DreamSword Watches Unfamiliar Toku: Part 7 - Caster Chronicles Dragon Swordplay
 

Otherwise known as Magic Bullet Chronicles Ryukendo for those you who don't do literal translations.

This is a tokusatsu from 2006 made by Takara, and is notable in that it was seen as such a strong competitor in the genre that it's partially what caused Toei to greenlight Kamen Riders Hibiki and Kabuto to be the way they were(atleast, according to a very brief Google search I did).

Like most entries in this series, I know very little about it going in, but as soon as Bereke Scrubs released their scrub of the show, I saw some of the suit designs and decided to check this out.

This'll be an interesting experience for my threads in general, as it's the longest show I've decided to cover so far at 52 episodes and a couple specials. So we'll see if I have the stamina to keep it going or if I end up going into Binge Mode like I've done with some other shows. Either way, the biggest thing I'm hoping for is to have fun, and I hope you all do too.

Let's begin.

Pretty fun intro episode!

In terms of plot it's kind of a standard first episode, but there's some fun to be had in all the individual elements that make it up.

The story follows Kenji, a drifter who moves to Akebono City, a place that gets invaded by demons once a week. They're protected by the organization known as SHOT, as the police are rather useless in driving the demons back.

Kenji gets to know some townsfolk, gets into a fight with a CGI monster, and is eventually chosen to be Ryukendo, a transforming hero who uses a Keyblade before they were even a thing. Kingdom Hearts owes Takara some serious royalties on that one.

This is afterall only the first episode, so we only get the baseline for the cast's' personalities, but everyone begins off pretty likable. And I was actually impressed at how much effort was put into not only the effects and stunts, but also the world building when it came to Akebono City. Makes me hope that the show can reach Kamen Rider W levels when it comes to that.

I also rather like the suit design and the props too. The Keyblade is neat in how it functions, I like that the lead hero is Blue while the secondary is Red(a reverse of the usual standard), and the Wolf Bike that the Red Hero rides around on is very much My Aesthetic. And major shout out to the credits sequence, which was rather unexpected and very fun. The OP and ED songs are just kinda okay, but I could see them growing on me over time.

Overall, it's a fun start, and I'm looking forward to the rest of the show.

I think it'd be the other way around since KH1 was in 2002 and this was in 2006.

That said, yeah this is mid 2000s Toku incarnate in regards to vibes. There's a fun feeling even if I feel the pacing or just the way scenes were cut felt a bit off.

But it's a good introductory episode. And I'm already digging our heroes in terms of their looks. Though I'm also a sucker for that one villain who looks like a monstrous Kamen Rider Knight, he looks sick.

Oh, believe me, Akebono will not disappoint you! In some ways, this town is even superior to Fuuto, but more on that later. In fact, what impressed me most about this show was the number of toys. I mean, modern riders are usually criticized for too many gimmicks, but Ryukendo is not too inferior to them, and for 2006 this is completely incredible. Although it seems that for Takara the approach: “Not a single episode without an update” is quite typical.

Yeah, the editing was definitely a bit off a couple times. Namely during the climax of the episode.

Looking forward to it!

A kid finds a plant bulb made out of boobs.

With that out of the way, the majority of this episode is more about Kenji getting introduced to the police and of course, SHOT.

And while I liked the episode well enough, I think there's something to be said about how the two plots going on in this episode kinda don't really interconnect? Like, at all?

I mean, there is a very loose connection, with Kenji meeting the little boy at the start of the episode, but outside of that, this could've easily been two separate episodes. And part of me wishes it were, with this episode being entirely about the police and the monster just being something sent out like in episode 1.

But, what keeps the whole thing entertaining throughout is the various character quirks and interactions. The citizens of Akebono are quite quirky, and their police force is no exception. Even the kid has a poindexter thing going on that you kinda don't see nowadays, which not only made him likeable, but is the sort of thing you don't really see anymore nowadays.

Ryugunoh also gets a proper introduction this episode, and I found it cool how, in contrast to, say, Kamen Rider, our other hero is actually quite supportive(if a bit cautious) of his new teammate. Doesn't even mind that Ryukendo is the one who gets to use the new toy first. Which, speaking of Rider, modern Rider fans would probably hate this show, since we're getting new toys already. The sort of thing that we wouldn't see alot of until about a decade later.

Overall, it's basic, but it's fun. And that's all I need.

A solid next step in terms of introductory episodes. I think I'm going to like Akebono as a location considering the amount of character we see from the residents thus far. No strong opinions on the cast just yet, but the comedy is on point I feel as Kenji and GekiRyuKen's "Seriously" bit got me to laugh.

Surprised to see a sudden new form enter the fray, but hey, it was pretty neat and used the OP as an Insert. Which I'll admit, this is having the effect the GARO ones so far have had on you where you like them more as Inserts than OPs.

I'm also surprised to see them dedicate part of the credits to the episode itself too before cutting to the usual sequence. Normally I only see that in anime when they try their hand at it, with Gundam Build Divers Re:Rise coming to mind considering how many times they did it there.

I think I watched the first episode of this years and years and years ago. Didn't really click with me.

Shogo Yamaguchi who played Kenji/Ryukendo formerly played Daigo's son in that one-shot Ultraman Tiga spinoff. Hiroko Sato who played Kaori the florist went on to play Ai Yashiro, Kaoru Ichijo's counterpart in Kamen Rider Decade.

There's a reason I chose it as the thumbnail!

That's a shame. I have it on good authroity that you should atleast watch up to episode 3!

I have no idea who any of those people are!