Of course you did.

Garlic jr arc was them trying to make the dead zone movie cannon to the anime and faild but at least they did not throw in characters from the mounts ac that's filler and non cannon in a cannon arc

You stay out of this :lol

never mess with popo! O_O;

Just saw W returns: eternal. I must say i preferred it over the actual series. Good story, great action scenes and it had more utopia dopant in it, which was awesome.

Black Seven was another fantastic episode and yet...not. What is with the pacing in this show? I love a good 'shit got real' episode but the stuff with Battle Hopper sacrificing his life and the relief in Kotaro when he turns out to be okay suggests some deep friendship that we've never seen.

Same with Lord Rhino or whatever his name is, it was a fairly average fight for this series but suddenly we're supposed to believe this fight specifically is the one Kotaro almost died in? Why?

Blade 11. I think I've worked out my problem with the action, it isn't that the fighting is bad so much as it is that the Rider's are really boring.

Tachibana barely draws his gun, Blade lugs that sword around like it weighs more than he does and Chalice just sorta poses with his bow for a bit. You would think considering they each have powers built around their respective weapons, they'd give them each a unique and identifiable style. But I never get a sense that Blade is a swordsman, or Tachibana is a gunslinger or Chalice is an archer so what is the point of giving them these specific weapons? And even when they activate their Yu-Gi-Oh cards it's all so unspectacular you wonder why they even bothered, as the attacks are so over edited you barely get to see a thing.

That isn't even mentioning when it comes to two Rider's battling, rather than feeling like some epic confrontation they just sorta stand there and wail on each other with impactless hits. Yawn.

It's worse as well because so far the Undead have been far more interesting than the Riders, with much cooler designs, much cooler powers and much more interesting action sequences. Although Wesker's true form is ugly bugly.

Also this episode had some of the worst transformation effects I've ever seen in Kamen Rider, period. I mean once now and then is fine, but none of the transformations in this were lined up properly so people appeared to be teleporting around the space. Then again it's better than watching them stand on the spot for the rest of the fight....

Really? I thought the movie was average at best.

Well I have been finishing hibiki as well as starting kuuga and starting wizard over also hellsing and shinkenger slip in thereXD

Don't believe the hype with Kuuga.
And don't believe the hate with Wizard.

Believe the hate with Wizard. You have to believe. Believe in the magic. The magic that makes a terrible, terrible show.

Well, Battle Hopper rescued him from Golgom. I don't know if that's shown in that eisode or the next. They're pretty much bros. Battle Hopper's like a big dog.

And I thought it was dreck. Pure waste of time about a character nobody cares about and a plot about as half-assed as they come.

Again, that blue-hair prune-faced loser gets a movie all to himself, but not Skull? The guy who ABSOLUTELY DESERVES A MOVIE TO HIMSELF?

The thing that annoys me about Wizard's critics is that I'm the first to admit Wizard's problems, the filler, general poor pacing, boring villains, wasted upgrades, waste of side characters etc etc but you find these problems in basically...every other Toku series ever. Why are people so harsh on Wizard and yet happily gargle the cocks of OOO and Kuuga despite having all of Wizard's problems and some unique ones of their own?

I give it to you on OOO, it had some great characters but there is no way you can act like it had anything else over Wizard. Same with Kuuga, Godai is the same character throughout the whole series yet the fandom dubs him 'one of the greatest Riders of all time' but Haruto is boring?!?! Whether you like him or not he has at least had character arcs and growth.

I guess Wizard is too mainstream right now, give it ten years when it's no longer airing and people will be calling it 'The Greatest Rider Series of a Generation'

I know Battle Hopper rescued Kotaro but they haven't spent any other screentime together aside from Kotaro just shouting his name and using him for his Rider kick. And considering the show doesn't find the idea of a talking, sentient, regenerating motorcycle ridiculous I don't understand why they haven't shared more heart to heart scenes together. I love the concept, I just think it's poorly realised which is odd for Black because everything else usually gets all the time it needs to play out.

Yes every series has its flaws, but if a series can still remain enjoyable despite having them then its easier to overlook.

Many people, myself included, simply aren't enjoying Wizard all that much. Critically speaking its easy to poke holes in every series, but enjoyment is always going to be the determining factor.

Besides, I don't think Haruto has had all that much growth aside from "New power up. Now stronger."

I don't understand why people aren't enjoying it, but then I can't understand why people hate Haruto either so I guess it is something I will never understand. I think Wizard has some fantastic action that gets me through the shittier arcs.

Whether you want to accept Haruto is a deep and layered character or not, he has at least had a backstory and episodes focused around him, Godai had neither. And even when he sorta did, like when he died, five minutes later he's giving the same stupid thumbs up and being completley disconnected from all the Rider stuff.

I find it ironic that you're saying Wizard is too mainstream to be liked when you decry the most popular series (Thus, the "Mainstream" thing to like) as bad or extremely flawed.
In the end, we're all hipsters for even liking Henshin Hero shows unironically :p

Because there's nothing TO enjoy. None of the characters are any real fun to watch, none of the action (while perfectly fine) is that incredible. The story has nothing amazing to it. There's no hook. There's nothing that takes us in and makes us want to watch and accept all the other bad stuff. There's no memorable characters, no really unique, deep story, not even the suits are all that interesting. They're all, even the bad guys, just bland to look at on screen. Not even bad, just bland.

There's literally nothing Wizard gives us that a past series doesn't give us more of. It's completely vanilla in every way and that REALLY makes the flaws apparent. There's no hyper-charrismatic lead to carry it, no interesting premise like a mirror world, half-and-half rider, floating arm made of medals or train full of crazy monsters, no badass suits or incredible action, even the belt is boring. (and sounds awful) It's a good guy fighting generic villains and everything is textbook first step to making Kamen Rider.

Sir, I take offense at that. My fedora, thick-rimmed glass, PBR, and I are out of here.

PBR?

Pabst Blue Ribbon. The beer of hipsters.

Oh, well I don't own a fedora, have half-rim glasses and don't drink or smoke.

I'm like, a hipster hipster. Doesn't that technically make me normal?

Like I say, I still like Haruto and he made it enjoyable for me. There is no point going into this again but no matter how much you say he is shit like it's a fact I still stand by every bit of evidence to say otherwise. All the other characters are fairly shit tho.

I think it has better action than OOO which always felt weirdly restrained and cheap, I think Flame Styles and Flame Dragon are both great, none of the other upgrades or suits are all that great though. It still has about as much hook, and depth as Fourze or OOO. But I give you it on the villains.

Ankh was my least favourite main character in OOO, for the record, I only enjoyed him when he died because it was the only time his character grew.

The only mainstream series I flat out didn't like was Kuuga. I just give more balanced arguments for my other series as I enjoy being critical of them. Like I love Wizard and OOO but I will go into length about their many, many flaws.

Thing is we don't really disagree all that much except on Haruto.

And really, even you should understand why people wouldn't like it if the only reason to watch the show is just the main character and nothing else. You say Haruto is great yet freely admit the rets of the cast blows yet can't understand why people dislike it?

I meant as far as a unique spin. OOO has other strengths, but my point is the reason series these days are so wildly different when approaching the Kamen Rider thing is because they have to be in order to not be bland as hell. It's gotten to the point where "I can transform into a superhero freely of my own volition without any catch or augmentation to my behavior" is really, really fucking boring. He just recives powers out of nowhere, never earning or struggling to obtain these gifts.

What does Wizard do? He puts on the belt and gains super powers. What does, say, W do? Why, W is actually two people. And he can change the different halves of his body. OOO, at first, isn't even allowed to transform whenever he wants, and he has the three sections. Den-O gets possessed and his personality overwritten by an invading spirit when he transforms. Ryuki teleports to another dimension and works with a monster that is only there to eat him when he loses. Fourze is basically Inspector Gadget. Wizard... fight monsters. He sometimes enters a person's memories... which is actually something Den-O did, and better, but wasn't as interesting to note as the possesion thing. And Wizard barely does that to the point where I don't count it as the premise.

Wizard's biggest shortcoming is, for lack of a better term, his gimmick. The magic is boring, and is pretty basic. Only a few of his spells are unique, and they're not even spells. He literally just puts a ring on. He's not a Wizard, he's not magic, he's just using tools. The entire point of the show is a lie. That isn't really the problem in and of itself, but because the rest of the show is uninspired or insipid, it's really fucking boring to watch. Putting your hand over your belt in such an unenergetic way just makes it look like he's going through the motions. Nothing is exciting, nobody even pretends to be exciting! His Henshin pose is him just sticking his arm out!

And just as a clarificational procedure, this is all merely my explanation, and hypothesis, as to why I and others don't like Wizard.

It was less of a 'watch Wizard you twats' (:lol) and more a 'why are you so forgiving of these flaws in other series and not in this one?' Wizard has a great central Rider and stunning fight scenes so you think that would appeal to an audience of some sort, but Wizard seems to almost be unanimously hated. And I don't get it.

Personally I think Beast is much more wasted than Haruto is, his base form gimmick is really cool but he's CONSTANTLY in the background unless the plot is specifically about him and his base form was quickly replaced by Ultimate Warrior with a Water Pistol, it just seems like such a waste. In many senses Beast could have probably made for a better main Rider with Haruto as his badass support.

It is a real shame though that the first Rider series to use magic is actually more like a shitty version of Green Lantern...as in the Earth 2 one, seems like a waste, especially as Urban Fantasy is one of my all time favourite genres.

Could you imagine like Harry Dresden becoming a Rider? With Bob turning into his bike or something? Awesome.

Sir, you are my hero for this. :) :lolol

While, like you, I am enjoying Wizard, I can understand why others would not. For me, however, if I hated Wizard, I would have to hate Black because Wizard is making the same mistakes Black made with so much wasted potential. Nevertheless, these last 8-12 episodes (if it really does run into Oct) could make or break the series as a whole. I have been giving pretty positive thoughts to Wizard, but I have also been holding out on what I do not like about it (aside from useless Koyomi and Shunpei) until it is done. Yes, I like it better than OOO, but the ending of this show could completely ruin it as OOO had a very good ending to it.

As for Beast's hyper form, you don't know much about ancient civilizations do you? Especially those along the fertile crescent such as Babylon, Asyria, Sumeria, etc.

That is what I can't understand. Why people accept some warts and yet others they don't give a chance, even when both things are making the same mistake. I could understand if Wizard had NOTHING to offer but that just isn't true and I could understand if Wizard was somehow making the same mistakes but somehow worse but that isn't true either.

I can perfectly understand and accept you don't like Wizard but just saying Wizard is shit, period, in one moment and gargling the cock of a similar series making the same mistakes the next I just find an infuriating opinion, even if it's yours to have.

I don't care about ancient civilisations either, all I know is Beast went from a cool power set and gimmick to a laser pistol and some tassels and that is rubbish.

Well that is your problem. You are not understanding where Beast's hyper mode is coming from with the tassels and stuff.

I don't care about the meaning if it is visually unimpressive and less impressive than his base powers.

And I already told you. Because other shows have things worth forgiving the flaws. Wizard is JUST flaws and blandness. Haruto, even if I did like him, is not enough to forgive the show for literally every other aspect being pap.

There's just nothing going on. The show is so bland and when it's not bland it's annoying.

I still think the action sequences are enjoyable, Flame Styles and Flame Dragon are really cool and the final showdown between Phoenix and Wizard has to be one of my favourite Kamen Rider moments.

But all Rider shows have good action. The action, ironically, doesn't play a huge part in most people's evaluations of shows because it's, well, the one constant.

But if the action is the only thing it's got going for it, I mean really you can't figure out why people don't like Wizard? Hell, Shampoo alone is enough of an arguement to condemn Wizard for ages, but he's not the only flaw.

I thought that once too, but after watching older series like Kuuga or just flat out boring shows like Blade and Kiva I realised that good action is not a given. Even OOO which was well made, had surprisingly restrained action sequences, so it isn't just that Wizard's action is good, it's big, energetic and super powered.

It must just seem that way because the action is one of the few things you like, because it never looked that spectacular to me. Hell, Beast's first fight was kind of awful. I sat through sixteen episodes and can't remember a single action sequence besides that one, and that's just because it was the last one I saw.

And again, you don't realise saying it but the flaws really just outweigh the pros. I can't stand beast, he's horrible in every way. I can't stand Rinko, or Shunpei, or Kyomi or the clowns that raided the costume departement and got mistaken for villains. Every character in that show is physically painful to watch because of how awful they are as actors or characters. A few pretty fight scenes aren't worth it when I can get the same entertainment from a much better series that isn't annoying.

Oh I don't think Wizard is a GREAT series but I at least think it's a fun series and although that doesn't cut it for me most of the time, I think it's okay now and then simply to enjoy a show for being fun. I'm sorry you're not enjoying it but I like Haruto a lot and I enjoy the action a lot, so it was fun with me even with its wall of problems.

Beast is wasted yes, Rinko is super hot (hey I may as well find a reason for her to be here the show doesn't :lol) and somehow the show made the Phantom's monster forms far less interesting than their human forms, how the fuck do you do that?

Blade 44

Hajime and Mutsuki might be a little rash in thinking beating up their friends will free them of their 'Undead Control. Although if Hajime didn't smell Undead on them earlier, then...maybe he shouldn't have attacked.

Ah, it was Titan Trial Undead posing as them. I don't blame Tachibana for thinking that the TitanMutsuki was the real thing going evil again. The part where it posed as Hajime and gleefully punched Kenzaki with brass knuckles was hilarious. Also hilarious, Kenzaki instantly recognizing Mutuski's moping as proof of who he was.

Oh man they got me with this one. I thought Hajime was seriously having another Joker freakout at the worst possible time. I had no idea that he could willingly change into that form, though. It's...sort of weird that he can, honestly.

Stag Beetle Undead seems to think Joker isn't done for yet. Still cool that all the Riders are FINALLY working together. Even all pitching in to give Kenzaki a new attack. Well...a palette swap of his standard King Form special. The scene earlier with Kenzaki squirting lemon juice in the eyes of Hajime was pretty funny, but Hajime getting him back was funnier.

So the card Tenjouji has that the tiger Undead was so afraid of was Cerberus. Yeah, generally those are pretty bad news.



Blade 45

Interesting, slightly spoilery promo in the opening... Anyway...Tenjouji just slaughtered all of his staff. Or at least the Cerberus Undead did.

Ah, a Mutsuki episode I actually might like! Maybe. He might be the only Rider to have moral quandaries about sealing the Undead. Which I can see due to the fact that the two most kind spirited Undead freed him from the Spider Undead's control.

Hmm...Kenzaki seems to be developing Undead senses now like Hajime. At least when it comes to Joker. Interesting... Man, Nozomi can make the most exasperated looking expressions sometimes...

Ah, I almost forgot. King Form still slowly transforms Kenzaki into a second Joker Undead. Mutsuki's talk with the Stag Beetle Undead was interesting, even if his pleas for peace were futile. Cerberus Undead's pretty powerful though. Especially is he can break through King Form's finishing move.

But it looks Cerberus Undead didn't fully live up to Tenjouji's expectations, seeing as how it couldn't withstand it a second time.

Actually I love the expressions of shunpei and the donut shop people and I agree that wizard is flawed but honestly I like hibiki most of the three because even though he doesn't develop we have todoroki and asumu for that. I love how mysterious kuuga is so far but out of the three it's my least favorite so far

Kuuga isn't mysterious, it just doesn't explain anything. Not even by the end is everything properly explained. Apparently that is okay for Kuuga but not for Fourze. Fucking hypocrisy I swear.

Black 08. This show sure loves Satan huh? :lol

I love how, inexplicably, Kotaro and those two girls manage to always be there in the victim of the weeks lives, right before they are targeted by a Mutant. Like literally they don't meet these people until like half an hour before they get targeted. It's kinda dumb. At least in the past Kotaro had reasons(ish) for pursuing what he did but now he is just...there, like the chicks are.

The action was great though. It's funny that this show has better action than the other show I'm watching, Blade, which was released like twenty years after this.

I think Wizard's biggest flaw in it's action is it's restraint, surprisingly.

We have a character who can shrink down, who can grow limbs, who can clone himself, who can freeze enemies, who can turn into water, who can go full blown Schwarzenegger on enemies.

And yet all we see in any consistent basis (Beyond "Connect" to get his sword/gun) are defend and bind. I know you think highly of Wizard's action, but to me, it looks like I'm watching Kiva with a dumber looking sword. Wizard may swing his skirt around, but it just don't change that his fighting style doesn't feel unique or look any special outside of his Kick Strike (Which is used so rarely that I tend to forget he even has it at times).

And if he can spam Drago Time and still go into Infinity in the same fight, then I refuse to believe the "Limited Mana" excuse, which only comes up when it's needed to advance the plot or save Medusa from getting axed.

I'm hoping white wizard is going to get some scenes where he uses rings like wizard did in the beginning only against like a horde of phantoms cuz the spells are cool I just wish wizard could godmod them kinda like how badass cosmic states could have been if he used the chest more