Kinda gotta agree here. I don't outright hate it, but man it was boring. It felt kind of emotionally shallow, like the uncanny valley of scriptwriting. Not for any particular reason I can point out, but that's the best description I can come up with.
The monsters are a whole lot of nothing, the monster of the week plots were extremely uninteresting compared to Kuuga's, the final villain felt like a pointlessly vague abstraction... and Jesus the belt is boring, which is a bigger factor for me than it has any right to be.

_____________________

While I'm here, since lists are fun, especially with comments...

1. Kabuto - Not gonna say it's a good show, and the last third was pretty lackluster, but it's one of the rare few shows I genuinely enjoyed throughout without having to take a step back and examine its merits to appreciate it in a cerebral way, instead of emotional.
Dunno why, really. Maybe it was the timing since I downloaded it at Starbucks and watched it at home during a month where I couldn't get internet.
2. Den-O - Maybe it's my ever-decaying memory for series as my watchings fade into the past that's making me say this, but even though I haven't finished it quite yet I really do like the characters in a stronger way than usual. Only thing that really bugs me is the asspull ways the new forms appear.
3. W - Can't say anything super passionate about it, but I liked the characters, plot, and gimmick. You might notice this is point is where I have to weigh pros and cons instead of following my heart. Frankly, I like most series I've seen so far equally, exceptions being the top two and bottom three.
4. Blade - Really awesome ending and characters who are likable in a more serious way than in almost anything Neo-Heisei. Not that Neo-Heisei is inferior or anything, it just has to do with the "lighter and softer" nature of it.
5. Gaim - Badass designs and gimmick, and generally good except for the ending which just kinda feels like an abrupt copout.
6. Drive - Great characters, great villains, great character arcs, and I for one like pretty much all the designs except of course the cheap kitbash-y ones.
7. OOO - Mostly the same points as Drive but not quite as good. Belt is really fun, too.
8. Fourze - I feel obligated to like this more since it gets so much praise, but I'm not a terribly big fan of Fourze. I definitely enjoyed it and liked the characters and everything, but not quite on the level of, say, OOO or W.
9. Kuuga - Kuuga was fun for me since it was my first early Heisei Rider and it was so different. It feels more personal than a lot of shows, in a way.
10. EDIT: Decade! Totally forgot about Decade. It is pretty forgettable. Probably shouldn't put it this high, but I'm weirdly nostalgic about it since it was the first series I finished, unfortunately.
11. Agito - See above. It's definitely better than my bottom two, but contrasting with Kuuga it feels more detached and sorta slow and melancholy. Like if Airi from Den-O was a show.
12. Wizard - Can't say anything people haven't said before, except I also don't like the gimmick, and as a result I can't appreciate the suit design very well.
13. Ghost - Sorry, but as I've said in the past, it just feels very soulless to me, like it's just slogging through its plot. On top of the flaws people always point out.

I also like Amazons but it's hard to place since the ending is so drastic, the tone so wildly different from other shows, and since there's going to be a second season.

I LIKE AGITO! I think it's definitely draggy, like it could have been wrapped in 35 episodes, easy, but it's got two things that won me over: the bad guy is GOD and the everyday stuff, while not as well done as Hibiki (which feels about as authentic as any Rider show ever will), is still pretty down to Earth. During the time where the Unknowns have let up, our heroes are settling into a normal life. In one scene, Ashihara Ryō is riding his bike at night and sees Shouichi Tsugami working in a restaurant, no doubt amusing guests with his Japanese Forrest Gump charm. I love that scene. It's great. I love the scenes at the Ramen stand with the guy from Kuuga, too.

Not my number one but I felt I needed to defend my damn taste!

Decade, man, it's not really well put together but it's fucking crazy and the idea is great. It's kinda like the summer movie principal applied to a series - none of it works in canon but the spectacle is worth the time.

I should say my list covers what I've seen and, tastes being mercurial, the order could, and likely will, change.

I'm not good at quantifying my opinions so I'll refrain from list making. I like the shows I like. I don't the ones I don't as much. Gaim and Ryuki are my favorite, I don't like the original very much, Skyrider is boring. I know things like these, at least.

Blade is a series that gets a lot of love, and I wish I could join in on that. But, while I do think it's good and I enjoyed it, I think I would be able to appreciate the ending more if the last arc wasn't reliant on all the characters holding the stupid ball unnecessarily, just long enough for the plot to work. It just takes me out of the whole thing way too much.

Apology accepted. :D

I try to lay off the Gaim angst but sometimes I really see myself in random comments people make about completely different shows.

What ball?

The characters spend the last part of the show worrying and trying and thinking of ways to keep the Joker from winning in a peaceful way, but they completely ignore the fact that Shima exists. The entire end of the world scenario and conflict could have been avoided if they just got Mutsuki to unseal his card and send him away to live his life. It's the most obvious, most simple solution, and it was absolutely within their ability to do so.

And I could deal with them pretending that wasn't an option if they never acknowledged it, but then they actually do try it...after the world has already gone to shit. Again, it requires that the characters just conveniently forget this just long enough for it to stop mattering. The fact that they have to ignore established parts of the show to make it work makes the plot feel a little fabricated, and that just makes the ending not resonate as much with me as I would have liked. It's a great ending in theory, but it was so easily avoidable that it leaves me feeling pretty mixed.

The story for Agito was fine, but the characters, at least the riders, were AMAZING! Every joke I laughed, especially if Shouichi and Hikawa were together. Ryo had a lot of characterization and Shouichi's missing identity was interesting (at least to me). The G3 unit was the best part of the show. Also, I'm pretty sure Agito has the highest ratings, or one of the highest ratings, for a Heisei era show. Also, this show has less infighting and falling in water than most Inoue shows so that has to count for something (that stuff was unbearable in Faiz).

http://i.imgur.com/w7PdZKF.gif

The Idiot Ball

See, and then I was holding it for using the wrong term. Whoopsie.

On a more in-topic note. I'm up to about episode 21 of Black. It's decent, but it's not as different from all the other Showa shows I've watched as I expected it to be, on an episode-to-episode basis. And the villains don't really do that much for me yet. Honestly think it's gonna be hard for any Showa series to trump Stronger for me. I just liked General Shadow too much.

You try Amazon? That's a different kind of Showa!

Didn't they still need Shima though to keep the Spider Undead in check after resealing it? Or was that not a thing?

I have. I've actually at least started every Showa series besides V3 and Black RX by this point. Amazon was certainly unique, and fun, though I feel the retooling halfway through was for the worst. The show did suffer for it, imo. Still a decent show overall, but unlike Stronger which I felt only got, well, Stronger, in its latter half, Amazon ended up kinda losing me a little.

I got the impression Mutsuki only needed Shima because of the whole thing about the Spider Undead being sealed improperly, since it let itself be sealed on purpose. Once they defeated and sealed him properly, there was no reason it should have still given Mutsuki any problems. At least, that's what makes sense to me.

On the other hand, this happened in Agito:
http://i1180.photobucket.com/albums/...1ca958e553.png

Calm down Hikawa.

Amazon Episode 15: Garanda's first plot and Great Emperor Zero's beginning. They definitely see the big picture more than Gorgos did. Gorgos felt like just a hedonist and caring about feeding himself more than worrying about trying to actually hurt Amazon. The Bee Beastman's plot to capture kids was miles above anything Gedon tried to do. Masahiko trying to help but captured was good because it all ended up for the best, and Masahiko has a good heart. As I have mentioned before Masahiko is arguably the best Child character in the Showa Era of Kamen Rider. Amazon stays impressive with his ability to discern that Masahiko was transformed by the Beastman just from his hand being cold, and I just love that type of intelligence and wisdom Amazon has because that's not really mentioned in other appearances I've seen him in later. Mole knows more about Garanda and I want to to know what he knows and why he is so terrified of them. Amazon vs Bee Beastman was awesome like normal and Amazon is just a fun, animalistic fighter. Love the Daisetsuzan, a great finishing attack and combo. Well I can't wait for more Amazon.

:lol

I forgot about this. Every scene where these two try to interact but fail miserably is pure gold.

It's time. I've held it back too long. I'm typing this on mobile no less.

It's Ryuki gush time.

P.S. I'm not spoiler tagging this and PLEASE, if you're watching or planning to watch Ryuki, don't read this and please try not to get spoiled. This is a great show and watch it correctly!

How do I explain Ryuki? Every Rider series after this tried to be like it. It shook up Heisei forever. J-pop theme songs and lots of death. Yet somehow, I feel this series did what it did really well (besides one thing) and most series fail to do so many things this did right. Humor, (plenty of) interesting characters with realistic, relatable goals and great character development, interesting and engaging plot, not annoying side characters, dark, adult tone and mood and last but not least, great suit designs. Imagine back to 2002, Kamen Rider was known for belts that didn't talk or have collectibles. They all looked like bugs for the main inspiration (at least for the main riders if we count Agito) and they were in small numbers. Now here's Ryuki being announced. Knights? Cards? Talking belts? 13 RIDERS?!? They must've been thinking how we think now for shows like Gaim and Ex-Aid. People were thinking Kamen Rider was a kindergarten show with obvious good and bad guys. Ryuki had to shake it up, and boy did it.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS TIME! Wait, how many Riders are there? No, no, I give up wai-

Shinji (Ryuki): If you've watched Gaim, then you know Kouta, he's definitely like Shinji in a lot of ways. However, I believe Shinji was handled better. I guess I shouldn't start with the endgame, but Shinji's death was really well handled. He died as a civilian saving somebody. This harkens back to the fact Shiro never chose him. He just wanted to save people. Shinji is an idiot in a war filled of people who have planned out how they will win and have many strong desires. He doesn't want to win, and he doesn't. This actually makes him stronger, as he cares for others and have their desires riding on him. He's the most light-hearted of all the Riders and definitely helps makes the show not become too depressing that'll it be boring to watch. I also like how they develop his caring for others with his heroic B.S.O.D. with him "killing" Gorou.

Ren (Knight): 3edge5me, done. Kidding, he walks the line between black and white. He so desperately wants to kill the other Riders to save Eri, but he wants to stay by Shinji. Sometimes he shows his bar-brawler side and fights people, but sometimes he just chooses to fight the monster and done. He went from stoic and rude, to kind, caring and rude. Him crying for Shinji at the end was heartfelt and it was really sad when he chose to spend his dying moments with Eri, despite him saving her, he still died, not being able to see the fruits of his labor.

Kitaoka (Zolda): He's a bit of a cocky jerk, but he's cool with me. He developed into less of a jerk and it was disheartening to see him die of cancer.

Asakura (Ouja): I root against him, but he's still interesting to watch and he kept the rest on their toes. He's ruthless and his mannerisms are very animal-like. His character was well done.

Tezuka (Raia): He didn't last long, but his death served as a good lesson for Shinji. He fought against fate and I think his legacy stuck with Shinji until the end, which would be for his friend's wishes. The pink stingray concept is pretty funny though.

Jun (Gai): Really annoying. This is one of the characters I really wanted to die. Next.

Masashi (Scissors): Ummmm... Dirty backstabber!

Toujou (Tiger): He definitely suffers from Chronic Backstabbing Syndrome. Anyway, his way of becoming a "hero" was a bit wrong, but he really tried. This is a prime example of Ryuki showing people have different views on what's right and wrong. At least he got a hero's death before he did any worse.

Sano (Imperer): One of the saddest deaths in Ryuki. He wanted happiness, but he wasn't able to compete with the inhumanness of the other Riders. He was a normal person who finally got riches and a girl, but he died because of his fatal choice to become a Rider.

Kagawa (Alternate Zero): He's also a good example of a normal person who was sucked into Mirror World strife. Less so than Sami, but still. He's a good father who was neglectful because of his work, but ended up dying anyway. A good sensei to Toujou (though he probably should've taught him how to not murder him).

Shiro (Odin): He just wanted the best for Yui, but even though he did the right thing and let her die, WHY DID HE RESE- that's a rant for later. He learned a lot throughout the Rider War, probably about if you try to change fate you'll get bitten. Like him trying to prevent Shinji from becoming a Rider multiple times and trying to save You, he failed anyway, but he learned how to accept it, EXCEPT THAT HE RESE-

Miho (Femme): Good development but limited to movie exclusive, which is a shame.

Itsuro (Verde): I don't remember anything about him at all.

Shinji? (Ryuga): It would've been cool to see how mirror copies feel by being just illusions and seeing Shinji's dark side (does he even have one). Alas, movie exclusive.

Papillon: Who?

Cerberus: I'm feeling like I missed something.

Side characters: The cast of the ORE Journal are a good laugh and Gorou and Grandma got good character moments too (but seeing Grandma alone at the end was really sad).

STORY ANALYSIS TIME! *pant* *pant* Can I have a break? That character thing was exhausting! No?

The story starts with Shinji investigating some dead guy's house with all reflective surfaces covered with newspapers. He finds a card deck, previously belonging to the dead guy, Sakikbara. This is a good start because it's mysterious with the newspapers hinting to something cruel within the mirrors and the death, setting a mystery to who could kill a Rider. Then, Shinji gets thrown into a battle, bonds with Dragreder and gets in his first Rider-to-Rider fight with Ren. Sets the mood for Ryuki. Then he meets Scissors, gets betrayed and Scissors is eaten. Another mood setter and eye-opener. Meets Raia and he dies, making the first sad death. Toujou and Asakura are the main threats that make Shinji's job of making friends hard until he decides he's going to close the Mirror World, despite if it's wrong because it's what he believes in. He dies Ren wins and he dies too. Ryuki is best experienced, there's no way I can give across the feelings and experiences in this show. It's all about characters that move the plot and the characters are made through the dialogue. That's my excuse for this terrible summary. All though there may be a part of the story that's controversial and I may have forgot. Maybe it's... THE RESET. Terrible. The themes of Ryuki were to fight fate, fate is strong, right and wrong is never obvious and depends on the person, desire is strong and is a good motive and sometimes there's not a happy ending. Shiro learned this and yet there was still a reset, negating everything that happened in the show and instead of the adult tone with great ending, they decided to make everyone alive and happy.

Movie was good, Ryuki vs. Agito was funny, 13 Riders was a bit pointless and I didn't watch the stage show. Ryuki was a great ride, sad to see it end, but if I pretend the reset never happened, the rest of the ending was a fitting end. I'm sorry if this was lackluster as I'm not in the writing mood, but I'm glad to get my thoughts on this great series off my chest. Next up...

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RIDER KICK!

...you say as you write a big-a** brick of text. I'm just glad to know I'm not the only one writing posts that long. :lol

So yeah, Ryuki's awesome. I still maintain the ending doesn't negate a thing though. It took me a bit to come around to that opinion (it's pretty jarring as you're watching it), so I can only hope you chill out on it yourself, with time.

I think of it like the reset is Shiro's apology gift to everybody for f***ing around with their lives for so long. He has that ability, so why wouldn't he do it? Is he just supposed to go "well this Rider War thing was actually a pretty terrible idea!", and then just leave everyone dead? And considering the whole point of it is that Yui is dead now, there's certainly an element of tragedy to it still. Not everybody is happy. That's my two cents on the ending anyway.

Didn't Kitaoka have cancer?

Yeah, I was wrong. I'm going to fix that...

I liked Ryuki a lot, it had a lot of interesting characters. Zolda is probably my favorite, since he occupies a unique niche of not ever really being a protagonist or antagonist. Plus, ox are cool.

Zolda, next to Ryuki, was the character of the show for me. He was my favourite of course, and the character I was most interested in. He was a sleezeball, a lawyer (though we never saw him in court IIRC) and a womanizer. But, despite all these stereotypical jerkwad properties, he had moments of true humanity. He was never really interested in the rider war, prefering more to play the slow game and wait for the herd to thin, at least that's how I saw it. I don't know how Magnugiga stayed well fed, but it was such a laid-back monster maybe it also liked to play the slow game. Really, given his attitude, Kitaoka was likely the jerk he was because, with mortality right around the corner, he was merely enjoying life without inhibitions. No point in being nice if you're gonna die soon anyway.

Yet, his relationships painted a different picture of him. While Gorou was basically a manservant, they clearly had a relationship of mutual respect. It was almost like a samurai and their retainer. One is clearly below the other, but they are amicable and respect one another. Even his doggish hounding of the reporter lady eventually resolved and even had him land that elusive date with her. The most blatant example of his humanity was when he paid for a sick girl's medical bills, purely out of empathy. It was the one clear moment of charity without gain for him. Even his feud with Asakura showed commitment.

Plus, he was just so damn charming, in a total fucking asshole way. I think if he wasn't as harmless as he was he could've easily become insufferable. But instead he was a useful source of non-physical conflict. The fact that he died at peace after he got the date with her, but before actually going on it, to me showed a possible sadder side of him. Aside from the immediate tragedy, it's almost like his pursuit of her was what kept him going. He didn't need to go out with her or be in a relationship with her, he just needed her approval of him. And with that, he died content. I also agree with him: he didn't get to use his cool finisher enough.

And yes, Oxen/Bisons/Bulls are cool. Plus, his rider outfit was one of the best of the show, having a super utlitarian feel to it, befitting someone who was very practical-minded. Really, all the riders had motifs that reflected them in some way. Ryuki and Knight were knights, obviously, as the two heroic/noble characters. Zolda was efficient, practical, and not slanted one way or another morally speaking, so having his suit be the only one not animal themed in some way, but instead mechanical, reflected his impartial attitude. Ouja being a snake is pretty obvious, but even Tiger being vicious or Odin having a pheonix-like bird personified his constant resetting of the timeline, like death and rebirth. The only one that never fit too well for me was Raia, who was a stingray because... I dunno, maybe I just forgot or something. (though TBF, the deck wasn't supposed to be his... but neither was Shinji's) Imperer's to me always reflected how expendable/pointless he was, being based on one of the generic mirror monsters Knight first fought. You know you suck if you're based on a generic.

Ryuki had it's weight in flaws, for sure, but honestly... I have a hard time remembering it anyway but fondly. Hell, it's not my favourite series, but I still have Ryuki as my sig.

I just finished Hibiki. That was utterly pointless. I feel like barely any of the buildup amounted to anything. I mean, for heaven's sake, that ending explained absolutely nothing at all and made no sense to boot! I can barely get mad, I'm more BAFFLED than anything. The worst part is not all of the things Inoue did were necessarily bad (although many of them definitely did not belong in Hibiki), but so many weird terrible choices were made. Why does Kirya exist? Why does the plot go spiraling madly away from the more grounded start? What in the world was that last episode even supposed to be?

I'm just so confused. Once I finish the last of the bonus Hibiki stuff I think I'll watch something Showa for the first time. I'm inclined towards Amazon or Black.

And this is why I say to stop watching after episode 29.

Black is freaking fantastic. Cannot recommend it enough.

I just love to torture myself, what can I say?

I second watching Black. Easily one of the best in the series.

Black is awesome - however, it's aesthetically very close to early Heisei (though it's structure is pure Showa). Challenge yourself with some 70's camp weirdness - at least try the ZX movie before you go Black!

I also recommend some of the earlier shows. Amazon is so short you really don't lose anything by giving it a watch. Stronger is also pretty good, and not too long either.

I love Black. He saves puppies, babies, reads books, uses microscopes, and punches boulders as well as monsters to pieces.

I wish X was more accessible. It's such a great show and also pretty short, but you have to be willing to watch it with HK subs.

Well, if folks want to get into X, they should head over to the Rider Subs Database because someone left a handy link for just that!

Yeah, I found that shortly after I posted in this thread. It's actually because of what I said here that I went looking and stumbled across it.

I started Amazon and it's even more amazing(?) than I could have imagined. I don't even know what the heck is up with the Ten-faced Demon's design and it is pretty hilarious having a protagonist who just goes around snarling at everything.

I just love, as I was saying to Annuga earlier, the fact that he's some kind of mystical jungle cyborg, made via magical invasive surgery. I mean, that's some serious outside the box thinking!

I started Kiva. I like it so far, but can see how the ambitious dual timeline storytelling could become problematic. It's definitely surreal though, and I appreciate the shit out of that. Really good art direction.

Just watched episode 7 of X.

The fact that a new group is doing X is certainly good tidings. I've long lamented the fact that I only got to see that suit in action for six episodes. I really hope TMS finishes the series. They've only got an Amazon amount of episodes left, after all.

Anyway, this episode is fucked.

Seriously, this is the stuff that makes the Showa era fun. Only in the 70s could they get away with batshit evil plots like "hypnotize a couple dozen children into suicide (including the daughter/sister of the votws) for kicks" and still end the episode with the characters just smiling like yay happy ending. And it's been well over a year since I watched the first few episodes, but I'm pretty sure one of them involved GOD brainwashing a neighborhood into an attempted-child-murder-frenzy.

What I'm saying I guess is X is pretty fuXed. Fun though.

Speaking of Showa though...KITsubs said it'd be back after Ghost ended. I hope that becomes true one of these days! While I'm not really into either of the Kamen Riders they're in the middle of doing, I'd like to see them finished nonetheless.

Trust me, dual timelines are the least of Kiva's problems. :lol

No kidding about the art direction though. I missed Kiva's Rider Kick as soon as he stopped doing it. Although at least that also meant less overly long stock footage of Castle Dran with that stupid droning music loop. You win some, you lose some, I guess.

Kuuga did something similar iirc with a monster killing a bunch of people and leaving one so they kill themselves out if fear or something

That disgusting porcupine looking asshole got what he deserved though, it was awesome.

I REALLY need to get back to Kuuga. I was at the episode the bat Grongi came back iirc. Anyone happen to know which episode that was?

The one where they noticed he flew around or where he really got back into the action? A few more clues as to what happened last while you watched would help too.

All I remember was him getting Daguba's armour in a grave or something