Well that's an interesting choice to start from, wonder what your friends will think about the seaweed, SAIYOKO and Mutsuki.

Not really. It is the best of the franchise, so it is best to go with that. :lol The only other series they have seen so far have been Wizard, Gaim, and then what we coudl stomach of Drive and Ghost. Oh, and part of W.

Does it have to be spun from a TV show?

Because I would recommend ZO and J. Both great standalone movies.

Oh, I thought it was their first ever exposure to Riders, then I guess Blade's good. It's a bit boring in the beginning so I hope they're okay with it, but you already watched 6 of the episodes so if they are fine now they'll be fine later. Also, what subs are you watching? Somebody scrubbed all of the TV-N subs (Turn Up Scrubs) so you should watch that. Also, if you ever finish the season with them, watch this https://youtu.be/l7DGqKYubsE

They were hooked by the third episode.

Yes, we are watching Turn Up Scrubs' versions. I haven't touched TV-Nihon's subs since I bought the Region 2 DVDs as they were coming out. I'll take video quality over subtitles any day. Howver, because I wouldn't touch Nihon's versions, I could never show anyone else the show since they would be lost.

(as I've mentioned elsewhere, I'm a Kamen Rider scrub that's only seen OOO to completion)

I've been slowly making my way through Kamen Rider Fourze, Gaim, and Drive. I'm around 35 episodes into Fourze, and in the 15-18 range of Gaim and Drive. My Fourze-watching has stalled a bit because I prefer the other two in general, heh, but I like all three and I'll eventually finish them. All this Kamen Rider has slowed down my Sentai watching, too.

I also downloaded several other Kamen Rider shows, and watched the first two episodes of four of them. Some early impressions:

Kamen Rider Black: holy fuck what a great first episode. Starts with a chase scene, ends with a murder, and they give enough backstory and foreshadowing to be interesting and never boring. This show's great. The only other first episode of a tokusatsu show that compares is... maybe Liveman or Gokaiger? And the second episodes hardly slowed down. Anyway this show rules and I will definitely watch more later.

Kamen Rider Ryuki: I liked this one quite a bit! The way the mirror monsters murder civilians is almost out of a horror movie, and I thought the action was pretty solid. From what I understand of the plot, this show is basically Highlander, and has about as much Rider vs. Rider action as Rider vs. Monster action. Sounds dope. Kamen Rider Knight is basically Knight from the Grant Morrison JLA comics, which is definitely a good thing. Knight and Squire, two British acquaintances of Batman and Robin.

Kamen Rider Blade: I didn't like this show as much as the other three - I only watched the first episode. Since Blade has his powers from the get-go and we see the inner workings of a secret lab, almost immediately followed by a betrayal and the lab getting destroyed, it felt like the show started at episode 4 or 5 and not the first. There's also a lot of characters thrown at you right away, and I couldn't easily tell which ones would be important and which ones wouldn't. It wasn't a bad first episode, but I won't make this show a priority like Black.

Kamen Rider Den-O: Well damn. I was expecting this show to be slightly silly, and the first two episodes basically delivered on that front. I was pretty sure I'd hate the main character for being such a loser, but seeing him possessed by Momotaros (changing his hair and demeanor) made me like him a little more. If this actor successfully portrays five personalities well (I assume there are four Imagin, based on the OP and the buttons on his belt) then it'll be a pretty impressive performance. Anyhow, I like Den-O's premise and I didn't mind the silliness. I might go ahead with this one later, but I think I liked the first two episodes of Black or Ryuki more.

TL;DR I sampled some old Rider shows and thought Black was awesome, Ryuki was pretty cool, Blade wasn't as good as the others, and Den-O might have potential.

Yeah, Black has one of the all-time great first episodes. I love the first part with Kotaro running from the Gorgom priests.

Blade's known for starting rather slow tbh. Also, Blade doesn't start out with everything. Undead give Blade new powers

Been LOVING Amazons, makes me regret not watching it sooner!

Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Ghost and Drive: Movie Wars Genesis.

I've heard a lot of negativity about this movie and I can't really understand why, I honestly thought it was pretty good. The giant crossover format works CONSIDERABLY better than the old Rider 1/Rider 2/Crossover format the other movies use, and I really hope they keep it going moving forward. The Ghost and Drive casts worked wonderfully together, and it was really nice to see Ghost back when it wasn't overblown with confusing plots and powerups to see why I was so hyped for it back in the early episodes. I genuinely forgot how great the Ore and Specter suits look onscreen because it feels like I haven't seen them in forever. The fight at the end was great (really loved seeing all the side characters get in on it), and I thought the "movie exclusive" way they introduced Toucan Boost was nicely done and didn't clash too much with its proper introduction.

That isn't to say it wasn't without it flaws though, as there was a lot of weird moments. Why was Mr Belt at the temple in the first place? Why was Takeru's father's death so different to how he remembers it? What makes Zero Drive so different than Proto Drive other than "movie retool"? Where did he even get the shift car for it? Why the hell don't Takeru and Shinnosuke recognise each other despite meeting before?. The resurrection of the Roidmudes didn't make a whole lot of sense to me even though they explained it either, but I guess they had to be pulled into the film somewhere and this was the best place to do it. And for all the complaining I and other people do about Onari, he was TAME in this movie compared to Honganji's antics. That whole sequence with him and Edith was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen in Kamen Rider, although I guess most of it was references that went completely over my head. The biggest shame however was probably Mr Belt being such a non-character in it, especially since his relationship with Tomari was one of Drive's best elements.

Hmm, maybe I didn't like it as much as I thought I did looking back on all those problems. Eh, I'd still take this movie over Core, Ultimatum and Sengoku any day.

Takeru Satoh's performance remains excellent throughout the series. I'm confident in saying he's among the best Kamen Rider actors ever.

That said, I'm not a huge fan of Den-O. I always wanted the time travel stuff to pay off better than it does -- and I get really annoyed by the interaction between the Imagin.

Yep, that's pretty much my assessment of the early episodes, too. Ryuki's subsequent episodes blow the early ones out of the water, though.

Amazon Episode 3: I am loving Amazon a lot. I just love his raw emotions and how he displays them through his actions because he can't really communicate through language here. I like that he got past his fears of the motorcycle to use it to help save Masahiko. It was great to see Tobei again, much more calmer and less crazy than his Chief from UltraMan lol. Tobei is awesome and I love seeing him with the different riders. The fight with the Mantis monster was pretty cool and very savage. Gedon is something else and the 10 Faced Demon is really a special looking villain. Well I can't wait for more.

Amazon Episode 4: Gedon are big assholes and they definitely show it here. This is really dark with all the people with answers for Amazon keep getting killed. Gedon is merciless and cruel. The Ten-Faced Demon is just horrific with what he does here. I love Amazon learning more language and talking more with Masahiko and Tachibana. Tachibana building the Jungler is awesome and I love the design of it a lot. Masahiko I have to say is really good even great as a kid in the Showa Era with Amazon and how he's trying to help find answers for Amazon too. The action was amazing and vicious but Amazon has some awesome moves. I can't wait for more.

We watched 7-11 of Blade tonight. My god this show just continues to be awesome and still remains being my favorite Kamen Rider series. All of the characters are great, the mythology dealing with the Undead is interesting, the music freaking rocks, and the cinematography is beautiful. This show does such a great job with its production values that no show has ever lived up to it for me.

Re-watched the Ghost summer movie yesterday. Still thing it's overall well done. Action is amazing, story is pretty engaging (though they could use some more time to flesh out Makoto's dad) and it's overall entertaining. Way better than what the show does lately.

Just watched Ghost Episode 43. As Kiwami pointed out, Takeru has 5 days left, and Onari, for whatever insane reason, finds it necessary to goof off as an eyecon and take possession of the one guy on the team that knows almost everything there is to know about the Ganma and their world, giving us yet ANOTHER pointless plot thread during the end-game of a show that already has too much shit going.


There was a standout moment in this episode though, and that was Gramps plainly telling Onari to just get out, which is probably exactly what the audience is thinking at this point.

I didn't think it was pointless at all. They've already shown in the series that when Onari feels useless he'll go out of his way to find a way to help. That's exactly what he's doing here. I love Onari and I'm not sick of him. I think the plot has been going fine and thought the last episode was fantastic.

Amazon Episode 5: The 10 Faced Demon is intriguing that blood turns the other faces red. I also really like how strong and determined this villain is. I felt bad for Amazon as the police and paparazzi scared him into hating humans phase but glad friendship with Masahiko helped him get past it. I just continue to enjoy Amazon learning of human language and culture and how it helps him grow and expand as a character. The action is awesome and brutal as well that Mole Beastman was bleeding as much as Amazon was. I can't wait for more.

Wait, is Ghost not running in real time?

And that schtick would have been fine less than halfway through the series, but when it happens at crunch time it shows just how self-centrered and stupid Onari is.

Eh, taking over Alain's body would've been a terrible idea whenever it happened. Now is just the worst possible time. If Onari really wanted to help he'd have left the show with the painter and composer Ganmas.

Oh I agree. I just feel it would have been more justifiably dumb as a meandering filler episode rather than one in the final stretch.

Also damn I'd completely forgotten the Painter Ganma was even a thing, and I actually liked that character :lol

I'd forgotten, too. I only remembered because Igor used the composer Ganma form last week and I was initially confused and thought the actual character had returned.

The problem is that the current situation is much more important than Onari's need to feel useful. It's a really self-centered way of thinking. Gou went through a similar crisis in Drive where he doubted his usefulness to the team. The difference with Gou is that he didn't go out of his way to hurt the team's effectiveness just to steal the spotlight. He fought to better himself and actually become a valued member of the team.

Onari doesn't do that. Onari goofs off, complains about his lack of usefulness to the team and tries to remedy this by literally taking control away from much more competent characters. And of course, because this is Ghost, rather than there being real consequences for Onari's short-sightedness and selfishness, it'll instead be treated as a goofy, quirky little scene that'll have no bearing on future plot developments.

Honestly, I never get this negative about a Rider show, but Onari completely ruins Ghost with his antics.

Also damn I just remembered Cubi too (that was his name, right?). I actually liked him. At least most of his antics just revolved around him annoying characters during casual moments.

I think that something else should be pointed out. Gou had reasons for this. His own grudge against the Roimudes and how the Mach System was supposed to surpass Drive but the contrary had happened. Gou felt like he was getting weaker and weaker, therefore unnecessary. Onari had never helped out in any major way other than 'moral support'

He did fight the Knife Ganma and treated Javel but that's literally the only two instances in the entire show I remember Onari doing something really cool and useful.

Everything else written above is true though.

And Javel hasn't even been seen for several episodes nor has he done anything for the group.

I don't consider 'matrix-ing bullets before falling over' helpful tbh

Amazon Episode 6: Well I loved the Mole Beastman's face turn mainly because he understood Amazon's friendship and compassion. I just loved Amazon's compassion to help this being that's crying out for help even though he kidnapped his friend and tried to kill him earlier. I enjoyed learning more about the Gigi Armlet and why it is important as well as the story telling in this show is fantastic. Masahiko also continues to be the best kid I've seen in a Showa series. Great action too love the violent nature of it. Amazon's beastly fighting style is awesome. Also, the Jungler is awesome too. I can't wait for more.

I've been watching Kabuto. It's pretty neat. Tendou is very entertaining, which I was surprised by. I didn't expect to like him very much.

We watched Blade episodes 12-17 yesterday and one of my friends pointed out that you can play a drinking game with how many times someone says Tachibana's name. :lol

Later on, you could do that with Kenzaki's name. :lol

And Mutsuki.

And every time Amane does something annoying.

Started Den-O last night, watching episodes 1 & 2.

I'll be honest, I'm just not sure what to make of it. I was expecting something lighter compared to the other Heisei shows that preceded it, but this was still jarring.

I kinda want to stick with it, in my quest to watch the entire 1st phase of Heisei-era Kamen Rider, but I don't think this will be easy. I'll be skipping the spinoffs with this, I think.

Do you guys want us all to get alcohol poisioning? :lol

I wonder which name being yelled by characters in any Kamen Rider season would result in the most dangerous drinking game? This needs research...

Probably Onari's TAKERUDONOOOOOOOOO



Fucking Onari. Ghost's Tv Tropes page HAS to be abandoned because how he's Ensemble Darkhorse and not Base Breaker

In Japan, he's loved, so he fits over there. But yeah, Base breaker should be on there somewhere, just for the rage he gets over here.

I'd say more "American's hate tingle" considering the love he gets in Japan vs more hate from western audiences.

Honestly, someone just needs to fix the Ghost pages. Grateful can't be used because of Ganmaizers but he magically CAN use Grateful against them twice? Ass Pull. And Himiko should NOT be a base breaker considering how minor she is