I guess it's just that I've seen enough Kamen Rider shows nail the big emotional moments and the episode-to-episode superhero stuff that it's hard to not feel frustrated when a show doesn't. It's not really what this show was trying to do, it was way more about the connections between characters, but it still felt weird to me when the show couldn't seem to make that part of the story interesting.

Thanks! And, uh, it's not that tough, actually. I'll have a couple things rattling around my head while I watch an episode, and then it all gets vomited out onto the boards. There is, uh, not a lot of structure or planning. I'm glad that people want to talk about it after I say weird things about Kamen Rider!

That was fun experiencing one of my top ten favorite seasons again. God do I love this. I was less active than I thought, but could be because I just would have said, liked that too. I'm just gonna ramble about some things.

First a few things about story details that are interesting, especially connected to the Cross of Fire that were revealed after the series had warped airing in an art book. monster faction name is one of those. They are called the Lords, with their generals are called the El. And of course the names of both the spooky kid and Agito Jesus, the Overlord of Darkness and the Overlord of Light respectively. However, that Overlord of Light name is somewhat misleading since he is an El. So, he I originally subservient to the Overlord of Darkness, betraying him at one point to strengthen humanity, by extension, Agito's powers are connected to the enemy he fought. All of this should have been in the show really, it's actually really nice lore and frames the conflict a bit more. And they are apparently somehow connected to the Linto tribe from Kuuga in a way.

Something else I wanted to ramble on was the theme of Agito. It's interest that you found home to be it, and I can totally see that, for me it kinda struck something else. Humanity is shit, we bicker, we compete, we argue, but when it comes push to shove, humanity will prevail, because we are good. The most defining moment for this was in my opinion when Hojo stormed into the G3 truck and played eyes for Hikawa. He might have a large hate-boner for the guy and be an egotistical prick, but he is still human, and not a monster. He ain't gonna let him die like this. And I think that's a really strong message, that while the world might be cynical and dark, that there is an inherent goodness in humanity and that we will always rise up to the challenge. Works also with the theme of evolution in my opinion.

Anyway, kinda curious how you will like Ryuki and expect me to be far more vocal than anything before. I have a lot to say about Ryuki, and I doubt much of it will be positive. Will be interest to see how you will like my least favorite Rider season.

I think there's definitely a bit of discussion, via the later episodes, about the value of humanity in a world of monsters. How Humanity Deals With Adversity is a main theme of the show, so, yeah, it makes perfect sense to have Hikawa be the Humanity Will Overcome Adversity to Houjou's Nah We Make Decisions Based In Fear. I don't know that the show really comes down one way or the other, definitively (Spooky Man and Truegami got real different predictions about what the future's going to look like), and I like that? I like that it's an ongoing thing, a daily struggle to get better and face challenges. That's a nice way to leave that storyline.

I'm looking forward to the conversation, for sure! Ryuki seems like a real tentpole show for Phase 1, alongside Den-O and Kuuga, so I'm keen to see what makes it so pivotal.

Rewatching Agito, it always amused me how Gills transformation makes it seem like Ryo was summoning Gills, as if Gills was a separate person entirely. It is also quite possibly the cheapest and simplest transformation sequence as well.

I think it's pretty effective, though. It does a lot to sell Gills as not just being Ryou With Powers, but as a more feral, violent lifeform. I never really got onboard with Houjou's primal fear of Agitos when it was viewed through Shouichi's actions and demeanor as Masked Rider Agito, but Gills? The dude who screams so hard that tentacles pop out of him? That dude, yeah, afraid for what might happen to humanity.

The moment I saw Gills on the Toei website circa 2001 I was surprised they managed to pull off a bio-organic rider so well. This was around the time I was into Guyver a bit alongside toku and to me at the time was just perfect. But then Another Agito stole his thunder for me that same year around autumn-ish.:lolol

When are you going to do ryuki?

It was going to be another couple weeks, but since everything I'm watching lately is letting me down (new season of Narcos I had to quit after two episodes, only made it about 15 minutes into that Aladdin film), uh, it's going to be sooner than I'd thought. This Thursday, I think? The 12th? Guess I better start scooping up content...

Thanks for asking! And welcome to the boards! You've just joined a pretty great community.

If you haven't already seen it, then you could always check out Legend Heroes. It's very Kamen Rider esque and if my favorite Toku, even though it was not made in Japan. I don't think that one would disappoint you.

Whoa, that does look pretty great. I think I'm going to keep things pretty Kamen Rider, though, with my toku time, at least until I wrap up the Heisei and Reiwa shows I've not seen. (If only they'd stop making new ones until I catch up! Toei's being kind-of an asshole about this.) Legend Heroes is definitely going on the list for afterwards, though. Thanks for the recommendation!