I like the King from Kiva. Just an incredible combination of pathos and great strength with an offended whiny cuckold. Especially his conversation with his wife:
"I don't care about your infidelities, so I'll kill your lover.
- Um, maybe then they still worry you?
"No, they don't care at all!"
Such a stupid guy!
Speaking of Kiva, it seemed to me that Queen Fangaya actually changed children and in the final it would turn out that Wataru is the son of the King, and Taiga is the son of Otoya. And then everyone will understand that the main thing is not genes, but upbringing, and peace will come between people and Fangaya. But the show took a different path.

...

You're really reaching a bit about humans dark impulses and all this strictly good and evil stuff you say when topics like this get brought up, you know that?

Mostly cause like, when it comes to entertainment... I feel like there should be some level of enjoyment for the audience. There's no fun in watching the heroes achieve their goals when the main villain their facing is boring/lacking some sort of charm that really wants you to see the heroes win.

Personally, I love interesting villains, but they really aren't necessary for a good story and/or entertainment. And even more so, it is not necessary to empathize with them. There are those who are just nice to hate. Even a boring and banal villain can work if the story is hero-focused. The MCU will not let you lie here. Not to mention that there are shows like Blade where the villain is basically not needed.

I'm looking at maybe getting a Shout Factory feed on Amazon Prime
to watch the Rider shows in February and Jet Man.

I would like to start with the 1st Rider series which Shout has for
streaminng.

97 episodes will take 3 months to watch for the first Rider series.

Yeah, villains like Cronus and ZAIA work for me because they do take something real and rather than try and make it empathetic, they instead have it boosted to comically hilarious levels; which then goes on to motivate drama between other characters

"Part of his plan" or not I still find it to all be a piece of incredibly lackluster writing, and does nothing to solve the heart of the problem: He's boring and he gets everything easy. Even if you wanna focus on programming, he's somehow able to program and reprogram the sorts of things in mere moments that takes Kuroto entire episodes, and this is long after it's been established that Kuroto is in all ways better at programming and game development than what Masamune is.

Except that Empathy/Sympathy points isn't at all what En-chan was getting at. He was simply saying that in order for an antagonist to be engaging, he thinks they should also be interesting, of which he does not find Masamune to be.

And on a personal note, man, I friggen WISH I could find anything Masamune did to be at all funny or real. Dude was far too busy making me bored out of my mind whenever the plot contrivances weren't making me angry. He wasn't even needed to push the plot along either, given that up until the point he shows up, most of the focus was going towards Parado, Poppy, and the divide between Humans and Bugsters, which was far more interesting to me. Then Masamune shows up and that plot and character work is almost straight up abandoned outside of a few select scenes. Scenes of which Masamune has almost no influence on either, making him even more pointless.

Give me a Showa villain over Masamune any day. Way more fun to be had with them.

Even Archbishop Wing?

I haven't seen V3 yet, so at least I'd get a new experience out of that.

I guess sorry, to specify better, humans' dark impulses seems to be one of the factors - mainly about "forbidden fruit" (fascination with forbidden things) and villains being a fantasy for the audience to be rebellious and wild.

But I feel that charming villains can make some people root for villains instead, or even worse, excusing their behavior (also painting the heroes opposing them as bad) so it feels right to root for them to win. Extremely hateable villains to audience's eyes like Micchy, Banno, or Gai (both of them :cool:) seems to be more likely to get the audience really want to see what's coming to them (and get satisfied for that).

Yeah, this'd be fair to want to see the divide of humans and Bugsters. Parado was announced as the main antagonist in the preview after all, but Kuroto served that role for longer time before Parado actually got that starting from ep. 23. L̶e̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶s̶e̶e̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶G̶e̶a̶t̶s̶ ̶p̶u̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶f̶,̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶A̶r̶c̶h̶i̶m̶e̶d̶e̶l̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶n̶n̶o̶y̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶J̶a̶m̶a̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶a̶d̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶o̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶h̶u̶m̶a̶n̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶g̶a̶m̶e̶,̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶P̶a̶r̶a̶d̶o̶ ̶b̶u̶t̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶B̶u̶g̶s̶t̶e̶r̶s̶.̶̶̶

Not really, most of his episodes are just reused stories from Kamen Rider '71.

Oh right while not too substantial I did end up watching the Change My Future MV that Avex put out for the latest Reiwa Crossover Movie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdZEsYXBlTc

Just uh, spoiler warning obviously. This is very much made with the idea that you are in Japan and have seen the movie since it delves way deeper into it than any other trailer. Aka, you can kinda figure how the movies gonna go?

It was like that last year with the Promise MV too. I've got to admit though, I do like that Avex has decided to make their own MV's for the Rider Winter movies at least. That's pretty fun.

I have now finished all of the post-Ex-Aid content. So, True Ending, Final Stage, the Parad-DX HBV, Another Ending, and Mighty Novel X.

True Ending was very Ex-Aid in that I had no real strong feelings one way or the other about it overall. I will however compliment the movie for its very strong atmosphere throughout.

Final Stage, though. Man, this is easily in second place for the Kamen Rider stage shows that I've seen. It was funny, energetic, and overall just really fun to watch. Heck, I felt it made for a way better ending to the show than what the actual show's' ending was.

The Para-DX HBV was just simple fun for the most part, like the Lazer HBV. Emu having a different hairstyle really threw me off though.

As for the Another Ending Trilogy, boy, I got serious flashbacks to the Zero-One Others Duology with this one. While I could point to certain similarities outside of just the head writer, the big one for me was in how both are sequel movies that go entirely against one of the big themes of both shows.

In both Ex-Aid and Zero-One, one of the big messages is "Death isn't the answer, life is." and yet, with the way both sets of movies end up going, they essentially say the exact opposite, in how death is what ultimately results in the "happy ending." Needless to say, I did not dig these movies at all. Better than Others, but still felt like huge wastes of time in the end.

With how back and forth this last leg of Ex-Aid had been for me, I didn't exactly have high hopes for the Novel, but I'm happy to say that I was pleasantly surprised! While sure, there is some minor retconning done to the show for the sake of the narrative, I overall felt that the story it was telling was rather engaging, and the added backstory to both Emu and Kuroto and how it makes their Duality so much stronger was incredibly fascinating to me.

Really, the entire story was essentially how I wished the final arc of Ex-Aid proper had actually gone if the focus on the Bugsters was to be dropped. It even followed up on a couple plot points that had seemingly been forgotten in the show itself. And heck, it even got me to dislike Hiiro a little less! I definitely recommend giving it a read, though I will warn that the novel itself is pretty depressing. Not to the point of being grimdark, but still, brace yourself.

So, does any of this stuff change my overall rating of Ex-Aid?

Eh... not really.

The story as a whole, while it does have some high moments, still doesn't do much for me overall. While I can see why people would like it, especially after all the hate that Ghost got, it's overall just a show that's not really for me. Love Parado, Poppy, and Kuroto though. Zero-One is much more my speed when it comes to Takahashi's' works. Time will only tell how I end up feeling towards Geats. Though it'll be quite a while before I get around to watching that.

For those who've been keeping up with my Rider Playlist(All two of you!) the song I feel that does a good job at symbolizing Ex-Aid is "All Together" by Illenium. It's a song whose lyrics I feel could fit many of the characters, and is overall one about unity, compassion, and understanding. (By the way, Build ended up being "The Only Way (Is the Wrong Way)" by Filter)

Whenever I go back to watching Rider, the next planned show to tackle is Stronger. I could use something more simple and fun to watch right now, I think.

4 episodes into Geats. While I'm enjoying it overall, it does have some problems.

My biggest problem is that this whole "game" thing doesn't make sense. If they're trying to protect humanity, why would they risk it by eliminating players? And if they're able to reset all the destruction at the end of each round and grant any wish to the winners, why is there even a threat at all?

It's pretty obvious to me that it's a cover for something more nefarious that will be revealed in a surprise twist later on, but I don't understand why they're even believing it.

It also feels like a cross between Ex-Aid and Battle Royale/Squid Game, but I mean...those are all things I like, so that's fine. It's just not as good as any of those things (so far)

Players believe because they are all blinded by their desires. Someone simply does not notice the catch, others want to use the game or get to the bottom of its essence. But yes, for me the main enemy is the leadership of the DGP. If the show does not end with the destruction of this game, I will consider it a failure (well, or a bad ending, if everything else is fine).

I see what you did there.

EDIT: 1500th post!

Congratulations!
https://cdna.artstation.com/p/assets...jpg?1491366294
https://static.miraheze.org/besttvsh...eam_Poster.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...eroProfile.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/6b/6a...d8fa2b650c.jpg

1st Rider Series (Episode 03)

Stream watch on Shout Factory TV on Amazon.

Due Up

V3 (Episode 02) Shout Factory TV

Since I got Ryuki in today I decided to watch Episode Final with the Shout subs. I'd seen this movie ages ago with fansubs and could barely remember it, but upon rewatching it... that sure is an Inoue film. I think this movie has some good ideas. Exploring this kind of alternate ending fits Ryuki perfectly! But in implementation its a plodding mess that doesn't really sell me on old or new characters. Still nice they added the movie to the release though!

Currently watching

Squadron / Rider / Sheriff

team up movie

For something different, I ended up watching the Super Hero Taisen Net Movies. They are very fun and entertaining to watch and I especially got a real kick out of the Rider and Sentai murder mysteries.

Kamen Rider Outsiders - Episode 1!

Yep, that sure is another Rider fight. Makes me think all the way back to the last time they did this... Rider Time Zi-O. Which I guess was still four years ago, so not super-recent, but still, "Let's redo the Battle Royale" applies just as much here. Someone who's properly watched Ryuki can do a better job picking on Asakura's character work here, but we finally got Ouja Survive, so that's cool.

As for everyone else, it's little more than a cameo. Kaitou back is somewhat surprising, given Tsukasa's apparent status of "Dead after that Zi-O Crossover until Magenta man comes back again", but as someone brought into Kamen Rider via the OOO and Fourze years, it is good to see someone reviving the idea of Foundation X... even as they revive Dezast. Somewhere in here is a metaphor for Toei digging up these dead characters to pit against each other in a battle royale arc, but I ain't got it.

Final thoughts - not too bad as an individual opener, definitely a Ryuki nostalgia fest, but it barely feels like a cohesive part of a larger story.

Given how Episode 0 felt like an episode of Genms I'm not too surprised that the Ouja story was mostly just like... Ouja and not much on anything else.

It definitely seems like Outsiders is a branding to where they can do anthology pieces of various Riders and characters with the only real connective tissue being ZEIN.

Speaking of though, it definitely feels like we're back in a more heavy crossover boat compared to Ouja's given all the characters showing up for Episode 2.

I guess my fundemantal problem is that Ouja isn't a very interesting character? As an obstacle to someone's empathy, as a funny murder man, I get it, but here, as the protagonist, he lacks any depth or nuance. His motivation is "Kill", and he fights. I thought they were maybe going to do something where Reborn Asakura has a Joker "OnE bAd DaY!" moment after being betrayed, where we see him regress, or be taunted by the memories of the man he once was who shouldn't be real, but instead w';re on Geats rules where touching your driver just brings you right back. I'm not cynical enough to think you can't do "Bring back a legacy character for fanbait" and "Tell a compelling story", I've seen GoRiders, but while the action here is solid, I feel hanging the debut part of this on Ouja alone and not having any other returning actor cast to bounce off of is a missed opportunity.

I have not being paying attention to this line of miniseries and I honestly don't feel like I'm missing out.

It's sorta just stuff that happens, yeah. The appeal is Ouja getting a final form and if that's what you want, it definitely happens

Having watched it myself, yeah I agree that Asakura doesn't exactly have the correct character (he's better as an antagonist/obstacle) to have an entire special focused around him. It's cool that we got Ouja Survive though.

That being said, at the end of these days, these specials are basically fanservice at their base form.

Though I suspect that Episode 2 will be a lot more enticing to digest given just... everything in it.

Speaking of The Outsiders, I think it's the type of story that would be better taken as a whole, rather than broken into episodes. Therefore, the idea of ​​showing it with an interval of a couple of months is very controversial. As for Ouja, I found it amusing to see Asakura not killing, but it was obvious that he would be reverted back to his original behavior. Still, this is not his solo special. Also I don't understand:
a) Why is the costume actor so thicker than the original?
b) The Survive cards were the two wings of Odin. Why another one for Asakura? But the design is nice, although I would have preferred less gold.

So this is a big reference to an old magazine photo of Odin with three Survive Cards on his visor, which I am struggling to find, combining the two wings with a "Survive Mugen" phoenix card to make the entire phoenix. This would be referenced properly in Rider Time: Ryuki, when Odin pulls it off and it supposedly grants him immortality. And now it's here again, to combine with the other fan desire of "Ouja Survive".
https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/ka...vive_Cards.png

The middle Survive card is in Ryuki proper, it's just never used.

Yep, exactly this. I have inexplicably watched that particular part of Kamen Rider Outsiders as of last night myself.

I started Rider Series 1 on Shout Factory TV. I'd need to check for
other sites in case I can't see the rest on Toku You Tube.

On a whim, I decided to get back to the Kamen Rider side of things for a bit by starting on watching Kamen Rider Fourze.

A part of me still wishes they adapted the show for Western audiences.

It's basically a standard Power Rangers season as-is, so yeah, it probably would've gone over better than what adapting Ryuki did.

It is one of the Kamen Rider seasons I would be interested to see as a potential US adaptation.

On the contrary, it seems to me that Fourze suits the Western audience in terms of plot, but it would have to be re-shot almost from scratch. The Kamen Rider Club appears too often in action scenes, and even the most meticulous editor will miss Yuki at least once. Dragon Knight worked because there was no place in the Mirror World for characters without costumes.
In principle, Geats would be a good fit for adaptation, given that this show has little interaction with civilians.

Speaking of Kamen Rider Fourze, I am now up to its 14th episode and I got to say, I'm really enjoying this series so far.

Incidentally, this is my 700th post.

Congratulations!
https://cdn-img.fimfiction.net/story...-143196-medium
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...eroProfile.jpg
https://tamashiiweb.com/images/item/...GNnXjL6_08.jpg

I'm now up to episode 24 of Kamen Rider Fourze. After this, I will officially be halfway through this series. I even watched the Movie War Mega Max, which serves as a crossover between Fourze and OOO, again in between albeit in the Director's Cut version this time. I can definitely see why, like W and OOO, Fourze is considered a very excellent gateway series for people who wanted to get into the Kamen Rider franchise for the first time.