Ugh, TVN’s Hibiki subs literally hurt my eyes between the horrid video quality and the truly poor translation. I can’t say I blame you.

Do you know who this current scrubber is? I've followed at least four attempts to redo Hibiki and all of them ended up dying. I'd love to know if someone else is working on the best Rider show.

I was able to hook up Tv-Nihon subs with Bunny Hat Raw's...raws, so the video quality wasn't as big a problem, but it didn't make up for the deficiencies of the actual translation.

This person here. Though at this point they've really only announced their intent to scrub and have yet to release anything. At least there's hope.

I like that they're apparently going to pick up where Metronome left off. Greatly increases the chances of getting all 29 episodes done.

Slick move there, Switchblade. ;)

Speaking of Hibiki, I finally finished it myself. The first half is some of the best Rider material I’ve seen. It was a very unique and refreshing take in a franchise that can sometimes get pretty stale and repetitive, and I really appreciate a show that tries to do something different, especially when it succeeds as well as Hibiki did. It had an incredibly likable and well-developed cast, great suit designs, and a fantastic sense of atmosphere with its more traditional Japanese aesthetic and the use of the mountains for so much of its setting. It started well and was really becoming something special, but then here came Inoue to clumsily stumble into the show, bringing with him all of his usual type of nonsensical story developments, plot holes, awful humor, and the absolute destruction of multiple characters’ entire story arcs and personalities. It’s almost impressive how effectively he managed to completely trash something that was set up so well, and I have plenty to say on that, but let’s start with the positive.

Of all the many positive things there are to say about the first half of the series, the characters are the best part. I really liked the decision to have someone besides the main Rider be the viewpoint character. It helps further differentiate this series from the ones before it, and Asumu and Hibiki have great chemistry. The gradual building up of their relationship and clear path it’s taking towards Asumu becoming Hibki’s apprentice was really well done, and it’s a shame we never got to see where exactly it was leading to under the show’s original vision. The way it actually ended is legitimately one of the worst story developments I’ve ever seen in a Rider series but I’ll talk about that later.

Despite the focus on Hibiki and Asumu as the central characters, I actually think the character who ended up as my favorite is Todoroki. We see him go through a lot, from a clingy and somewhat insecure apprentice to a confident and independent veteran. He really felt like the star of the show to me, with how much development he gets and just how generally likable he is. The show does a great job of articulating his insecurities about how he compares to Zanki, and I liked the dynamic they had a lot. Todoroki’s storyline even managed to survive Inoue’s blundering mostly intact, leaving it the one kind of tolerable thing left after his disastrous arrival.

The one major character I didn’t really care for all that much even before Inoue showed up is Ibuki. He just never seemed that compelling to me, he was kind of bland and just generally didn’t do much or have anything interesting going on. He wasn’t bad or anything, just an unfortunately average character in a series full of great ones. Considering his age I thought there was a lot of potential in exploring his status as someone who is so young but already a mentor, and the complications and difficulties that can come with that. But while his relationship with Akira is interesting, it never really delved into that specific element of it and was really more about Akira anyway, his role was mostly to enable her story.

And on that note, Akira’s story is one of the major victims of Inoue showing up. Akira’s entire storyline was about her being an Oni trainee, and it was blatantly obvious it was heading in the direction of her eventually achieving this, but if there’s one thing Inoue can’t seem to stand, it’s letting women have their own storylines other being stereotypical emotional support. The reasoning for why Akira gives up her goal of being an Oni is flimsy at best, total nonsense in reality. It goes against her entire established character, but it doesn’t matter because it wasn’t about the story, it was about Inoue’s inability to allow women to be strong characters in their own right. The way women are treated in Kamen Rider is an issue across the entire franchise, but it comes across as far more mean spirited in Inoue’s work than others and it’s really apparent here.

And then of course there’s the single worst thing Inoue brings to Hibiki: Kyousuke. There was absolutely no reason at all for this guy to show up in the first place, but regardless, he shows up and he’s awful immediately. He’s an enormous asshole, obsessed with Hibiki to a stalker-like degree, and no matter what happens to him or how many people try to correct his thinking and behavior, he never changes even in the slightest bit. Worst of all though isn’t the character himself, it’s the way the show completely validates him. A character like that isn’t necessarily bad, but it’s a major problem when other characters can’t recognize that he’s bad. It’s like Kusaka in Faiz, everyone seems completely blind to the obvious fact that this guy is actually terrible. But it’s even worse here because in order to make it work, all of these great characters had to suddenly become enormous morons and/or sudden terrible judges of character. It’s completely absurd that Hibiki actually takes him as an apprentice, while Asumu is suddenly completely shafted and just quits for literally no reason at all (And that’s not even getting into the disastrous mishandling of Asumu’s entire character in general in the second half). Everything about Kyousuke is so terrible that I was actively angry while watching this show any time he was on screen.

Hibiki has to be the most frustrating Rider show I’ve seen so far. It had such a good first half, only to be suddenly handed over to the absolute last person who should ever be allowed near this franchise. The second half isn’t just bad, it actively spits in the face of everything the show was doing up to that point, to the degree that it actually felt like a deliberate decision to trash the show out of spite. I now understand why I’ve seen Switchblade often refer to Hibiki as having only 29 episodes, and it’s a sentiment I can get behind 100%. What we got after episode 29 was not even the same show, so we’ll have to accept the fact that Hibiki is essentially unfinished and only made it halfway through its run. I’m just glad I can finally move on from this mess, and on to Kabuto. I don’t know what I’ll think of Kabuto, but it can only go up from here.

Nobody ever listens to me. I'm the Cassandra of Kamen Rider Hibiki.

Fingers crossed - would love to get the best possible version!

So, with no other choice, I've started V3. It's the last Showa series I have left, hope it's good.

First episode was pretty good, so if that keeps up we'll be fine.

Incidentally I'm watching the same, almost done the series myself. Personally it's one of my favorites from the era.

I just finished 'W' and can't decide what to watch next.

I'm tempted by OOO's,..and Decade, (since they wrap around 'W'.)

But Super 1, Black and Kuuga interest me, particularly Kuuga since he's my wallpaper and I think he looks cool.

...and I still have to finish the original '71 series.

I've seen 'W' and a lot of the movies. But I'm pretty torn which full series to watch next. Showa or Heisei.

V3 is goddamn fantastic. It’s probably the quintessential early Showa series.

Black and Kuuga are both good choices. I’d say check out the first episode or two of each and see which one captures your interest the most.

Kuuga still holds a special place in my heart, I think it's a fantastic show and I definitely recommend giving it a try!

I also agree with what has been said about V3, I've only watched a few episodes but those were really fun. Campy and cheesy, but fun.

I was thinking of Black. Thanks for the recommendation.

If we are still recommending rider series then I would recommend Ryuki, great overall series.

SkyRider Episodes 34-35: The V3 2-parter! Well Shiro and Hiroshi were just awesome together like the others were. I like the technical changes of Hiroshi now saying Sky Henshin, and some minor tweaks to his henshin pose. Also, seeing GanGanG was awesome, I remember him from the Spirits Manga, so I was waiting for him for a while now. He's fun, reminds me of the Mole Beastman from Amazon. Though V3 had some kick ass wrestling moves here, like the Walls of Jericho/Boston Crab and Figure-4 Leg Lock, those were highly efficient against NeoShocker enemies. Hiroshi's bravery and intellect are amazing, and I love him living up to the legacy of his predecessors. I can't wait to see how Nigou and SkyRider work next.

went to watch Black and ended up watching around 10 episodes of the Original '71 last night.

You know it's a little cheesy, the 'monster' costumes aren't very good, the camera angles can be wonky, the colors can make you feel like you're watching Dario Argentos 'Suspiria', and sometimes it's so obvious a punch or a kick missed by a country mile...but there's something so fun about the whole thing. Even the theme song is oddly enjoyable. "Shock-Ah!" It's too easy to watch one episode, then another, then another...

Well I just released my review of Kamen Rider Black:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZRt8KE0eGU

good review, you made some good points.

Thanks. :thumb:

10 episode update.

V3 has indeed been excellent.

Shiro himself is great, and the show is fun. What I love most has to be its structure, though. Two-parters are very rare in Showa, so the fact that they are the norm in V3 makes it stand out quite a bit. Moreover, I love the fact that this isn't just to prolong how long they can use a single monster, but actually have two involved in the stories in various capacities. This is legitimately the greatest thing. The main problem with Showa series is that they can get monotonous, so in other series two-parters and stories with multiple monsters were a rare and welcome treat. V3 incorporating these things as a matter of course is honestly something I had never considered could happen. It never gets boring, and that's fantastic.

My only gripe at this point would be that the action feels a little floaty at times, but eh. It's no biggie.

(This statement would be equally true if I'd chosen to watch V3 before RX, but) I chose a good series to leave for last.

That's cool, gives me something to look forward to. The 2 parters in 'W' were one of the things I really liked about it.

...it also contributed to a lot of binge watching. ("One more episode, ok..one more episode.")

I'm about 1/4 or 1/3'rd of the way through Kamen Rider v1 and there's been a couple 2 parters like the Caterpillar man in pt1 becomes the Mothman in pt2.

I miss Hongo though and am slowly getting used to Hayato,...but there's a certain smugness to Hayato while Hongo was just...angry and cool.

I read Hongo comes back somewhere around episode 40 I think. So that's neat and I'm looking forward to it.

But I've been looking forward to V3 also, so it's neat to know it has 2 parters like 'W' does.


....I'm biased because 'W' was the first Kamen Rider series I completely finished start to finish, but I think it's brilliant. 'W' turned me from an Ultra fan who casually watched Kamen Rider episodes here and there, into an actual Kamen Rider fan.

Yeah, the 2-monster 2-parters were V3's standard structure for the first part of the series. It changes things up around the time the first Destron general shows up, iirc.

Fun game for V3: one of the Destron mook hoods has rounded eye details instead of pointed ones. It was based off of the original design for the costume, but the mask was changed during development and only one hood was made off of the original design. You'll see it show up in fight scenes during at least the first half of the series. I always tried to spot the different hood during the mook battles.

SkyRider Episode 36-37: It's the Nigou/SkyRider crossover episode. I really enjoyed these episodes. Hiroshi has great chemistry with all the riders so far. Nigou and him were both kick ass and awesome against NeoShocker. I enjoyed them solving the mystery of the Village, and their fights against the two monsters. SkyRider they seemed to have added more horror/creepy elements with the plans the monsters come up with, and it's an interesting change to the show. That explosion at the end/beginning sure didn't do anything to SkyRider and Sky Turbo lol. I can't wait for more and can't wait for Shigeru and Hiroshi to team up again.

27 episodes into Kamen Rider Blade so far. Decided to watch it after hearing Tokucast call it a great show that takes a while to get going... and I have to agree. It took a bit too long to explain the backstory behind everything but now said backstory is being explained it's become a lot more interesting.

Will be starting on Episode 28 next, right in the middle of the Mutsuki vs. Shima battle.

I've been making my way through the 99 episodes of Kamen Rider v1. But last night I thought for a change of pace I'd watch just the first episode of Amazons,..just to see something a little newer and HD.

Oof,...5 episodes later......hahaha

Amazons is really good. It was hard to stop because each episode was so good and sort of ended on a cliffhanger.

plus each episode had some kind of jaw dropping moment where The Rider stomped someone's skull into the ground, or tore someone in half. Just...wow. What a show!

Going to watch more tonight, I've been thinking about it all day.

Yeah, the gorey part of Amazons REALLY stands out. I haven't seen season 2 yet but I hear they made it even bloodier

after episode 4,..I can't even imagine HOW! hahaha

Episode 4 the rooftop battle with The Queen and all her minions,..I mean..wow, that was just ruthless in so many ways.

The scene of that one minion getting ripped in half the long way and his body halves separating in two different directions just floored me.

I wouldn't want every series of The Rider to be this dark and gory,..(I love 'W' for it's kitsch and humor),..but I am very much enjoying the darkness and gore of this one series.

Yeah, the Ant Queen Amazon fight stuck out to me the most alongside Omega Amazon crushing a Bat's head

yeah the flying leap that ended with an Amazon foot landing on Batmans skull and crushing it was the first real, "HOLY CRAP!" moment for me.

"I guess the fight is over....he's uh......yeeeeah....he's not getting up from that." :eek:

I really need to finish season 2 of Amazons. I drifted away from it a little and just never got around to getting back. I only have about 5-6 episodes left, it's just hard to get excited about going back to more Chihiro.

I made it up to about episode 13 last night. Halfway through the series I think.

Serial Killers and Cannibals and Turn-Coats, oh my!

I couldn't believe they had a serial killer just sit down on top of the female team member and repeatedly punch her in the face like...seemingly 10-15 times. Her face was totally battered. He knocked her out a couple times and would keep coming back to her to beat on her some more? That was some craziness!

..then the team takes the moral high ground of, "oh he's not an Amazon monster so we'll just walk away and leave him sitting here because killing a human crosses the line."

Hell no,..that guy is a monster. That's what bullets are made for. They should've opened up his neck and left him there to bleed out.

I couldn't believe they just walked away.

They didn't even call the police, if I recall correctly.

Oh hey, look, it's one of several reasons I dislike Amazonz.

Anyways, onto things I do enjoy, my boyfriend and I started watching Blade, up to episode 10, and yeah I like it so far. The suits are absolutely great, and I can't wait to see more.

Nope. They just left.

I'm not saying I'd kill him in and put his corpse in the trunk of one those junkyard cars,...

...I'd make him get in the trunk first. That's way less work than moving a body. :p

Maybe it's cultural differences. I don't know. I didn't understand why 'Mo' (the amazon) let himself be chained to the car and just watched her get beaten when he could've broken the chains and just thrown that guy 100 feet in the air and let him land wherever in a crumpled mess.

I mean first the guy is clubbing her head with that metal rod, then he actually sits on her and just starts pummeling her face over and over,..and Mo just sits there and watches? (I can't remember that Amazons name, the hamburger eating one.)

And the team once finding her with her face totally smashed in just gets her and walks away? Made no sense to me.

Maybe it's my American thinking of wanting justice and punishment, but I couldn't wrap my head around that one. You find a serial killer like that, you remove the sick animal from society so it can't hurt anyone else.

...then again it's just a tv show so I'm probably reading more into this than I should.

Most tv shows can't make me want to yell at the tv,..so I guess it's a pretty good show. Hahaha

Rewatching Black as it is 30 years of the series this year and as well watching Build in between. More Build than Black as it is more casual.

Currently watching Episode 38 of Kamen Rider Blade. Yeah, I've kind of been binge watching it in my free time recently. Feels almost like a completely different show for the last 8 episodes, probably because of the different opening and the head writer change but I'm now genuinely curious as to the reason why this show changed writers and it's opening midway through the series. I haven't found anywhere that has stated the reason before and was wondering if anyone really knew. Either way things are just getting so much more intense and it feels like there's so much more on the line.

This show may have taken a while to really explain itself but the plot twists are generally interesting even if the arc surrounding the King Form is by far better written than the rest of the show so far imo.

Also, after everything that's happened Amane is still oblivious to everything that's going on...

I believe head writer change was due to poor toy sales, if I recall correctly.

Well maybe it'd help to try and get excited about going back to more Haruka instead? Chihiro never stops being important, but the story definitely starts to come back around to the season 1 characters a lot more in the back half.

Not really. Haruka never did a good job of maintaining my interest.