It's hard to just throw out a couple sentences of general thoughts in a post-Kamen Rider Die world. It feels like it would be really lazy.

Glad you enjoyed the read, it was fun to go back through the show again, even if I did occasionally get sideline by work and/or Fire Emblem.

Finished Blade.

That final arc was a proper banger! Easily the most invested I’d been in this show. Great culmination of themes and characters all around, and I got a kick out of the fact that the much hyped Joker’s Doomsday Scenario was… him summoning army of roaches. Genuine nightmare scenario, but also funny as hell. The only major blemish was Tachibana waltzing back with the Chief all of sudden; it cheapened the impact of that epic last stand at the end of Ep 47, and just the sort of weak punch-pulling move that I dislike (meanwhile, the Chief was just there for wildly unnecessary exposition and spoiler about Kenzaki’s plan).

While I’m wrapping up the show, it dawned on me how similar Ryuki, Faiz, and Blade are in many ways. Sandwiched between the procedural-centric Kuuga-Agito and Hibiki (a completely different beast among the KRs), all three felt like they represent a distinct subset of Rider Phase I shows. Blade of course rehashed Ryuki’s Battle Royale scenario and the weaponized cards, but more importantly, it also experimented with the same set of bold narrative choices the other two did; the shades of grey, the constant clash of philosophy between people on the same side, and vulnerable Riders who are generally much more uncertain about the situation they’re in (“I don’t want to fight!”-the self-defining lines uttered by Shinji, Takumi, and Kenzaki at various parts of their respective shows). The thing I like the most about Blade is how it’s the one that leans the most heavily on the idea that, instead of a certain person or organization, the situation itself was the ultimate villain of the show. That’s a challenging one to write, and I feel the show did succeed at highlighting that theme for its climax.

However, while Blade does have a more cogent world-building and overall narrative structure than Ryuki and Faiz, it’s still my least favorite among the three. It has the least interesting cast and just doesn’t have as many narrative highs as those two (although it must also be said that its lows are nowhere near Faiz’ lows). Personally, I also think it’s lacking in toyetic factor; Ryuki and Faiz are just brimming with stuff I’d love to own, while Blade felt very bland in comparison. The Rider suit and overall design themselves are also mostly uninspiring; if I have to choose a favorite, it’d be the staff-wielding Leangle with his signature Remote card, but he still wouldn’t even crack my top 10 favorite Rider design. I like the idea of the card mechanic (once I looked up an external source just to figure out how they work), but it pales in comparison to Ryuki’s much more striking and intuitive card-battling presentation. It’s been years since I last watched Ryuki and I can still recall most Strike/Shoot/Trick/Advent/Final Vents used by all 13 Riders; Blade only has 4 Riders and I just finished watching it, but I can barely recall who’s using what in this show!

But yeah, overall it’s a solid show and I like it. Perhaps not one that I’m excited to rewatch someday, but it has its moments, not least in its unique and bittersweet ending. On to Hibiki finale now …

Kind of bummed to see Blade not be a personal fav of yours. I'm biased since I'm in love with Blade, but hey, that's fine :lol

The doomsday scenario in Blade was one of my favorite climaxes in the franchise solely because it wasn't just about a villain you could punch to death. It was about the 1 vs many aspect, and finding a way around it, which I felt they did in a wonderful way, offering a bittersweet ending to a character that deserved a happier one.

Still, even if it doesn't crack your top 10 list, I'm still glad to hear you got some enjoyment out of it!
Blade is always a series that makes me smile~

It's actually in my Top 5... out of the grand total of 10 shows I've finished :lol But yeah, I'd say it's in the range of B or B+ to me, which is still pretty darn good.

Yeah, that's a really well-executed and unexpected finale. Kinda funny, for most of the show I feel he's often overshadowed by the drama of the three other Riders, but in the end he's the one coming up with the show's most memorable moment, as well as surely one of the kindest, most heart-breaking, gesture in the history of KR narrative. Gotta admit I teared up a bit at that last shot.

Blade and Kenzaki deserve more fan love! I always feel it's one of the least talked about Kamen Rider/Main Character, althugh perhaps not to the extent of Kabuto or Agito. Now, those two, I often forgot they exist; I don't think I've ever seen anyone having a strong opinion (either good or bad) about them! I should really get to them sometime.

Fair enough. I didn't know how many series you've seen :lol

Kenzaki was such a wonderful guy. He wasn't the epitome of hope like Kuuga, nor the amazing ace like Kabuto, but he was remarkably grounded, so him making such a sacrifice really did hit hard. I'm two ways on what Zi-O did, but it was still a nice gesture~
Also, considering Blade is my personal fav, I for one wouldn't mind more love going Blade's way :lol

Concerning Kabuto and Agito, there are some general opinions on the two. Kabuto is considered a pretty poor season with an obnoxious main character, while Agito is seen as an average season that doesn't do much bad, but doesn't excel in any aspect. Those are just the generalizations I hear from other fans around the webnet.
I personally think Kabuto is decent once you know what you're getting into, mainly because Kagami is great. And having just finished Agito, I think it's a pretty solid show. Above average with a lovable cast.

Hibiki... what the hell was that last episode!? Was there more behind-the-scene/budget-related trouble? The narrative conclusion of Asumu pursuing his own path is okay (more than okay, actually; it fits well with his characterisation and the show's overarching theme), but the execution's all over the place. The early run of this Faux Hibiki show was actually tolerable in a vacuum (i.e. if you can look past how it meshes horribly with everything that's been established before), but the final stretch, especially the last ep, was disjointed, oddly paced, and reeks of general air of 'let's just this get over with'.

But yeah, enough with the negativity. I can't praise Prime/Actual Hibiki enough for how good it was as actual kid's show; and by that, I really didn't mean that it's less intelligent/thrilling than your usual KR show. It's just a show that I can imagine 8-year-old me sitting cozily on a Saturday morning, just soaking up the fantastic setting, super likable cast, gentle life lessons, well-measured moments of dramatic impact, and unique integration of musical/mechanical gadgetry elements. Great, great, show, and nothing from episode 30 onward can rid the good times of watching the Actual Show; in a weird way, they might actually made me appreciate the good part even more :lol. I hope they someday try a Kamen Rider Slice of Life again, as unlikely as it is (was... Fourze that? It kinda seems it's like that, just more explicitly comedic?)

Updating my watch list/ranking:

1. Ryuki A
2. Actual Hibiki A
3. Gaim A-
4. W A-
5. Kuuga B+
6. Blade B
7. Faiz B-
8. Black C+
9. Build C+
10. Faux Hibiki C
11. Decade D (*props for being my gateway to Hibiki and featuring OniAkira, tho)

The grades are largely malleable and very subjective measure of my feeling to each show in relation to each other, they'll probably change as I watch and rewatch more shows. I felt Black's was kinda harsh in particular; it's a major slog to to get through the extreme episodic nature of most its episodes in this day and age, but it truly was brimming with fantastic and extremely memorable individual moments.

Not sure yet what I should watch next (besides rewatching Ryuki and reevaluate how I feel about it). I'm in the mood to check out Heisei Phase II show now, so probably one of... Drive, Wizard, or Fourze, just based on which ones with the concept that seem the most interesting to me.

Thanks for the info, now I just got more excited about getting to those two someday! Yeah, I only knew Agito as "Kuuga sequel but with different characters" and nothing about Kabuto apart from its spinoff portion in Decade (which isn't exactly memorable either).

They were literally writing and rewriting it while filming. An entire planned ending with Asumu as an oni was scrapped and parts of his suit were used to make the one for Kiriya.

If there's one good thing I'll say about the apocryphal episodes, it's that I agree with the decision not to make Asumu an oni. I never felt that was his path and that his experience with Hibiki and the others was meant to be more about him finding confidence as he becomes an adult.

Makes sense, everything just felt incredibly rushed and sloppy there. That ending does go very well with the first 30 episodes, and I guess we could only wish the original showrunners were allowed to continue with their original vision and cap it off with that same ending~

Simultaneously rewatching Ryuki and watching Wizard for the first time. It really shouldn't be surprising, but it still takes me aback at how drastically different the approaches for their respective first episodes were. Not necessarily saying one is better than the other (tho I totally stan for Ryuki and Heisei Phase I in general); they're just very different.

But, Wizard has to have the most obnoxious-sounding belt ever. Not sure if I can stomach that thing for every single episode.

They eventually start drowning it out with dialogue or background music. I think even the show’s creators realized how annoying it was and tried to minimize it once the toy sales quota had been met.

Thank God for that.

Between the ever yapping belt and like, a dozen different powers the show's been flaunting in just a couple of episodes, the show really can't get more "BUY. TOYS. NOW" than this.

Late to this but in general Phase 1 just seems fairly obscure too, not as much as showa, but to Phase 2 on the internet. In various forums there are just more posts made Phase 2 related, even someone posting a scene from Phase 1 has them be questioned it's from what material. And for the informations, let's just say common sites like wiki or TVTropes contain so little for Phase 1 compared to Phase 2. Phase 1 only contains common summary for the plot , characters, etc. while Phase 2 contains many breakdowns to little details. This even extends to those loving Phase 1, they only gave remarks about how the series is good and must-watch, without actually discussing or knowing the contents from them, unless watching those yourself. Probably yeah for Phase 1 they watched them longer time ago and forgot, but still. There's also obviously those that just can't stand the special effects in Phase 1....even if KR effects usually aren't perfect even in newer ones.

That's just the way it works in general, isn't it? People watching Wizards in 2013 naturally have more contemporary access to information about the show compared to, say, people watching Ryuki in 2002, where you basically relied on hobby magazine and whatever bits and pieces you can cobble from Early Internet for external source of info. Hence, less information got preserved.

(Also, hobby is ephemeral, and the older a show is, the more likely people who were fan of it already moved on to other things and no longer as interested in talking about it.)

This is understandable, though. I felt the same way when I'm watching the Showa shows, or most of things from before my time, really.

It's kinda fun being first acquainted to a franchise in its middle stage of lifespan, though, you have the unique position of simultaneously feeling "this older show feels dated as hell" (Showa Riders in this case) and "this modern show are gimmicky as hell" (Heisei Phase II). In time, you'd eventually understand both perspectives when they're applied to shows that you do like, and hopefully get over the prejudice to enjoy the good points of a show from a period you're not accustomed to~

Kamen Rider Ghost and honestly I'm enjoying it. The plot is the weakest thing about it so far, but I love the heroes so much and I love the messages this show brings.

Kamen Rider Blade Episodes 31-34 or so: King Arc
Feels like the show is finally ready to start answering some of the mysteries that we've been building to for the past 30 episodes! Mysteries I've known the vague answers to for years because it's common knowledge at this point, but mysteries all the same. Also time for Kenzaki to be put through the wringer, be it from everyone abandoning him just in time for the Category King to show up, a new evil scientist villain sending not-Undeads after him, and just generally having a big crisis of faith over whether he's doing the right thing fighting for other people, or more specifically, the right other people, especially if it puts those close to him in danger. But, in the end, with the help of Hirose, the most criminally underdeveloped character, he reaffirms himself. He is a Kamen Rider. He fights for those who can't, against the Undead that would do them wrong. And, right now, Hajime, Hirose, they're all people who can't fight for themselves. So he takes down King, and achieves the power to fight to protect himself too, to take down the Trial-D. And I'm sure there will be no consequences to these actions at all. Definitely not.

Also, just a random thought, but Tachibana would probably have more success if he told Kenzaki *why* it's such a bad idea for him to keep transforming, rather than just trying to take his belt and say "Trust me Kenzaki, things gonna go bad if you keep doing this." He's also far too trusting of the guy who cooked up monsters in his fridge and sent them to try to kill his workmate.

(Mutsuki is also here. I'm sure we'll get round to unpossessing him at some point.)

Oh, I also watched Missing Ace, since it premiered right around Episode 31. It was certainly a thing. Themes of moving on, being replaced by the next generation all tried to crop up, only to disappear into a big betrayal apocalypse plot focused on Hajime and Amane. Don't get me wrong, I like Hajime, but would it kill for our Blade movie to be about Blade? Or maybe that's the point - Kenzaki is just such an everyman, that it would miss the point to make a movie be about some big event happening to him. The Ace Riders are pretty big jerks, so that's unfortunate, because they're not played for huge comedy. Idk, Missing Ace was alright, but nothing really stuck out about it. And it's still weird to have a movie set post-finale when we're barely halfway through the show. Like, Ex-Aid got away with it because it aired during the endgame. This is just odd.

As much as I love OOO, I've only ever watched it on it's initial airing 9 years ago. Personally, I consider OOO to be the best Phase 2 series, and the 2nd best KR series (Behind Blade), so I was curious about how it holds up today.

I just finished the first two episodes, and I'm liking what I see. Eiji is still as lovable as always, and Ankh somehow still rocks that hair style.

As for the first two episodes themselves, they're alright. I feel they could have played up Ankh still fully being a villain though. I do like how he holds the detective's life over Eiji's head, but I feel he gives in to Eiji's pushing too easily. I know he's desperate, but he still buckles too quickly. We do see hints of his selfish nature, but I would've liked more before he mellows out.

Eiji is still the homeless goofball I love. Living on nothing but a pair of underwear and some change to get him by for tomorrow. Kind of a stupid way to live, but hey, if he likes it, then more power to him.

It's definitely one of my favourites of the 2010s. IMO it was a weaker decade for Kamen Rider overall than the 2000s but OOO was one of the rare shows I massively got into.

I’m at episode 37 of Blade and my reaction is “What’s Ultraseven doing in Kamen Rider?” I can accept Ultraman Orb being in Den-O (even if the role is pretty lousy) and I barely registered Ginga and Victory in Ex-Aid and Fourze respectively, but I’m legit surprised by this.

Or it's actially the strongest? The general consensus of every single show are great ones, except probably Wizard, Ghost, and Zi-O.

I felt the 2010s were a stronger decade, too. The 2000s were littered with far too much melodrama triggered though poor communication or just plot contrivance, I felt.
But more power to you if you feel the 2000s were stronger. I'm not here to tell you otherwise :lol
Considering both decades have a series I just have no drive to watch (Faiz and Zi-O), they both have their ups and downs.

Calling Blade my all time fav and OOO the 2nd best made me start to wonder where I'd rank all the series I've seen so far, and it's not as cut and dry as I assumed...Hm...

Anyway, on to my OOO rewatch. I'm now on to episode 10.
OOO has a fairly solid start. While they've been there before, Eiji and Ankh have only just now begun to call the cafe their home. Hina also only begrudgingly accepts Ankh solely to keep her brother alive.
I like that everyone isn't just grouping together from the start, and things are still rather tense.
We've also gotten a taste of an aspect I really loved the first time I saw the show. Rotating powers. As they gain medals, an event would occur that would also cause them to lose a few. So sometimes a super powered combo that would be nice in a situation is suddenly unavailable (*Cough*GataKiriBa*CoughCough*). It keeps things fresh since they have to rely on what they have available.

I think I'd go with the '00s on this one over the '10s. Both have some masterpieces and both have some real stinkers, but I like that the earlier Heisei era tended to have more variety. The Neo Heisei era got really formulaic at times and the older shows (especially pre-Kabuto) sometimes felt like they cared more about story and character than they did about shilling whatever trinkets get shoved into that year's belt.

I guess I was measuring the '00s and the '10s by the amount of the good and bad ones each era gives. From general consensus, the '00s has Kuuga, Agito, Ryuki, Blade, Den-O as the good ones, with Faiz, Hibiki, Kabuto being the middle ones and Kiva & Decade as the bad ones, but the '10s has everything but Wizard, Ghost, and Zi-O (W, OOO, Fourze, Gaim, Drive, Ex-Aid, Build) considered as good ones, and you say about them caring more about story/character in pre-Kabuto? I think those good ones in '10s are commonly described as being good in story/character, so the trinkets don't bother those that much? Obviously the good ones in '00s are on par with the '10s, but if judging by era, I would look by how much the era can pump out.

I'd kind of rather go by my individual preference, especially considering I'm on the spectrum. If it's a ''general consensus'' of people that aren't the target audience then I'm not sure if we can really rely on it is all.

Kamen Rider is also one of those series I can never find much of a consensus on what's 'good' or 'bad' to begin with. It's all down to personal experience.

Even among series that are considered "bad" by the majority, they still have their fans and vice versa. It all depends on what you, personally, want from a show.

I couldn't agree more. I mean I don't think I actually remember seeing someone give a good reason for hating Kiva or Den-O/Decade of all shows being better!

Yeah, I still remember finding it absolutely mystifying when I started noticing a crop of people during Zi-O asking why it couldn't be as good as Decade. You know, Decade? The one with the weirdly truncated length, embarrassing turnover of main writers, no ending, pointless fanservice, an obnoxious piece of s*** for a lead character, and an affront to the greatness that was Kuuga for a sidekick?

Apparently that was actually a really fun show with one of the coolest, most fun protagonists out there, and a great selection of individual story arcs with interesting takes on older Rider shows, that are so cool in the moment, the lack of overall cohesion is no real issue. Heck, even Onodera is pretty alright when you get to know him! Who knew?

I mean, I kinda did, because I like Decade, but my point here is that I remember the "general" consensus being that it was kind of a pariah of a series, and that simply doesn't seem to be the case years down the line, and for all I know, it never was? Even shows as hated as Kiva and Ghost have die-hard fans (I would know!), and I've seen people say shows I assume are sacred cows like Kuuga and Double aren't all they're cracked up to be.

It sounds trite, but "art is subjective" really is more than just a cheap way to dismiss criticism, and there's a reason my advice whenever people ask what shows they should watch is "whatever sounds good to you probably will be."

That's completely correct! Decade's awesome!!!

I mean the Kuuga one wasn't great and it's a shame that Den-O didn't get an AR World, but hey, can't strike gold all the time.

People reconsidering Decade as a good anniversary series just so they could say Zi-O was bad compared to something was a very weird experience, yes.

It's honestly nothing new when it comes to Toku fans. Or atleast, PR fans. Every season that's considered "irredeemably awful" "bad" "the worst" etc gets a complete 180 in general consensus each time a new "bad" season comes out. (Turbo, Wild Force, etc)

On rewatch, the only thing that my opinion on Decade changed was Onodera. He's a pretty solid lead and just an overall great guy who was underutilized.

Otherwise, my disdain for that series still burns as bright as ever.
Hell, even the apparently untouchable Kuuga I felt to be a let down, and I feel it's primarily because the fanbase builds it up so needlessly. It's aggravating.
Thankfully, it seems only Kuuga gets this kind of treatment. Since the fanbase is so critical of so many other series, including "Perfect" shows like Gaim or W that they're not afraid to speak against them.

But, still, just the fact that Zi-O made people reconsider their stance on Decade either tells me that Zi-O is just that bad, or Decade wasn't as bad as I remember, and considering I've seen Decade 3 times, I'm pretty fucking sure it's not the latter.

I mean... isn't "needlessly building up a show" is like the entire purpose of every fanbase :v I don't think Kuuga's fanbase is particularly noteworthy or more toxic in that regard, but then I don't really hang out at other places of toku fandom besides this forum.

As for the decade preference, I prefer the 2000s myself based on what I've seen, but I agree that it's impossible to get any reliable measure of "general consensus". What we're actually basing that on, viewership number? Merch sales? Imdb rating? Just some observation on certain arbitrarily selected sites of internet toku fandom, without even taking recency bias (or even retrospective bias!) into account? Just too many variables. For instance, I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere that Faiz was the most popular KR show in a recent poll in Japan, which sure is very interesting in itself.

On the note about not really having a "general consensus" the Japanese fanbase and Western fanbase don't really interact all that often which makes gauging an overall series harder keeping in mind that these shows are made for Japanese children first and foremost. As you've said Faiz really is pretty popular in Japan. Comparing that to english speaking fans thiers more of a mixed reaction to Faiz.

Well as someone on Twitter pointed out, the disconnect may be due to western fan’s main source of Kamen Rider being a subtitled version by a group that takes extensive liberties with their material (eg, Ouja (monarch) is rendered as ‘champion’(hasha), among other bizarre choices). Well that and people in the west having some unrealistic standards as to what the show should be, rather than accepting that what they want isn’t necessarily the same as what the author wants.

For those interested, here's this year's KRxSS Live and Show (Chou Eiyuu Sai):

https://youtu.be/XkKeMPOqKW4

Well, just finished my rewatch of OOO. Just as solid as I remember, though my memory was a tad hazy on some bits (I had assumed Gotou became Birth 10 episodes earlier than he did, and that Date had returned a lot sooner, but hey, it's been 9 years).

Still, I feel it held up as I had remembered. The monster of the fortnight was going strong when this aired, which means they often times had to come up with contrived reasons for the same conflict to last 2 episodes, but most of the time it worked out. Eiji was just as dumb and lovable as I remembered, and Ankh really shined as a tentative hero. After his return to the villainous side during the final quarter, it really did feel like he was truly willing to be a villain if not for the fact that everyone else were utter pricks.

I also liked that they let Ankh die. While the films allude to the fact that Ankh returns in the future, their placement in canon is suspect at best.

In all, I feel OOO is still a top tier series, thanks to the strong cast.

Those scenes with Ankh in the last stretch are a real treat. Putting him back fully with the bad guys just long enough for him to realize how he can't stand living a life that shallow anymore was the perfect way to underscore the development he had. You can see everything going on in his head even with him not spelling that much of it out. There's just a constant look on his face like "god, did I used to sound like this?" the whole time building up to Hina accidentally making him realize he's maybe already got what he's looking for when she expresses concern at the thought of him dying.

Man, OOO is so good.

Kamen Rider Blade - Trial Arc Part 1 (up to ~Ep39)
I think I've hit the part where Blade goes from "perfectly good Rider show" to higher up on people's lists. It's a great showing for both Kenzaki and Hajime, and Tachibana is also there (he gets some good stuff in the last couple of episodes), with everyone's motivations making it clear just how much they've evolved over the show. Wild Chalice is a great suit, perhaps my favourite in Blade. While there could have been a little more focus on [spoiler:Shiori] for an arc featuring [spoiler:her dad], but they got to it in the last episode or so! Just in time to introduce the guy who I guess is going to be the final villain? Idk, this show's been good at not having one of thise, and I *know* Blade probably doesn't end by just vanquishing some big bad who's been masterminding it behind the scenes. Let's see how we go as we hit the last 10 episodes.

Ryuki 1-10 (Rewatch)
-Man, I love this show. Everything's just set up so well with what I consider the absolute best combination of main (Ryuki), secondary (Knight), and tertiary (Zolda) Riders, as well as a really strong supporting cast. Reiko and Goro-chan are two of my favorites from the non-Rider group.

-I really miss horror movie aesthetic from Kamen Rider! The very first scene introducing the Mirror World spider monster is prime J-Horror material, as well as the body discovery shot in the antique shop. Such scenes may evoke the kind of "wait this show is for kids!?" reaction, but make no mistake, kids eat this shit up. I don't care much for bloody and gory stuff, but this atmospheric urban legend stuff that leaves a lot to imagination was right up my alley as a kid.

-On the other side of the spectrum, the ORE Journal crew/segment is such an effective comedic breather. Reiko is the kind of intelligent no-nonsense character that I wish would exist in more KR shows; the Chief is a fun likeable guy who obviously cares a lot about his employees; and while I don't think I like Shimada as much later on when she's pretty much become a caricature, her early scenes were gold.

-It struck me at how Ryuki has been a bit overshadowed by Knight and Zolda; which said less about Ryuki himself (one of the best main Rider design in the franchise!) and more about how magnificently badass the other two are. As cool as Dragreder (which, let's admit it, is kinda basic; Haruto Potter also got a red dragon in Wizard) and vents are, it's still hard to compete with the Medieval Golbatman's show, in the first three episodes no less.

-And no prize for guessing who my favorite Rider is :] Zolda is just perfect: the way the design is modeled after Metal Heroes (I watched Jiban in my childhood!); the way he's framed to emphasize his deliberate movement and calculated fighting style; Kitaoka himself as a character; and the show's gradual reveal of what Zolda's capable of. Like, they don't just show everything at once with him, they show bits and pieces like the handgun and just the way he generally moves about in the first appearance, then the 'oh shit' moment with the bazooka Shoot Vent in the following episode, and finally the 'OH SHIT' moment with the End of the World fireworks a few episodes later. That's how you build up your Rider flawlessly.

-Speaking of Vents in general, the presentation is great here. It's done so intuitively that there's no unnecessary exposition about how it works. You got clean, quick, close-up of the card, brief yet oh so memorable sound clips, and immediate display of such diverse powers in action.

-Hatenaki Inochi is still my favorite insert song, nay, my favorite tune in the whole KR franchise.

-Scissor's arc is weaker than I remember, and Scissor himself functions much more as a Monster/Goon of the Week archetype than an actual Rider. Could've used a couple more episodes to polish up Sudo's character more and/or have him showcase one or two more Vents, I reckon.

-The Volcancer scene, though? Still great. As a kid watching that moment for the time I wasn't familiar yet with the term deconstruction/subversion, but I remembered thinking it was such a cool and terrifying spin on the whole 'using monster in battles' as popularised by the Pokemon and Digimon boom at that period of time.

Wizard 1-10
Okay show so far, I occasionally enjoyed it.