Finished OOO yesterday. A wonderful show, lots of awesome action and heartfelt scenes at the end. I love Eiji, Ankh, Gotou, Date, Satanaka, Kougami, Hina, Chi, Uva, Kasari, Doctor Maki and Mezool so much. Such a great series.

Finally a good upgrade form!

Blue V2 is fucking badass, easily my favourite form after the base Pegasus form - move aside Red Form!

The fight against Ice Whip was awesome and all round this was a great arc with big heart and imagination. Arcs like these make it feel so worthwhile pushing through all the meh eps.

Is Ice Wipe his real name or did you make a really funny joke?

Lol no I have no idea what their name is since they spoke entirely in Grongi. But they were armed with a whip that froze on impact, killing their victims with frostbite to the heart.

So Ice Whip.

(just totally noticed I wrote wipe instead of whip what a tard)

Episode 29 was another great episode, it was no Shakespeare but I like the reason behind the new forms and the fact they even bothered with one. They tried to be imaginative too and I appreciate extra effort. Godai is basically Kamen Rider Green Lantern. Now though I'm just waiting for shit to really hit the fan with Godai's constant optimism and seeming disinterest in his own well being.

It was also great to see the ULs causing chaos again and to have another great fight for Kuuga.

Episode 30 of Kuuga was weird, they've now added Japanese subtitles (that MCS don't translate) to the episodes for the Grongi which means you get this massive, obtrusive black strip at the bottom of the screen. I hope that isn't on every episode now.

ALSO. Jean's got a crush, Jean's got a cruuuuUuUuUush!

Also fuck yeah with Ichijou helping Godai save the day, that is what we wanna see!

In terms of the upgrade form, it was pretty unspectacular especially after blue V2 but then suddenly there is an explosion that covers like half the city? The fuuuuuck.

31, another recap episode? Dammit!

I watched the first episode of Amazon last night. I loved how it didn't really waste much time with setting things up and just jumped straight into the story.

This looks to be a very interesting series unlike anything Rider I've seen so far. Not just because its my first Showa series but how different a protagonist Amazon is.

The Gorgos suit is also freaking hilarious :lol

So...I was catching up on Wizard and...

http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1370852792

http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1370852921

OMG!!! I do the same exact thing when I chop onions!!! :eek:

...

and I love mayonnaise...

oh dear...

I have to say, Kuuga is a lot more enjoyable to watch now he has his Gold forms because they make the base forms less 'special'.

It's no longer about showcasing those forms, it's about showcasing the Gold ones and so now he switches Base forms multiple times in a single fight, the purpose and use of each form becomes much more obvious and makes for much more interesting viewing as Godai makes the most out of each forms purpose. The forms are pretty uninteresting in themselves but used in combos with others and you start to see signs of all the cool stuff the Rider's would be able to do in the future shows.

Plus, I will forever love Godai's motorbike martial arts, the bikes really aren't all that relevant to later series but Godai's bike, along with Gouram which fits to the bike, really is his greatest weapon.

I also really enjoy the way this series is grounded, a Toku world where actions have actual consequences?! Even stuff like basically reusing monster suits is given actual purpose in the story, whether initially done for budget reasons or not.

Kuuga is not a great show, to be fair it's not even a good one with an oddly dour and adult story coupled with rough fight sequences but when episodes are good...man they are really fucking good, some of the best Toku I've watched. And that is because, minuscule budget or not, this series just has so much heart, imagination and effort put into it and when that actually makes it across to the viewer it's just a joy to watch, warts and all.

Also, she may not be able to act, but I've got the biggest crush on Sakurako.

I've wondered about that before, because there certainly are episodes that are a huge drag, but I have so much love for the show, it must be like you said, the episodes that are good, are REALLY good. It has so much heart and feeling that it resonates with me.

Which, is also why I think Fourze was a REALLY great show, and I do not understand it when people were comparing it to Wizard over the last few pages, as being a weaker show. To me, Fourze was amazing, up with Den-O and W as some of the best KR I've seen.

My only complaint with Fourze is that there wasn't really any huge negative consequences to those that used the switches, or from the damage they caused, except in like three cases. We got the one kid that was afraid to go back to school because he knew he couldn't trust himself to not seek out another switch, and then in the end, some of the Horoscopes actually physically died, while most of them didn't. And again, that's one of the things that works for me with Kuuga, is that the mosters ARE impacting the world around them, regular people are affected, people die.

And Kuuga is even responsible for it in part. Of course, it's not like he can stop fighting, he has to, but now his finishers can even endanger people?

Kiva 21 and 22

Alright, so there playing some sort of dating game or whatever. Nothing really seemed to happen until the Chameleon Fangire seemed to notice something off about Wateru's girlfriend.

Glad the Frankenstein dude's starting to get more screentime, though.

Kiva 23

This episode is definitely a continuation of the plots fro mthe last two, but much better. I'm more interested in the Bear Fangire and his wife's relationship than any of the main characters though. Otoya's reaction to Frankenstein guy and Fish dude working in the coffee shop was hilarious though.

Queen's scary as shit. And man...I keep forgetting that Jiro can be evil as fuck! And he takes birthday party's waaaay too intensely.

Kiva 24

You know with all that break the chain talk in the opening and throughout the series...I never thought breaking the chains on Kiva's suit would actually be important and lead to a power-up, lol.

Anyway, this is a pretty great episode. Jiro went completely insane. Mio, I guess, is Queen number 2? I wonder what happened to the first...I had a feeling that Mio would be the good member of the Checkmate four, but I'm not so sure as of the end of the episode. Time will tell...

Kiva's new form is alright, but I have a feeling that dragon he needs to fuse with is gonna piss me off. That Rider Kick was sort of insane, though. Not only do you attack with a super powered kick, but two energy scythes pop out of your legs and hack the opponent as he's being kicked? Man...

Yeah, Emperor Form's Rider Kick is awesome, and they explain what happened to the original Queen later on.

Huh...out of curiosity, has Kiva ever rode his bike? Does he have a bike?

He rides it for a few seconds every once in a while. It's a cool looking bike, but not used much.

Emperor Kiva's Rider Kick is the best Rider Kick.


Edit: Kiva's bike.
http://gigazine.jp/img/2009/03/27/su...9/P1110276.JPG

Yeah, he just doesn't use it very often (He uses it more than Fourze though...).

eughughugh...don't show me that bike...it just makes me want one.

The hell? I'd bet I've seen Fourze's bike in at least every other episode. I don't remember seeing Kiva's bike after like episode 10 (granted, it's been a long time since I finished Kiva).



I know, right? It's a cool design. I DEMAND a SHF Kiva bike to go with SHF Kiva...oh. Right.

:(

Kiva has one of the best bikes of Kamen Rider. It's so fucking badass. It doesn't look like a regualr bike with Kamen Rider bits on it. I find those are the best bikes. Ones that look like actual motorcycles with slight motifs instead of just dirtbikes with big plastic additions.

Really? I remember Fourze only ever using it maybe a total of five times throughout the series. I remember Meteor's was only ever used three times, and one of those times was Tachibana controlling it remotely.



Don't remind me...:cry

and when I said I want one, yeah an SHF one, but I would LOVE an actual replica of the motorcycle.

That would also be awesome. Just the other day at work I saw a bike that looked like the right kind and color to be modded into Kiva's, and I thought if I was cool enough to ride a bike, that's what I'd want.

Kiva 25 and 26

That damn spider is back. Thankfully Mio embraces her Fangire side and finally annihilates the bastard. The past portion was actually my least favorite this time around, at least in the second episode. I thought it was going to go into a dull regaining lost memories arc, but thankfully it was over by the end of the episode.

Bishop seems pretty awesome so far. And Spider Fangire using IXA? With puppets and all? Ugh...

Ahaha, and these movie adverts at the end with the Taros. Not much to say on them, they're just amusing.

Kiva 27:

Hmm so the Wonderful Auzoroblahblah Members are all being targetted and it's up to NAgo to save the day. Might be an interesting epi-....What.

What. What. WHAT?!

Jiro can leave the castle?! Why is it popping out of the ground now?! It has a time portal inside?! Nago's in the past now?!

....What.

And the Taros adventure continues! In the theater apparently. Might as well check that Kiva movie out then...

I found the Spider Fangire's death bittersweet, since I wanted him to bite the dust, but I was sad that Mio was the one who took him out.

Yeah, it did get a bit confusing.

Are the ads for the Demon King Castle? because if so DO NOT watch that movie.

Yeah. Is it that bad?

It's not great, unfortunately. I love Kiva, so I enjoyed it, but it's not a real good movie.

Yeah, for some odd reason everyone knows that Wataru is Kiva, they put in Den-O references, but they're poorly done. Kiva turns into a dragon, but he's supposed to be corrupted, and they didn't change the colors, which I really think they should've. Rey is very weird, and he's played by Saga's actor. Wataru goes to high school...eh...when I initially saw it I thought it was bad, but still okay-ish. Den-O (the admin of this site) made some good points, and I have come down on it a bit.

Aaaah. Well, I'm burning through Kiva right now, so I might as well finish the series and watch and judge the movie later if I have the time.

That sounds like a good plan.

The other day I watched Decade 1 and Kamen Rider G. Decade was something else and I am curious about it. G was very entertaining though.

Episode 34 of Kuuga - for kids! Seriously, this is a kids show right?

I couldn't quite tell between the intense terror induced by jump scares, a sadistic UL, brain haemorrhages killing almost the entire male population of a school with a suicide that follows it. It was well constructed and all but it just takes me by surprise just how dark this show gets.

I have to ask though, why is the morgue flooded?

I believe I'm going to make Kiva my next series I'm going through. I just finished episodes 7 and 8, really enjoying love Wataru and Kivat. Intrigued with both storylines and love Castle Doran.

I never felt like Kuuga was a kids show. Wouldn't say Ryuki was either. Later shows definitely are targeted more at kids, but the early shows feel like YA shows at best.

It always amazes me as to what Japan is allowed to get away with in these shows as compared to the US.

I see Showa and early Heisei (Especially Kuuga and Agito) as something more akin to Star Trek TNG or Hercules the Legendary Journeys. Written with an adult mentality, but had plenty of children watching them. That is good Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider today has gotten way to "kid friendly" for my taste.

And stuff costs too much, and banks open too early, and young people drive too fast.

I actually don't know whether I agree with this.

I love that Kuuga feels like a real world, with real people, where things have actual consequences but Kuuga gets very dark and very heavy very often and I'm not sure it fits when it's about a guy in what looks like a knock off superhero costume from a costume shop fighting what look like tribesman that have been in the sun too long.

Don't get me wrong, I HATE pure comedy Toku with a passion like the current Super Sentai Kyoryuger, it does nothing for me at all. But there is inherent goofiness to Toku and when it's played completely straight, adult, I just think it all comes across a lot more goofy and stupid than it already is. Not to mention Kuuga is so bitter and depressing at times it actually becomes a drag.

Agreed completely. That's one of the reasons Agito was a wash for me.

Episode 35 of Kuuga was pretty dark and gruesome but wasn't quite as depressing at the same time. So coupling that with how well shot and directed it was, it really was a very enjoyable episode. Possibly one of Kuuga's best.

They finally had a UL conversation entirely in Japanese! Just a shame that we're so late into the series this point, even translated I have no fucking idea what they are talking about.

Although isn't it a little late for Godai to care that he sucks? During his time as Kuuga, I'm pretty sure the deaths are now in the millions. Still, watching Godai lose his shit was AMAZING.

The fights are rough in this show, don't misunderstand, but the choice to go physical with the hits rather than the sparks, explosions and special effects of later seasons gives a real visceral impact to moments like when Godai was punching porcupine into the floor, blood dripping off his helmet.

And they mixed this in brilliantly with the bond between two children, building a castle out of blocks, as Godai literally destroys the monster.

Not only was this one of the few decent fights in Kuuga, this has to be one of my favourite Toku fights period. Kuuga seems to have a habit of that, it's mediocre most of the time and then suddenly it'll completely blow my socks off, not just in comparison to its mediocrity but to everything I've ever watched.

Death toll is only in the low thousands at this point. And I don't remember, but I don't think it even gets up into the tens of thousands, but I'd have to check a wiki to be sure.

How else do you want Godai to handle it? just drive around randomly and hope he stumbles upon a Gurongi before they start killing people? They're not doing anything wrong until they start killing people, and without knowing where they're hiding how could he possibly have any idea of their plans?

And how often do we see them in the same place, anyway? They're moving around, keeping themselves hidden, and each game has different rules, so it's not like he can predict when or where the next UL attack.

I dunno, is the honest answer.

But in a lot of Toku, especially Super Sentai/Power Rangers, the danger is a jump cut away. It's implied that people die every day but it's never explicitly stated, so it just takes me off guard every time the show reminds me just how many people Godai hasn't saved. There have probably been others who have let much more die but they don't usually remind us of it or give us an exact figure to work with.

Kiva 28 and 29

Well. Nago saved all of time. Him getting gut punched by both Yuri and Otoya was hilarious. And...the original Queen is Wateru's mother, eh? Huh. Figures the first thing he'd recognize her buttons though...

As for 29. Oh hey...Wateru's friend Shizuka's back. And she's jealous of him and Mio. The jealousy gag was funny enough up until she started acting like a prick about it. Tha might have some repercussions...

Also...how does she not know about Wateru being Kiva! She's seen Kivat! She never thought to question why her buddy has a robot bat sidekick?

Man...Otoya sure is a nice guy for not only apparently forgiving Jiro for attempting to murder him and kidnap Yuri, but continuing to argue like morons just like they always did!

And in modern times, after getting bored of constantly playing pointless games of murder, Rook decides, in the most villainous way possible, to play the good deed game to get into heaven. Uh...alright then.

Jiro is one of my favorite characters.
Rook was an interesting character too.
I miss watching Kiva, I really enjoyed that show a lot, detractors be dammed.