It got a lot better towards the end but saying I enjoyed it would be a lie.

Had nothing to do with the designs though, I think most of those kick ass, especially the villain ones. This year’s Kamen Rider bad guys look like cheap Sentai knockoffs, it really paid off for Drive to have SIC-guys on the design-team.

I'm still trying to decide whether or not I like Ghost.

I think most people are at this point.

It definitely has its issues, but it's barely gotten started, so it's hard to say...and we've yet to see how the secondary Rider affects the dynamic, so we'll see how that goes next episode. Still early to make the call.

Anyway, whether it ends up being good or not, the good designs would probably be enough to keep me entertained in any case. Ghost has some nice designs. The Ganma are more hit and miss, but I do rather like some of them (Yari and Katana, specifically).

The thing is, they're solving problems that I thought would persist through out most of the series (Unable to see ghosts, Akari's "Ghosts aren't real and you're stupid for believing them" shtick, the series not being a constant fetch quest by getting a good majority of the eyecons out of the way early), but then there are major issues that really won't ever change (The hit or miss monster designs, Onari, the old man, and others that I can't think of right now).

Add in the breakneck pace that it's moving at right now before it inevitably comes to the sudden halt, and I really have no idea what to make of it.

I wouldn't be so sure about Onari and Sennin being things that won't change; even the most over-the-top characters in Drive toned themselves down eventually. I'm not sure I trust Sennin much anyway, so honestly I'm kind of expecting his character to be a little more sinister than he's letting on. Maybe something of a Sagara character...

But yeah, it's definitely in a bit of a weird place.

I am very curious to see where Ghost is going to go with this faster pacing. Either they have some very cool stuff in the wings that they want to get the set-up out of the way for or the head writer has seriously misjudged how to pace a show. I'm definitely interested to see which it is.

I honestly sort of mindlessly enjoy just about every currently airing series until the toy commercializing more-or-less stops after the final form. I understand what the show is about these days; selling toys, and acceptance is the first step toward forgiveness. Only beyond the point where it ceases do I really find my self looking back and evaluating everything else that has happened. The last stretch is really the defining arc for just about every Phase 2 Heisei that'll make or break the run for me. Until then I just enjoy the ride for everything it's worth because when the day is done, I basically unconditionally love Kamen Rider. :o

That still doesn't have any relevance to the point we discussed and why he was brought up though. The ikemen casting is not restricted to main riders and Gou is one of those ikemen actors. So the reply you gave was pretty unnecessary both in the way it was impolite and it had no point in the first place.

While I certainly agree that Gou was the more interesting character, he was only that interesting because he wasn't the protagonist. His plotline worked so well because it was told from Shinnosuke's POV. Most of Gou's story became so compelling because we didn't know what he was up to or what his motives were for a long time. Finding it out alongside Shinnosuke as a character not directly involved with much of that created the effect it ultimately had. We were surprised, which we wouldn't have been if he was the lead and we knew all that earlier. Same with Chase btw.

Because of Wizard, I can't go hearing "Bachirri Mina" without hearing "Lupacchi Touch Magic Go" as well when the Ghost henshin is happening lol.

Which Kamen Rider do you think it would be a good choice to be remade into an anime? I think OOO would work. I remember my cousin was like "This feels like a live action Shonen Jump show" after watching the first episode.