|
Community Links |
Members List |
Search Forums |
Advanced Search |
Go to Page... |
|
Thread Tools |
08-09-2012, 12:18 AM | #11 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,268
|
Quote:
To my knowledge, I think Shinji is the first titular Kamen Rider to die and more interestingly for it to be an out-of-suit death. Ren's reaction to Shinji dying in his arms was so strong and powerful that it made up for what an ass he was for most of the series.
Asakura's final stand was a little strange. Being cheated out of killing a man he had become obsessed with pushed him over the edge...truly a vexed individual. In the end...I dunno. Would it have been better without the reset? It would have been dark as hell but I think it would have further cemented Ryuki's reputation as one of the most unique Rider series of this generation. In hindsight I can more or less see why this show did not do well over in Japan especially with its target demographic being kids. The stories were rather dark, the main villain being Kanzaki Shirou wasn't a dude with a special form or the "ultimate badass" type character, maybe too much focus was placed on the secret between Yui and Kanzaki....In a way, this show is up there with GARO in terms of mature storytelling. I mean even Imperer's death was pretty fucked up in that scene where his fiancee is waiting for him not knowing he had become a notch on Asakura's belt. This was the series that got me back into Toku. The X or Highlander of the Kamen Rider franchise. I think it's downfall was the fights in particular, being predictable. For the 1st half of the series either the monster died or ran away, and if it did die, it was usually Ren or Shinji using Final Vent and if it ran away, it was running away from the Final Vent. Basically the fights became predictable. This does change later aside from the Survive Card being somewhat of a deus ex machina. By the last episodes the fights are a lot less predictable. In this respect, I think the movie, Episode Final, excelled. Simply put, the fights in the majority of the series, due to predictability, did not seem on par with the mature storytelling. The storytelling and characterizations is where this series excelled. To see the way Akiyama ended up in the end was a surprise. Even for Kitaoka, even Shinji said something to the matter of "well if he's fighting just to live then I can't really blame him anymore!". I loved how we got to know the characters just as Shinji did; his experience mirrored ours. Speaking of dark..finding out that Yui was technically somewhat dead...nuts! The whole story was due to Shiro not being able to take loss. Quote:
On the subject of Asakura who is in my mind the greatest Villain in Heisei Rider mythos, I loved how the writers really pulled no punches in portraying him as utter scum.
Killing his own family in a fire, playing a traumatized scarred victim just to bait his brother to finish the job (Seriously...What the fuck?), destroying a talented pianist's career murdering Raia, murdering Gai, using a young girl as bait for his Mirror Monster hunt, murdering Imperer...And yet I find it hilarious that this guy could have a seat with Kitaoka and Ren to collectively mock Shinji. Also he seemed to like offering people food. Maybe because he doesn't like the idea of people going hungry. Strange character trait for a pure psychopath. He was Kanzaki's ringer, the guy Kanzaki could rely on to thin the herd which was why his deck was rigged with three contract cards. Survive? Who needs Survive when you've got Unite! I love how they never bothered to give him a clearly defined objective or wish. He was there for the carnage. And I love him for it. Asakura is the bad guy to end up liking, like Magneto and others. For me, seeing him take out all those Riders left me wanting to see someone kick his ass. Asakura was entertaining because he was deadly and unpredictable. I remember when he pulled out his extra contract cards and was like "WTF?! He has more than Jun!". Then when he pulled out Unite Vent I was like "Alright WTF x 10 that's not even fair!". Asakura managed to kill the biggest dick in the series(Gai), and the most peaceful(Tezuka). By way of karma he was going to bite it one way or another. I did like how the moments where it seemed like Asakura had a heart, he shoves a nail right through it. THAT is excellent storytelling by way of the writers.
__________________
Let's make this showy |
08-09-2012, 12:51 AM | #12 |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Englewood CO
Posts: 10,893
|
Everything until they hit the reset button was fantastic. I am so tired of reset button endings, as they are overdone and cliche.
|
08-09-2012, 01:13 AM | #13 |
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Lexington, Ky
Posts: 16,328
|
Quote:
I didn't know that the series didn't do so well in Japan. Just how well was it received? I do like how Tamashii Nations is giving it some love with SH Figuarts. DEFINITELY a god send for a guy like me who only started watching Ryuki relatively recently. When Kickback told me about what he was starting(which was this place), I had picked Ryuki as one of the 1st Rider series I would watch. I am glad I did. Prior to this I had only watched ZX, a few dubbed episodes in Tagalog of the original Kamen Rider, and a few episodes of Masked Rider when it was localized with that one dude back when MMPR was already popular.
I think it's downfall was the fights in particular, being predictable. For the 1st half of the series either the monster died or ran away, and if it did die, it was usually Ren or Shinji using Final Vent and if it ran away, it was running away from the Final Vent. Basically the fights became predictable. This does change later aside from the Survive Card being somewhat of a deus ex machina. By the last episodes the fights are a lot less predictable. In this respect, I think the movie, Episode Final, excelled. Simply put, the fights in the majority of the series, due to predictability, did not seem on par with the mature storytelling. The storytelling and characterizations is where this series excelled. To see the way Akiyama ended up in the end was a surprise. Even for Kitaoka, even Shinji said something to the matter of "well if he's fighting just to live then I can't really blame him anymore!". I loved how we got to know the characters just as Shinji did; his experience mirrored ours. Speaking of dark..finding out that Yui was technically somewhat dead...nuts! The whole story was due to Shiro not being able to take loss. I think Asakura's characterization was done on purpose by the writers. There have been some characters in Sentai/Rider series where they start bad, then turn good eventually, these tend to be bad asses sometimes. Being that Ren, Tezuka, Toujo(to an extent), and Kitaoka can all be seen as primarily good if not netural(like Kitaoka until the end when it's realized that he's not so much trying to live out a life of various wealth as much as he is just trying to live to begin with), I think the writers made Asakura THEE main bad guy. Simply because if not him, there would be no one else but Odin, and Odin just stands in place for Kanzaki Shiro since Kanzaki lacks a physical form. Asakura is the bad guy to end up liking, like Magneto and others. For me, seeing him take out all those Riders left me wanting to see someone kick his ass. Asakura was entertaining because he was deadly and unpredictable. I remember when he pulled out his extra contract cards and was like "WTF?! He has more than Jun!". Then when he pulled out Unite Vent I was like "Alright WTF x 10 that's not even fair!". Asakura managed to kill the biggest dick in the series(Gai), and the most peaceful(Tezuka). By way of karma he was going to bite it one way or another. I did like how the moments where it seemed like Asakura had a heart, he shoves a nail right through it. THAT is excellent storytelling by way of the writers.
__________________
|
08-09-2012, 01:49 AM | #14 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 1,268
|
Quote:
Definitely. Asakura is a prime badass and evil SOB. He's by far my favorite evil rider ever. He killed Gai and Imperor which makes me love him more and if he could've taken out Tiger that would have been icing on the cake. Ouja essentially became the device by which Kanzaki eliminated the weakest links. He managed to be so purely evil and yet so rediculously likable that he came out on top as my favorite character in the series. Now that's damn good writing when you wind up liking the villain more so than the heroes.
I hated Imperor and glad he couldn't escape Mirror World. He's another shmuck that tried to hard. It echoed a primary motif of Kamen Rider Ryuki; be careful what you wish for. He DID eventually get what he wanted but ended up losing it all. Had he not taken Kanzaki Shirou's opportunity to become a rider he would have lived rich and possibly marry that one chick. Sano-san was a tool anyways, the ONLY likeable things are his costume and his power of multiple contract monsters, his attacks were cool too. I LOVED it when Shinji punched him in the face at Tea Atori though! Kid had it coming. I especially agree with your last statement, referring to the writing of Asakura leaving you liking him more than the main Riders. While Akiyama is my favorite, Asakura was surprisingly one of the most fleshed out characters in the series. I remember my friend telling me(when I was in the early episodes), saying the "guy in the jail is a bad ass". He most certainly was. Not only was Asakura a potent fighter but he was conniving and a strategic thinker. Who could see his reunion with his brother Akira as a trap? Just when you think he has a heart, he kills his own brother. The dude did not even want to see him until Momoi Reiko convinced him! Little did she know she led the poor sap to his demise. I'm still in awe of the last minutes of the show. To see everyone show up and come across each other under random circumstances, that was pretty cool. I am disappointed that Megumi and Goro didn't interact more. There was just 1 episode of them relating to each other as Kitaoka's former and current bodyguards, and then karaoke/Goro babysitting her and Shimada. There definitely could've been a cool side story of Goro as Zolda II protecting Megumi.
__________________
Let's make this showy |
08-09-2012, 03:13 AM | #15 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 229
|
That reminds me, i'm really glad they're finally coming out soon with Figuarts Tiger. I needed to have one after finishing the series. I just really liked his story and nice end. I'm not too sure about buying the rest of the Ryuki Riders for the price though. The series was pretty good for the most part. Is Faiz next?
__________________
Xion14's TFW2005 Feedback Last edited by Xion14; 08-09-2012 at 04:31 AM.. |
08-09-2012, 05:51 AM | #16 |
Tokusatsu Hero
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 5,525
|
So I guess I was the only one who was slightly confused by the ending?
When they showed Ren going to see Eri in the hospital and she was alive, I figured he got his wish. And that made his loss of Shinji even more saddening. Then there's that montage of everyone alive and well running into each other but without remembering a thing - even Asakura, who seemingly wasn't much of a psychopath. When I watched it I didn't think that was actually the ending, just a nice thing thrown in to celebrate the ending and show off what could have been were there no Rider fight. But the way you guys are talking, that was the actual ending. Was there something I missed indicating this was really Ren's wish? As an aside, I don't think anyone but Ren remembered what happened. Shinji was still painfully oblivious to everything. It was just Ren, a stranger now, treating him so strangely that elicited hisi "wait what's going on?" reaction. |
08-09-2012, 08:34 AM | #17 |
The true color of a Hero
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Columbia, SC
Posts: 2,187
|
All this talk about the last few episodes takes me back. I remember watching last few episodes in the closing days in my final semester. I was speechless for minute. Felt like I had been punched in the gut and thrown across the room. Shinji dying, Ren's reaction to it, Kitaoka's death, and Asakura's quest for revenge being foiled driving him to madness.
And then we learn that this probably isn't the first time this has happened. It was hinted at a bit when Odin first appeared, but this confirmed Kanzaki had the power of the reset button on his side. He doesn't like the outcome, start over. It's kinda fucked up when you think about, that these people could have been going through this for who knows how long. Anyway, I really enjoyed the series overall. For those who did, I recommend checking out an anime called Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The series has many similar elements to Ryuki that it feels like a Magical Girl little sister to Ryuki |
08-09-2012, 09:36 AM | #18 |
Banned
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Englewood CO
Posts: 10,893
|
Quote:
But the way you guys are talking, that was the actual ending. Was there something I missed indicating this was really Ren's wish?
As an aside, I don't think anyone but Ren remembered what happened. Shinji was still painfully oblivious to everything. It was just Ren, a stranger now, treating him so strangely that elicited hisi "wait what's going on?" reaction. Quote:
BTW, My-Hime is another anime similar to Ryuki. Last edited by Dr Kain; 08-09-2012 at 09:39 AM.. |
08-09-2012, 10:13 AM | #19 |
Rider War Veteran
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 430
|
The reset is a debate I'd rather not get into. But of the 4 possible endings of Ryuki, this was probably the least depressing so I can accept it. The Movie ending was just as dark and the two TV Special endings were so twisted that I hope neither were canonical.
|
08-09-2012, 10:18 AM | #20 |
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Lexington, Ky
Posts: 16,328
|
This ending is bay far the most powerful and best. The Episode Final ending is ridiculously ambiguous so I can't stand that. The primary ending for 13 Riders is awesome whereas it's reset ending is horrible. Overall I think it's easy to see that the TV ending is the true one since the 2 movies each represent an AU Ryuki-verse.
__________________
|
|
TokuNation News & Rumors |
SH Figuarts BoonBoomger Red |
Hasbro Licenses Power Rangers Toys to Playmates Toys |
Discotek Media Licenses Mobile Cop Jiban |
What's going on with CSM? |
Ultraman Arc Trailer |
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 05:36 PM.
|