Ultimatum over Mega Max, really? I'm genuinely interested to know why you think that, Ultimatum struck me as one of the weakest movie wars.

Ultimatum was the OOO/Fourze one with W appearing, right? I always get the names on those two mixed up.

Ultimatum was the Fourze/Wizard one :)

Whoops. :p

Then yeah, Mega Max is the better of the two. I liked Ultimatum mostly on the strengths of the Fourze section and because Haruto without the shackles of his supporting cast for most of the film.

I really enjoyed both of those films, though yeah, Mega Max is slightly better.

I'm on the final lap. I'm gonna try and make it to the finish line starting with...

Drive 40

Well Banno's a twisted shit. He takes the vindictive mad scientist thing a step beyond even Ryoma with the whole making Heart a copy of the someone who he thought wronged him, just so he can torture him. And he's the one who caused most of the Roidmudes to behave the way they were in the first place? Also I'm might've missed this but did Banno not put the programming that made the Roidmudes go rogue into Heart? 'Cause that would explain a lot.

Gou's taking the news pretty hard that his father is basically just as bad as the scummiest Roidmude. And speaking of scummy Roidmudes, that Tornado is pretty sketchy. Kiriko being kidnapped again is kinda lame, but they finally took down one of the few remaining important Roidmudes.

Banno's now a belt himself and having seen preview pics, it's not hard to see where this is going. Chase's monologue at the end about how he was going to protect the humanity because of the valuable things he sees in them like family and such. Weirdly, it kinda reminded me of the narration at the end of every Kamen Rider Black episode. Though created as an android, Kamen Rider Chaser fights for Humanity!

Lastly, Brain finally gets his body back and him and Medic finally don't seem to be at eachother's throats for once. Guess Brain is sort of grateful. 006 walks up and tells 'em the time of the Promised Number is close at hand and Medic strives to be the one to help reach it.

Kuuga episode 17.

Recap...Sooooo fuuuun.

I just watch SHTGP Kamen Rider 3. Really, I just wanted to see Yuuto again since I thought his actor quit acting following his injury, but didn't. Blech, what a lame movie. Zeronos out-cooled just about everyone, though it was cool to see Faiz (so is he like a movie regular now?) and the Blade riders get some kind of meager spotlight, despite not being the more typical fan favourites. Sucks that they clearly did not have Deneb's VA back, for what little lines and screentiem he had, odd since he was just the Sengoku Driver's voice. Also, Rider 3 was lame, and trying to replace V3 with him was even lamer.

They DID have him back, also for Yongou. They just didn't bother to include the character more.

waaa

So why didn't Deneb help at all during the movie?

Because that would have involved putting something entertaining in the movie, instead of focusing on some new character who won't show up ever again

Ugh, that sucks.

Rider 3 was terrible, also Mach was really, really annoying.

Because Yonemura.

I'm atually rewatching Den-O now. A new(ish) group is subbing them called Orangelion, yeah? Did they stop? I can only find up to episode 14. They're pretty good. "Temporal Outlier" is like a billion times cooler than "Singularity Point." (not that there was anything wrong with that but y'know)

They've not stopped:

http://orangelionsubs.com/post/129919597003/not02

In short, 15's been delayed, they were doing weekly releases, but that's going to change to batch releases after 18 They're also doing Ghost.

Coo, coo. Though they say after 18 they'll release a batch of... the first 18 episodes again?

Also, holy shit that's Sid from Gaim in episode 3.

Oh shit you're right. I felt he was familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

I think it's just to keep with the format they'll be doing them in with future releases, rather than continuing to seed 18 individual torrents of the episodes they've released to date. Then the next batch, whenever that is ready and so on.

It'll be a while before I get to Den-O anyway. I've recently decided to plough through the entire Heisei era of KR, in order, up to and including Decade. A "Journey through the Decade" if you will. I'm 5 episodes away from finishing Agito, so next will be Ryuki. I'm kinda looking forward to Ryuki, as I hear Gen Urobuchi is a big fan of that show and it was a it of an influence on Gaim being a multi-rider show.

Of course, the deeper I go into this, I could end up losing my sanity, so I may break it up with other things.

What, seriously? Could you screenshot it?

http://i.imgur.com/KteWPYp.jpg

That's the guy who wanted to get famous with his band but missed the audition because he helped a little girl find her parents if I remember correctly.

I actually remember him. That's awesome~

So he went from aspiring musician to a slimy creep to a Cherry Energy Squash.

Except that Rider 3 is an Ishinomori original.
They just brought him back since he was a manga only character.

Well he was a little criminal in Den-O too, although he had a good heart. But yeah, he was nowhere near as bad as in Gaim :lol

Also, while we're at "Gaim Next Gen Riders who appeared in other Rider shows" Yoko Minato aka Marika was the Hopper Dopant Girl in W ;)

Nah I wouldn't say that they bought him back, the manga Rider 3 and the one in the movie have nothing in common besides their name. It's more like that they created a completely new Rider 3.

But the movie's Rider 3 isn't even the same character, so he's less of an "Ishinomori original" than V3 was.

Yep. Smart Lady from 555/Whatshername from Ryuki is another early victim of the fortnight. And Elly from Ultraman Max also shows up a couple of times as Ryotaro's childhood friend.

Ryoutarou looks so confused there. :lol

Also Zanki/Garulu/Tohki/Gabi Raizou, Todoroki/Mage, Mana/Naomi, Kiriya/Zeronos, Gorou/Bandou/Mishima, and Garren/The principal from Fourze whose name I don't remember.

It's a mad world!

That has nothing to do with what I said.

I figured, but it's still the closest thing we can get. plus, there could be all kinds of problems since the actual Rider 3, being Taki, probably isn't allowed to be used in other media due to Kamen Rider Spirits.

Continuing my Den-thon, I gotta say I actually kinda like it a bit mroe the second time. Stuff like Ryoutaro's weird sister, well, at first I just found her confusing and annoying, but since I know there's something wrong with her (her missing memories of Yuuto) it's a different story.

I'm on episode 7 and it's the goofiest one yet. The disgruntled ex is just... just funny as hell. Though I never understood the mini-plot point point of Sword Form not being able to reach a flying enemy despite having, y'know, a detachable flying blade that can reach way farther than Rod Form's weapon. Momo's/Sword Form's physical acting is just the best, though.

Yeah, there's a whole lot of stuff with Airi that makes way more sense on a rewatch. Not everything, because she's still a total space cadet, but a lot of it.

Yeah, but I can reconcile what isn't related to her memory loss as just her having her own little quirk, which everyone in this show does.

Hah! Space cadet! Because she spaces out, but is also all about astronomy! Needless to say, this rewatch is making it harder to resist those uber cheap Den-O SICs I've been eyeing for... shite, years now.

You are giving me way too much credit; that's just a common phrase I've heard all my life. I wish I'd thought about the double meaning.

Well, it was clever.

Also, Kintaros has shown up. I love that big lug. I laughed hard when Ryoutaro bowed whilst on the phone and banged his head on the table. It sounded real.

It's kinda bittersweet watching the show and seeing just how much of it's comedy and dynamics and story came from Ryoutaro himself. It's sad that when the actor decided not to return for post-series movies that they kept going with the Imagin. The Imagin are great no doubt, but they're diminished without that root. (even though I still maintian, at least to begin with, his actor isn't the greatest, especially with his habit or grinning when he's clearly not meant to. Then again I'd probably be on the verge of laughter doing this shit, too)

Den-O should've ended with Final Countdown, or had Koutaro continue on alone with Teddy.

Kuuga episode 20.

Ew. That regenerating 26 was gross.

And dat phone call...that phone call. Was a thing.

Started watching Kuuga over the weekend. I'm five episodes in, and it's kinda captivating in a way that the other series I've seen so far haven't been. Like, it's totally different, so it's not even a comparison, but I'm really pleasantly surprised at the change of pace and story-telling.

I've been watching Agito for the last few weeks; currently on 14. I don't really know what to make of it. I enjoy it, but Shouichi just jumping into action! is eyebrow-raising, and I don't like how the form changes just kind of show up.
Hikawa's a lot more likable as a protagonist than Shouichi, too.

It definitely pulls me in with its mysteries, but I hear at least a few of them don't turn out to be anything.

Sitting back on it and thinking, I reevaluated Kuuga now that I've had time to calm down and actually think over the series.
I still fucking hate it.
However, there's more to it than just that.

Our lead, Ichijou, is still relatively solid and super enjoyable. Godai, while he was rather static as a character, his enthusiasm and ability to keep spirits up and his general energy is easy to make him likable. While I do wish he actually grew outside of the last 4 episodes, he's hard to dislike.
Our secondary cast, however, did wallow in rather shallow waters. The only one to really dip into the deep end, Enokida, had a rather interesting, if unoriginal, story. Workaholic who prioritizes getting the job done over her family. I liked the emotional response she gave, but the problem was that there was no true consequence. The boy longed for his mother, and when she finally gave in, he got his wish. She was never shown to regret her decisions of pulling all nighters at the lab, only merely lamenting not spending more time with him. However, the biggest problem is that this story is never brought up by her. It's usually something like Jean or Godai mentioning her son before she even realizes she abandoned him again.
The other, Sawatori, really didn't have a plot to speak of. While she was relevant at moving the main plot (What little there was) forward, she didn't have any story arc. She just sat in an office typing away while occasionally going out in the field. She felt underutilized as she was merely used to translate the Grongi, and literally nothing else.
The doctor was an interesting character in his own right, but like the rest of the ancillary characters, didn't really amount to much. He did play a vital role in Kuuga's Rising forms, but beyond that, he just...Existed. Having no minor subplot of his own, there were numerous scenes where it felt like they forced him in for no reason beyond perhaps a contract requiring X amount of appearances.
Jean appeared to study the Gouram. That was it. Beyond that, his only purpose seemed to set up Enokida's subplot of abandoning her son for her job...
Then there's the cafe characters and Godai's sister. For a group of characters that appeared almost as often as Ichijou, it felt like a slap in the face for how little they do. It especially got aggravating when the girl attempted to get a subplot, but it was shot down and only brought up on occasion, that being her attempts at being an actress. Their comic relief was weak, and they just didn't need to be involved in a series with too many side characters as is.

The action was standard to subpar. Kuuga was a barebones series in this regard, which was a bit of a downer. Often resorting to basic punches and grappling, it made the fight scenes rather uninteresting. Even once he gained his alternate forms, he would only use them on occasion, oftentimes using Dragon to get to a high place then immediately shifting back to Mighty for some basic fighting. This usually meant an episode with a dull or pointless plot was followed up by a boring fight scene, making it a chore to watch. Also not helping was that his forms often did little to keep any interest. His work with a sword or staff was quite lacking, while his using the bowgun was usually ineffective. It did vary things up by having multiple bike fights, which is a rarity for KR these days, but one positive in the action doesn't save it from a slew of negatives.
(I'm choosing not to comment on the special effects because it was early 2000's)

But my biggest failing with Kuuga was the near incomprehensible plot. The villains of the series speak in their own language near exclusively for the first half of the series. While it is nice to know that they have to actively learn human (Linto), even including a few scenes (Rather, one scene) of them learning to speak it, the problem is that oftentimes, it feels like the scenes with the Grongi are entirely pointless, at least during the first half. By uttering complete gibberish, it makes the audience unable to follow along. I'm often told it only adds to the mystery, but the problem is that a mystery with no clues isn't worth following. Yes, we don't know anything about the Grongi, and yes, there are plenty of villains in all forms of media that have an air of mystique to them. However, here there is nothing to piece together. The series doesn't give any hints or clues to their motives, how their games are played, or just why they're doing what their doing. They just act. When the series is inclined to give the audience some sort of clue to follow, they just outright tell the viewer what it is, rather than let the viewer figure it out.
It's a poor way to tell a mystery, as we never know the hints of what's occurring until long after they were relevant, and when they do possibly drop a hint of what's to come, they talk down to the audience by hammering it in to make sure everyone gets it.
The main plot suffers the most from their forced mystery approach. They intentionally slow everything to a crawl just for some kind of pseudo drama to occur. Episodes will end on a cliffhanger only for it to be immediately resolved before the next episode's opening theme starts. Plots that seem to be advancing are intentionally cut and put aside for 10 episodes later just to keep the show's snail pace set. It just doesn't ever escalate. At no point did I ever feel that there was any sense of tension because the show simply did not want their forced mystery to be undermined in any way.
Our main villains are beaten by a bullet to the chest by Ichijou with no sense of accomplishment and a dull fist fight that lasts about 30 seconds. What should be major points in the series are treated with less achievement than killing a MOTW. We learn literally nothing about the big bad, N-Daguva-Zeba, and the ultimate darkness that can only be accessed by hatred, but Godai managed to use his hope to accomplish, was on screen for less than 15 seconds.

I, personally, can't call Kuuga good by any stretch of the word. When it seems to be stepping in the right direction, they proceed to botch it up. Story arcs get resolved in the most unsatisfying way possible. The plot moves as slowly as they can get away with, forcibly pausing them when it seems to pick up steam. And the characters just don't feel well fleshed out or very interesting.

However, I can see why some people could possibly like it. The mystery aspect is interesting and I guess on multiple viewings (Or watching it with the Grongi subbed) it could be possible to piece together the villains' plot. Ichijou is awesome and is easily one of the best non main characters in the franchise (Right up there with Tackle for "Characters that should be Kamen Riders"), and it can be argued that seeing more visceral fighting without flashy backflips and stunts could be refreshing for viewers that are used to seeing crap like Wizard and Decade pulled off.

There is some merit to Kuuga. Design wise, he's wonderful. All of his major forms are designed excellently, having a simple look, but not being too basic. He cemented many trends for KR to follow (Notably multiple form shifting on a semi-regular basis. And yes, I know Black RX did mutliple forms first). But ultimately, for me, Kuuga was just a draining experience. It felt like a chore to watch after a certain point, and I just couldn't put up with how little it seemed to give back.
Decade was insulting, but Kuuga was disappointing.

Currently giving Kiva another chance, on episode 7 right now.

Kuuga episode 23.

"So how many were killed by No.35?"

"Oh, just 1300"

Like, dang. That zebra was busy.

I don't think I like when they just skip a bunch of Gurongi but start talking about them anyways. I'm not exactly keeping track so I end up going like "wait, who? when? did i skip an episode or something?" But no, they're just being kind of weird.

1300+ kills though? From the zebra? Jeez. What a thing to skip.