It's not, but also a ton of Western superheroes do the same.

I'd say Marvel's defining feature is that most of it's heroes are flawed types overcoming/coping with their shortcomings.

Only problem is most of the time these shows have pointless filler, rather than anything important to the story.

And that doesn't mean they can't still be heroes at the same time.


That's all fine and dandy, but seeing as riders still fight a monster every week, I don't see why they always have to be late to the action.

Why couldn't Kiva have arrived to save everyone, verses arriving to see them freshly drained? And why does he not care? Where's the bigger fish? He doesn't give a shit about ANYTHING. Ditto Agito, who hardly ever even acknowledged the fact that he was a rider to the point where I thought he didn't know, not that he was selfishly and moronically ignoring it in favour of his God-damn tomatoes.

It really seems like the needs of the rider outweigh the needs of anybody.

This is why, and I know all of your are gonna fucking hate me for doing this AGAIN, but W is the best rider so far. He did help people. He was able to safeguard the many by helping the few. He ran a detective agency that easily let him into the happenings of the gaia memory underworld. He helped people, saved lives, and was a hero. The people looked up to him. "Kamen Rider!" they'd shout, knowing if that scarf was blowing in the wind, everything was gonna be okay. This didn't stop him from having problems. Shotaro had massive emotional hurdles to overcome with the guilt he carried over his boss' death, and later coming to terms with being "the weak half" of W. Philip searching for the truth about his family, and what happened when he learned the truth.

They had personal lives, they had problems. But saving people came first. When Shotaro would say "there'll be no tears in my city" he wasn't just making bullshit statements like Kuuga. He meant it, and he busted ass and would risk his life to make sure the people smiled. Shotaro and Philip didn't leave a trail of bodies, they didn't wait around doing nothing until after the Dopant had run amok. If their were casualities, it was never on them. They investigated, they didn't have an unexplained sixth sense or magic violin to tell them where the monster was. Hell, even Ryu was a one-track vengence-seeker, and he'd still save people. (and of course, the best part is Accel gets his revenge, but isn't poisoned by it) The best part of W was easily Shotaro, though, as he totally destroys your reasoning. He takes on the final boss untransformed because he wants to save everyone, including his partner. Dude consistently put everything aside instantly for good. Not the greater good, but good in general. And like I've said before, he frequently used his powers to save people. Mostly Luna's stretch-grab ability.

OOO was also like this, and Kouta so far is, too. And Haruto. (sorry Fourze, never watched you) W's not the only example of a true hero, but he is the best for this debate. Granted, rider shows lately also don't sabotage the heroics by having the monsters being constant killers. Honestly that's for the better. By being twisted humans, wild animals or something not focused purely on killing, the monsters have a reason for not just killing everyone in the city. For example, I don't understand why the Fangire a) don't attack all the time, or b) don't ever have two Fangire or more attack. Sure is contrived and convenient. And sorry Locke, but I GOT to mention the scene in Wizard when Pheonix suggested blowing up a chunk of the city, as that would logically caused a bunch of people to despair and swell their forces against Wizard, and Medusa said no because he might kill a few gates, verses Wizard killing every Phantom and saving every person as things are. Point is, this is how monsters in old Kamen Rider seem all the time. By being just straight up monsters of evil, the shows foolishly remove reason for them not to all-out rampage, or band together. And yet despite the infrequency of the attacks, Wataru still hesitates to fuss and moan about not getting his fucking varnish right when his dad violin starts, while innocent people, sometimes familes, are being killed horribly.

He values violin varnish over human lives. How is that a hero?

I know it sounds like I'm really picking on the fundamentals of Kamen Rider. I'm not. But you see how the "multiple civilian deaths and apathetic Rider" causes more problems than just having an unheroic hero. Or at least have the point be that he's unheroic. If Kiva was truely apathetic, and was a dark, selfish person and, say, Shizuka was the justice-filled one goading him into saving people before fighting a monster, that'd be different. That'd be brillaint, really. If an average person saw this power being used so selfishly and tried to make Kiva more heroic. That'd be a really good idea, and fit with the suit well.

Despite this long rambling, my entire point can honestly be summed up in a simple comparrison:

When a monster attacks a person in W, he kicks them away and helps the person to safety before fighting. When a monster attacks in Kiva, he kicks it away and immediately attacks, leaving the civilian to escape the ensuing chaos themselves. (that is, if the monster hasn't already killed the person as is usually the case)

All I'm asking is why can't we have a Rider help someone stand up and run before the fight breaks out?

I don't know, because W didn't, and Kiva didn't. Start of both shows they're both in full swing rider-wise, and yet they're the most poignent examples for the issue.

Den-O's a pretty fun one. I'd start there.

Sorry I missed this, but W, OOO and Den-O are solid jumping points. They're fun series with good characters and story.

Man I find this thread so overwhelming :lol

Like I just started watching Blade again, but then the thread makes me want to see if Agito really is as bad as Kuuga, and then it makes me want to give W another chance and finish Faiz but I just don't have the time for all these shows!

Also OOO and Dragon Knight are my favourite Rider shows, and the best places to start in my opinion.

I'd add Fourze to that list, it's got great characters and story, it's probably tie with Den-O for my top Rider show.

If you ever decide to go back to W, considering you've seen the beginning I'd start with the Decade crossover movie as it takes place after a lot of the pointless filler you may not enjoy. (then again that's a lot of what sets up W as a hero of the people, but he's really heroic all throughout the show) Then 17 takes place afterward. W's strength is it's small scale storytelling. It doesn't pretend to be larger or more dramatic than it is, and feels more intimate as a result. The villains are trying to take over the city, not the world. (at least they're STARTING with the city) And it has some pretty solid messages.

Agito... good luck if you do, man. That show... it's basically everyone asking questions for 48 episodes, and anybody who may seem to have an answer turns out to not have one. And when the answers FINALLY come out...

Ho-boy. Good luck, man.

Agito sounds a lot like Kiva :lol

I am contemplating just going at W from the start again, being that this time I have so much more Rider to compare it too.

It is a lot like Kiva, just that Kiva is Agito except not pull-my-hair-out-because-it's-so-vague-and-bland-and-awful. At least Kiva give Wataru a personality, or has him acknowledge the rider stuff, and be affected by it.

You could make two entirely seperate shows about Agito as a human and a rider and have literally almost no incongruities. But the "piles of bodies before the "hero" finally gets off his ass" and "bizzare sixth sense that sends them running into battle" are two very prominent comparrisons.

That's also a good idea.

But make no mistake, the movie is crucial to the resolution of an important early plotline, thus important to the show overall. Also, I shouldn't say the first 16 or so episodes are "pointless" filler, because they're not. But they are of-the-week stories and the show is much less in it's "groove." You've got insanely silly shit like "heavens tornado" or the T-rex dopant, but it still begins a lot of important development for Shotaro and Philip. It's just more thinly spread.

Also, the movie introduces two of the coolest, most memorable parts of W: Narumi Soukichi, and Fang.

Maybe I will start with the movie then, since the movie sounds like a second beginning for the show any way. Is it the movie with Decade?

I don't think "second beginning" is perfectly accurate, but sounds about fitting thematically. I'd say "hits it's stride." "Begins Night" (the W portion of the crossover) is to W as "Two-Face" was to Batman: TAS. The point where the experimental foot-finding was over, and show knew what it wanted to do. W is a VERY unassuming series at first, and the movie is when you realise there's more to it's playful aloofness. It's just fun, and balances serious drama and feel-good action pretty well.

I think Den-O's is 26 episodes in, much later, but there's more important stuff (like the secondary rider) that's introduced before it, so I'd say returning to Den-O, I'd go in about the late teens/20, since I think you got farther into it. (You got to gun form, right? You should be good starting with 20)

So can I just watch the Begins Night portion of the movie and then just jump straight into the show, then? The Wiki says its the true beginning of the series, and takes place between episodes 14 and 15. So should I just jump back in at episode 13 to refresh my memory?

Thanks guys!!! This should keep us busy!! Can't wait!!

Sounds right. I always think it takes place after 16, and I'm always wrong. :lol

You remember how I mentioned W starts right in the action? It starts with them running in the building and Shotaro's boss gets shot, then it fast-forwards to them already active and used to W? Begins Night actually shows his origin and expands the backstory/plants seeds for future arcs.

I'd say jumping in at 13 is a safe bet. Can't remember what arc that is. (so long as it's not "Heaven's Tornado" :lol)

Beware, Gaim is NOT typical Rider. It's much more fast-paced. Where Gaim is now, most shows don't reach until the final leg. So try not to compare it to them too much.

Apparently episode 13 is the beginning of the Question arc. So it seems the perfect place to jump back in, as its the start of a brief arc.

Totally agree. And a lot of criticism of Western super heroes has to do with how reactionary they are. So this point has a little bit of peanut butter in its chocolate and a little bit of chocolate in its peanut butter.


Well, filler is its own problem. Ongoing American stories have lots of filler too. That's an accessibility issue, at least in America. Networks don't like stories that are too complex (which any 24 hour series where every episode is story-centric would be) because it alienates potential new viewers. I feel like that applies doubly to a kids' show.

And if they're not true heroes until the end, they can't really be truly heroic in the middle. Right? ;)

I guess I'm not really understanding this complaint. Unless they're clairvoyant, how is it possible for a hero to know trouble is going to break out before it does?

I think being reactionary is a facet of any hero, and that's why groups like The Authority were created. That series illustrates why heroes can't be too proactive: because that way leads toward fascism. "We're going to stop you before you do anything wrong!" "How do you know I was about to do something wrong?" "You're the type to do wrong!" "I haven't done wrong, you can't punish me just because you think my type is prone to doing wrong things." "No, I can, because my moral authority is unimpeachable!"

Since they're not able to predict the future, is it morally justifiable for a hero to draw first blood or throw the first punch?

That said, it is pretty weird how unfeeling Kiva tends to be in the face of all this outright murder. But I don't judge that show like I judge other shows -- so little of it makes any logical sense.

Ha! Too true.

Wataru is a bit autistic isn't he? :lol

That would have been pretty badass. It would also have given Shizuka a reason for existing!

Basically.

As long as it's not gross stale peanut butter they stuff in a lot of PB/Chocolate candy.

But the filler is not a problem. It's what the filler is.

Like I said, every episode the rider kills a monster. Why can't he just once get there in time? Kiva was able to save his rocker friend, but that actually hurts his case. Only when someone he cared for personally was in danger did he act with enough speed to save him.

This is completely wrong.

There is no set model of "true hero." That's why I love W. "Nobody's perfect" Narumi Sokichi says. There is no use setting a standard you cannot achieve. There is no shame in not being the best at everything. Being a hero is not a checklist.

W was a true hero from the beginning. Being a true hero is not about skill, or knowledge. It's about the will to act. THAT is heroism. Saving people is heroism. Feeling for the people you save or cannot save is heroism. Want, regret, action, for others. That's heroism. That is what too many riders lack.

I was kind of leading into my narrative point of view.

If you're not going to deconstruct heroes being reactionary, stop writing them as ineffectual heroes. Stop making up situations where people die if you're not going to analyze it or have a reason for people dying. If they just die because, that's bad writing.

If these weren't monsters who exist merely to kill and destroy, you might have a point.

But no, there is no moral standing with the majority of Kamen Rider monsters. Especially the Fangire, who've always killed someone in the past before re-emerging in the present.

Drawing first blood on a creature who's entire existence is cruelty and death is not a problem. Letting them kill time and again, is.

Exactly.

It's not that murder and death happen, it's that he never reacts. It's just some ambient, normal thing to him, but as I said, not in a deconstructive way.

Hahaha, people on the spectrum aren't entirely uncaring sociopaths. We're often actually quite compassionate, it's just that we tend to not really understand why we feel compassion for others.

Oddly enough, some of Hajime's dialogue came across as this: he felt compassion for Amane and her mother and a sense of responsibility toward keeping them safe, but he didn't understand why. He knew the reason was that Spirit was influencing him, all while he tried to grasp the human aspect of it all.

Things is, Wataru never even acknowledges it.

You guys treat this like a deconstructive element, but the show never does that. Wataru is not autistic, they just write him the way he is because they think it's funny. No secret or thought behind it, just sloppy writing. You're giving the show far too much credit.

You do bring up something that does come up when heroes are brought up: Whenever they seem to be doing too much.

I used to be part of the MUGEN community and let me tell you right now they hate DC Heroes because they feel they embody the tracts of the Authority. Personally I don't agree with this statement and feel that Marvel heroes spend more time twilling their thumbs and worst beating each other up for stupid reason. Thou DC tends to be like that too, just not as much as Marvel.

I think given how American comics can be is why Riders are that way: to just deal with certain problems and not give a hoot towards anyone that dies.
It's jarring, but it seems shows like W are bucking that tread.

Fair enough.

I think that speaks volumes about Kiva's character, though. And shows that he's not intended to be heroic up front -- he has way too much baggage.

I'd argue that Wataru's main flaw is his passivity, of which reluctance to involve himself in the Fangire conflict is a part.

This timidity is the hurdle he must leap to become the hero he needs to be.

Me? Wrong??? Blasphemy! ;)

I was about to present my definition of heroism, but I'm glad I don't have to! You just summed up everything I would have said.

I think you're right about Shotaro/W. He (and really all of the neo-Heisei primary Riders, come to think of it) is set up as a hero from the get-go. What I disagree with is the notion that all Riders should follow the same heroic-up-front model.

I find it interesting, from a character perspective, that earlier Riders generally had to overcome a hurdle that prevented them from being a hero -- whether that hurdle was a lack of self-confidence, arrogance, selfishness, ignorance, or passivity.

I'm not saying Shotaro/Phillip isn't a flawed guy, but his flaws don't obstruct his innate heroism. Other Riders are not innately heroic, and I find the various journeys from jerk/idiot/coward to hero over the course of a series to be pretty fulfilling.

Though I admit, maybe there aren't enough pure heroes in this hero franchise. And maybe that's the point of this whole discussion.

I agree. Every element of a show should be done with some narrative purpose in mind, especially character deaths, and many Rider series fail to address the intent. Kiva, in particular, exemplifies an odd callousness about death (which makes a bit more sense later on, but not ever enough to justify the volume of nonchalant murder).

True, the issue of morality might not be an issue with Fangires or Mirror Monsters or their ilk. But what about Orphenochs, Zodiarts, Dopants, Inves, Phantoms, and certain varieties of Greed? Those threats' motivations are more complex (even certain Fangires turn out to be more morally ambiguous that you might expect).


At the end of the day, I see what you're saying. Maybe the franchise could stand to have a few more Ws and a few fewer Kivas. But I still think the jerk/idiot/loser-to-hero arc is more compelling (to me) than the hero-reinforces-his-own-heroism arc.

Only problem is that this problem is not treated like a problem.

Again, this isn't a deconstruction. It could be, but it isn't.


I didn't say all heroes need to be, merely offered an example that heroes can be.

Cheif among all, if heroism does not exist naturally in them, they will not become a hero. There has to be a seed somewhere.

It could, and you're obviously more than welcome to your preference.

I'm just saying a hero who watches people die without being bothered at all is not a hero to me. Especially when Wataru is otherwise so emotionally suseptable, being numb to death doesn't fit.

So I just watched Begins Night, I loved it so much I wanna start W from the start to get the most out of the show. Are there any arcs between the first episode, and episode thirteen, which can be entirely skipped without ramifications or do they all have some kind of lasting importance to them?

I loved the tone, with all the noir trappings, but also that it focused on a mystery, rather than just a fight. Best of all though, were the characters. I love how Shotaro is basically no one, but rises up on strength of character alone to be someone. And that ultimately, we learn why Shotaro and Phillip are the perfect duo. So Phillip was the creator of all the memories? Or is that something that'll become clearer by watching the show?

I love how by all regards, Kamen Rider Skull shouldn't work in his context, but they embrace the ridiculous nature of this pulp hero Kamen Rider so fully he works anyway and becomes wonderfully awesome. About the only negative is his death, a) because he died but b) why do they keep drawing attention to the fact that none of the bullets connect, or is that the point? Even Akiko was pretty cool in this, especially considering I remember her being insufferable in the show.

Shotaro and Phillip are so flashy as W, and I loved seeing their rapid form changes and cool combinations. I also loved their first henshin, firstly because it was beautifully staged (well minus the dodgy cgi) but I also love that Shotaro literally spends the entire thing not knowing what the fuck is happening. Also wasn't expecting Philip to take the reigns as some kind of werewolf Kamen Rider. Guess what SIC two pack I just nabbed off of Mandrake! Well, it might be out of stock, I guess I'll find out tomorrow!

That climactic battle at the end as well. Shotaro, WHAT A BADASS! Did you see his hand when he pulled it away? I love how they didn't even try to draw attention to it, that is how hard-boiled he is. All of the big bad Dopants turning up, W stoicly beating the not-Chief into the floor. I'm guessing that the special effects and fight choreography wont be this good in the show?

So wait it ends on a cliffhanger? Does it wrap it up in the movie, or does it wrap it up in the show? Wasn't planning on watching the crossover or Decade stuff!

The resolution is he and Decade team up in what can only be described as utter madness. "Begins Night" ended when Dummy ran away, all that happens in the crossover is that they catch up and defeat him. You can watch it, but in true Decade fashion it will not make sense. (even if you DO watch the Decade portion)

The show, however, is not done with the ramifications of that night. Philip is the creator of the memories, and the Museum mass-produces and distributes them, but once he's freed they get... hoo-hoo, someone else. Philip didn't make W's memories, but we do find out where they come from and what sent Soukichi and Shotaro to that building. Unlike Kiva, W actually explains stuff.

I'm glad you like W. While the fight choreography definitely improves (the movie near the end of the show has some INCREDIBLE fight scenes) the special effects... they don't get better, but they're better managed. They try to move away from big CGI stuff with few exceptions for toy stuff. (anyone remember the weird blue tank thing? Oh, and the secondary rider has an... interesting gimmick) And no, nothing is ever as badly done as the T-rex dopant.

Also, shit, SIC FangJoker and Skull already? Well, it is the best stand-alone SIC set. (I'd get some sticky tac for Skull's hat though >_<)

I decided to watch the crossover stuff, and I loved it. Mainly because despite all of Decade's ridiculous powers, W just swags in and basically does everything single handedly. What a badass. Also loved the scene with the AU Skull and the power of a single sentence. It was a great wrap up.

Definitely excited to start the show...again, for like the fourth time, haha. So yeah, any episodes worth skipping during the first thirteen episodes, or should I just go from the beginning?

Oh, the T-Rex dopant. The absolute worst first impression for a series' CG quality...I still have no idea how it looked so terrible when the Revolgarry CG looks fairly decent.

I think it'd be best to just power through the first 13 episodes, but I'm a stickler for not skipping, so that's just me.

Hmmm... Like I said, "Heaven's Tornado" is entirely pointless. I guess just your own discretion and skip whatever moves slowly. I actually have a pretty foggy memory of the early eps.

Also yeah, TOTALLY forgot about AU Skull. That really helped give Shotaro closure.

EDIT: Man it's a good thing I had also seen Begins Night as my first W exposure. (since I got MG Figurise Skull purely because he was cool and a fairly easy-yet-in-depth model kit, and wanted to learn more about him) T-rex dopant was... it was something. Even the regular dopant form was nuts.

Yeah it's only because I've started, and then given up, on this show so many times that I'm happy to skip what isn't entirely necessary. I have enough memory of the show, but as I'm guessing everything after the movie is when the show 'gets serious' I don't want to have realised I've forgotten a key piece of information when I'm too far down the line to do anything. So I guess I'll skip Heavens Tornado, any others?

Heaven's Tornado was the dance move, wasn't it?

Go full series, gives you the complete experience.

Surely Heavens Tornado cant be the only filler arc?

One question about all the Wateru not-really-hate-but-something-vaguely-similar-maybe, how does Keisuke Nago fair in the realm of showing basic human compassion?

I haven't watched Kiva so I have no attract hammer to the characters and the above is just my take on what the consensus seen on the last few pages is.

Ye.

It was the Cockroach dopant arc. The guy with the memory socket in his foot.


It's the only one that in no way advances anything. The closest it comes to plot developement is it introduces Philip's obsessive nature, that when he fixates on something it dominates his being until he's learned all about it. But that becomes apparent later anyhow.

The virus arc is also filler... but I also thought it was a pretty good story. The arc where a little girl thinks W is her dad is good as it's solid character growth for Shotaro and I'm pretty sure sets up Kirihiko, a faily important character. But the "Money" arc is skippable as it just works on setting up Philip and Shotaro's dynamic. Again, something that's very evident in Begins Night anyhow.

So that's six episodes you can totally pass on, plus the beginning is probably skippable since everything important is covered again in Begins Night. But ultimately the decision is yours. Sadly I've forgotten all the orders and names of these episodes. :(

When he is seriously injured once and a random passer-by comes to his aid, Nago punches him in the God damn mug.

Nago is the worst. The only reason I don't bring him up is because he's clearly insane and unsympathetic.

I don't hate Kiva, I'm... dissapointed in it. The same way a parent is dissapointed in their child for trashing the car.

So watch episodes 11 and 12, as they are a good story, even if the Virus arc isn't really important? Check. Watch five and six, due to important character stuff for Shotaro and setting up later stuff, check.

But do skip episodes one, two, three and four?

So I've FINALLY got the episode list up. (I've been doing other things so I never got the playlist open) The first four eps, yes, I'd say are skippable. You've seen the first episode, and you've seen the retelling of it in Begins Night, so you should be good. That episode's all just setup, explaining how Akiko got there and how W goes about business. (and of course tells us that she doesn't know her dad is dead until Begins Night)

Episodes three and four are "money" and while decently enjoyable, are ultimately on the chopping block as nothing groundbreakign happens, and the Money Dopant is a literal big fat sack of loose change, and hardly an exciting foe in battle. Five and six, however, are "Papa is a Kamen Rider" which is decent Shotaro growth. (but features of the few giant CGI-fests. Like Matrixbeast said, it always confused me that Revolgarry had decent effects, but the MOWs rarely did)

Seven and Eight are Heaven's Tornado, but nine and ten are "Sweets." Now the Sweets Dopant is pretty silly, but that arc is REALLY good at establishing Akiko as useful. She's truely an insane person, and a BIG change from the bland or do-nothing leading ladies that normally populate Kamen Rider. Check it out I'd say.

Eleven and Twelve are virus, which is a good story. Thirteen and Fourteen are where plotlines and themes start developing, specifically the villains.

So yeah, that's all I can say for the first fourteen. However after that, every episode is worth watching, IMO. Looking back through the early eps, which even as a hardcore fan I don't consider amazing, I realise one of W's strengths is that it embraces it's aloof nature, but never parodies it. It has fun, but never makes it out to be stupid. It helps taht a lot of the messages it preaches are really good messages. One of my beefs with Den-O is that it occasionally dropped a really weird message, like a frustrated man who yells at, scares and almost assaults his wife should be pitied for his problems? Uh, no? It's so easy for these shows to just phone in the morals, but W never does. Hell, it takes a common phrase "Nobody's perfect" and really makes a statement out of it. (as well as an awesome song)

Also I'm knackered as shit, and I'm not sure if my ramblings are now going in circles or not. :p

So skip the first four episodes, watch five and six, skip seven and eight and watch all the way until the end? Thanks for the help!

You really can't judge characters by what others think. I think Nago and Wataru are amazing, great and fun characters. I think Nago has some compassion but not that much.

The past few pages looked like a deconstruction of Wataru of some sorts so I stopped reading.

Same here. I'd recommend people to just check the series themselves if they want to judge the characters.

Also, what's this about skipping episodes of W? Skipping episodes is a stupid thing to do. I mean, how can you judge a series if you skipped episodes because someone told you they were bad? Watch the whole thing. And then judge it as a whole.

I meant purely from a power standpoint. Kiva has a dragon form. Superman has whatever power the writers want him to have (more or less).

Hardly any until way later when He falls in love with Megumi.

SPLIT LIP said he's insane...yeah.

At least his catchphrase is cool...

Sono inochi, Kami ni kaeshinasai!

Double post!!!

So haven't really watched any Kabuto in a while. Think I started episode 9 at one point but haven't actually really sat down to watch it.

Think I may want to check out Dragon Knight. I LOVE Ryuki, it's my favorite season of Kamen Rider and it is honestly one of my favorite shows of all time, so going into Dragon Knight may be..a bit tough for me, but I dunno, kinda curious ya know? I'll be as open minded as humanly possible, going in with absolutely no bias for or against it and trying to not make any mental comparisons to Ryuki, but damn it's gonna be hard.

Edit: Ok, so I watched the first episode of Dragon Knight.

Umm...I really don't have much of anything positive to say at this point to be honest. I won't dismiss it completely after only one episode, heck even Ryuki didn't have the strongest start, but...I dunno. I'll give it another episode or two, at least until after not-Shinji contracts with Dragredder.

Edit #2: And just watched the second episode. Honestly just made me wish I was watching Ryuki again. I'm just really not feeling the show so far. The acting is really bad, I don't like the new sound effects used, the music isn't nearly as good, and I can't say I'm fond of what story we've been given so far (and from what I've read of the plot online...yikes that's really bad), I mean Ryuki's best aspect was its characters, sure, but I still enjoyed the general plot of the season too.