Just like Agito!

Oh yeah he has WAY too many forms and way too many Rings. It's like OOO all over again, they both have so much crap that barely any of it gets used.

I would have personally liked each Style to have been its own Rider because having all four elements, plus dragon forms for each and THEN Infinity is just overkill and most of the forms are just palette swaps with little in their styles to separate them.

Judging by how the White Wizard has been operating the last couple episodes, I think He'll be using those rings and g-modding against Wizard and Beast than any Phantoms :lol.

Exactly!!! I want chains of spells to beat the shit out of stuff like fall> gravity> explosion

Don't worry about White Wizard, he isn't important, seriously.

Before I watched Wizard, White Wizard was like the most discussed and name dropped aspect of the series so I was really excited to meet him, then I found out he got about four scenes in thirty episodes, each scene was about ten seconds long and his connection to the sabbat and all the rest has barely been touched upon.

I dunno how people had anything to discuss on this guy at all when I was still playing catchup.

It's really a shame, because Wizard could have the most creative power set we've seen, too (Since about half of Fourze's powers were pretty pointless).

It would have been pretty interesting for each style to be it's own Rider. I don't know how that would work, but I'd be curious to see it.

I'd love for stuff like that.

It was just a case of "Oooh! They're setting up something bigger with this mysterious guy! I wonder what they're doing! I wonder what his agenda is!" But, now that we're 10 episodes from the end, it's easy to see how insignificant his previous scenes have become.

Oh yeah half of Fourze's switches were just gags and then in the end because of the way Cosmic States worked, it seemed he was using switches in Base States as a contractual obligation rather than for any other purpose.

Dunno how it'd work? White Wizard picks four Champions to make Wizard's to battle the Phantoms, crafting the raw magical energy of life itself into the four Henshin Rings of Fire, Water, Air and Earth - then all four Rider's can combine their powers to become the ultimate Rider, Infinity.

The saddest thing about Wizard is something big IS going on, but we're lucky for it to be playing out in the background as the majority of the time this stuff is happening off screen.

Alright Blade 12, apparently this is where the show starts to get good. It was...okay.

The problem was that the "important" parts of this episode focused on Tachibana, Kenzaki and the Category Ace but I found all three of them incredibly boring to watch when they fought and the boredom of it all was only heightened because the "unimportant" stuff involving Hajime was actually awesome.

Chalice has by far the coolest design in the show, and his almost savage fighting style showcased in this episode both made him stand out and gave his fight some much needed motion. Also both he and the sea Undead got a lot more SFX attacks in which made their fight feel bigger and flashier.

Plus with the whole Spirit Card and green blood Hajime could turn out to be a really interesting character when it all comes together. He is probably the first character in the series I feel any kind of emotional connection to so far.

Blade 46

I like how Tachibana was the first to defy Tenjouji's order for them to quit.

Okay...Tenjouji henshined into the Cerberus Undead. Wasn't expecting that. The part where his head emerged out of it's chest was kinda freaky.

So we hear from the Human Undead for the first time. And he explains what exactly happens once the battle fight is won....The Stag Beetle Undead always never seemed all that bad. Just a bit dickish, really. Still...

So...apparently Tenjouji was always a nutcase. All the riders riding their bikes in unison and then transforming to fight Tenjouji was pretty cool. I think this is the first time Mutsuki gets a three card attack.

Yeah.....Tenjouji is definitely nuts. Haha, he had a pretty cool breakdown though. And stag Beetle Undead's amicability was a ploy all along it seems. Like most other Undead, he is just kind of looking out for his own species.



Blade 47

Okay...the video quality seemed to drop in the beginning but got better. What gives? Anyway, I just realize I'd been spelling Tennoujii's name wrong this whole time. Huh...so Stag Beetle Undead and Hajime go way back more than anticipated...

And Hajime should've went into his second form in that fight, or else he wouldn't have lost. Tachibana was always the most morally conflicted one about leaving Hajime unsealed. Luckily Mutsuki's words and Kenzaki's resolve got to him in the end.

Holy shit, Hajime got beat the fuck up. This episode made me realize though. He really is this lone wolf kinda dude who lost everything. Wait, where'd he go....?! Tachibana, noooooooooooooo!


So all the Undead are gone except Joker....which released some sort of Joker army.



Blade 48

Man there really are a lot of these Black Roach things. And they're two riders down as it is. It seems they all know they have to find Hajime to stop this.

Hajime's still out to protect Amane, even in Joker mode. He doesn't seem to be willingly doing anything evil at the moment. The Battle Fight just makes it that way. It seems during the finals it has strict rules.

This is probably Mutsuki at his most heroic. Doing what his mentor, Tachibana would've done and try to seal Joker, regardless of Kenzaki's heroism. Even if he still lost like normal.


Blade 49

One last Rider..Kenzaki taking his anger out on the Black Roaches while he decides what to do and Mutsuki lies in the hospital. With all his talk about how King form would corrupt him into a new Joker, maybe Kenzaki should remember he still has Jack form?

Oh hey, the chief is back! With Tachibana! They really do make it seem like the Black Joker's have taken over the place. Those are some dedicated journalists to actually go outside as evil bug things fly around and kill everyone. But man they really did fuck everything up.

Speaking of that, Hajime finally showed off the extent of Joker's power with that shack explosion. And hey....police actually doing something! That's a bit different.

Hajime really doesn't want to just cause senseless destruction. But Kenzaki has an idea....a fucking crazy one. But it'll work. Chief seems to know it. Although the Battle Fight just confuses me more and more...But hey. Thins get really dire in the finale.

That's...wow. I dunno what I thought, but I didn't expect it to end this way. Kenzaki sacrificed it all. This series was never super somber, but. Still, it was a very Kenzaki sort of move. He ended up saving everyone. Hajime probably got the happiest ending. He kept his humanity.


Well ,that was Blade. I liked it alright. IT was an interesting series to watch, although I couldn't quite get the tone. ...Plus, I never really understood the Battle Fight. Well, in concept I sort of did, but then near the end, the rules seemed to get a little wonky.

Kenzaki, I think, was probably the least interesting of the main four. I did like that he was basically a classic style super hero and was pretty much entirely dedicated to saving people, which was taken to it's logical conclusion in the ending.

Tachibana was cool. He's pretty much the most responsible of the bunch, taking full responsibility for his screwups and some things that weren't his screw ups. Essentially he just wanted this battle fight shit over with. He probably would've done so and sealed Hajime if it weren't for friendship power and all.

Hajime was basically the center of the show in a lot of respects. Seeing as it went from his struggles with understanding humanity to his embracing of it. Plus his development from lone wolf antisocial dude to essentially part of the group. Glad he got a decent ending at the last ep.

Mutsuki.....ahahahaha! Honestly, his arc ended and repeated itself like three times. To be honest, when he was full on Spider-Mutsuki his constant failure was kind of hilarious. As was his 1940s mobster motif. But really, it's like the writers didn't know what to do with him. But I like his scenes with the Tiger Undead and Shima were cool as were his scenes in the last few eps.

Now...onto maybe the Missing Ace movie and to continue Hibiki. Maybe another series alongside it...

Blade's a great show. I still think it has the single best ending of a Kamen Rider series - it was well executed, emotionally moving, and if you watch the show again you can see it coming fairly early. Great ending.

I loved Blade's ending. I wasn't anticipating it, and it was rather bittersweet and strong to someone like me, just coming off of Double's cop out and OOO's somewhat bittersweet, but still extremely cheery, ending.

I watched Decade 16-17 last night and enjoyed the Kabuto tribute. I do like the similarities between Souji and Tsukasa. However I wish they would have got the original Tendou back for it. Still intriguing to me.

Black 09 was dark, brutal, scary awesomeness. There were some moments that really took me by surprise like the shot of the streets littered with dead bodies or how the two teens literally sacrificed their lives but basically I was the Japanese Children of the 80s during this episode, hiding behind my pillow.

I hate wasps, they scare the shit out of me, so despite the general bizarreness of the plan, even by Golgom's standards, this episode really got to me in the way I think it was intended too.

Plus it was cool to have one of the Golgom get involved directly even if her laugh and general acting is awful.

So episode 13 of Blade was okay, I'm still finding that the underwhelming action sequences are really holding back my enjoyment.

I'm also confused, are Wesker and Ace working together or not? It seems Ace is helping Wesker find a candidate for the Rider system even though Garren will have to seal him to make the Driver, so wut.

The only actors to return for their roles in Decade are Wataru, Kenzaki, and the Den-O cast (Sans Ryotaro, ironically).

They have to seal the Ace to create a driver. It's part of a bigger plan. It's not a very good plan, but it works, so what do I know?

And the Hibiki guys - Todoroki, Zanki, Ibuki, and Akira.

Ah. Didn't know that. That's nice to know.

Yeah, the ending definitely hit me because I wasn't expecting it. It was pretty interesting how it ended up.

And at that....Missing Ace!

And since my running commentary on it is obnoxiously huge, I'll post the short version first: I thought it was pretty cool!


Missing Ace!

So the movie starts out rather ominously with Tachibana wearing a cloak while entering an ancient looking temple.

You can definitely tell they have an increased budget with these fight scenes....Speaking of which, the fight in the beginning is similar to the fight in the series' finale in regards to Hajime's dialogue. But yeah clearly, this was clearly made at the point when the KR movies are in an alternate universe from the main one.

And hey! Those two from those New Generation shorts! They appear to be goofing off. And then the third one speaks out for charity....as they go to fight an Undead. Wow....they really had more of a budget than the one in the series. The other two had rather similar outfits, but the fight was cool.

Kotaro became rich apparently from writing a Kamen Rider book. While Kenzaki...became a garbage man. Not as heroic as what happened in the series. But not as tragic either. I think. I mean he is a garbage man. Wait, Kotarou no longer likes milk? This universe is really twisted...Mutsuki....is trying to be a salary man. And he has new issues! He doesn't seem to like this new normal life, he's embraced.

Interesting transitions...Oh hey, a little bit of Hirose fanservice. She's become a bit distanced from the group as well, though her reasons are more...reasonable. Hmm...so that's Blade's Category Ace. Man....these new Rifers are some arrogant assholes.

Ah, Mutsuki decided to stop by Amane's party after all. Guess his sulking wears off early in this universe. ....why are the new Riders acting like this though? They seemed alright enough early on, but when they meet Kenzaki....

Amane's a shoplifter in this universe? Okay, weird. I guess without Hajime around ,that's the case. She has a different actress. Which makes sense for her I guess, to show she's older.

Tachibana is the BOARD chief, eh? That's...probably the most fitting. I can definitely see that happening in the actual Blade universe should new danger appear. That new BOARD base is a pretty sweet upgrade though.

There are a lot of Black Roaches I see. Or White Roaches rather. Weird how many things in the finale show up in this movie, which opened a considerable amount of time before the finale. But good to see Tachibana and even Mutsuki back in action.

Different rules for this universe's battle fight. With the four kings creating a new card and all. God, those green and red new riders are shitheads, though...

So Hajime being sealed is affecting Amane still after a few years. Kenzaki seems to feel pretty guilty about it though. Oh hey, Mutsuki winning a fight, and sealing Blade's Ace to boot. Good job. Any of my Animosity for Mutsuki has long transferred to these new assholes. Why, when there are more Undead around would you try and fight the senior riders? I guess they're jealous? Still...stupid reason.

Huh...so the Stag Beetle Undead had some weird final words to say in the Undead language to the new gold rider dude. And a Shima cameo. Er, sorta. Why are all the Undead just mindless beasts in this universe? I mean Shima's Undead form just mindlessly attacked the new green Rider. And killed him too, yeesh. But man...these Rider's are pieces of shit. They really weren't trying to make us feel sorry for them when they died. I mean the girl took some cards off of her friends corpse right after he died, smiling about it....

Amane's way more annoying here than she is in the series, but I suppose this is due to Hajime's absence...Kotarou drunk some milk! This universe might not be so awful after all. Um....okay. Tachibana's acting like a villain....and apparently Amane's father died in this universe searching for an ancient seal. And that main new Rider is the new Joker. A MUCH more willing one than Hajime.

The scene with the three Riders just beating the shit out of the White Roaches was pretty fucking cool. And make that four! Hajime's back! Just in time to save Amane. Good thing this movie seems to remember Kenzaki's Jack form exists. The way the new riders used card powers was pretty weird. And hey! Joker fight! Weird how White Joker can just seal Amane like that though. But I guess he's got some special limited edition movie cards. Wow that ancient power White Joker unlocked is pretty fucking crazy. A giant....insect dragon thing.

Hajime has no qualms about working with the others in this. I guess before he was sealed, he knew that him being sealed had to happen for the world to be safe. Kenzaki was totally prepare to sacrifice himself again, but Hajime pulled it off this time. And of course, being torn, Kenzaki had to do the right thing. It's just what he generally does. Cool final fight, although Tachibana and Mutsuki barely did anything. And Amane has a happy birthday after all! Everyone stopped by! Even Hajime in spirit! It reminded me of Blade's actual ending once more with someone being there but actually not.

And then they just have a goofy party. Well...why not?

Oh crap, that's right. The Blade movie guys reprised their roles in Decade, too. I knew I was forgetting someone else.

I keep forgetting that.
Which is surprising, because it's hard to forget Junichi's nose :lol

Continuing where I left off in Hibiki at episode eight.

These Rider suits are really awesome, but it's pretty weird to see them helmetless.

Asumu doesn't seem to have much luck finding Hibiki when he wants to. Still gotta hand it to him for going in the middle of the wilderness to find him.

Hibiki gives Asumu a little more exposition as to how the Oni work, while Ibuki shows us why you don't fuck with someone with a trumpet-gun. I'm glad that Akira seemed to warm up to Asumu by the end and not hold a grudge for like twenty episodes.

Are they more tolerable there?

Continuing with Fourze I'm up to episode 10.

Hibiki 8

I didn't expect the Mary Had a Little Lamb bit to lead into anything, nevermind a bizarre sheep dream. Hibiki's fire attacks in this episode were pretty cool too. Guess it's the new drumming techniques he learned.

Once again, I really like how they know what type of Makamou they're fighting in this series and plan accordingly how they're going to defeat it.

Hmm. Asumu's luck is reaching Ryotaro levels in this ep, I see.

Back to Ryuki, I am enjoying it. It's a bit slow, and Zolda has kind of faded out at this point, (nothing happened to him, he's just not present) but still enjoyable.

So Black 10 was a proper, plot focused episode and eh...the whole episode felt oddly rushed for a Black episode and strangely forced for a Black episode as well. I really do wish they didn't try and tell these stories over twenty minutes, modern Kamen Rider stretches every episode into two and Black condenses everything into one when it feels like it should be the other way round.

Like...they all know Black's identity, he is a cyborg yet he integrates himself into the Golgom militia with no red flags at all. Do they not test you in Japanese hospitals? Or take your ID? I also like how they just believe Kotaro immediately, with no evidence, despite being a complete stranger and the doctor being the one that saved their lives.

I mean the actual idea is cool, the consistent way Golgom work is making the people assume they are the good guys and making them almost...have a debt to Golgom, converting gratitude to loyalty to slavery but this episode was just poorly realised.

Kotaro was fucking boss this episode though, he is easily one of my favourite Rider's, probably only coming second to Eiji. Plus, coupled with great action scenes and great monster designs Kotaro is fun in and out of the suit. I've actually grown to love the simplicity of Black's fighting, he don't need no fancy sword, he literally slices his enemies with his bare hands that is way more awesome!

So does Kotaro need Battle Hopper to do his Rider Punch and Kick? Because he like launches himself off the bike and never uses them beforehand, if that is the case, I dig that shit, makes the Rider part of Kamen Rider worthwhile.

The guy who plays Zanki played Jirou/Garuru on Kiva as well. Weird he only came back for the Hibiki episode.

Watched Decade 24-27 both the Shinkenger Crossover and the Black/Black RX tribute. Really great episodes for character development with Tsukasa. I also really want to watch Black now. I absolutely love this series.

Watched 28 and 29 of Decade and love Kamen Rider Amazon. I love so many Riders now from this series. I cannot wait to finish it.

The way Decade ending was handled is... peculiar to say the least.

Finished episode 18 of Fourze: METEOR KITTAAAA! Part two.

Minus once again some surprisingly crap fight scenes, Blade Fourteen was the first episode I think I properly enjoyed. It was like they suddenly truly understood their characters and it just made them so fun to watch, it was great.

Glad to hear that! :D

So I have a question about Ryuki:

Is Ouja really saying "vexing/vexes/vexed" a lot or is it just the translators trying to give him a catchphrase or sound "cool?" Because it's REALLY annoying that he uses such a weirdly specific and largely unused word over and over. Seriously, the word has never shown up before in any translations I've ever watched. It's distracting and trying too hard but I don't know who's to blame.

Other than that, not a heck of a lot has happened. It's really slow, mostly just people talking to themselves or repeating the same few plot points over and over with no progress. Like, I'm on episdoe 21 and Ryuki must have flashed back to Ren's conversation five times now. Even for Japanese television this is bad pacing.

watched a few episodes of Den-O-

getting good now, I love how Hana basically bitchslaps the Imagin :lol But Ryutaros is getting on my nerves.

Ryutaros gets on everyone's nerves at first. He's basically a non-threatening punk of a villain to start. But once you see more sides of him, you'll understand his character more.

But he's still my least favourite Imagin.

Anyway, so now Ouja has a contract with Metalgelas. This doesn't make sense at all, and I have a feeling it will never be explained.

This show's kind of taken a nosedive now that Ouja has shown up. He's a terrible character and the plot becomes dumb when he's around.

I'm pretty sure that's the translator. It's TVN, so they probably just went with the word that most directly matches the original Japanese, even if it looks weird and doesn't fit Asakura's personality.

Finished Decade 30 and 31 what an ending I cannot wait for the movie finale.

So I'm going to pick my next Rider and I'm between Blade, Kabuto, Black, Agito, Hibiki, Amazon, Kuuga or Faiz

Black!

Kabuto was pretty boring, I only managed six episodes.
Kuuga is the worst Rider series I've seen yet.
Blade is okay but it's really slow.

Not quite because even the horrible Hong Kong subbed bootleg versions had it as vexed.

Well with episodes I have and lack of space on my computer it's now between Black, Blade and Kabuto. I just don't know right now I want to watch all of them.

While I haven't seen either of them from what I heard, Black is a classic, Blade is good, and Kabuto average.

Done with episode 20 of Fourze, I can't get enough of this series.