So I watched the second episode of Kuuga and really enjoyed it. My only real complaint is that Kuuga himself kinda sucks, when he found his conviction and moved on to this 'proper' form, I was excited as hell - that new suit looks cool as hell!

But then nothing seemed to improve, not his speed or his strength, no new weapons and his Rider kick was just a normal kick. And despite throwing in two enemies, I still found his fight in his Base Form against that Spider Vagina guy way more thrilling.

Pretty much, every Gate starts as an arsehole, then they share their tragic backstory and everyone is friends by the end. With The Gate never to be seen again.

Except Kizaki! Well, he wasn't the Gate, his son was...

Eeyup. Every gate it a total douche.
I think...Maybe 2 aren't.
The rest are more concerned with making sure everyone hates them until the last second to redeem them through backstory.

You have to remember, Kuuga was the first Kamen Rider series for 10 years after Black RX. So it's rather basic at times.
But from what I heard, it's still rather good.

The fight in the opening episode, although not exactly flashy, was still spectacular with Kuuga and Spigina basically smashing each other through practically everything, fighting their way up onto a roof and then around a helicopter.

You can't open that spectacularly, add in two monsters and then somehow make it more boring but they did it.

Man this show. Literally every character except Hairytoes is just wasted space.

Stinko the world's lamest detective has done bugger-all.

Shoe-pie is just grating constantly.

Coilme is melodramatic to the max on top of being consentrated boring.

The gate is a buttfront.

Medusa is a lame villain with a stupid human form. (you know, because fanfiction teenagers are threatening and ominous, right?)

Phoenix is an annoying asshat with an equally stupid human form. (though I hear he get's good)

Son of Catface is just a dumb villain.

And then there's the donut van man/lady/thing.

No wonder Locke thinks Hairytoes is so aweosme. Everyone else makes me want to fall asleep so bad the simple fact that he does something once in a while seems like Godsend, even if he is a demon. (I want to buy WAP flame style just so I can post pictures of my SH Den-O and Zeronos freaking out while Wizard stares into the camera three inches from the lens)

But I really, really want to get caught-up so I can watch a series as it airs for once. Man I can't wait for the next rider series.

I must admit I do sometimes wonder if I go easy on Haruto just because everyone else in the show is so awful.

By the way Phoenix doesn't get better, he just gets an epic death.

I always liked Phoenix.

I never got this either, people call Haruto bland and then say Phoenix was a good villain. If Haruto is bland I've got no idea what Phoenix is.

I don't think Haruto is bland. He's not my favorite, but he's okay. Phoenix was fun to watch, and his final arc was a magnificent example of what the show could achieve.

Phoenix is a stupid dummy.

God, it's like I'm watching a foreign All My Children with all these overdramatic characters WHO AREN'T SUPERHEROES WITH POWERS OR AWESOME.

You know, call me nuts, but if there's one thing I hate it's series where the main character isn't the main character.

Seriously, on top of a whole lot else, my favourite part of W was how the story was about W and his enemies. Not nonsense extra characters except Akiko who, shock of all shocks, was part of the main story and not dealing with her own stupid problems. Everyone of the main three had a purpose and did shit. Shotaro was the convicted hero, Philip was his briany partner/also hero, Akiko was, well, everything else. There were no useless characters. If a character served no use in the episode, (WatcherMan, Santa, Jin and Makura) they didn't show up.

What do these non-Wizard characters even do? They have no skills outside Callmemaybe, who despite having a literal crystal ball, only sometimes let's Wizard know when a Phantom's causing shit. Buuuuuuull.