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12-10-2018, 08:19 PM | #15311 |
King of the Rolex
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Digital World
Posts: 452
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12-10-2018, 10:45 PM | #15312 |
天心の英雄たち
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Maryland
Posts: 939
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Quote:
Out of the big 3 (showa, heisei, neo-heisei) periods of Kamen Rider this is the one that's close to being finished. So much Toku, so little time. hahahaha |
12-11-2018, 05:09 PM | #15313 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,420
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Oh man, I forgot about the cop angle. That movie was so weird.
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01-25-2019, 12:08 PM | #15314 |
Dr. Salt NEO
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 727
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Finished W, which was a rewatch as W was actually the first Rider show I watched in full. Gaim was what got me into KR in the first place but as it was ongoing at the time, I decided to try another one with it that I could watch in full, and chose W. I thought it was great at the time, and it really solidified my interest in Kamen Rider. I was excited to rewatch it to see if I still felt the same years later, and I’m happy to say I did. In fact I think I actually liked it even more a second time.
One of the things that stands out most about W when starting it is that it’s a very structured show, going with the common two-episode arc setup. A show like this lives or dies on the strength of its characters, because an episode structure like that can get very old very fast if it doesn’t have the characters to carry it. Thankfully, W’s cast is the biggest highlight of the show. The leads all have great chemistry, and really sell the relationship between Shotaro and Phillip. Having a Rider who’s two people could have easily led to a lack of development for each because of trying to cram in so much for two characters, but that didn’t happen here. Both Shotaro and Phillip each get great development and depth. I think Phillip gets quite a bit more overall, considering how much of the story ends up revolving around him, while Shotaro doesn’t actually get that much in comparison. We never actually learn much about him despite his status as a lead, such as where he came from, why he wanted to be a detective, or any of that. His personal history, background, and deeper motives are never really explored. Despite that, he’s a fantastic character and his ridiculous personality, genuine heart and concern for his clients, and dedication to protecting Fuuto as W make him an excellent lead. A huge part of that is Kiriyama Renn’s performance, I can’t say enough good things about it. Easily one of the best lead performances in a Rider series and I think my personal favorite. Most of the other characters are great too, I like Ryu a lot as a secondary Rider and his very serious attitude is a fun contrast to the complete absurdity of the personalities that make up Narumi Detective Agency. I remember in my first watch of W Akiko annoyed me quite a bit, but I found her much less bothersome this time and enjoyed her for the most part. Not sure why I felt differently this time, but maybe it’s just because of my greater appreciation of the show as a whole now. One of the other great things about W is the tightness and cohesiveness of the writing. It’s easy to take something like that for granted, but I really appreciate it after so many of the earlier Heisei shows noticeably lacked it (Especially anything written by Inoue). The characters remain consistently characterized throughout, the overall story never really stumbles or falls into awkward plot holes, and it feels like there’s a real sense of space and location. That last point is kind of a small thing, but one that bothers me regularly in a lot of other Rider shows. For example characters will be interacting in a city, transform and jump off screen, and suddenly they’re fighting in the middle of a forest. Or they’ll be in the middle of a fight, suddenly stop for no reason, and go right back to talking about how to beat the villain they were fighting literal seconds ago. This kind of thing was fairly common in earlier Heisei, but W does away with it almost entirely. The transitions into and out of fights flow much more naturally and the locations have a sense of believable continuity, it doesn’t feel as much like they’re constantly teleporting to random set pieces. Maybe I’m just super nitpicky about that kind of thing but I really appreciated how W did such a good job of that overall. The only real point of weakness in the show to me is the villains, for the most part. The Sonozaki family were just never that compelling to me as characters, especially Ryubee. He’s just kind of a generic, standard villain without much real depth. I know they start giving him some background and motives near the end, but it came too late and too little to salvage my lack of interest in him. Wakana and Saeko are better, but Wakana is inconsistently characterized throughout and it gets kind of jarring. The only villain I ever really significantly enjoyed was Isaka, mostly because Dan Tomoyuki was so good at playing him as an unnerving and weird creep. Some minor disappointment in the villains though is really the only complaint I have about W, I really enjoyed pretty much everything about this show. The cast is a lot of fun, with one of my favorite main Riders in the series. The story is constructed well and manages to maintain both the regular 2-episode arcs and a more overarching, greater overall story without compromising either. And the overall look and feel of the show is great as well, the W suit is one of my favorites and the noir-themed style and soundtrack worked really well and give it a unique tone among Rider shows. I don’t think W quite reaches some of the emotional depth and thematic heights that some of the other shows do, such as Build or Gaim, but something about it just really clicked with me and I think it will always have a place among my favorites.
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01-25-2019, 11:33 PM | #15315 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Just got done doing a full rewatch of Wizard a bit ago, finally making good on something I said I was going to do like a couple years ago at this point. I still absolutely love this show to bits no matter what anyone says. It's just so much dang fun.
I won't try and summarize my entire feelings on the series, but one thing that constantly jumped out at me going back to one of the post-W, pre-Gaim "strictly formula" type shows was how nice it was to see the heroes directly protecting people. Sure, if a guy like Build doesn't stop whatever doomsday plot the villains have in motion, everyone is screwed, but part of the fun of superheroes to me is seeing them rescue civilians from danger, and Wizard and Beast are ALL ABOUT rescuing civilians. Haruto is constantly, and I mean, f***ing constantly making dramatic entrances just in the nick of time to help someone being attacked by Phantoms, and my boy Kousuke (who I've realized might secretly be the coolest secondary Rider ever) is no slouch on that front either. I mean, look at how much these crazy guys came into a scene kicking a monster in the face before they even transform! I'm not even sure that's every single time, either! It sounds sort of stupid to say, but simple stuff like this really resonates with me on a level that more grandiose plot developments often don't, and I think that might be the secret to how Wizard became my favorite Rider show (until Ghost showed up). It just kind of makes me happy, you know? Sometimes that's all I need.
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01-29-2019, 02:58 PM | #15316 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 3,313
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I started DLing W, to rewatch it, hopefully with my 10 or 12 year old daughter, whichever I can interest in it. Haven't watched anything Kamen Rider in years now.
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01-30-2019, 11:08 AM | #15317 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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X Episode 2 - In which Keisuke's dad is a dick. Also, G.O.D communicates by chicken-mail. Plot was pretty good, some nice despair from Keisuke, but his dad blowing himself up because he thinks it'll make Keisuke tougher? Dick move.
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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01-30-2019, 04:04 PM | #15318 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,420
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I love that his dad spent probably a ton of time and money building that underwater base to help Keisuke, only to immediately make it self-destruct when Keisuke asked it for help.
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01-30-2019, 07:16 PM | #15319 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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It's certainly a power move, I'm glad he had so much faith in his son to never ask him for help after everything that happened to him.
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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02-13-2019, 01:46 AM | #15320 |
The True Wolf Ranger
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Tulsa, Ok...Not Corinth City sadly
Posts: 319
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I'm starting from the beginning of the Heisei era riders and watching them all. Kuuga was first and....oh boy was it different than any modern day Rider.
Very simple Henshin. No driver noises to really say. The rampant amount of pure murder in the show is incredible. Not even children are safe. Quiet dark compared to Giam and Up that I've seen. I kinda liked it. But the main problem was the fights. The format was too predictable. One episode the UIL start killing. Kuuga gets a fight in and loses. The next episode he gets the knowledge or power to beat it. Does so. Rinse and repeat. That and the changing forms was too simplified. Just...oh...now he's green. Oh...purple. It was almost like the belt was useless. Overall I just didn't care for kuuga. It was still interesting but really now that exciting. And don't get me started on the Grongi language. That really didn't help with the story and I still can't figure out why they had to kill thousands of people. Other than to start ultimate darkness. Even the final bad guy fight was incredibly disappointing. It ended with a fist fight. It's almost like they ran out of money half way through. No wonder Godais actor hates tokusatsu. I would too if that was my experience. I guess the last thing is from a technical standpoint. I felt the camera didn't have the right filter. It was too handheld quality. It didn't have that professional movie/TV show esque look. And for whatever reason their sound equipment and running water sounds like terrible digital feedback. Almost like a matrix like screen numbers kind of noise if that makes sense. Currently in the middle of Agito and I already like it better. Fights seem better worked out and the picture filter is already better. I do like that it's a connected universe to Kuuga. |
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