I'm getting close to finishing up Den-O myself. Just finished episode 38 a bit ago. The show really has gotten better the further away it's gotten from Milk Dipper, and Deneb is a treat. Best character in the show by far. Too bad Vega doesn't see much use anymore.

Ultraman Orb had some rough beginnings, what with the break dancing and the dabbing and all. Honestly, across dozens of Rider shows I've seen, I don't think anything has been as cringe-inducing as Ryutaros' break dancing shenanigans, but at least he as a character has gotten better.

I do like that Kamen Rider has things from horrifying (Amazons) to playful (Fourze.)

It's nice to have variety.

Wrapped up Den-O yesterday. For having struggled through its early episodes, I think the final stretch of episodes was pretty strong. Of course, the villains were weak as hell and there's a lot left unexplained, and getting the ending necessitated a few asspulls and odd contrivances, but, it was still a fun and satisfactory ride at the end. I enjoyed it.

Climax Deka and Final Countdown blow, though.

Deka just felt like it was sloppily cobbled together to capitalize on the hype while it was still hot, nothing about it really makes sense or is explained at all and it really feels like it's missing the heart that made the show succeed. An enjoyably ridiculous premise and a few really good gags are pretty much all it has going for it.

Final Countdown isn't nearly as fun, but it does have a little more of the emotional backbone the series did. Not enough to make it good, I guess just enough to not make the movie feel as much a wasteful, unnecessary addition to a story that had wrapped up ok enough. Still, some odd choices. I'm just really flabbergasted by the decision to have Ryotaro basically completely absent from his last appearance as Den-O. He can't have had more than 10 minutes of screentime altogether--and Yuto was somehow even worse off (but at least he keeps coming back). The fact that both movies wasted a bunch of time on teaching some unlikable new dumbass a lesson was not lost on me and I didn't really like it. Hopefully Kotaro is less annoying in whatever other moves New Den-O shows up in. Also pretty confused by why they decided to go with not giving Teddy a personality when that stuff's literally the only reason Den-O was so successful in the first place.

In the meantime I've also been watching the Imagin Anime, though turns out I underestimated how late some of these came out, had to stop mid-season 3 because I guess some characters from the Trilogy show up. I'll get to it later. They're...pretty damn pointless and most rather humorless. I liked the one about Den-O's production though. (also whew, TVN is really bad at Den-O).

That reminds me I also watched the Shin-chan episode with Den-O, and for that, I have regrets.

Ended up watching the Kiva net movies more than a year late, since in typical fashion the fact that TV-N doesn't properly label their torrents meant I missed them when I first watched Kiva. They were pretty great though. I choose to believe the Nago episode is canon as hell.

And all that ends with me finally having watched everything that came before Decade, which means I can finally watch Decade. Yay.. Well, yayish. I watched the first episode just now, and it was pretty rough. I'll admit the opening sequence with all the different Riders and stuff was fun, but the rest of it may as well have been a blank screen for how much it did for me. Well, I'm trying not to expect much from the series, based on what I've heard. But, the dumb cop from Climax Deka being Kuuga does not bode great.

If it helps, the writers forget that he's Kuuga for, like, half of the show.

Decade is a strange show. I ended up rather liking it, but some of the arcs are better than others, and I wouldn't fault anyone for not liking it at all.

I just finished up Fourze and was underwhelmed with the villain and the way it ended.

I'm starting Drive tomorrow. I thought about watching Wizard, but heard it was awful so I'll skip it for now.

Kabuto is pretty okay so far

Hayabusa Hayabusa Hayabus Kun!

https://i.imgur.com/NkrWK8z.jpg

That’s about where I was at with Fourze.

I think I liked Fourze just because it was sort of happy and joyous and playful.

After Amazons and some of the darker Rider series it was nice to see one that is just sort of playful and fun.

Totally get that you'd have to be in the mood for it though or I imagine it would probably be sort of annoying.

Oh don't get me wrong, I love Fourze. It's a show that I actually like more and more as I look back on it. I just thought the ending was underwhelming, due in large part to some pacing problems the show had near the end.

I honestly don't much remember the end.

A lot of the Rider shows seem to peter out by the end. I remember the characters but not so much the ending.

'W' and Kuuga, Ex-Aid, and 555's I remember the ending pretty clearly. (actually I remember the 555's movie ending more clearly.)

The First and The Next made a strong impression on me.

But others like Ryuki,....I remember the characters and some of the story arcs but it all blurs together.

I loved Kuugas ending though I understand many didn't like it. The shows have gotten so loud and flashy, I really like that the ending was just like, "lets quietly beat each other to death."

Kuuga was such a happy guy and during the arc of the show he gets more and more somber and brooding until he's just not a happy person anymore and he's literally in a fist fight to the death as the embodiment of a living weapon.

You just watch him lose all his innocence and even most of his hope as the show grinds on.

That's some heavy chit. I love it.

16 episodes into Decade. It's a fairly mixed bag. Some of the AR worlds have fairly interesting settings (like Kiva, and Ryuki (which tbh felt like it should have been the World of Knight for how much not-Shinji actually contributed) but because of the short time they have to work with a lot just ends up feeling half-baked, which is kind of a shame.

Up to this point, I think the World of Agito is probably the best realized one yet. I really liked the approach to the protagonist. Avoided just completely leaving out some major Riders or just turning them into assholes (Garren and Chalice suffered). Den-O was also fine but they stuck with the real thing, so I guess that helped.

Anyway, I'm watching the Chou Den-O movie, and I don't know why but I really love that the Taros possessed the arm monsters. That's just perfect.

Wrapped up Decade yesterday. My opinion didn't change a lot by the end. It's a very mixed bag of a series. I didn't hate it, though it may only be because I had more than ample warning of its shortcomings. Still, as an episodic show I think it was watchable enough. Most of that is probably owed to Tsukasa's charisma, though inconsistent characterization plagued him.

Didn't really hate the AR shit, outside of Amazon, much either. The World of Amazon is pretty horrid. Really, I think there was an unfortunate and sizeable drop of quality and the blatant lack of purpose shot up to eleven as soon as the Heisei AR worlds stopped. And some really weird moves. Like, you can't make such a big deal out of Kasumi no Joe and then not even have his actor come back to voice someone. He's a pretty prolific va so there was nothing stopping them, it's just weird.

And that ending...Definitely not the best ending a series has had.

Also the movie is unfathomably dumb.

We'll see how Movie War 2010 "wraps up" this stuff. And to that purpose, I'm now on my penultimate series, W. I'm 5 episodes in. I don't like Akiko, but Shotaro is pretty cool. I really like the idea behind the setting too, being focused on a specific town in Fuuto. I don't think any other series has quite focused on their location in quite the same way.

I finished Drive yesterday. I'll pick an early Heisei KR series to watch. I've heard that Ghost and Wizard are bad so I'll skip those for now.

I've been holding off on finishing Blade for way too long now, I watched an entire series in between, but I decided to go back this weekend to finish it and I'm glad I did. The late game was still rather boring to witness until the boss got killed; the following episodes focusing on the Joker are the absolute best. The ending is so good.

It hits you like a truck and instead of lamenting about it for too long the show just ends, I love it. The decision was made, the consequences are real, the end. Damn.

I still stand by the fact that I enjoyed the earlier half of Blade more; some character decisions in the later half are just too annoying. Mutsuki got completely ruined; even though they tied his arc up nicely the whole thing was a mess. I know it's due to changes in the writing room but still. It's not unwatchable by any means, but the second half starts to drag hard, bad enough for me to just lose interest and watch something else. But the ending is fantastic.

Overall, solid show. Even with the shortcomings of the second half. Next up I feel like taking a look at a very polarizing show, I think I will give Kiva a shot.

…

I had a Rider ranking of sorts, remember? Which ones I liked best, that kinda stuff. Turns out I didn’t update that thing in quite a while, I haven’t added like 7 shows, and I have now watched a total of 21 different Kamen Rider series total. Jesus Christ. What I want to say is: Ranking those is impossible now, due to sheer size and of course, well, memory loss. I don’t feel like I can properly rank them anymore. I may need help. Not with ranking Rider shows, in general! :lol

Still working on Den-O. I feel like I missed a movie or something in the middle. There was this huge build up to the God Train and that guy stealing the Den-O-Liner train and how he was going to destroy all of time...and he was clearly 'The Big Bad'.

..and then the next episode is all like, "la la la none of that happened." I really feel like I missed some massive movie or something. (I forget which episode I'm on, like 27 or something.)

I really hate it when this happens in a Kamen Rider. And of course I dig up the movies and there's like 6 of them. And I can't seem to find any reference as to WTF just happened in the story arc or why this huge plot point that was built up for quite a few episodes has suddenly vanished. Did I fall asleep and miss an episode or two? It feels like it.


If I didn't think Hana-san was hot, and I didn't find Momotaros to be an awesome and funny Oni-Looking character, I'd almost be tempted to rage quit this series for a little while.

Blade has what is still, to this day, my favorite ending of any Rider series. It's such a beautiful moment of self-sacrifice and finding a third way instead of choosing one of the two bad options being presented.

You did miss a movie: the Ore Tanjou film. This was the first time in the Heisei era that a Rider series' movie was explicitly canon to the series, to the point where there were multiple episodes building up to it. It's a pretty good watch and it introduces a character that shows up a lot in the post-series films.

And, um, about Hana... I really hope you find more about the show that you like. Quickly.

thanks! I will watch that film this evening so the rest of the show makes some sense.

The show is amusing, I know I read that Hana goes away or something, pretty sure I read she dropped out of acting/entertainment all together.

I really like Momotaros, he makes me laugh so I'll keep watching to see his antics and overreactions.

I don't like the Rider. I know it's his character, and he's a decent actor because he pulls off all the different variations of himself when he's possessed by a different Imagin, even down to altered mannerisms and body language, he's doing a really good job of selling all the characters he has to be.

But when he's himself and his character is just weak and clumsy, and the way he's cringing when he says, "Henshin!"...eh...it's sort of annoying.

I like when the Imagins are on the Den-O liner just arguing and fighting with each other. They're interesting characters. Momotaros is definitely my favorite character in the entire show though. And I really like the red costume and Oni mask. I actually wouldn't mind having that mask hanging on my wall.

I finished W a couple of days ago. I liked it overall, but I liked it more 30 episodes before it ended. I feel like a bunch of the stories in the 20s and some around the 30s were pretty weak, and while I was fairly impressed by the way they handled two-parters early on, as with almost every series that sticks to that format, it was a bit of a mixed bag overall. I never really got around to liking Terui (how I wish Kirihiko had gotten a more relevant role to play) and it felt like they really dragged out some plot points well beyond where it was reasonable. But it definitely has some really strong points, from the main characters, Shotaro in particular, to the way the Futo setting is treated and developed. It's some good stuff.

And its summer movie is definitely one of the least awful.

Having finished W and with Build now being over, I have finished every Rider series now except for Fourze. I kind of really wish I could have avoided having the last four shows I watch right after another be structured around two-parters and votw shit, because I'm just about at the end of my rope here, but I'll get though it.

Probably won't finish Fourze before Zi-O starts, but I've got about a month before the Fourze tributes start. So hopefully that's enough time.

Still have some movies to get through before I can start it, though. Watched Core last night. Skull was cool if a little predictable, the rest of the movie was really really painful to sit through. Who lets Inoue write things in this decade, my god.

Okay Kiwami, but I would give it at least two just to make sure it's really dead. :p

Oh man, I haven't seen Core in since more or less when it first got subbed but I remember the OOO's portion of it just being THE most nonsensical, ridiculous plot, and the whole thing barely resembled the style or tone of the show. It's like even just from the obvious, yet bizarre and convoluted premise you can tell Inoue was totally phoning it in.

The OOO portion always felt like it was working off of an unfinished draft of OOO, before they know what they were doing. At least for me that gives me a fun insight into what the best Kamen Rider show would have been like had they followed previous plans.

And that is why Gaim was such a breath of fresh air when it debuted.

Definitely. OOO changed a lot during production and even by the time Core rolled around it felt like the show had diverged a lot from the original plans. Also it was written by a complete hack, which doesn't help.

After a long hiatus I finally got around to finishing Kabuto and it was, well…not very good. It wasn’t the worst I’ve seen, certainly not as bad as Faiz or Hibiki’s second half, but it was just kind of bland and mediocre. It had really cool suits and an interesting premise, but that’s about it. It was just so uninteresting, with characters I didn’t care about and a story that felt like it went nowhere most of the time. Ultimately, I just thought it was dull and unremarkable in about every aspect possible.

Tendou himself was a major contributor to my feelings on this show. He is the epitome of the flawless Gary Stu character type. Good at everything, has no weaknesses, and worst of all is aware of this fact and lords it over everyone else constantly. He has virtually no character growth across the series and is obnoxious most of the time, he is easily among my least favorite main Riders. This does get a little better towards the end when they give him some material to work with in terms of emotional vulnerability and motivations, but it’s too little too late.

Kagami honestly would have made a better protagonist, his storyline more closely follows the path of the main Rider in most other Rider shows. I definitely preferred him to Tendou, but even then he still wasn’t terribly interesting. It takes a long time before he even becomes a Rider which I thought was kind of unique, it makes it feel earned by the time he does get that power. But despite that I never felt that invested in him as a character.

Tsurugi had a really interesting story but it got mostly shafted until the end. I did think the conclusion to his story was good and liked the plotline of him actually being the Scorpius Worm and in denial of his own identity, but it took way too long to get to any real meaningful development of that and when it did get there it ended almost immediately. Instead he spent most of the series as a kind of annoying comic relief character and all of his good material was barely touched on until the end.

Daisuke was probably my overall favorite of the four major Riders. His relationship with Gon felt like the only effective characterization in the show, their connection felt genuine and believable. I actually didn’t like Daisuke during his debut, but as he continued to appear I think his interactions with Gon and the other Riders made him more likable and the only one of them I ever really cared about. It’s just too bad he wasn’t as regular as the others.

And then we get to the Hoppers, and oh boy were these guys something. I don’t even know where to begin, everything about them was so bizarre and comically stupid. Even before they gained their Hopper suits (Which came completely out of nowhere and are never given any kind of explanation) both of these guys sucked. Kageyama might actually be the single biggest loser in the entire Kamen Rider franchise, the guy is hopelessly inept at literally everything he does. Every other character treats him like a total joke and he does nothing to prove them wrong, constantly getting beat up and outsmarted by everyone else to an absurd degree. He was actually one of my favorite characters in the end just because he was so lame that it was hilarious, I knew as soon as he showed up in a scene that I would be amused by whatever stupid thing he tries and inevitably fails terribly at. Yaguruma isn’t much better, he barely does anything successful and his whole “I’m so dark and edgy” shtick after his inexplicable reappearance as KickHopper is completely ridiculous, I laughed every time he appeared on screen in his silly leather outfit. So I guess in a weird way these two were kind of my favorite thing about the show, everything else was so boring to me that the unintentional hilarity these two brought was a welcome relief to the normally plodding story and dull characters.

To build on that last point, the pacing and just general slowness of the plot was one of my major issues. It felt like the show was going in circles most of the time and making no real progress until things finally kicked in during the last few episodes. Those last episodes were probably the best, I actually felt kind of interested in where it was going, in contrast to how I felt throughout everything up to it. But it took way too long to get to that point, and on top of that the writing slipped into a common issue both Faiz and Ryuki had where characters will just seemingly teleport where they need to be at any given time, and intense fights that inexplicably come to a dead stop before reaching any kind of climax and the characters just walk away for no reason. It didn’t happen as often here as it did in those other two, but it was still jarring and annoying when it did happen.

Overall, my feelings on Kabuto can probably be summed up by using a food example, which is fitting considering the show’s bizarre fixation on food. Basically, it was like a saltine cracker. I don’t particularly enjoy saltine crackers, but by no means do I dislike them either. They are so bland, tasteless, and forgettable that I just don’t really think anything of them at all. That perfectly describes my feelings towards Kabuto. At its worst it was still nowhere near as bad as some other Rider shows, but at its best it was not particularly good either. Kabuto was utterly unremarkable in about every aspect possible. Now it’s time to move on to Den-O, which I’m much more hopeful for.

That really resembles my own thoughts on Kabuto. Of all the Rider shows, it’s the one that I most frequently tend to forget exists.

Started rewatching Den-O because I honestly, cannot for the life of me, remember how it ends.
And my god, I know Ryoutaro's actor has to basically play 5 different characters, swapping between them at any given notice, but I forgot just how bad his acting is for "Normal" Ryoutaro. His whispery tone is too forced and he really comes off like he just doesn't get how to act wimpy.
At least he does a good job when acting while possessed.

According to the Japanese wikipedia, he actually rejected returning, which is why they only mention him off screen but he never appears.

What was the ending you saw? The one where Diend shoots Decade and you get a movie trailer afterwards? That ending basically doesn't count and was replaced by a second version of episode 31 to better line up with Movie Wars 2010 (and stop legal complaints about the show having no ending even if the other ending clearly doesn't close up things either).

I watched Kamen Rider The First. It's alright, I'll be honest. The stuff with Hongo never quite feels like it's going anywhere, and the movie could have used a little more of an arc to it. Ichimonji comes off as an ass, but it's nice how he turns it around at the end. The highligh is easily the doomed romance between The two Kaijin , and that might be up there in the Top 10 Sadest Rider moments. Overall, I'd give it an "eh" out of 10.

A rampaging fat German guy speaking actual German, subtitled by TV Nihon? This alone makes Kiva a must-watch.

https://i.imgur.com/DyvZ9t5.jpg

Oh boy.

Anyways, Kiva Episode 3 (yes I'm actually watching this). Gotta say, knowing Kouhei Takeda from Build makes this a lot more fun. Just to see him screwing around.

Telling the story through two time periods is quite ambitious, but that's the best I can say about this show so far. It's weird. Suits look good though, but that's about the only enjoyable part so far.

Finished Den-O last night, one I’d really been anticipating considering how ubiquitous it is throughout the franchise and fanbase. I wasn’t completely sure what to expect going into it, I knew that it’s widely liked but was a bit hesitant because, while I typically prefer shows with a lighter tone, the emphasis on humor worried me. The humor in Kamen Rider is usually really not my thing, and so I was a bit worried Den-O would end up being the same kind of grating, annoying humor that characterizes a lot of the later Heisei stuff. I am glad to say my fears were proven wrong very early on, and Den-O was a fun, enjoyable time from start to finish (Or I guess I should say from start to climax).

My favorite thing about Den-O was definitely the characters, the Imagin specifically. They were just so much fun, with a lot of character and personality and they played off each other very well. It didn’t rely on the kind of obnoxiously loud slapstick comedy that I hate from later Heisei, the humor all came from the interactions between the characters and felt very natural and came from a place of genuine characterization. As the star of the group, Momotaros certainly got a bit more depth than the others, especially at the end as he finally becomes willing to acknowledge how much he cares about Ryotaro and the other Imagin as friends. None of the others really go through much in terms of character development or growth, though they do all have their moments. But considering that Den-O isn’t a show that’s really trying to go for serious character drama, that’s not a criticism of it since it succeeds greatly at its goal of creating a fun, humorous atmosphere based on all these over-the-top characters.

I didn’t care for the human characters quite as much as I did the Imagin, I certainly liked them but they didn’t steal the show the way the Imagin did. Ryotaro is a fine protagonist, but really not that interesting a character for most of the show. He does get some good material at the end that lets him come into his own, but for a lot of the series he didn’t interest me that much honestly. I was more interested in Yuto, whose storyline had more interesting developments for the most part and who got stronger characterization overall. I especially liked his interactions with Deneb, they were an amazing comedic pair and the clash of their polar opposite personalities made for so many great moments. Their scenes together were some of my favorite in the show.

Besides the characters, the other thing I really liked about Den-O was the tone. The lighter, fun-centric style was such a refreshing change after having to endure the grim, self-serious slog of shows like Faiz or Kabuto. That was getting quite tiresome, and it was a very welcome change to see Den-O come along and focus on just having a good time. Even the villains were fun, the villainous Imagin are some of my favorite kaijin in the series now. Each one had a clear and distinct personality, and they were often a great source of humor too. I really liked that since the kaijin are usually my least favorite part of a KR series, they’re usually only mindless monsters who exist just to facilitate fight scenes. The livelier, more well-realized Imagin were a great break from that and infused even intense fight scenes with a sense of lighter fun.

If I had to come up with any criticisms of Den-O, it’s that the two-part format did get a bit too formulaic at times and the plot often didn’t go anywhere or took a long time to do anything. There were some plot holes around the time travel stuff (As there always is in time travel stories) and most of all, Kai was not an effective villain to me at all. It never addresses key points such as who he even really is or his motivations. He was definitely the weakest part of the show and the only thing in it I didn’t really care for.

Other than those minor things though, I thought Den-O was fantastic and I had such a great time with it. There’s so much more I want to say about all the characters, the story, the tone, but the length of this would just become completely unreasonable if I wrote out all the things I want to say. Ultimately, Den-O ended up as some of the most fun I’ve had with Kamen Rider and I will miss these characters greatly as I move on to Kiva.

I don't remember a German. I remember the dick squid rollerskater megane music fangirl though.

10 Episodes into Kiva and I'm surprised by how much I like it. What makes this show so entertaining to me is the whole dynamic with the 2 different time settings; it keeps the show from becoming stale as juggling two different sets of characters that intertwine is something fresh and new that I haven’t seen done like this before in a Rider show.

It also helps that I’ve taken a liking to the characters although some don't have enough screentime (which is bound to happen I guess) - there's not enough Shizuka in this show so far, she definitely suffers from being "not important enough". I hope they do something cool with the character later but I don’t expect it.

Also, the one thing that bugs me so far is that the show doesn’t really bother to explain what Fangire are or where Kivat comes from. I can accept a talking bat-like toy flying around and giving the main character advice for a short while but after 10 episodes I’d like to know where he came from and how he ended up with Wataru. They will tell us eventually but I feel like they could drop a few hints at least.

Anyways, favorite character so far: Otoya. Why...?

Because he's interesting ;)

I agree with your post as a whole and this sentence especially. The Imagin really are the best thing about Den-O and ones enjoyment of the shows heavily depends on if you like them or not.

I fondly remember Den-O even though the endgame was very disappointing; some of the individual stories were really good. The one with the old man who vanished because no one remembered him really got me. I had to think about that one when I was watching that animated movie last year - you know the one.

The Octopus Fangire?

I'm always glad to see somebody enjoying Kiva. Sure, it has plenty of flaws, but it's still such an enjoyable show, in my opinion.
It has fantastic visual designs, I also really dug the dual time-line aspect of it, and lots of the story arcs are really good, such as when the Spider Fangire returns, or when the 1986 group encounters the Queen, or the other monsters.

Kiva had great music and awesome suits, ruined because inoue sucks at writing and toei not bothering to use common sense on suit design. You know, if they included the suit actors in the process of designing a suit, we might get some rather unique ideas

Kiva is the most unfairly maligned KR series, IMO.

The way it handles the multiple timelines is often brilliant, the characters and performances are super memorable, the melodrama is top notch, and the design work is stellar.

Does it always "make sense?" No. But it's in my Top 3 KR series, without a doubt.

I... wouldn't hold out much hope for an explanation of, well, anything really. :lol

A lot of people criticize the show for not taking the time to explain things, but that's kind of one of the main reasons I love it? It makes every new addition to the plot and world feel so bonkers, and "bonkers" is one of my favorite things a toku can be.

I must say it is good you got around to watching Kiva since, It is a show I do find flawed and has a more issues then I would have hoped but it got me through a rough time, has really cool suits and music and it is ambitious for the concepts it wanted to play out.

On the actual topic thread, Have gotten back to watching kamen rider, specifically ex Aid where me and my friend got through episode 20 to 23, with Genm being more an ass until his inevitable defeat, which I am sure will last, clearly, definitely not going to come back or whatever.

I mean I don't know if he will comeback or not but I feel he could come back through something he had planned like if he had a back up or something.

The new suit looks.... bulky, like Kiva had issues with it's suit in terms of weight and given how huge maximum might x looks it does not seem great thus far, looking forward to the rest of it.

Also since episode 24 loks to be the crossover with sentai episode is it necessary or can we just skip it to continue with the story?

Yeah I held off on it for a while but I'm glad I gave it a chance; I’m at Episode 17 so far and still quite like it.

It is important to the plot, don’t skip it :)

Good to know you are getting around to it and that you are still enjoying it.

And that is good to know that is, been even more of a while since I have watched any super sentai and just remembered, genm is there in the preview he is, so he is going to back in some form.

Why does Genm get to come back but best character Kiriya doesn't?

You do get to see Kiriya again if you watch to Gorider miniseries that came out around that year’s Super Hero Taisen. It’s a fun little thing with several dead characters from past shows.

Since my copy finally came in today, I almost immediately upon opening the box watched the Amazons movie. While definitely not THE film of the year I was most hyped for (Halloween yo), it certainly was in the higher end of that list. And I gotta say after watching it, twas not bad.

The plot is about Haruka and Mizuki after an encounter with 4C being picked up by an orphanage which is run by the new rider introduced in the film. From there though, holy crap does the film go crazy with the story. I won't go into detail since (to my knowledge) there are no subs out yet for the movie and I don't want to spoil things for anybody. Along with this what I know of Japanese got me through the movie well in terms of the pre established characters and understanding some of the new plot, but a lot of it is kind of late developed or left in the air without fully comprehending everything. Because of this I can't fully critique and review the story to a full degree, but there are somethings that are pretty baffling in general and some plot points kinda drag on a bit too much. Along with that I was sort of hoping it would clear some story elements from season 2 up, and the ending is a little odd. I will say though that the story is pretty dark, which while par the course for Amazons, it actually gets even darker with the major plot point and conflict of the film.

Acting wise everybody is pretty good, the film looks good and is pretty cinematic in a lot of scenes (only a few scenes look like just a slightly higher budgeted version of the show), and there isn't a filter like in the show so a lot of details are shown off in full (which also means the movie is even bloodier than usually since it now is clearly red). Music was good, the theme is okay and is certainly not my favorite between the three.

Overall Final Judgement was a fun (as fun as Amazons can be) ride and a pretty good movie. I wouldn't call it the best Rider movie out there (I personally would give that title to either J or Paradise Lost) but it is certainly better than the majority (of what I have seen at least). If this is indeed the last entry into the series then I would say it went out rather well.

https://i.imgur.com/NreToNl.png
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