Den-O turns 15 years old this year. While I do like the show, but I don't like the impact it has done with the series. I can't help to notice later KR shows try to copy & paste its format (slap stick comedy and the main rider having a non-human partner).

According to the wiki, Zero-One's black undersuit is supposedly full of 'non-Newtonian fluid' (liquid whose state changes depending on the amount of stress put on it) that helps absorb damage in combat. I recently found out that ketchup is a non-Newtonian fluid so now I can't help but think of Zero-One as one giant ketchup packet.

All those wounds Aruto receives in the show? Ketchup.

Weird au idea what if adult Asumu from hibiki became a doctor and worked in the same pediatrics unit as Emu from Ex-aid?

I haven't been meeting my quota for obsessively talking about Kuuga lately, so, for no particular reason besides it's fun, I'm going to take a moment to do something I've always wanted to -- explain a bit about the Linto writing system.

I just think it's really cool? I feel like learning to understand Grongi is the more time-honored die-hard Kuuga fan tradition, but in my typical contrarian manner, I've realized I find all those little characters way more interesting. I have no idea how many other people do, but you know, there's all these phrases with actual meaning written all over Kuuga's designs and elsewhere, and I feel like it contributes a ton to the show's identity, because no other Rider show has anything quite like it. So for the sake of getting other people to maybe appreciate those intricate details a little more, I figure there's no better place to start than with a passage of Linto writing that's about as iconic as they come. And in the process, I can even answer the question I know *I* was always asking when I first watched Kuuga -- "Wait, did this ancient civilization really have a character for 'television'?"

https://i.imgur.com/QAa5Sub.png
"Please watch in a well-lit room, at a good distance from the screen"

Yes, today we're going to be looking over the warning that pops up at the start of nearly every episode of Kuuga. Because again, it's pretty cool, right? They took the obligatory "please don't literally glue your face to the TV" warning and then wrapped even that into the lore and universe of the series. From the second an episode of Kuuga starts, you know exactly what show you're watching.

But how, exactly, do those eight symbols equate to the Japanese translation at the bottom, or the English translation of that? Well, just like Japanese, the Linto writing system makes use of characters that represent entire words and concepts, and if we simply figure out what each of those means, it'll start to seem a lot less mysterious. Indeed, one of the coolest things about Linto writing is that the characters are often extremely clear and direct as to what they represent. One at a time then!

https://i.imgur.com/aevhij9.png
First up is the Linto character representing "you", and I couldn't ask for a more perfect example of how simple these things are. The backbone of the entire writing system is basically just a crude stick figure drawing of a person. A person by itself is, naturally, representing "people", and again, just as with kanji in Japanese, by combining those root parts with other shapes, a wide variety of things can be expressed. Here, we have two people, with the one on the left reaching out their arm to the other, as if I am reaching out to you. Pretty easy, right?

https://i.imgur.com/GUhY0fc.png
Second comes the Linto character for "this", which I believe to be in the shape of two open hands reaching out to grab a nearby object. Much like that basic person shape is repeated all over the place, a simple circle is used by the Linto to stand in for quite a few different non-person things. Characters associated with the Amadam in Kuuga's belt, for example, make frequent use of this for obvious reasons.

https://i.imgur.com/86eULj3.png
Third, we have the character for "to see". Verbs in Linto writing are consistently expressed by putting different characters within this exact version of the "people" character, because they're all representing things people do. In this case, we have what is pretty clearly a stylized drawing of an eye, complete with two eyelids, two little eyelashes, and a pupil.

https://i.imgur.com/1ZmUXph.png
For the fourth character, we have "time", which is simply an hourglass with sand falling from top to bottom.

https://i.imgur.com/zzsEDcs.png
Up fifth is a character that is *not* representing television, as hilarious as that would be. The one character I thought I figured out on my own back when I first watched Kuuga, and I was totally off the mark! No, as it turns out, this is the character for "room". While the way in which they're stylized is a bit different, we've still got what is very clearly a person, this time enclosed on either side by walls. Pretty self-explanatory... even if I managed to misinterpret it anyway!

https://i.imgur.com/MX3rYbp.png
The sixth character, to put it as simply as I can, means "to make (something) brighter". As I said, verbs all have that exact same version of the people character, and the other character in this one is, by itself, the Linto character for "sun", represented by a circle that's placed up as if in the sky. shining down five rays of light, as if they were warming the earth.

https://i.imgur.com/dTv9ski.png
The seventh character is maybe the trickiest to explain, but even then, I don't think it's all that complicated? The exact way you'd translate it changes a bit by context, but the picture is of a container (like a glass for drinks), filled to the top. Broadly speaking, I suppose "fully" is maybe how I'd sum it up, but in this particular case, that's being used in the sense of performing an action to the full extent of your ability. Doing something the proper amount, basically. Don't worry if you're a little lost, because I'll try and bring this all together in a second. Hang in there a bit longer!

https://i.imgur.com/wplOpLf.png
The eight and final character is one last verb, this time meaning "to separate". The sub-character this time is two people heading in opposite directions, which is to say, two people creating distance between themselves.

So! Bringing things back around to the start!

https://i.imgur.com/QAa5Sub.png

It's important to note that the sentence structure of Linto writing mirrors that of Japanese, which means it goes subject-object-verb rather than subject-verb-object, as in English. It's essentially Japanese without all the connective bits between words. Taking those first three characters, for example, it goes "you" "this" "watch", which would obviously be a little out of order to an English-speaker. But I'm not really the best person to explain that kind of stuff well, and fortunately for me and you, the finer points aren't super relevant to this crash course.

Ignoring the specifics and keeping things loose, this passage breaks down into the exact two lines of four characters it's already separated by. Putting the first four together results in "when you're watching this", and the latter four combine to say "keep the room well-lit and keep a proper distance (from the screen)"

Like I said -- pretty simple, all things considered! It comes off like some secret code at first, but only in the way any language does to someone not familiar with it. Part of what makes me find Linto writing so neat is that it really does come across as a system a civilization would believably come up with in order to better communicate, which means it's doing its job perfectly as a constructed bit of lore for Kuuga.

Hopefully seeing it demystified a bit was of some help to anyone like me who always wanted to know a little more about how this stuff works. Especially because, as far as I'm aware, there really isn't anyone who's ever gone in-depth on Linto writing in English? Which is part of what motivated me to take even a tiny stab at it myself. I get that it's a niche topic within a niche fandom, but at the same time, it's like, why even be a sci-fi/fantasy nerd if you aren't going to geek out at least a little over some world-building here or there? At any rate, I'm always darn happy to have a chance to bring attention to the insane amount of detail that went into Kamen Rider Kuuga.

You do us Kuuga fans a great service with stuff like this, Fish. Please keep these things saved for future reference.

This is really cool!! I never even thought about these characters before but now I really feel like I've got a good rudimentary understanding. Love the idea of having a person representing a verb

I've asked before about tricking electronic devices into playing transformation noises... and, well, I'm asking again! Does anyone know how to play the noises on electronic upgrade items for belts that usually use non-electronic devices? I'm mostly interested in the Mugen Eyecon here, but I have to admit I'm very curious how items like the Cross-ZBuild Can or the Toucon Boost Eyecon or the Cosmic Switch work

Basically it's just extra switches somewhere on the upgrade item that work with the existing mechanics of the belt and/or just kinda bump against something when you put it in.

- The Mugen Eyecon is a hilariously straightforward example, as there's a very conspicuous switch sticking out the back that can be pushed in by hand just as easily as by the inside of the belt. You just have to hit the usual switch on the side after that (which is all the lever on the Ghost Driver actually does to begin with), and you've unlocked Infinite Potential™ the easy way. :p

- The Cross-Z Build Can (and Sparkling by extension), I'm not too sure about, but I know it would have something to do with the holes in the "bottlecaps", since the Build Driver's lever pushes little pins up and down in there, which is normally to make the insides of the regular DX Full Bottles move. I think you already have a Cross-Z Dragon, right? I'd imagine it works in a similar way to however that does.

- For the Toucon Boost Eyecon, it's worth noting that most of that transformation sound actually still comes from the belt, with the Eyecon itself just doing a sort of Kiwami Arms thing where it contributes a few minor parts of it.

If it helps, I can trigger the sounds for the Saiko Kyutama (which is the same principle of an electronic item in a line of rotor cast items) by depressing a button on the bottom and then acting as if it was in the Seiza Blaster (which I don’t have)

How do you all picture female riders who’re mothers since we have a number of male riders who’re fathers?

I've honestly gotten bored of watching Kamen Rider weekly. I just stick around to watch the henshin sequences, is that still a good way to enjoy Kamen Rider? (I won't ask if it's a 'legitimate' way because I've learned such opinions are extremely subjective.)

I guess it depends on what you get out of it. I've noticed you're a big Ex-Aid and Gaim fan, what did you like about those? Was it the directing, fights, effects etc? Has something about recent Rider's narratives and character work let you down compared to the shows you like?

Gaim was my first Kamen Rider show and Ex-Aid was my first weekly experience so I have some sort of nostalgia for them. I was mostly drawn in by the aesthetics so I suppose my love for the suit designs was always higher up on the priority list for me. The plots being great was a pleasant surprise. Wizard was my second show and I highly enjoyed that when I watched it, although looking back on it now I'm not sure I would have the same amount of pleasure if I were to watch it now. It's kind of like when you try something new for the first time; it's amazing and thrilling but the novelty kind of wears off the more you watch it.

I still watch toku but I think my beef is watching it weekly. It feels like a chore to be honest. Saber is a good example; the suits were awesome (and if I had the money I totally would've bought all the Figuarts) but watching it weekly felt like watching paint dry. Similarly, I love Revice's suits (except for KR Aguilera, there's something about that suit that I hate) and transformations but the plot is meh right now. I think I might be better off waiting for the shows to finish before binge watching them. I do believe the plots of Kamen Rider are far better now than they were, say, 10 years ago I think when Kamen Rider was more MOTW oriented.

TL;DR - My attraction to Kamen Rider was suit-deep and the plots of Gaim and Ex-Aid was what convinced me to stay in toku. I still love the toku medium but because my first attraction is the aesthetics and henshin sequences/sounds, I believe I'll benefit more from waiting for the shows to finish rather that watching weekly (which I'm starting to view as a chore).

Then do it that way, if you want! If the question you're asking is "What's a good way to enjoy Kamen Rider?", the best answer is always going to be as simple as asking yourself "Am I enjoying Kamen Rider?"

I definitely wouldn't sweat the timing with which you watch the shows, especially. I guess it might matter if you want to avoid spoilers at all costs or something, but in general, if you want to let a few episodes pile up, or even let all of them pile up, like you're saying, I mean... who even says you can't?

Speaking personally, Gaim was actually the show that made me realize I did enjoy following a Rider show intently from week to week. With the ever-escalating, highly serialized story that show had, I couldn't help but salivate over every episode preview, eagerly anticipating the newest twists and turns. It was like, a really special year for me; lots of great memories. (Also some traumatic ones.) Before that, though? I assume the strict two-parter format kind of encouraged me in this, but when I first got into Rider during OOO, I would pretty regularly let two or more episodes stack up before I actually felt the motivation to watch them. And I love all of those shows at least as much as Gaim, you know? The common point here is that in either case, I was watching Rider how I felt like watching it.

I absolutely think it is a good idea to just binge the whole show once it finishes if you find you don't enjoy watching weekly as much. I find I often enjoy it more when I can watch it all at once, but I watch weekly for some shows because it gives me something fun to watch with my sister on the weekends. Whatever works for you!

^ Agreed. That’s how I liked to watch most shows, Toku or otherwise. I’m even considering checking out Revice for myself somewhere down the line since that show is going to end pretty soon.

If I may could give some opinions to gashatfreak, I will try it the best as I can. IMO, I usually decide whether I will watch weekly or binge a Kamen Rider show by its structures :

- Episodic / Two Parters : Binge Watch
Example : Den-O, W, Wizard, Zi-O
I have rewatched those shows last year especially because some of those shows aired dubbed in my country. If you search my posts, I have posted that I don't really like W that much but rewatching it back and doing it binge gave me more insight and appreciation to the show. I finally understood why people love Shotaro and Philip's dynamic and I found some awesome and warming episodes, like ep 5-6, 11-12, 17-18, 27-28, 41-42 and so on. IMO shows like this which use two parters formula is best watched binged because you could get more mileage because you don't need to wait so long because plot progression in this formula is usually slower.

- Plot-Centric : Weekly Watch
Example : Agito, Gaim, Build, Saber
I also rewatch some of those shows and... Those shows were still good, especially Gaim and Build. But you don't get much milage from binge watching those shows. Some inherent plot twists won't make pull a punch if you watch it binge. I remember when Gaim was airing, everyone was crazy about how the show would progress and making so many theories out there. If you weekly watch those shows, you can get more milage by being able to theorize what's to come.

For upcoming shows, like Geats after Revice, I would say you can give some hybrids of this binge and weekly watch. Zero One is my primary example of this. During the first 16 episode, it's best to watch Zero One weekly because the show is still fresh and gives more room for interpretation. After that, there's the Competition Arc in Zero One which started in ep 17. I heard so many people didn't like this arc because of it's repetitiveness and two parter formula. However, some people like Fish and Dream Sword actually gave some appreciation and love for this arc. I think it's not coincidence that people like Zero One's Competition Arc more after binge watching it because you don't have to wait for three months of the same formulaic episode and Aruto yelling 'Yamero' in every episodes.

For future shows, I suggest to watch it weekly until the New Year episode. Then decide whether to watch it weekly or binge it. The 20ish and 30ish is usually the best spot to binge a show because some shows usually has ran out of steam and start padding times for the final 10 episodes of the series.

Personally, I watch already released shows and when I finish one, I catch up with ongoings, and then I take on the next one. Unless the plot is too interestingly twisted and I really want to see the next episode, then, of course, I don’t torture myself. Well, pilots try to watch right away, just to form an opinion about the show.

This kinda came up right when I made that post after rewatching Zero-One too, and I just want to be clear about this -- I watched the Job Competition arc at roughly the exact same speed as the first time, if not slower.

If anything about the pace at which I rewatched the arc improved my opinion, it's that I was waiting up to several weeks between two-parters until I actively started to miss going back through Zero-One. Like, I really tried to savor it a bit more, if that makes any sense. If my thought process had been "well at least I can get it over with quickly this time", I just can't imagine how that would lead to a more positive outlook in the end?

I found this great video of Kamen Rider Kabuto's opening done in free assets and I had to share it with everyone. I dunno if it really belongs here but I had to put it somewhere!
https://mobile.twitter.com/Shin_Sato...Cn3ZTPv5sdAAAA

I can really relate to this.

I used to love watching Sentai and Rider weekly, but as time went on, I found myself lagging behind. At first, it would be a couple weeks. Then it would be months. I'd completely lose my momentum, and catching up felt like a chore. So I just kind of stopped trying.

My current habit tends to be: I'll watch roughly the first four or five episodes weekly. Then, I'll lose momentum. Then, around a month before the show ends, I'll catch a wave of excitement that propels me to finish it before the finale airs. This helps keep the shows from being fully spoiled, preserves the hype of watching it with the larger fandom, keeps my opinion of the show from being influence by fandom groupthink, and allows me to watch it at my own pace (which almost always helps when it comes to the yearlies). It's a win all around.

Yeah, to echo what other people have been saying, for years the weekly SHT was a nice, fun portion of my week. But after LuPat, I watched the first few episodes of Ryusoulger, and realised that I wasn't actually interested in it or really enjoying it, I was just doing it because, hey, it's Sentai and that's how I watch it. So after the first mini-arc, I bowed out, and stuck to only Rider. But even then, life kept getting busier, and I didn't manage to keep up with 01 weekly. It felt like a chore, not because I didn't like the show, but because I got bad at my own schedule and my bugmen show had to come last over studies and work. Saber I watched weeks behind everyone else, and Revice I've just skipped entirely, which has definitely made me feel a bit disconnected from the fanbase. That doesn't mean I'm not a Rider fan, it's just... real life comes first? Don't feel obligated to do things? Idk, all I know is I'm going to try and do weekly for Geats when that airs, and see how it goes.

I'm still enjoying it a lot myself, though I definitely understand how it can feel like a chore. This is really where MOTW-orientated series (which Sentai still mostly follows) have a big advantage; it's a weekly dose of self-contained funny bullshit that can easily make your week. But if you've got something like say, the recent Revice episodes where you're just watching one part of an ongoing story; it can feel very sloggish and a bit like a waste of time -- I often say of certain Rider series that they'll likely be better when you can binge them and watch a bunch of episodes of certain arcs in a row, and I feel this way about Revice (as someone who's still a big Revice fan!)

Meandered a bit at the end but I think my point got across, right? Some things are much better suited to weekly watching than others

I kept up with KR weekly for a while. However, when Drive began and didn't do much for me, then the next show, Ghost, did even less, I found myself really uninterested in things.
It wasn't helped that, by the time Drive did begin, I was already finding myself on a toku burnout because I was consuming Sentai, KR, PR, and tidbits of Metal Heroes, I basically ended up not watching any Kamen Rider between Drive to Saber (And on the Sentai side of things, the only series I watched as they aired during this time were Zyuohger and LuPat)

The break turned out to be a good thing for me, honestly. I got back into the franchise reinvigorated. Even though forms and a few events were spoiled for me because I still frequented the boards, ultimately, watching the series at my own pace, at my own leisure was far more refreshing than forcing myself to keep up with it weekly.

It's funny, I agree that some shows are better binged, but I don't always find that correlates with how "episodic" the show is for me. I've only watched Rider live, but I found both Ex-Aid and Build were extremely fun to watch live, while Revice is a bit of a chore, but all of them are shows with strong overarching elements.

It definitely depends on the show! Didn't mean to imply a complete split

I think, sometimes, it doesn't even matter on the show. If you have it in your head you have to watch Rider/Sentai/Ultra/whatever this week or not-at-all, and it's more about that fact than whatever the show's doing, sometimes it can feel like you're pressuring yourself to get round to it unnecessarily?

There's no right way to watch a tv show. Weekly with everyone else, at your own pace binging arcs, or just going back and watching an old show because then you can decouple it from the SHT grind, do what makes you happy. Even if, for a while, that's "Not watch Toku at all".

I don't always watch the new episodes the week they come out, but I try to get no more than a week behind because I know that the more episodes I let pile up, the less likely I'll be to get around to watching them.

This!

We need to normalize the idea that not watching toku for a while doesn't make you any less of a fan.

Current mood, kind of mad that people only talk about the bad parts of ghost.

Well, what are some positives?

I liked Ghost well enough, I'd say.
Alain's arc was one of, if not, the best moment of the show. It's no surprise that Alain's actor became one of the most well established actors after the show.

I think Javert retiring from a general to a kaijin was handled well. I liked that Akari and Onari's beliefs on ghosts weren't debunked and was more so a mixture of the two.

The action is great as always by Sakamoto and the suits are really nice.

I wasn't much of a fan of Takeru in the show, but I did like him outside of it since he's improved by then.

Ghost also has some of the best suits, hands down. Ghost Grateful Damashii is still one of my favorites to this day, and I still love the SHF.

My personal favorite suit is Sin Specter.

Anyway Ghost is fun. It's hard to really say like, what I consider good of Ghost because I generally enjoyed my time with Ghost.

Honestly as much as people disliked it, I did enjoy the first "debut" of Mugen. Just it being this golden shape of light with a vague suit outline and Takeru just immediately dealing with the Ganmaizer's. A solid debut in my opinion and really shows how game changing Mugen is in the show.

Oh I also like the Gan Gun Saber, it having all those different modes is really cool.

Well, I'm gonna talk about the Grateful debut cause I just watched it. Takeru being in a rutt and giving up cause he's feeling like the enemy he's fighting is relentless is very relatable and shows that takeru has doubts still about the whole hero thing.
Makato's sacrifice for Alain, and him resssuring Alain that even while Alain is uncertain and full of doubt he will carry his dream, got me hard. Then that reaffirming Takeru's belief that he can win not only cause he believes in himself but because others believe in him and will carry on without him is very good.

The final fight in the previous ep has baller cinematography and just felt good.

Also Takeru feels like an 18 year old to me, empathetic, but doubtful, childish but growing. That's nice.

The whole Fumi arc was brilliant and despite my misgivings about Ghost I would totally recommend the show just for that arc alone. A very respectful and surprisingly touching view on human life and death, shaping Alain's character development and just having fun characters, it's an overlooked piece of Ghost that honestly deserves far more praise.

Everyone just needs some kind of worse show for his personal priority scale. Ghost has already been forgiven by many fans, and perhaps in time it will even receive the same status of an underrated season as Fourze. And in general, no matter how boring the Ghost`s story sometimes can be:

https://64.media.tumblr.com/2c259711...df67o1_500.jpg

Ghost was just TERRIBLE. There’s a reason fans dislike the wasted potential of the season. It’s okay to like Bad, but the show is easily the worst Rider show even Decade is better

Everything is very subjective, because everyone likes different things. Ghost is clearly not in the top of my favorite seasons, but I can easily find a dozen pluses. Another thing is that for someone these pluses will not be pluses, but for others they will not block the minuses. So such general statements are basically useless and it is worth discussing individual aspects of the show, good and bad.
Which is why, on my own scale, the worst rider show and least favorite for me are two different seasons.

Are you sure? Even after how the show ended and it was pretty much a way for them to kill time while pushing Kamen Rider W into the autumn slot? Welp, okay. :lolol