It's interesting you say that. I always saw Eiji as a watered down Yusuke. :lol

I saw that one, but missed the tail. Whoops.

I think you were supposed to be uncertain if Yusuke lived or died in the final fight. I'm not sure if it really worked like that for contemporary audiences.

I'd always recommend Hibiki. Switchblade is to Hibiki as Matrixbeast is to Gekiranger. It's also a slower-paced series, but the character work is much more consistent than Kuuga and the cinematography is freaking gorgeous (watch the Hibikianon or Delta subs for the episodes they cover, if you can - TVN's TV rips do not hold up well - they aren't Blade bad, but not a ton better). Plus it's only 29 episodes, so it's relatively short.

What Rider series haven't you watched?

I can't really see how Yusuke is superior. Sure, he goes around doing random stuff to make people smile, but it's just banging on trash lids or juggling. Nothing really substantial.
In terms of characterization and growth, it's hard to even compare the two.

Actually, that's wrong. Very early on in the episode, characters are saying stuff like "I wish Godai didn't go on an adventure so soon. I wonder when we'll see him again." So they make it quite clear that Yusuke is alive, he just left quickly.

Ah yes. I've heard of Hibiki's infamous brevity and nonexistant second half :lol
Anyway, you had me tensing up at slow paced, since I don't want to actively dread watching another episode like with Kuuga, but it does sound a lot more interesting. How many episodes do the other sub groups cover before I have to switch to TV-N?

I haven't seen any Showa (Sans Amazon, which I watched while I was massively depressed, so I should really give it another go, too), Agito, Faiz (I only got 15 or so episodes in), and Hibiki.
I also haven't seen the Kamen Rider J movie or The Next.

I regret not continuing Hibiki, but things came up and I got far enough in that I don't want to restart... but I can't remember where I left off.

Oh. Guess I misremembered that. I haven't seen that episode in years.



Hibiki's drama to action ratio is better than Kuuga's, but the main focus is on Asumu growing up and learning to be a man.

Delta did the first 8 episodes, I think, and Hibikianon got to 13. The latter are just scripts, though. You'll need the raws. I think Hibikianon was on a streaming service, though. No idea how available Delta is since the group crapped out.

I swear, if I ever learn Japanese I will figure out the mechanics behind fansubbing just so the world can have a good, complete (by my standards) set of Hibiki subs.

Well, October is coming soon, wanna join the Kivathon, Matrixbeast?

Damn. I did something similar with Shinkenger, but I remembered being bored with it, so I didn't quite regret it. When I did get the time, I was in your shoes, except a little less interested :lol

Yeah, I've heard about Asumu.
And that kind of sucks. The better options only having 8 and 13 done? Damn.

We'll see. If I can decide, download, and finish the next show I decide to watch (Either Hibiki or some Sentai...), I might join in on the fun~

Agito, because it is fucking Agito.

Yeah, Hibiki's more on the peripheral, which I think makes him a stronger character. He's a little bit of a sage, a little bit of a hermit, and a little bit of a sensei, kind of.

Kuuga just bored me. I didn't get very far, but I feel like a lot of it's popularity comes from it being "oh so dark and horror-violent" like Agito. I much prefer Ryuki to both, though filled with it's own flaws, the horror violence felt less cheap.

Is it better than fucking Kuuga?

Kuuga isn't that dark, actually. I mean, yeah, there is lots of death, but it's just statistics. A news reporter will go "Unidentified Lifeform 30 has killed 129 people today." And that's it. We don't see how destructive they are. We're just told how many people they kill from a reporter or police radio (Sometimes we'll see them get one or two kills, but even then, it's not that violent).

I'm honestly baffled to Kuuga's overwhelming approval...