Yeah I do wish the new Inzuaman came back too. Well he did make a cameo in Taisen Z so there that. I think ZI-O would've been the perfect time to bring him back. Especially since two of his friend did make a cameo in ZI-O
https://akkinews.net/wp-content/uplo...-1-560x373.jpg

It would've given ZI-O a way to circumvent one of it early critcism of the returing actors not fighting. With Inzuaman not being a Kamen Rider thus not being affected by the TimeJackers messing with Fourze history.

Just got done watching Beast's' intro arc, and...

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

Yeah I actually don't like this guy at all. I'll give it a handful of more episodes before fully ripping into him, but as things stand now? Oh man, I might have another Akira Date situation on my hands.

I was admittedly a bit neutral on Nitou if I'm honest, those years when it was just one extra rider at least until the end of Wizard could seem a little bit ''flat'' to me though his catchphrase about lunchtime was decent!

In all honesty, I remember one thing about this guy in the show, but I’ll let you get to that episode first.

I also almost mistook him for OOO Latoratah Combo. Even I’m not sure how.

Huh! I'm not the only one who did this!

Nitoh rules. Actually while it's on my mind, I can't help but group Beast, Meteor, Birth (both of them) and Accel into this neat little group of 'literally the definition of secondary riders' during these shows where all their introductions and arcs can't help but follow a similar format. Regardless of anything else, I always find that Beast is definitely the most... entertaining (i.e. ridiculous) of the bunch.

One of the few things I knew about Wizard going in was that pretty much everyone agreed that the "Phoenix Arc" was one of, if not the best in the show, and while I can certainly see why... I hate to say it, but it does fall short to me.

Don't get me wrong, I did still overall like the four-parter, but its momentum was essentially killed by the last episode, which I felt was really mishandled.

For example, my dislike of Beast aside... why not have him be the one to put Phoenix down for good? It'd finally give Beast's' character a purpose, gives a logical way for Phoenix's' revival powers to be bypassed, and, as hilariously cruel as Phoenix getting hurled into the sun is, it's like... dude, most big bads don't even get it that bad man, dang.

Not to mention, Haruto beating himself up super hard over the situation, while I wouldn't go so far as to say it's not warranted, it's definitely weird to see him take this harder than the various other times he's put his friends in serious danger. Heck, he constantly neglects the Homonculous Girl, despite his promise to her that took place before the start of the show.

Plus, I actually rather liked Phoenix as a villain, so having him get yeeted at the halfway point just means they got rid of a character I liked ontop of having just introduced one that I super don't care for. Double ouch.

But! In the interest of not sounding like a total grouch, here's all the stuff I liked about the arc!

• Beast was barely in it, meaning the character dynamics I've grown to like got to continue to shine
• The Dress Up Ring is hilarious
• Haruto's' characterization being that of a full blown hero, making him very likable.
• Rinko doing some honest detective work, ontop of Phoenix feeding her misleading information made for a really cool character interaction
• White Wizard(who is totally not a bad guy) having awesome spells and a cool Driver.
• The special effects and fight choreography continuing to be top notch.

So yeah, overall a good time despite some shortcomings!

Nice to see you’ve picked up on the White Wizard not being on the up and up. I’d tell you his Rider name, but it’d spoil a major twist.

I’ll mention that his belt has different name’s for Haruto’s rings though (Flame becomes Volcano, Big becomes Giant, Dress Up becomes Costume and so on).

I've seen enough media to know that anyone who dresses the way he does and has a super embossed voice is 99% of the time a villain, or at the very least not a total good guy.

Speaking of his belt, that's a major giveaway too, though I do like how it contrasts Haruto's' in terms of both visual and vocal design.

While I do have an idea of what White Wizard's' deal is, I'll wait to see. However it turns out, I'm definitely not gonna harp on the show for it, since if I were a kid watching it, my dumb-dumb brain probably wouldn't've qued in on any of this stuff, haha.

Don't feel like making a new random thread, but see this popping up on recommendation yt. The memes. It cliche route for morning kid show toku actor to star in prime time shojo manga turn anime prior to fame fame. The stepping stone for a lot of actors. Remembering hanazakari, zettai kareshi, and even ouran high.
2021マイルノビッチ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnvxj3yO3Ug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_DQegOXU1A lupinred ankh omgawd i dont know where to out this rec. leaning from goth to HG dounut boss and mister durian levels.

I never really said it, but... I decided to give up on doing a write-up on each OOO and Ghost episode. That's not because I decided to stop watching them -- it's actually the opposite... the need to do a write-up each episode and how time consuming that was especially with my schedule was very ominous and made me put off episodes so many times, so I just decided to give it up after a bit. Frankly I'm at least very glad I got to get that Toucon Boost debut out; that's still been a huge highlight for me and a big turning point in how I view Ghost!

But, boy I need to give it up for this scene in Ghost Episode 18. Which, by the way, is an incredibly perfect episode all around -- the A-plot features a brilliant contrast between the relationships of Akari & Onari and Himiko & Newton, which expertly lifts up both our side characters and highlights their good points equally to the point they're now becoming some of my favourites...! And then they hardly let the B-plot here go either, as it's the start of Alain's arc; which even people who don't like Ghost will tell you is fantastic and a highlight of the season. Ask me a few months ago and I would have said Alain is my favourite Ghost character instead of Takeru, and it might just change back after I see this arc again!

So, this scene? Brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT use of the visual medium! It illustrates with so few words and so many visuals just how deeply fucked up Alain’s worldview is and how he’s been conditioned; how he technically values friendship and his loved ones but can only see that through the lens of control. There's so much in this scene beforehand by the way that expertly portrays Alain's character - his looking around at normal people happily living normal lives, slowly starting to break through his brainwashing of what a 'perfect society' looks like; and readily taking on a battle so he doesn't have to keep thinking? Perfect! His struggles with Kanon laying on the love for both him and Makoto when he knows damn well what he's done to her brother? Fantastic! His looking at a Takoyaki and thinking it's an Eyecon? Hilarious and I've thought about it every day since I saw it. But this scene, this one right here is what I'd point to if I was to highlight the sort of character Alain is before his development. It's incredibly fucked up and incredibly well done.


https://i.imgur.com/ZBV89A9.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/3TaQ7B3.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jK3LZTv.jpeg

While it's a shame, I can see why you gave up highlighting every episode. And good on you for continuing your rewatch regardless. That said, was definitely looking forward to seeing your take on the episode of OOO that made me hate Akira Date forever(episode 18), but ah well. Hope you continue to enjoy these shows!

The conclusion to the Kendo girl arc, right? I could definitely see a reason or two someone could dislike him from that; though which part was it for you particularly?

There's alot of aspects to Date's' character that make me overall dislike him(which I mean hey, props to OOO for having multifaceted characters), but the the exact moment where I knew I could never bring myself to like this guy was right about here:

https://i.imgur.com/tM5uYOQ.png

Not only telling Rie that he doesn't care that she wants to ruin her crush's' wedding and replace said crush's' wife, but outright encouraging her to do so? Kind of a bad message to send! This ontop of him constantly belittling and talking down to both Ankh and Eiji, as well as the show very desperately trying to portray Date as this suave, super wise dude, only served to make him truly obnoxious to me and made me wanna sigh heavily whenever he was on screen. He only got worse from here too, given later revelations about his character. But I guess I'll save that for when you reach OOO's' endgame.

So yeah, that's the short version. I know people love the guy, but I really, really, can't bring myself to feel the same.

Yeah, I figured it'd be that -- but to me that scene reads less as outright encouragement, and more as "I dare you". Not "you should do this", but "you can -- but do you want to?". OOO is a show about desire, after all; so what I got from this episode is a situation where both Eiji and Ankh are not equipped at all to handle Rie's desires, but someone like Date who's older and more experienced in different things is. It's the show introducing a new, wildly different player when it comes to the theme of desire; with his first set of post-new year episodes showing that in full force. This is his style of doing it -- Eiji would talk someone through it and try to convince them it's not what they want, while Date does practically the opposite and has them realise on their own it's not what they want. He gets that in this sort of situation, it's a thing where you're only going to truly come to that conclusion on your own.

It's also an episode where an older man goes "Aaah, I see, it's a young girl; so obviously it's about love!", so it's not a favourite of mine by a long shot, but beyond that I can see the underlying themes the episode was going for.

As for belittling Eiji and Ankh... ehhh, not really? Like, he's pretty playful with Eiji, sure; but only in the sense of once again someone older and more mature being able to navigate emotions in a way Eiji isn't capable of -- and as we've seen laid out in many many episodes, Eiji is really not emotionally stable or in a right state of mind to think of things concerning himself. And when it comes to Ankh... well, that's just comedy revolving around two strong personalities clashing.

Okay, sure, but here's the problems I have with that.

1. This means Date is full well willing to risk people's' safety and mental well being on a mere hunch that he has about how someone else feels. Dangerous move and very presumptuous on his part.

2. Even if Date DOES somehow know the whole story, we're never shown that. Infact, everyone(audience included) has basically every reason to believe the opposite, since, and correct me if I'm misremembering here, each Yummy DOES pretty accurately gun for every person's' desire, even if taken to a destructive extreme alot of times. Rie admitting to her basest feelings doesn't help.

3. It also means Date is a man of inaction and really only cares about his bottom dollar. I get that OOO is all about the moral gray area, but it doesn't exactly make Date someone I wanna root for. Ankh does the "selfish standoff" style of arc much better, I feel.

And that too!

Maybe it's just my own barriers with Japanese culture and manners of speaking, but I really can't agree. Date, in nearly every interaction he's had with a bunch of people, really came off as a uncaring know-it-all to me. The way his arc ends up going later on only compounds this.

Well... first of all, we are indeed shown that he knows what's going on: he's stated he's done his research, and in what he says to Rie alone, it's clear he's got a good grasp of the situation. He isn't going off of a hunch or a little information here: the narrative makes pretty clear that he's got it one, and knows what this person needs.

Which leads into the most important part: I don't really think these stories should be taken so literally, nor should Date or anyone be judged as we would an actual person. And yes, I know; that line of thinking taken too far can lead to some... pretty awful justifications by certain creators, but at the end of the day Date is just a narrative tool used for storytelling and to further the arc of these characters. It's a constant thing in not just Toku but any type of story to see characters go on these sorts of gambles to get to the heart of the matter; it's just how these stories are told and it's not at any point about a literal human person. It's just the sort of tools drama employs.

again though not a set of episodes i love i just think they did the job

I'm glad somone else is pickign up the Makoto/Alain dynamic, cause it's a really interesting pairing that the show dos a good job with tying into Alain's whole worldview, but then kinda bubbles under all the stuff with Alain and his family for a while and is never really revisited until the V-Cinema (and of course, if I'm missing something, Fish will tell me). But that scene, where Alain is blissfully happy with Makoto brainwashed because "Hey, that's how friendships work, right? We're all happy here. Aren't we, Makoto? See, he can't answer because of how happy he is."

I'm not gonna lie, I really missed those posts as soon as I realized they'd stopped, but I definitely think you made the right choice if the time commitment was becoming an obstacle. Speaking as someone who only a little bit ago was ~barely~ matching Die's insane pace writing about Kabuto, I seriously still don't know how Die keeps up that pace. If just focusing on actually watching a show makes things more easygoing for you, that can only be for the better.

That being said, you can't begin to imagine my joy when I saw you had written posts like this for three different shows in separate threads basically at once. Or, wait, no, maybe you can imagine it, because I think this is exactly what you're always telling me? There's a real passion that comes across when you're writing about a show you enjoy, and it makes reading it so much darn fun.

...And hey, while I'm giving out all this praise, I should probably mention how much I adore the whole possessed Makoto arc? First of all, much like when Specter stole Edison, it was crazy surprising and novel to see the show essentially make use of the merchandise in such a creative way. It wouldn't have been weird if the sound the Necrom Eyecon makes in the Ghost Driver stayed just a fun bonus bit of compatibility for the toys, right? But beyond that, like you said, it's such an absolutely perfect microcosm of the differences between Takeru and Alain's worldviews at that point in the show. The sheer sincerity with which Alain views Makoto being an obedient drone as the pinnacle of friendship is so, so telling.

Well, I'm sure DreamSword will at least agree that Date is very much a tool. :p

Hmmm... Makoto definitely plays a huge role in Alain's arc until it hits its climax in episode 30, but if it's after that you're talking about, yeah, from what I remember, they don't get a ton of material after that specific to them as a pair.

i was considering typing another response but then you had to go and sum the post up in one sentence how could you

Three shows? ... Oooh you mean the like three episodes of Gridman I done, right? Yeah, that was a fun time. Still watching that, by the way! The episode that went up today... would have been perfect if it weren't for those last couple minutes, but otherwise my favourite episode so far.

Glad to see I was missed! Or, sad? Mixed feelings obviously!

Yeah, that's so great as well!! I love it when they do the more out there things with the toys; capitalise on their more non-standard features. It's definitely a lot more fun than the usual formula of "new progrise key, put in the driver, new form yay". Especially when it's used for THIS effect, holy hell! To go off on a slight tangent, I am AMAZED how little modern Ultraman takes advantage of their toys' extra effects! The Orb Ring, Fusion Riser and Z-Riser all have henshin and final attack noises programmed in for every single medal, which is a little insane to think about -- you get the Gamma Future set and you can henshin and attack as Tiga, Dyna and Gaia right there! And yet the shows only used this for, like, a few Zero Darclops near the start of Geed. Ultraman barely shows off half of what their toys are capable of!

Man, when even you're saying this I can't help but be worried about Ghost's last third... but, hey; I still love Zero-One and Hibiki a lot despite their endgames, so I'm still taking everything that's amazing here away from this!

I mean, there's other stuff going on in those episodes that's cool! Sure, the first third of Ghost is the one with magic hugs, but the final third is the one where Takeru has a literal rainbow of emotional special moves – and episode 38 is only the slightest bit behind 12 as my favorite episode of the entire run that constantly keeps me coming back. I do agree with the consensus that Ghost's overall plotting gets noticeably more uneven towards the end, but a lot of the best parts of the show are also from that stretch. Adel is legitimately one of my favorite Rider antagonists ever, and plenty of those lowkey post-Mugen two parters are very fun stories in their own right. I don't think it's the downgrade it's made out to be, but of course, it's me saying that, so I guess take it with a grain of salt. :p

Now up through episode 33 of Wizard, and I feel that the show is in a really weird place with me right now, because my enjoyment really seems to fluctuate with each arc, which is especially catching me off guard given the general perception that the Phoenix arc had.

First off, just to get out of the way, Kosuke might just equal Date as my most disliked Kamen Rider character at the rate he's going. Every two-parter that's had him as a primary focus has been dreadful for me to watch, and has only made me dislike his character even more. He's not funny, he's obnoxious, he interrupts the natural chemistry the rest of the cast has with eachother whenever he appears, and he never seems to learn from any of his mistakes. The only enjoyment I've been able to get out of him so far is when the rest of the cast makes fun of him or outright acknowledges how lame he is. Hyper Beast is also probably the lamest upgrade form in terms of my personal tastes, having now surpassed Meteor Storm from Fourze.

Meanwhile, the arcs that have had a very distinct lack of Kosuke in them, I've mostly really enjoyed! The Mayu two-parter was actually really, really good! Probably my favorite two-parter in Wizard so far! The Infinity Form two-parter was also pretty well done for the most part(despite them acting like Koyomi totally hasn't been out of focus for 90% of the show)! And whenever there's a lack of Kosuke, the wonderful character interactions of everyone else get to continue to shine! I also love that the Dress Up Ring continues to be useful.

I dunno, maybe I'm totally full of it, but to me it feels like they wanted to make Kamen Rider Beast be a literal second main protagonist with his own story, only to not fully commit to the idea, making him feel overall redundant.

Speaking of disliked characters: Gremlin. I can see why people don't like this guy too much, especially given his status as the replacement for Phoenix. And yes, I do like Phoenix better. But like, here's the thing. I get that Gremlin is supposed to be disliked and annoying; the show is very upfront about that. What I don't like however, is how every other character acts in regards to Gremlin. Like, maybe I'm jumping the gun, not having finished the season yet, but to me it really seems like no one has a good reason to not just kill the guy. Like, you'd think Medusa would tell Wiseman that Gremlin outright admitted to not giving a crap about Wiseman's' orders, and that Wiseman would just want the guy out and out dead considering Gremlin outright sabotaged Wiseman's' plans multiple times.

Gremlin and Medusa also go to show that power scale in Wizard is seemingly non-existent, given the entirety of the Phoenix arc.

But! To end this on a positive note...

https://i.imgur.com/3HUb8Sf.png
https://i.imgur.com/lAzdOPm.png

(ironically these screenshots come from a two-parter that I didn't like)

Sunpei continues to be a constant highlight for me. He's funny, he's good-hearted, his actor does a great job giving him life and energy, and while not a major character by any means, he's been a constant source of great moral support and nice character moments. He certainly makes it out alot better than, say, Koyomi, who has barely existed up to this point. Honestly, I really wish that Shunpei had ended up becoming Beast, because I feel like it would've made for a really interesting character arc and furthered the dynamic between him and Haruto even more(and the two already make a great couple as-is).

I am still overall having a good time with the show, but alot of its decisions are just confusing to me at the given moment.

Starting april 1.
Uhr stars as the boyfriend that's gets mistaken for a lesbian gf . Typecast at least is a cute gal this time. The boy is 19 guys. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvM5tu_bD8I
This is like ankh and baron going the metro feminine / goth route

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8h0CCHaYhE
With makeup and japanese genetics age rate, toku veterans will play hs students until they're 30.m build Ryugen proper.

I like Beast - his irreverence and "go with the flow" energy endear him a lot to me, especially in a show where the main Rider is a lot more serious than usual, but I can see where you're coming from. If he doesn't gel, *shrug*. But Hyper Beast I think I'd agree ain't a great upgrade. Funny you mention Meteor Storm - I remember, way back when it debuted, the fact that the two look very similar was the big topic, and I wondered if that had coloured my opinion of it, and maybe it had, cause looking at it now, there's a good few things I like. The stripe of red being both the eyes and the open jaws, the mane-shoulder-armour thingy. Maybe it just doesn't look amazing in motion, idk.

Beast is what happens when you invert the standard Den-O model for the main/secondary Rider dynamic. In this case, Haruto was the more serious character and Nitou is more of the goofball. Unfortunately, it leaves him feeling really ineffectual when compared to the guy who's been effectively handling everything on his own up to this point. Toss in the RNG nature of his weapon and he tends to feel more like a joke character than a major hero.

Nice.

https://i.imgur.com/0yhfFzR.jpg

So I'm caught up on Saber now, I watched like 8 episodes today. And I didn't hate it? I don't know. I certainly think the split between the Sword of Logos and Touma is the most interesting thing that has happened in this show yet, and the characters really seemed at least a bit realistic and relatable when they had to deal with this event.

But at the same time this show really didn’t do anything to surprise me or make me think "Damn, that's good!" I was mostly along for the ride really. And I have to say, as someone who usually watches Kamen Rider weekly, the little binge session was fun, it really does seem more fluid seeing the events unfold over the course of hours instead of weeks.

At the same time though, good lord do suit upgrades / new Riders get sidelined quickly. X-Swordsman was OP for like 2 episodes and then never stood a chance after, at least that’s what it felt like to me. None of Touma's upgrades really do anything either until a new toy needs to be promoted. And what a boring one it is, a berserker form? Again? Even with the arguably well done nightmare sequence it just felt like a discount Black Hazard.

But what I did think was neat, assuming it won't be wasted terribly later on, is Touma growing as a swordsman and his blade developing new characteristics. That's the kind of thing I want to see more instead of "power-boost through new toy", a Rider getting stronger with the abilities / equipment they already possess.

Anyway, what I learned today: Saber isn't entirely awful at least, and maybe it should be viewed in chunks. Maybe I very much needed the break from it too. So I won’t watch it weekly and instead just consume the next few episodes all at once should I feel like it. Yeah, the more I think about, forcing me to watch it every week didn’t help. I just got fed up with it and was overly hateful of something because it didn’t completely suit my tastes. But once I’m bored and feel like watching Kamen Rider? Saber is good enough I guess.

This is the part where I still my own thread.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Eva6JlLX...jpg&name=large

https://i.imgur.com/KtUrqoU.gif

I felt obliged to post this. I would like to contribute more, but alas, I only ever saw that Kamen Rider 1 film, not the rest of Ghost.

You, uh...didn't miss much. I don't hate it as much as most people seem to, but it's nothing special. I really liked the first arc and the arc focused on Necrom, plus the suit designs were cool, but the main story was pretty uninteresting and it had way too much filler towards the end of the series (when it should have been focusing on story).

On another note, I've been wanting to watch Den-O for ages. How binge-able would you all say it is?

For me the main issue with both is how the Base Suits are honestly fantastic for me. Whoever designed Meteor's' Base Form suit is a genius, and I DO like the Matador theme of Beast, it's just unfortunately attached to a character who I've grown to dislike. Plus, Hyper Beast proved itself unneeded not only when it was shown that its gun can be used at any time(even unmorphed), but by having Wizard's' Infinity Form debut literally right after.

And you know? I'd be fine with all that if not for how Shunpei is literally right there, having already filled the goofball role of the cast(and doing it way better), ontop of having way better chemistry with the rest of the cast than Kosuke ever will. Seriously, Kosuke just feels so redundant in every way and it's unfortunate.

Nice.

Same here. That movie is awesome.

I haven't seen Ghost, except for the Ichigou movie, Heisei Generations movies, and of course Zi-O, the movies I liked, though I might see the show at a later date.

As for my thoughts on Beast. He's not the worst, but not the best I'd say. I kind of like the rather friendly secondary Riders, Cross-Z being my favorite, but I don't have any problem with the rival-type Riders, since I enjoyed Vulcan. But Birth and Beast have their quirks, but might not be as high on my list as others.

About halfway through now and I can't disagree more; this is easily within the upper echelon of Rider for me and is fueled with so much emotion and character drama to ever leave you wanting for more. There's flaws, sure; but no more than other seasons - even ones I like more - have. Why are people always so so so quick to say Ghost was bad whenever it's so much as mentioned?

If you tend to go with the majority view then maybe you will really like Den-O, if not then you won't, personally although I wouldn't say I really hated it and it could be enjoyable for characters that weren't Ryotaro(!) I didn't like the direction it took Kamen Rider for a couple of years and Kiva was actually much more my cup of tea than anything else from 2007-August 2010, I just really am unlikely to ever love W, I'm sorry!

Pretty good, I watched like 5-6 episodes a day, I really liked the Imagin and their shenanigans.

Because it is. Or at least the majority feels that way. I don't even remember much about that show, except how I despise it with every fibre of my very being.

It's... not, though? If you don't like it, sure; but on a technical level there's not much wrong here. There's weak elements like Kanon's characterisation, but the show's been a delight to watch each week and fun at worst

Definitely the first chunk of episodes are, I think. They're maybe a little formulaic, but the pace is brisk and snappy, and the character interactions are exciting and charming. I think that midway through the series it becomes a little more... languid, and it can be a chore to watch more than one episode at a time, but those opening arcs are really fun and exciting, I think.

I super like the opening especially, and I also really liked Mayu's character, and the relationship between her and Hongo, I thought that was super heartfelt.

I would just like to say I wish Ghost had full sleeves instead of the short ones. I'm happy Mugen and Grateful ditched them for shoulder pads.

edit: I might rewatch Sin Specter soon, even tho I haven't watched Ghost yet.