Tsurugi's actually one of the show's best characters. It just takes a little way for the show to figure out how to use him most effectively.

Yeah, Tsurugi's fucking great but the writers didn't realize how to make him Not Tendou for a little

Tsurugi was basically the only character in Kabuto I actually liked in the back half. :lol

Funny, I consider Tsurugi one of the characters that got the worst of it in the second half of Kabuto. He stops being a rider, he becomes pure comic relief (that isn't very funny), his story stops having anything to do with the rest of the show, and the only reason he wasn't written out of the show is because they had a dangling plot thread they refused to address for 20+ episodes.



If I were to fix Kabuto, I'd start by having Tsurugi's worm form take over pretty much right on top of the Hoppers showing up. Then make it about Gattack trying to save him and the Hoppers kill Tsurugi (meaning the Hoppers actually did something for once). Then spend the rest of the 30s resolving what the Hoppers did and grow Gattack. Then refocus onto Gryllus Worm plot sooner as Kabuto's final boss.

Yeah, Tsurugi goes to a bad place once he starts hanging out with the Hoppers, but at peak "waga tomo KaGAmi!" he was delightful.

Kabuto in a nutshell: If you aren't Tendou or Kagami, then expect to either become a parody of yourself (Tsurugi, the Hopper Bros), barely be a character (Dark Kabuto) or disappear from the show entirely (Drake).

Tsurugi definitely fits with my headcanon of the zecters preferring to pick the most outlandish person they can find.

My life is a hurricane of judgement and randomness.

I'm watching Wizard. So far I like it.

I'm re-torrenting Ghost for the third time. Help.

Speaking of Kabuto, this might be hilarious in how obvious this is, but I'm just now realizing that the horns of the Hoppers' helmets are grasshopper legs....

SkyRider Episode 21: SkyRider and Stronger were awesome together, I loved seeing them kick ass against NeoShocker.

Episode 22: Hiroshi kicks more butt and fights against the Snowman Kaijin this time. Great action and heroics. Also, I loved the Motorcycle Henshin too.

Ducktales, woohoo?

SkyRider Episode 23: V3 returns, and is totally kickass with Hiroshi. Loved the pairing of these two, especially against the Squirrel Vader twins lol. Just great heroic action.

SkyRider Episode 24: This brother was crazy angry, I am glad that they were able to stop the toxin from happening. The action was amazing once again and so was SkyRider.

SkyRider Episode 25: Mama Hiroshi! This episode reminded of the Mama Luigi episode of the Super Mario Bros. Super Show lol. This was an amazing episode full of great character moments from Hiroshi and Tani. I love how they work well off each other; man was Tani prepared to handle whatever Kazuya would get into after Hiroshi. I did enjoy NeoShocker trying to use Hiroshi's kindness against him, but it only made him stronger. Also, that he could keep his kindness even in the battles he fights is another great quality of him. The battle was awesome as well, love the fight scenes of this show a lot so far. X and Riderman next episode, so I am really excited for that too.

Just watched the first 10 episodes to Kamen Rider Black again. These Blu-Ray rips look great, but it feels like they rushed subbing them because there are a lot of errors the group didn't have on their DVD rips.

i'm on episode 20 of wizard. currently enjoying it a lot more than expected. its goofy as hell but i totally love that. shunpei is annoying as hell though. i dont know how much of my enjoyment of this show is because I find rinko really cute though.

i really enjoyed the mini-arc with the film director a lot

Oh man I *love* those episodes. The ending in particular is just fantastic.

I've started Wizard, too. Only three in but, I like it so far! The martial arts are surprisingly tight.

SkyRider Episode 26: NeoShocker continues to get deadlier, but more Riders come to help. It was great to see X and Riderman again, even if it was just for a small moment. Hiroshi was on fire with kicking ass and his quips. Can't wait to see more.

I watched episodes 11-23 of Black today. Phenomenal!

SkyRider Episode 27: Ridergasm! Oh lord the Ridergasm here lol. It was great seeing all 8 riders together to destroy a tank together. Shigeru was great this episode (I mean the little kid here not Stronger lol) with protecting this girl, and keeping contact with Hiroshi when he was captured. Hiroshi was the thoughtful, brave, and kick ass rider he always is. I can't wait for more of all 8 Riders together. I love the Rider Corps name too.

SkyRider Episode 28: I was waiting for this episode. SkyRider's upgrade form! I heard he got it from taking the Legendary 7 Kamen Riders' Kicks, but I didn't know it was this much of a brutal beat from all 7 of them. Dear god, that was some intense training, though I do love the changed look and the new moves. This was just pure Kamen Rider goodness, and I can't wait to see how the new form works. =)

Just watched episode 26 of wizard. I had to watch most of it through my fingers, it was so awkward! The revelation at the end was super interesting though so I'm excited to continue. I don't really get the hate at all, most of the characters are pretty likable. I don't even find Shunpei that bad anymore.

Just finished Black. Tomorrow I will be watching the movies and then it is all over. The fun ends.

SkyRider Episode 29: Damn, they just liked to add horror elements here. This got dark and worrisome for the main cast. The Mummy monster taking over the kids lead to a lot of creepy scenes; but damn did Hiroshi get pushed here, threatening to kill one of the members of Neoshocker and going full on ready to unleash hell on the Mummy. The new form is so pretty, a brighter green, and just kicks ass. I love that he is upgraded from the Legendary 7 Kamen Riders. I can't wait for more.

Okay so I have watched the first 14 episodes of Ex aiad, It might have been the fact that the last series I was watching was ghost but goddamn Ex aid is so good so far.

I am trying to not spoil myself as much as I can, except maybe on forms really because I am always sort of curious what those look like.

I will be getting around to the next set of episodes when my friend is available since we are watching it together.

The suits are great, the riders are great, the effects are top notch, just everything so far is great though the one downside is that Kiriya was my favourite character :(

At least I have Emu, he is a great main rider so far.

No, even without Ghost lowering your expectations Ex-Aid is still a fantastic show.

I love the hell out of Ghost, and agree that Ex-Aid is a more brilliant show.

SkyRider Episode 30: Well, this Tapir bad guy was creepy, and they definitely have gone more horror in the last few episodes. Hiroshi was on his game this episode, he just exudes confidence. Also, his fighting moves were amazing, with the Rider Spin, his submission holds on the minions and the Tapir guy, and the finisher of the Aerial Lightning Drop, which was him throwing the monster into the ground head first was out of this world. He definitely feels like he has the powers of his predecessors here. Looks like X returns in the next couple episodes, so I can't wait for that.

SkyRider Episodes 31-32: The Kamen Rider X crossover episodes. It's awesome to see Keisuke return, he was one of my favorite Showa Riders. Both episodes are really well done, and I just loved seeing the emotions from both of the Riders. Also, Golden Jaguar was an awesome general, because of him having honor. The Battles were amazing and both X and SkyRider were awesome. Also, seeing the start of the 99 Techniques of SkyRider is awesome, that was a great scene too. It was interesting to get our first look at the Great Leader of NeoShocker too. Well, I can't wait for more, RiderMan is next. =)

Finally got around to finishing Wizard, so here are my final thoughts.

Wizard's monster of the fortnight was really stupidly formulaic, with only a few episodes deviating from the established episode template. That said, the colourful cast and periodic deviations from the formula helped keep the episodes interesting in a way that prevented it from ever feeling too stale.

The climax was very good, providing a good conflict that served as a great backdrop for the characters. I do think that the amount of action in the climax contrasted a bit too heavily with the predictability of the rest of the show. I think perhaps a few balls should have gotten rolling earlier, but given that several characters were taken out of commission for the finale, I'm willing to let is slide
All in all, Wizard was a fun and enjoyable watch.

Next up, I finally watch Double.

I didn't mind Wizard's formula until episode 30 when he acquired the infinity stone without any real effort. After that, everything just fell apart into bad fanfic-like slop. Hell, I could have written that better. Not to mention how cheap the mages looked and the cookie cutter "plot twist." It also didn't help that the main girl pratically became wallpaper in the second half of the show that they should have just killed her off.

Shit.

I'm up to episode 44 of Black RX. This is especially true now in the endgame with things ramping up, but I really think this show has been A+ excellent. It's well on track to becoming my favorite Showa Rider series. I'm loving it. And this episode was great. This episode was great, but...

Ugh. I don't understand why they felt the need to shove all the old Riders into the show now. It was only minimally built up over the last few episodes, and all the same, it feels really out of left field, just, really interfering with a series that had a really nice thing going already. It's very unnecessary and it really eats up valuable endgame episode time. I'm not into it. A few past Rider series have done the same, but they definitely pulled it off better. If for no other reason than the fact that for this literally none of the actors came back! It's literally the most pointless waste of time and just ugh. I really do not like it.

Also I wish I didn't already know what happens to the Saharas. I don't have many spoilers for RX but that's one, and it's pretty major. I wish I could unlearn it. This episode would have hit a little stronger if I didn't have what's gonna happen in a couple of episodes in mind.

But anyway. Yeah. RX is cool.

I'm also 44 episodes into Kabuto. That's pretty much also a show I'm watching.

I don't care for Rx all that much, but I'm planning to watch it subbed next year, so maybe my viewpoint will change. My biggest issue was how out of character Kotaro became from Black. It's like Rx was written to be a different character, but then they decided to cash in on Black's success and keep Kurata.

I just like to see it as Kotaro having recovered from the sheer trauma of Black somewhat.

Just finished RX.

Don't have a lot of time so I'll just say I really enjoyed the show as a whole, and these last episodes were mostly great. Still, can't help but feel it fumbled the ending a bit. Not just because of the unnecessary addition of the 10 Riders, but just...the more things they show about the Demon World the more confused the show feels. There's a lot of contradictions and things that don't really add up--amd unfortunate elements like its destruction at the very end that just feel improperly addressed. It's not enough to ruin the show or anything, but yeah.

Also Dasmader fucking sucks and the Emperor was kinda underwhelming. Feels like Kotaro had more trouble with Gran Zairus. It's disappointing because otherwise the villains are by far RX's strongest point. Jark and his four captains really made the show.

Also up to 46 of Kabuto.
Goodnight sweet dunce.

If they wanted to do that, they should have brought Kyoko and Katsumi back and not had Shadow Moon return for a lame two parter.

That is literally what happened.

Finished Kabuto on my commute.

For a show I didn't really care all that much about, I thought the last handful of episodes were pretty strong and I found the finale satisfying. I don't have much else to say about it besides that.

One thing that did confuse me is Dark Kabuto. I'd seen people say that he didn't make sense, but honestly I thought it was pretty straightforward. Definitely a misused and honestly unnecessary character, though.

Also, honestly pretty surprised that Kageyama actually became kind of sympathetic after becoming Punch Hopper? It was pretty surprising. Like, I hated the fucker on account of him being just the worst character. But once he turns into a dumb loser (which he was all along don't get me wrong, but you know what I mean. The Hopper stuff is just the dumbest) he becomes a lot less hateable. The end was actually pretty impactful for something I knew would happen and that involved one of my least favorite characters. So that's something.

Still gotta watch God Speed Love. I'll get to it.

But yeah. I still think the series is mostly just dumb shit happening because dumb people do dumb things. But I'd let it slide by with a shaky 6/10 for at least having a decent enough finish.

Anyway.

Having finished these two series today, I only have 7 left to watch: V3, Hibiki, Den-O, Decade, W, OOO, and Fourze. 8 counting Dragon Knight. I had some plans regarding the order in which I was gonna be watching them, but Heisei Generations Final has thrown those plans out the window. I want to actually be familiar with the returning characters when that becomes available to watch, so I'm gonna sort of mad-rush through the remaining Heisei series I have to the best of my abilities. I intended to watch V3 soon, but I guess it can wait until the end.

Should be starting Hibiki soon. I'm looking forward to approximately 60% of it.

Friends of mine and I are now watching Wizard. We're loving it. Magic's pretty cool. So are the fights and suits.
Told both my friends that Wizard's predictable, but everything else is good.
Also said that "the cast is like Ex-Aid's in the beginning" (being extremely bland).... But that you have to "read between the lines to get the juicy stuff".

Also watching Drive on my own time, and I'm 14 episodes in. Also loving it. Love the cars, love the suits, love the plot- GAH there's so much love!

Planning on Ghost next and no one can tell me otherwise! Friendship ghosts for life!

I didn't have an issue with Wizard at first, but then the second half happened and it ended up having the most pointless characters out of any Kamen Rider series.

Watched Kamen Rider SD earlier. I guess that's definitely something that exists.

Also got done watching ZO just a bit ago. It was okay, I think. Definitely well realized from a technical point of view, the practical effects and suits and everything were certainly impressive. Everything else was serviceable enough. The movie was shorter than I was expecting, didn't really give it enough time to be too fleshed out in any area. Still, an enjoyable watch.

edit: Just watched God Speed Love. Remarkably good movie. Much better than I was expecting it to be. I really, really enjoyed it. Some aspects were the dumb Rider movie fare that usually really annoys me, and annoy me it did, to a certain degree. A little fuzzy in the actually making complete sense department. But character stuff was really on point. Everything with Tendou, Kagami and Hiyori was really well executed, imo. Makes me think it's a bit of a shame Hiyori and Kagami weren't much of a thing in the real timeline--would have made the ending a little happier. But it's still fine.

Easily one of my favorite Rider movies.

SkyRider Episode 33: RiderMan and SkyRider were amazing together. I loved them kicking ass together, also the Rider Moonsault was another deadly finisher. I liked seeing them work together. Also, the kid's pet saving his life was cute and awesome. NeoShocker continues to be assholes who need to pay and I just love how the Kamen Riders deliver justice to them. I can't wait for more.

I watched four episodes of Hibiki.

So, yeah. I'm dropping Hibiki.

The only available subs for the series as a whole are TV-Nihon's, and while I'm generally kinda lax on the TVN hate, their work on Hibiki is some truly unspeakably horrid, unwatchable garbage. And the thing is, I'm not omnipotent. I can not watch that which is unwatchable.

So I'll have to put it on hold. Hopefully the scrubber currently working on the series actually delivers, because in spite of the bad words adorning the bottom of the screen, I was enjoying the show. (and that ending theme is really good). I really want to watch it.

This is a pretty problematic result though, not at all what I'd hoped for. Like I mentioned earlier I really want to get through all the Heisei series as soon as I can, and I can't do that without first watching Hibiki and Den-O. Hibiki is already a bust, which leaves only Den-O...and I've been led to believe TV-N's Den-O isn't much better at all. The scrub project for it is much closer to completion, though, from the look of things. So hopefully that drops sometime soon and I can watch that in the meantime.

But that's still thinking in the future. Until then...I guess I'll just watch V3? This really wasn't how I wanted things to end up. Rip my stupid plans.