I have Kiva and Kabuto in the mail(asia - ugh, I'm disgusting). Kiva looks and sounds like kind of a mess from what I've read, but I like the horror angle so I'm giving it a shot - it was just fifteen bucks for the whole series so, why not?

Kabuto - I watched the first EP and that's definitely up my alley - more like Blade, Ryuki and Gaim in the science-bullshit / guys in clunky metal / leather suits shooting at monsters (when not shooting at each other) / melodramatica (my own term) style. An easy purchase.

I'm going to probably go through all of them eventually - even Ghost, which is too cute by half for my taste - because, even at it's worst, Kamen Rider is a better sci-fi show than most of what's on stateside TV.

I like Den-O and the suit acting is really good. The suit acting for Ryuki was also spot on - Takamasa Suga's Shinji Kido had very quirky body language and his suit actor did a great job in doubling that when he had to.

You'll probably love Kabuto then. It really plays up the Sci-Fi angle more than any other Rider show, between the heavily mechanical suit designs and the alien invasion plot. It never really clicked with me personally but it was a fun show with a unique atmosphere.

I have a weird relationship with Kabuto. I watched it back when I was doing my marathon of the Heisei era and I definitely enjoyed it, but for some reason it seems to have been largely erased from my long-term memory. I can remember details about it if I stop and think, but if I'm just thinking or talking about Kamen Rider in general I always seem to forget that Kabuto exists unless someone or something reminds me. I'm not sure why it's become such a blank space.

I'm actually pretty easy to please when it comes to Kamen Rider; it's more "am I willing to pay for this?" than it is "am I willing to watch this?". Would I buy Ghost on DVD? Probably not (well, if it were cheap enough...). Would I watch it? Yeah, if I had nothing else to watch. I'd watch it over comparable Marvel or DC shows.

Oh, but - yeah - Kabuto is probably going to be my jam. Gaim and Blade are jostling for #1 (modern era) in my book, with #2 open to this or Ryuki.

Wait wait, full series you can get for 15 dollars? What madness of the flesh is thi??

(And where do I find them at?? :O

Sounds like it's 'Okay'. If it were exceptional, you'd blather on about it. Were it terrible, you'd blather on about it. Were it merely serviceable, I'd could see forgetting it. Probably missing that all important melodramatica!!

eBay - all out of Malaysia. Make sure to check feedback - some of the sellers aren't so careful with their goods.

That's sort of how I feel about it. I enjoyed watching it but a lot of the time it was just noise to me. It's not the best written show but the style is great. More power to you if it's in your wheelhouse.

Ebay? Ugh ebay and I have had issues when they wouldnt go after a buyer. Ill try tho lol

I love Kabuto and I will blather all day long about it. I would link my review post of it but it contains spoilers, so I'll just say that I think it’s one of the good shows.

Huh, can you link it anyway? I'm super curious what you see in Kabuto that you don't in Ghost. Unless it's just the lack of Onari, because I can guess that.

Pretty much, yeah. It's a very middle-of-the-road series for me.

http://www.tokunation.com/showpost.p...ostcount=13052
http://www.tokunation.com/showpost.p...ostcount=13067

The ranking at the end is outdated by the way.

Interesting. It seems like it mostly does come down to it fitting your tastes. You're able to brush off a lot of the flaws because you like the show overall. I can dig that attitude. I've seen people who really hold stuff like the Hoppers against Kabuto so it's nice to see someone look past all that.

I like your point about serious characters in wacky situations making for stronger comedy than just wacky characters. I've NEVER had a problem with guys like Onari, and I think they work in their own way, but I'm inclined to agree with you in a broad sense.

People held the Hoppers against Kabuto? I loved them!

I think plenty of people like them in concept, but found the execution kind of weak. It's not like I can speak for everyone, though. I might be wrong about that, but it's what I've seen.

Weren't my cup of tea, but I LOVE the hopper suits.

The Goth life does not fit these characters and the ending to their ark is not satisfying to me at all.

Onari at a basic level is not the problem. The problem is that he never changes. There are so few situations to appreciate him as a character, for me at least.

To make a comedies relief character work I need more development. I need to know why he ticks like this. I need at least an entire episode devoted to him which lets me look behind his act, the show never gave it to me. And then there's the fact that this is a supporting character who actively sabotages the main Riders actions even though we know he should know better. That's just unacceptable.

I can life with Shunpei. I like him for what he is. He has flaws, he has strengths. There’s an entire episode devoted to him helping a former friend out with Haruto staying in the background. Ghost never did this with Onari. I love Oren. He’s about the silliest and goofiest character in a long time, but behind the cliché gay facade is an ex-soldier who paid with blood to be like he is now, to live his dream.

Never does Ghost even try to make me like Onari. The scenes with Javel and that one line where he talks about his "sinful" past is the only time this character is allowed to be human, not a puppet which constantly dances after Takeru’s lead.

Wasted potential is what he truly is. Because as we know the actor is a cool guy, and judging from his acting skills I can imagine how funny he could be if they would write him as a real character. But they didn’t. He’s just a clown who always circles around Takeru. Which is why what some call his biggest accomplishments, him talking about how much he supports and cares for his master, is meaningless talk to me. It doesn’t feel right. Especially not after the "I posses Alain now just because"-stunt he pulled lately. Which had no consequences by the way.

Also I probably started another giant discussing about Ghost with you even though I didn’t want to. Yay.

:( :cry

I'm just pretty much done tasking about Ghost, nothing personal. And we both know we will never agree on the major factors of this show.

I would rather talk with you about some good shows, so I hope Ex-Aid is either good are at least we both enjoy it.

I liked them in concept, but I feel they never really lived up to their full potential.

That's why I do wanna talk about it though. I may be trying to convince you it's better than you give it credit for but mostly I just want to understand your perspective. I'm really baffled anyone could dislike Ghost that much, because even trying to put aside my own opinions I think it's decent at worst.


Likewise. :)

They didn't, yeah, and they weren't handled all that well.
I guess I just enjoyed their presence.

Man, I kicked off a conversation I can't participate in!

We watched 31-41 of Blade and we are reaching the end!! God I love this show. It is so damn awesome. Trial G's design was friggin badass and I'm not sure why, but I always think of Skeith from .hack whenever I see it. There hasn't been a single dull moment in this show and the lack of any sort of filler is a god send.

The only quibble I have with Kamen Rider Blade is one that could be levied at pretty much EVERY toku drama: characters learn pertinent info about another character then beat around the bush rather than just tell them directly because it's episode 26 and they need to drag that shit out! Really my only problem. I love this show - just when you think you know what's going on, something comes and screws up the status quo and, once it's in gear, it's just constantly moving forward. The card motif really works well and they fetishize the hell out of the drivers (probably smart if you want kids to salivate and scream bloody murder until Mom gives up and buys one).

And there were some real surprises! My favorite being when Blade helps up a badly wounded Garren - who immediately gut shoots him for his trouble!

The effects are pretty great, too: the suits are high quality (the S&M animal men motif was suitably creepy) and the amount of sparks in the show is insane - some characters catch fire for a second here and there - it's nuts.

Man, where can I learn to make a pop gun like Garrens?

I don't think it's too big of a problem in Blade. Tachibana had to overcome is issue of being a bitch early on, so he was intentionally severing connections, Hajime kept secrets for rather obvious reasons, and Mutsuki was brainwashed for half the show.

It's not really Faiz level of keeping secrets because fuck you. Blade did it well.

If only they kept Tachibana's story of getting over his fear for more than a few episodes. It would've been a great series long arc. So much potential they had. Then again, so much potential is best how I describe Blade.

Faiz gave the characters reasons to keep secrets too. I think the real difference here is that the payoff in Blade is way better.

I'm actually kind of sad hearing MarsHottentot talk about it because it's occurred to me a lot of Blade is kind of a blur in my mind now, but one thing I remember very vividly was an episode in the 40's where a monster tries to tear the now allied Riders back apart by impersonating them only for the Riders to play him right back because they figured it out super quickly.

It's a very meta kind of plot that works on a bunch of levels but the really cool thing about it is that it was written by Toshiki Inoue.

The thing last about 12 episodes, so it's not like his fear bit was gone immediately. He just had other things that distracted him such as Sayoko's death and then wanting to teach Mutsuki.

Don't forget the awesome helmet shattering moments. I love when that happens in Blade and Timeranger.

Definitely agree. Hell, 555 couldn't even actually give us a final battle or an ending. It was just a cutaway to a bullshit scenario with nothing actually being accomplished.

In Faiz, there is a subplot about misunderstanding because the two idiot characters hang out and misunderstand what their friends are saying about each other. Not out of malicious intent. Just dumbness.

The helmet shatters are awesome and iconic moments from the series that are fantastic. Kind of wish Mutsuki had his helmet shatter, but it probably would have been a contrived scenario to get that to happen.

Although Tachibana's helmet shatter was awesome, the coolness of that whole fight happening becomes way lamer when you realize That he was just sitting on a rock when he and the final undead went down and he fell into the sea.

Of course, however, the gut shot came as a complete jaw dropper as it was pretty early in the series and I didn't exactly know what to expect. By the time the helmets get messed up, I knew what I was watching - definitely way cool (obviously, I dig it), but didn't blow my mind as hard.

makes mental note to also check out Timeranger.

They actually kept the helmet shatter in Time Force, too~

I was just about to say that. XD

So that Rider 1 movie. It's....damn near perfect. An incredible anniversary film.

It's not quite as epic as I expected it to be, but man does it have so much more heart. Hongo carries himself incredibly as this wisened warrior who's travelled the world, fought with and lost comrades over time and clearly longs for a quiet life. The moments he shares with Mayu are really, really touching.

He also bounces really well off of the Ghost cast (well, Takeru mostly - Makoto is just generally there to be another Rider is seems) and the veteran/newcomer dynamic they have is perfect.

Another really nice touch was the Shocker vs Nova Shocker in fighting, which shows a lot of love towards the original but also shows off just how dated they are. We've had a lot of "new" versions of Shocker over time but this was undoubtedly the best.

My ONLY complaint is just how shoehorned in the Alexander the Great Eyecon is, since it makes little thematic sense in the film and is mainly there to keep Ghost's gimmicks relevant. If they had just gone with a Great Shocker Leader Eyecon the plot could have been exactly the same and worked SO much better.

But yeah, this is one heck of a film.

In honor of Kaixa Day (913, get it?), I watched Paradise Lost again. Still my favorite summer movie. I really love it when Kamen Rider does genre stuff and this movie is basically a random post-apocalyptic sci-fi movie that happens to feature the characters from Faiz.

It's just a solid action flick with some great scenes and a million other things that make me love it. I love how it takes almost exactly half the movie for Faiz to actually show up, for example. Psyga is also my favorite movie-exclusive Rider. The suit is cool enough but he makes an effective recurring video-game boss throughout the film, which gives him a presence I don't think a lot of the other guys have.

I kind of wish we still did the whole alternate universe thing for the summer movies, it was a great excuse to get really creative and out-there with the premises.

I didn't know this was a "thing"! I watched Kabuto Eat Pray Love (LOL) without having seen the series itself, knowing it was some type of Elseworlds thing. When I missed a lot of the nuances, it struck me then that, like Elseworlds stories, this film really works best for those familiar with the "canon story."

It's more creative and just plain fun to not be handcuffed by continuity. But, y'know, many people live vicariously through this stuff and such flagrant disregard for... *ahem* "reality"... sends them into a frenzy - or the fetal position!

It's even worse in American comics, right?

Yeah, that's definitely the case. You can watch the movie with no context but it makes a lot more sense being familiar with the series.

I really liked it when the movie was essentially a "bonus" kind of story. I also really like stuff like the Wizard movie that can fit comfortably between any two episodes of the show while still being it's own thing.

Stuff like Den-O borders on annoying though. I can't imagine how rough it must have been for people at the time who were outside of Japan to watch an episode that literally ends by telling you to watch the movie, which isn't an option until the DVD comes out 6 months later.

I watched episodes 23-24 of Kamen Rider W. Generally, I'm enjoying the show, except that I seem to be more in the mood these days for Super Sentai.

What I like about KRW is pretty constant:

• Shotaro and Philip, individually and together
• the Sonozaki family,
• the suit designs (W and the Dopants)
• the off-kilter humor, seen especially here with Fuutic Idol

What I'm not too keen about (and a testament to how much I enjoy the show can be seen in how I can't even use the word "dislike" in this context, because I find it too strong) isn't improving though. I still don't find the supporting cast, including Akiko, funny, and I'm glad they're at least not quite crossing over into "irritating." They strike me as pretty useless though, which I'm worried may be close.

And then there's Accel.

After several episodes with Accel, I find that I don't like him much as a rider, oddly enough. I like the way Ryu interacts with Philip--serious and professional--but despite the popularity of Accel over here (where most people prefer him to W), I don't see the appeal.

While I like his main weapon, I don't like his suit design, his vehicles (himself, his motorcycle, his tank thing from the previous episodes), and his henshin device or even the way he says "henshin"!

To be honest, I do want to like him, so I'm hoping to warm up to the character soon the way I did with Zeronos, even while I don't think I can like him as much as I do Meteor.

I must also say that since I like Dekabreak's even more over-the-top Brace Throttle, I feel a bit odd that I dislike the Accel Driver so much.