Episode 30 is the start of the Inoue era. It's the first episode to do away with Asumu's introduction and it debuts the new douchebag character, Kiriya.

Phew, finished Faiz yesterday and honestly, I disliked pretty much everything about it. The characters were unlikeable, the designs were totally not my cup of tea, the music was okay, the story was... meh.
The only thing I really enjoyed about it though was the Hyper Battle Video. That one was awesome xD

Perhaps not what am I watching, but moreso what I'm listening to, but how did I miss this song?!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLzp_nKGRM4


Sung by Satoshi Matsuda, or Ren Akiyama.

...Kiriya. Ugh. Probably one of the only things I really did dislike about the production shift. The lack of Shonen Yo at the end of the episodes, the loss of a lot of the show's sense of style and the change to the intro are the other standouts to me. The show was still really good in its last run of episodes, and I've said it before but some of my favorite moments from the season were from post-shift.

Really now? The only truly unlikable character was Kusaka. Mihara was utterly useless and a waste of a really well built up rider gear, but he at least wasn't a completely irredeemable human being. The rest of the main cast, the hero orphenocs and Takumi in particular, were great characters that received a lot of really good development.

I can see the designs being hit or miss with people, I really liked both the rider and orphenoc designs for the most part. The only song I really remember from it was Justi-faiz, which isn't my favorite opening theme but I still really dug it. The story, it wasn't an especially story driven series I suppose, and with the way the ending felt rushed to have any relevance...

You know what, I just had a bit of a realization. Faiz and Wizard are really really similar in that regard. The early part of the show focuses on the villains trying to turn humans into more monsters because reasons. And then the latter portion tries to come up with some sort of endgame out of basically nowhere. There are other similarities too but I'm too tired and lazy to think about them right now.

But yeah, Faiz was a great season. A bit overbearing and dark at times, but it was definitely a good ride.

So, A-MA-ZON! has been a slow watch for me. Mostly because just being really busy at home and work, and using what free time I do get on other things. I just finished episode 5, don't really have anything to say about it at this point. I do like that it seems to tie-in to the next episode and that we're going to have one of the beastmen be a bit more relevant now, maybe. It's a short season and I'm honestly surprised I haven't just marathoned my way through it, I watched the last half of Faiz quicker than I've watched the first quarter of Amazon I think, and Amazon is only 24 episodes long. May need to watch a faster paced season after this one or something.

It's hard to marathon Showa Rider series. The lack of ongoing storylines and general episodic nature don't give you a lot of impetus to keep watching to see what happens next.

Black Episode 26: This must have been fun for the little girl in this episode to beat up Kamen Rider Black, lol. The Buffalo Mutant and The Priests' plan were good in theory, too bad they keep underestimating Kotaro and his big heart that can help the people they manipulate get past the evil plans. Birugenia just needs to kill the Priests and try to take out Black himself, because this would have happened already lol. Though I love Kotaro a lot with how heroic he is. The action is pretty awesome lately Black has been badass.

You know I couldn't quite put my finger on why I'm having trouble watching episode after episode, despite liking the series so far, and I think you nailed it. It feels like a show I'd be more content with the wait between episodes you'd get every week, whereas something like Gaim, for a recent example, having to wait for the next episode is driving me crazy because of the overarching plot and wanting to see what happens. Whereas with Amazon each episode is self contained within the framework of the story we were outlined at the start. Gedon wants Amazon's armlet and is going to send a beastman to try and get it. There are little developments here and there but nothing really pushing me to watch just one more episode before bed like I did with every other season I've watched so far.

Yeah, I feel the same way with Black. Not a bad show in the slightest, but I really don't feel the way I do about Ryuki or Gaim when it comes to it. I watch maybe 2 episodes a day, if that. It took me a while to realize that while Black is good as far as individual episodes, it's not really building up to anything. Kotaro, while being a strong lead, hasn't progressed much as a character in the 28 episodes I've seen, there's no ongoing story arc, I know how each episode ends pretty much, and it removes that tension you get when you see somebody like a Zangetsu or Ouja come in and stomp the piss out of the hero and force him to become stronger. I think Shadow Moon will do that for Black, but he hasn't shown up yet.

We often don't agree on much but I hated Faiz too. I liked the suits, and the action, but the fact the show never goes anywhere or ever develops the characters in any meaningful was infuriating for me. It was an episodic series basically, that pretended to have an overarching narrative but it never actually had anything to say.

I say Kuuga is my least favourite Rider show, but I at least watched the whole of Kuuga. Blade and Faiz are two Rider shows I've never enjoyed enough at any point to find the motivation to finish.

Aye. It just feels so..risk-free. I mean, yeah we've actually had characters introduced get killed off pretty quickly, but as far as the main cast goes I never have to worry that something might happen to them. Also, the lack of buildup to any kind of upgrade form or secondary rider not being there, while I don't necessarily feel that every show needs them, I think I can see why more modern seasons do go that route. I'm not expecting a ton so early into the show though, and I am enjoying it at the very least, just not gonna be one of those seasons I look back on and want to watch start to finish over the course of a weekend again.

And this is one of the few times we really don't see eye to eye on something. I loved Faiz, for reasons I've already stated. It was certainly no Ryuki or Hibiki, but it was a very solid show with fantastic action, a fairly likable cast, and enough going for it that I could forgive it's story issues. As I said, it really does remind me a lot of Wizard's issues, and I liked Wizard too.