You gotta have a bike!

It's literally 50% of their name!

It's Kamen RIDER

RIDER, sure. But what if they're not just riding bikes anymore? What if they're riding justice?

Lady Justice?

Well now we've entered another genre of film entirely.

lol

Shame on you! You've disrespected justice, and a Kamen Rider's devotion to it. -10 Rider Points, and Takeshi Hongo glowers at you disdainfully. Please adjust your TokuNation Scorecard appropriately.

I love that big, bad beetle! I also love the TryChaser but obviously it's bigger brother is a lot more impressive. The dirt-bike's obvious advantage is being part of much more acrobatic stunts, but sometimes it's just good and visceral to see Kuuga ram a Grongi with his gigantic, metal, engine-powered mount.

Hongo would laugh and we'd hang out in the Tachibana racing club and drink some beer.

I think the big fake bike just looks more real than the actual dirt bike? That armored warbike has heft, has majesty. The dirt bike... it's cool that he can do tricks, but I'm not afraid of it. It's like the more punishing a Rider's ride looks, the less I see it as a prop. When it's a legit bike, I don't know. Seems cheap, seems fake.

The judges have reviewed your appeal and it has been denied. To compensate for court costs, an additional -1 Rider Point penalty will be added to the initial verdict.

I've always loved the idea that a bike is just a modern horse, and the beetle is totally compatible with that. That's the natural evolution, baby!

It's, I think, a weird point in favor of Kuuga's relentless, at times exhausting, need to be methodical and procedural about every element of this motorcycle-riding superhero sci-fi/horror show. Someone clearly asked, "Wait, how can Kuuga's dirt bike get a boss mystical upgrade when the upgrade would need to have been created thousands of years before dirt bikes?" And so, yeah, "Horse armor." It's commendable.

MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 17 - 19

Well, Episode 17 is a clip show with a couple new fight scenes, so there's really nothing to talk about there. We can skip that one. On to the next two-parter!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kuuga/kuuga18.png

Godai is sidelined for this two-parter, poisoned by a Kissing Grongi, and it's a weird choice. I mean, it's not an unusual choice. Rider shows (that I've seen) frequently take the main Rider out of commission for a story, to better spotlight the supporting cast and talk about how each of them views the main Rider. (I just watched Build, and they did a similar "the main guy is poisoned and the rest of the cast reacts to it" story, to mixed results.) And, you know, that's what this one does! Godai's hospitalization/"death" causes the other characters to work in his absence to stop the threat, while reflecting on Godai's value to the team. Luckily, Godai resurrects just in time to stop the monster and save the day. A solid story.

It's just, that's practically every Kuuga story. While the threat to Godai is new, the concept of everyone else doing their job in relative isolation to stop the threat is more common than one that's got Godai in a primary role! Those types of stories are only maybe the last few episodes. The first, like, twelve episodes were ones where Ichijou tracked down a monster, Sakurako translated bits of ancient inscriptions, Pole Pole scenes happened for no reason, and Godai showed up at the end to Rider Kick a monster to death. That's the Kuuga formula! This story tried to position itself as an alteration to the routine, to make Godai's absence mean something, but he's mostly absent from this show. He only just recently became the star. Why do this type of story now? Like I said, weird choice.

Still, it is solid. The pace is consistent, the acting and direction has flashes of craftsmanship (the scene where Creepy Medical Examiner has to tell Ichijou that Godai's dead, and they frame it heavy to each side, and Ichijou's silent in his car, really emotional stuff), the Grongi scenes are compelling, and the fight songs are terrific. Have I mentioned that? The last couple stories, there's this guitar-heavy fight song that's energetic in a late-80s hair-metal way. It's kitschy but exciting, and I totally dig it.

So, yeah, it's not a bad story, it's just weird to do a "Godai is missing" story when he's almost always missing from the story on this show.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kuuga/kuuga19.png