G3-X in the same way I think of ‘New’ Ichigou and Nigou rather than the original dark green ones. Like them, G3-X is just one of the few permanent upgrades in the franchise; and it’s tied so heavily into Hikawa’s development that yeah, this is just how he looks now. Seems Bandai thinks the same way, as all two times they’ve made merch of the guy they’ve gone straight for G3-X rather than G3. Still no ridewatch of base G3...

G3-X will always be the more popular choice because it looks cooler and actually did well in fights, but I've always been more fond of regular ol' G3 myself. That thing is basically a glorified coffin, and I feel like that's a way more interesting and unique concept for a Kamen Rider.

Still, I have to agree with Switchblade on this one. I don't picture Hikawa as a Rider anywhere near as much as that guy who gets hopelessly flustered watching Shouichi do sleight of hand tricks.

It's weird. While I consider G3-X his definitive suit, whenever I imagine Hikawa actually suiting up, it's almost always in the regular G3. I guess those scenes just stuck out to me more.

I think that's exactly why I like regular G3 more? I joke about it being a coffin, but what I really meant was that, at least as I remember it, the earlier episodes were the ones that really emphasized the actual mechanical aspect of the suit the most. How long it took him to gear up, or deploy out of that dinky trailer on his bike, or swap out all those clunky weapon attachments even though that grenade launcher was the only one that ever seemed to get real results. I just love how underpowered it felt because it underlined how Hikawa was just an ordinary dude in a show about the divine.

It's like, G3-X is the destination, where the team used all that experience to boil the concept down to a much more efficient suit with a singular really really good weapon, but G3 was the journey to get to that point, and that part was at least as fun for me.

I find it strange that you mention how long it took for G3 to gear up when he typically arrived on the scene before Agito :lol

Plot twist: Hikawa actually gears up at supersonic speeds, it's just slowed down for the audience.

G3, now equipped with a Eurobeat soundtrack.

So G3 is pretty much in essence Hikawa's Growing Form making G3-X his Mighty Form and Ultimate Form rolled in one maybe? It is modeled after Kuuga after all. :lolol

Aah, so the G in G3 actually stands for Gavan!

What makes a Rider? When is a Rider actually a Kaijin or a grunt?

There's actually a good article related to this: https://tokusatsunetwork.com/2020/09...a-kamen-rider/

Which lifeform book(center) and which hero book(left) do you think will be a good match with Saber's Brave Dragon? And which mythical beast book(right) do you think will be Rintaro's that will complete the set?

Apparently the matching books are: Storm Eagle and Saiyuu Journey (Journey to the West) for Saber, and Tenkuu no Pegasus for Blades. But ignoring that, if I were to make up my own books for them.

• For Saber's center book, I'd pick a Salamander, since salamanders have apparently been closely associated with fire for ages.
• For Blades' right book, perhaps an obscure creature like the Umibōzu, which was a giant yokai that would rise out of the sea at night and could either crush a ship upon materializing or completely submerge it under water with a barrel.
• For Saber's left book... I'm not sure, I can't immediately remember a fairy tale or story that features a hero and fire positively...

I see, thanks for that info. I knew about the books but did not know they were their respective best matches.

Does Espada have a 3rd book yet? I haven't heard anyone say anything.

What is Hibiki about exactly? like that's the premise?

I feel like I know at least a little about the premise of most shows, but Hibiki is this big empty spot in my kamen rider brain.

It a slice of life story about a boy growing up and finding his place in the world all the while encoutering a secret battle against human eating monsters and humans who trained to protect the world in secret.

Wait that sounds familiar.
https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20160620034033

Hibiki is about how you can produce a fanbase who loves the show to their core, who will then tell you to never finish it. /s

Although I'm the same with Kabuto. I know it has Riders going fast, I know it has Worms... that's it. And I gleaned that from his appearance in Decade!

That's a great way to put it, yeah.

Hey, Toei didn't finish it first!

Point of discussion brought on by this video: https://youtu.be/RjFL23B_2cs

Do you think Dark Riders are becoming overused? Especially since Sentai and Ultra aren’t nearly as keen on overusing dark counterparts.

Riders sell more than kaijins so it's understandable there'd be an abundance of unique evil riders than there would be kaijin. Tho, I appreciate Saber having kaijin generals again (despite me thinking they might become riders eventually).

I really prefer if they took the approach of Build's 1st-3rd arc more often where the kaijin generals are pseudo riders. Pseudo riders make for really interesting designs that don't necessarily need to follow the design of the main rider.

You know how in movies they make it a point that "Kamen Riders are heroes of justice" and what not? It gets really jarring to hear when you know evil riders exist. Tho, I appreciate Zero-One for kind of twisting that notion with Horobi.

I actually have hope for Saber to not have that much of dark rider villains. except maybe in movies.

In Saber lore, as stated in Ep2, to be a "Kamen Rider", you have to be chosen by the "Seiken" which is, as far as we know, an entity of "good" (wouldn't be surprised in the end if a personification of the Seiken itself was bad but for now, good).

So I don't really expect the title of "Kamen Rider" to be given that easily to villains this year.
Okay there's already Calibur. But it feels like his case is more of a "I was a Kamen Rider before being evil" and/or "Deep inside I'm still good/I have secret good intentions" so that's why he can still be a rider.


Considering who the head writer is I don't expect lot of villain riders in the show itself (in movies yes). More like Ghost with Ganmas or Drive with the Roidmudes trio.

We can trace all this modern debate about Dark Riders back to one man and one man only

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/q6Th8uuk-xA/maxresdefault.jpg

I was gonna say Baron but I guess he works too

Baron started the parade, at least.

I wouldn't classify Baron as a 'Dark Rider'.

Genm is definitely a Dark Rider, but he's a bit more interesting as he took the Ex-Aid design into another level (pun unintended) with Dangerous Zombie.

Well when it comes to the big burst of evil riders, we can either blame him or Gold Drive.

Or the wizard guy.

Yep.

Kamen Rider G4.

To be fair, Riders were never supposed to be heroes. They were created to be instruments of destruction and forces of suppression.

The idea of a dark rider feels more like "What if the villain's plan actually went right?"

Oh my god you're right. I never thought of it that way.

Yep. One and only. :rock:

Does anybody know what kinds of cameras have been used to film Kamen Rider through the years? (and Super Sentai while we're at it)

From Kuuga-Hibiki they used 30 FPS interlaced cameras (HD24P) and starting with Kabuto they switched 24ps progressive cameras. (Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting) I'm nost sure what they used in the Showa Era.

The plot in Drive: Surprise Future was the suggestion that Krim is insane and will conquer the Earth in the future. This indictment against Krim was supported by maniacally-destructive "short circuit" of "Mr. Belt". The main question though is what EXACTLY caused that madness to begin with? Most aspects are resolved toward the end after the defeat of the fused Roidmude (Paradox Roidmude, if I understand correctly), but Belt's "madness" feels like an unresolved aspect of the story.

Also, why does Dark Drive's armor look suspiciously like Yugande from Megaranger (Ecliptor for In Space fans)?

I believe it was Bano's Riodmude partner messing with Krim during the time he was captured.

Do you happen to know which models though? I know that Power Rangers Dino Charge was filmed on Arri Amira, for example, but I'm wondering about what they use in Japan. I'd like to think that the people working on PR chose the camera to help match with the source footage, meaning that they film with Arris in Japan as well, but footage matching has never seemed like Power Rangers' biggest priority.

I'm assuming either an Arri or RED because they'll want the best production values for something as big as Rider and Sentai, but who knows really.

I searched Japanese sites and apparently:
Kuuga used a prototype Sony HD camera
From Agito to Blade they used a Ikegami HL-59W
The Faiz summer movie and from Hibiki to Decade they used a Panasonic AJ-HDC27F
From W to Fourze was a Panasonic AJ-2700
From Wizard to Drive they used an Alexa
Ghost was the only one to use Varicam 35 alongside a Varicam HS
From Ex-Aid to Zero-One they used a Varicam LT

Here's the Japanese source in case you interested.
https://hotshot-japan.com/column/14-maskedrider-jp01/

FYI, Shinkenger is famous for being the first of Toei's tokusatsu shows to use the RED1 camera, I remember Toei making a big deal about it early on in the show.

Awesome, this is what I was looking for. Thanks.

May I ask what you're gonna use this info for? It sounds like it could be exciting.

Is the DefoReal line the closest we'll get to Funko Pop style vinyl Rider figures ? Light up eyes notwithstanding

https://www.google.com/search?q=kame...PEuqZzImHk67RM

Unfortunately nothing, I was just curious. I do freelance videography so I like to geek about gear sometimes lol.