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04-21-2020, 09:43 AM | #91 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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If modern Kamen Rider is going to keep pretending bikes are relevant to them, then I wished they'd take a page from Gouram and just have the bike be a bigger, giant monster of a machine. Filming shots of it fake-ramming things and baddies is surely easier and something that can be done plenty through a whole year as opposed to doing stunts and even riding it across whole streets!
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04-21-2020, 11:35 AM | #92 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,290
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The Unidentified Lifeform in question is Me-Gyarido-Gi, who in the last episode developed something of an obsession with driving a truck, and is now going around backing into anyone unfortunate enough to be in his way. It's one of the more memorable Grongi gimmicks, and it makes a lot of sense when you realize that, since he's based on a hermit crab, the truck is essentially his "shell". Very clever!
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The action scene that closes out the episode is amazing. It's mostly Kuuga riding to a place on his bike, but there's the extremely unusual twist that he's actually riding through extremely congested traffic, and we see loads of civilians reacting to him driving by.
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On that note, there's some good use of practical effects throughout this episode, including actual explosions, a rarity for Kuuga, as well as the much more common "things on fire", something that always works for this show, and Yuusuke and Ichijou talking in the aftermath of the fight is no exception.
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04-21-2020, 06:17 PM | #93 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,401
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04-22-2020, 04:55 PM | #94 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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EPISODE 17: "Preparation"
Hey, you all like recap episodes, right? No? Well I'm going to talk about why this is a good one anyway. See, unlike a lot of people, I actually appreciate the value of an episode like this. They're obviously never going to be exciting to established fans following the series, but there are practical benefits to them I don't think should be understated. From the production perspective, obviously, assembling a "new" product out of old material is just a dream come true for the bean counters, and when Kuuga is spending all this money on elaborate ruins and church sets, I think it's only fair they take at least a week to breathe. An episode with minimal new content also provides a perfect opportunity to give up-and-coming staff a shot at working on that next level in an environment with less consequences. This episode was directed by Nobuhiro Suzumura, one of the show's assistant directors, who made his debut with Kuuga, and who has gone on to have a long career with Toei, directing proper episodes of shows here and there, as well as seemingly being a go-to guy for spin-offs, handling stuff like Ex-Aid's Another Ending trilogy and the ROGUE miniseries from Build. On the writing end, the episode is the work of both Katsura Murayama, one of the two people responsible for creating all the fictional bits of culture in Kuuga like the Grongi language, and Tsuyoshi Kida, who would of course go on to be a main writer for both Hibiki and Wizard. The other thing about a recap episode that I think often goes overlooked is simply that not everyone watches an entire TV show from the start. This is probably becoming more and more unthinkable in the age of streaming, but it's entirely likely there were people walking in on Kuuga at, say, the sixth episode, or the eleventh, or even this exact one, and providing a succinct explanation of the show would've legitimately been helpful to them. And that's what I think I want to say about this episode the most. As a recap episode, it's exceedingly clear and concise. Boring, yes, but also extremely practical. It fills you in on everything you need to know about Kuuga. He's a guy who transforms to fight monsters who want to kill people. Here's his secret identity. Here are all his friends, and what they do. Here are the police, who matter immensely. Here are Kuuga's different forms. Here are the Grongi, this is what "we" know about them, this is what we don't. It's an effective little video encyclopedia on Kuuga, and there's a certain novelty to Fumihiko Tachiki getting to do narration beyond one word in a preview each week. Also, while I'm on a trivia kick, for those who don't know, Tachiki would later do the narration in Double, as well as providing the voice for the Gaia Memories. Suffice it to say, he's got a cool voice, which is another point in this episode's favor. The actual new material here consists of roughly seven minutes of new footage, which centers simply on a new Grongi, Me-Gadora-Da (the tiger one!), going to wreck up the place, and Kuuga's efforts to stop him. And I do mean effort. The timestamps here mean I can say with certainty that Yuusuke was fighting this dude for several hours straight. I know he works hard for people's smiles, but man, I hope he got a good night's sleep after all that. The good news about it taking so long is that you get more cool nighttime action, concluding the episode with Kuuga's second ever Mighty Kick, and more cool shots of things lit by fire, which, again, always works in this show. I'm pleasantly surprised by this episode. It's not doing much, but what it does, it does very well. THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER I went through all the trouble of debating with myself whether or not a thumbs up we've seen before counts twice (it doesn't), and then the episode saves me the trouble by not having any at all. Total thumbs up count: 30+0 = 30
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Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 04-06-2023 at 05:47 PM.. |
04-22-2020, 05:32 PM | #95 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,401
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Dang dude, hours? I actually didn't catch that when I watched this ep initially. Mad respect there, Yusuke.
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04-22-2020, 05:48 PM | #96 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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It's a downright crime that a recap clip show for Kuuga had no thumbs up. Like-- like come on. That's like Den-O without Ore Sanjou! Like W without counting up crimes! Like Fourze without friendship! Like-- like Kuuga without Thumbs up!
The other element of a show like this having an episode just recapping everything up till this point is that, well, what other way was there to find out what had happened before? Internet access was limited, and what was there certainly wasn't capable of hosting video clips on this scale. VHSes probably weren't out for a while and after that all that's there is hearsay. Back in the day clip shows served a valuable purpose of being the only way people could catch up and recall what happened!
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04-22-2020, 06:49 PM | #97 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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I wonder if there was some Japanese schoolkid who had this as their first-ever Kuuga episode. Turn on the TV, and there's all this action and excitement for a half-hour. You can't believe it. Eyes wide, jaw hanging. The next day at school, it's all you can talk about. This superhero fighting so many monsters and he's changing colors all the time, and it's the best thing ever. The next week, you race out of bed, throw yourself in front of the TV... and get to watch people decipher runes on a computer and talk about monsters in a conference room and maybe if you're lucky see someone make curry. That kid must've been crestfallen.
I'm kidding, mostly. I can't imagine a kid who liked the clip show would've been disappointed with the next episode. (I honestly don't remember what it was, but it probably wasn't terrible. There's still Kuuga in it, you know?) I just think it'd be funny to see this one and assume every other one was going to be just like it. The whiplash of pacing between a clip show and regular Kuuga... seems like it could result in a few kids wondering what happened!
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
04-23-2020, 02:18 PM | #98 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Jan 2020
Posts: 1,290
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Other than the recap part I will only talk about the new part. Still not getting the appeal of recap but I guess it explains more about the Grongis. Like how they have human/monster form, an ancient warrior race, awakened by #0. Probably yeah not everyone watches from the start but I guess there are other sources other than recap to get informations from the series and catch up like internet.
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The actual new material here consists of roughly seven minutes of new footage, which centers simply on a new Grongi, Me-Gadora-Da (the tiger one!), going to wreck up the place, and Kuuga's efforts to stop him. And I do mean effort. The timestamps here mean I can say with certainty that Yuusuke was fighting this dude for several hours straight. I know he works hard for people's smiles, but man, I hope he got a good night's sleep after all that. The good news about it taking so long is that you get more cool nighttime action, concluding the episode with Kuuga's second ever Mighty Kick, and more cool shots of things lit by fire, which, again, always works in this show. I'm pleasantly surprised by this episode. It's not doing much, but what it does, it does very well.
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04-23-2020, 08:54 PM | #99 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Heck, taking all that into account, even the people who were following the show probably didn't mind seeing some of those clips a second time. It's a better reminder than just reading a text summary or seeing some static pictures in a magazine.
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04-23-2020, 08:58 PM | #100 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,825
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In 2000, fanboards (ie places like this) are just starting out, so you're pre-all that. I'm far too young to remember it, but you'd probably still be relying on alt.whatever groups in the West, and something similar in Japan. Completely different Internet to what we're used to today.
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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