Faiz Episode 46
"I'm above working." :lol

So going off of that little scene, Tereou is in fact the Orphenoch King? Or I'm just assuming too much and will get proved wrong in who knows how long? Eh regardless, I'm sticking with my Tereou by the king/Antichrist like character for the show.

And Naoya continues to be funny, but also creepy at the same damn time.

Naoya you did not just try to spank Kusaka :lol Well, he had to learn the lesson the hard way I suppose. The lesson? Kusaka does not take anybody's shit one single bit. Kusaka though seems to be on nothing but a war path though. He's even willing to fight his father, his own father just because he's an Orphenoch. Kusaka really has some anger issues. He definitely could benefit from some therapy.

Now we're bringing a power struggle of slightly similar but completely different ideas into the show? Just how much crap is going to get thrown in here? We're four episodes away from the bloody finale, and it seems they keep adding on all this extra crap that probably isn't needed. Now true, it is probably time to bring this king into the story, but they're just doing it in a weird ass way. I think it's getting a little too crowded here in the story.

Huh, so I guess Tereou has blackout moments, and that is when he turns into the Orphenoch King. And because he blacked out, he doesn't remember what all happened. That's, kinda clever I guess.

You know with all this scientific and almost political stuff going on, I forgot that the show dips into regular old drama territory sometimes. Kinda weird now seeing them play baseball with all of the shit happening as of late. I like that the show is very drama like at times, but at the moment it seems really odd and out of place.

Well shit just got interesting. Why did he pick Yuji though? Because he can relate to his struggle as an Orphenoch? Certainly isn't because Yuji has the experience to be the president for the company.

She may be creepy, but she is pretty humorous that Smart Brain Lady is.

This new guy's Orphenoch design is pretty nice looking. Though I could have done without all of the tendrils.

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Yuji, Kiba Yuji. Smart Brain president. License to be bad ass.

Damn, suck that Murakami avoided that. If Kusaka's attack would have hit and gone through, that may have become my favorite action moment of the entire show. Would have been so damn awesome.

The evil stare of evil.

Well there goes 46, and it was something.

This episode actually did bring quite a bit of a story to the table, unlike the last few ones. The story was mostly just about the Orphenoch King, and how people seem to be reacting to it. Along with that, you have the gang trying to cheer Tereou up, and Yuji becoming the president of Smart Brain. So all around, there was a fair amount of story here. How was it all handled? The stuff with the gang and Tereou was really nice, Yuji shooting to the top was done well, and then you have the continuation of the Orphenoch King stuff, which is continuing getting way to messy and confusion. At this point with it being our final big story, it really shouldn't be such a damn mess to sit through. It really could have used a good cleaning up. Did the episode's story add anything to the main plot of the show? I'd say yes, mostly with the whole Yuji and King parts. Other than those parts though, nope. The total story package for this episode wasn't really all that bad. But one part of it definitely needs a scrubbing.

Moving onto character development, there was, some. All of it mostly went towards Murakami though in my opinion. The main development for him seeming to be he is now ready to do whatever it takes to wake up the Orphenoch King, and thus take control of everything. But he is, as I said, the only one to get any real development. Yeah Yuji got a new role, but we didn't really see him actually develop. So he doesn't count.

Finally in the action aisle of things, we got more bad ass action. The brawl at the end between Mihara, Takumi, and Kusaka VS the new Orphenoch and Murakami was just plain awesome sauce. The parts of just Mihara and Takumi fighting were great, and had a real good pace and back and forth to them. Plus it also had that paddycake/hot potato like finish which was just too sweet. The ending bits with Murakami were great as well, and as I said, almost produced what could have been my favorite action moment of the show. But alast it did not. Overall though, I thought the action wasn't all that damn bad. It was actually pretty good.

So yeah, final thoughts are that episode 46 had some good meat to it's story that was good except for one bit, some really kick ass action, and some pretty meh character development. It was like most, entertaining, and I did like it.

Faiz Episode 47
Well isn't this an...explosive start.

https://24.media.tumblr.com/16183169...uj0qo1_400.gif

Fumble on the field!

How is this man still alive after taking through friggen rider kicks? At once too! He should be dust in the bloody wind right about now.

So this is what the Orphenoch King looks like huh? The design is pretty nice. It reminds me more of an SIC design that that of an Orphenoch. It kinda looks like a deformed and more regal Riotrooper if it was washed of color.

Awwww, Keitaro and Mari are like parents.

Well to fill you in Mari, Yuji has gone corporate and Yuka has died. All caught up now. Kay?

I don't know whose reaction is funnier. Saeko's or Takuma's. I'm sure though that Takuma is going to throw one helluva bitch fit. Only Kitazaki though could find happiness in possibly becoming chow for somebody. He's like Kamen Rider's version of Kakihara. Except more mellow.

Definitely not the best hiding spot Naoya. Nor the best way to be sitting :lol

So he wants Yuji to become a Rio Trooper?

You know Kusaka just because they're Orphenochs doesn't mean they're instant buddies. Their friendship grew as the series progressed, and the more they learned about each other, the better the friendship got. Well until now though. Now it's kinda complicated.

Of course he's still hung up on the humans Yuji. They're the people he's been trying to protect this whole series, even when he found he's an Orphenoch as well. This scene pretty much cemented how much Yuji has changed, and how well developed he has been the whole series. I mean yeah this does sort of come out of nowhere, but it is his opinion, and all of the shit that came out of the experimentation and Yuka was the final nail in the coffin. It's odd seeing him act like this though.

He wants to see you all again? I smell a trap.

:lolol Poor poor Kaido.

And OMG Naoya in a suit and tie! Did not expect to ever see that.

Well that was 47. Now with only three to go, shit seems to finally be picking up a little.

First up on the chopping block we have...character development! Speaking strictly of individual character development, Yuji seems to be the only one who actually developed. He's seemingly given up his idea of Orphenochs and humans living in peace, and gone with the "Death to all humans" mindset. As I've said during multiple episodes now, this change seems to have been coming since the whole experimentation story began, and even since the start of the series. It was only a matter of time before Yuji swung to one mindset, and it's finally happened. There was also development for the Takumi/Yuji relationship in that it is quite obvious that the friendship is probably over. Outside of these two though, I didn't see a whole lot of CD, but of what I did see, it was quite nice.

Moving onto the action department, it was like the last episode, very nice. The continuation of the fight from the last episode was great, and it spawned my second favorite action scene with that triple rider kick of doom. The only other action scene was at the end, and it was kinda short. It was nice though, and it served the purpose of a handicapped fight, so I won't bitch and moan over back and forth and what not. Overall, the action was very nice and fit the scenes it was in.

Finally we have the story. Meh. That about sums it up as per usual. Relatively no story, but does add to the main story (Yuji's presidency, the new belt introduction). Same old shit.

So final thoughts on the episode? It had some great character development, some great action, but as always a pretty lackluster story. I liked the episode, but it could have been better.

Faiz Episode 48
Because he has turned evil Naoya. Tereou I suppose because he's the king, but unless Yuji was told who the king is, then there is no point. As for Mari, I guess because she's helping Tereou get away? Not really sure on her.

Woah woah woah. Wasn't Kusaka fighting with the others? How the hell did he end up here in this stairwell? That totally does not compute one single bit.

Wait what? The fight just randomly ended? What the fucking hell show! You couldn't at least give an end to it instead of just cutting to like a day later? That is some grade A bullshit right there. That's just bad work on whoever was cutting and editing the show together.

So it appears that the side effects of the reviving of the clan are starting to show themselves with Kusaka. I'm curious to know why the Kaixa Gear is effecting them though. When it was first introduced, it turned quite a few people to ash. Maybe Kusaka was just all around tougher and had a few extra cells in him, thus allowing him to not immediately die upon use of the belt. But now it's finally catching up to him. Maybe the belt just drains the user's cells because it's so powerful? I really have no idea why it would effect him, I'm pretty much just tossing out ideas at this point.

Well it seems Naoya may have finally matured some, all because of Yuji's actions. It was actually pretty cool seeing him just clock Yuji right out of his chair. Naoya has obvious and understandable reasons to be pissed off at Yuji. He was his role model and now he's become a total dick. So it's pretty cool seeing Naoya seem to finally mature, even if he's still a little strange and wacky.

That was...a pretty bullshit reason. You picked Yuji because you knew he loved humans enough that he would have the courage to eradicate them? That makes no fucking sense once so ever.

They are the men in black...

A minute ago you were ready to kill him. Now you're upset that he's dead? Make up your damn mind Kusaka.

Shouldn't Mihara be able to walk through those guys? Delta was built up to be the strongest rider power wise out of the three. But now he's getting tossed around easily. I know it's all about the man inside the suit, but I would think it would have enough power to help Mihara actually stand a chance against them.

Well aren't you a little prick Yuji.

Kusaka please, oh please murder this bitch. Rider kick his ass straight down to hell. Or wherever Orphenochs go.

Holy crap. Kusaka...he just died...and it wasn't by an attack or by rotting away. Yuji snapped his damn neck, That's really friggen uncommon to see in Kamen Rider. The only other then I can really say is...

KUSAKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well episode 48 has come to an end. 2 episodes to go and then I'm done with Faiz in show format. We have little time left together Faiz. So how is this episode, one of it's final episodes?

Starting off with the action, it was once again done very well. We only got two real fight scenes though. I'd say three but...well, you say my opening comments on the episode. Anyways as for the two, they weren't that bad at all. Mihara, Naoya, and Takumi VS the Rio Troopers was pretty cool. It was mostly just a squash until Takumi showed up and cut up some btiches, which is just weird. I would have thought Mihara would've just blown through them all. Hell even Naoya could have probably take one out. But they just got demolished. It just doesn't make any sense. As for Kusaka VS Lucky Clover, it was another nice fight. Just a shame the way it ended. Anywho, all around nice action scenes here.

The story actually made an appearance, so it was cool to see that again. The story was pretty much centered around Kusaka, as evident by how damn much he shows up in it. It was handled very well and some really nice pacing to it. As for adding to the main story, I think it's safe to say it added quite a bit considering how it all ended. In the end, the story was done very nicely and is one of the better story driven episodes.

Finally in terms of character development...Yuji turned into more of a prick. That's about it. It was really rushed though if you want my opinion. But more on this when I do my end of show review.

Overall, nice story, nice action, nice yet rushed character development, it was entertaining, but it had horrendous editing in the beginning of the episode. Plus it, you know....anyways, overall it wasn't a bad episode.

Rewatching Dragon Knight 01 - skipping the unaired pilot as it had a different cast and take on the story. Maybe I'll watch it at the end to see how things could have been.

The Wing Knight design has been jokingly dubbed 'Kamen Rider Batman' and it's sorta fitting as Len is introduced as a man who patrols the streets, protecting people from the shadows (well sort of) from Mirror Monsters. Toku seriously needs more proactive heroes. Most people say his early acting is bad, which it kinda is to be fair, but just like Arnie in the Terminator Len's actor has a lot of presence and as these earlier episodes just need to paint him as a nonsense badass he does the whole 'look I'm big and scowly' routine well. I really do like Wing Knight a lot, especially as I know what is just around the corner.

Honestly, minus some slightly goofy dialogue 'don't be afraid of the dragon, Kit!' - but it's fucking shooting fireballs at us?! This whole episode sets solid foundation for plot, character and the world. When it changes over to the side characters, you roll your eyes, until you find that they fairly competently act as disguises for dumps of exposition, even if I don't understand the logistics of Kit's living arrangements at all.

Sadly, although there some impressive set pieces and imagery, the effects of the series really are starting to show their age. And seeing Mullins do his own stunts only makes it stand out more just how obvious Lunsford's stunt doubles are. The low point of the action in this episode is where Wing Knight sheaths his sword so he can use Sword Vent...to summon a lance? That was so dumb.

Still, they played the balance of the badass and experienced Wing Knight off of the complete novice Blank Dragon Knight for HILARIOUS results. It seemed like it was just starting to get fun, as the episode ended...

Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think I was fully paying attention at this part, but I thought Hanagata was telling Yuji to eradicate the Orphenochs. Some sort of mess about how Orphenochs are heavily evolved humans, but because humans aren't suppose to evolve so quickly, Orphenochs quickly die out. Which is why having a world of all Orphenochs is kind of a bad thing.

Speaking of which, Faiz goes on about how being an Orphenoch kinda sucks because you don't get to live as long as a human, yet I never saw it that way. If anything, it's more of a life extension. Really thinking about it, it seems the only way to become an Orphenoch is to die first. In which case, it's kind of a plus if the person was going to die anyway.

I mean, it'd be kinda awesome if, when I died, I was resurrected with superpowers and superhuman durability and got to play around on Earth a little bit longer.

I can't really remember why Yuji was chosen but I just liked how it kind of switched things up with Yuji and Takumi.

Yeah I would love to be an Orphenoch after anything would happen to me, I wish there was a continuation to Faiz, I mean not to spoil the ending but I wish there was an afterward. I also wish for the same with Blade.

Super-1 Episode 17: This was my favorite episode of Super-1 so far! It was great the monster, Lonely Wolf was actually intelligent and took over someone's body to try to kill Super-1. Kazuya had to train even more from his Master to master the technique to catch a Katana with his bare hands. It was so awesome and great to see a Martial Artist fight a Swordsman. Kazuya had to learn that to try and defeat the monster without killing the host the monster took. It was a really great episode, I hope there are more like this.

Faiz Episode 49
Well isn't this episode's beginning bright and cheerful....KUSAKA!

I swear Yuji has flip flopped his opinion way too many damn times these last few episodes. First he wants to kill the king, now he wants him to live. Make up your damn mind Yuji!

You probably could have told them the news in a better way Takumi. You know, not just saying it as it was nothing major. Though it is surprising to see you get all upset over it considering you two went at it like feral dogs. But regardless, nice emotional scene.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh this should be good.

This ladies and gentlemen is what we in the business call a swerve. I'm actually not too surprised by it. I always figured that they'd end up turning on Kitazaki at some point. He's pretty much made them do whatever he wants in the name of amusement, and he's had no issues with hurting or threatening them. So it kinda makes sense that they would turn on him. Especially now considering he wants to have a fight to see who the ruler of all Orphenochs will be. May as well take care of the guy who could and has raped everybody in sheer power.

Don't chase after him Takumi or Mihara.

Now you just know that was probably orgasmic for Takuma to do.

Holy shit, he actually and literally ate him. That's some freaky shit right there.

So pretty much Yuji pulled the "Your damned if you and your damned if you don't" card. Either Takumi kills Tereou and rids the world of the king, he dying with him, or Takumi lets him live and the king just runs rampant over everything. Well that is quite the decision for Takumi. Rid the world of a great evil and die along with it, or let the evil blossom and become an actual problem for everybody. I am quite interested in seeing Takumi's decision.

Nobody else noticed Takumi was gone as well? Hmph, guess he's not important to you all compared to a kid...that came out wrong and assy.

"Yeah, I'm fanfuckingtastic. Just sitting here, starting to turn into ash. Nothing to worry about."

49 down, 1 to go. The next episode shall be the last. This was the episode to give the final push of momentum for the finale. So how hard did it push?

Starting with the story, there was in fact one here, and it wasn't all that bad. It seemed to mostly revolve around Takumi and the fallout of Kusaka's death, as well as learning exactly who the Orphenoch King is. It was quite nice in the latter's part, even if it was pretty short. As for anything being added to the main plot of the show, I'd say there was some stuff added. The revelation to Takumi, his...incident, Kitazaki facing the king, all of these things to me were nice add ons to the main story. So to recap, nice story.

Moving on to character development, ehhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah...there wasn't that much. Actually I'd argue there wasn't any at all. Nobody really developed here as far as I could tell. So yeah, I think I will go with the no development seen in the episode. Shame isn't it?

Finally in the world of action, I thought what we had was pretty nice for what we got. Mihara and Takumi VS Lucky Clover was pretty nice, though I do wish it involved all Clover members instead of mostly Kitazaki. It wasn't the brawl that I thought it was going to be judging by the way they came in. The fight at the end between Takumi, Naoya, and Yuji was actually the better fight IMO, especially the one with Naoya. That fight was just down and dirty and rough, and featured that back and forth I love oh so much. Yuji VS Takumi was nice as well, though I think Takumi went down a little too easily. But all in all, it wasn't that bad.

The journey is almost over and episode 49 sure is proof of that. It was a pretty nice episode, but it should have been a bit more considering it's the go home episode before the big finale. But it wasn't a bad way to get the final ball rolling. So join me next episode as I finish up Faiz and give me overall review of the show.

Faiz Final Episode
Alright, final episode time. I am pumped, I can watch it, I will watch it! *Turns baseball cap backwards* Let's do this.

Well it looks like Takumi may just be running out of time.

Is it just me, or does that sign with the Smart Brain logo on it look like it was added in later? It looks really Photoshopped, almost like it was green screened in. It could just be me though.

Well...wow. I guess Smart Brain likes to think ahead. Why else would they build an entire catacomb leading to an area to have little boys hover with tentacles hanging around him? Okay fine, let's get it out of the way. Boy, I've seen enough hentai to know where this is going. Now that we have that out of the way, let us move on.

Oh my God they're going to freeze Takumi in carbonite!

:lol Why did Keitaro bring a friggen iron with him? Was he going to use it as a weapon? Silly Keitaro, that isn't going to do jack diddly shit against who you're going up against.

They all brought irons? And they used them to knock people out to steal their clothing? Huh I guess there was a purpose to bringing them.

"My soul is prepared." What the hell does that mean? Is she ready to fight? Couldn't she have just said that instead of "My soul is prepared?" Is she going to freaking transfer it to Takumi? Show, explain!

So basically you can't get to Tereou worth crap?

It's the final showdown! *da dah dadahdah da da dah dadahdahdahdah*

You know I just now noticed, Naoya wears a leather jacket in his Orphenoch form. Don't know how I didn't notice that until now. The little things I suppose.

Man these two are giving it everything they've got. They're fighting as Faiz and Kaixa, and they're fighting it out in their Orphenoch forms. This battle is getting intense, so is the Naoya/Mihara VS Saeko/Takuma one. I'm friggen loving it!

But where the hell did Takumi get the blaster from?

Why did everything get trippy with the visuals? Oh, I guess it was just the netting. That makes a bit more sense. Still looked really weird though.

Takuma you are such a freaking pussy. And was it just me, or was Saeko getting off on that there?

You get points for trying Mihara. Unfortunately you just don't have what it takes to charge in like a bad ass and save the day. Good try though.

Well it's nice to see Yuji have a very, very quick/rushed last minute change of heart...

Oh noes they died. Woe is us...so how many minutes until Takumi is on screen?

Takuma is a construction worker? I would have never in a million years predicted he'd be doing that for a job. He's so freaking weak and spineless that I'm surprised he'd have any job. Maybe a librarian or something along those lines? But construction? Shock horror.

There he is!

You are a dirty copycat Takumi.

Well that was it. The end. 50 episodes all completed. Took me a few months but finally Faiz has come to an end. So, how good or bad is this little show?

The story of the show was pretty much a hit or miss thing. It had a clear cut storyline that the episodes followed along, it's just that it was muddled up with quite a bit of filler, and even some story centric episodes that didn't do much. I think the best story we got was Delta's introduction. Those episodes were really good (and in 27's case, perfect) and built up so much hype you couldn't help but get excited from them. The rest of the story built up hype as well, but never as good as the Delta story did. But how did the overall story do? Well, I think it worked when it worked, and it didn't work when it didn't work. It's pretty much a story of evolution, ideals, morals, dreams. The thing is though, it didn't always work well. Some bits were good, some were great, some were shit, and some were bad. It was a story that I think as it went on got a little too crowded and cracks started to show because of it. By the end of the show, it gets really rushed and confusing, which is a bad thing. But I will applaud it for being very good and even clever at times. It was an interesting story for what they presented, and at times it worked so well. Overall, Faiz's story is a mixed bag, and it definitely isn't for everyone. Hell I'm the only one of the watch group we had in the beginning who finished it (Locke dropped it, and I got no idea what NGW did), so that says something. It's interesting, and good at times, but in the end it's pretty much all going to depend on your taste.

When it came to the characters, it is very much a hit or miss situation. You will either love them or hate them. They'll either be some of the best you saw, or some of the worst. Personally (get ready to hear me say this a lot), it was mixed to me. As far as development goes, you had some winners and some stinkers. The best developed to me would probably be the titular character with Takumi. When the show started out he was nothing but a whiny punk brat who I wanted to slam into a wall. But as the show kept going, he slowly began to change into a more kind and considerate person. By the end, I really liked him. It wasn't handled the best at times, but honestly Takumi had the best development strictly due to how full circle he came. I would have given the award to Yuji, but by the end he flip flopped so much and had his story rushed so quickly that it kinda ruined it for me. Everything up until the whole experimentation arch was pure gold, and alone would give him the best development, but the end of the show kinda fucked that up. As for who I believe had the worst development, I'd have to probably say Keitaro. He was the same person throughout the entire series. Now Kusaka was like this as well, but the difference is Kusaka actually had a character, and even some layers to him. Keitaro was just the same guy throughout the whole series, and his character could best be described as a laundry man who works the Bat Signal. I like Keitaro, but boy did he have no development once so ever.

But what about the characters themselves? I liked quite a few of them and found some of them to be fairly good characters. Some were pretty wasteful though such as the detectives, Mr. J, Keitaro, Rina, and a good chunk of the characters involved in filler. They aren't bad characters persay, but they pretty much amounted to nothing. Some were downright great but got nothing (SAYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!). As for the best characters, I'd have to say they'd be Takumi, Kusaka, Naoya, Yuji, Yuka, and Sawada. The rest of Lucky Clover, Murakami, Smart Lady, Mihara, Tereou, and a few others kinda just fall in the middle of being good or bad. Who are my favorites? Naoya, Yuka, and Kusaka hands down. Yuka to me had the best overarching story of the show for a character (not talking about development, just story), Naoya was freaking hilarious, and Kusaka was kick ass. He may be an manipulating asshole prick douchebag, but that's why I like him. He's not like most other riders and is pretty complex IMO. Anyways overall, the characters themselves, and their character development were another mixed bag. Some of them were great, some of them were bad.

The final big category is action. I'll be quite honest when I say that Faiz has some really great action. Boy when it hit, it hit a gotdamn home run. Even if a fight wasn't overall great, it usually had a pretty cool spot in it. And to be frank, the fights all around are pretty good. There were a few that stunk (mostly do to length), but I can't recall a fight that I felt was really terrible (could be wrong, check my episodic reviews to double check me if you like). The action of Faiz is really the only category of the major three that isn't a mixed bag. It was good all the way through in my opinion.

I thought all of the designs for both the riders and the Orphenochs were either really cool, to outright great. The great ones mostly being the Orphenochs. All three riders had some good design work, and really fit the technological theme, as well as the naming scheme. I'm not the biggest fan of the Faiz suit mostly for the helmet. It really could have had been broken up more so that you did have this pineapple visor and really small fins. The Delta suit was good as well, but I found it to be pretty bulky from the thick white lines, as well as the big shoulder pads. As for the Kaixa suit, yeah I fucking love it. It's pretty much perfect in my eye. It's well balanced, it fits it's theme well, the unique armor bits are cool, the helmet is bad ass, it just all around was very appeasing to the eye. Would've have been cooler though if the yellow lines were purple, and the visor became yellow. I think this is why the other two are better then Delta. They had their color schemes broken up pretty well. Delta was just black and white, and it wasn't broken up all that well. But as a whole, the three main suits were really nice looking, and did the job of fitting their themes well. As for Faiz Axel and Blaster, they were pretty nice as well. I really loved Axel Form, and Blaster form was cool as well. Moving on to the Orphenoch designs, all but three to me kicked major fucking ass. Everyone fit the theme they had, and if they didn't have a real theme to them, they still looked kick ass for how weird they were. I'd say my favorite was definitely Lobster Orphenoch form, with Rose Orphenoch and Dragon Orphenoch right behind her for my favorites.

The effects were pretty nice as well. The best to me were the effects for when the Orphenochs turned into sand. The work on them was fucking perfect to me, especially with that one cop near the end. The CGI work is nice as well, but you can tell it's CGI and that it's from 2003, so I would say it hasn't aged all too well. But in total, the CGI and other SFX were really great and produced some cool shit at times.

The music was good, the camera work varied, the editing was varied. Really not sure what else to talk about, so how about my final thoughts?

I started watching Faiz mostly just to see if it was as bad as I saw people making it out to be. And in watching the entirety of the series, I have come to a decision. Kamen Rider Faiz is neither a good show, nor a bad show. It is a mixed bag, the mixedness coming from everything within the show. It had a story, characters, character development, camera work, and editing which could be very varied at times. The action, music, suit designs, and SFX were the only things to me that were pretty much concrete in how they were (they all being pretty great to me). The rest though is going to vary greatly, both in critical analysis and in personal taste. Faiz is definitely not for everybody. It has a story and characters which are very polarizing, and it's easy to see why the opinion of the show is so varied.

But did I enjoy the show? Honestly yeah, I did. I actually don't even see some of the problems with it. I didn't find it dark one bit and actually thought it was the same tone as most other Heisei shows. Not to mention the fact that I found it fucking hilarious in a lot of parts. I didn't find the characters to be bad, undeveloped, or a sex object that is the toku equivalent of one of the worst female characters ever, I fucking love Kusaka whereas the majority of people would gleefully want his head on the chopping block. I'll admit that it has some technical problems and that the story and characters aren't the best at times, but overall I really enjoyed myself watching it. I think what I enjoyed the most was how much it felt like an actual drama. I completely forgot at times that I was watching a tokusatsu show. I know not many people will probably like that part of the show, but I enjoyed it to the moon. It was great to see it break out of being a traditional toku show in what happened in the non toku parts. I obviously like it the show enough to want to own it on DVD (yay for Malaysia), as well as get representations of all the riders and a few Orphenochs. So did I enjoy the show and like it? Yes and yes.

In the end, Kamen Rider 555 is a mixed bag. It's bound to create a lot of varying opinions on it. It isn't a good show and it isn't a bad show. It definitely isn't the worst Kamen Rider I've seen, or tokusatsu show for that matter. I found it very enjoyable and I liked it. It probably wouldn't crack my top 3 favorite rider shows, and maybe even top 5 (that may vary as I watch more shows), but I'd easily put it in my top ten. It has one of my favorite riders, one of my favorite suit designs for a rider, one of my favorite suit designs for a monster, and yeah, I liked it.

I say if you haven't seen Faiz and are curious about it through my posts about it, or anybody else's, I'd say watch it and give it a shot. It's definitely worth a watch through in my opinion.

I give Kamen Rider 555 a C/3 stars out of 5

Oh yeah I forgot two things.

1) I will be watching Paradise Lost, but I'll review it on my blog.
2) I'm taking a small break from Kamen Rider to finish up Jetman, watch some more Garo, and start a drama series. But I'll back soon with my reviewing of Black. Plus, I will soon begin a journey, a journey through the decade.

I'll be Diend.....'s brother!

Dragon Knight 02. I really like the device of the reflective surface transitions. This show has fun with its concepts, like the reactions from people who see the Riders transform or that scene where Kit tries to access the Mirror World like when Peter tries to activate his webbing in the first Spider-Man movie. It's great.

Sadly... a lot of this show isn't as great as I remember. The editing is pretty bad, and the ADR even worse. The fights have lots of great ideas, but the CGI capturing it is poor, overused and the footage feels weirdly chopped up. It's weird because the actual transformations look awesome. Plus, you always know when it goes to American footage because the choreography and special effects aren't nearly as good.

It isn't just the fights that are chopped up either, apparently all you need to do is show the missing poster of someone's father and they'll immediately tell you everything and of course despite speaking of different dimensions you'll be IMMEDIATELY BELIEVED. What...why?

Speaking of Maya, as annoying as Maya is, she is easily the best of the bunch. That boy dresses twatishly, his jealously is painful and who the hell pronounces 'vigilante' like 'VIGALONTAY'? Aunt Grace acts like she's always assuming they are still in rehearsals but luckily she's only said like two lines so far. And although easy on the eyes, Maya's friend is such a dultz.

I mean it's worse because they are largely well handled in terms of devices for the narrative. Unlike Megaforce, this is a show with an actual story so while Kit and Len provide the flashy colours for the kids, the side characters are out building a plot for us adults, but I just wish they actually spent money on the casting them.

Plus, poor Wing Knight, Kit becomes a Rider for the first time and what does he get? A finisher where a Dragon propels his kick with his fire breath, SO EPIC! So what does the experienced Wing Knight get? The power to wrap himself in his cape and fall on his enemies?! How does someone so damn cool have such a lame Final Vent?

It's because he's so cool, his Final Vent has to be lame because if it was cool, people would die from coolness overload.

Lots about Wing Knight is kinda dumb, why does a guy with a sword already have a Sword Vent card? Like he sheaths his sword, to use Sword Vent...to summon a lance. WHAT IS LOGIC.

Logic is a lie, reality is a toxin, the universe is a hologram! You should know no logic exists here or anywhere! :p

No kidding.

Ryuki was kind of dumb, so it carried over. It's not like in Gaim where he uses both swords. Knight literally put away one perfectly good sword to use what looked like a shittier one.

Also yeah, a lance is basically whatever Japan wants it to be... unless it's a real lance, in which case it's a "sword" or "spear."

It's such a cool looking suit gets such a lame fighting style and set of powers.

Dragon Knight 03.

Is Xaviax a master manipulator or is Richie just a moron? Hey this random guy is outside my house, time to believe everything he says! Also while we are here, the rich kid, driven entirely by money, is called "Richie Preston", really? His name couldn't be any more on the nose unless he was called MR RICH MCRICHKID, which his name practically is anyway.

Also, nice continuity, we know the symbols don't appear on the decks until the contracts are made. So why is every deck Xaviax hands across already sealed? Or does he make contracts for other people? Can they even do that? And what happens if the person turns him down? Does he just keep killing people and making contracts on their behalf's until someone accepts? No wonder he targeted someone as dumb as Richie. Plus, how does Kit have a price on his head already? Didn't he become a Rider like...yesterday? I know it's fairly self explanatory but surely Xaviax finding out another Rider is now fighting, and not under his manipulation, is important enough to be shown on screen?

Honestly, although not particularly well realised, the way Xaviax finds people with strong single minded desires and manipulates them over the course of the series is honestly very enjoyable. Pretty much no one in this show is a villain, or really a straight villain anyway, people are just gullible and naive when someone gives them what they want on a silver platter. It's a pretty pessimistic depiction of humanity which is nice coming from something that was once on the 4kids! website. Xaviax is just a great villain, and Dragon Knight provides a lot more depth and maturity than what I've come to expect from kids shows.

I love how sassy twatty mcside character is in this episode, he even finishes his lines with a pout and camp lisp. ValuablUUUUULZ. More intentionally amusing was the shit eating grin on Kit's face when Maya suggests they go out the back together. Bet he wasn't expecting her to just show him a bunch of blurry photos... "He's a huge name in the internet cryptozoology scene." who the fuck wrote this? Can't you feel that sexual tension? No? Neither can anyone else! I'm not even sure the characters can. I do like the visual attention to detail though, we're told this missing persons business is a wide spread conspiracy so it makes sense for missing person posters to be plastered EVERYWHERE.

Actionwise, it's pretty lacklustre stuff. The range of weapons and powers is likely to keep kids interested, but there is a weird lack of impact to the action. Considering in the first episode we saw Kit get tossed around like a ragdoll by that Mirror Monster, it's odd that the Rider's attacks seem to be not nearly as powerful.

Why is it in toku - not just adaptations I'm talking about the genre - do characters never TALK to one another? I mean when it comes to exposition, people can't seem to shut the fuck up, but when it comes to words that really count, they are never spoken.

I'm gonna try my hardest to just act like I've never seen this show and just talk about the episodes individually but while watching these early episodes again, Len's silence really annoys me. In Dragon Knight's world, although a kids show, violence is presented as a bad thing. These aren't so much fun powers to play with, but they literally turn you into a high tech soldier, and just like every soldier that means you have to fight. And minus retconning it at the end - it's a kids show, why expect more? - this is also a show that shows violence has consequences, people die, innocent people die - heroes die.

So with that in mind... y'know, Len's motivations for not wanting Kit to become Dragon Knight are pretty much as high as they physically could be. His life is LITERALLY on the line. And sure the truth of what is going on is pretty darn crazy, and if Len jumped off his bike and started ranting about Mirror Worlds and Monsters and shit Kit would probably laugh in his face, but is really the best option to just sorta stand over him looking scary shouting 'Advent Deck' at him him? Len is pushed as a proactive hero, but his attempts to "save" Kit from the events of the series really are quite pathetic.

I said it when I watched it and I'll say it again now: I'd watch a TV series that was just Mari, Keitaro, and Kaido breaking into secret labs with irons and pots.

I second this. Call it Get Smart Brain.

Hey, don't talk bad about The Richmeister. His double-popped collar, preppy, douchy-ness transcends the Heavens themselves.

If the W/Fourze producer ever comes back and gets to do his big Foundation X finale, I want it to include a scene where whatever heroes are available are raiding the Foundation X base and Keitaro, Mari, and Kaido are there with pots and brooms or something.

Dude, I didn't mind Faiz the series, but I really wish it had the same plot as Paradise Lost. I freakin' loved it. Would've been a nice switch-up to introduce a world where everyone outside of the main heroes are the monsters. I don't think we've had something like that.

I wonder if his appearance, akin to a crab, is a reference to his tendency to sleep with a lot of women and the repercussions of such lifestyle.

I can't say I'd be surprised.

He needs that million dollars for ointment and cream!

:lol so true.

Don't know where to post this but I have a question about the Kamen Rider War movie. Is the movie remaking Kusaka's death scene from Faiz? Because in the previews, I don't see the Kaixa suit anywhere and Kusaka is burning like an Orphnoch.

Dragon Knight 04.

Although this episode was kinda rushed in places, you can really see Dragon Knight starting to find its footing. Len and Kit are building some fun on screen chemistry even if Len's refusal to say what needs to be said is infuriating, and the mystery is coming together and building well.

The clunky, scruffy unchoreographed feeling fighting is not the kind of action I usually enjoy but in context it works quite well, it gives it a nice urban warfare feel - especially the Japanese footage which has a nice feel of intensity and urgency, like when Len and Richie have their final showdown it's like a crazy scramble, and you can tell Len knows the stakes of losing and winning.

Although if they wanted to use a show with a card gimmick, I think Blade would have been a better choice, the whole use of the Advent Decks, despite their importance to the story, kinda sucks. Especially those finishing moves, minus Kit's all the final vents so far have sucked. I mean what does Incisor get, a leg up flip? Intense...

Also, I know they ruin it at the end - but what Kamen Rider doesn't? - but I LOVE the concept of the Advent Void. If you ignore the retconning at the end, it's one of the ballsiest ways of portraying death in a kids TV show other than just literally killing them. And it's nice to watch a kids show with actual stakes.

I so want to see this now. Lol I loved the Supporting cast of Faiz, it's why it's one of my favorite series.

You may be happy to know (if you didn't read my full series review a few pages back) that I did enjoy the show. It has it's problems, but it also has some good to great stuff in it, plus it is really entertaining. Definitely in my top 10, but it probably won't ever crack the top 5.

Dragon Knight 05. Man I forgot what a great combo Torque and Xaviax made, honestly this is a show with much better villains than heroes.

It also gets away with a lot as well, considering Xaviax wants to enslave the planet to rebuild his own dead world, snatching up whatever human fits his DNA profile as Kit finds himself locked in a complex moral dilemma. I'm always baffled by how much this is able to get away with, if only temporary.

The action is steadily getting better as the editing gets worse, the scenes of them transforming their bikes and then fighting with them were super sweet even if I'm not sure how it all really works, considering if they walk into a mirror without a bike they end up on some kind of Mirror World bike anyway. I also like how Kit kinda sucks and you get a sense of Len's experience, which fits where their characters are at. The suit actors do a good job of portraying characters that they weren't even made for.

Holy sweet baby Jesus I'm 44 episodes into hibiki and it got fucking good! Todoroki is down and so is zanki, kiriya is a little bastard child with a murder rock and hibiki is still fucking awesome! Ooh and asumu is less of a whiny bitch.

Awesome to know =) Faiz is definitely in my top 5 I think I don't have a top 5. I can never pick top anything anymore lol.

Dragon Knight 06. God Maya even looks hot in scrubs. .

Although the editing continues to be weirdly choppy, this show is coming together nicely on a pure action level. Torque has a badass design and his introduction is EPIC, seeing the guy who turns into a literal human tank, use manipulation and tactics over raw power is especially clever a fun.

When you find out Drew's motivations in a few episodes, you realise what a great villain he is. He's probably one of the closest to an evil Rider in the show, and even then he's more of a moron than anything else. In general this show has some solid writing, not exactly the best actors to convey the script sadly, but so far the show has been utterly focused on its plot and it's a very interesting, if a little slow moving, mystery.

Wait, wasn't someone's criticisms that this show has no sounds or music? Because I'm really enjoying the soundtrack... is the music in my head or.. what is going on here?

Yeah the Zolda/Torque suit from Ryuki/Dragon Knight is my favorite of the bunch. I just love that design and all the firepower it comes with.

I love the moving tracks on the helmet, and the way his guns are so overpowered they blast him backwards when used :lol

I farted around a lot and so finally got to starting Kamen Rider X. This is a weird show. Blood and death and crazy monsters and underwater bases. It's delightfully cheesy, but they're pretty creative with their budget. I'm pretty fond of Keisuke Jin as a character, too, at least I am as of two episodes in.

I wish they'd make a SHF version of the Cruiser. It's a wonderfully bizarre, bike. It's made me more excited for Ryo Hayami's appearance in Heisei vs Showa. (On a related note, I realized Kohei Murakami was back for that, but I apparently missed the news on Kento Handa being in it as well. Maybe I just filed it away since I hadn't seen Faiz at that point or something.)

Still, X is pretty awesome so far and I very much look forward to the run. I really need to watch more Showa era Rider series.

X is a great show. It's one of the shorter ones, but it packs a ton of awesomeness into its runtime.

LOVE that suit. My favourite Figuart.

Zolda's a pretty intricate character in Ryuki. TOTAL grey zone guy. Easily the show's highlight. He's a scummy self-serving lawyer, but secretly pays for a sick mother's expensive hospital bills. He's got a reformed street-trash butler who he bosses around, but the two actually have great respect for eachother. He hounds this reporter lady with all the finess and charm of, well, a high-price lawyer, but actually has real feelings for her and respects her as a person. And as a rider he was a tank. Shame he never really used his finisher all that much.

He was just awesome. Everything he did was sensible yet unpredictable. A very nuanced and well-rounded character. Nothing about him was simple or one-track.