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Holy shit, that was AMAZING. Easily the high water mark for this series, for me.

I was not expecting a superhero monster show two-parter that's devoted almost entirely to a young boy's ennui and the value of sadness in a society to be so goddamn effecting, but, well, here we are.

It's beautifully directed, with an almost ethereal quality to Sad Boy (if the Wiki doesn't remember this kid's name, I shouldn't be held to a higher standard) wandering through his grandmother's old neighborhood, the changes slowly crushing him. The story doesn't shove in dialogue where it's unnecessary, letting camera and music and acting do the work. The piano score smoothes out the normally frenetic feeling of the handheld camerawork in Kuuga, creating space to just watch. Shots are nice and long, centering the story on the quest for one boy to find something of value in a world he's growing apart from. Any scene that cuts away has to justify its existence, has to propel the story forward, or it's not used. Everything visually in the story is serving a purpose, telling either the A story of Sad Boy's search for meaning, or the very very minor B story of a new batch of Grongi murdering just a bonkers amount of people.

So, yeah, monsters on a monster show! For maybe the first time ever, I could not have cared less if Kuuga had dropped the Grongi entirely from this story, and that's despite the Grongi stuff being incredibly strong. That's just how good the Sad Boy stuff was! The Grongi scenes, though, Jesus. Beautiful. That weirdo star chamber they're all hanging out in? So cool! This show keeps finding new, compelling ways to present a bunch of monsters saying garbage syllables to each other. I'm just, like, into what they're doing with the Grongi. This series has its ups and downs (to put it mildly!), but the Grongi stuff consistently delivers for me.

For real, though, the non-Grongi stuff in this two-parter feels like this show finding a new level. In previous stories, the non-monster scenes were, at their best, not insulting. Competent, even, if I'm feeling super-charitable. This one was great. Like, I'd maybe even recommend this one to people in a general "Kamen Rider" sense. There's an assuredness to the storytelling this time, a belief in the actors to sell the story, an economy to using the characters that actually matter to the story rather than finding a spot for every rando, a great use of the time allotted so that nothing felt rushed or padded, and (most importantly to me) a story worth telling. There were recognizably human stakes, and a hero who saved the day.

Great job on this one, Kuuga!

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MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 27 - 28

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An incredibly solid outing that maybe doesn’t have the surprise emotional heft of the previous story, but manages to tuck some decent drama into a really stellar monster plot.

One of the things that’s bothered me about Kuuga is how few moves the Grongi Spree Killing plots tend to have. Obviously there’s more at work than them just offing a ton of citizens, but the nuts and bolts of a Grongi plot tend to just be Monster Keeps Showing Up At Places To Murder People Until Kuuga Murders It. Once you add in the formula of Kuuga Fight At End Of Part One and Kuuga Fight At End Of Part Two Plus Explosion, it can make the already-somewhat-formulaic Kamen Rider two-parters into pure repetition. There’s still some fun to be had in the (brief) fight scenes, but everything getting to that point starts to drag.

This story came out great, I think, due to the main twist of an actual pattern to the killings, meaning all of the Ichijou investigation stuff had a really fun reveal. The idea that the Grongi is following a piece of music to pick locations and number of targets, man, I was thrilled with that. It’s weird enough that I didn’t see it coming, and yet exactly the sort of thing I’d expect a supercop like Ichijou to figure out. The right balance of insane supervillainy and logical deduction. It made the whole story feel like it was leading up to something and then actually led up to something. That is not a given for Kamen Rider Kuuga!

The use of the rest of the cast to sell the nightmare of living in Tokyo during this season of Kamen Rider is in line with what made the last story work. This show can off ten, fifty, a hundred people in an episode, but if I don’t know them, care about them, it’s just a number. With Sad Boy last time and Nana and Minori this time, there’s a face to the stakes. I care about the cast of Kuuga (not, uh, a lot, but I don’t wish them ill or anything), and when they’re terrified about the constant, unending assault by the Grongi, it makes the show feel more dangerous. It might sound like faint praise to acknowledge that it’s smarter to imperil characters the audience has any connection to rather than just list an ever-increasing body count, but conveying the stakes of the story is something Kuuga’s had a real tough time with for me, so credit where credit’s due.

And, not to be a broken record, but all of the Grongi stuff is perfect. The Polar Bear Club Grongi (look, I can’t remember their nonsense word names) had a real mysterious energy, and a great M.O. The Scorekeeper Grongi is totally surreal, a nicely creepy escalation of the game. And the new Kuuga Grongi (“Twoga”), holy shit. Awesome motorcycle duel, a unique vibe as an antagonist (?) and clearly some history with past Kuugas. Into it, into it, into it. Just give me whole episodes of Twoga chasing Godai around and Rose Grongi being in weirdly lit rooms.

Anyway, yeah, no real complaints this time out! Even the Enokida/Jean scene, with two of my least-favorite/most-superfluous characters, tied in to the whole “you have to find some way to soldier on even when things are overwhelmingly dangerous and it’s hard to live your life” theme that the rest of the supporting cast was dealing with. Just a top-notch Kuuga story.

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So what you're saying is that Inoue put all the table's legs in the right places this time? Because this was another one from him. Maybe he's trying to get you to let your guard down...

I mean, I sort-of have that fear? There've been a couple other runs on Kamen Rider shows, ones that haven't worked great for me, where I suddenly get into it and think it's turned a corner and BIG NOPE then more sadness. I don't want to take four good episodes in a row as the new standard, but, like, cautiously optimistic.

(It definitely helps that the base level of craft, the Putting Together A Kuuga Story of it all, seems much improved. Camera work, acting, casting, dialogue, stunts, CG, it's all at least not bad.)

Honestly, I'm a little grateful that a dude who's made me unreasonably angry at a 19-year old Japanese superhero show can turn out some quality on occasion. Especially since people keep hinting at his involvement in future shows. If some one-and-done chump tanks a story, it's a bummer but I'll live. If there's a dude who's with the franchise for years and I only/always hate their work, I've got a lot of disappointment in the future. It's a relief that not everything Inoue does is going to make me apoplectic.

That Grongi's name is Twoga?! I love that so much.

MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 29 - 30

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This one had a very Back In The Kuuga Mines feel to me. Not bad, but overly concerned with a million supporting cast things, to the detriment of the Grongi plotline. Overstuffed. Too many stories to serve in just two episodes.

That said, I always think it's cool when a Kamen Rider show can check back in with a former victim (or villain), so it's nice to get a return visit from both Chouno and Mika. Well, more the former than the latter. Chouno is still hilariously bad at living his life, while Mika's just, like, happy to be there. It's cute, but it makes her blend into a few already slightly-dull storylines. (It's a tough choice which plot I care less about: Will Enokida and Jean get together, or will Nana get Godai for her own? I hate both of these timewasters so, so much.) With Chouno, the stakes are so ludicrous (he only has 30 minutes to turn in his shitty drawing!) and the advice he gets is so relentlessly bad (shut up about your problems and be happy, idiot, because Godai is suffering for you) that I really, really love it. I mean, sure, I wish it had some nuance or made any kind of sense, but if it can't then I'd rather the show err on the side of Insane. You know?

The rest of it, eh. We finally, after five episodes, get an answer for why Godai can power up. It's what the show hinted at, that the defibrillation unlocked something in the Amadam, but it's still frustrating that they couldn't just tell us that back when it first happened. Waiting this long, it feels like someone finally watched episode 24 and went, "Holy shit, did we not explain this onscreen at all? Shit. Shit. Okay, uh, right away in #29, then. Second scene. Oh god, how did no one catch this?!" The Grongi plot has some neat potential, with the roulette wheel and the three Grongi in the gang, but it comes down to the same "catch them mid-Murder Spree and explode them" as the show used to do, which I'd hoped they'd outgrown. Tsubaki and Sakurako fret about what Kuuga's power is doing to Godai, but it's all theoretical at this point. The police get better bullets. A new bike is under construction. Pole Pole exists. It's a lot of checking in and setting up, but without adding up to much.

Not a great story, and they could absolutely lay off of It Is Impossible To Live In Tokyo as a theme for a couple episodes, but it was okay enough to breeze through. A decent Kuuga.

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MASKED RIDER KUUGA - SUPER SECRET VIDEO

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Okay, there's no story here, really: Godai remembers form changes, then fights a Grongi, blowing it up in a minute. Not worth discussing for any of that.

But this video addresses something that's been bugging me for the last, like, 30 episodes of Kuuga. Where are all the cool names?

As someone who entered Kamen Rider through the Neo Heisei series, I expect people to be shouting out finishing moves, for monsters to have awesome names, for drivers to not shut up ever. Kuuga skips all of that. The belt never announces form changes or upgrades. The monsters are only, like, #6 or #14. I don't think Godai's referred to his Rider Kick as a Rider Kick, let alone explained what his other moves are called. (I did love when he was like, "Ichijou, what if I shout out SUPER TRANSFORMATION when I change forms," and Ichijou's like "Uh, sure." At least Godai was trying!) Worst of all, I have to keep calling them Red Kuuga and Purple Kuuga because no one calls them anything else on the show.

Well, Christmas has come early, because here's a Super Secret Video to give me everything I've been missing. Mighty Form! Pegasus Form! Dragon Form! Titan Form! Splash Dragon! Calamity Titan! A finishing move called Calamity Titan, and they didn't say that on the show. They hid it away.

Y'know, I'm retracting any and all praise I bestowed on Masked Rider Kuuga. They had Calamity Titan, and they didn't say it. Sinful! An abject failure, suitable only for disobedient children and enhanced interrogation.

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I wish I could change into purple Kuuga for my birthday.

So, okay, real talk.

Would getting an upgrade feel like a good birthday? Or would the fact that you needed a cool new form because otherwise you'd be monster-murdered mean that, actually, it's a pretty shitty birthday?

I'm not sure Titan Form would make up for the potential violent demise, but maybe other folks feel differently?

I'm sure during the earlier part of the day where I'm getting kicked around by the toughest new monster, I'd be complaining to myself 'ah this is the worst birthday ever'.

But when the new form hits, I'll be riding the high so strong that I'll probably forget all about the earlier woes.

I can see your point. Finish strong, right? I think I'd still rather, uh, not have to fight a monster in a death-duel, but Titan Form... that's got to feel pretty great, as a birthday form change, to just cold walk up to a monster and Calamity Titan/Explosion/Hero Stance. I won't begrudge anyone who thinks it's worth the risk.

MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 31 - 33

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Episode 31 is largely a clip show, recapping Kuuga's new Rising forms (thank you Wiki, no thank you actual show), but it does have one key bit of new story: Twoga is let off the chain! Finally, it's Masked Rider Kuuga versus Masked Rider Twoga! IT'S ALL FINALLY HAPPENING!

So, naturally, I was disappointed.

This one ended up being a bit of a slog, where some awesome motorcycle stunts were undercut by the steadfast suckiness of the Unidentified Life Form Joint Task Force, and an alarming amount of procedural red tape.

Most of the conflict in this one comes down not, unfortunately, to Twoga and his sick bike skills, but to the Metropolitan Police really not liking how much Kuuga is (accidentally!) exploding Tokyo. It's understandable, in that defeating one Grongi is now levelling entire city blocks. That's, y'know... I'm not saying the police strategy of "let the Grongi keep murdering people without doing much to oppose them" is the better course of action, but I'm also not saying "detonate a monster" is preferrable. Shit is complicated, and I'm not saying it's not. But, man, the cops spend a whole lot of time this story stopping Kuuga from getting the equipment that will end this murder spree, but I'm not seeing much hope they'd have on their own. When was the last time the Task Force managed to take down a single Grongi on their own? Ever? Kuuga's downed, like, a few dozen. They are barely qualified to carry his Amadam.

I think a story that examines the police ambivalence to Kuuga is actually a solid idea. He's not part of the chain of command, he's just a civilian, he's got no training, the death and destruction he's stopping/causing is something they have to answer for... all of that is a lot! Godai being Kuuga is definitely problematic for the government. But, like, they never even have a viable Plan B to Kuuga. Not here, not ever. The gas bullets are maybe a distraction. They lose multiple officers just trying to herd one Grongi. Literally the only thing in all of Tokyo to date that can stop a Grongi is Kuuga. Stopping him from getting BeatChaser 2000 (perfect name, chef kiss) is so utterly pointless, that it transcends the intended in-story frustration of Ichijou and becomes a drag on what should be a propulsive, single-minded action story. It's just old men folding their arms until the bodycount gets too high to ignore. There's not even a cool I Believe In Kuuga speech to make it all worthwhile, just Ichijou using his square jaw and good posture to convince a couple cops that he needs BeatChaser 2000 (swoon) more than they do, and then an off-camera The Brass Caved. The only sense we get that the police are coming over to Kuuga's side is Sugita, and him apologizing to Godai, but Sugita wasn't impeding anything in this story, so, uh, thanks?

But, look, yes, the motorcycle stuff was super-solid, and I'm thrilled that the story got to focus on the Heroes Vs Twoga plot. No Jean, barely any Pole Pole, just Ichijou and Godai trying to take down a monster. That's great. It really is. I just wish the police stuff offered anything approaching a viable alternative to Kuuga Explodes The Monster. It's tough to create realistic tension when one side is so clearly outmatched. A slightly disappointing story.

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure at this point the police still think that Kuuga is just another monster. One that seems to be killing other monsters, but a dangerous monster nonetheless that might turn on them at any moment. They don't know he's really a human. They have no idea why he's killing the other monsters. So him blowing up city blocks is just terrifying to them. None of the other monsters can casually level an entire block with one kick, so he's arguably more dangerous than the other ones.

So, two things.

First, it's hard to say exactly what the feelings are of the police as a whole on Kuuga. We mostly view the police through Ichijou, since he's in charge of the Task Force. He's as high up the chain as we usually get. It seems, based on the many, many briefing scenes with his boss, that they're okay collaborating with Kuuga on a regular basis. They don't know he's a dude until this episode, but he's definitely on the team. Kuuga's looped in on their communications, he gets to take charge when he shows up on scene, and they're letting him get his equipment managed by folks like Enokida. It definitely reads in this batch of episodes that the police reaction is down more to the press asking (reasonably!) Hey Did Number Four Obliterate An Entire Neighborhood Last Week.

Second, most of my beef isn't that the police shouldn't be wary of Kuuga. They probably should be significantly more wary of a poorly-trained part-time chef having the singular ability to defeat an unending stream of powerful monsters, and that was before he was accidentally levelling Tokyo. It's mostly a problem with me that a) the alternative to Kuuga in-story is nonexistent, meaning a ton more folks are going to die alongside a ton more cops, and b) the resolution lacks any sort of Damn It Chief He Gets Results that you'd expect a story like this to have to have. Like, the premise is good, exploring what should be wholly understandable police ambivalence to Kuuga, but the execution is lacking.

I hope that makes some sense! I don't know if it does! Thanks for pushing back so I can try and articulate my feelings better!

MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 34 - 35

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It's a straight-up horror story this time, with a whole lot of police failure and an uncharacteristically enraged Godai at the end. Don't know that I exactly had a good time watching it, but I respected what the show was trying to do.

I'm not sure that I'd pay that same respect to the Unidentified Life Form Task Force, though. They are really, really bad at this. Out of 91 kids, they saved 1. One kid. Ninety of them, dead. On a meta level, it's good that Kuuga and Ichijou were able to stop Snapping Grongi from winning... whatever the Grongi are trying to win, but it's hard not to say they're failing the folks of Japan. Ninety dead teenagers in eight days? No wonder Godai's furious.

Godai's fury is easily the high point of this story. It's completely deserved, as the ridiculously high body count the Grongi have accrued now has a smirking, smug face to just beat into pulp. Snapping Grongi doesn't do a lot, but the maddening chase he sends the heroes on is a great way to build tension, which gets its sort-of catharsis with a brutal Kuuga beatdown and a climactic application of Calamity Titan. It's not a happy ending, in that ninety children are still dead and Godai knows it, which is maybe the best thing this story has going for it. I don't expect a huge change in the way this show tells its story, but I'd be impressed if the acknowledgement of Team Kuuga's overall poor showing is maybe motivation to create a stronger response to the Grongi than “let them do most of their murder spree but not, like, completely finish it.”

also oh my god the stuff at pole pole could not feel more unnecessary if they tried it is killing me how much i hate these goddamn curry shop scenes and then they add jean because shit just pile on the torment i guess and its just jokes with terrible delivery and no sense of timing and zero bearing on the plot and jean just why any jean in this story what the hell is he even in this story for theres no point to him no point no point no point i mean hes probably number zero it wouldnt shock me but holy shit would it not make anything up until that reveal any better its like the hipster dad stuff from build if it one hundred percent sucked just jean go away forever jean

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I'm detecting some subtle animosity towards Jean.

More terrifying than any Grongi, Jean's face will follow you to the ends of the Earth, even in your dreams.

Anyhow, the end of 35 is really iconic for a lot of people, though I'm sure you could have guessed that would be the case! The body count on this show is typically ludicrous whenever you think about it for even a little bit, but I think I'm willing to someone let it slide for these episodes at least, since they really drive in how grim the situation and atmosphere is compared to other episodes.

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Yeah, there's a cloud to this silver lining of a Very Serious Stakes episode where, like, what about the few dozen people who were murdered last week? Or the week before that? It's clear that, to Godai, it's a combination of how many people they've let down that week AND the fact that Snapping Grongi is an enthusiastic slayer of teens. That's what makes this one hurt so much. But, I mean, there's a few seconds where all I could think was, "Where was this rage the last 20 episodes?"

I feel like Jean is one of those characters they just forgot to do anything interesting with. Maybe he does something important later on, I can't remember as I've only seen Kuuga once all the way through and that was about 6 years ago.

Not to be devil's advocate to my own volcanic rage, but I think Jean could work on an occasional basis. Like, when there's some glyph to decode or some way he could assist Sakurako's story (talk about a character the show forgot about), I think he could be a different voice in the room. It's the way they use him even when there's no reason for him to be in an episode that I intensely dislike. He's just there. He's always there.

I've always ranked Jean on the B-tier of supporting characters on Kuuga, alongside Yusuke's sister and Hot Bad Mom Scientist. They're nowhere near as integral or likable as Sakurako or Ichijou, but generally ahead of Cafe Guy and Annoying Cafe Girl With a Crush on Yusuke.

My Unscientific, Unofficial, Highly Mutable List Of Kuuga Characters From Best To Worst

1. Gouram
2. BeatChaser 2000
3. Yusuke
4. Ichijou
5. Sakurako
6. The Phrase "Calamity Titan"
7. The Sad Boy
8. Rose Grongi
9. Swimming Grongi
10. Twoga
11. Kanzaki
12. Enokida
13. Every Other Grongi
14. Every Victim Except Chouno
15. Chouno
16. Tsubaki
17. Ichijou's Boss
18. Minori
19. Every Non-Ichijou Cop
20. Every Citizen Of Tokyo Who Were In Background Shots
21. Any Speaking-Role Character I Forgot
22. Nana
23. Kazari The Curry Shop Owner
24. Contemplating My Own Inevitable Demise
25. Jean

I read somewhere that Ultimate Kuuga's Rider Kick can destroy the earth.

MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 36 - 39

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An exceptional four-part epic, with a heavy, heavy emphasis on the Grongi Megaplot, and only a few bafflingly weird diversions. It’s one of my favorite Kuuga stories so far!

There’s a lot to unpack from these four episodes. They touch on nearly every character and every plotline, with everything shifting into a very The Finale Is Coming Up Pretty Soon gear. Let’s see what we’ve got:

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GRONGI
Obviously, the meat of this story. I’ve said before that I think the Grongi culture and mission is my favorite part of this series, and this story showed off why. The struggles of the different Grongi are stylishly shot and have an aggressive, unpredictable energy to them. With so much of the Grongi endgame shrouded in mystery, it’s difficult to predict what they’re going to do next, and I love that. There’s a lot of formula to Kuuga, so these weird characters doing weird things for weird reasons is exciting in a way that the rest of the show just isn’t for me.

Some of it’s the disposable nature of the Grongi. There’re no guarantees that Bat Grongi isn’t going to murder Acid Claw Grongi early in the story, or vice versa. That makes me way more dialed into their fight than I was when they fought Godai, since I’m pretty sure Godai isn’t going to die. Uh, again. But, yeah, when Bat Grongi’s in a fight with Acid Claw Grongi or Commander Grongi, it feels dangerous and exciting to me.

It helps that the Grongi scenes still have the most visual flourishes to anything in the show. I mean, hell, look at this awesome sequence from the end of Episode 37:

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So cool! Crazy exciting! That standoff has drama for days, and then it just escalates in the beginning of Episode 38. Rose Grongi is one of my favorite characters on the show, and that’s with her barely doing more than walking around and looking placid. She’s mysterious and powerful and everything this show does right with the Grongi Megaplot in one character. I still feel like I’m only getting, like, 40% of what the Grongi are up to, but I love how that part of the show is progressing.

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NAGANO
All of the Sakurako (and Ichijou, for a bit) investigation stuff in Nagano, it was fine. Useful to let the high-tension Grongi stuff get to cut away for a minute, but a whole lot of stalling to tell us… honestly, I’m not sure. Something about the Kuuga symbol being a Grongi character instead of a Linto character, and a bunch about the symbol maybe having two or three or four horns. I don’t know. It looked interesting, it was a nice break from the Grongi scenes, but I don’t know what I was supposed to have learned. Oh, other than that the building Sakurako and Ichijou walk up to when they get to the university…

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...is Section Zero’s HQ from Wizard.

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It’s been weird watching Kuuga, since I’m not seeing all of the reused locations I adored/tolerated from the Neo Heisei shows. Kamen Rider Stadium! Kamen Rider Quarry! That creek near the mountain! The creek under that one bridge! The giant pedestrian walkway! The little bridge over the sanitation waterway or whatever! All of my “favorites”! But here we are, 14 years before Wizard and it’s Section Zero’s HQ! Reused locations? I am home.

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JEAN/ENOKIDA
Who… who is rooting for Enokida to get together with a wet noodle of a man like Jean? What sin has Enokida committed (other than being a terrible mother and maybe a mad scientist) that has her spending time with Jean? I’m not a fan of shows punishing characters for no reason, so I’m not sure why this plotline is being addressed.

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POLE POLE
Uh, Kanzaki shows up to say that Yusuke fought for people as a kid. And there’s also another three or so scenes about nothing. Nothing. Like, Minori, Pops and Nana are such worthless characters at a story level that they have to have Kanzaki, just, like, pop out of a floorboard to enable anything of interest to happen at Pole Pole. Jesus. That place is where story goes to die.

I think that’s everything? This isn’t the best story they’ve ever done on Kuuga (I mean Pole Pole scenes, plural, and Jean scenes, plural), but I think the Grongi Megaplot part of these episodes was exactly what I want out of a horror-themed Kamen Rider show. The monsters have goals and conflicts beyond the Rider, the bodycount isn’t too ludicrous to care about, the heroes are always in the mix somewhere, and there’s both a cathartic victory and a terrifying cliffhanger. An exciting phase for Masked Rider Kuuga!

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MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 40 - 41

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It's an interesting story, if not necessarily a good one. Two indelible images, alongside some decent thematic work, but a little too much "people talking in a room" for my tastes.

So, those indelible images. Kuuga's had some super solid camerawork in the back half of the series, with a few sequences (Ichijou/Rose Grongi faceoff from the last story) that are flat-out gorgeous. There're two in this one that I thought were worth calling out.

The first is the whole Laptop Grongi attack from the end of Episode 40. The eerie hum as Kuuga tries to pinpoint Laptop Grongi on the pier, the disorienting flashes of (I assume) Daguva, the quick change to Pegasus Form in the mist of the bay, the harpoon launching out of the water and pinning Kuuga through the shoulder, dropping back to Growing Form with the bloody hole in his shoulder?€? it's a really taut, tense sequence.

The other great set of shots is super quick, but it's a clever physical effect that's thrillingly immersive. As Laptop Grongi is running to dive in the water near the middle of Episode 41, the camera operator chases her off the pier and into the water in one fluid shot. It's not a bravura segment or anything, it's a shot that's over in seven or eight seconds, but it definitely got a Holy Shit out of me when I saw it.

The camerawork for the action and Grongi stuff has been really excellent in this part of Kuuga. It's a shame the show doesn't get to shoot more scenes like that, what with all of the talking.

Yeah, it's a very dialogue-heavy story, even by Masked Rider Kuuga standards. Tons of time spent explaining a lot of the stuff that went over my head in the last story, which I wish wasn't necessary. It's a problem that's come up a few times on this series, where something inexplicable will happen in a story, go unacknowledged, then an episode or two later someone will spell out what happened. It's not fun and mysterious to me, it's just inefficient writing. There's no percentage in stringing some of this stuff out, when a little bit of exposition can keep the reveal and the relevance of the reveal within a couple scenes of each other. It can feel disjointed and tossed off, when a character's like, "Oh, here's what that thing we found a couple weeks ago actually meant."

The rest of the heavy dialogue scenes are devoted to Nana's anger at a classmate's cruelty, which, look. The use of Nana's rage to illustrate the stakes of Godai losing control and becoming an unstoppable dark warrior, it's a decent way to dramatize and foreshadow the stakes of the final batch of episodes. For a series that frequently forgets to have the A plot and B plot of any story link together, I'm really glad they tried this time out. But, Nana's occasionally-mentioned audition? That we never saw her practice for? In a storyline partially about the bloodlust of a background character no one watching probably cares about? Weird choice! Maybe a bad choice! I'd almost rather it was a brand-new kid, someone's nephew or niece or whatever, who didn't have the baggage (for me, at least) of an irritating bottom-tier character. I don't know, it might just be me. I liked the storyline, I wish it weren't about Nana.

Not a bad Kuuga story, but, yikes, too many scenes of people in rooms talking about monsters and threats and rage, not enough monsters and threats and rage.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kuuga/kuuga41.png

And here is where we come to something that gets nowhere near the same amount of gravitas post-W, the debut of the Big Bad. It used to be a big mystery who the main villain really was, as they never appeared until the final arc/episode. Not like nowadays, where they appear as soon as the actor is announced.

I sort-of agree. The #0/Daguva setup is very strong, and there's a compelling mystery to what he's up to. I mean, he's killed more Grongi than Kuuga and the Task Force have! That's a terrifying piece of data!

I'd argue against post-W shows not doing well with the Final Villain setup/reveal. Off the top of my head, Wizard in particular does a great job with its final arc and who the specific villain is, and both Drive and OOO have a final villain that's not super predictable.

If anything, I think I prefer the more modern way of doing it? I like a villain who has some depth, some sense of why they're doing what they're doing and how the hero complicates that plan, and it's difficult to get that emotional heft if it's someone who's only a dozen episodes. Like, Build has a Final Villain who's in almost every single episode, and he's maybe my favorite Kamen Rider villain ever.

I mean, not counting Jean, obviously.

MASKED RIDER KUUGA EPISODES 42 - 43

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kuuga/kuuga42.png

Happy Christmas! I didn’t know if I’d have time to watch any Kamen Rider on Christmas, but I did, and I wrote a bit about the experience, and I posted it on TokuNation, and here we are. It may be Christmas Day when I’m writing this, but it’s just a regular day of posting on the boards about this old Japanese superhero monster show.

Topical! This story’s all about longing for a sense of normalcy, which everybody but Tsubaki is convinced is just around the corner. Team Kuuga is ridiculously confident that Godai can quell the rage inside of him, swiftly eliminate the devastatingly powerful last few Grongi, and defeat Daguva, a monster that can knock Godai out of his henshin if Godai even thinks about him too hard. Tsubaki, on the other hand, would like to at least broach the topic, for group discussion, that they are all colossally screwed and endless darkness will soon cover the land. It’s a solid point, and worthy of maybe a little consideration, but the Team lands pretty firmly on Godai’s Going To Be Fine Don’t Worry About It. Time will tell!

With the story’s monster surprisingly dispatched in the opening battle (an ass-whooping delivered to Titan Form is cut short by a well-timed Ichijou sniper shot, and then Body Attack from Golden Gouram to finish the fight), the rest of the story is… I don’t want to say “pointless”, but I’m not 100% sure what the point was. Ichijou stops a hostage situation, and the returning Mika witness him apprehending the culprit. It’s a fine non-Grongi Ichijou subplot, and it’s basically the only action we get for 75% of this story, but it ends in a really weird way. Mika won’t even look at Ichijou afterwards, and when Godai sees her off at the train station… Look, maybe it’s the translation, but I’ve got no idea what I’m supposed to be getting from the conclusion of this story. See if you can crack this for me:

MIKA: I was afraid. Extremely. I saw Mr. Ichijou’s laughing face earlier but it’s probably something he doesn’t need.
GODAI: Really?
MIKA: For some reason, it feels like it’s not the same person.
GODAI: But it was the real Mr. Ichijou. If that kind of Mr. Ichijou is here, even though I’m afraid I won’t ever go. But you know. The real Mr. Ichijou has a laughing face too.

Mika gives Godai a blank stare, cut to Ichijou at the police station looking at a sunset, credits roll.

What?

Like, I guess maybe it’s that she saw laughing Ichijou, then she saw scary policeman Ichijou, and… something? She didn’t like him anymore? She’s mad at him? I don’t understand her reaction, and I feel like the show didn’t, either. It’s baffling, in a way where I’m not sure if I’m supposed to feel sad for Ichijou or disappointed in Mika. Is Ichijou fundamentally broken in ways only normal people like Mika can see, or is Mika just being kind-of an asshole?

Thoughts?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kuuga/kuuga43.png

Oh, and how was your Christmas? I got a Figuarts Ghost (Ore Damashii), everyone’s 8th to 15th favorite Kamen Rider, as a Christmas present (thanks, Patrick, for the figure and for indulging me talking about suit motifs for 90 seconds) and it even came with a little Yurusen to have floating next to him, telling him he’s being a terrible hero! Fond memories. It’s been a neat 2019!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kuuga/xmasghost.jpg

Kuuga is actually in my top 5 Kamen Rider series'. When I first tried to watch it ages ago, I wasn't too excited about it and didn't understand the Grongi at all. After coming back several Rider's later, I found that I really enjoyed it (given a few critiques about it) and blasted through it in about three days. The amount of people who died from the Grongi, and Godai's character development really made the show for me, I think.

32nd if you count main TV-shows only, 39th if you add movies, specials and remakes/spin-offs. Possibly further down because I forget things.

But yes, the figure is very nice looking, and it was indeed a neat 2019.

Wow! Three days!

I'm interested in how the high bodycount made you appreciate the show more. Is it something you feel is missing in modern Rider shows? Does it create a heightened level of danger that keeps things serious, when a modern show might puncture the danger with levity? I'm super curious why the increased casualties make it a better show for you.

Either way, thanks for sharing your feelings!

But he probably is in your Top 50 now? Progress! Give Takeru a few more, uh, decades, and you'll learn to love him. He'll wear you down! That's what he does!

I'm not a fan of Ghost's Figurart even on just the basic level of looking at it. I understand the effect with his faceplate was meant to emulate how his helmet looks in the show, but that shade and texture of orange on the figure's face is just way too different from how in-show appearance for me to ignore. The little Yurusen is great though.

Sorry, that wasn't about Kuuga at all, isn't it? But nobody can deny toys are a part of christmas, so how big is the rider-side of your collection looking nowadays?

I mean, if I didn't want people to share their Ghost Figuarts thoughts, I wouldn't have posted it! (Also, this is the Show Discussion forum, not the Toys And Collectables forum, so if anything I'm in the wrong.)

I'm probably never going to be someone who's posting Figuarts reviews or anything. I'm generally not that picky. I just want a highly-detailed plastic man to stand next to all of my other highly-detailed plastic mans, to represent the Kamen Rider shows I've finished, and I'd very much like them to not fall over. That's about all of my criteria. On that level, Ghost Ore Damashii is a resounding success. Let's check the scoreboard!

HIGHLY-DETAILED PLASTIC MAN - Yes
LOOKS OKAY STANDING NEXT TO OTHER HIGHLY-DETAILED PLASTIC MANS - Yes
DID I WATCH ALL OF GHOST - Yes
IS HE STILL STANDING UP - Yes

Four stars, a perfect figure. I maybe mentioned this before, but my Kamen Rider figure collection is mostly just, like, a statuary representing my progress through the franchise. Little trophies, you know?

As for that collection, it's going as well as I'd hope, with its current status as Staying Within Established Boundaries. That's all I want from the things I'm collecting, to not stress me out with higher bills and needing more space. I've got just enough room for the 20 main Heisei Riders (along with the eventual Reiwa ones) and I haven't needed to move stuff around yet. I haven't gotten all of the Riders I'd need to represent the shows I've finished (still need to track down/decide to shell out big bucks for Double, Fourze, Wizard, and Build), but I'm happy where it's at. It's growing at an appropriate speed, you know?

As long as you're happy with your collection, it's all good, right?

Oh, for sure. I just find it weird, how collecting for me eventually transitions from Maximizing Joy to Minimizing Stress. Like, at first it's all "this figure is so cool" and "oh man these two figures look great together" and "I can't wait to get this other figure", but inevitably it becomes "oh god where am I going to put this one" and "I can't believe I spent this much on a figure" and "I don't really love this design but I've got all the other ones so I need to get this one too". I'm not sure how commonplace those feelings are, but it's been such a constant part of my various collections that I really, really wanted to make sure my Kamen Rider collecting has some strict rules to it. It can feel weird, seeing awesome looking figures like Beast coming up and knowing that I can't let myself get a toy I'll enjoy at the risk of eventually not enjoying getting any figures, but that's how my brain works.

It does not work great!

You're not alone. There's a very fine line with this stuff, and it can get out of hand easily. I've definitely bought figures I don't care that much about just to have a "complete set" and I've bought 2nd versions of figures (hell, I have Final Form Ride, Figuarts, Figuarts Renewal and RKF versions of Decade).

It's good to set boundaries for yourself.

Nah, I feel that. I went pretty big into the SODO Build stuff because I loved so many of the designs, and it was easiest to track down sets than just the ones I really wanted. While I don't exactly regret it, it's certainly made me reconsider buying things I otherwise would have (the Den-O figures, for example) just in case I'd rather get something else, plus I feel bad about trying new things in case it leads to me wanting to go full completionist again.

There's a lot of weird stress in collecting, it turns out.

Yeah, it... I'm trying to get better, mental health-wise, at that weird collecting psychology. I don't adhere to it as much as I'd like, but I try to remind myself, "Your collection is the things you collected. It's not the things you haven't collected." Like, having Figuarts of OOO, Gaim, Drive, Ghost and Ex-Aid doesn't mean I'm missing 15 of the Heisei Riders, it means I've collected 5. It's okay to have five! (I almost typed "just have five", but, like, that's problematic phrasing! That's definitely the kind of default evaluating I'd like to avoid!)

I've definitely started to cut down my collecting habits, especially as it pertains to Figuarts. I've told myself -only- Build, Seihou OOO, some older cheaper ones; and maybe Valkyrie and a potential Seihou Fourze. Otherwise, I'm very happy turning to Figure-Rise and gimmick figures for my main rider needs

Kamen Rider is an especially potent Plastic Addiction, I find. It probably has something to do with being one of the most toyetic properties in existence. I'm much stricter about my figure buying in general these days, but I still own 5 Zero-One figures and I haven't seen a single episode, so there's that.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one who struggles with this kind of thing sometimes.