That's really just kind of even more shameful for Inoue that Ghost spread its episodes between three writers and still feels way less patchwork and uneven than Kiva does. I like Kiva a fair bit, but I stand by calling it the worst Rider show out there. It's got plenty of good ideas and even good episodes but the whole thing is just so bonkers it can be hard to notice after a while.

"Inoue unleashed" makes it sound like he's just got all these wild, crazy things going on that the audience just can't roll with, which is - sadly - not the case. Not bothering to build a coherent story that follows it's own rules is not "wild" in my book.

"Inoue phoning it in" is way closer to the truth as a lot of his work is pretty damn lazy and trope laden past the conceptual phase (which he may have had little to nothing to do with).

Don't get me wrong, when he actually tries, I like Inoue. He's a reliable, comfy toku writer who gives you what I'd call the "definitive" Toei style. Obviously better on a team.

The Mark Millar of toku!

With "wild" I just really mean some of his ideas. Also, characters like Kaixa or Kiriya from Hibiki came to mind. Like, the reactions Inoues other characters have to these guys are so surreal and often are not quite what an author would normally do. (Like how everyone knows they're total idiots and still tries to hang out with them or trust them, even someone like Takumi, who usually is like: Yeah, f* that idiot.) Admitted, it's more weird than wild. But some of the stuff he writes is also pretty out there, especially from what I heard about the novels he wrote (that apparently have quite a lot of sexual stuff too), so...

Then again, I wouldn't even know what "phoning it in" means, because I never heard that expression (non-native speaker of English, y'know) :lol

Honestly, all of Inoue's Rider shows feel like a hot mess of writing, even the good ones like Agito. Didn't he write Kabuto, too?

I always suspect that characters like Kusaka and Hibiki!Kiriya are some kind of self insert.

No, Kabuto was Shoji Yonemura, the guy who did the back half of Decade and all of the Super Hero Taisens.

I think it's more of a continued attempt to make another Gai Yuki/Black Condor.

Ah, did he write the Ryuki light novel? I've only heard about it but, what I heard - whoa!

I get your meaning - definitely weird character interactions.

The inference of "Phoning it in" is that someone cares so little about something that they're getting it done with the least amount of effort available. Like phoning in an assignment better done in person.

Watching episode 43 of Skyrider...

"If we get 1000 ears and offer them to the great leader, he will grant our NeoShocker wishes!"

That's...an interesting strategy, Admiral Demon.

That honestly explains a lot

I still have a hard time believing that episode 48 of Kabuto wasn't written by Inoue. Tendou suddenly communicating about as well as Takumi felt so random and out of character, it totally broke my suspension of disbelief. Inoue must've snuck into the writer's room and added to the script when no one was looking.

Oh and I'm still chipping away at V3. The fight against Doktor G was so unintentionally hilarious. Something about bashing Shiro with an axe every time he tried to transform and his utterly useless lasers just had me laughing. I'll miss him saying Kamen Raiiiiiida V3.

Entering back into the Inoue Zone of Hibiki. After watching some OG Hibiki which was very... measured, if not "realistic", Inoue's style of doing things is, in fact, totally weird, formulaic and utterly unrealistic. Hosokawa's comment that Inoue's scripts needed "adjustments" leads me to believe that Inoue probably didn't watch the enough of the show to understand it before he started writing. I mean, the first thing he does is introduce a character who tells the erstwhile lead that he's boring!

It's like if Michael Bay was picked to do a sequel to Blade Runner.

Original Recipe Hibiki is the best, though. What a Great Show. I'd recommend that to your Image Comics reading pals to hook 'em on a Rider series. It's smart, atmospheric, unfolds at a perfect pace, the world feels lived in and the characters act like actual human beings - except when they turn into Oni!

God, I wish Kida, Oishi and Takatera were allowed to follow through to the end; their final twist was really something!

Just stop now; there's nothing worth sticking around for. Watch Daimajin Kanon instead.

So I've been sick a few times and I go to my Super-1 Rewatch during that time.

Super-1 2-6: All fantastic episodes, I remember why I wanted to watch Super-1 and pushed through horrible subs to do it. Kazuya is just such an amazing main character. I also love the fact he had to train himself to transform and learn to get past all unnecessary thoughts to do it. Also fighting 100 men was one hell of a challenge. I love the episode where he has to save his friend the Prince who gets replaced by Dogma and the Motorcycle episode where he gets knocked off the mountain but is totally fine and fights back against Dogma. Also where the Spider monster episode was great too especially with the survival flashback and learning to empty his mind to survive.

I watched a few Daimajin Kanon eps a few months ago and loved it. Apparently it's, in part, a kind of "Hibiki done right, it could have worked" by Takatera.

Nice page about it:
http://www.scifijapan.com/articles/2...-guide-part-1/

I'm up to episode 23 of Faiz and I feel like I've gone completely numb and I’m just accepting whatever is happening at this point. Like, I can't even channel enough energy to properly rage about how Faiz Axel is without a doubt the laziest and most pathetic introduction to an upgraded form I've ever seen.

I mean don't get me wrong, I'm not mad that Faiz immediately knew how to properly use the form. That's a toku trope and one we kinda need to accept because it's not going to change. They won't have a Rider train to use his stuff, it takes too much time. A little bit of slapstick or a "I can't control this power"-kinda situation is the best we're getting.

But that's not the point. Let me explain why by taking a jab at my own name: Kouta get's the Kiwami Lockseed, immediately uses it and fights like a god. No testing or getting used to a forms power or anything. That's stupid, yes, but at least the Lockseed itself, and thus the form, had built up. Kouta was troubled with the choice he needed to make to progress and so on. Now, what happens in Faiz you might ask? What ingenious way have they found to introduce the Axel Watch? This:

http://i.imgur.com/ngn5xAJ.gif

And yes, after this Faiz just transforms into the Axel form and kicks ass immediately. This is what I can’t tolerate. It’s the combination of a completely lackluster introduction of the device followed by a run-of-the-mill fighting scene that disappoints me. It could’ve been so, so much better. But hey, Faiz in a nutshell, huh? Also let’s not forget that this scene follows one where Kaixa gives Takumi the Faiz belt back after it was stolen by an Orphenoch. How did Kaixa get the belt back? I don’t know, they didn’t show it. I kinda assume that tidbit will be resolved later when we learn that Kaixa made some deal with that Orphenoch or something, but do I expect an explanation as to where that watch came from? Of course not.

Thanks for listening, that was my report on how Faiz slowly but surely drives me nuts.

To be fair, the Faiz Gear came with a manual, Takumi could have read about it. Granted, your point about how stupidly it's been introduced is completely valid

Dude, I don't know what you're talking about. That introduction is brilliant specifically because of how underwhelming it is. You can practically hear Takumi saying "WTF???" when that watch smacks him in the head. It's like a total subversion of how power-ups in Rider usually work that I love.

We're not talking about some key made from a piece of magic CG fruit that holds the power of a god, it's just some random piece of tech. A trinket. A toy, in other words. It doesn't really require the same kind of buildup. In general Faiz doesn't attach much significance to its gear, hence why the belts are always switching hands like its no big deal. It's the guy in the suit that matters. I think it makes total sense for Faiz to introduce a new toy that way. It's stupid, but it's the perfect kind of stupid, and it's also something different than normal.

Is the watch even mentioned in the manual? I assumed it was built / finished later, otherwise it would've been in the case alongside the rest of the gadgets, right?

Of course, you of all people show up to defend that shit.

Oh just wait, the Faiz Blaster's introduction is even stupider.

It's possible there's a section in the manual for it as it isn't just meant for Faiz. Kaixa was originally going to get Kaixa Break, which had similar colours, so maybe he decided "Screw the power up, I have douchebaggery!"

Agito was even worse. They didn't even explain HOW Agito got these forms, he would sort of just randomly change into them out of nowhere. Then there was Kabuto where, IIRC, it made no sense if you didn't watch the movie. Hyper Kabuto is just running around and the characters just go "Who is that?!" then at some random action scene Tendou just gets the Hyper Zecter.

Early Heisei could be weird about upgrades and for changes. Though I must admit there is something remarkably funny about the low key manner in which Faiz receives Axel.

Not impossible, but on the other hand: The Mission Memories are unique and the one from the Axel watch has a phi symbol on it, just like the one from the Faiz Driver. It seems to be made solely for him.

But anyways, we're discussing the how again and that's not my major beef with the situation, I can ignore how Faiz is able to perfectly use the Axel form immediately after his first transformation.

Also Fish Sandwich don’t be mad, it’s just… why do you like the things I don’t like? :lol

I always assumed he had Flame and Storm from the beginning, just like Wizard for example has all basic four forms at the start. Trinity had some build up if I remember correctly and so did Burning and Shining. Although Shining wasn't particularly great either.

Yeah but to be honest there was time travel shenanigans involved which we knew about and Tendou summoning that thing out of thin air because he wanted to was kinda cool IMO.

I'm not disagreeing that it isn't funny but it felt so out of place with the whole episode and... just everything.

Agito was an amnesiac right? It's the only justification imo as it'd be "OH SHIT I HAVE KEWL POWERZ". Trinity made him lose him memory from what I heard. Tendou is pure and nothing bad can ever happen to him. He's such a badass that if he's losing, he'll walk off of the set and rewrite the script on camera

Well yeah. Disagreeing with you is like, my fate, or something. I guess. *sadness*

I just feel like you're being unusually unfair to Faiz with this one. That comparison to Kiwami Arms especially is a little apples and oranges (pun not intended). I know this isn't a one-to-one comparison either, since Faiz only has two upgrades in the entire series, but I see it as being more akin to the random Lock Seeds from early on in Gaim. And frankly, if Faiz Axel is the most underwhelming form debut in Rider, I really hope Kiwi is at least second.

I guess you'd know better than me since you just watched it, but doesn't Kusaka leave the show for at least an episode, the implication (or maybe outright stated) being he went to Smart Brain, before coming back? Because, if so, I don't think it's particularly unreasonable for him to just have it. And it's just plain in-character for him to chuck it at Takumi.

If not, however, I'll retract everything I've been saying.

(In what universe does Agito's Trinity form have buildup?)

I didn't mean it got build up, but that from what I raead, after using it, Agito forgot shit again. I should watch Agito

Don't worry, I'm not mad! I'm just really opinionated. :lol

Also, I'll back you up on Agito doing this "better".

The whole point of his powers (which are mystical in nature, as opposed to being toys) is that he's essentially evolving into some kind of higher being. Storm and Flame are very much just part of the default package, Trinity comes with him regaining his memories temporarily, and goes just as quick. Burning/Shining is sort of tied to his character growth, and Shining's underwhelming series debut is only because they put its actual origin in that crappy TV special (which explains the whole solar power thing as once again being related to his personality).

Part of it is just the leeway *magic* gets but it's way harder to pick holes in Agito's form debuts.

Has no one mentioned Kuuga getting his form upgrades from a freaking defibrilator? Early Heisei man.

Eh, there's worse going on in that show I'm kinda ignoring because as I said I just accept it for what it is and watch it. I just wanted to point something out I found particularly underwhelming.

I thought about that, but even comparing it to stuff like Jinba Lemon made Faiz Axel’s introduction look stupid. And yeah there is shit like this all over in Rider shows, it’s just that I’m watching Faiz right now and I didn’t like how that show handled it. It’s no different to how Ex-Aid does things really; it’s just that it sticks out a lot more in Faiz to me than in Ex-Aid for example.

No he leaves with his past classmates because they tell him about a third belt. He does meet that Orphenoch from Lucky Clover who has the Faiz gear at the time though, but the show didn’t explain to me what went down there yet either.

Wasn’t that whole thing jointed with Shouichi temporarily getting his memories back? It's not huge but it's something at least.

I liked that. Probably because the episode where Godai "dies" was well done IMO.

Ah, I see. That's still connected to Smart Brain, though.

I guess when you're finished tell me if the show never elaborates on (or even vaguely implies) what went down and I'll concede the point then. :lol

At least there was an explanation about it later

Alright. It may take some time since I only watch multiple episodes once every two weeks but I try to not forget about it :)

I remember thinking exactly the same thing during the Axel debut. I don't remember it hitting him on the head though so that gif gave me a good chuckle :lol

The show really doesn't pay much attention to any of the gear though, I realised that when one Rider had a transforming robot as a bike and the other had a mech walker and no one really bat an eyelid.

What about Kaixa's powerup getting pooped out of a drop ceiling?
My jaw hit the damn floor.

Awright, gonna muscle through the rest of Kiva this week. I know it's not the smartest thing to do but, I've got to: I love Kamen Rider, even the shitty ones.

V3 37: A kaijin that makes poison that turns people into dead flying squirrels. It doesn't just kill them, it doesn't just turn them into flying squirrels, it turns them into DEAD FLYING SQUIRRELS. 10/10 V3, you've reached the pinnacle of tokusatsu.

I think the writers also forgot how the Reverse Double Typhoon works, since it didn't make Shiro unable to transform for three hours or whatever. Who cares, dead flying squirrel poison!

KIVA shit
Ep 30: points up for Megumi’s hat which states “FAMOUS: I am a selected in a goblin coordinate.” I want that hat! Ut! Lost that point when Nago is suddenly shocked to see that Wataru is Kiva when, as instructed by Kivat, I watched the movie before the last episode where Nago sees this henshin happen and does not give a shit - Like Inoue, apparently!

Ep 31: Uh, okay, so in Kivat’s “Last Week” preamble he mentions a “Modigliani”, to which Tatsulot asks “WTF is a Modigliani”. Answer? Check the DVD volume. WHAT?* Later, while Megumi fights Rook and Waturu shows up and henshins into Kiva, Kivat says “How dare you do that to Modigliani Onee-chan?” - So Kivat knows that Megumi and Wataru are related - but they don’t! Oh, wait - they do? WTF?

Also, after a whole seasons worth of Nago raging out over Kiva, he suddenly is fine with it because Wataru.
Seriously? Fuck you.

Also, Tatsulot randomly breaks the fourth wall in story because well, why not, the show really can’t get much more unhinged.

Ep 32: Nago’s a bounty hunter. What? You didn’t know that? Anyway, he randomly tells Wataru to apprehend a bank robber. Yeah, he tells a wimpy kid (it’s established that, when not in Kiva mode, Wataru is a complete featherweight) to go get an “armed and dangerous” criminal. Then he doesn’t even offer any back up. This, all in service to the introduction of Wataru's one true childhood friend, Taiga. One gets the feeling that Inoue was trying to get fired. I mean, this is just random stupidity.

Oh, and BTW, even though they built up all this mystery as to who the Checkmate Four King is, they just show (“reveal” being too strong a word) him to be Taiga like you already knew (like how Wataru and Megumi randomly now acknowledge their familial relation - without issue, to boot!). I mean, it could have been Megumi’s other brother - there were options, limited as they were.

Also, I just want to point out that Kiva sucks as a hero. He never saves anyone! They typically all die just as he shows up - not that he seems to really care one way or another. What is his friggin’ MO?

On the positive side, hot damn is this a beautifully shot and directed show! The Warthog Fangire’s hunt scenes are all brilliantly shot and edited and some of the locations are stunning. Too bad the script is a sloppy “ugh, this show I gotta write” mess.

* A "Modigliani" probably refers to a long or sad face, named for Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani. Educational!

That is, hands down, one of the best evil plans in all of Kamen Rider. It's right up their with Gorgom trying to wreck the Japanese economy by making artists into stock brokers.

That was a good one. I just got up to Faiz's brand new CGI bike too :lol

EDIT: Oh, that really didn't last long haha

They're um... they're not related.

Right?

Like, I'm pretty sure I would remember if that was the case.

I actually really like that. I know Nago isn't the most rational person but it makes sense that once he finds out Kiva is just the doofy kid he's been paling around with for 30-some episodes and not some crazy monster vampire person like he'd been imagining he'd be a lot more chill about him. Especially since Nago's personality in general was starting to mellow out just a bit by that point in the show. It's sort of a refreshing break from all the angst. Agito and Faiz had similar plot beats, though of course they also had way more solid writing.

I was going to bring that up but I didn't want to spoil the surprise. It's like, the perfect example of that show's casual disdain for shilling merchandise. I mean, Takumi chucks his sword on the ground all the time like it's nothing, treats his robot buddy like he's more of a nuisance than a helpful ally (although IIRC he takes quite a bit of friendly fire from Autovajin so maybe he has a point), gets his first power-up by getting it literally tossed at him, and then gets a shiny new ride only to trash it five seconds later (hey, you try learning to drive one of those things in the middle of a fight!).