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03-12-2020, 05:56 PM | #1 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Hello. Welcome. Alternately, welcome back.
It's been a weird couple weeks without watching Kamen Rider. (Plenty of talking about and thinking about Kamen Rider, though, I wasn't comatose.) I like to take a little break after bingeing a series, to let my brain reset a bit and maybe address some non-watching-Kamen-Rider parts of my life I've let linger. It makes for a strange mental process, that decompression. The first few days, it's like getting outside after being cooped up indoors too long. You're just enjoying the freedom to move around, breathing in the air, not feeling like you've got something to do. It's relaxing, almost liberating. You've got all this time back, and you can apply it towards so many things that you've neglected. Cleaning gets done, projects get tackled, even movies and TV shows you've been putting off can get watched. It's like you found a third day in the weekend. But, there's this turn for me, after the first week. Major stuff is completed, the big stuff I've been putting off. Then, it's just free time ahead until I start up the next series. That free time, though... the reflex is to fill it with watching Kamen Rider. I have to keep forcing myself to do other things, watch other shows, find other distractions. But it's not really choosing to do those things, it's choosing to do those things because I'm not watching Kamen Rider. The time off, it starts to feel like a punishment, that I'm depriving myself of what I want for some unclear reason. Why aren't I watching Kamen Rider? Because I thought I needed a couple weeks off? Why? Why not just one week off? Why am I having this argument with myself when I could be watching Kamen Rider? Well, now I am. Break-time is over, let's get back to work. Let's watch Masked Rider Ryuki. First, some preamble, a little bit of disclaimer, I'll try and make it brief(er than that weird confession about how I've gotten maybe actual addicted to watching Kamen Rider). If you've not read one of these before, my name is Kamen Rider Die, and this is going to be a thread where I watch Masked Rider Ryuki for the first time and talk about it. (There'll also be a one-off thing on my Riderversary, March 16th, it's not a Ryuki thing but it'll probably land here for my convenience.) I've been a Kamen Rider fan for only a couple of years, since 2018, and I've watched Ex-Aid, Amazons, W, OOO, Fourze, Wizard, Gaim, and Drive. I've been on the boards since last September, where I've watched and talked about Ghost, the Ex-Aid movies, Build, Kuuga, and Agito. I really like doing these little discussions, seeing what folks make of these shows. This is all very freeform, I don't want to keep anyone from having fun on the TokuNation boards. I've only really got a few guidelines for these threads: ON SPOILERS FOR ME: The big one. I haven't watched Ryuki before, and I desperately want to enjoy it episode by episode. I get that most people reading this thread will have already seen Ryuki before. (I think of these, sometimes, as like a commentary track. Why would you ever listen to those first?) I ask that you please not talk about stuff that hasn't happened yet for me on the show. Like, don't even hint at things, because then my brain starts expecting things and that sucks. Also, I do plan on watching Faiz through Decade, Zi-O, and Zero-One in the future, so please don't mention anything from those shows. The eventual "Kamen Rider Die watches Whatever” thread thanks you in advance. FOR YOU: Because I'm a hypocrite, I will probably spoil things from shows I've watched before in this thread. If you haven't watched any of the shows I listed in the paragraph a few up from here, consider this a spoiler warning. (Also, man, watch OOO! It's great! You can do it in a couple days because you won't want to stop!) ON TONE SERIOUS ANALYSIS: I will take this show maybe weirdly seriously. I enjoy the action and monsters, I dig the effects and the merchandise, but I love the storytelling. There's always a crazy amount going on under the hood of these shows, and I genuinely lose sleep thinking about some of it. These threads exist mostly because I needed to get all of these Kamen Rider thoughts out of my head so I could live some semblance of a normal adult life. (Or a reasonable facsimile, I got good days and bad y'all.) These posts might get borderline evangelical about what a show is doing right, and occasionally long-winded and unsparing in the criticism when it all goes wrong. Just, like, get ready for me to get weird about themes and motifs and stuff. DONE STUPIDLY: But, I mean, I'm not doing this as a job, I'm doing this for fun, and this is still a superhero show designed to get Japanese children to beg their parents for toys. It's not Infinite Jest or whatever. While I will take this show very seriously, I will take it seriously in some incredibly dumb ways. I will, especially in the early-going, make up stupid names for characters if I can't remember their real names. I will create running jokes about random stuff because it entertains me. I will try to balance scholarly insight with absurdist humor. It's, again, it's going to get weird. I don't know. That's not for everyone, is I guess how I want to warn you. ON PARTICIPATION BE THE ONE: Honestly, these posts are largely intended as conversation starters, jumping-off points. I like to get these thoughts out there, into the world, out of my brain, but the real fun for me is talking about those thoughts with other fans. My thoughts, it's like a first draft of a way to talk about these shows. Everyone jumping in with their thoughts, their analysis, what they found in the show, those are the revisions and notes and improvements that really make something interesting. That's what I love. I love reading what other people think about these shows, so please, if you've got a thought on Ryuki, share it. BE THE LIGHT: I want these threads to be fun and welcoming. If you ever feel like I'm being unfair to this show, or unwelcoming to other fans, please let me know publicly or privately. I don't ever want these things to be a drag on the fandom. I love this fandom! You folks are the best! I think that's everything? It's time, maybe? Time for Masked Rider Ryuki? Let's do it! Ryuki! WE'RE DOING THIS, EVERYBODY! oh also i didn't tell shout factory to pull those original kamen rider episodes just so we'd all have time to talk about ryuki for the next couple of days okay you're just being paranoid
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 07-07-2023 at 11:04 PM.. |
03-12-2020, 06:04 PM | #2 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODES 1 - 2
God damn, that is a show that does a lot right in its first story. What I want out of a first story, the really big thing, is why does this Kamen Rider fight for justice. Specifically, what is this show trying to say about heroism. I'm going to be watching a year-long story about a man (or men, or maybe one woman every ten years or so) dispensing justice through the application of explosive kicking, but the why of it is what keeps me engaged. Every Rider comes at their mission slightly differently, and the shows' themes differ to match them. Like, What The Show Is About to me, it's not that they're doctors, or in high school, or fighting one type of monster or another, it's that they're using monster fights as a metaphor for learning your limitations, or surviving the redefinition that comes with adolescence, or all of the themes that have been applied through Kamen Rider shows. That, like... that's the stuff I wanted to know about Ryuki, not how he gets his powers or what the villains are like. (That stuff was great, though, and I'll get to it.) I loved that Ryuki quickly, cleanly, and smartly put forward what the deal is with Shinji's heroism. Best of all, it's from lessons we see him learn in this story. If Shinji just said Here's My Deal in some clunky exposition, I'd've been disappointed. Having Reiko tell him that investigation isn't about solving mysteries, or acclaim, it's about establishing the truth, about dispelling fear with discovery, that allows the world to build the hero. And then you've got a crying child, immediately followed by Yui saying that it's not that she's trying to save her brother, it's that it's impossible to live with the pain of not having an answer to his disappearance. Taking that idea of investigation, and leveraging it as a way to save lives by putting minds at ease, that's a great way to tie everything from the first two episodes together. There's not this day-job Story A and monster-destroying Story B, it's all thematically linked, it's all About the same thing. And, yeah, it's taking that theme and growing Shinji right in front of us. Shinji's great, by the way. He starts great, and gets better. I love that his first scene is getting decked by a stranger because he's so intent on righting wrongs that he jumps in when he should hang back. I think it's a smart choice, making him a more proactive character, since that separates him from Shouichi in, like, the first second. (I wish, more than anything, that looking at Shinji didn't remind me so much of Spooky Man from Agito. They have the same luxurious head of hair! It's almost all I can see!) Shinji's a goofy, aggressive, leaps-before-he-looks protagonist in the first episode, and I'd've been fine with that if that was where he stayed for a bit. But no, the show's too smart for that, and we just right away get Reiko chastising him for ignoring the human cost of what's going on. He's not a perfect hero, he's not fully-formed, and that's a really nice change from Kuuga and Agito. Those Riders, they were kind-of the thing that didn't change on their shows, the rock that wouldn't move. With Shinji, there's already things he's learning about the world he lives in, the ramifications of actions, the (motif!) ways his choices reflect on himself and others. He's forced to consider new truths, and he's becoming a better hero. I'm excited to see where his journey takes him. That journey, by the way, is going to look gorgeous. I love the Ryuki suit. I think red is always a great choice for Rider suits. Wizard's maybe my favorite base suits, so a heavy red with neutral accents? On board. The grill to the eyes is a nice touch, giving a more battle-ready, less maybe-monster look to the suit. I don't know that I can get more into why it works for me? It's, I kind-of think suit preferences are largely subjective, something that works for you or it doesn't. Ryuki and Knight, they really work for me. They seem easy enough to move around in, and already have a couple color schemes that work with the basic breastplate-and-grill aesthetic. I can see a bunch more designs spinning off of the Ryuki template. All the Mirror World stuff, so good. I laughed when I saw that they just flipped the image in post, that's how they create a reversed world. Hilarious, and brilliant. It's one of those cheap ideas Kamen Rider will have that's so dumb it's smart. You don't need a ton of effects, just shoot it and flip it. Honest to god, I love it. It's spooky and corny all at once, and that's maybe where I want Kamen Rider to live. The only other major thing I wanted to mention, at least of the big stuff from this first story, is that for a franchise that just spent two years intertwining Kamen Riders with the police, sometimes to the degree that it felt like a Kamen Rider was guest-starring in a weekly police procedural, I love that not only is this show about investigative reporters, but that the case they just cracked was about police corruption. I don't know if it was on purpose, but I can totally see a whiteboard from the planning of Ryuki that says NO MORE COP STORIES real big. Still, even if it was by accident, the fact that the first non-cop team we've had in the Heisei era is a group of independent journalists, following the truth without caring what authorities think, that's a statement about where this show wants its storytelling to go. This was fun, this first story. Super solid, all the way around. (Well, the spider CG was, uh, unpleasant to look at, but complaining about that would be like complaining that they said Henshin. It's a part of the franchise!) I really like Shinji as a lead, and I think the supporting crew of Reiko, Yui, and Ren is pretty intriguing. I've been looking forward to Ryuki for a while, and this start did not let me down. Excited to watch more!
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 07-07-2023 at 11:06 PM.. |
03-12-2020, 06:25 PM | #3 |
Member
Join Date: Dec 2019
Location: World of Ataru
Posts: 858
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Quote:
MASKED RIDER RYUKI EPISODES 1 - 2
All the Mirror World stuff, so good. I laughed when I saw that they just flipped the image in post, that’s how they create a reversed world. Hilarious, and brilliant. It’s one of those cheap ideas Kamen Rider will have that’s so dumb it’s smart. You don’t need a ton of effects, just shoot it and flip it. Honest to god, I love it. It’s spooky and corny all at once, and that’s maybe where I want Kamen Rider to live. |
03-12-2020, 06:26 PM | #4 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
|
Ha ha, neat! Thanks for the heads-up!
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03-12-2020, 07:08 PM | #5 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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I've recently come to terms with Ryuki being a series that while very well-made and good at what it does, is just not really for me and what it was saying didn't resonate too well; so I probably won't have an awful lot to say (I tend to only like talking about stuff like this when it's A) something I love or like, or B) Hey Here's This Interesting Production Fun Fact!)
And Ryuki does have a fair few of the latter, but there's actually a lot in these early episodes I genuinely enjoy so I'll be sticking around for a hot second! The big thing I love is very early on so I'll say when you get there, but for now I also felt this was a super strong introduction especially when contrasted against Kuuga and Agito's strong willingness to stick to basics and simplicity. There's hardly anything wrong with that (the fact I love both those shows probably says that I don't think there's anything wrong with that), and in fact I think it's something Kamen Rider tends to do best; but when Kamen Rider isn't doing it it's something that's interesting to look at. And I've got little to add to what you said because you basically summed it up: it just gets right in there, tells you what Shinji and everything else is about, and has some neat subversions with police corruption and all the rest of it! Double super agree on the suits too. Ryuki himself I feel is pretty good but, like, in a 7/10 sort of way? Great aspects but I've seen better main suits. But Knight? Holy Spooky Man that's some top 10 Kamen Rider design material right there! It's like if Batman was a knight but, like, the designer was a god who was able to take two awesome yet incredibly conflicting concepts and make them work together! The colour scheme is on-point for how basic it is; the theming is subtle yet clear; the armour and visor are just so -crisp- and well-balanced in a way that feels like a way better version of Ryuki! I could gush about this design forever, it's just wonderful!
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03-12-2020, 07:50 PM | #6 |
WONDER RIDER
Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Australia
Posts: 2,732
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Oh man. I need to finish watching Ryuki. I've only seen the first few episodes before switching my attention to Mirai Sentai Timeranger. I've heard some good things about it, and I really love the kickass designs. Also, I was born while it was airing, so bonus.
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03-12-2020, 07:57 PM | #7 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Oregon
Posts: 1,099
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Ryuki is second only to Build in my ranking, so I'm very excited to see watch it. Ryuki gets off to a fantastic start, all the characters have really strong introductions that give you a clear idea of who they are and what they believe in, what they're fighting for. Shinji, Ren and Yui make an especially strong trio, all balencing each other out. And that's not even getting into the plot. The mystery of the mirror world goes in some crazy directions! Overall, you've got a lot of exciting stuff coming up!
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03-12-2020, 09:34 PM | #8 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 2,450
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I saw Dragon Knight on CW. How close did they keep to this show?
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03-12-2020, 09:46 PM | #9 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
|
Quote:
I've recently come to terms with Ryuki being a series that while very well-made and good at what it does, is just not really for me and what it was saying didn't resonate too well; so I probably won't have an awful lot to say (I tend to only like talking about stuff like this when it's A) something I love or like, or B) Hey Here's This Interesting Production Fun Fact!)
And Ryuki does have a fair few of the latter, but there's actually a lot in these early episodes I genuinely enjoy so I'll be sticking around for a hot second! The big thing I love is very early on so I'll say when you get there, but for now I also felt this was a super strong introduction especially when contrasted against Kuuga and Agito's strong willingness to stick to basics and simplicity. There's hardly anything wrong with that (the fact I love both those shows probably says that I don't think there's anything wrong with that), and in fact I think it's something Kamen Rider tends to do best; but when Kamen Rider isn't doing it it's something that's interesting to look at. And I've got little to add to what you said because you basically summed it up: it just gets right in there, tells you what Shinji and everything else is about, and has some neat subversions with police corruption and all the rest of it! Double super agree on the suits too. Ryuki himself I feel is pretty good but, like, in a 7/10 sort of way? Great aspects but I've seen better main suits. But Knight? Holy Spooky Man that's some top 10 Kamen Rider design material right there! It's like if Batman was a knight but, like, the designer was a god who was able to take two awesome yet incredibly conflicting concepts and make them work together! The colour scheme is on-point for how basic it is; the theming is subtle yet clear; the armour and visor are just so -crisp- and well-balanced in a way that feels like a way better version of Ryuki! I could gush about this design forever, it's just wonderful! I just... for me, I like the shows where the primary Rider is the second Rider we meet. (Not that I don't like it the other way around; OOO is still my favorite Rider series.) I find it a much easier way to introduce the plot and stakes of the series, to treat the primary Rider as the POV and let him ask all of the questions about the world that the audience would ask, and have another Rider around to answer those questions. It just makes the world feel more fleshed-out, that it wasn't waiting for this one guy for the story to start. Plus, using the primary Rider as the POV, it centers the show more as a Kamen Rider show, not just a show with Kamen Riders in it. And, yeah, Kamen Rider Batman is a great design mandate. I really like how the cape is optional, so the show can deploy it in cinematic moments, but leave it off for fights. Smart! Quote:
Quote:
Ryuki is second only to Build in my ranking, so I'm very excited to see watch it. Ryuki gets off to a fantastic start, all the characters have really strong introductions that give you a clear idea of who they are and what they believe in, what they're fighting for. Shinji, Ren and Yui make an especially strong trio, all balencing each other out. And that's not even getting into the plot. The mystery of the mirror world goes in some crazy directions! Overall, you've got a lot of exciting stuff coming up!
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03-12-2020, 10:47 PM | #10 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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I never saw it. I actually haven't ever seen an American-made toku show. Maybe somebody else reading this can give a comparison? In a non-spoilery-for-Ryuki way?
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