it. For the most part it was what I liked about Kobayashi's writing -- extremely high stakes and lethal scenarios that despite which, hope is still present and will emerge. It's not like Rider doesn't do that outside of her - hell, I just finished Kuuga; and that's a phenomenal example - but something about the way she does it hits closer to home and feels more genuine. But something felt off about this, and especially in the way the last 6 episodes resolved it all? It didn't... feel quite right. Much like how I feel Toshiki Inoue wrote great stuff like Agito but then at some point just went off the rails and became absolutely goddamn weird to say the least - and, actually, having watched Ryuki? I feel I can pinpoint the exact moment that point was - this feels like the opposite for Kobayashi. That she hadn't yet gotten to the type of writing and moral & philosophical core to her work that I've come to associate with stuff like OOO, Den-O and Go-Busters. I get an almost similar feeling - god help me - to Movie War Core, where it feels like a rough draft of a masterwork. I have just finished the final episode though and these are just my initial thoughts, so it's bound to change with time -- which I find is a common thread with Kobayashi's work as well; everything gets better with time and retrospect. But right now this is how I feel, and it's just odd to me. Oh and I just realised that I completely forgot to say here that I finished Kuuga, right before Zi-O's last episode. In a nutshell it was f***ing incredible and easily makes my Top 5 Riders right now; Ex-Aid be damned. Everything I said before applies; they nail a unique vibe, they took great pride in "Kamen Rider's back! Hell yeah!", and the moral core to it is similar to exactly what I loved about stuff like OOO. Kuuga good. Kuuga really good. Godai thumbs up dot gif. |
08-27-2019, 10:12 PM | #15529 |
Dr. Salt NEO
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 727
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Quote:
But as for what story that structure was serving? I... man, I have absolutely zero idea what to feel about it. For the most part it was what I liked about Kobayashi's writing -- extremely high stakes and lethal scenarios that despite which, hope is still present and will emerge. It's not like Rider doesn't do that outside of her - hell, I just finished Kuuga; and that's a phenomenal example - but something about the way she does it hits closer to home and feels more genuine.
But something felt off about this, and especially in the way the last 6 episodes resolved it all? It didn't... feel quite right. Much like how I feel Toshiki Inoue wrote great stuff like Agito but then at some point just went off the rails and became absolutely goddamn weird to say the least - and, actually, having watched Ryuki? I feel I can pinpoint the exact moment that point was - this feels like the opposite for Kobayashi. That she hadn't yet gotten to the type of writing and moral & philosophical core to her work that I've come to associate with stuff like OOO, Den-O and Go-Busters. I get an almost similar feeling - god help me - to Movie War Core, where it feels like a rough draft of a masterwork. Beyond that, I also think the main thing that differentiates Ryuki from her later work is the personalities of the cast. Den-O and OOO both have casts of genuinely good people who are friends. Sure some of them are jerks but they ultimately mean well and care about each other (Even Ankh comes around in the end). Ryuki, in contrast, has a cast made up almost entirely of unlikable assholes or outright villains, most of whom do not get redeemed or have any real positive qualities. Ryuki has a much darker overall tone than her later works. A lot of her standard themes are still there, but like you said, Ryuki seems kind of "off" in comparison to her later stuff and I think it's a combination of the bleaker tone of the show and that she just hadn't hit her full potential quite yet. Personally I really enjoyed it and would like to see her return to something like that, but I think it does make it feel a bit odd compared to her later material. Incidentally, I still haven't gotten over the fact that Inoue wrote the recent Ryuki miniseries and not Kobayashi. I would have loved to see her come back to Ryuki all these years later after solidifying her style and skill, and getting Inoue of all people instead hurts me deep in my soul. There were things about it I enjoyed, but it felt like so much missed potential. I still sometimes think about what it could have been had she returned to write it.
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08-28-2019, 09:57 AM | #15530 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Just finished Ryuki's movie. ... The hell was that about?
Quote:
I feel the same way, I really like Kobayashi's work but Ryuki doesn't feel quite as polished as her later stuff with Den-O and OOO. I think there are a couple reasons, one is that Inoue actually wrote around 14 or so episodes of the show, so he actually wrote almost 30% of it. Kobayashi still wrote the majority, but his contribution is significant.
Beyond that, I also think the main thing that differentiates Ryuki from her later work is the personalities of the cast. Den-O and OOO both have casts of genuinely good people who are friends. Sure some of them are jerks but they ultimately mean well and care about each other (Even Ankh comes around in the end). Ryuki, in contrast, has a cast made up almost entirely of unlikable assholes or outright villains, most of whom do not get redeemed or have any real positive qualities. Ryuki has a much darker overall tone than her later works. A lot of her standard themes are still there, but like you said, Ryuki seems kind of "off" in comparison to her later stuff and I think it's a combination of the bleaker tone of the show and that she just hadn't hit her full potential quite yet. Personally I really enjoyed it and would like to see her return to something like that, but I think it does make it feel a bit odd compared to her later material. Incidentally, I still haven't gotten over the fact that Inoue wrote the recent Ryuki miniseries and not Kobayashi. I would have loved to see her come back to Ryuki all these years later after solidifying her style and skill, and getting Inoue of all people instead hurts me deep in my soul. There were things about it I enjoyed, but it felt like so much missed potential. I still sometimes think about what it could have been had she returned to write it. |
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