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08-16-2020, 03:16 PM | #16001 |
Member
Join Date: Oct 2019
Posts: 462
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Kamen Rider Black is my favourite Kamen Rider show and I don't even think the original will top it so I may be biased but I never noticed much of a tonal change either, although I did watch it over a few years as year-long shows have normally taken a while for me of course!
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08-16-2020, 03:21 PM | #16002 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,551
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Well, I’ve moved into episode 30 of Hibiki. And I didn’t like it.
I LOVED IT. After 28 boring episodes with one real standout, this was a real treat. They’ve stopped dicking around and shooting money and actually done something interesting with their premise. We actually get Asumu’s day in the life outside the ONI and TAKESHI, with a guy who basically embodies the idea the “cool newcomer” in a way that stands out. He’s not antagonising the led guy, he just sees him as beneath him. And the switch to the city for action scenes gives the Makamou some much needed villain cred. Having the new one go around burning people to death really looks as awesome as it sounds. And it’s an actual guy in a suit, rather than some PS2 reject, so there’s that. |
08-16-2020, 03:52 PM | #16003 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Quote:
The "problem" with Kamen Rider Black’s shift in tone stems less from the plots becoming sillier and goofier, but from the fact that children become the central protagonists of the episode and Kotaro devolves to a secondary character that comes in later to save the day.
Not every episode mind you, it isn’t as bad as Super-1’s second half, but it is noticeably different. And I put "problem" in exclamation marks on purpose because Black is super fun all around. Some little kids jumping around isn’t really changing that, plus, Black is still allowed to have focused episodes of his own. He isn’t permanently degraded to a secondary role. Like poor Super-1 was. God, I’m still not over that.
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08-17-2020, 07:08 AM | #16004 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Y'know, maybe I was hyping up Golgom too much, I idly thought. Maybe, I considered; this would be as far as the ridiculous plots would go, and once I start up episode 6, they'll have a much tamer plan in mind.
Kamen Rider Black is the best show ever made
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08-17-2020, 08:21 AM | #16005 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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I almost want to say this can be considered social commentary, but I regardless welcome our esper innovatives to lead the way!
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08-17-2020, 06:07 PM | #16006 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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So, given that I don't remember any major stylistic shift, my memories could be faulty here, but I also definitely don't remember Golgom ever being the types to do anything in a straightforward manner. Like, they've got the fancy robes and the weird evil planning chamber, you know? They probably feel like it's an insult to the aesthetic they've worked so hard to create to not come up with equally theatrical schemes. It's a little thing called style, and they take a lot of pride in it!
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08-18-2020, 12:30 PM | #16007 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Sep 2019
Posts: 104
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There's a really strong (and a bit weird) fascination with ESP in Japan through the 1980s, which was often reflected by the pop media at the time. But yeah, Golgom is basically Team Rocket.
Got into some more comfy Ryuki time by rewatching the Special Episode 13 Riders. It's... not very good, but I guess your ceiling will always be limited when your entire plot is a flimsy excuse to get all the 13 Riders together in just under 50 minutes. It's basically Verde show to me. Takamizawa was eh, whatever, just a generic rich and powerful bad guy, but I enjoyed the suit design and the troll-y fight with Raia. Kusaka can merely dream what shenanigan he could cook up with that Copy Vent alone. Other than that, Shinji as Knight was very cool to see, and I actually like the idea of the gimmick multiple choice endings. It's an AU story, might as well experiment by having Bad Ending and Worse Ending to troll the audience. I might lean a bit more toward the 'fight to the death' ending, even if that scene with the simultaneous Final Vent scene didn't make any lick of sense. A lot of things in this special didn't make much sense, actually, but well, whatever. Episode Final: lots of nostalgia value here, but I'd still maintain to this day that this is a legit great KR movie. My ideal version of Ryuki would be most of the movie's plot transplanted into Episode 30ish-40ish of the show (retaining the Tiger/Imperer plotline and the ending from the show in the process). The Yui/Shiro part, for one, worked so much better here. It's partly because the whole thing's not being dragged out through dozens of episodes, but it's also because you really see more from Yui's perspective here. I also like the additional connection about Shinji and Yui, it strengthened Shinji's dilemma even more by establishing Yui as more than a complete stranger to him. This was the first time I watched the Director's Cut version, which is longer by 20 minutes compared to the theatrical cut. These extra minutes comprise stuff like Auntie pranking the gang at the end of the ghost story, the Chief being stunned by seeing Shimada without glasses, some extra lines from the Agito gang, Kitaoka and Goro discussing what flower to get for Reiko, Reiko applying make-up before her meeting with Kitaoka... these aren't significant plot-wise and didn't really add anything that we don't already know, but it's a pleasant treat to someone like me who really love these characters. The DC version has smoother transition/bridging between scenes too, which is a bit of a problem I had with the theatrical cut (most notably in the very abrupt cut from Kitaoka resigning to Shinji and Miho's okonomiyaki date). Most of the extra stuff are in the Shinji/Miho scenes. There were extra lines of dialogue and longer bantering in their scenes, and it just solidified how lovely they are together. Still my favorite romantic couple in Kamen Rider (well not much competition for that :v), and Miho herself was extremely memorable and charming, the kind of character I'd really love to watch over the course of a full series. That shoelace scene, it still got me every damn time. Admittedly, the Ren/Shinji bromance moment was weaker than the equivalent scenes in the show proper (or even in the special) because of the relative lack of build-up to it, and the ending was a bit underwhelming in its open-endedness. But again, the fight scenes were fantastic (Knight's aerial fight with Darkwing detaching itself was a personal fave), and all 6 Riders featured here got their respective moments of awesomeness with what felt like a very appropriate distribution of screen time. Finally, the counter showing 'X rider remaining', I love that. Very reminiscent of the novel Battle Royale (which itself borrowed the trick from Stephen King's The Long Walk), seemingly a major source of inspiration for Ryuki (and a lot of works with similar concept obviously). Come to think of it, Shinji was very similar to Shuuya from BR in their role as a naive pacifist MC; there were some situations where they had practically the same lines. |
08-19-2020, 09:50 AM | #16008 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Sword Saint Birugenia, Episode 18: You couldn't even defeat someone as weak as Kotaro Minami? Pathetic. I'll destroy this “Kamen Rider Black” with ease, and then you shall see who should truly have been the Century King!!
Sword Saint Birugenia, Episode 25: y'know what I'll just settle for the bike at this point
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Last edited by Kurona; 08-19-2020 at 09:53 AM.. |
08-19-2020, 05:52 PM | #16009 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Bless their cold, shriveled hearts, these villains are trying, they really are!
Anyway, since you're apparently about at that point, I feel like I might as well tell you episode 28 has the distinction of being the sole episode of BLACK written by Naruhisa Arakawa, years before he would go on to help Takatera tear down all the rules by writing Kuuga. His work on this show is maybe a little less groundbreaking, but I nonetheless remember it really fondly, if only because I saved this screencap from it. Spoilers, I guess, but, in a shocking twist, Koutarou... thinks Golgom is up to something!
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08-19-2020, 06:09 PM | #16010 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,417
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I'm glad that Kotaro assuming Gorgom does literally everything ended up being an actual meme and not just one of the injokes made between me and the friend I watched Black+RX with. Like really, it's almost to a point where a kid could drop their ice cream in the street and you'd hear in the distance "GORGOM!!"
Now if only the butt jeans were a meme too...
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