Yeah, it's the showiest Driver we've gotten on this show, and I think it works for Hat Woz. I mean, Woz has always been theatrical (IWAE), so it follows that his Geiz-fan alternate self would approach being a Rider in the most flamboyant way possible.

The new form that debuted in Episode 18 is called Kamen Rider Woz Futuring Shinobi. While Zi-O's and Geiz's Armor Times use the power of Legend Riders, Woz's Futuring Times use the power of Miriders.

So what do you think about that?

Geiz is warming up for sure. Before, he was looking for excuses to kill Sougo, but now he's looking for excuses to spare him. At best, Geiz might consider Sougo a potential friend, provided he can follow through on his vow to become the greatest kindest demon king and not the evil one. Geiz is a pragmatic and sensible person, so even if his heart tells him to accept Sougo's friendship, his taciturn mind is telling him to stay emotionally detached so he can do his job. The problem with that way of thinking is that Geiz has to constantly doubt himself, as he can't hide from his true feelings. Now White Woz has arrived to advocate for killing Sougo, like he was sent by destiny to force their confrontation after Geiz softened. That's what I respect about Geiz though. When he says he cares about Sougo, he's being totally honest, since he's saying it despite all his fear telling him not to. Tsukuyomi has faith without doubt, but Geiz makes Sougo prove himself first, which makes that faith stronger.

Oh! His Armor Time! I thought it was okay? The Armor Times haven't really been for me, and the Futuring Times aren't probably going to be much different. I just generally don't like this show's Rider suit design? Shinobi's been my favorite so far, and he's the one that eschews this show's entire aesthetic!

RIDER TIME: SHINOBI EPISODE 1 - “FIRST NINPOW! VOLUME: HATTARI'S ONE-SIDED LOVE"

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/shinobi1a.png

I really loved how this episode both expanded upon and redefined the character of Kamen Rider Shinobi.

Like, I was expecting some slight adventure: a cheapy action-light online-only thing, filled out with reused suits and minimal cast. Instead, the production team created a whole world for Shinobi. There’re mooks and monsters and generals and siblings and parents and grandparents and and and. For a three-episode Fan Club spin-off, I love how dense this episode is with world-building and mythology. This never once felt like anything less than a full-series premiere, which is fantastic.

There’s a lot done to craft a complete character to Shinobi, as well. We didn’t really get to know him that well in his two Zi-O episodes, after all. We saw him in Sougo’s dream, as a solo hero using darkness to protect the weak, but that was just one fight scene. After that, we only got pre-hero Another Shinobi: a guy who longed for the power to defend people, but lacked the confidence in himself to wait for the right power. We never really got to learn about Kamen Rider Shinobi as a character, you know?

So it’s exciting to learn that three years after his Zi-O appearances, he’s not just some solo hero, but a fully-trained ninja, back from a worldwide training expedition. It’s great to see Shinobi living up to Sougo’s hopes for him. Shinobi’s done the hard work of gaining power the right way, and he’s a strong, confident hero in the aftermath. He’s practically a new man, brimming over with enthusiasm and excitement. Far from using darkness as cover, this Shinobi bursts into the light and runs wild. This isn’t the version that Another Shinobi and the Time Jackers robbed us of (not crazy about the new red costume), but everything about this new version feels like the happy ending Sougo wished for.

And the fun additional cast! I missed the part in Zi-O where Shinobi comes from a family of ninjas (or maybe they never said?), so it was really fun to find out that Shinobi’s world is one where he’s part of a team. And a team that follows Shinobi’s lessons about not giving into fear, and becoming more than you were… like, those are Sougo’s lessons, but coming out of Shinobi’s mouth. Shinobi gets to be the hero for his sister and cousins that Sougo was for him. I really love that.

Some extra Zi-O details dot the landscape, but they don’t overshadow what Shinobi’s story is trying to do. I liked the Sickle Chainsaw Monster, which feels like a reference to Woz’z Time Sickle, the thing that destroyed Another Shinobi. (Shinobi and his family’s swords all have the little Woz Time Sickle buttons on them as well, which is neat.) And there’s the generational aspects of the story, where Shinobi’s family sealed up a powerful demon, and now Team Shinobi is going to be responsible for sealing it up again. (Maybe the Demon King is an Oma Zi-O reference?) Even the addition of a supportive family feels like an inversion of the battling weirdos of Zi-O; a hopeful outcome that Sougo is trying to build for himself.

Boy, I had the best time with this first Shinobi episode. It’s a bright and colorful future, a welcome victory for Sougo’s work at salvaging Shinobi’s darkest days. The action is maybe even better than Zi-O’s: big and bold and chaotic, stuntpeople everywhere. I could watch another 46 episodes of this show.

Not too crazy about the big robot finale, though. Felt a bit Sentai?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/shinobi1b.png

With the exception of OOO, I'm generally not fond of the Armor Times either and Decade looks especially awful with the screen face. However, I think the Futuring Times look a lot more elegant as the new parts conform more to the various shapes of Woz's suit design, so they compliment instead of clash. Although that could be thematically appropriate as well, since technology usually gets more compact the more advanced it gets.

That's a good point! I think there's also something to be said for Hat Woz'z habit of co-opting stories and making them his own, rather than paying homage to them.

While the armors themselves can be pretty divisive, the actual transformation sequences themselves are pretty neat.

In particular, I like how starting with Fourze the Armor Times begin to shift towards reflecting that particular Kamen Rider's aesthatics.

We have Fourze who flies around as a rocket, then there's Wizard who appears as a magic circle, OOOs who appears as three robot animals, Gaim's which serves as a callback to the Gaim Rider's transformation sequence with the fruit head, and finally Decade that features multiple copies of the suit merging into one. It's honestly a shame that every other Armor Time we've seen so far that's based after a Heisei Rider so far lacks a unique transformation sequence.

Kamen Rider Woz and Kamen Rider Shinobi's suits are neat. Especially Shinobi, since it apparently is a kitbash of other Rider suits? I can kind of recognize certain parts that stand out, but otherwise were it not for the Ninja Ziku Driver strapped to Shinobi I would have thought the Rider to be its own original hero independent of Zi-O.

Woz's suit is interesting, since technically the only pieces that are changing are the middle strap and chest plate, the shoulder pads, and the helmet. Everything else stays the same, and the result is a Rider that manages to stand out even among the other Zi-O Riders. He really does feel out of place, which is fitting since he comes from an alternate future.

Oh, and let's not forget about the Ride Heisaber. A brilliant weapon with once again a great name pun (Heisei plus Saber, genius I know), and a mechanic of being able to perform finishing attacks based after other Heisei Riders.

Just like Rentarou in this episode, I am also getting fired uuuuuup for Rider Time Shinobi. Feels different to how I remember though. I know he had the sister, but those cousins seem new.

Not to jump the gun on my overall opinion before you've even finished the whole mini-series, but honestly, it's just such a huge shame this series was only three episodes. His work on Zi-O is great and all, but if Kento Shimoyama was allowed to write an entire year-long toku show about ninjas like this, I feel like it would end up being one of my all-time favorites, for sure. If only we could all live in a world were such a masterpiece actually existed...

The Heiseiber is the absolute best. The name ALONE is the coolest thing on this show, and the actual weapon (with its winding watch hands!!!) is incredibly cool. Not a lot of interest in the various Armor Times, but I love seeing the Heiseiber get used.

I mean, it's so different from the Zi-O episodes, and I can see the recency bias obscuring this take on Shinobi. I'm glad you still liked it!

Ha ha, hilarious! A year-long ninja toku show? That's a pretty good April Fools gag.

Seriously, though, it's weird how much time was spent on building out this mini-series' world. I loved it, but, like, how is Shinobi going to get the other 47 Sealing Shuriken in two episodes? That's... man, that is a lot of ground to cover.

Yeah, a lot of Toei's more recent projects have to really rush to fit in all the collectible gimmick merch Bandai wants shilled. Just kinda the nature of being merchandise-driven, unfortunately. Personally, I thought Shinobi managed to handle it in a way that didn't at all detract from the quality of the story, but we'll see how you feel by the time you finish the series, Die!

It may seem that way, but that was all part of the general tribute to the Heisei era that Zi-O was doing. Each part of the giant mecha refers to a different Rider show. Obviously, the dragon and train are references to Ryuki and Den-O, respectively. The dog, meanwhile, is Chaco from Faiz; it's not clearly stated in the dialogue, to be fair, but it's basically the entire premise of the show's opening theme, “Boku wa Chaco-kun” (I assume your fansubs didn't translate the lyrics).

The other two are a bit more subtle, though, so I'm not surprised if you didn't pick up on them. The dump truck is the kind used for large scale mining operations, which is an homage to the Rider Quarry and all of the episodes filmed there. And finally, the red robot pilots the mecha from a chair, which is likewise a nod to a common Rider environment, namely the many sit-down dining establishments seen over the years.

I had the dog as Gills' dog Count Zero, from Agito, but I definitely wouldn't've gotten those other ones. Felt like the dump truck was maybe a reference to Drive's Type Technic, but I'm sure you'd know better about Zi-O's homages, being such a huge fan of the series. Thanks for the info!

That would have been much less of a stretch, wouldn’t it?

Know what Shinobi reminds me of? Anime. Specifically, the craziness in it. We have the main character who is seemingly goofy on the outside, but is actually a super powerful legendary ninja. We have his little sister who is also really skilled and just so happens to be in love with the titular character's secret identity. She's also the main heroine.

We also have the secondary character who is also romantically interested in the main heroine. It's very anime-esque in my opinion. And I like that about this mini series.

But there's something I want to talk about as well. Specifically Kamen Rider Woz's suit. And even more specifically, his Figuarts.

Woz's S.H. Figuarts is the last third retail release of a Kamen Rider series. And he's a pretty good release being the last, too. He was $55 upon release, you can find him for as low as 25-30 nowadays, he comes with his weapon along with said weapons' form changes and just overall looks nice.

I don't currently have the right pic for it, but most of his green is actually bare plastic. Which means when put under blacklight, he will glow. Pic related below isn't quite that but you can kind of see how the green plastic glows.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DDb2c39yXGU/maxresdefault.jpg

Nice to see someone got some enjoyment out of this series, even if it was April 1st when it went up.

Another fun touch from Decade's Armor Time is that each illusion copy has a single solid part of the armor on them so when all of the copies form on Zi-O the full armor comes together.

The hat?!...is white.

Not that Geiz is someone like Button Man, of course, but it's not only regarding Sougo, but also regarding Another Riders previously too. The self-righteous type of characters often are utterly merciless in dealing with those whom they consider evil, of which it applies to both Sougo and Another Rider for Geiz, and can be prone to consider all crimes to be equal, with Geiz looking for excuses to blame Sougo including light offenses as a plausible reason to kill him. That also had him somewhat having With Us or Against Us mentality, that Sougo's disagreements with Geiz with dealing against the Another Rider was also a reason for Geiz to brand him as ultimate evil too (Tsukuyomi was the only person Geiz would listen that time, so she's a clear exception). I guess dunno if Geiz is really about fear and psychologically adrift, or if he won't be necessarily able to carry out his acts, but I thought Geiz showed some characteristics present in characters who'd never felt they're in the wrong.

Kamen Rider being there for hardship? W̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶K̶a̶m̶e̶n̶ ̶R̶i̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶t̶s̶e̶l̶f̶ ̶c̶r̶e̶a̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶r̶d̶s̶h̶i̶p̶?̶ Otherwise, it'd be still healthy for those who still can live normally like having steady job, while enjoying those KR stuff, but this distinction isn't really easy to spot or distinguish or acknowledged.

I don't think Ataru is happy, he clearly had a tragic moment of losing Shingo as well as him feeling so lonely. Not all case of wanting to escape from reality is caused by sadness (like playing games can be done just to have fun), but Ataru's a clear case of that, he wants to avoid the troublesome real life it hands him for. And I guess for him making a wish to Futaro and being desperate of holding his fantasy in shows that he's not done yet for his vow of fixing his problems by meeting Kamen Riders, which'd mean he's still emotionally troubled to that point. It's not a case of someone being troubled finally being able to act upon it (and previously harmless) after gaining superpowers, but Ataru's someone who does come across Imagin wish (also Futaro's a rarity of an Imagin that isn't actually malicious, despite first scenes implying he is), and he had done some mistakes in his choices like what Sento pointed out, him causing grief for his friends like Kazumi, he's not malicious about it but he's still quite desperate with the explanation of this being all fantasy.

He does react with glee when meeting Riders, but I don't think that it means being happy in general, sad people can show occassional excitement like that. And other than that, he reacts the same way when he met Tsukuyomi of what's mistaken as a crush... as well as Tsukuyomi not recognizing that name when he refers to her as that; it should provide some foreshadowing regarding her later. Other than that, I'd like to see what'd be Asumu's reaction, when he met more morally ambiguous Kamen Riders (well, Banjou, Kazumi, and especially Gentoku were, but he met them at the end of the series albeit the former 2 wouldn't be harmful for civilians to approach), or especially an evil one.

Albeit he does eventually lose faith in Kamen Rider when Kazumin refuses to save him from fodders (but that still shows how depressed he is and it became worse), but him as Another Den-O is still likely a corrupted version of him as per usual Another Riders. I guess it's not what the movie intends or what's intended as a consequence for Ataru, but that quite shows, though it's not that KR was fictional but turned fictional by Tid, fantasy fiction stuff existing can make life harder, that there'd be more danger like those monsters Ataru faced, as Kamen Riders would have superpowered foes too, so it wouldn't be better for those stuff to exist in real life.

I'd think that the movie's premise is interesting, to have the Kamen Rider characters being pitted against a world where it's like real world, that Kamen Rider is a fictional media (̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶U̶l̶t̶r̶a̶m̶a̶n̶ ̶m̶o̶v̶i̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶k̶i̶n̶d̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶m̶i̶s̶e̶)̶. For some 4th wall breaking potential like trivias that the characters learned, or even more regarding the pursuit of erasing Kamen Rider media from history.... like those ".5" episodes that Sougo talked about blowing up Toei building or such. I also think that, though it's inevitable it'd be a mindfuck, pitting Den-O and Zi-O together in time related stuff is also good, like no DenLiner? Use Time Mazine instead.

But I do think that there are some wasted potential or left out stuff (like the Another Double there too, I agree), like Tid's motive for erasing KR, or the missing memories for some of the Riders which'd create some new dynamics between the characters, other than Sougo himself who was a cocky academic ace (as seen in contrast to the ending of him not taking the exam) and then after regaining his memories he reacted surprised to others who also lost their memories. But for others, it was never touched upon of what they're going through or after their memories returned. For Kuuga part, well it's Joe Odagiri not liking toku and leaving it so... I don't think they'd want for Kuuga to appear only like that. Tid is given Kuuga counterpart of "only I can smile" and a shade of Kuuga (Ultimate) Darkness at the end.

Otherwise, there can be negative consequences for KR, as a practiccally violent show (for fighting). It can be concerning when kids watch them is that they play into children imagination and fantasy, so children start to fantasize about being vigilantes (of which this practice should be discouraged). And for the lessons or such, the inherent difficulty in those shows is that all sorts of problems have to be resolved by violence and fighting (otherwise those shows won?t have any action elements), and there are helping people psychologically but it can be overshadowed (like it can involve MOTW).

I'm very grateful that no one seems to want their Zi-O Figuarts, because it means I should be able to pick up (at a minimum) Zi-O, Geiz, and Woz pre-owned for under $100. Pretty big surprise for figures that are only a few years old!

Oh, was it April 1st? I keep forgetting!

But Woz doesn't wear a hat! And that hat is sort of wearing Hat Woz!

I propose a compromise. How about we call him White Hat Woz, or Hat Woz for short.

Best of both worlds!

Wrote up my Shinobi thoughts to post last night, until I remembered what day it was..........In the meantime! Here's something I forgot to post when we watched HeiGen Forever: some fun interviews with the Zi-O and Build casts! Theyre just dumb fun, which feels appropriate.

Rentarou faces some difficulty, he had to pretend to be unskilled to hide his identity as Kamen Rider Shinobi for some reason, as well as missing job interviews thus his family had to live in poverty, thus Iroha also tried to get them out of poverty by her aiming for Konjou Company. Not to Sougo's extent.... but even Rentarou pretends to be less competent than he actually is... like him, but this does make him seem goofy to Iroha.

I guess Zi-O didn't explain about Shinobi coming from family of ninjas, because the opening narration explained about how Shinobi's world has become rife with ninjas. I don't know what cousin did you talk about, Icchi is the childhood friend of Rentarou and Iroha. With the Rider identity being unknown, the set up is that Iroha is in love with Shinobi while Icchi also has the hots for Iroha...

He’s not actually watching the first episode of the Shinobi miniseries. He’s watching the first episode of Ninninger and treating it as the first episode as part of April Fools (he did he same thing last year watching ToQger 36 instead of Den-O 36).

I can't believe Shinobi's final form has him wearing a poncho and using the BurgerDriver, a brilliant call-back to Ex-Aid's JuJu Burger form, which remains unbeaten!

RIDER TIME: SHINOBI EPISODE 1 - “FIRST NINPOW! VOLUME: HATTARI'S ONE-SIDED LOVE"

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/shinobia1a.png

First off, thanks for indulging my little April Fool’s Day gag of watching the first episode of Ninninger instead of Shinobi. I was going to do the ZO movie, but we happened to land the start of Shinobi on April 1st, so I called an audible and decided to write up Ninninger’s premiere instead.

It was a neat premiere, and a huge change of pace from the recent DonBrothers premiere. (I think those are the only two Sentai debuts I’ve watched?) It was pretty surreal to have so much of the cast and premise laid out in the first episode, with a giant battle to cap it all off. Not 100% my thing for tokusatsu, but I had a fun time watching it and writing it up.

The only problem is, uh… I think I already said everything there is to say about this episode? Accidentally?

Like, ha ha ha, Shinobi DOES come from a family of ninjas! And his younger sister IS a ninja that he feels responsible for! And he IS significantly more goofy and enthusiastic than we saw him as in the Zi-O episodes! And there IS a ton of cool world-building in this first-third of Shinobi’s entire run!

Thankfully, it doesn’t just feel like it’s cribbing from Ninninger, despite way more coincidental similarities than I’d’ve assumed. It still has the shape of a Kamen Rider series. There’s a rival corporate Kamen Rider, Hattari, who has a friendship with the hero’s secret identity. The whole gimmick of The Nation’s Biggest Company Is Controlled By The Villains is the most on-target Heisei reference that the ongoing Zi-O project has come up with yet. There’s a sense of isolation to Rentarou’s role as Shinobi, even though he’s got friends and family. We don’t really get a lot of shows where the Kamen Rider hides his identity from his friends and family (not since... Agito?), but it feels pertinent for the Ninja Rider. There’s absolutely no bike-riding, so it’s clearly a Kamen Rider series.

It’s a pretty fun little goof, honestly. It doesn’t really make a case for itself as a lost gem, or anything. I didn’t watch this episode and think Why Were We Robbed Of This Series. It’s a little too light to feel like there’s potential here. Rentarou is too slapstick-y, and the world is too Everything’s Ninjas without really feeling like a coherent theme. It’s the sort of thing you can play around with for three episodes, and that’s plenty.

The only real misfire is the absolutely insane detail of Rentarou’s sister having a crush on his secret identity (gross), which Rentarou is super excited about (GROSS). It’s a bizarre gag to try and pull off, because it ends up making both Rentarou and Icchy look like massive creeps. Iroha is seventeen years old. The idea that grown-ass-adult Icchy is wistfully saying her name is alarming enough, but Rentarou even inadvertently stringing his own sister along as a love interest is mortifying. Rentarou should have immediately confided in Iroha that he’s Shinobi, if only to dissuade her from crushing on him. (But also because it’s uncool to hide his identity from his sister? Who is also in peril? That he didn’t tell her about?) There’s no need for this plotline, and I can’t believe it made it out of the planning stages.

Otherwise, this is easily in the Top Two for ninja-themed tokusatsu premieres I watched this week. Fun, but not exactly a revelation or anything.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/shinobia1b.png

Shinobi's mini series is pretty alright to me, nothing majorly impressive for me tbh, I like his theme song. That's about it.

Anyway...

I will forever be sad that we lost Dark Drive to Hattari.

Not a fan of Hattari's design in the slightest. And the fact that we lost Dark Drive... like one of my favorite suits...

Sad...

http://thumbs.gfycat.com/SimpleTedio...ds-max-1mb.gif

Special Time: Shinobi edition!

-Do love that they immediately went with the most ridculous worldbuliding imaginable for this one. "Why is Shinobi a shinobi?" "Because everyone is, silly! It's the scheme of the evil ninja organization controlling the goverment, yknow?"

-Rentaro's master being a frog on a scroll is clearly some kind of folkore thing I'm missing, but it is a really fun idea for a mentor character lol.

-Literally felt my gut twist when they did the "Hattari loves Iroha", and felt it drop a thousand feet or so when "Iroha loves Shinobi! (who is her brother)" came up, can we like, not?

-...Speaking of Riders from an alternate future, Hattari sure is a kitbash of Dark Drive. It isn't bad or anything, but it makes me kinda sad we lost such a killer suit.

Overall, it doesn't have enough meat on the bone in concept to feel like I'm being robbed of this concept as a fully fleshed out 48~ epsiode season., but it sure is a nice little romp! We're probably going to have a good (Rider) time with this one,,

So I love Episode 16 it such a great way to end the first quarter of the show imo. It alot more lowkey then usual but I love the feeling of dread as the future accelerates further. That scene in the pit with Sougo and Geiz is one of favorite moments in Rider it's personal and raw to the characters. And I love how at the end when Decade leaves we get very similar effect to what happened in Decade Episode 3 with Tiger and Delta.
https://ww.namu.la/s/f1a81da2131ed89...43f5e4abb5e06b
https://i.ibb.co/3f44V4f/Delta-and-Tiger-Decade.jpg

Also bringing this up right now we have Geiz using Ex-Aid Armor which I find a little funny largely because A) He already has Genm Armor but also B) he uses Ex-Aid more times than Sougo does despite that Armor being advertised as mainly his.

Look, I'll indulge just about any excuse to get you to watch Ninninger. I was wondering if you'd have some gag this year, and this one made me extra happy to see.

But uh, playing along meant I sort of skipped over episode 18, so!

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP18)

Man, I can't believe I said there I didn't think Sougo was any sort of exceptional protagonist. I mean, I guess I can, actually, but it still surprises me that I maintained such a healthy skepticism about this show for that long.

Needless to say, even though my past self wasn't sure yet, in retrospect, I consider Sougo's whole confrontation with Rentarou to be another defining moment for his character. It's a great glimpse into the more... introspective (is maybe the word for it?) flavor of drama that Shimoyama starts bringing to the series' writing now that we've been able to establish Sougo as a protagonist with some proper depth.

I sort of can't speak to how much I agree or disagree about how the episode surrounding this plays out, because the two things that dominated my opinion of it back then are still the things I remember most now. It's cool that Zi-O gets to do an elaborately filmed Rider Kick just in his base form, even with so many other, newer toys to shill, and him screaming at Rentarou to believe in his future self is a line that's really engraved itself in my recollection of the series for some reason. I think I just like Sou Okuno's delivery of it? I always felt he had a rougher time than most of the young stars in these shows finding his character, since the writers seemed to be having trouble finding it too, but this is around where his performance truly starts to click, and even though this is just one tiny little line I'm talking about right now, I really do like how much you can tell Sougo isn't only talking about Rentarou.

Of course I don't mind! It was nice reading that again! :thumb:

Third, I know you?ve seen Jetman’s premiere (and no, I refuse to elaborate for anyone who doesn?t know how.)

Anyway, since this is strictly Shinobi, with nary a Ridewatch in sight, I’ll point out some references that aren’t immediately apparent from a knowledge on Ninninger based on three episodes, two of which focus on one character.

* The opening visuals accompanying the narration are a spoof of Ninninger’s.

* The guy Rentaro throws his fight against is wearing Tawada’s character Kinji’s outfit from Ninninger.

* And for a fun bonus, the voice of the sentient frog tapestry is Nobuo Kyo. You know him as Amazon Neo Alpha from The Last Judgement, I know him as the guy who gave me my signature quote (which is the reason why he’s in this).

Oh yeah! It's a really good theme song! I was pleasantly surprised that Kamen Rider Shinobi's three-episode spin-off got its own opening sequence and theme song. They committed to the bit, which is crucial.

I wonder if they'd've leaned into the ridiculousness of this premise for a series, or if they'd've kept it more grounded. I kinda love the idea of Ninja Bus Driver and Ninja Butcher and Ninja Call Center Employee. I don't know that they're great for a Kamen Rider series (again, not at all clear on what the thematic payoff for any of that would be), but it's agreeably dumb to ponder.

Decade lived long enough to see himself become the fan-favorite anti-hero who screws things up for the Anniversary Rider.

It's the best part of a sub-par episode, that's for sure. Decade didn't really click for me as an open-ended story until Inoue gave Tsukasa that Protecting People's Journeys speech, and Sougo's appeal for someone to Believe In Their Future Self felt similarly definitive. It feels earned, with Sougo talking about his own difficulty in staying positive, rather than just some thematic platitude. And feels like a thing that Sougo can take with him beyond the boundaries of Oma Day or Time Jackers or Another Riders. It's a thing he can do as Sougo, not just as Kamen Rider Zi-O.

Oh, right! True. That was a fun first episode, too. Inoue Forever!

Thank you for the info, but please never mention The Last Judgment ever, ever again. God, I hated that movie.

Never watched this, so I have very little to say. Apparently it was three episodes? I thought it was just a one-shot.

So Ninninger and Zi-O actually had the same head writer, Kento Shimoyama. He didn't actually write the Shinobi miniseries, though. That took a surprising amount of time to look up, but the Zi-O page on the Kamen Rider Wiki is a fucking mess because of all the guest stars.

So this is a thing that you run into with Japanese media sometimes. I'm not even remotely into anime, but I know enough about the current state of the medium to know that this shit pops up with alarming frequency there. I don't know if Shinobi pulls the "not blood siblings" card, but at least you can be grateful that she's 17 and not 12.

So uh, despite having the Shinobi miniseries on my laptop for 3 years at this point, and rating its theme song very high compared to other themes, I've not actually watched it. Let's fix that.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...744&height=418

And yeah, Episode 1 is pretty solid! The sibling love triangle is weird, moreso because Rentaro seems to think it's a good idea, but ignoring that, I like it. Could it work as a full Rider series? There's some concepts here you could expand on - Mr Toad Scroll, the evil Ninja Business empire, why Iroha is in Kiriko-territory of not being a Rider despite being obviously skilled - but that's not really the point. As much as the kayfabe of this being the totally real 2022 show is uphelp (again, theme music goes hard), as a web special, it does a good job of telling its own story in the short runtime, establishing the characters, and creating a unique world that I could see happening.

Also, another thing I found in my downloads folder - back in 2020, during Lockdown 1, I took a crack at doing an English version of the Shinobi theme. It's based on a mix of Earthy and KRWiki's subs, modified to fit the flow, and I might record myself singing it and upload it at some point? I'd do it for the Episode 3, but I'm away at my first physics conference starting tomorrow (very exciting, time to learn how becoming a physics ninja can stop global warming), so it'll be late, but that was a very cute surprise from past me.

I have seen enough toku to not be too shocked when an older brother pulls a patronizing/paternalistic/infantilizing move of treating his teenage sister as both Too Pure For This World, and also But She's So Kawaii. (Like, Makoto from Ghost kept his sister in his pocket for a dozen episodes. This is not my first Creepy Sibling Relationship rodeo!) So, yeah, cultural differences or whatever. But gross is still gross, and this was gross.

Yeah, the smartest thing this first Shinobi episode does is treat it like it's the 15th Shinobi episode. Just throwing us into not only a world that is completely bonkers (and I say that having watched Gaim), but an ensemble that treats Icchy's debut appearance as We Are All Sick Of This Guy. Super funny stuff!

Oh, awesome! I look forward to it!

And have fun at your physics conference! Even if you can't get into the track on Ninja Climate Science, maybe you can at least hit a roundtable during lunch and learn to do a Vortex Finish? Fingers crossed!

As I said before, the opening narration explained about how Shinobi's world has become rife with ninjas, thus the Kagura family is far from lone family that is made with ninjas. They aren't the protagonist group that is special and distinct among average joes, though Iroha does seem to be particularly skilled, able to beat Rentarou, at least his version that pretends to be incompetent, as well as her skill in the tournament just that her "failures" are all set up. Not taking the diss of actual Kamen Rider well here though. The actual one that formed the series root not the fake Phase 2 Heisei. Even Ex-Aid had bike-riding or a Rider that is bike himself!

Already said this before, but it's Rentarou's current problem, but not revealed why. Rentarou had to pretend to be unskilled to hide his identity as Kamen Rider Shinobi for some reason, as well as missing job interviews thus his family had to live in poverty, thus Iroha also tried to get them out of poverty by her aiming for Konjou Company. Not to Sougo's extent.... but even Rentarou pretends to be less competent than he actually is... like him, but this does make him seem goofy to Iroha. It's still unknown why Rentarou had to hide his Shinobi identity, so don't blame Rentarou for Iroha's crush on Shinobi. Rentarou is NOT into Iroha crushing on him. Otherwise yeah.... Iroha is a dude magnet and Icchy is the one known as subject to win her affection for now.

Dragonmaru is a European dragon with the power of magic, so I think it would be more of a reference to Wizard.

Thanks!

I'm more surprised that you almost watched AND finished an installment of Showa Rider. Not that I can blame you for going with the ninjas instead, since this was such a perfect opportunity. I mean, ninjas, what's not to love?

ZO is a cool movie though, especially for us Metal Heroes fans who can excitedly spot the actors from Winspector and Spielvan.

Congrats, you managed to pull an April Fools on yourself!

Everything's Ninjas is an awesome enough concept to sell the series on its own! But if you're looking for a deeper theme, then the values of a Kamen Rider aren't so far removed from the values of a ninja. They're both connected to Rentarou's identity and purpose. Kaneko Kaori is a very "dessert before dinner" kind of writer. She's focusing on introducing all these exciting characters and this crazy world in this episode, but while it's not apparent yet, there's still an important story that exists within that world that goes beyond the surreal comedy Kaneko has a reputation for.

I'm glad you acknowledge that. Personally, I've learned to leave western taboos aside when watching Japanese media. That way, I never get culture shocked.

Sometimes there are jokes!

Yeah, it wasn't the Kamen Rider values I thought were lacking, it's the... like, what is Kamen Rider Shinobi for? The world is goofy but coherent (I think doing a tournament thing is a smart introduction to the world and the power structure and stuff), the cast relationships are slightly horrifying but legible, and the the superhero/supervillain stuff is right there.

It's more that it was difficult to see what Shinobi was about as this specific superhero. Rentarou's a wacky brother and a one-upping friend, but I don't think the first episode nailed down what Shinobi's goals are, as a hero.

Glad to hear that part of the character is coming soon!

RIDER TIME: SHINOBI EPISODE 2 - “NEXT NINPOW!! VOLUME: THE DARK NINJA’S ASSASSINATION"

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/shinobi2a.png

I think Farce is a good space for this series to exist in.

There’s a part of me that would’ve loved to see a real attempt to craft a serious Kamen Rider Shinobi story. Something that mixes wacky hidden-identity hijinks with something darker or sadder. Nothing to the extent of, like, Amazons, but something less frivolous than this episode.

But with such a limited run-time (this one’s not even fifteen minutes) and probably a miniscule budget, going with a super-campy and completely unserious lark is enjoyable enough for me. There’s nothing but gags in this story, and the few nominally poignant or complicated emotions are immediately played as satire, only missing the laugh track to really hammer home the show’s targeted tone.

Funny gags, though! It’s almost all following the Rule of Threes, where a joke is funny, then not funny, then REALLY funny. By the third torn-off-clothes costume change, I was dying. Stuff like that, or Iroha’s incredibly quick No Thanks to Icchy’s vow to protect her, was delightful. This whole thing was practically an HBV, with how nonsensical and broad it was. (Hattari having absolutely no poker face! In either identity! At all times!)

Still, the emphasis (financially-motivated or otherwise) on humor over pathos or stakes, it’s not what I’d’ve hoped for from this mini-series. I get why Toei hasn’t announced anything for Shinobi in 2022. Why bother? It’s a gag premise, and not a particularly deep one. This is like the Kamen Rider Brain stuff: what you’re getting is plenty, so let’s not wear out the joke.

But they’re good jokes!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/shinobi2b.png

So this time, I’ll discuss some costume reuse for this miniseries. Aside from Shinobi being a Ride Player with a few pieces added, Hattari is a heavy remould of Dark Drive, while the bad guy is a repaint of Another Shinobi, to enforce the rule that the Another Riders look like the original’s enemies.

RIDER TIME: SHINOBI EPISODE 3 - “LAST NINPOW!!! VOLUME: THE CLOSE CALL IN A DEAD-END"

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/shinobi3a.png

Boy, resolving the action with an Everyone’s Horny For Iroha story beat is… it’s a choice! It’s definitely a real decision that this three-episode mini-series made! To have multiple adult characters lust after a 17-year old girl! And for that 17-year old girl to accidentally lust after her older brother!

I pretty much disliked this series. There’s not much here but the gags, and a TON of the gags in this episode (a full third of the series!) are built around some really uncomfortable storylines. It’s tacky, and it’s not for me.

And it’s a shame, because despite Iroha being knocked out for the bulk of this episode and used as a prize for multiple men to fight over (was not expecting a Gaim tribute in this Shinobi series), there’s some neat stuff added to Iroha’s character here? Her use of science sets her apart from the more straightforward ninja spellcasting, giving her a perspective that’s pertinent to the themes and struggles of Shinobi’s world. Her use of opposing elements to achieve a new effect is used by Shinobi to escape from a trap, but it’s also relevant to Shinobi and Hattari teaming up to save her. It’s a great use of her character.

Buuuuut then some old man says that he wants to kill Shinobi so he can abduct a teenage girl and force her into marriage, and Rentarou’s like You Only Kidnapped Her So You Can Go, and Icchy shows up later to perv on Iroha, and I’ve completely forgotten my positive feelings for this series.

Real bummer, man. I liked some of the crazy worldbuilding of this short-run series (that bonkers cliffhanger!), and the more the show leaned into Ninja Status Quo, the more I loved it, but just landing everything on dudes wanting to hook up with a 17-year old girl was… nope! No thanks! No thanks forever!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/shinobi3b.png