And this is the thing that bugs me about it the most: this is a series that had previously been great about New Actor = Different Take, Classic Actor = Classic Take, which is a very smart way to do it! You want to take a different run at Shouichi from Agito? Cast a different actor! Now you can do whatever you want, like make him three guys. But when you bring back a classic actor in a classic role, it's incredibly difficult to then ask the audience to not bring their knowledge of that classic role to bear on the story. It's kind of stupid to do that, as a writer? It's baffling that a series that was (under many writers!) pretty great about not casting previous Rider actors as off-model versions of themselves, to suddenly at the finish line bring in Kenzaki's actor to play a massively out-of-character version of Kenzaki.

Like, I think your take is right (it's pretty much what I saw Wataru as in the premiere), but it's enormously distracting.

Definitely won't deny that! It's pretty much where my entire first paragraph is coming from :lol

Now that you mention it... I guess that's just how I felt upon my first viewing? I get the Fangire Wedding, which works with the Kiva theme (I haven't actually watched Kiva yet, so I actually only know there's a wedding and no actual context), but it still feels very... petty I guess? When you mention how it feels very Showa Villain, and Apollo Geist is a Showa Villain, it actually fits perfectly. I do get that he's using Natsumi, as mentioned earlier, a lure for Tsukasa, and you certainly hit that one right on the nail.

Overall, I'd say even if I've been going off memory, I think I remembered a good deal of the show. Sure, I might have missed a lot of good points or a chink of the context by not re-watching it along with everyone. But having followed along with this thread, I really learned quite a lot I didn't know, and have even gotten more appreciation for this series, regardless of the bumpy road this journey has been. (Though I feel like I should be saying this after the "True Ending")

It's about halfway Showa Villain plot-y, but if it was really that way then he'd also bring along the new kaijin Mecha CaterpillarBee who's kidnapping kids to hynotise them into robbing banks to destabilise the Japanese economy

I actually have a few theories on that front, given what little context the show itself gives.

1) It's "Great Leader's'" favorite food, given how a kid is threatened to be turned into a Sea Cucumber Monster in the Amazon Arc.

2) It's Daiki just trying to get under Tsukasa's' skin, considering the HBV reveals sea cucumber to be a food Tsukasa hates.

And 3), which I believe to be the most probable one...

It's a euphemism for Daiki's' D.

I'm just glad someone who isn't me said it

This should have occurred to me ages ago, and I am deeply ashamed that it didn't.

Apparantly Kaito himself hates sea cucumber. And at one point tried stealing General Shadow treasure only to ended up stealing some sea cucumbers and that Tsukasa in fact dosen't mind eating them and used to tease Kaito about it before losing his memories. And for some reason Kaito decides to tell the now anmesiac Tsukasa that he dosen't like sea cucumber? And all of this was revealed in the Decade Final Stage and before you decry as non-canon has also been officially reconized by Kamen Rider Zukan

Been focusing on important personal matter lately, and the next one you review are the movies... (haven't found the place for Net Movie yet), which is harder to find time to watch e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶2̶x̶ ̶s̶p̶e̶e̶d̶.̶

I actually wonder what'd be your reaction against Sayo if she didn't go off the deep end from the abandonment, if it's probably going to be more negative or such due to "not as realistic" or such. For the equal blame between them, it's a good reminder (not that everyone would get it though, so it's also from what you said) that, one party being blameless doesn't mean the others have no blame. Sayo like I said, did go off the deep end of helping Tsukikage's schemes a bit, before relenting at the end. Some would just pin the blame as a whole to the one treating the people badly, while treating the one getting mistreated as innocent no matter what, as if they can do any bad things with an excuse of bad past. A̶l̶b̶e̶i̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶T̶s̶u̶k̶a̶s̶a̶,̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶p̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶b̶l̶a̶m̶e̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶h̶i̶m̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶i̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶b̶a̶b̶l̶y̶ ̶a̶ ̶m̶o̶v̶i̶e̶ ̶e̶x̶c̶l̶u̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶r̶o̶u̶g̶h̶t̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶l̶e̶s̶s̶.̶ So I guess Tsukasa is less of a good big brother compared to Tendou... albeit I still wonder what does Tsukasa think of Sayo while he's going on the other worlds. You admit that Tsukasa is an asshole for neglecting his sister, not excusing that he's neglecting her for her own sake or such like protecting the world like what Natsumi and Onodera suggested to Sayo (or you'd use 'asshole' here to describe him? Don't you think asshole means malicious)? Otherwise, Sayo has Natsumi's fashion choice of wearing high socks with less-covering footwear.

Tsukasa's journey and its effects on him also can be inconsistent in the past like him learning a lesson at the end, and then forgetting it at the start of the episode and then learn again, repeat. But I guess even if Tsukasa had amnesia, doesn't mean that he had his personality changing though? Dai-Shocker Tsukasa is in line with his personality of wanting to prevent the world of being destroyed, something he has been doing all over the series. Though I'd say it's unknown what has been Tsukasa doing in his tenure before being overthrown, but despite you saying that Tsukasa overcome his darker impulse throughout the series, the movie had Tsukasa going on his most dark impulse just yet, he's seemingly content of being a well-intentioned extremist if it's meant to keep the world from destruction, by instead dominating it of course (one of stock villain goals, and some would also prevent the world of being destroyed... even by working with heroes or not committing certain crimes, as there are no world to rule if it's destroyed). Again I don't know what actions he had done as the leader, but it reaffirms my view of Tsukasa that he'd save the world, but wouldn't care about its problems or such other than 'people live'.... even if it means world domination, which'd only cover one out of a wide range of good morals out there (this one though, it's just extremist), though this can be a real OOC as well to Tsukasa depending on the person, as jerk =/= villainous. I won't think that being a head of an interdimensional crime syndicate is that bad if the head would restructure the organization into something that is doing good though.

Otherwise, I'd probably want to see Tsukasa as Dai-Shocker head more compared to the fights before, which probably may also discuss the Rider Fight more. What I feel here is similar to the Ryuki tribute, I wonder who becomes the Riders who participated in the Rider Fight, and I think Tsukasa "massacring Riders" is similar to the died Riders in the Ryuki tribute. I think you're used to how W appears here, it's similar to for example, Genm's appearence at the end of Ghost or Build's appearence at the end of Ex-Aid. For Natsumi finally temporarily ditching Tsukasa for good reason (she can be agitated with Tsukasa's antics.. but wasn't outright hate just reprimanding)... I wonder if Kaitou partnering with her and calling her Natsumelon is the root of fans doing the same, or that it's what fanbase does but integrated in canon. There's also shown what'd Natsumi do in an impending apocalypse, but with people running around instead of her alone like at the beginning of series, where she'd help a stranger who fell... before Narutaki finally gets her to listen.

I don't know if those Riders they ask for help are real version of their original selves (in Decade many Riders have alternate selves like Onodera most prominently), albeit they have the original character's catchphrases. But dunno why Ouja would refuse, he's a blood knight and he should like the opportunity for more battles, and I think it'd be a clever, albeit pragmatic way for the cast to use that to help the cause. The fights though, there are dope parts I admit like the solution against Kingdark being using Kamen Rider J but also Decade being the one turned into Final Form Ride as giant Decade Complete, but as usual, the series really IMO spat on Kuuga with having Onodera going Rising Ultimate, but was only a punching bag against Shadow Moon. A little nitpick but I'd wish that the all Rider kicks actually feature the actual aesthetics such as Ryuki's Dragreder, just like, y'know, the very beginning of Decade, with multiple Rider assistants joining the fight like Contract Monsters.

I would probably like her just the same if she wasn't teaming up with Dai-Shocker to destroy the multiverse out of a sense of abandonment. I think she's an okay character?

All in all, Decade was definitely the turning point for the franchise. Like I said before, the show being only half a year long because of business, mostly sales, reasons shifted the shows to start in late summer and autumn-ish allowing it to avoid direct competition against super sentai. The phase 2 of Heisei was in full throttle with the beginning of Kamen Rider W and the show established the basis for the collectibles which later solidified and was executed properly with Double. This show to me was like a growing pain that just had to be done for the franchise to head towards new directions and goals, and like its slogan it destroyed all to start anew. It's quite metaphorical come to think of it and while the show is imperfect it had moments of great fan service and fun episodes and ideas here and there. It was truly a wild journey through the decade as we welcomed the next decade circa 2009.

KAMEN RIDER X KAMEN RIDER W & DECADE: MOVIE WAR 2010

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I've seen this movie before, but I didn't understand it back then.

It was when I was watching W, naturally. I started with Ex-Aid, did the first season of Amazons (since it was on Amazon Prime), and then decided to go all the way back to W. I'd planned to just watch Heisei Phase 2 going forward, and then stay current, but obviously plans changed. At the time, though, I'd only seen a handful of non-Ex-Aid, non-Amazons episodes. I knew W, but Decade was brand-new to me.

The Decade part of Movie War 2010 didn't really connect with me back then. I didn't understand nearly any of it, but I wanted to. Around the point where I was writing up Ghost for the boards, I was realizing I'd need to go back and watch Phase 1, if I wanted Zi-O to make sense. That meant, eventually, finding out what the deal was with all that tantalizing stuff from Movie War 2010: What was the deal with Decade? Why was he turning other Kamen Riders into cards? Was that where his powers came from? What was Tackle's deal? Why did everyone get reincarnated again? Was there really a series where a Kamen Rider murdered other Kamen Riders?! It has been a multi-year, multi-series journey to get to this moment, when it all finally makes sense.

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Or.

Yeah, boy, this was a huge let-down for someone who wanted to understand the motivations for characters, and the answer behind the many mysteries it dangled in front of a past version of Kamen Rider Die.

Decade, in this movie, is mostly the Violent Emotion version, acting like a complete asshole for very little established reason. It's waved off as He's Been Through A Lot, but it's still a huge change from where the TV series left everyone. You remember the end of the TV series, right? The two-parter that's all about how Tsukasa will do anything to protect his friends, even if the universe is collapsing around them? Well, here's a movie where Tsukasa dares his friends to murder him.

The idea that Decade can murder Riders, thereby turning into power-ups, is a weird non-established take on Decade's powers. That was never a thing? In 31 episodes? Here, it seems to be the main avenue for both saving the Riders and empowering Decade. It's unclear (like most other details in this movie) if these are additional cards, considering Tsukasa spent thirty-one episodes of television creating his card collection by making friends with other Riders, but whatever.

I have been biting my tongue, but I have spent the last four episodes (and one Showa-themed movie) of Kamen Rider Decade shouting WHEN DO THEY GET TO THE TACKLE FACTORY at my television. From the movie, and her prominence in that movie, and her death in that movie, I always assumed she was a character with deep significance to Decade. Ha ha, nope! Brand-new (version of a Showa) character, here to get shit on by the universe. I guess it's to indicate how dead inside Tsukasa is by this point in the story, but it's actually pretty funny to have Tsukasa treat Tackle like an unwanted pest, and then have the gall to yell at Kaitou that Tackle deserves to be treated with kindness because she's unwanted by the universe. I don't know if Tsukasa has the moral high ground here? He treats Tackle shabbily, and yet she still spends her last words praising his kindness. Hard to believe they attempted that death scene with a brand-new character. Bonkers.

The main thrust of this Decade story is to finally resolve the whole Destroyer of Worlds thing, and I don't know that that part makes any more sense to me than it did 18 series ago. It's the start of what would be several Tsukasa Acted Like A Villain For The Bulk Of The Story To Save The World plots, and it always feels lazy to me. There's literally no reason he couldn't've told Team Decade about any of this, how he was resetting the lives of the Riders he defeated. I'm sure Kaitou, at the very least, would've been down to helpfully terrorize the multiverse with Tsukasa. (Kaitou is always down. He's down bad.)

If... if that's what he's doing? Wataru's explanation at the end, I think I understand what he's saying? The Riders that were killed can now live on forever, because people know their stories. I get the thematic version of this explanation, where a ton of kids too young for the original runs may seek out Phase 1 and Showa series. (I spoke to a number of fans who did just that!) But the, like, mechanics of what's happening... I don't understand? I always thought this would end with one unified world. I thought we'd have a world where everyone coexisted; a world without separation and suspicion. Instead, everything is just put back where it was when Tsukasa left each world? "People" remember the stories, but, like, who? Which people? What the hell is Wataru talking about? I never want to rob a show of a metaphorical reading of its plot, but this thing didn't even bother with a literal reading.

It's a terrible continuation of the TV show. It invents a ton of new elements, spends a stupid amount of time on a laughably pointless Showa scheme by Super Shocker, and coasts on a ton of unearned pride in its storytelling. It's, structurally, awful.

But, like the TV series ending, it lands some moments so hard, so well, that I can't write it off completely.

The idea of Tsukasa being willed back into existence by his friends, given life because they all created a story about him... I love it. I love it so much that I'm honest-to-god tearing up as I type this. It's the perfect ending to this part of Tsukasa's story. It's a moment -- in isolation from so much about this movie that runs the gamut from Unnecessary to Aggravating -- that I will literally never forget. It's poignant, and beautiful, and the best reward for caring about this cast in spite of a high amount of bad storytelling. It's a moment that is buried in a stupid film. A film so stupid it barely deserves an idea this goddamn good.

And it's not even just that? It's got clever touches in plenty of unexpected places.

I like how the movie finally resolves the prophecy/threat of Natsumi as the one to stop Decade. I mean, Kiva-la. I knew that was a movie debut, and I knew it was The Girl From Decade (even without context and only having seen three other series, I could recognize which one was The Girl From Decade), but it means so much more now. Seeing Natsumi not just take up arms to end Decade's reign of terror, but be the one who understands that Tsukasa's redemption and refuge comes from his friends? I wish this movie had just stuck to that story. The cleanliness of it! The centering of the Natsumi/Tsukasa relationship as Tsukasa's anchor, it's a decision that gets what the show did well. It gets the strength of the Kamen Rider Decade series.

And that's why, yeah, I liked this movie more this time. It's not for the answers I was awaiting; those all sucked. It's for the middle section, where a colossal asshole somehow creates friendships so strong that his friends write him a chance at a new chapter. It's this belief in experiences being worthwhile even if they don't work out the way you wanted. It's the knowledge that the stories we love never really end, as long as we remember them.

It's not the end of Kamen Rider Decade. It's never the end of Kamen Rider Decade.

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Because Narutaki. :lolol

Well if you want to see what world Tackle came from, there’s an S.I.C story I can share with you anytime.

And now, for what I do best: random trivia.

Blade’s grunts in his fight are provided by the OG actor because… they’d already booked him for the movie they had to scrap and couldn’t think of a new role for him in a movie that wasn’t called ‘All Riders vs Decade”.

Narutaki’s Nazi-esque disguise here is meant to be Colonel Zol, the first secondary main villain not just in Rider, but in Tokusatsu itself. Though it’s not meant to be a reveal, since all he does here is wear a costume. A different S.I.C story to the one I mentioned above has him assume the guise again, turning into the monster form that the OG version had, Golden Wolfman, leading to this line from Yusuke.

“I saw a guy on a tv show who turned into something like that. He kinda looked like Tsukasa”

And for the rest of the casting trivia, New Takumi is the only AR rider who’s actor they couldn’t bring back for the movie (instead, he’s voiced by the same impersonator doing either Skyrider or Super-1). And the Bee Woman (an incarnation of Rider’s first female monster) is played by Nao Oikawa, fresh off a stint as the female villain in the previous year’s Sentai (and just before she reassumed that role for THEIR yearly crossover.

As for thoughts on the film. It’s mostly rule of cool, but sometimes, that’s all I need.

I already heard about how people criticize Decade's ending, and so for me it's more about how it doesn't seem like an actual ending, clearly not as diend of the episode had Decade facing off against all the Riders going after him. I'd think that a series ending shouldn't stick into only a type that is more prefered, like should always make it with a sense of finality and treat the adventure continues kind as bad, but I get it now that the series didn't really have a proper conclusion for the TV series, and I kinda join in the one that criticizes its ending. Don't know the ways to fix it but probably only add more episodes like what Zatyme thinks of Decade being probably intended for more than 31 episodes. Lol, the irony though, Rider serieses can be criticized for being too long and drag things out but here, it's about being too short instead to give proper conclusion. I guess the ending is a "book end" kind (other than cliffhanger); an event at the beginning of a story is repeated or referenced near or at the end of a work, the ending about the same event in Natsumi's dream at the beginning, but made reality. I wonder what did Natsumi think about specifically the fantasical element in her dream (if it's too ridiculous to exist or such), as Tsukasa became Decade at first episode instead of Natsumi already knowing that he's Decade. For the moral part about journey... yeah it makes sense about Tsukasa delivering it.. but probably it's a case of a main character temporarily losing their way, but later another got them back on track, such as, mostly moral for other main characters, like in Ghost Takeru declaring that Ganma World should be sealed but got reprimanded by Makoto.

Tsukasa is clearly more sentimental when compared to people like Tendou, shown at the beginning of the series too, he'd crack more under distress. For the part of him saving Natsumelon (it's only 'melon', due to her assets), it's conflicting, sort of having an expectation that he'd contemplate on letting himself got killed by other Riders so Natsumi can have a world to life. That'd be the most definition of guaranteed to risk or sacrifice for them, in this case, sacrificing himself to let his friends keep living in the world. Though he does have the loyalty part, still wonder if he'd keep them alive, but is ok with making them.. miserable, like how Tsukasa can drain Onodera's wallet and/or prolonging Natsumi's misery when she's framed in Ryuki world... or Dai-Shocker leader. I do think that Tsukasa's comeback of having no world speech is clever one, which'd mean he can make anything his world. I do think that, I'd want for the Riders who chastise Tsukasa for having no world and not understanding what it means to fight for their world like kid Wataru, to have more meaty reconciliation with Tsukasa though, such as understanding how Tsukasa not having a world mostly pains him, and that it's them who didn't understand Tsukasa's feelings, which is also selfish (though they're pitted in situations with no way out yet) to only concern their world, but not others too like Kendate's.

Personally for me though there are some factors of this part feeling forced, even if I also got emotional watching this. Or at best, it's about how impending disasters can inherently force one's softer side to come out, likely due to no other chance to convey it to others, and that I've seen what I think is similar in other series such as Ex-Aid, in Parado's change of heart, where it's done by a little glimpse of him caring about Lovelica's death, but got left out in the characters doing their usual stuff, then brought up again when needed, where in this case, it's Kaitou's relation with Asumu and also Tsukasa talking about friends being treasures, but it got mostly neglected until the needed one in this part of the story. For this one, it's more convincing that Kaitou's declaration of Tsukasa's rival (the one who got to beat him) is more of a banter, as Kaitou visibly cracked before when stopping Tsukasa on his way, shooting off something in his hand, though still, being straightforward is a more optimal approach than pretending to be a jerk. I guess even if Kaitou reveals his soft spot to Tsukasa here, he should learn from here (and about the value of friends as treasures) that knowing that Apollo Geist, and by that, instead of preventing the fight, then join him up knowing that Apollo Geist didn't live up to his words of it being 1-on-1... and that there'd be others joining Tsukasa too, that'd be a real proof in his very eyes of friendship being treasures, others who will fight in your side and save you. His actor Kimito Totani did state that Kaitou is gay and "likes Tsukasa", but only feeling it now here... or I guess, it's Kaitou who had similar trait to Tendou in how he expresses his interest to certain people like Kagami for Tendou.

This'd be spoiler to talk about further... but be careful with the typing of Blade as "Blades" here! :p Otherwise, for the 3 Riders chosen here being the closest, it's purely subjective, like there can be someone like Amazon who were closer to Decade of their resemblance, or also probably Agito (Shouichi Ashikawa) who are on same level of closeness. No one holds a candle to Onodera though, who is one of the AR Riders, but becomes the tertiary Rider of the series, always tagging along in Tsukasa's journey instead of occassionally. I still want to know what does Onodera think about his original world now. Though apparently to implement a world ending scenario, the 'proper' way is only focusing on the major characters and their emotional vow to save the world? (well not really there are short parts of the world merging) Kinda can mess with some audience's perceptions that way, or them just downplaying the stakes or even the atrocity of the perpetrator (not this one as Decade does it just by existing), if it's focused on characters talking about it rather than showing them can mess with a reader's. Even though I also feel the determination of the people to keep the world alive to the point of becoming unreasonable.

Kenzaki didn't really got a flak for his morals iirc, though Blade is more obscure albeit cult favorite in discussions, but I wonder what'd happen if a character who can be criticized for their moral like Shinji, got adaptated in similar way like Kenzaki here... like if there'd be a reaction like "they actually improved that character here" or such. Kenzaki is quite OOC here, albeit as you pointed out, he's dressed like Tachibana... but then again he's the same Kenzaki with the full name or such, unlike AR Shouichi who has full name of Shouichi Ashikawa, which is meant to be the combination of the 3 main Riders. Sorry but using the same full name gives me OOC vibe for Kenzaki here... where if like you said, it's Kenzaki from Missing Ace, as a combination with Tachibana and the name that indicates that, I'd be probably more onboard, with also the possibility of another alternate Riders of certain series in other worlds, probably the ones who fought in Rider Battles or such. Like you said, Kenzaki didn't even try to spare Tsukasa, which is how it's OOC adaptation to me with him having his original full name and Kenzaki being someone who'd search for the best option. Unfortunately, I can't talk about this further, but this is not the end of Kenzaki's portrayal here. The name of Yuria Haga's role in Decade though is Yuki, and dunno what'd fit Mari in that situation if you think that she's significantly better than Mio (as I didn't see much criticism for Mio in your talk other than the beginning or her death), but I feel like the Queen battle is quite anticlimatic, and Apollo Geist wasn't that spectacular either (Apollo Geist is Decade's main antagonist, not Narutaki).

So it's not me being slow of not understanding Decade being destroyer of worlds... Me too, didn't really get a sense of how it worked, I guess it's about how travelling through the worlds would pull the world towards each other more? As the Dai-Shocker movie revealed Tsukasa started travelling within the world after Sayo sees the world? Tsukasa travels through the world, and the friends he made along the way in the series also traveled, further increasing the pull of the worlds against one another. Though still even if you won't care about the apocalypse, leaving the series to end at Tsukasa being content with his friends is still a bad management of the story, you not caring about it isn't an excuse to suddenly make it go poof... albeit without an explanation again, the solution to me is still to extend Decade's length.

The special effect lives up to the show's focus like the first episode's world shuffle, but even in this episode, albeit not a true end, had the Apollo Geist fight being rather unspectacular for me, other than Apollo Geist bringing his monster army, not much happened in the fight other than Decade and Diend teaming up, though the all out war in the end is really visually appealing, like in the first episode. And even with it being shoved into Narutaki, there should be something to learn more from him and what's his proofs or such, the Tsukasa being a problem also can be conveyed within Narutaki if he's not made as just Decade-hating spouting machine.

This is probably as straightforward as you're going to get from Kaitou!

I'm not sure I'd say it was the "proper" way, just that it makes more sense in this story to filter the various imperiled worlds through one Rider. Blade's fears and desperation stand in for an entire world's desire to survive at all costs. It's more economical, storytelling-wise.

KAMEN RIDER DECADE - SERIES WRAP-UP

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A couple of weeks ago, I watched the premiere episode for Only Murders In The Building. It was only alright, despite the high production values and stellar cast. It's one of those comedies where everyone's sad, and that just wasn't what I was looking for. It didn't really connect with me, except for on one very specific level.

The show is about three people (Steve Martin, Selena Gomez, Martin Short) who live in the same apartment building in Manhattan. They don't really know each other. They aren't friends. They pass by one another and avoid eye contact, anxious about getting drawn into someone else's life. The twist is that they're all super-fans of the same true crime podcast.

There's a scene, midway through the first episode, that's the most relatable thing in the world to me. The characters have all needed to leave their building due to a fire alarm, but it's in the midst of the most recent episode of the podcast they follow. Steve Martin's character sets up his laptop and notebook and theories at a table in a nearby restaurant. Martin Short's character stops by, and Steve Martin visibly grimaces. He doesn't want to deal with Martin Short, and he certainly doesn't want to deal with him when there's a new podcast episode to dissect. But then Martin Short recognizes the notes and theories and his eyes light up. He blurts out a recent theory, and then Steve Martin's eyes light up. They start gushing to each other about new clues, and popular theories, and questions that've puzzled them for weeks. When Selena Gomez ends up in the same restaurant, she's stand-offish... until she sees they're superfans like her. Suddenly, they're speaking the same language. There's an immediate, deep connection.

That's every fandom, isn't it? The ideal version of it? We're all different people, but there's this one thing we have in common, and that opens a door. Making a connection in the world is nearly impossible, but if you meet a Kamen Rider fan, you've met a friend. It's a rare commonality, a part of yourself you can immediately see in that other person. The differences melt away in the heat of that one similar passion. It's empathy, transmitted via fandom.

I think that's why Kamen Rider Decade ended up working for me, despite the many storytelling choices I regret/resent. It's a show that's implicitly and explicitly about the power of fandom to unite people. There's a read on Tsukasa's travels where he keeps meeting Kamen Riders, keeps meeting people different from him that share one thing, and that one thing is an unbreakable bond. But there's also the end of the show, where the A.R. Riders' literal fandom for Tsukasa is enough to bring him back to life.

This was a show that created almost nothing worthwhile as a series arc, a depressing waste of mysteries and teases, but still managed to tell the best Kamen Rider story there is to tell. It's a celebration not of Kamen Rider as a franchise, a way to trot out old characters for nostalgia's sake; but a celebration of Kamen Rider fans, and the ways these finite stories unite for an infinite experience. Watching Tsukasa spend a couple episodes in one story, then moving on? That's us. That's all of us. We throw ourselves into a show for weeks, months, a year, and then we move on to Saber, to Revice, to whatever comes next. And when we've explored every corner of the franchise, made every friend there is to make? Then we get to go back and revisit them, see if we've changed enough to add more dimensions to that relationship.

And the enjoyment of a fandom is so much larger than the product Toei puts out, or the product Bandai puts out. It's here, on forums and chat rooms and social media. I wanted to do this project with other fans as a fun gimmick, a way of commenting on Decade's parade of guest stars. I never realized how much it would feel integral to my enjoyment of Decade, how clear it'd make the show's intentions. It's there in the finale of the TV series, where Tsukasa and his friends all bond over their shared experience as Team Decade. That's... that's these threads? That's this experience for me. The quality of the show is almost irrelevant, because sharing it with all of you is what's valuable. Tsukasa doesn't care if the world's going to end, because his friends are with him. I don't care if I've got to watch Showa tributes, because all of you are with me.

That celebration of the ways fandom unites people... that's what makes it hard for me to understand the people who claim that Kamen Rider Decade didn't have its own story. Honestly, the story of Kamen Rider Decade -- four people find common ground and friendship through the exploration of Kamen Rider stories -- is probably the part of this show I'm going to remember best. Team Decade is fantastic. They're all different types of fans, with different motivations and backgrounds, but they cared about these stories. The differences added value to each other's perspectives, the same way it does it here. You can watch these shows for the action, the drama, the effects, the humor, the themes, the songs, whatever; as long as you care about them, we've all got your back.

I started watching Kamen Rider series by myself. Kamen Rider Decade was a show about why it's more rewarding to watch them with other people.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...ecadewrapb.png

I wish I had something witty or smart to say here. I just wanna say y'all are great and I'm glad I can be on a forum of toku fans like all of y'all. I'm glad I can come here and always find a varied of opinions on all shows, and that people here are friendly and kind and stuff.


Also related: the ideas for adapt one of these threads into a video essay is still on my table.

For the finale's episode guide, Shirakura made the observation that the kanji for "celebration" (祝) looks extremely similar to the one for "curse" (呪). Decade is a series that commemorates 10 years of Heisei Rider shows by bringing them all together, but the very act of making a Heisei Rider series about that is also actively defying one of the fundamental aspects of Heisei Rider shows, which is how each one is its own standalone story, entirely unique from the rest.

"Decade is both a celebration, as well as a curse."

It's readily apparent how little ends up making sense about the overarching plot of Decade on a literal level, but while it's hard to speak to exactly how much of that was a deliberate creative choice versus the production not coming together smoothly, it's hard to deny that the broad strokes of the series' mythology end up working perfectly viewed from a meta lens. Exactly like "Kenzaki" says, the worlds only starting fusing because Decade was born. They're going to be destroyed because that is the plot of Kamen Rider Decade. In a way, Narutaki had it exactly right the whole time. Tsukasa's adventures break the existing boundaries of what Kamen Rider is. Established conventions change, and familiar concepts become distorted. Even the very notion that this was a celebration for the Heisei era specifically, or the expectations viewers would have of a finale – they all end destroyed by Decade, because at the end of it all, Tsukasa truly is the destroyer of worlds.

By destroying everything, Decade connects everything. And through those connections, brand new things can be created.

...Warts and all, I see Decade as something of a linchpin for the whole Heisei era of Kamen Rider. It was this huge turning point combined with everything Double ended up doing right after, where a bunch of new traditions originated, and whether because of fame or infamy (once again exactly like the character in-universe!), its legacy has managed to endure. "Decade's story starts here" being the note Decade ended on honestly hits way harder, this far down the line, knowing exactly how right Tsukasa was about that.

It was a really dumb move, of course, to end things the way they did. I got into the fandom early enough for the wounds to still be pretty fresh for a lot of people. "Diend shoots Decade in the face" might legitimately have been one of the first things I knew about Decade at all. I saw the ending described and couldn't believe anyone would ever end their show on a cliffhanger that odd. (I might have even hunted down a clip of it on YouTube before I ever watched OOO or anything? Hard to remember at this point.) And then you find out there's a movie boasting about being the true ending to the show, and, yeah, that seems a little slimy! For what its worth, apparently Shirakura also insists the movie wasn't planned at first, while the series looping back to the start in the end was, at least according to this interview, so take that for what you will. It's an insane couple of episodes, and a crazy movie, but I do like a lot of aspects of them, the same way Die seemed to.

It's especially fun going back with the context of Super Hero Taisen, because I'm very much appreciating how much Diend was blatantly a favorite character for Yonemura. From writing his very first scene in the Blade episodes, to the implied depth in the Hibiki episodes, and all through his development in the final stretch of the show, it now seems evident to me he fell for Kaitou the way Kaitou fell for Tsukasa. I mean, I could even see this guy shoving Diend into another series completely just for a shot at writing him some more, you know? And to be fair, like I said a bit back in the thread, I've kinda fallen for Kaitou over time too! Both his actors are giving strong performances in and out of suit, and thanks to Yonemura, they really did get some great material to work with at points. (Maybe way less thanks to Inoue, but at least we got (^ U ^) out of those episodes.) Diend is maybe the thing from Decade that my opinion has most evolved on since originally watching it.

Because honestly, this show is pretty much exactly how I remember it? Frustratingly incoherent, unbelievably stupid, strangely poignant, impossibly thrilling, and an all around beautiful mess of other such contradictions. But that's all what makes it Decade – what makes it special – and I can't help but love it for what it is, rather than worry about what it isn't. I might not have learned all that much compared to, well, exactly one other show I tried this with (Kabuto ended up being a weirdly special experience!), but it was certainly fun to come back to it all one more time, exactly like all the other shows I've gone back to watch the past couple years.

Overall, I felt Super Mega Force was better. Final thoughts:

https://i.imgur.com/FEQtThG.png

It's a good group! They're all good kids.

This is very smart! I appreciate you sharing this!

When Kamen Rider Saber ended, one of the writers (I think; maybe the producer) went onto social media and talked about some of the early plans for the show that got scrapped or changed because of Covid-19. I would give anything to have some of Decade's staff do something similar. I know it isn't likely, given the culture of company loyalty and refusing to criticize management that's so pervasive in Japan. I would love a really deep oral history of everything that went down/wrong with Decade because I bet it's a really fascinating story. I'd also like to know what the original plans were and how/why everything ended up the way it did.

As far as the movie goes, I don't think I have a lot to say. It's an abject failure as a continuation of the show's cliffhanger that, hilariously, couldn't even manage to get hold of all the AU Riders for five-second cameos. I have no idea what the original version of this may have looked like, but it was hopefully more creative than going back to the "Decade goes bad and is defeating all the other Riders" well so soon after the previous Decade movie played that exact same card (pun intended).

On the whole, it's kind of hard not to see Decade overall as a failure. The plot falls completely apart and its most unique feature - seeing all the old Riders come back again - has been redone so much throughout the 2010s that Decade no longer feels special in that regard. As a tribute show, it was also almost immediately shown up by Super Sentai's Gokaiger playing all of its tricks better, more coherently, and with a bunch of original actors. All that being said, the show does still hold a special place in my heart, especially those first twenty episodes devoted to visiting the various Rider AUs. I am still always happy to see Tsukasa show up again, which is a good thing because he keeps doing it.

I love Decade. It may not exactly make my top 10 Riders or anything, and there might be a few pretty dumb things in there, but... damn if it isn't great at doing what it set out to do. It's a bit hard to get out there what hasn't been said already in very great detail by both Die and Fish, but as long as we're talking about the series looping around to the beginning; I might as well say what I said at the start of this thread: it's about as perfect a tribute it could be to the type of era Heisei 1 was. Where, like Fish said, every show was being something so incredibly unique and stood out as its own wholly different thing that it would be difficult to cobble together; how Decade respects that and in its final movie, straight up says that a big part of what makes them good is that they are their own stories.

Said movie... oh boy, well. Fittingly for Decade it is a mess, and while I appreciated the gusto of '71 Rider having the first commander of Shocker be a straight up nazi and how that conveyed so straightforwardly what Ishinomori was portraying Shocker - a fascist destroyer of life, autonomy and love - as; it maybe does not work so well in 2009 to have one of the main characters put on his costume! And... man, along with everything else in the Decade portion; that really does make me think of how wild it is that we often recommend W as a good starting point for a lot of people getting into Rider when this movie is practically necessary for it, huh?

BUT ASIDE FROM THAT, y'know, I thought it was really good going back to it! It's impossible to deny how straight up cool it is getting to see the whole squad, girl included henshin for the final battle; Decade's acceptance of his role as the Destroyer of Worlds being something both so tragic yet so fascinating; everything Wataru-but-he's-maybe-god-or-the-author says about the nature of the worlds and stories and how Tsukasa has formed his own and how they all bring him back with... gah, I'm rambling. When Decade hits its emotional and metaphorical points it wants to it's just really really good, and always what I think of looking back on it. Wonderful little show. Wonderful little group of weirdos

I think it's super funny that part of the resolution of this series is that Tsukasa is willed back to life by all of the Heisei heroes he teamed up with, because it just makes me go Yeah I Don't Think Skyrider Has Fond Memories Of Decade. The way this show tried to spiral out a Heisei celebration into an All-Rider celebration... man, it's just a bizarre, nearly antithetical choice to make. They spend time in the beginning of the series talking about Kuuga, and Kiva, and drawing lines between these shows, and then it's just I Don't Know Here's Black. I ended up liking some of the post-Nine Worlds stuff, but I really think this series would've had a tighter grip on its series arc if it hadn't brought in Showa stuff for the final act.

Maybe it's just the selection bias inherent in a specific thread on a specific board, but I think it's neat how -- to a person -- we can all agree that Decade is a terrible story that we kind of love. That's rare, you know? Not just the consensus (but that too), but how we're fully aware of this show's flaws while not really caring that much about them.

Man, that moral from Episode 31 was so right. I hate that it's that right.

I personally think it's a good show, but I'd also argue that like... the worst part of watching Decade is the show

That contradiction is what makes us human lol. Decade flops around and meanders in its plot a lot, but it's easily carried by its cast (Inoue especially, even if he says he was bad at acting during the airing), and just how much fun the show is instead. It's like, the plot is hard to understand but it's having fun with it and so was I when watching it.

Although, I wish the opening premise of all the main riders going up against Decade was actually carried throughout the whole show instead of having it be Decade meeting up and teaming up with them.

I'd like that quote to be used by TokuSHOUTsu for promotion whenever they get around to streaming Decade.

It's really weird, that the show shifted from The Riders All Want To Kill Decade to Decade Befriends Riders to Decade Wants To Kill The Riders to The Riders' Friendship Saves Decade. It's (intentionally?) vague on whether or not Decade is making a difference with his Rider friendships, despite those friendships being integral to both the TV series resolution and the Movie War resolution. It would maybe have been better if they'd either a) committed early to Friendships or Extermination; or b) maybe not swung back and forth between those two extremes quite so often in the last month's worth of content.

Speaking of TokuSHOUTsu, you think they will stream all three tie-in movies? Especially considering they're pretty much necessary to get the whole story of Decade when or if they'll release official English subs for it.

I don't know their business model well enough to speak with authority, but I'd say the only Decade movie they'd have to include would be Movie War. The Den-O movie barely includes the Decade characters, and the Dai-Shocker film is nebulously canonical. Without Movie War, though, you don't have an ending.

Movie War is also necessary for W, too. I’d pin it as ome of the most likely movies in general for them to put on the service

In contrast with Die, I saw this way before I actually watched W. And from that perspective, it works really well since W's portion is more of a prequel and doesn't expect you to have watch it up to the point of the movie's release.

But we're here to talk about Decade, so let's talk Decade.

I strangely love the opening with Decade taking out Skyrider? Something about him using his Final Attack Ride in the air, while Skyraider tries to outfly the cards appearing for Decade to smash through. It's oddly hilarious. Of course then we get to the first hurdle in the movie.

So Decade has embraced that he's evil and that all of that development was for naught, and he's got a sidekick, Tackle (Wonder how she feels about Decade killing Stronger...), and also he gets a "new" form, Violent Emotion, which it's only real difference is his eyes, which I didn't know until people pointed that out after I watched the movie.

I do like how this one had more references to the Neo-Showa Trilogy, but as Die and some other people feel, this probably should have stuck with a Heisei Celebration, not that I have a problem with the Showa content, but this isn't an "Anniversary," but a celebration for the 10th Heisei Rider season. Of course, the real problem with the Showa connection is that then we have some of the odd choices like Gramps becoming Dr. Shinigami, or Narutaki becoming General Zol seemingly out of nowhere.

Kamen Rider Kivala debuts (or am I mistaking this for Vs. Dai-Shocker?) and she has a real neat suit. The white Kiva-esque suit is just such a good look. Kuuga Rising Ultimate is neat, but kind of loses the simplicity of the Kuuga Suits, though I like to separate AR Kuuga and Real Kuuga's forms and characters, so it doesn't bother me so much.

Much like Vs. Dai-Shocker, W's inclusion feels hamstrung and unnecessary, as he only crosses over with Decade because they're both Kamen Riders just riding along. Nothing against W, because they're great, but this movie is almost like the Chou-Den-O movie in which Decade had no reason to be in, sure W feels a little more prevalent here, but I feel Decade should have stuck to his guns and made this a standalone.

Overall, I didn't dislike this movie, but I don't think it was the best ending? I do like how Tsukasa accepts that he's nothing but a destroyer, but I do feel like there were better ways to portray this, especially given some of the developments from the show. It was nice how he just gets willed back into existence, which is almost fitting for Tokusatsu Heroes (in Hero Live Shows, the audience usually cheers the Hero on when they're in a pinch), but then there are the less impressive moments like Narutaki's big twist. While I like that he's a "Final Boss," since he spent most of the series heckling Decade, but after Vs. Dai-Shocker and the random execution here, it was more of a joke than anything else.

Wow, I went on for a long time here, so I'm going to leave off by saying: Decade is a passing through Kamen Rider show, and we all pass through it eventually. Remember that.

I do wonder when they decided to move riders to autumn. Because my guess is that they planned Double as heisei rider no.10 first, but then someone from up top at Bandai said that they don't want rider competing against sentai directly anymore, so they had to put it in the backlog and come up with an entire new show to match the new schedule and business strategy. Maybe right after the 2nd Quarter sales for rider came up?

I'd assume Decade or something like it - there's no way they weren't doing an anniversary show - was meant to be a full show if they were planning that at the time. But more than likely it was probably planned from the start a little into Kiva

Hey so going off the analogy that Decade is about fandom, does that make Narutaki a gatekeeper type of fan? Only wanting people to engage with the media the way he does? I havent watched decade so this could be super wrong, but it feels like something. Also this might've been brought up before, but I didnt read the whole thread.

Personally I'd say somewhat.

Yeah, this is the big problem with the movie. There're a lot of small problems (the pacing with the Showa plot kneecaps the drama), but the big problem is that we went from a TV ending that's all about how Tsukasa values his friends more than anything, to a movie plot where Tsukasa has completely abandoned his friends and bullies them into trying to kill him. Tsukasa as someone embracing an unpopular role for the greater good? Yay! Tsukasa freezing out all his friends so he can mope about his perpetual isolation? Boo!

You can dial back the thread to the Shinkenger episodes (I think?) for the full analysis, but I want to say my take on Narutaki was that he's more the Dismissive Critic, someone who looks at Kamen Rider as a franchise and operates in bad faith to take it down. The sort of outsider who only sees the fighting and refuses to see the heart.

KAMEN RIDER DECADE - THREAD WRAP-UP

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/decade/threada.png

And that about does it for the TokuNation Watches Kamen Rider Decade thread!

First of all, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who volunteered their time to chat with me over Discord about Kamen Rider Decade. In case you need a reminder of the folks I basically will donate marrow to if they need it:

Switchblade
AkibaSilver
Zatyme
Enchilada645
Sh Ranger
dreamcastegirl
MrWilliamGraham
Androzani84
Fish Sandwich
DreamSword
catwhowalks

These eleven people graciously donated not just their time and their perspectives, but their enthusiasm. I didn't know if anyone would care enough to help me get this project off the ground, but every single one of them made the concept of a celebration of Kamen Rider fandom feel not just obvious, but necessary. TokuNation has the best tokusatsu fans in the world, and this group proved it. Give them all a round of applause!

Second of all! Thanks, as always, to anyone else who stopped by this thread to share their memories of Decade, or their thoughts on the series. These things are generally only fun to do when people choose to get involved, so thank you to everyone who posted. I probably can't promise you any marrow (Eleven people! It's spoken for!), but I'd be more than willing to post a link to your SoundCloud.

For me, this project was a delight. I got to spend time chatting in depth with a lot of folks I'd normally just have passing conversations with, which was a very unexpected treat. Decade was a weird show, with more peaks and valleys than nearly any Kamen Rider show I've ever watched, but it was dependably fun to pick other fans' brains about the series. It was also... god, it was so much work. I can't begin to describe how exhausted I am. This was a joy to produce, but I am beyond out of gas. Between needing a bit of a breather, and the holidays coming up, the schedule for these next few Watch threads is going to get a little erratic.

Next up are the three Cho Den-O films for the endless and eternal Den-O thread, which should drop sometime in early November. Can't say exactly when, because my schedule is going to be super nuts for the next two months. Turn on notifications for that thread, if you're interested in participating.

After that, I really want to rewatch Legend Rider projects leading up to Zi-O. I haven't made a list yet of what all that'll entail, but it's probably going to be every Phase 2 winter movie I haven't already written up (W through Ghost, basically), as well as any project that includes previous actors in it (Go-Rider, etc). Probably going to be around two dozen individual things, and that thread'll start... I don't know. Maybe sometime in December? Probably not until January, though. We'll see!

The next big series project is Zi-O, and that'll definitely land in early 2022. A few folks have wondered if the Zi-O thread is going to follow the same format as Decade, and the answer continues to be We'll See. I have no idea how many shows get a tribute story in Zi-O, but I'm assuming it's 19, plus Zi-O itself? If that's the case, I'd need twenty people willing to commit to the project. If we can get that, I'll put myself through this wringer one more time and feel grateful for the opportunity. If we get less than twenty? Then I go it alone on Zi-O.

If you feel like making TokuNation Watches Kamen Rider Zi-O a reality, PM me sometime before the end of the year with the FIVE episode blocks/ancillary projects from Zi-O that you want to discuss. No spoilers in your requests, though! Don't say The Build Episodes, because I don't know which ones those are -slash- would prefer not to know which ones those are in advance. Just give me, like, "Episodes 34-35", or "Heisei Forever Movie". Ranked as well, please! Priority will be given to anyone who participated in the Decade discussion, and I ask that any returning co-hosts not pick a series they already talked about. Let's keep things fresh! I'll be adding a counter to my signature line for the next couple months, to let people know how close we are to 20. If you want this to happen, please consider throwing your name in!

Beyond that, I'll be a little scarce for the next few weeks. Lots of stuff got away from me while Decade was happening, so I need to catch up on those areas. (Three Den-O Figure-Rise kits are on the way, so I definitely need to get to work on my model kit backlog.) Just a lot of work and personal things I need to nail down. This thread'll stay open, obviously, so feel free to continue to bash/praise Kamen Rider Decade to your heart's content. I can't quickly put together a Word Art thing for this thread (it's around a dozen individual documents instead of the normal single document), but here's the obligatory I Got To Open A Figure photo:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../decadefig.JPG

Look at him! Look at that shiny new Decade toy! That's Seihou Decade NeoDecadriver Version, with a $30 Decadriver accessory kit to give him the proper Driver. I'm not sure it comes across, but I tried to get him in his Brushing His Hands Off dismissive pose. (It maybe looks like he's clapping weird?) Tsukasa's signature pose is holding his Kamen Ride card in front of him, but I always picture Decade doing that hand-cleaning pose, where he's acting like he's beaten someone just by Henshining. I love it.

I think that wraps it all up? Thank you so much for allowing me the chance to explore Kamen Rider Decade with you, and for continuing to be the best thing about being a Kamen Rider fan. I appreciate you taking this Journey through Decade with me!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/decade/threadb.png

Well, uh, hm. Hmmm. Let's just say that it's a lot less straightforward than Decade. You're gonna have A Time scheduling this and working this out to match what this thread was. At least there's basically no Showa or Sentai aside from a couple cute references? A trade-off for you, for sure

I'm glad to see you had a good time with this show, despite some very obvious issues. You managed to find a lot of heart in it through this particular type of experience and I hope that continues with Zi-O!

Yeah, like, I do not even know what I'm in for, scheduling-wise. If anyone wants to figure out a better way to approach this (that does not require me knowing the entire scope of the series in advance), post it here!