I'd argue that even pre Den-O series use the two episode format as well. Kuuga, Agito, and Blade all take two episodes to get through the monster of the week, ot moght be less pronounced since those series don't have victims of the week either.

Now I didn't finish it but I from what I watched, the two episode format really hurt Wizard. The series had to spend 8 episodes showing off each of the 4 styles which is fine, other series have done that too. But then I think immediately after that they have to spend another 8 episodes for each Dragon Form of the styles. All this really did in my eyes was waste about a third of the shows episodes of an already slow season

Probably too early to judge, but I definitely feel that Zero-One's been hurt most badly by the 2-episode format -- the concept for the tournament arc was fine, and I agree with the assertion that for the argument you're setting up and with your target demographic being kids, you need to show off a wide variety of industries where AI could be useful. But making each and every one a 2-parter just meant it was dragged out far more than necessary and made it feel even more formulaic than it already was.

Do you think it’s possibly for the next Kamen Rider show to be more uplifting after Zero-One due to Coronavirus pandemic?

I remember the reason why Fourze is about friendship because Toei wanting Fourze to be uplifting after 2011 Earthquake and the production team wanted to make a hero to bring the smiles back to people.

I not sure if they are doing the next Kamen Rider show once they done with Zero-One after Toei studios got shut down due to Rio Komiya (Kiramai Red’s actor) get diagnosed with COVID-19 but fortunately, Rio Komiya is making a recovery.

That wouldn't surprise me.

Toei does have a track record of making series more uplifting and light hearted after a major tragedy.

The kamen rider today are not anymore metal riders.

Thing is with the whole Covid-19 situation, I wonder if it'll get worse and cause the show to be delayed, and somehow Kamen Rider eventually goes back to premiering in January.

I wouldn't be surprised by a delay. Considering the lead for Kirameiger has contracted it and Toei studios are on lock down.
It does make me wonder how far in advance an episode is filmed, now, though.

Get ready for the next rider to be about doctors again.

To be fair, there's already a staggering amount of series that are about random jackoffs suddenly attaining great power :lol

Maybe it just be doctors this time. Everyone meet your new hero, Kamen Rider Scalpel!

https://i.imgur.com/dbgXNIj.png
Who did it better?

Kuuga, no question. All of them keep it very simple and all have something interesting going for them.

Aside from Dogga which is a surprisingly well balanced design, Kiva's forms suffer from the same thing most Kiva designs do; overdesigned and messy to the point of just not being good at all. I get what they're going for with each one but they just don't look great.

Kuuga, no question. All of them keep it very simple and all have something interesting going for them.

Aside from Dogga which is a surprisingly well balanced design, Kiva's forms suffer from the same thing most Kiva designs do; overdesigned and messy to the point of just not being good at all. I get what they're going for with each one but they just don't look great.

I just see four kings that need not be pitted against each other.

(My preference leans towards Kuuga too)

Kuuga. While I love Kiva's design to death, there's something about Kuuga that makes it stands out namely, it feels like each form of Kuuga ia good enough to be a main form, whereas you look at Kiva and you can tell that the three forms are just extensions of the Kiva form, not that it is a bad thing.

Kuuga did the concept of form changing better, but Kiva's suits are much nicer looking IMO.

I’ll go for Kiva, since each form has a very clear fighting style and actually uses the weapons to finish things off. I don’t really remember seeing that kind of change up in Kuuga and they used the form changing gimmick a lot longer.

How does Kuuga not finish things off with his weapons? That's the only way those forms fight.

Kuuga. I am very biased hinestly but Kuuga's forms change most of the suit rather than just one arm and the the chest piece

It feels like the exact opposite to me - Kuuga's forms all seem like re-colored suits, I had to look at the picture again to remember that the chest plates and shoulder pieces are different.

Also, while Kuuga does form changing in a superb and outstanding way, I want to break a lance for Kiva here: His form changes are tied to actual characters he interacts with. Yes, the way they turn into weapons is kind of goofy, but I like how they formed a bond with Wataru, and how it all tied into the past.

This all comes together very nicely in the scene where they help Wataru to control the Zanbat Sword.

It feels weird, I like Kuuga much more than Kiva overall, but I guess I’m rooting for the underdog here.

I think I'll add Wizard to the mix since he has a similar set-up, and in my mind it goes Kuuga > Kiva > Wizard in terms of general aesthetics. Though Wizard's Dragon forms are a much cooler upgrade than Kuuga's Rising forms in my opinion.

I will be honest, I have not seen Kiva. It is nice to have the form changes tied to characters and character progression. However going beyond suits, Kiva's weapons I think are also lamer. What is it, dagger, gun, and hammer? All in the Kiva lots of detail style, bleh. But like I said before I am biased towards Kuuga in a big way

Kuuga's Rising forms only show up for like 30 seconds or whatever the time limit is sadly. So aside from outside merchandise like figuarts and the like, not a lot of opportunity to see them.

I always felt like Kuuga got its idea of having multiple forms from Ultraman Tiga. Both shows even came out over a decade after their last show ended (Ultraman 80 and Black RX).

It's more likely it was just expanding on what Black RX already did, considering RX had the Robo Rider and Bio Rider forms.

I'd have to go look this up again to be sure, but I believe what lead to Kuuga having multiple forms was one of the many, many rejected concepts they went through before landing on the show we got that was called Kamen Rider XV (read as "cross vee"), which would have had multiple Riders before Ryuki made it cool. Ultimately that idea morphed into having one protagonist who just had a bunch of looks for whatever reasons.

I'd be surprised if guys like Tiga and RX weren't on their minds at some point, though.

How do you like your secondary riders to be introduced?
I just watched Build and Ghost, and recently I started Agito, and they both began with the secondary rider being introduced from the start. While they did do things different (Banjou didn't transform until the first quarter was finished, while G3 appeared before Agito), they were both established at the start of the series, giving them a dynamic with the main hero from the starting line.

Meanwhile, there are series such as Drive and Double, which introduces our secondary hero after the first quarter, meaning their dynamic as characters has to start weeks after we've gotten accustomed to the main hero.

So, I'm curious if you prefer the secondary rider to be introduced once we've had a chance to see our main hero go about it solo, or would you like to seem them together at the starting line, since often times the duo work well bouncing off each other with their contrasting personalities, making things interesting?
Additionally, if you prefer the latter, do you like to see it akin to Kabuto or Build, where our soon to be secondary spends a good amount of time unable to transform, so we still get that chemistry while also seeing the hero work alone, or do you prefer it like Ex-Aid or Ryuki, where the secondary is a rider at the start, for some double rider action from the word go?

Whatever works for the series, really. G3-X, Chalice, Cross-Z and Birth are all some of my favourite Secondary Riders for very very different reasons.

But if you asked me to pick, I would say that I have a soft spot for the 'classic, traditional' way of doing it -- introduce a new character about a third into the show. W, OOO and Fourze all stuck by this; and they're very formula driven shows that KNOW what they're doing with that formula and made it work. Accel, Birth and Meteor all stick out in my mind for a reason.

Though also, like, one of my favourite Kamen Rider characters ever is Banjou Cross-Z? And I kind of love "character introduced early on through their development eventually gets the power to become a Kamen Rider".

I really liked Kagami, Gotoh, and Banjou's road to riderdom. They were introduced from the start but earned their place as a rider after a few trials and tribulations. And whether the show they were each in sucked or not, the viewer gets to learn about them and see the growth making their debut as riders all the more satisfying when it happens.

OK before we go to the next page.... now the current page number is... 555!

Oh well, scratch that, I have a question: What's the true purpose of Pause?

So as we know in Ex-Aid DAN KUROTO-SHIN DA's own creation (Cronus, especially the Pause) turned against him (and other protags) via his father that hijacked Cronus as Patient Zero and used Bugvisor (only compartible with Bugsters and Patient Zeroes) to henshin so he can activate Pause ability with A and B button.

And then in Episode 43 we see how Cronus work with Gamer Driver via Taiga. He can't use Pause at all, although it shows other abilities of Cronus of summoning lv. 2 Rider weapons.

Cronus was intended for Ride-Players to face Gamedeus. But Ride-Players can't use Bugvisor because they aren't Bugsters (dunno if full progressing through Chronicle will grant you immunity like Patient Zero). But as we've known, even if they can use Bugvisor, Pause is useless against Gamedeus.

I kinda want to see Kamen Rider going back to a solo rider show. Having it be a "Me vs. The Whole World" type of story.

I assume it was meant to be a sort of like Admin privileges used exclusively by Kuroto.

As stated in your post, normal RidePlayers could only use the Game Driver to become Cronus, which doesn't let them use the Pause ability, an ability that isn't even effective on Gamedeus.

However Pause does work on everyone else in KR Chronicle; Rideplayers and Bugsters. Meaning the ability would still be useful for someone who wants to control the events of the game like preventing players from beating all the bugsters too quickly by stopping time and moving the Bugster to another location, or permanently eliminate players who try to break the rules.

And since Kuroto's original Buggle Driver (the black and purple one) still has the functioning A and B buttons, it's likely he could turn into Cronus and access Pause with just his original Buggle Driver.

As such, I believe that Kuroto's original plan was to release KR Chronicle into the market. And while everyone else would play around and fight Bugsters as RidePlayers or even a limited Cronus, Kuroto himself would be able to use the full powers of Cronus as a "god" who could influence the events of the game to match his will.

Ex-Aid in the US!?

https://pwrrngr.com/2020/05/11/the-r...-5-8-2020-4742

Yeah, I mean the chances are bleak given that the profit formula for Kamen Rider has been solidified since W in my opinion, but if they do another show in the vein of Amazons I can see them try what you are proposing. Not another gore fest per se, but something that focuses on the Rider vs The World stuff. Personally a direct adaptation of the Kamen Rider BLACK manga would be great.

That turned out to be mistaken. It was something to do with a channel in Japan streaming all the Heisei Rider series in order, and they were just on Ex-Aid at the time. Not sure how these glitches happen, but they do.

Still, I mean... it might be a while yet, but Ex-Aid in the US is hardly impossible anymore with Shout having 71 and Kuuga.

Dang! Thanks for that, all the same.

Another day, Ex-Aid! Another day...

Something I've been thinking about recently - what do people feel about the final villain in Kamen Rider shows being a Kamen Rider themself? Do people like that, or do they prefer a monster villain, or even a mix of both?

I dont mind as long as it is not reused constantly in a similar fashion.

It really depends on the series for me.

Build had a whole thing about evil coming from within, and arguably a much bigger thing about power being derived and reclaimed from evil. Obviously this is diminished a fair bit by Evolt turning out to be an alien, but his being a Kamen Rider does still introduce a lot of moral grays. In a series where Kamen Riders have consistently been either a force for good or something that eventually becomes a force for good after being freed from blackmail, Kamen Rider Evol being the final boss is a very good way to have it not just be a given that our heroes are good because they're Riders. They're good because of what they choose to do and what they use their power for. Build also being a series about the role of science in ethics and how it can be used to create weapons for war, it's extremely apt for the last fight of the series to be Sento beating down a Kamen Rider while he himself is a Kamen Rider.


Contrast this with Wizard, where Fueki being a Kamen Rider carries with it the philosophical and thematic relevance of... well, I'm not gonna say there's not any because I know there's a pretty fishy Wizard stan on this very site who's about to write paragraphs about everything that makes Wiseman important, but it's difficult for me to come up with a good reason for it. Sure, there is the whole thing of Wiseman being where Wizard's power came from and you could argue their both being Riders kind of makes a bigger statement out of that, but I think it would have been just fine if he wasn't a Rider. A big thing in Wizard as well was about Wizard being Haruto's own power that he was forging ahead with and he was making stronger with his allies. I don't think Wiseman having the same power as him really helps that much.

Joke's on you! The only thing I have to say about that is the White Wizard isn't a Kamen Rider, and nobody, including Toei, can ever convince me otherwise. He's in the same boat as Shadow Moon. He's just a guy with the same powers as Wizard, and that's not the same thing in my eyes.

Why, you might ask? Well, because quite frankly, I kind of hate the notion of evil Kamen Riders in a broad sense? It was perfect in Ryuki, which was making a deliberate attempt to defile tradition, and also had a clear and specific definition for what a Rider actually was, but in general, I feel flooding the franchise with so many movie villains and Genms and Evols dilutes the entire notion Kamen Rider started out with, which is one of the things I love so much about it.

You can't have an evil Kamen Rider, because all Kamen Rider is to begin with is a good monster.

On a case-to-case basis, I don't really have any issues with guys like Genm, for example, or your Thousers and Kaixas who still oppose the show's main villains, but in general, I really wish the franchise would put more thought into what that name gets attached to. If all Kamen Rider means is "person who transforms with a fun toy", I think that's more than a little sad.