Wizard episode 29.

I didn't like Beast's design before I actually saw it in the show, but I've grown to be quite fond of it.

Beast Hyper, on the other hand....eghhh. Still a garish design. I still don't really care for it. Which, come to think of it, is pretty much the same way I feel about the Dragon Styles (Hurricane and maybe Water possibly excluded, maaaaybe). These Riders are cool, but their power-ups are lame. Least Infinity should be neat.

I think Beast Hyper is so garish to me that it crosses the line twice. I mean dang, check out those arm tassels!

Fourze Episode 17: So we get to meet Meteor and well I think he's a bit of a douche in the beginning but hey it's the beginning arc of the secondary rider so it's like what a must here? Still his whole fake friend thing he's doing to Gentarou is why I feel that way, and well him trying to achieve what he wants instead of trying to save the person. I am excited to see his arc and see how he grows and changes from this. Gentarou and the Kamen Rider Club always fun to see and a highlight of this series. Seriously I didn't need Meteor lol. It was great to see that Gentarou was friends with a lot of the groups around the school. Kengo was funny when he was explaining about how Gentarou is a special kind of idiot lol. Loving this series and can't wait for more.

The arc where Meteor finally comes around and opens up to Gentarou about what his deal is is quite possibly my favorite moment of the show.

Still watching Agito despite slacking quite a bit on it lately due to other commitments, up to episode 33 now. Stuff has finally started happening, but its taken so long to get there that it isn't grasping my interest quite as much as I'd like it to.

But hey, Burning Form next ep!

Ah good to know.


Well I'm just going to post about Ghost in here because the last two episodes I watched are a few weeks old.

Ghost Episodes 17 and 18: Completely loved the whole parallels they had with Akari and Onari and how they both understood each other better in both episodes. They both grew and both had awesome moments here. I love them both a lot and I like that they are getting good attention here. I honestly think Kanon will help bring Alain over to the good side; I see Necrom taking a face turn eventually with the help of Takeru and Makoto too. Igor is freaking fantastic I like someone who is an evil Akari in a sense with science and that he can transform using the other Ganma powers is freaking awesome too. Alain taking over Makoto made sense for him though I hope this doesn't last long because they have done this the last few seasons and it is the slow part of the season, though this time Makoto is being forced too. I am intrigued with why Takeru was taken to the Ganma World and what he can learn from that too. I am wondering why the Ganma want to take over the Human world I mean I understand why they are going about the killing of the humans, Igor explained that well but what is the grand plan here is what I want to know. Definitely loving it so far and it is intriguing with all it's mysteries and twists.

Just re-watched Megamax. Man, I miss the fight direction in Fourze; and by extension this movie. The seamless incorporation of wires for jump kicks and flips and things is so perfect. Makes me really wish they got the same director to do Ghost. I think they'd do Takeru's floating abilities so much more justice and attention than the show currently gives. Now I'm just sad we'll probably never see that happen.

Fourze Episodes 18-20: Well more on the Meteor Front, the introduction of Magnet States and Virgo Zodiarts. Well on episode 18 I liked that Gentarou didn't trust Ryuusei and that he could tell that he is hiding something because that just feels like how Gen is that he can see people for who they are. I have gained more of an understanding of why Ryuusei is doing this, doing this for your best friend makes a lot of sense but you could be open about it and the Kamen Rider Club would probably be really supportive of you. I guess he goes to Faiz's school of communication. Though I did enjoy him losing it and punching Gen because like Fourze said he showed his true self to him. I feel bad for Sonada because of what happened to her. Virgo seems like bad news with her powers. Loved the Magnet States two-parter because it not only strengthened the bond between Kengo and Gentarou it also helped develop Ryuusei more and how he connected with Kengo. That Kengo and Gentarou also went to the Faiz School of Communication these episodes did lead to some fun but also some very good moments between them that they were both just looking out for each other and didn't realize that. I liked the Magnet comparison for them and I just loved how the Kamen Rider Club reacted seeing how they acted to each other. Magnet States I've seen before and it's a bit bulky but I like it in action in this series. I also enjoyed Meteor using Elec States though it would have been cool if his costume changed to represent that but they didn't get to that yet lol. Still Magnet States is pretty cool and I am enjoying where the show is right now.

Don't feel bad for Sonoda because of what happened. Feel bad for her because she never comes back and receives any form of closure.

Yes, I'm still mad about that.

I think "Faiz School of Communication" might be my go to phrase now for whenever KR characters have their complete communication failure moments.

I swear I'm watching Kuuga still, on episode 33 now. Periodically I think Kuuga is about to take it's plot somewhere interesting, but nothing comes of it. Kuuga has a sweet new bike now though and the show itself is entertaining enough, but it's not addicting me. Every time I watch the credits though, I can't help but go "Dangit Godai stop pushing the camera over, those are expensive!"

Damn that sucks. Don't worry I'm still mad that they never put Eiji and Hina together in OOO.

Yeah apparently a lot of Riders are enrolled in it. lol.

I’m about to wrap up Kabuto (9 episodes left) and I really enjoy watching it.

The formula seems straight forward at the beginning (Evil aliens appear, people transform into Rides and fight them) but it unfolds very nicely during the second half. The best thing is: Even though I knew that some sort of time travel was involved, because of the whole "Hyper Kabuto defeats every other Rider anyways"-comments we usually have around here, the most shocking reveals still hit me pretty hard.

That’s actually the only thing I kinda dislike: In the episodes around the early 30 mark they have one brainfuck after another. That’s way too many. It kept me interested for sure, but you had tons of filler episodes earlier you could’ve replaced and had the reveals more evenly spread out. I guess they had to do a bunch of them together to properly developed Hiyori’s big reveal (which I did not see coming even though it was rather obvious looking back at it) but it still felt like too much at once.

But I say filler episodes like it’s a bad thing, but it isn’t. The episodes that don’t focus on the story are very enjoyable as well. It’s kind of like that with Ryuki too: You have so many serious episodes that the ones that are rather silly and stupid are really good and a nice change of pace.

That’s my problem with current Rider comedy: It’s everywhere. Even in episodes that are serious or relevant for plot-development you still have for example Onari doing his bullshit. I rather have a serious story where the character can sometimes just be humans. I think it’s funnier to have serious characters or characters that live during serious times exposed to silliness sometimes rather than have a character who is entirely dedicated towards comedy.

Okay, some characters in Kabuto suffer from a similar problem quite a lot as well. Tsurugi for example, he started out as a rival to Tendou with him having a similar attitude and goal. His quirk that he is a master of everything that kinda sucks at everything normal quickly became boring, however I think they balanced it out a bit by giving him a really tragic backstory and making Jiiya more relevant.

And after he drops the whole emperor spiel and goes outside to try to live a "commoner’s life" he becomes funny again IMO. He works well together with Kagami (I love it when he calls him KaGAmin) although it becomes kinda confusing. Because we know his secret, Kagami knows it, but it kinda doesn’t matter currently. I know it will be addressed again, but with his kind of problem it doesn’t seem realistic that he just never goes… you know. I realize they keep him out of battle and Tendou had his Zecter, maybe that is the solution. It’s still kinda meh, but if his problem now becomes relevant again because he got the Zecter back that could be cool.

While we're talking characters, I think it's worth pointing out that so far this is the first Kamen Rider show I've watched where the poster-boy protagonist is actually very much the antagonist sometimes. Especially later on. It's obvious that Kagami is the hero in a classic Kamen Rider-sorta way, while Tendou is... different. Especially later on you get the impression that he’s the bad guy in most situations. Sometimes you get your obligatory "Tendou was just seeing through the disguise of a worm all along" kinda deal, but later on after Hiyori transforms you really get the impression hat he’s the bad guy here. I think that’s really cool to not have a cookie cutout hero.

The only characters I kind of dislike are Yaguruma and Kageyama. Yaguruma started out rather well and I liked him as the first TheBee, but after that he kinda became stupid. After his ark was wrapped up I never expected to see him again, but when he reappeared as Kick Hopper I didn’t like it. I don’t understand what his deal is. Kageyama being completely broken I can understand, but Yaguruma? I hope they have a decent explanation for this.

Kageyama on the other hand, I never liked him and I guess that's the idea behind his character, he's supposed to be a dick. Maybe with his new job as Punch Hopper they can somehow give him an end that make me appreciate the character.

So yeah, I think Kabuto is another strong Heisei series and I think the last few episodes will make me like it even more.

Fourze Episodes 21-22: These were great episodes. Loved this two-parter a lot. Great fake out with who the Zodiart was and just great overall determination with Gentarou. I loved how he convinced the teacher to stay a teacher and do both of her dreams together. I liked how Ryuusei fit with the Kamen Rider Club more too. I like that they have a character who we see what he's thinking at times too. The Kamen Rider Club was fun too I liked Miu a lot being in charge, and Yuki and Tomoko were fun with kickboxing. I liked how the teacher helped Gentarou beat the Zodiarts too and that Ryuusei couldn't transform because of the others being around was fun too. I love the Claw Switch and the Board switch was a lot of fun too. So Meteor is clearly based on Bruce Lee and the FFVII logo right? or am I just crazy? lol. I can't wait for more this has been a really fun series for me so far.

Finally getting around to catching back up on Ghost now that I have a PC again. On episode 9 I think. Also got my preorder in on HLJ for the figuart :D

Putting OOO on hold until I catch up on Ghost, and then I'll hopefully get back to it, may have to recap myself a bit, no idea where I left off or what was going on. Bleh.

Wizard episode 37.

Man, Shunpei and Rinko are just awful.

edit: man, holy shit. I watched the first Kamen Rider Wizard Image video. I don't know why it exists, but I know that it was amazing. Holy shit.

Was that the parrot guy episode?

Yup. These couple of episodes was these two idiots at their worst.

He wasn't a parrot. He was a Myna Bird.

Actually, "He was a Phantom disguised as a myna bird. A Phantom."

"A Phantom?"

"Yes, a Phantom! Not a bird."

"Not a bird."

...

https://i.gyazo.com/ce1f05818557055a...1d0c235f63.png

You know what I meant!! :lolol

Wizard episode 38.

Uh...huh. At the end of 37 the Gate dude started cracking under the despair (Shunpei and Rinko: Literally the worst at this) and then the episode just ended. I sort of expected that to be addressed in the next episode? Like at least Shunpei going "it's good that you were able to beat that guy's inner phantom" or something. Ok then.

Anyway, man this Naomi girl is kind of a wad.

Nope. It's just a gag. Because being ritualistically sacrificed to spawn an evil demon monster HAS to be worth a silly laugh. Hilarious, amiright?

Stuff like this is why Wizard rubs people the wrong way.

These two episodes were written by someone who normally does Sentai. That's why they were both sillier and why part two was really repetitive (Sentai usually doesn't do two-parters, so the writer had no idea how to stretch a plot over two episodes).

No, it got no resolution. It's pretty stupid, and this is coming from a guy that likes Wizard...

Although if your past the Myna-bird arc, the show's about to get real good :)

I finished Kamen Rider W, including the A-Z movie and the Decade cross-over.

It was awesome. It ends with almost no plot holes, everything is adressed. Given the shows of the previous years, that was really refreshing (I watched in order everything from Kuuga to Decade).
I cried at ep. 48. Do you know what it takes to make me cry ? A lot.
In some ways, it felt that ep. 49 was just there to secure future cameos or cross-over with Kamen Rider W. But hey, even if it takes away the emotionnal build of ep.48 with the vanishing of Philip, I guess it's ok to bring him back to give the audience an happy ending, doesn't it ?.

W definetively took a spot in my top 3. Prepare to count your sins.

Finished Kabuto. My previous comment still stands; this is a great show IMO.

The only problems I had with the last episodes were that Hiyori continued to be a bit useless. It was nice that she found her resolve and it was a nice end to the character, but I wished she would’ve been a bit more…active. But maybe that would’ve been too much out of character. And of course, Yaguruma and Kageyama. Completely pointless. It’s never mentioned how Yaguruma got the Hopper Zecters or who gave them to him, their whole emo-stick is completely uncalled for and out of place. With Kageyama they had the chance to make him die as TheBee which would’ve been a reason for Yaguruma to snap out of his depression and fight alongside Kabuto and Gatack.

The new character introduced in these last episodes, Dark Kabuto, is pretty cool though. I was initially thinking that he’s Tendou from the future who went back in time to prepare a plan to stop the Natives, but to let them think that they’re still in control and to create the Zecters he let them capture him. But of course he’s a Native who just mimics Tendou. But a turned Native, and I think that was a cool way to end the show.

They created a threat while still having some Natives as good guys. So not every Native is evil, only the ones who choose to. I think that was a neat way to end the show, and the moral was very strong.

Tsurugi’s end was very well done too, although I hoped he would’ve survived and taught us that even Worms could become good, not only Natives. But oh well, at least his end was good and Jiiya appeared again. I was worried the actor died or something when he didn’t show up for 5 episodes straight.

The only other thing I disliked during the finale was the same old “Tendou appears evil but he has a plan all along”-schtick. That one was so easy to call.

Otherwise I enjoyed the last episodes, and I will rank this show very high just because it did everything right I want a Rider show to do right. Some flaws of course, but still very enjoyable. I will even rank it above Agito, just because after watching Kabuto it became more and more obvious to me that Agito is great, but I like Kabuto better. The rest of the list still stands unchanged:

1. Gaim
2. Kuuga
3. Kabuto
4. Agito
5. Ryuki
6. W
7. OOO
8. Den-O
9. Drive
10. Wizard

Next up: I take a break from Heisei to test the value of a show people call Showa’s best: It’s about time I start Kamen Rider Black anew and finish it this time.

There is quite a bit of stuff that gets unexplained in Kabuto like with the hooper brothers but then that is only a nitpicky issue in my mind.

Glad to know you enjoyed Kabuto despite some of the flaws of it the show as well as Kabuto is an overall good series for me, I have probably said that some of the main series I don't like so much but Kamen rider the Next I can't really say that since none of them were as flawed as the next and were still enjoyable.

Also congratulations and still managing to avoid Faiz.

I agree. It’s not terrible, but it could’ve been done better.

I will never watch these movies. I couldn’t even make it halfway through The Next, god that movie is so horrible.

I swear, that one’s next in line. After I finish Black, I will suffer. Because I need to get this one out of the way, I need to get it over with. And after that I will have Blade to look forward to, a light at the end of the darkness that is Faiz. But I’m actually really afraid that I enjoy Faiz, I will look like an idiot.

Yeah the movies are dreadful and be glad you only got halfway through the Next cause it only got worse.

So we have a timeline for faiz it seems, I did not really have much in the way of expectations of Faiz but even then I still had problems but then we might have been preparing so much for the how bad it could you end up thinking it is not bad, but then this is Faiz we are talking about here.

So if you do end up enjoying opinions can change it happens and if you don't enjoy it was most likely going to happen that way anyways given that it is Faiz.

I like 555... It's one of those things where I just found it really interesting despite its horrendous flaws.

I'm nearing the end of Kuuga too! I'm on episode 44, and things have definitely gotten more interesting, but it still feels a bit slow and isn't as compelling as some other seasons. I think I can safely say that Ichijou is my favorite "battle assistant" though and the fight scenes tend to be really fun, (especially when Kuuga randomly decided to do bike-fu).

Agreed on all counts; W is one of the all-time greats.

I say this as a dedicated hater of the show, but Faiz does have some redeeming qualities. Takumi is an enjoyably main Rider and the action is usually pretty good. It's just that the rest of the show is drowned in a sea of forced melodrama.

Black is awesome, though. I hope you enjoy it.

Well I survived Wizard... I'll survive this. I hope.

Thanks. I never got into Showa before but I'll "force" myself to watch the entirety of Black now because I hope that after the first few episodes I'll be able to get into it and enjoy it.

It’s mostly the older style I’m not too keen on. Not the optics or the suit design, I like the old suit, it’s the pace and the presentation of the older shows that’s not for me. But I hope this show can prove me wrong.

Finished Agito last night (well the series anyway, still gotta watch the TV Special and Project G4) and I'm kinda mixed on the whole thing. It had some really great episodes, the characters all bounced off each other pretty well and the whole mystery element was really cool to watch unfold once it got going. But at the same time it took a hell of a long time to gain momentum, the finale felt somewhat anticlimactic and in general I can't help feeling the show felt it was being far cleverer than it actually was.

The first half of the show had very little in the way of plot progression, and as I stated earlier in this thread the whole "G3 goes into battle, gets wrecked, Agito shows up, rinse/repeat" got old really quickly and didn't need to go on for half as long as it did.

The ending was a bit weird too. Not specifically the finale itself, more the sudden "one month later" time jump for the last five or so episodes. It's strange because despite having some really strong episodes the whole thing just felt weirdly disjointed from the rest of the show.

Despite not being a particularly big fan of Agito himself, the suit designs in this show were great - especially Gills and Another Agito. Really hope those two get better figures one day.

One thing this show did REALLY well however was the supporting characters. Ozawa is hands down one of my favourite non-Rider characters from the shows I've seen so far (she's no Ichijo but she comes damn close) and even Houjo was weirdly engaging despite managing to stay a massive dick from start to finish.

Writing all this out makes it sound like I'm hating on the show a lot more than I want to. I guess its the kind of relationship I have with Black - the good parts are utterly amazing but then there's a lot of mediocrity to wade through to get to them. Gonna need to mull the show over a bit more before I write my full review I guess.

The thing with the Showa era is that it's very episodic. It's extremely rare to see any form of ongoing plots or even subplots. A lot of it is just "monsters threaten random kid; Kamen Rider miraculously stumbles into the situation and helps out." Black is a little better in this regard because the Nobuhiko storyline is always percolating in the background, but it still only gets really serialized near the very, very end.

I don't recommend trying to binge watch older tokusatsu shows - the lack of an ongoing narrative and formulaic tendencies really stand out the more you watch at once. I'm slowly working on Zubat right now, which is magnificent, but it's also pretty much the same basic episode every single time. I think that I'd get bored pretty quickly if I tried to watch a lot of it in one sitting.

Agreed - it always felt a bit like the show had reached its real climax, then realized there were still 5-6 episodes to go. I like some of those episodes a lot (and am still pissed about Risa), but they do feel tacked on.

Kamen Rider Faiz Episode 1:

-I really like the way they have established the monsters credentials. Breaking down the wall and then turning helpless lab technicians into dust is the best way to show shit is serious.

-Okay, so apparently, the monster came here to steal the Rider Belt?

-Yuji is making funny faces in this flashback while poring over albums full of fond memories with his girlfriend Chie. The acting seems kinda forced here.

-Ah yes, collision on an empty road. How come you didn't notice that rambling truck, Yuji? Plotforce, I guess.

-Ah, so he has been in a coma for two years? Pity. Oh and deceased parents are the best after all.

-He's alive! HE'S ALIVE!

-Table manners?

-Now this is a good dramatic moment. Walking around like a stranger in a familiar land after waking up from a coma. Yuji's actor is slightly better here.Reinforcing it with that cruel comment about him being better off dead.

-These three guys don't seem to have a life. And seriously, this photography event seems morally questionable.

-Now this is what I am talking about! Scary murder monster! Also shit at hiding bodies. Seriously? That's just it? No wait, I take it back, the case of the disappearing corpse has just began!

-Poor Yuji. And that guy seems a little too rough on Chie.

-You get to be a dust zombie! And you get to be a dust zombie! Everyone gets to be a dust zombie! And seriously, why can't you just explain why you want that bag instead of acting like jerk? Just tell her that you think she has your bag!

-I am feeling a lot of sympathy for Yuji. Him asking why he deserves to be put through this is well delivered by the actor. Huh, he is a monster as well?

-Silly girl, you can't get to be a Kamen Rider! Girls can't be Kamen Riders at all!(Sarcasm)

-I like the belt and the suit's overall design. Very futuristic looking and slightly reminds me of Robocop.

-Centaurs beat automobiles every time. Also, nifty sword!

-I was hoping that this episode would end with a Rider kick. I mean the actual flying one instead of this one.

Ah Zubat ! It's kind of cool, but indeed it suffers from the redundant stuff, it's better to watch on episode at a time.
That said, Zubat's charm is in all the little things. Sometimes it got a weird old farwest vibe transposed in rural Japan of the 70's, go figure. The titular character is very charismatic, for once the hero use a whip which is rather unusual. Best part for me is the ridiculous meeting between the henchman of the week and Zubat, too bad the henchman is only the second best in Japan at whatever :D

I'm curious about how you'll like 555 Leo Novum, it's quite the... thing.

I'd need to be a far stronger person than I am to not cry when I first watched W's ending. It was made even better since it was my first rider and I wasn't familiar with some of their common plot points. There's a reason it's my favorite season.

Yeah, it's a great show. It's the first tokusatsu i've seen where the superhero action is my least favorite part - it's always far more engaging when it's just Hiroshi Miyauchi being awesome in a cowboy outfit.