I'm not sure I'd even give him that much credit.

I've finished up with Black RX while in a cabin without wi-fi, and although still not back home, I am somewhere where my phone can actually connect properly and just had to share the fact that I LOVED IT. I'd rank it right below Gaim for me personally. I really have a hard time believing that this show has a bad reputation, it was certainly more light than Black in a lot of ways, but it was a far cry from something like Den-O. I'm still shocked they actually killed Shigeru and Hitomi's parents at the end there. It was fun seeing Kotaro again, and I thought they handled his character well, and it was cool seeing him get himself some allies to join the fight against Crisis with him, which was a nice progression from Kotaro of Black trying to take everything on himself. On that note, Crisis was almost as delightful to watch as the Sonozakis from W, especially as they got driven more and more into a corner by Kotaro's signature ability to wildly stumble on evil plans and overreact to mundane things. I wasn't even bothered by Shadow Moon reappearing, I was expecting something much worse, but it was just a simple redemption before he died again. Really the only big issue I had was Kotaro casually blowing up a planet of 5 billion people at the end there, but as a whole it was just super fun and my new favorite Showa show (sorry Amazon)!

Black RX is definitely underrated. I like Black more, personally, but it's still a really good show.

I read the first issue of the W manga tonight. It was pretty good and does a decent job of capturing the feeling of the show. I'm usually pretty hard to please with comic adaptations of TV shows, but this one worked pretty well for me. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of it.

I decided to rewatch Fourze on a whim, only 4 episodes in and I'm just sitting there with a goofy grin on my face

I watched the Kamen Rider Brave Special.

...

The fuck?

I mean, why? I'm not even questioning why Riders from all over the series appear just because they have a beast motive and just so the Night of Safari Gashat has some meaning in all of this (even though Beast isn't even a bad guy, and neither is Sasword really), what I want to know is why Hiiro's assistants get butchered and why Emu gets shoved head first into a container of broken glass.

I watched the Snipe episode before (at least the first one) so I was aware that Ex-Aid specials are apparently violent as all hell but I assumed it would make sense for Snipe to give him a proper reason to act the way he does in the show.

This shit though? Kamen Rider Tiger re-enacting the shower scene from Psycho and Asakura being even more brutal than in Ryuki?

Wow. I don't know why this exists but it sure wasn't fun to watch. The only saving grace of this shitshow is seeing Takashi Hagino as Takeshi Asakura once more, he's still as creepy as ever. And seeing Ouja in action again was kinda cool as well. Too bad they couldn't afford Venosnaker.

I haven't seen the Brave special yet so I'm probably not qualified to talk about it but honestly everytime I see screenshots from it, it turns me off more and more from even watching it. I mean Ex-Aid does have its fair share of dark moments, but this just seems like a complete tonal 180. I guess they wanted to take advantage of it not being restricted to TV censors but this just seems a bit too far. The irony of all this is that the special introduced Night of Safari, which I can wholeheartedly say is one of the dumbest looking forms in Kamen Rider.

I agree with you. The blood and gore worked for Amazons since it fit the tone of the show, not to mention it was already there even in the Showa era Amazon, but for Ex-Aid it feels so wrong and dirty and kind of sickening. I haven't seen it yet, save for bits and pieces, but I don't really want to.

Well, obviously guys it's another video game reference. It's a "What If" about what if Nintendo crossed over with Mortal Kombat? :P

Since I am a person who makes good decisions, I watched Super Hero Taisen GP and the accompanying Kamen Rider 4 specials with little sleep at ungodly hours.

I really liked them both, and they really have to be taken together to make sense out of anything. The main movie was fairly cool, and it was hard not to be super excited by all the returning actors. It's worth it for the fanservice alone! Then comes the embarrassing part. If you know me, you know I'm a blatant Faiz fan and long story short the Kamen Rider 4 part reduced me to tears. Poor, poor Takumi, he can't even catch a break over 10 years after his show is over, although it was certainly true to the tone of the original show to be as cruel as friggin' possible. And did they really have to use the camera shots framed through torn netting like the final episodes of Faiz were so fond of!? It's like they made this thing to get as much of a rise out of me as possible. I need to go to sleep... Dekaranger vs Gavan tomorrow hopefully!

Fourze is liable to do that to you on account of it being awesome. :p

http://i.imgur.com/DHcEl7R.jpg
Appropriate reaction!

So I finally got around to watching the Kamen Rider Specter movie.

What the hell did I just watch?

Don't get me wrong I thought it was great, probably by favourite thing to come out of Ghost in fact. But holy hell it was out there. It's like Toei went "you don't think Makoto was that interesting in the show? Here, have the craziest backstory we could think of!"

Still it was a pretty great movie. Lots of really good character moments and some really good action sequences.

Finally went back and watched the last two episodes of the GoRider miniseries. I generally really liked it. It really feels like they went out of their way to give all of the returning Riders some good character moments. All of the stuff with Kenzaki was especially brilliant; someone definitely did their homework with how Blade worked. The actual GoRider part was the only bit that didn't work for me, mostly because it was completely random and unexplained. In my head all I could think was "this went from awesome to stupid really fast."

I'd imagine that including the GoRiders, thus advertising the movie, was the only reason this was made. That doesn't change the fact that they were worthless at best and a hindrance at worst but they're minor grip in an overall very enjoyable story.

i currently rewatch the Cho Kamen Rider Den O trilogy and i wonder why ryoutaro doesn't have/use his liner form in any of those series?

Probably because the movies didn't have Takeru Satoh so they focused more on the Imagin. Liner Form's entire premise is that it's Ryotaro fighting without any of the Imagin in control. They'd also introduced the upgraded Climax Form, so there wasn't any debate about what Den-O's strongest form was anymore.

some of the movie require ryoutaro to fight by himself like in eps red where the train went out of control and ryoutao cant connect with his imagin. ryoutaro just fight the 3 face imagin by himself using plat form instead using the liner form.

So there I was, in a car for several hours with nothing better to do but watch the first 12 episodes of Kiva in a row. I uh.. might as well start positive. The suit design is great, for the Riders and the Fangires. The legendary creature and stained glass look they went for the Fangires looks outrageously slick. I also like Wataru quite a bit, I expected him to annoy me a lot more, but he's cute and amusing. That is about all the nice stuff I have to say though. I don't even know where to start with my issues so far. Maybe the fact that that literally every character who isn't Wataru is terrible? Especially Wataru's father. God, I HATE him, he is such a irritating stalker, and just generally makes me feel wildly uncomfortable. Everyone else is just bland, including knockoff-Kaixa. Furthermore, the show has not shown itself to be very interested in explaining... anything so far. I assume at least some stuff will end up explained later on (I hope), but to be this far in the show and have no idea why Wataru has a robotic bat that turns him into a Kamen Rider or a GIANT CASTLE DRAGON THAT LUNGES OUT OF SKYSCRAPERS AND EATS FANGIRES is a bit much. This isn't even getting into Wararu's weird... adoptive mom... friend... person who also has no explaination. I also just hate the 1986 segments. Having a story told through perspectives in the past and present seems like a great idea, but the past segments are just... terrible horrible Inoue romance and chew up a bunch of screentime to add almost nothing to the story. Not to mention that they tend to be extremely confusing, as sometimes it isn't clear when the time period has changed, since both time periods tend to have similar locations, shockingly samey looking and acting characters, and often the same monster. Uuugh, does this show just go downhill from here?

It's okay Fiona, you just have to watch Decade and the Kamen Rider 1 movie and then NEVER watch an Inoue Rider again. Until he writes another. And I still have all his other toku shows. *sob*

Kiva's a mixed bag for sure. I still enjoy it, but it's by no means free of issues and it has a lot. The supporting cast is very hit/miss I'm just gonna tell you now that Keisuke Nago remains a holier than thou nut job throughout most of the series and it's really frustrating. And as with any Inoue show the toy gimmicks are horribly incorporated.
The '86 segments do get better, both in a narrative perspective (explaining things like the Castle, Kivat etc.) and eventually gain a better visual cue for when they transition. Even Wataru's dad Otoya gets better...although another issue concerning him arises later down the line.

If you have this much bad to say about the show now, the beginning is the best part by the way, I'm interested in seeing what you have to say about it halfway through. Funny thing about Kiva is that many of its problems are present from the very beginning of the show but you'd don't realize they're problems until about the halfway point.

Also, I'm glad to hear somebody else dislikes Otoya just like me. I have no problem with the archetype and Otoya isn't terrible in theory but some of his actions really rub me the wrong way, especially at the end of the show.

I think that ended up sounding angrier than I meant it to. I'm really more confused and exasperated than anything, even if some parts really did tick me off. The pacing of it all is just so bizarre and frustrating for me to watch though. Some of it is probably just the simple fact that when you see enough Inoue shows the shock value of it all starts to wear off, haha. Also being in a cramped car and watching 12 episodes in a row doesn't help either, I hope I didn't undermine my chance to enjoy the apparently more palatable start.

Kiva in general is really bizarre. That constant, nagging thought of "wait, what???" that pretty much everybody has while watching it is probably the biggest thing that keeps people from seeing the good in it. That, and all the bad in it, of course. :p

Just learn to roll with the nonsense. You'll have plenty of fun with it that way.

I'm part way through episode 17 of Kiva but... I just... I can't continue after seeing Wataru's shirt.

http://www.tokunation.com/picture.ph...&pictureid=748

I'm gone, this show killed me.

I'm starting to reach a weird meta-level appreciation for the stupid present segment stories, but still hate the past segments with a passion.

I'm not supposed to double post and all but uh... OH GOD I DON'T WANT OTOYA TO BE IN THE PRESENT SEGMENTS POSSESSING THE ONE CHARACTER I ACTUALLY LIKE. *bangs pipe against a wall* I hate Otoya. I hate stupid narrative decision. I hate that this show is trying to undermine my attempts to enjoy it this much.

I'm starting to sense that I'm the one person on this forum who actually enjoyed Kiva : p

Kiva is my favourite Rider series ever.

I like it well enough myself. I acknowledge it's flaws, and I can't exactly fault anyone for being frustrated with them. Hell, there's plenty of shows I just can't pick up on because of them. That said, by in large why I appreciate the show is on a more personal level and that's a very specific reason.

I love Kiva! It's just super easy and entertaining to make fun of. :lol

I don't want to be too mean to Kiva, after all I am a shameless Faiz fan, but it just really knows how to push my buttons. At the very least it isn't boring me to to tears like Agito, but it gets kind of close at times. The present segments are quite fun for me on an episodic basis, but the past segments veer way too far into telenovela territory. Seriously, I don't watch tokusatsu for the cheesy romance, I am here for the fantastical stories, fun characters, and vague homoerotic undertones! I really dislike the past segments, which I know I keep saying, but I can't get over how show-derailingly awful they are for me.

(I feel kind of bad flooding this thread with my Kiva meltdown, sorry!)

Don't feel bad, I go on tangents all the time. If you feel something is poorly done then express that.

Just finished Kiva 31. That was actually a cool episode, and probably the first episode I unironically enjoyed. Two whole women using Ixa in one episode! On the other hand, the horrible romantic plots have started to plague the present timeline segments, further driving me insane. I also, really do not like where the romantic stuff in the past seems to be going, but we'll see. I'm finding myself increasingly liking Megumi though, which is nice as I really wasn't a fan at first. Don't mess up her characterization up too badly show! I was also surprised at how well Nago (or as I like to call him, Button Gremlin) responded to Wataru being Kiva. It was so suspiciously calm.

I hate everything. I just finished watching the entirety of Kiva and it was horrendous. Absolutely terrible. I don't think I have ever seen anything that made me experience existential despair like that.

http://imgur.com/J0fQEpE.png

Look at this picture. This picture is everything that is wrong with Kiva. Applying even a small amount of thought to it causes everything to break down, leaving only stupidity. Am I to seriously believe that they are just having a conversation in the middle of this conference room table? How did Bishop get the chair in? Did they climb over or under the desks? No one knows. This is exactly like the entirety of Kiva. The show can't be arsed to explain something as simple as HOW A CHARACTER WHO WAS TURNED INTO A FANGIRE AND KILLED RANDOMLY COMES BACK TO LIFE AS A HUMAN. This kind of thing happens so much it is insane. There are more hanging threads in this narrative than shows that actually get cancelled in the middle. Don't even get me started on the characters. Button Gremlin of all people was my favorite, I was that desperate. Otoya was quite possibly the most disgusting little shriveled up tick of a man I have ever had the displeasure of dealing with, maybe even more so than Kaixa, since at least Kaixa was shown in a negative light. Most other characters seemed to have character development that consisted of the writers randomly changing their minds about what they wanted to do. Horrible romance everywhere. HORRIBLE HORRIBLE ROMANCE. Seriously, I could barely tell I was watching tokusatsu at times. The Fangires were also so weirdly underdeveloped for what seemed to be an attempt at a sympathetic villain. The show seems incapable of explaining exactly what their motivations are, or why they just go around murdering everybody. Are we supposed to assume that the various heroic Fangires we see commit causal murder whenever they are hungry? Or maybe that the power of love or whatever makes them not hungry? We'll never know. I can't even talk about the ending what the hell. Awful, absolutely awful, the worst Rider, nay toku, I have seen yet! Ugh, I still have to watch the movies and stuff, wish me luck.

(Sorry all you Kiva fans...)

So I continued watching Blade, I kinda made an unintentionally break after episode 30 (the two-part with the Takoyaki guy who looks like Hajime was hilarious though) and they have a new opening now? Wut? Not just new scenes thrown in with the song playing its second half, but completely new footage with a new song too? That's kinda unique as far as Rider-shows I've watched go, not bad.

Anyways, I really hate Mutsuki now. They fucked that character up so badly. Thanks to Switchblade I know why, but still. They should've moved beyond the whole possession-thing long ago, yet Mutsuki is now completely possessed and also a pimp or something? I don't get it.

But that's about the only thing which bothers me, the rest is still fantastic.

It's not unheard of, but it is very rare. The original series, Skyrider, and Hibiki are the only other shows that changed their opening songs. Kuuga's opening shifted to a different verse of the song halfway through and Agito's later episodes feature a remix of the theme, but they're still the same songs.

I think Decade also switched to the second verse at some point.

Well in honor of Ex-Aid ending I decided to give the first 5 episodes of the show another go around. It took until episode 6 onwards for me to really start getting into Ex-Aid, and since my opinion of it has only gotten higher and higher, I wanted to see how the show's early days would look to me now.

It's not really a very interesting story though. I enjoyed them a bit more, but I more or less stand by everything I said at the time. The writing is very tight (I mean, it's Ex-Aid, so of course it is), the action is fun (you can tell the budget was there to show off early on), but the story and characters lack the emotion they'd be given later on. Some random other thoughts:

- Remember how Emu was supposed to be a klutz as an ironic contrast to his skills as a gamer and by extension as a Rider? Because they started downplaying it really quickly. Possibly for the best, given Kamen Rider's track record with slapstick comedy lately.

- Only now that the show is over does it finally occur to me that episode 3's title was a pun (i.e. they didn't forget the "g" in the word "bang").

- Speaking of that episode, Ex-Aid charging into a hail of gunfire to save a kid is still such an awesome moment. I always said one of the things that makes Emu different from a lot of similar Rider protagonists is his sort of stubborn edge, and that scene defines it.

- Oh man, this line from Lazer's debut:

http://i.imgur.com/2ep8bSD.jpg

He says this right after Genm, who has just transformed into a newer, more powerful form, nearly empties his Rider Gauge. Talk about irony!

- Those Vending Machine Bugsters are SO lame, and that's putting aside the part where they were just an excuse to skimp on monster costumes for a couple episodes.

Anyway, I found out just after watching all these episodes that Excite! Subs got the finale done in record time, so... I'm off to go watch that now, apparently!

Plus, that episode has one of if not the best action-sequence in Ex-Aid. You get like 6 minutes of really well-done action in which all three Riders introduced so far can show how cool they are and the fighting choreography is great for all of them.

I just watched that part again and it still rocks.

I-I did it! I watched Climax Deka, King of the Castle in the Demon World (and its net movies), and the Kiva HBV. I was really amused that in Climax Deka is was almost entirely a Den-O movie, with Kiva barely there. Even if KotCitDW (whew!), there were a bunch of Den-O references. I guess they still really wanted to milk that cash cow. The net movies were fun too, as they tend to be. I'm really glad I can put Kiva behind me now though, haha...

I'm going to watch Dairanger next, gotta cram some toku in before school consumes all my time!

This was actually just the start of the milking for Den-O. It didn't peak until about a year or two later.