Having seen the Decade/Double movie a few years ago, I sort of think I know which character you're talking about, but I appreciate you being coy about it in case I'm wrong. You can't see it, but I'm giving you a big Thumbs Up right now.

Yeah, there are a whole bunch of That's Not How Den-O Works stuff in the movie, and that's outside of how much we don't know about Negataros's deal. (He's like all the worst parts of Gaoh and Kai's villainous plots?) I didn't really feel like cataloging them all, because the bigger problems to me were in theme and pacing and plotting and just basic storytelling. Going after the lack of internal consistency to Den-O's superhero mechanics or whatever... that would've a) taken me all night, and b) been like criticizing someone who set their house on fire for also forgetting to turn off a light in the hallway. With everything this movie got wrong on Day 1, it didn't feel productive to complain about the later problems.

Ooof! Hell of an introduction to Ryotaro. I'm sorry! This was not in any way a showcase for his acting talents or that character's charm. He is less useful to the plot than Yuuto and Suzuki, and less fun to watch than Owner and Hana. It ain't his day!

This was the movie where I could feel the baton pass from Ryotaro to the Imagins, narratively. He doesn't feel in charge in this one, really. He's just one more part of the team. Even when Den-O has to defeat a villain in the end, it's not Liner Form that gets used; it's Climax Form, the All-Imagin Form. The amount of screentime the Imagins get put them neck and neck with Ryotaro, and their roles in the final fight put them way ahead of him.

It feels like there's a dual awareness in the making of this film: Ryotaro's story is over (and/or the actor is sick of doing these), but the Imagins can definitely keep going. It's a subtle shift, but you can see it in how minimized Ryotaro is in this story. This is a toe in the water of Den-O Without Ryotaro.

I accidentally posted a Den-O movie in a Kiva thread, so I don't think it's you who needs to apologize.

This is pretty much what I was hoping for! I was all jazzed up to see the first Heisei crossover film, and instead I got a non-canon guest appearance and a silent team-up! Not at all what I was hoping to see, on a lot of levels.

Always a treat to see the Tiniest Rider!

If you could've found something to praise in this misbegotten embarrassment, I'm not sure if I'd've been impressed or furious. Glad we didn't have to find out!

(And thanks for the notes on this thing's production! They explain a lot!)

While I don't think I'm ever going to forget the premise of this film, I can't imagine the plot or character bits are going to lodge in my sieve of a brain. The absolute best parts of this film would qualify as B- episodes of Den-O, and those aren't worth dwelling on.

The perils of going into stuff blind: I did not know that this was as relevant to Kiva's story as the Fourze summer movie was to Wizard's story! Sort of assumed that they'd give Kiva more to do! Definitely regret watching it instead of another episode of Kiva! The next one is called "Unfinished: Daddy Fight", and I assure you I am more excited to watch a Kiva episode called DADDY FIGHT than any other option that exists on this big blue marble that's spinning through space! Much like the construction and execution of Climax Deka, I made a series of cascading errors!

This is is the last Den-O thing I plan on watching until Kiva's done, though, and I'll probably end up crossposting this movie post to the Den-O thread for, like, completion's sake.

It's a deceptive title. Like how the movie with Kamen Rider 3 was promoted as Super Hero War GP when it was basically just Kamen Rider War 2 featuring Ninninjer.

I actually think Climax Deka is a great movie (apparently the only one judging from this thread), so you can expect to hear my thoughts about that when I rewatch it tomorrow!

Does this mean you're still considering my suggestion of watching Chou Den-O & Decade between Decade Episode 15 and 16? Or is that unlikely due to your vague "big plans" for that show?

Looking forward to the alternate view!

Mmmmaybe. There's no reason why it couldn't fit in, with or without conforming to what the Decade thread'll hopefully look like. (Which we'll be talking about around the mid-point of Kiva, probably after the next movie.) I don't see why not? I will try to remember!

It’s been a long time since I saw that one, but as memory serves it’s as much of a Decade movie as this was a Kiva one.

That said, again without spoiling much; the preceding Decade episodes do lead into it... kinda, sort of. I mean it doesn't matter that much but y'know

Just stick to air date order for everything and it'll be fiiiiiine, probably. If something weird happens becauses of that, well then you can state that as a flaw on the production's part : P

Absolutely agree. It's odd because I didn't realise until I re-watched Den-o late last year how much of the Ryotaro era I had forgotten. Like I remembered the beginning, and then after that it was all something-something-Hana-something-something-IMAJIN.

I guess in many ways this was the proving ground for a lot of later decisions with the Toei toku shows, and I don't necessarily think that those were bad decisions, but I do have mixed feelings.

Not, of course, that I can complain, because I keep turning up for these new Den-o movies even when they have very little substance—arguably even less substance than this one.

That works! As long as I can keep my streak of Always Getting Things Right All The Time going indefinitely, as a tribute to Nago, I'm happy.

I've mentioned this before, but my first exposure to anything from Den-O was Momo's appearance in that Ex-Aid/Sentai tournament film. My second exposure to anything Den-O was seeing Cho Den-O get crucified in a park during an OOO movie. The idea that the actual Den-O series was about Ryotaro And Some Monsters, instead of Some Monsters With Ryotaro... it's still a thing I feel like I haven't fully processed. In a lot of ways, Momo is still the main character of the Den-O franchise to me, and I'm guessing that experience is neither unique in the fanbase, nor an unintentional consequence by Toei.

This is basically it, yeah. Not to discuss Den-O on the Kiva thread or anything but a big part of my love for Den-O is not just the series itself (which is fantastic in its own right!), but its continued presence as a franchise, where the imagin more or less get to be very fun engaging characters going on a myriad of adventures -- some character-driven, some crossovers, and some just kinda stupid and fun! In many ways they've become, like... mascots of the Kamen Rider brand, and mascots that are difficult for me not to enjoy.

It's a bit hard to explain, because even saying something like "they're always there which is comforting" isn't exactly accurate to my Rider experience (aside from Den-OOO they weren't really present for my initial journey of W through Build, and then the part of the franchise I've come to love the most ended up being before Den-O even existed), but... I dunno. Just a bunch of fun guys I'm always excited to see!

Wow. I just realized that I don't think there are any modern Rider characters that I was introduced to before seeing their original series. Showa, yeah, but I actually did go through the whole Heisei era in order and never had to deal with weird movie versions of characters giving me anchoring bias.