It's a little weird, actually. Their untranslated words hinge on the viewers having seen enough anime to understand the basic word, but according to Split, they started subbing from a point in time where subbed anime was relatively new. Rather annoying.

Anyway, Kuuga 33.
Kuuga finally gets the BeatChaser! Using it's high speed, he's able to outrun the grasshopper and finally kill him off, ridding him of that pest.
Also, the police committee finally eased up, realizing they need Kuuga. They officially allowed Kuuga to use the BTCS mere moments after Ichijou convinced the cops sent to confiscate it to allow him to take it. Nice timing.
Anyway, Kuuga goes Rising Mighty and delivers a kick that could wipe out a forest.

Decent episode. Both the chief and Ichijou's supervisor had some nice evaluations and words on Kuuga and Godai.

TV-Nihon's approach to translating is very literal. If a word doesn't have a direct counterpart in English, they leave it untranslated. That's why you see all the honorifics and ittadakimasus left in de gozarimasu desu. They also assume that you've watched all of their other shows, so if something was explained in a Dekaranger sub, they aren't going to put a new note for it in Kabuto.

Den-O was especially bad because they also left some things untranslated because they thought it sounded cooler in Japanese. "Ore Sanjou" just means "I've arrived," but the head translator left it unchanged because of aesthetic reasons. The same thing happened in Fourze where they translated "Uchuu Kitaa" (which more or less means "space is here" - Over-Time translated it into "It's space time!") as "Space Kitaa."

This and the anime-thing Split Lip mentioned, because they never translate stuff like "Nee-chan" because they think anime-viewers would understand it and are into it. Every other subbing group uses the correct translation like little sister/big sister usw.

I'm not even mad about this too be honest since I know what it means in this case, but it's still unfair for newer viewers. Not everyone is familiar with the Japanese honorifics.

It's the things that are never explained and never subtitled but put directly into the subs what angers me the most.

They do, but: It is explained what it means the first time Momotaros uses it, and whenever he updates it (like "I finally arrived") they translate that too.

I see why people don't like that, but I'm okay with that since I know what it means. It's stuff that they don't translate and don't explain that angers me.

Well, some thing are best left untranslated, such as the word "Henshin" or that phrase the Japanese declare before eating.

Kuuga 34.
So the...Porcupine(?) Grongi is running around haunting high school boys, inserting some kind of needle into their brains that kills them in 4 days. Pretty rough. Even worse, he's been seen at many of their funerals, further haunting those that have already been hit.

The police is in a scramble to catch him as he's everywhere and all the deaths occur 4 days after the encounter. They catch a breath of fresh air as he tries to haunt a kid who fled to a cabin in the woods to escape him, giving them the perfect idea of where he's going. Godai catches him before he can do the deed and a fight ensues.

In the meanwhile, during a meeting with the Grongi, we see a kabuto beetle Grongi that seems to have some matter of authority as two other, arguing Grongi, backed down when he spoke up.

This was probably the first episode in the series to have a sense of "Supernatural thriller" to it, featuring a monster that stalks his prey and kills them 4 days after, all while haunting them and others around them. It gives a large impact to death, featuring the deceased family and friends mourning, and it just has a greater atmosphere. Much better than a monster just flying around killing at random.

Oh you will love what happens next time. I'm afraid to tell you why, it's just... Godai will do something you've never seen before and that you've never expected him to do, but you will enjoy every second of it.

And yes this episode is rather hard, even for Kuuga's standards, this Gurongi is a huge piece of shit.

The problem is that, when I was told that Kuuga wanted to be more of a supernatural thriller than a KR show, I was expecting more of this. We get to see how the monster makes an impact on both the victims and those close to them, rather than just our main characters. In a series that will casually drop bombs like "The lifeform has currently claimed his 128 victim," this is the first time the weight of death was shown.

The scene where the Grongi was harassing the family by peaking through the windows, but they hear police sirens and start to feel hope, only for that to be quickly quelled with the sirens suddenly cutting out and a quick shot to a dead policeman? That was beautiful.
This episode had everything but Ichijou, and I loved it. We got to see Godai show how well he connects with people by visiting his sister's class again. We got to see just how threatening the Grongi are by having him terrorize his victims in a unique way rather than just one shot them. And most of all, we got to see our victims. We got a glimpse of what they were going through and the terror they were feeling just be even catching a quick look at the grongi once again. It's similar to the kid who wanted to be a Grongi before seeing himself just how horrid they are. By establishing some kind of connection, the stories get a lot more interesting because they're no longer about Kuuga just killing a monster, but resolving an actual plot.

I'm enjoying this episode and I'm sure next one will be great, too. I' m curious to know what happens next.

To be fair I don't think thriller is a good way of describing Kuuga. Supernatural yes, but that's a given considering Kuuga and the enemies are powered supernaturally. I think just being called a drama fits Kuuga and a lot of the heiseis more, with Kuuga maybe also getting classified as a police procedural.

That does make more sense.

Well, it has some things in common with a classical thriller though, basically because it was inspired by police dramas, so it's not that far off :)

Kamen Rider OOO:

What a show! I really enjoyed this one. It was a lot of fun, I'm glad I watched it. However, it did not outdo Den-O for me, so the current rankings are.

1. Den-O
2. Fourze
3. OOO
4. Blade
5. Gaim
6. Kiva
7. Decade

While I think Blade, objectively speaking, is on-par with OOO, I just had more fun with OOO. Hence why I ranked it above Blade.

Well, at least you finally watched it~
I'd rank it below Blade, personally, but it definitely is a lot of fun. It was a nice balance without making the tension and drama seem out of nowhere.

Dunno if I'd put Kiva in the top 10 myself.

It's not horrible, there's good things about it don't get me wrong but there's just so many plot holes and inconsistencies that just makes the whole thing frustrating.

As much as I wanna deffend Kiva I can't argue with that one there but I guess thats what happens when you tell a story through two different time periods

Nah that part would have worked easily. its just that the writer didnt pay enough attention to his storyline to prevent such mistakes from happening.

mhm thats for sure hell i bet we all could write the story for Kiva better with little to no plotholes

Concerning Kiva, it's only in his top 10 because his list is literally ever Rider show he's seen.
Hell, I basically twisted his arm to get him to watch Blade and OOO over the summer :lol

Anyway, Kuuga 35.
So the one kid who was an asshole last episode continues to be an asshole, ignoring the other kid when he vents his frustrations. Such a bitch.
In all seriousness, I really enjoyed this one. The porcupine trying to mislead and trick the cops so he can get his final kill was clever, and we got to see Godai really angry. I particularly enjoyed how the fight went down, with Godai literally sitting atop him and just constantly punching him in the face. It was awesome and he literally drew blood in the process. Damn. He calls the Gouram and drives him down to a riverbank so he can safely deliver the final blow as Rising Titan.

This episode and the one before it are easily some of the best of the series so far. By giving the victims names and faces, there's a level of connection established for the stakes, and Godai himself realizes it, too. Prior to, they've just been numbers and Godai went in and saved the day. Here, Godai got to see the kids' identities. So although we didn't know them, they stopped being a number and started being a person. And Godai got angry, leading to the extreme beatdown.

During the explosion, we got to see a silhouette of another form of Kuuga that looks like Ultimate, so I'm curious about where this is going.

Also, we learn of a Grongi massacre, with Sawatori going to check it out. Amongst everything, we see Kuuga's symbol written on the wall in blood. Cool.

Yeah that two parter is by far my favorite episodes from the show. They are just so full of emotions. And seeing Godai just loose it had a great impact.

The two different time periods could've worked a lot better if they split the series into two seasons: first half focusing on Otoyoa then the other with Wataru's. Or hell, just have the whole show be about Otoyoa as Kiva and ditch the time traveling gimmick all together.

I like handwaving continuity issues like that with "use of the time travel causes those no matter what and all continuity errors can be excused by it."

Why does Otoya not realize he's in his son's body in the future despite meeting Wataru in his last days? Time door.

Yeah I really hate doing this :lol

In other words....

http://download.gamezone.com/uploads..._photo_u19.jpg

Sorry, had to do it. :lol

I need a "Haters Gonna Hate" specifically for Kiva-related purposes. :lol

Its not really "hating" though because being a hater would imply we dont have real reasons for disliking the show :lol

I personally love the show but i love to laugh at its faults as well....honestly never cared for Otoya

It wouldn't be a real discussion about Kiva without me popping in to say that I too, love Kiva, despite it's many flaws. There are many things about the writing that could have been improved, but even so, I enjoy it.

Kiva's forms are still my favorite Rider designs.

Ixa is still my favrioute secondary design that suit is sexy

Yeah, Ixa is great, too. And most of the Fangire are pretty great, too.

If there is one thing I really like about Kiva its the music. That shit is great.

Kiva Emperor and Dark Kiva take the cake for me...Like I freakin LOVE Ryans sig Xd

It's the best picture I ever found on the internet. It's been my home pc's wallpaper for years now.

I always waffle back and forth between Kiva and Faiz for which show is at the absolute bottom of the list (not counting the last 19 episodes of Hibiki). At the moment I think it's Kiva. It has good suits and music, but the characters are all terrible (especially whiny bath boy), the plot is all recycled Inoue tropes, and the show seems to take a particular joy in aggressively refusing to explain anything.

the only problem I can even think of with Kuuga's defeating of the porcupine grongi is that they didn't draw it out longer and show off more of the cops looking really uncomfortable while Kuuga is just beating the shit out of it.

like, the cherry on top would be someone leaning over and being "uh.... should.... should we stop him?"

and Ichijou going "okay good buddy... I-I think ya got him"

Kiva has always been my guilty pleasure Kamen Rider. Very guilty ever since the second rewatch. But still kind of a pleasure.
I just can't help but love Kivat. And the designs. And the music. And the cast, except for a handful of actors I never liked.

I'm with you. Kiva had issues. But the absolute joy of that series is Wataru, Otoya, Kivat, and the music.

The only thing missing was a cop screaming "GET HIM A BODY BAG!" :p

I loved the absolute beatdown. You don't want to make Kuuga angry, but much like the Hulk, he's so much more fun to watch when he's mad :lol

Godai's anger as a whole is fun to watch, especially with how he always restrains it. He's the hero of the world basically and those around him look to him for support from these terrible occurrences to all around support for anything. And you can see it eating at him every so often, especially when he's alone. It makes Godai a bit more complex of a character and more fun to watch in my opinion. He's almost a dissection of Showa Riders, especially Kotaro. Kotaro is practically in the same situation, except he accepts the hardships he has now and fully takes on the mantle of a hero. Godai while he accepts the role almost comes to almost regret the decision in hindsight. In short I suppose, Kotaro plays with the hand dealt to him and carries on. Godai however almost forcefully plays with the hand he is dealt and keeps everything bottled in, he becoming what everybody wants; a hero and beacon of support, even if inside he constantly second guesses it.

Wait, are we talking about Agito? :P 36 episodes in and I barely have any idea of what's going on.

Also, 34 and 35 of Kuuga are great. Kuuga is probably my favorite Kamen Rider.

Different show, same author. But Agito is still worlds better than Kiva and Faiz.

It's kind of like Toshiki Inoue had syphilis: Agito was that amazing flash of brilliance, then he descended into complete insanity.