It's my favorite Rider show, it's that good.

So in about three more episodes I think those problems I had with Kiva are really starting to get my goat. So I'm gonna rant a bit about my feelings re: this show as of episode 21.

I think my main problems with the show right now are structural. Specifically, how the characters behave way too neatly to fit that structure. The fact that the show is told in two parters is...fine, but they just feel...too self-contained? This is mostly something that bothers me about the 1986 side. Since a lot of stories follow the "Fangire gets away and reappears 22 years later" thread, you end up with a lot of cases where the Aozora Corporation is all preoccupied with the Fangire of the forthweek, but as soon as it gets away (i.e. Wataru kills it 22 years later) they somehow figure "Wait, let's not care about that anymore." Or at least that's what the fact that they're left to roam free and presumably keep feeding for over two decades would imply. This somehow even happened with Rook--during the two-parter in which he showed up, Yuri was really obsessed and focused on chasing and tracking him down, that was all she was doing, and that made sense. But as soon as he went off to punish himself (i.e. when the 2-parter ended) she just...stopped doing that, and instead focused on getting some girl through a violin audition.

Though mainly a problem of the 1986 side, it pops up in 2008 as well. So like, in episode 16 Wataru finds out Dai-chan is a Fangire. There's some big distracting battle and in the next episode Wataru is depressed about that. But it's like...he's treating Rook being out there as some abstract issue in the past. It's like "that was a problem, but since that two-parter is already done there's nothing left to do."

And it's not just monsters getting away that bugs me about the structure of the show, but like. All this little character stuff. Slights are made and then forgotten, mistakes and questionable moves, injuries, characterization stuff...just, seems to happen but is later left unaddressed, from two-parter to two-parter. IXA was supposed to hurt the user but that only mattered for like, two episodes or something.

Probably the most egregious thing is what I commented on my previous post. Nago was losing his shit, completely and absolutely, throughout the two episode span of him chasing Sakaguchi('s button) around. At the end of it we definitely see him at his lowest point, just totally obsessed with getting the button and not even bothering to care about anything else--not even actually beating the Fangire. He had gone completely mad. It was interesting.

But as soon as the next story rolled around, Nago wasn't just back to normal. If anything, he was better than ever, more cooperative not only with Megumi but even Kiva, and he didn't even try to punch Kengo for mentioning rock so much.

This whole thing...it's sloppy. It's distracting. It's inconsistent. It's not good.

That being said, I'm still enjoying the show, mostly. Even as I grow more weary of the story structure, I'm growing to like the characters more. I like these jerks, for the most part. Treatment of the female characters thus far is...questionable, though.

So I dunno. I'll...see how it goes.

Yeah, there's a reason why a lot of longtime viewers were feeling two-episode arc fatigue by the time Wizard rolled around.

Ex-Aid episode 2 and 3: Well, watching this show weekly fell apart after week one, so now's the perfect time to catch up. Don't expect any great ramblings, just basic thoughts and things I notice:
There sure are a lot of jackass riders in this show, aren't there. I'm guessing they'll get better, but considering "Secondary rider who doesn't like the hero because they're too idealistic, but grows to respect them' feels kinda done by now.
Hey, Snipe can magically change locations with his belt. That must be the Toei filming part of Bang-Bang Shooting
So, if they're Game-o-meter runs out, they die? Gee, I'm sure that'll never come up again.
Favourite rider is still Genm. Maybe it has something to do with him kicking Spectre and Necrom's butts back in Ghost, and now blue Knight in this one, but I like him. And his colour scheme is cool.

This is entertaining after the 9 other episodes tbh

Me too. It's really uneven.
A) The 80's segments are far more interesting, despite never actually accomplishing anything because, what would the 00's characters do, I guess?

B) For a show somewhat about music, the music is terrible and, worse still, relentlessly repetitive. The "rock" arc was particularly awful (though I like Japanese Corey Feldman). Add to that the fact that some actors didn't even bother to emulate the music being played on their instruments, for whatever reason, and UGH. Fucking painful.

C) The actresses in this season are great and presented as badasses, it's frustrating to see them always get their asses kicked.

But I love
A) The designs, the whole bizarro Castle Doran thing whatever the hell that is, the monsters as weapons.

B) Watatru running. It's hilarious. Clearly, the dude was not big on being anything besides beautiful.

C) The 80's arc is great.

I could not possibly disagree more with this. Kiva has one of the best soundtracks in Rider as far as I'm concerned.

Also I know Wataru and Otoya's actors both learned to play violin for the show, so they got that much right (though this is likely also why the allegedly gifted Otoya only seems to know one song).

Yeah, I can't agree there either. The music to Kiva is amazing and Break the Chain is one of my top favorite openings, if not my top (it keeps switching with Blade Brave).

And the violin music is incredible. I'm always saddened that they never get to play the full tune except for like once because the second half of the music is pheneomenal.

Oh, Jesus, here we go...

Alright, that is some myth baloney right there, at least on Otoya's part. I'm guessing you don't play and therefore can't tell what is and is not correct. When the correct part is shown? It's a close up of hands. Someone else's hands. Trust me on this.

Not talking about the opening song - that shit is great! I'm talking about the endless repetition of that same phrase of violin OVER and OVER and that dumb tune Corey "I'm Shaking!" Feldman plays OVER and OVER.

You know, it's probably because I'm a musician that it drives me up the wall. I just find it weird that music plays such a big part in the story, yet Toei would only pony up for two pieces to be used in show.


I did like Kenga Feldman rocking out with no amp during a battle (playing that same fucking song, natch).
Kiva is wonderfully stupid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT_IPWMHcOc

You are correct in assuming I don't play however. Although when actors are really clearly not actually playing instruments it actually bugs me too. It's been a few years, but I don't remember having that feeling with Kiva too much.

Yeah, it would've been real nice for the show to put more effort into its musical bits, but I guess knowing how cheaply and efficiently Toei like to make these shows (that air basically every week of the year without a break), I didn't really expect much out of it.

Just to be clear, I totally get your frustration.

Up to V3 episode 10. You would think Lens-ant would try to disguise himself as a SLIGHTLY less suspicious person if he was planning to ambush the Kamen Rider Scouts. Instead he decides to look and act like someone from a bad horror movie. It's great. The show overall is less cracktastic than Amazon, which is both good and bad. It certainly is fun regardless though.

Scissors Jaguar is the shit, tho.

V3 update: I can't believe Junko didn't know that Shiro was V3. I just assumed everyone knew.

Watched Kamen Rider #1 today. Seriously, this movie really rocks out!! Whether you're a fan of Ghost or not, you should give a shot to this movie. For Ghost haters who don't like Onari, don't worry, he was so tame in this movie and his antics were more funny than annoying. Unlike Super Hero Taisen movies, there's no Sentai, no big gathering and X-overs, and of course more focused plot. I love the idea that they didn't make Ghost as a spotlight stealer on this movie. You would be surprise to see Takeru didn't have so many spotlight to shine but he really did shine whenever he appeared. I don't really know about Takeshi Hongo since I haven't watched its series, but man, the drama between him and Mayu was so nice and touching. Did I mention about the villain? Well, surely, it's nice to see Ambassador Hell sided up with the Riders temporarily.

And the movie itself wasn't a big toy commercial at all. You could count the amount of Ghost and Specter's in-series forms with single hand. We got a more closure to their basic forms and we also got a nice Legendary Rider Damashiis here. This is the first time I felt that the toy commercial like this was so nice and touching. You might feel the inclusions of that forms will annoy you, but you wil be silent after hearing the respective Riders' Damashii's bgm. Yes! Even Gaim and Drive's bgm was here. Rider 1's new form was pretty cool either and Hongo really shone a lot in his suit form. Though, I really do hope they would actually explain how he got that form.

All in all, unlike previous Spring Movies, Kamen Rider #1 gave an impactful movie that we eager for years. There's no damn Sentai's out-of-inclusion, no weird Mecha fights, no big Rider or Sentai gathering, no Rider vs Sentai for deceiving the enemies. It's just purely a Kamen Rider movie dedicated for Takeshi Hongo. I'm sure that even if you're a hater of Ghost, this movie is something that worthy enough for you to watch.

Well Episodes 1 and 2 of Amazons are finished up for me and wow talk about a dark couple episodes. I now see what you guys meant by dealing with older themes. Its like what Shin Kamen Rider tried to be but I think Shin overshot a little...okay no a lot.

So I'm watching XIG's releases of the 1971 Kamen Rider. It's ok, but it really bothers me how they refer to Shocker as "the Shocker" for some reason. It just feels really awkward.

Still, the subs are fine mostly. The show itself...well, it's the 1971 Kamen Rider. Not the most exciting thing in the world.

Been a while though, I'd almost forgotten there was a time where the Rider had a human ally to fight alongside with. Almost, because Taki in Black momentarily made me think they'd bring the idea back, but well, they didn't. So I guess it's just OG Taki.

There was briefly another character like Taki around the mid-point of V3, but he was only around for a few episodes. It generally makes sense: Taki was brought in because Ichimonji's actor didn't have the same martial arts training as Fujioka and the producers wanted someone around who could do un-transformed fight scenes. Later actors were more capable of handling the action sequences so they didn't need another character like Taki.

Currently for Riders i am watching
Ex-Aid weekly and Amazon whenever I feel like it.
thinking about giving Kabuto another try soon after not being able to stomach Tendou during my first attempt at watching it.
Also recently introduced a friend to kamen rider so will be watching through a series with him. not sure which one yet.

Oh yeah, I'd also forgotten Taki didn't show up until after Fujioka's accident. Makes sense.

Ok so... shuuuuuu...
About halfway through Kiva. Not terrible, but definitely not good. But, being Kamen Rider, I can roll with this.

But then I hit an episode where Kivat tells me in the prelude that I should probably watch the movie Kamen Rider Kiva: King of the Castle in the Demon World.

There goes an hour of my life into the ol' wastehole.

The wiki claims that it's an 'alternate universe' but, it's not really - it's just written with absolutely no shits given to continuity. Yuki and Otoya are brought through time by Kivat from '86 to '08 and this brings all kinds of paternity issues between Otoya / Wataru / Yuki / Megumi - at least you'd think there'd be but, no, no time for that shit because we have a stupid non-Fangire, Kiva-centric menace to face. You'd think this would be important since, in the series thus far, we've got fuck-all as to what the hell Kiva even is but, no. Nothing gets elaborated on because this is just a huge toy commercial for some lame non-Fangire monsters and two Kinda-Kivas. Plus, we have a really important subplot about a girl who hates violin because her mom is a pro violinist who's always playing violin (sound familiar, Ex-Aiders?).

Seriously, there are so, so many problems with this movie, I'm actually getting light headed stacking them up in my mind!

Why doesn't Nago, a character who normally needs no prompting to lose his friggin' mind not go berserk when it's casually mentioned that Wataru is Kiva?

Why the hell does Otoya know anything about Kiva in the first place?

Why doesn't Yuki at least ASK whether or not she's also Wataru's mother? Her lack of curiosity is absolutely preposterous.

Why are the captives of Castle Doran suddenly able to run around on Earth?

Yay! The ladies get to utilize the IXA system! Why now and never before?

So we get a Yeti version whatever Kiva is (he's not a Rider - that would be IXA!). He's evil because... because... POWER.

There's more, certainly, I'm just forgetting the shit out of them.

Wataru in drag is the most in continuity thing about this movie.

V3 episode 13: Doktor Gay?! I wish I could make an Ex-Aid joke about this, but nothing that gay has happened in Ex-Aid so far. Way to let me down, show.

I'm going to hell, aren't I.

That's basically the only part of the movie I like.

19 episodes into Faiz.

The character I'm most invested in is Mr J's dog. This show is not very good.

As much as I want to say, "I love Faiz, don't worry, it'll get better later!" that certainly isn't true. You either like Faiz or not.

Make sure to watch the series redeeming Hyper Battle Video - you'll need it!

Well it depends. I felt Mr J and Lucky Clover is where the show got really good until episode 41 hit.

If Mr J is where the show gets "really good" then things are looking pretty bleak for me.

In fairness, Chaco has a far more involved character arc than the guy who eventually becomes the show's third Rider.

okay i need to go finish Faiz now XD

I'm currently around the same mark as ZeoRangerV and... I don't hate it? It's not good but I'm not terribly bored of it either.

As much as I hate to say it, yeah, they are.

I totally loved the stuff with Mr. J, and if episode 17's epic theme song power up didn't do anything for you, I don't know what will. The show doesn't really get worse from where you are, at least not for a while, but you're already past what I would consider some of the best episodes.

I wouldn't go so far as I say I hate it, but there's very little outside the suits that's appealing to me. Kiba's storyline is okay I guess? At the very least I'm more invested in that then anything going on with Takumi.

Although I have to say I'm really enjoying Kusaka. As much as a dick he may be he's a breath of fresh air from all the other mopey male leads in this show.

My big issue with Faiz is that it's relentlessly bleak. It makes Gaim look like Fourze. Ah, I already harped on how sloppy it is.

I really don't know what's wrong with me when Fourze and Faiz were close to equally enjoyable to me.

Finished Kabuto. It started off pretty strong, but then it fell apart at the very end, with things becoming increasingly vague and incongruous. Why did they feel the need to out of nowhere introduce a new guy to betray everyone, when we already had a more than capable final villain with the Worm who can stop time?

God Speed Love.

Wow...I didn't think it could get any worse than Castle in the Demon World, but I was wrong.

WHAT?
Not even that really dumb Den-O / Decade movie is as bad as King of the Castle in the Demon World.

But I liked God Speed Love. At least it's obviously an AU, unlike Castle which, apparently, takes place in a LU (Lazy Universe).

Oh, another beef with "Castle" - there's no Castle in the Demon World as we never even see any Demon World!

Man, that's got to be the worst Rider movie (and that's saying something) and Kiva might be becoming my least favorite Rider (about halfway through).

That may be so, but it's still a really sloppy movie that didn't know what it wanted to be. There was WAY too much focus on the Hiyori having cancer plot. When clearly the more important thing is all the stuff happening with ZECT. Whenever Hiyori would show up on screen, it would bring the story to a grinding halt. The fight scenes were neat I guess? But I didn't know who any of these guys were, so there was no way for me to get invested in said fights. I only know Kagami and Tendou from the show, but even so these are different versions of those characters. Like, yeah Drake was there, but he dies in a really stupid way, being taken out by ZECT Trooper guns, which should have no effect on him. Not to mention he had more powerful weaponry and thus should have taken those guys out in 2 seconds, but instead of doing that or clocking up, he just takes it and goes down like a total chump. The ONLY cool thing that happens in that movie is when Tendou creates the Shibuya meteor.

This got a chuckle, very true. I would've loved Keitaro to be Delta. I really liked his character towards the end.

I'll back this up. I enjoyed it okay, but the Kiva movie is the most *nothing* Rider film I think I've seen. I'd compare it to a Sentai summer movie in terms of how forgettably mediocre it is, and it's lack of connection to the series really does hurt it a lot. They might as well have done an actual AU plot at that point.

Comparatively, I find God Speed Love kind of boring, but it at least had some vision to it. It at least felt like there was a story being told, which is more than I can say about King of the Demon's Bouncy Castle (or whatever its stupid overly long name is).

All valid points - still not as bad as King of the Castle in the Demon's World of Piss Pants Prisoners and Finally Girls Rider Rock but still Give It Up for the Boys because Reasons!