Getting ready to watch Kamen Rider X from early 70's...hope it will be decent

I really think X deserves more attention than he gets. The show just had the misfortune of being caught between V3, which due to its direct connection to the original still feels like the start of the franchise, and the absolutely insane Amazon, so it feels a little boring at times. Plus, the name is not at all memorable. But this is the first rider with his own weapon, and the plot there is, if not smarter, then at least more thoughtful than that of most of his peers.

It?s probably my favorite of the original five.

I think I'll wait for higher quality subs to upload before I watch this.

There was a Director's Cut?!

Now that you mention it, I think it's a little weird how there's a white Primary Rider and a black Secondary Rider, yet both of them have blue Final Forms. Maybe that's supposed to be symbolic of their friendship or something.

Interesting how you guys decided to watch at the same time.

I recall people often praised it for the edge, but I personally thought it was gratuitous in execution. Even before the start, I heard that Urobuchi already had a reputation for this and it was worse than I imagined. If I had to name a favorite character, it's probably Zack (Kaito's SIC) or Mai, since pretty much everybody else is an a**hole.

Agreed. He's a terrible human being.

The first 9 episodes were painfully slow for me. Way too much time spent on setting and exposition with an unimaginative delivery.

While I haven't watched the OG Kamen Rider, I think X isn't quite as good as other 70s seasons. The important word here is "quite" though. I'd still totally recommend X to anybody who wants more Showa Rider. The second half is much better than the first and the theme song is pretty catchy. There's a lot more to enjoy about this show than only the Starfish Hitler meme. The name may sound simple, but it's also a clever pun: X -> Greek letter Chi -> Kai -> Ocean.

Part of me imagines it's blue for the night sky, but that could be a reach.

Funnily enough, I started watching Gaim a few weeks ago and I am currently down to the show’s final ten episodes. Still haven’t any of its Gaiden films yet.

Now up through episode 23 of Gaim, including Gaiden Zangetsu and Gaiden Baron.

I will say that I have definitely liked this second chunk more than the first, though it's still not anything super amazing or perfect.

There are a few bits that I personally don't care for, such as Pierre's' unneeded antagonism, Kota not entirely dealing with the truth behind Yuya, and the odd logic behind torching Zawame City if a single Inves got through the crack in the bridge.

But, I do consider all of those things relatively minor. One big compliment I can give the show is that it has a rather good handle on its atmosphere, never once introducing different tones at ill-placed times. The gradual escalation of the stakes of the plot have been solid too.

Even more important than that is that this arc has gotten me a bit more into the cast than the first one did. Infact, to my surprise my current favorite character is actually Mai, who's just a delight to be around, with episode 18 in particular being my current favorite episode in Gaim. The street dancing routines themselves might not be all too great, but it's an aspect of the show that I wish was retained throughout the whole show instead of getting gradually phased out.

The Gaiden specials were also alot of fun. Was not expecting Takatora's' dad to be Terror Dad from W, and I really did feel for him in terms of the backstory introduced in that special. On the other end of things, I was not expecting Baron's' special to be Gaim's' version of the most (in)famous two-parter of Blade, with it being ever bit as fun too.

So, yeah. Gaim is picking up. Nothing close to being one of my favorites, but it is a show I'm starting to enjoy more, and I hope that upswing continues.

Up to episode 43 of Gaim now with 4 episodes to go after that. I might be able to finish this series this weekend after all.

Kamen Rider Fourze Episodes 33 & 34 - "Chaos in Old Kyoto" and "Sky Hole Counter Offensive"

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...b93a57a535165&

So remember last time I made my point about them not leaving the school and how that keeps things grounded? Well, here's the school trip episode where we go to Kyoto, and I'm not huge on how it turns out. This being the episode where they Horoscopes decide to move the plot along, there's a big disconnect between introducing a whole new enforcer (He's a lion! He's some random tough guy! That's it!) and the student of the week plot about her falling for Gentarou and wanting him to stop fighting and enjoy himself. Throw in a little "Kengou learns about his past" and it's got good individual elements, but a haphazard plot overall that doesn't have much of a need to go to Kyoto.

Also, thought we were totally losing Tachibana at the end in exchange for Leo-breaker, glad he's sticking around as the Deus Ex Machina to rush out all 12 zodiac signs before the show is up. What would we do without him!

Oh right, that girl. Couldn't stand her.