Yeah, I obviously can't speak to if there was a better choice of Showa series to slot in here, but I think Amazon made for a solid choice. The emotional stakes are all very legible, thanks to a Legend Rider who lacks subterfuge or suspicion. I mostly don't know if does a lot with Tsukasa, but as an exploration of a Rider's ability to weather the rage of a world, I think it handled things well.

I will never pass up a chance to restate my love for the insanity that was the Shocker Youth go-kart team from that Drive movie.

These episodes always felt a lot more like time-filler to me than the Black arc, but I'm probably biased because I like Black so much more than this relatively anemic version of Amazon. I also cannot forgive it for having a chance to update the most bonkers Rider monster design ever and doing something so boring with it.

I remember the Amazon arc for one thing and one thing only.

When Amazon said: "Amazon has not touched a person in a long time"

And I laughed my ass off.

https://i.imgur.com/IN6If5h.jpg

I crave a Shin Godzilla-esque take on Dai-Shocker, where we delve into the administration of this world. I want to know more about the Shocker Combatman who serves as a school superintendent. I want it more than I want the next two episodes of Decade!

That is a pretty terrific/funny/terrifically-funny monster design.

I thought this one had a clearer emotional arc for the Legend Rider, which puts it ahead of the Black/RX stuff for me. It was leveraging Amazon's specific worldview in a way that was easy to invest in, even if the actor was a massive obstacle. I got what was happening, why it was happening, and why the characters cared about it. That may sound like a pathetically low bar to clear, but not every Decade story has managed to clear it!

This was a fun set of episodes. I always dig the insanity of delving into a Shocker infested society. EEEE!

I do not like this actor for Amazon in the slightest, just like I didn't back then. His battle grunts are weak, and his A-ma-zon is even weaker. He works in some instances but he really looks like he's ready to just fall asleep of boredom.

Jyumenki was really cool though, like I know he's a redesign of an old monster but I love that his gimmick is countering the as of now 10 Heisei Riders. Kind of a shame it's just for a one-off guy like him too since that would have made a really cool multi-episode threat for Tsukasa. He was my highlight of these particular episodes cause I just dig concepts like that.

It's the second-best part of this story, after Narutaki being like Murder Decade And I'll Give You This Card and Diend being like Or I Could Just Murder You And Take The Card J/K I'm Just Gonna Take The Card. It's the stupidest Narutaki appearance to date, and that is saying something.

But, a world run by Shocker! Pretty great! I like how it's all about how miserable it is to live in a world where everyone is out to get you, something both Amazon and Decade can viscerally relate to... but then it's sort of about how soothing it can be to let an organization fill that void of trust? How it's easy to get suckered in by an organization when you don't feel like it's worth putting your trust in people, and the organization provides the fulfillment you used to find in others. Like, this episode doesn't do a ton with it, but it still manages to touch on the cult-like seduction of misinformation and conspiracy theories, and how the gravitational pull of peer pressure can make people work against their own self-interest. The fascist elements of Shocker are long-standing, but this arc hits a little closer to home in the age of COVID.

Yeah, that episode title you point out is unfortunate? Amazon proper had an actual episode with a similar title (The Strong, Naked Speedster), which incidentally enough was co-written by this episode’s director.

For other Amazons references, all of the monster Jyumenki has battling for him have the same motifs as the Beastmen, Amazon’s monsters of the week. Also, he Mole Beastman that Grandpa claims to be is an actual character from the show, as are those two kids that are so important (in the show, they were the children of a professor Amazon’s as sent all the way from Brazil to find by his village elder).

As for the episode, I do like Jyumenki’s gimmick, like Zero. But I do have to wonder what’s going to happen now that he’s gone. He wasn’t the only villain in that world, right?

Also between this episode and the last, there was a spin-off story featuring Decade visiting the World of Stronger, though I won’t bore you with the details here.

Yeah, that episode title you point out is unfortunate? Amazon proper had an actual episode with a similar title (The Strong, Naked Speedster), which incidentally enough was co-written by this episode’s director.

For other Amazons references, all of the monster Jyumenki has battling for him have the same motifs as the Beastmen, Amazon’s monsters of the week. Also, he Mole Beastman that Grandpa claims to be is an actual character from the show, as are those two kids that are so important (in the show, they were the children of a professor Amazon’s as sent all the way from Brazil to find by his village elder).

As for the episode, I do like Jyumenki’s gimmick, like Zero. But I do have to wonder what’s going to happen now that he’s gone. He wasn’t the only villain in that world, right?

Also between this episode and the last, there was a spin-off story featuring Decade visiting the World of Stronger, though I won’t bore you with the details here.

Black is currently re-aired on my TV, and perhaps I should give a Showa era a taste, for the part of escaping to America, would like to see on how they filmed the location, as mostly from the Heisei part I watched, the location filming is rather limited for KR, like multiple similar location is re-used and many of them are quite locked in Japan. I do feel that Kuuga got several Showa feelings in the fights or special effects, and other phase 1 IMO, probably except Den-O, also does have more of Showa feel in the recording tone or such.

Even Shinji would claim that Rider War is too much for a girl in Episode Final movie. Though yeah, I'm never a fan of 'regrettable chivalry' like that too, though I'd be more repulsed if it's showing that only female are worth caring, while males are expendable, like.... Kabuto's Daisuke (it's 1 character though instead of a theme). I'd like for the 'masculine nobility' more though as in to make the cast relatively more grounded that not every cast somehow having pretty-looks or such.

I don't know if this is about the Tsukasa forgetting his lessons being too old now and that it grates on you know where you tolerate it more before, but yeah that's something DreamSword did brought up before about Tsukasa having memory loss, which I agreed too. I do feel weird too about hating the word friend, but personally think though, Tsukasa's declaration of being unable to feel other's pain is worse than declaring that he hates companionship. I do think however, Kotaro is one of the people that Tsukasa genuinely fully respect of, he's the most courteous when interacting with him, with little to no talking down or such. Though still, as Switchblade talks about the changing writer, that'd be the reason if you'd ask why it's inconsistent and feels lazy, changing writer does can eff some stuff up in a series.

Probably yeah, Narutaki is an example of someone who should be treated as a joke in-universe, or like the memes people make about him, for his ridiculous hate on Decade to improve, probably that way he can keep his radical personality.

Like you, I do think that as much of a douchebag Tsukasa is, I do think that Kaitou is clearly worse. Not on Faiz level, but when a show has a jerk main protagonist where the secondary one is made worse just like usual.... and Kaitou's action in this episode is one of the worse one coming from him to just put Natsumi's life in danger for his own selfish treasure-seeking desires. Albeit there's a redeeming quality in his fairness which leads for Natsumi's life to be saved. Still that'd be similar to "push you to the cliff then pull them back up" kind of thing.

You know, she would've been anyway, but Tomoko was my absolute favorite character in Fourze before the show even started simply for being the one named after the Showa Rider who was my absolute favorite before even watching his show. (Which means that Tomoko is like, my double favorite, by the way, so I'm glad to see you taking this chance to get her in the thread, Die!)

Amazon's just a great concept, you know? His design and character are so immediately endearing, there was basically no way I was ever going to be as interested in any of those other guys right out of the gate, when I was first learning about the franchise. I remember reading stuff like that he was friends with a mole monster or how he was initially scared of motorcycles(!), and even without those details, the basic premise of this wild yet gentle guy fighting evil while struggling to fit into the strange civilized world around him was inherently intriguing to me.

I believe I had seen a few episodes of Amazon before going into Decade, which would slot it right alongside Ryuki and Kuuga as the only ones I had watched any of prior, and, yeah, I think this two-parter captures that inherent appeal of Amazon pretty well. Again, it's sort of a hard concept to get wrong? The actor's performance feels like a directing choice that didn't ~quite~ pan out in the end (the original Amazon had WAY more range than this, rest assured), but the character is as lovable as ever, and wrapped around all this, we've got a world that's sort of Yonemura's prototype for what I feel are the most fun crossover movies he's written, plus some continuing development for Tsukasa and Kaitou's impossibly unhealthy relationship (that last scene!), which is fun in its own right.

I guess maybe that's where Decade is at in this last stretch? It's a little crazy to think that these are the penultimate episodes of the series, considering how relatively thin the drama is, but man, when they're still busting out standalone story concepts this enjoyable, it's a lot harder to be upset.

I'm on two minds while I agree that the new Decade version is alot less bonkers. I just apploud the Rider faces adorned over the new versions suit. And having him be able to relfect the Legend Rider powers is such a great power for an Anniversary season.Whoever had that idea for this guy makes the entire Amazon arc worth it in my eyes. Also I'm a sucker for black and gold.

https://www.kamen-rider-official.com...5/main_image/4
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CnkWidMUsAAlmYc.jpg

Oh I hadn't seen this design from behind before!! Super cool to see the other faces, thank you :)

I believe I've mentioned that out of the Showa shows I've seen the most of, it would definitely be Amazon (for now). Got 12 episodes in before finding and watching Decade, because I couldn't find the rest of the episodes.

Now I love the idea of Amazon, being the most naïve and open Rider having the least trustworthy world where it's ruled by the villains, which kind of fits the theme of his show. Also, we're back to AR versions of the characters, and this one kind of lacks the primitive charm from the original, which is a bit of a shame.

Supposedly the original idea of Amazon was that he was going to be heavily martial arts focused and that he'd be based off Bruce Lee with a dragon motif (or at least his name had something to do with dragon after many of Bruce Lee's films), before they decided to base him off Tarzan. It's still interesting how different Amazon is from every other Showa Rider at the time, like being based off of lizards (whose design I adore), or how he doesn't get introduced like a normal person, or tragic past, but just this bizarre superhuman on the run from Gedon.

I always thought the Jyumenki design for Decade looked pretty neat, but quite a departure from his original look, more-so than Apollo Geist. But seeing how his ten faces are the Heisei Riders is something I never noticed in my original viewing, and now I love it even more.

I wasn't too thrilled with Amazon's arc here, but now seeing some of these details and stuff other people are mentioning, my appreciation for this arc has grown phenomenally.

The Mole Beastman reference was one I got! One of the major Amazons characters is a Mole Amazon who struggles with being good, so I figured (after seeing Decade's scene) that it was something from the original. But I appreciate the clarification!

I don't mind it if a show wants to make a character's struggle into a recurring theme, or a motif, but this isn't that? This is just (to me) a lesser version of the same story we got last time. It's not about Tsukasa regressing, it's about him being a gigantic jerk so he can feel guilty for most of the story.

That is a pretty great description of how Kaitou does things!

Team Tomoko! We gotta stick together.

Yeah, I... maybe this is colored a bit by my knowledge that Tsukasa will keep popping up for another 12 years, but I sort of like it better that this show doesn't feel like it's closing in on an endgame. I dislike the focus on Tsukasa's need to find his home and settle down, because a) I know he doesn't settle down, and b) it's not what this show needs for either its narrative or its theme. Just, like, let him and his friends wander forever. Just do that.

He's definitely the most appealing Showa concept, to me. Glad to hear these extra details!

This marks the second arc in Decade I actually enjoyed. AR Amazon's' acting included.

I hate to disappoint you before you even try the show, but those characters are last seen on the ship that takes them to America. We never see them actually arrive.

I thought I was going to stir shit again making that declaration, but (good that) actually it gains an approval. I would say though the one who "placed the cat in the middle of the river in the first place" means their act cannot be condoned as (morally) good one.

Well it's good that there's an explanation of the Amazon in the episode being seen less favorably... I̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶y̶p̶o̶c̶r̶i̶t̶i̶c̶a̶l̶ ̶v̶i̶e̶w̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶n̶t̶i̶-̶r̶e̶g̶r̶e̶t̶t̶a̶b̶l̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶i̶v̶a̶l̶r̶y̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶y̶e̶t̶ ̶n̶e̶x̶t̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶j̶e̶c̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶a̶l̶e̶ ̶A̶m̶a̶z̶o̶n̶ ̶d̶u̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶e̶m̶a̶l̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶T̶o̶m̶o̶k̶o̶!̶ The Amazon here had the same name as the original Daisuke Yamamoto, but he has different actor for the Decade one Enrique Sakamoto (not "obviously"... Ichigo had his original actor Hiroshi Fujioka back for future reappearences!). I guess this is a nice assessment that, while there are characters that aren't handled the best way, there are some limitations of the reaction to them, like not actually doing something wrong in the Amazon's innocence here, where it'd be too extreme otherwise to, like you said, outright being mad and hating on him, which = being mad at puppy. Though not everyone gets some pass like Amazon here... ._. You may find Amazon's trait difficult to disregard, but not everyone so, like Amazon had a part where he got his trust betrayed to be tricked by Masahiko handing over the Riders to the Great Shocker; being tricked and manipulated is an event I frequently see made people mad of the tricked characters (and heroes are the more likely to be subjected to this). The stereotypical Grim Masculinity... yeah that'd appeal more on those who'd focus on manliness or such, but otherwise I guess it's good that the solution around this isn't necessarily making them dubious (if stays stoic) or turn 180 from stoically to over the top; Amazon's trait is refering to himself as 3rd person though.

And also, an appreciation of a... cooperation here, which is true for Amazon and Decade. I mean conflicts are said as the most memorable stuff rather than everyone getting along and like you said, Decade has mostly about the people vilify him, like the Shinkenger, where that'd be for sure a conflict and I thought it'd be better be kept throughout the Decade for more memorable stuff, and that conflict would never become overexposed, while even doing a few getting along part is still treated as mainstream or such. This stands out too to me, both are relatable to each other and flock together of him being another Rider seen as threat by public, it's Showa Decade albeit he doesn't have Decade's unpleasant traits.

Exclusively talking for Decade episode, this gives me a vibe of something like Paradise Lost before, where the humans are at jeopardy in the world due to the established rule by the scientific organization, seems that the bad guys won in Amazon world. Though this probably would ruin the funny part of yours (well though you also want for it to be more than just a joke), I'd like to know how the Dai-Shocker manages to get a genuine approval from the citizens, they're all fully loyal to a fault to the Dai-Shocker, to the point of being outright zealot-ish. Almost at first feels like the Dai-Shocker may be the villain in name only (which ofc KR followers know not as Shocker is notorious franchise-wide), that they're portrayed as such due to the Riders being hunted for some reason. It's not that, they feel like they suffer or such under Dai-Shocker's reigm, of course except of the victims like the ones being accused as spying, which of course probably Dai-Shocker would try to hide the executions or such, but when there are families who'd feel loss from those executions (like about how one of the members never come back).... Good too that this talk also recognizes the negative impact of the life in Dai-Shocker's rule, despite that this is funny. For Sh Ranger this can't be called "chaotic methods of heroism" as this'd be at best anti-villainy.

Probably not even easier that Masahiko is also a child. Though Masahiko seems to get showered with approval at first from the Dai-Shocker uppers, this seems to be an example of child soldier employment in KR, similar to something like Namba Heavy Industries from Build, a series that tries to bring back Showa flicks such as the inhuman laboratory experiments. Though Masahiko at worst will be an (extreme) anti-villain as Dai-Shocker underling, I'd think it's probably quite refreshing to see a child who doesn't have a bratty attitude, more of the mature and responsible too, if misguided (well, he's not innocent due to being misguided though before the monster experiment). The Showa scheme of turning everyone into monsters... that's seen in several Heisei shows later, like Faiz, Kabuto, Ex-Aid (sort of, turning everyone into data, but lives as Bugster). All of those shows have their own motives of turning all races into their own kind, but for Showa one....

I think that, though Amazon is a parallel character, Tsukasa won't ever be someone who'd be open on his 'weakness', where it had to happen if Amazon would make Tsukasa express more of himself or such. I probably think that Tsukasa won't be shaken on finding certain someone who suffers similar way as he did in a world that rejects them, I mean he had endured that for most of the time, and there's someone who'd be harder to feel (or at least openly) for others if they've gone through as bad or worse problems which'd make them feel that other's problems are small or no big deal in comparison, and probably Tsukasa's that type... I think that also roots from his claim of him being unable to feel the pain from others, and that going through it himself can increase that (or probably the reason) further...continuing from below...

..that Onodera's proposed solution to Amazon is even having him join them on their journey, which Natsumi disapproves due to the state of his world (not due to rejecting newcomers), which kinda makes that Tsukasa is the solution to Amazon. People can have their opinions and that I've seen some thinking that Onodera is what defines Kuuga to them, but I think Kuuga's form progression and change is one of the best the series had handled, and it's a shame if people would overlook how Kuuga's form change originated in the series by seeing Kuuga's Titan Form in this episode.

I mean I've tried until ep. 6 at the time I typed this. Well it's ok, I don't really have any expectations, just wondering if they'd actually film it in America... or having an excuse to not too... kinda expected that it's the latter, using the excuse that it's done on the end of the series.

So much cooler than his counterpart in Decade who acts more like a generic evil dude.

ZX has a cool design (ninjas, duh), but his special was an unfortunate waste of time considering the whole first half is just a documentary and then Ryo's backstory is shown through expository narration so we don't really get to learn anything personal about the character. It feels like he was overshadowed by his predecessors and maybe he should've got his own solo film before having a big crossover.

Regarding the Double Riders, yeah, if I ever get around to watching that, I'll probably be looking for a condensed episode list. Goranger's 84 I can handle, but damn, 98 is a lot!

The journey started with Zatyme. And now it will end with Zatyme. How appropriate.

They probably wanted to clearly show the concept of Dai Shocker allying with other evil organizations throughout the Showa Era but the problem with that is the fact that Great Leader is running a lot of those as secret Shocker branches. Geddon is only vaguely connected to Shocker, so that might be part of the reason other than Amazon's uniqueness.

In Amazon, Mole Beastman has the opposite problem of struggling with being evil and he's generally a really nice guy and a good friend and comrade to Amazon.

You should watch out for Mushroom Beastman though. He's not a nice guy.

Team Tomoko FTW!

Although like Hibiki, Amazon's real name is pretty much never relevant and I recall the only guy who knows about it is the narrator. Fun fact about Sakamoto, he's half Peruvian, which is adjacent to the Amazon.

I was actually referring to the Riders for that statement. Sorry if I was unclear. I meant that's how people are conditioned by Dai Shocker to see them.

Which is why I appreciate Muraeda for expanding his lore in Kamen Rider Spirits. I remember ZX's rep getting a boost around that time during the 2000s. It also helps I think that he is the other 80s rider other than Black and RX so his design is not the 1970s biker look his predecessors have. It's a nice blend of Kamen Rider and Space Sheriff.

I feel like learning more about how Dai-Shocker runs the world would only make it funnier. The more details, the more insane the picture.

I don't know if I see it that way? Tsukasa definitely understands people's pain; every other episode ends with him talking up someone's ability to persevere in the face of hardship, or fight no matter the cost, or etc etc etc. He gets that folks might have it hard, even if he doesn't visibly empathize with them. He's not, like, demonstrative.

KAMEN RIDER DECADE NET-MOVIES: ALL RIDERS SUPER SPIN-OFF

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file1a.png

I don’t want to be dismissive and say that these specials are my reward for watching Decade, because, man, I like Decade! I think this show is doing some smart things around the edges, and I think the basic premise is incredibly appealing. Decade isn’t hard work that needs to be followed with a reward.

These specials are my reward, though. I think they really are.

Like, the first one out of the gate is Natsumi being like There Should Be More Women Riders, and then this short film pointing out the hypocrisy of Tackle not being an official Rider when Riderman was. I love it! Yes! A hundred more hours of Team Decade agitating for a more representative franchise!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file1b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file2a.png

Fun little short about Kamen Rider Shin, an unfinished V-Cinema project. I like weirdo Net Movies celebrating the forgotten corners of Kamen Rider, pulling out stuff you can tell the producers really enjoy. Why not a little thing about Natsumi wanting a continuation of Kamen Rider Shin, and Kamen Rider Shin dreaming of relevance? Cute stuff.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file2b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file3a.png

HOLY SHIT I NEVER REALIZED DIEND DIDN’T HAVE A BIKE. Just… I came in with Ex-Aid! It isn’t weird for Riders to not have bikes! But, yeah, even in the opening, Diend is running after Kuuga and Decade’s bikes. Hilarious! Fun changeup at the end, with the post-production switching the colors around so that a green Diend rides away on a blue Machine Decader. Good short!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file3b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file4a.png

So weird that there was a time when Toei/Bandai didn’t know Deneb was the best Imagin. Crazy! He’d eventually get a Figuart, but I guess that was still a few years away when this was shot. A little sad that the budget for this set of movies (probably $20, at most) precluded recording new Deneb dialogue, but I can’t be mad at a short film where Team Decade tries to understand the market forces and production pipelines that determine which toys get made.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file4b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file5a.png

I can’t imagine what a revelation these Fashion Check shorts must’ve been back in 2009. A lot of these bits and pieces have been thrown at me in Watch threads, like the Faiz Is A Shark note, but it’s still neat to see the production team divulge these secrets and inspirations.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file5b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file6a.png

A jack-o-lantern! WHAT. Happy Halloween from Kiva, I guess!

Also, there’s a throwaway line from Kaitou on the panel, where he just goes Being Alive Is A Treasure in a total non-sequitur, and it’s cracking me up thinking about it. Dude loves treasure! And being alive! He’s really come around on Tsukasa’s bullshit Metaphorical Treasures. Those two are maybe less terrible for each other than we all feared/hoped!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file6b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file7a.png

Similarly, as Kaitou goes into full-on pitchman mode for chromatic paint, Onodera and Natsumi are sort of beside themselves at Kaitou’s helpfulness and energy, which is both mean and fair. Kaitou is mostly just lounging around their house and flirting with Tsukasa, so this is a little surprising. He’s pretty much ripping them off (he’s charging them over 270,000 yen for a tin of paint), but it’s nice to see him trying to get involved with people other than Tsukasa.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file7b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file8a.png

They just… they just don’t really answer the question? The thrust of this short is that it’s unclear why there’s a tilted T-shape on Den-O’s belt, and this short sort of shrugs at every answer as being correct. That can’t be it? I like seeing stuff in Kamen Rider that might not be there, but there’s no way the Den-O belt is a reference to Trains AND Terminals AND Taros AND Train junctions. There’s no way! THEY TOOK THE JOKE TOO FAR WITH THIS ONE.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file8b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file9a.png

The CMYK stuff is neat, but… man, I don’t care about the rationale behind Decade’s coloring, I just care that it’s great. (It’s also, yeah, more Magenta than Pink. Ex-Aid’s pink, Decade ain’t.)

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ies/file9b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file10a.png

Some of my favorite shorts from the Fourze Net-Movies (which are maybe the gold standard for Net-Movies, them or Wizard) are the ones where Meteor interviews the suit actors and stunt team. The stories they tell are INSANE, and gave me a whole new respect for what they go through to make these shows. So, naturally, I loved this view from inside Decade’s helmets. The close-up one renders Takaiwa more-or-less blind, while the action sequence one only renders him 80-90% vision-impaired. It’s crazy to think of him doing martial arts and jumping onto crash pads without being able to see where he’s landing, and bless this short for pointing out that Decade’s real superpower is a stuntman who can do all that and survive.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file10b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...s/file111a.png

I love it the most when these Net-Movies get sloppy and real, so the highlight of this whole project might be Onodera’s actor screaming at Tsukasa’s actor for sleeping too much on location shoots -- as Tsukasa’s actor falls asleep during the scolding -- while Natsumi’s actor busts out laughing. Just so fun to see these little behind-the-scenes jokes and grudges bubble up onto an ancillary promotional project. Fantastic.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...s/file111b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...s/file112a.png

It’s almost cruel to watch these guys run around in Kamen Rider suits, since it was already established that they can’t breathe or see, but they’re clearly having a blast. I like how Kiva stays in character with his Bat Wing run, even as the other four guys are just cheating and being dicks. It’s great.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...s/file112b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...s/file121a.png

I wanted to be all I Don’t Truck With Showa and skip to the next short, but all of these little moments with the suit actors! They’re all weird nerds! Because you sort of have to be to become a tokusatsu stunt person! And it’s adorable! When Eitoku has to answer why he picked Stronger and he’s like Because He’s My Favorite and then he just stands there smiling until they yelled ‘cut’ a few seconds later! These weird jock nerds are the best!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...s/file121b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...s/file122a.png

I don’t truck with Showa.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...s/file122b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file13a.png

I really thought it was Faiz! It’s truly a credit to Tsukasa’s observational skills that he’s able to pick Takaiwa out of a Rider lineup. (I mean, it clearly wasn’t Den-O; too scrawny!) Never doubt Tsukasa! He’s always right! About everything!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file13b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file14a.png

He just comes off as this real sweet musclehead? I don’t know. Eitoku is charming in how humble and soft-spoken he is. Takaiwa has a playful sense of control, where he’s clearly okay with carrying this franchise on his back, while Eitoku comes off as this weirdly oblivious prodigy, unaccustomed to the spotlight. It’s neat to learn more about these guys! (I also got it wrong again. I picked Rod Form, when it was Saga.)

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file14b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file15a.png

I kind of love how long you can be a suit actor in tokusatsu. It seems like a young person’s game, you know? It’s tough just physically existing inside those suits. Adding to that the need to keep yourself safe during choreographed fights, during jumps and falls, during explosions and rain… it’s crazy to think of doing it for decades, and yet that’s what we’ve got here. Hell, even Takaiwa would go on to be a lead Rider for another ten years. Astonishing to think of these actors doing such arduous work for so long. What legends. (Also, still wrong on my picks!)

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file15b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file16a.png

Oh, that’s an adorable anecdote, that Watanabe’s kid (Taiga) was the baby from the first Sieg episodes of Den-O. Very fun piece of trivia. Also, yeah, put both Taiga and Tiger back on Kamen Rider!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file16b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file17a.png

I appreciate that Narutaki was confident enough in his masculinity to be like A Nice Butt Matters On A Man, but I was disappointed that the three men of Team Decade seemed baffled that men could even have butts. Come on, dudes. Don’t do that. Also, I don’t want to body shame a legend like Tominaga, but he definitely did not have the best butt in that lineup? It’s Jirou as Pegasus Form, by a mile.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file17b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file18a.png

Ha ha ha, this was the same shit that always tripped up the Fourze kids on their Net-Movie game show! The answer to almost every Showa-era trivia question is There Was No Money And They Didn’t Think People Forty Years In The Future Would Hassle Them About Shortcuts. You amateurs!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file18b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file19a.png

Of course Narutaki completely reverses himself when his claim that Ichigo was too stalwart and honorable to use weapons blows up in his face. OF COURSE. I love that this show, right before the finale, has settled on Narutaki Sucks as the entirety of his character. Nothing to empathize or sympathize with, no motivation that we as the viewer can apply to his actions… he just Sucks, the end. What a delight!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file19b.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file19c.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file20a.png

Man, how did Takaiwa get this one wrong? Kiva’s a lighter suit than Decade, I guess. Weird!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file20b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file21a.png

After watching 23 of these shorts, I’m thinking I probably should’ve watched all of these Net-Movies before I started watching Kuuga. A ton of trivia that’s been tossed at me seems like it originated from these short films. Are the Decade Net-Movies the most required viewing for anything in Heisei Phase 1? Feels like it!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file21b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file22a.png

NARUTAKI!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file22b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file23a.png

I don’t know anything about ZX, so I’m happy to forever think of him as portrayed within this Net-Movie: some irrelevant, sweaty weirdo who’s desperate to latch onto anyone that’ll get him back in the spotlight. Please do not tell me what ZX’s deal is if it’s not that. Thank you.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file23b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file24a.png

I’ve never needed to patch up a relationship through the proper application of a Henshin pose, but I’m glad to know these short films exist if it should ever become necessary. I remember watching an Ex-Aid toy commercial thing, where Emu shows the viewer how to use the DX Gamer Driver, and finding the whole process surprisingly involved. I’d probably watched him transform into Ex-Aid forty or fifty times, and yet when he got three steps deep into his posing process I was like Wait What Is Supposed To Happen Next. I was very quickly in the weeds on something I felt like I knew by heart. Anyways, fun video! I hope this guy’s able to patch up some serious marriage issues because he can pose like Ichigo.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file24b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file25a.png

I was going to write about how strange this File’s subtitle is, considering the two best Amazon Henshin’s I’ve ever seen were Tomoko in Fourze and Natsumi in these Net-Movies, but then Decade tricks some businessman on the wrong end of a global recession into getting naked in public, and I’m sort of (understandably?) fixated on that. This short swings wide, man. It starts with Decade randomly trying to cheer up a guy who is probably about to be crushed under the boot of the consequences of voracious global capitalism (2009! Things were not great financially in 2009!), and then that same guy is probably going to end up on a registry due to a Kamen Rider's advice. Curse you INDEED, Decade!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file25b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file26a.png

Despite these Net-Movies existing in (according to the Wiki) the “World of Net”, I think it’s fair to view these short films as resolutely non-canonical. But! I firmly believe that this is what would happen if Decade tried to help random strangers: he would be absolutely no help. Tsukasa’s great at fighting monsters, and saving worlds, and rallying Riders. He is generally shown to be somewhere between inept and harmful when it comes to interacting with normal people. It’s not his strength as a Rider! So, yeah, you could pretty much slot these Rider Pose ones into any other story and they’d fit just fine.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file26b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file27a.png

Yeah, boy, Decade just gets this guy murdered.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file27b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file28a.png

It’s neat, even for a moment, to watch Takaiwa effortlessly slip between all of the different Imagin characters from Den-O. It doesn’t even matter that he’s in the Decade suit; the second you see that pose, you’re like URATAROS. Very fun to see it again.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file28b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file29a.png

I honestly never thought I was the type of fan to get a Driver. I ordered a Lost Driver, from W, very early into my Kamen Rider fandom. (It was something we could get through a vendor at my store, so I figured Why Not.) I’ve never opened it. It’s on a shelf, and I just never feel like playing around with it. I’ve seen other people’s DX or CSM purchases, and I’ve watched actors mess around with belts for ads, and it just didn’t do anything for me. They’re neat, but it’s not anything I need in my life.

I need a Decadriver, though.

I’ve mentioned it to a friend, so maybe that’s a thing that shows up for my birthday. If not, I’m probably going to get it for myself for Christmas. I just think it’s the coolest belt. I love the mechanism, I love the sounds, I love the cards. The whole package ended up doing something inside my brain that has me coveting a Kamen Rider belt. I’m a little bit scared? I mean, it’s a Rider Henshin device: It’s probably appropriate to be scared of owning one.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file29b.png

---

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file30a.png

Wow, Double. Third show I watched, after Ex-Aid and the first season of Amazons. That suit is really an all-time great, isn’t it? The Gaia Memory gimmick adds a lot of cool tactical options, but the base CycloneJoker form is so sweet. Despite coming in through Ex-Aid’s clashing colors and extreme aesthetics, shows like W and Build are more what I’m looking for in a suit: big blocks of color, and standardized designs. The base forms of Build and W all map out in the same ways, and it’s just colors that swap, along with minor additional touches. (A scarf, or a staff, or a vacuum cleaner.) It’s a clean design. I really love it. I hope fans were excited about Kamen Rider W back in the summer of 2009.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...es/file30b.png

---

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Oh man, I took way longer on this than I was planning. I thought this was going to be a blow-off, but I sort of spent two days on it? (I also had some unplanned for work things pop up.) As a result, some stuff is getting moved around. Expect the All-Riders movie on Saturday, and the HBV on Monday. Hopefully the final episodes, the winter movie, and the series wrap-up posts will all land next weekend. Thanks for bearing with me! We're almost done!

That bit of Black just walking in a race, replicating his show's infamous ED... it's something you'd have to know about beforehand, but if you know, it's one of the best gags ever.

It's also the only one of these I've seen! Really need to watch the rest of the net movies at some point; I believe at this point they're the only Heisei Rider things I haven't seen aside from final stages and that's a crime when there's so much good stuff in there

This block of Net-Movies was incredibly funny. If you like the OOO and/or Fourze ones, you'd like these. Worth the 70 minutes!

Yeah this was genuinely just fun to watch between while I waited for my oven to heat up and then cooked my leftover pizza, before eating said pizza.

Also very informative, I really enjoy it when the Net Movies do these kinds of things and inform you of stuff.

The gags were also fun, like the Riders just playing Uno at one point. Or just the fan operator getting in the shot and up in Narutaki's face to blow the wind as he "ONORE DIKEDO!"'d and such.

I really love these little shorts and am sad they seemingly just discontinued them after Wizard honestly. Whenever the actors get to play around and have fun in character is a real treat.

It's why despite them being Covid Episodes, the very non-canonical and very skippable Super Job War Arc in Zero-One that was used to fill time is probably one of my more recent favorite goofy things.

Yeah, Net-Movies and HBVs are a neat sub-genre of these shows, where it's all self-referential and fanciful and just a bunch of tokusatsu fans trying to crack each other up. I love them.

These Net Movies were certainly my reward for trekking through Decade.

Let this be a lesson: any series with Net-Movies can't be all bad.

Net movies are late night snacks for me. :lolol

Yeah, these were fun and surprisingly informative. I still insist that Faiz was modeled after a construction worker anytime it comes up.

I have never seen these net movies, or any net movies for that matter.

Perhaps I should. I really should, because these sound histerical.

I should probably have spread these out, like having a spoonful of ice cream before I went to bed. Instead, I sat down and ate the whole tub, until I was tired and bloated and I couldn't remember why I did this to myself.

That's how it always is with me and Net-Movies, though. I got no self-control when it comes to them.

There's a lot of institutional memory that these short films tapped into, which is probably appropriate when they're supporting an anniversary series. Everybody's got little stories from previous shows, so why not drop them in here?

OH MAN! You should definitely watch the Net-Movies after you watch a series! It doesn't exactly improve the narrative, but it makes you a lot more happy for having watched the show. It's like getting together with friends to make jokes about something you all really enjoyed. I highly recommend taking the time to watch some of these shorts.

No you had the right idea. It's how it should be enjoyed. :lolol
The indulgence and self-loathing that follows is completely natural. :lolol

Hey New Movies I've seen the enteirety of!

My favourites of these are easily the first pair, with Tackle and Shin. Tackle for its glorious ending (she was running Toei the whole time! Of course!), and Shin for just utterly twisting the knife on the poor guy. Don't worry Shin, you'll get your time. Eventually.


Still waiting.

KAMEN RIDER DECADE: ALL RIDERS VS DAI-SHOCKER

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...allridersa.png

I really enjoyed this movie. I might've actually loved it. I also don't think I can defend any individual part of it?

It abandons its storytelling hook -- every Rider battles to see which one is the strongest -- almost immediately. It's an incredibly bleak story. It invents a villainous background for its main character that potentially negates a series worth of character growth and heroism. It raises the stakes on its story by breaking its characters apart, and then doesn't really do the work of fixing them. A lot of the story's emotional weight is conveyed through a brand-new relationship. Most of the thematic resolution comes across as contradictory and ill-explained. W's appearance is ham-fisted.

I don't... I mean, I don't want to say that stuff isn't true, or doesn't matter. It absolutely does. For all of the things I'm going to talk about next, the parts I loved, this is still a staggeringly sloppy movie. It isn't the worst Kamen Rider movie, but it makes a lot of mistakes that are endemic to Kamen Rider movies. I don't know why it's so hard to make a good movie out of a good TV show, but these movies frequently make it seem impossible.

I still think this movie was great, though.

A lot of it is in how it tries to really examine what it means to go on a journey. It's there in Sayo's feelings of abandonment, in Tsukikage's attempts to replace Tsukasa, in Dai-Shocker's ambivalence about Tsukasa's return to power. We've had a whole series about the optimism of a fresh start, or the endless possibilities of the next step along the path. We've watched Tsukasa become more heroic as he meets more heroes, and seen him bond with the people who are helping him along the way. But to go on a journey, you have to leave somewhere. Tsukasa had a home, had a family, had responsibilities, and he left them behind. In his story (if you exclude the part where he was, uh, exterminating Riders), this is a bold, courageous step closer to his destiny. It's adventure; it's self-determination; it's everything this series has been preaching since the first episode. But from Sayo's perspective, it's just more selfishness from a terminally selfish man. She's watched Tsukasa care more about his own needs than those of his family for... I mean, basically ever. Every flashback shows Tsukasa as someone who is wrapped up in himself as a Main Character, to the detriment of anyone else's experience.

What I liked about the resolution of this story is that, rather than placing all the blame on Tsukasa for abandoning his sister, it places equal blame between them. Tsukasa was sort of an asshole to neglect his sister after their parents died (because OF COURSE THEIR PARENTS DIED) and go on his grand Main Character adventure, but Sayo sort of let herself be relegated to a supporting role in Tsukasa's story, instead of starring in her own. It's an interesting take on the idea of abandonment, where needing people in your life should never stop you or them from pursuing their dreams. People leave, and that can be sad, but it's also part of life. You should hope for the best for them. You should also use that change to keep living your life, and keep traveling on your own journey. It's a refreshingly nuanced take on support and self-sufficiency, and it's a pretty natural story to tell near the end of Decade.

The actual resolution to Tsukasa's search for his past, though... the thematic parts, how it all looped into what this show has been saying about Kamen Rider as a franchise, I loved it! The actual plot was very very difficult to take seriously.

With the scope of the full Decade series, it's easy to see what the creators might've been going for. By interacting with a dozen Kamen Rider narratives, Tsukasa's overcome his darker impulses and harnessed them for justice. He's embodying the darkness-into-light aspects that are at the heart of Kamen Rider. He's a core theme of Kamen Rider, made flesh.

But this movie really doesn't seem to understand how much of a swing it is to make Tsukasa the once and future head of Dai-Shocker. The biggest mistake this movie makes dramatically is that it doesn't create much space between Amnesia Tsukasa and Dai-Shocker Tsukasa. There should be more of a sense that Tsukasa's journeys have fundamentally changed him, but I don't feel like we got that here. He flips on Natsumi and Onodera with a smirk, and then expects Natsumi to take him back when Dai-Shocker kicks him out. (It's nice that, in a movie that is working so hard to dot i's and cross t's, Shadow Moon gives us a total shrug of Kamen Riders Were Always A Red Herring when it comes time to explain what's going on with the imminent destruction of all of the worlds. Thanks for nothing!) There's a little bit of cover for this with the appearance of New Riderman (Gackt!), where Tsukasa is chided for giving up instead of working to fix his mistakes, but it all feels too minor for what we've learned. This isn't a situation where Tsukasa yelled at his friends, or where he trusted the wrong person; Tsukasa was the head of an interdimensional crime syndicate that nearly eradicated Kamen Riders on its path to total domination. I don't know that a Mea Culpa really settles things! Feels a little lacking!

All of that Narrative and Thematic stuff aside (because who really cares about that in a movie with so many superhero suits), this film was a treat. The score was dynamic and engaging. The fights were generally fun, with some clever twists. The special guest stars were very cool. (Shouichi! Momotaros, of course! KickHopper and Ouja, immediately rejecting Kaitou's request for aid and trying to kill the heroes!) A lot of the staging and direction in the first half was smart in how it enforced the isolation of Sayo and the uneasiness of Tsukasa. The movie just looked and sounded great, for the duration.

I can't claim that this was a great story, or that it was well-told. I fully expect a bunch of people in this thread to cite this film as a low-point for Rider movies. For me, it really connected. I liked how it used one last minute before the finale to show the unintended consequences for someone's decision to find themself, and to argue for the need to take that journey of self-discovery anyway. I dug it.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...allridersb.png

Honestly, watching this movie again was a real treat. It had a bunch of fun action shots, and while it's not my favorite of the "All Riders team up to fight together" movies that they start doing, it's still has some fun moments. And hey we finally get our Hibiki Kamen Ride! They were saving it for the movie!

In terms of the emotional core of the movie, it is rather sudden given we've had zero buildup to Sayo aside from the picture from the Amazon two-parter, but I rather enjoyed the short bits of stuff she had with Tsukasa.

Also there's a lot of little things you can catch on a rewatch, like Tsukikage being framed next to a moon in the daytime. Speaking of that, I was like "Oh yeah this dude's Shadow Moon, right? Clever Toei.". I was not expecting when he's like "I am Shadow Moon" for TV-Nihon to pop up with a translation note that said "Tsukikage means Moon Shadow". That was a sudden twist that only fansubs could provide and I'm glad I laughed so hard at that.

Also it was fun seeing Gackt show up as AR Riderman. So I'll end with this:

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/FB1-8gbXM...pg&name=medium

I could never forget you Gackt.

Yeah, gotta say; you've given me more appreciation for the movie!

I never really disliked it myself, though... some of it fell a little flat? Part of that is down to Tsukasa being the previous leader of Dai-Shocker, which as someone who's become a big Decade fan since has never and still does not sit right with me; and part of it is that this movie is relying a lot on the excitement factor of All Riders -- and to be completely clear, this is a huge deal! The last time it had happened was 1989's Black RX where it was 11 riders (they didn't separate Black and RX back then), and the last movie was 1981's Super-1 The Movie. So this is the first time in 20 years we've had an All Rider gathering, the first cinematic All Rider gathering in almost 30 years, the first time we've had the Heisei Riders (and Shin, ZO and J! Hey guys!! My beloveds <3) involved... this was a massive deal, almost as much as the premise of Decade itself.

But like you I'd already watched W through Build (and was a little of the way through Zi-O at the time) before watching this movie. So I'd already seen a loooot more All Rider gatherings between Taisens and the like; and in regards to the gathering itself I only really knew like, 7 guys here? Only half of which I even enjoyed? So that might sound like super shallow reasoning but it's always stuck in my mind as what I attach to this movie: the forebearer to All Rider movies which was impressive at the time but just can't compare to how much bigger and wilder the ones after it were.

Which is a shame because as you say, there's a lot of thematic weight here; and frankly even then something on this slightly smaller scale with Heisei 1 and Showa dudes I love (against Shadow Moon!!) would likely do a ton for me on a rewatch! So all this reading of it has made a lot of things click in my mind, and what can I say but I'm grateful -- it's always nice when a piece of media you've overlooked as meh or not-that-great can be turned around into something you start liking (experienced that so much with Ghost this year), and you might have just done that here for me. Looking forward to getting around to this again!

I think there was also a mention of Kabuto's sister reminding Tsukasa of someone. Barely counts, but still worth noting.

Yet another dude who Tsukasa stopped paying enough attention to, who is now a negging Rider! Tsukasa's got a type, I guess!

All I gotta say about the summer movie is this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQYMa-DrxP0

Yeah, this retcon/reveal is easily the hardest part to get onboard with. It's sort of an inevitability, once Dai-Shocker gets introduced (the amnesiac character is bound to have some secret connection to the villain organization, as we'd also see in W, the very next Rider show), but I think the execution here was really unfortunate. Maybe it's a function of how much of a prickly jerk Tsukasa has always been, but it's weirdly easy to accept him as an unapologetic supervillain who's okay with his friends being whipped? I don't know if Yeah I Can See It is the reaction you want people to have when they watch this movie! The thing that reunites Tsukasa with his teammates really shouldn't be My Jerk Crime Cult Kicked Me Out! I get that the movie wants to do a thing where Tsukasa's inability to belong anywhere means he belongs everywhere, but it really doesn't feel like he's seen the errors have his ways, more than that he's been kicked out of too many clubs.

There's a way to tell a story where Tsukasa has a secret past as a supervillain, but this wasn't it.

I hope it lives up to my very ambivalent yet still enthusiastic praise!

Oh right I nearly forgot about that line! That was the specific line that hit me like a truck during Kabuto's episodes I mentioned because I knew about the whole "Sister Plot" in this movie.