I've read one of their Ryuki reviews you sent me before, but is there something specific you want to bring up?

Oh so you did, I meant that I asked to clarify if you have done it or not yet (I think it's the only way for me to know), sorry for the re-ask by this. I guess I wanna bring up something about this elsewhere if I'd want to.

I watched Medal of Resurrection yesterday. Definitely a fresh daring take on what an anniversary movie can be, in contrast to the more frivolous fanservice-y Sentai ones I've seen so far. I thought it was pretty intriguing how Ankh is basically the protagonist here (Miura Ryosuke hasn't aged?!), while Eiji is like a part of the world that ties everything together, which seems fitting.

The plot does exactly as advertised by concluding the Ankh revival subplot that's been hanging over OOO for the last decade and I guess Mouri has gained a reputation as the guy you hire to kill the hero, after Takumi in Kamen Rider 4. It's a tragic and bittersweet ending for sure, but it totally feels in-character for Eiji, as the only other option in this scenario was for him to let an innocent little girl die, which considering his traumatic war flashback, of course he had to save her this time. There's even a Cyclone Effect Acoustic scene between Eiji and Ankh which really landed the emotional weight for me.

The new forms are pretty cool as well, although frankly I'm not sure why King OOO bothered with the cape when his Final Form immediately discarded it. Creative use of the Tamashii shoulders. I would've preferred if Goda used Mukachiri as a base, with the King armor added over it. Tajadol Eternity finally resolved the problem I had with Tajadol's red eyes. The green eyes actually make the suit stand out, which is what the original was missing. Eiji voicing the "Taka, Kujaku, Condol!" part, like Ankh did in the show's finale, was some emotional symbolism that once more this is their last fight together, but with their roles switched.

What did you guys think of this movie?

It was interesting, but it could use a longer duration. King OOO turned out to be too flat a villain and Greeds would like to see more. In general, for a cast that was invited ten years later, they have very little interaction. Although, perhaps, this problem is solved by special Birth. Also, I don't remember if there was an explanation why the Ankh didn't take over Eiji's body, though not heal him, but continue to exist.

I expected the tyrant King OOO to use his powers to fulfill his desire to conquer, but the way he spontaneously targets the little girl with a Scanning Charge shows that he doesn't mind doing depraved evil for its own sake either. Just a real bad dude with no sympathetic traits and it would've been nice to see more time for Team Greeed before he absorbed them.

Eiji pushed Ankh out of his henshin after finishing Goda. Seems like Eiji didn't want his life to become a burden for Ankh and chose to stay dead so Ankh could live freely. Which sucks for everybody who cares about Eiji, but, I guess, at least he didn't have any regrets, similar to Takumi and Isamu.

EDIT: I remembered the Fun Fact: Goda's VA is called Hino Satoshi. It's so appropriate.

It's actually a pretty strong contender for my favorite Rider movie. I loved the role reversal that Eiji and Ankh went through, and while the ending is certainly contentious amongst fans, I loved it. To me, Eiji pushing Ankh away at the end was him basically saying "Don't be like me. Learn to let go and move on."

Could the movie have used another half hour to maybe elaborate on a few things and give some other characters more screen time? Sure, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the movie from start to finish.

Plus, ya know, Tajador Eternity is a fantastic suit, and is everything I wanted Tajador to be at the end of the OOO proper.

The Birth spin-off even killed Date. It was basically made for you. :p

I think they should've added Tajadol Eternity as a DLC character for Memory of Heroez. It's a missed opportunity that Ankh is only NPC.

It occurred to me that "Tycoon meets Shinobi" would be better if they replaced Tycoon with Kenzan in it. First: the different personalities of the main characters would create a more interesting dynamic. Secondly: then the role of the bridesmaid would be played by Desast.

I just wanna gush a bit about Kamen Rider Outsiders. I'll put some plot points and details behind spoiler bars just in-case anyone hasn't watched as of yet and plans to.

I didn't expect what started as a one-off Father's Day-ish crossover with Genm The Presidents to turn into one of the most intriguing background crossovers I've ever seen KR do.

You can tell it was inspired by superhero films (Specifically and obviously the MCU) with how integrated they're making multiple series. As of the latest episode we've got connections between Ex-Aid, Zero-One, Saber, Revice, Decade, Faiz, Blade, Drive, Den-O, Ryuki and any rider that has dealt with Foundation X.

The story of essentially the ultimate force of good being opposed by a conjured force of evil due to the latter posing a potential threat upon its creation is really interesting to me. Zein is Ark's counterpart. Ark was the epitome of malice and negative emotion while Zein is justice and positive emotion, but if that heroism is left unopposed it could lead to the subjugation and rule over humanity all for the sake of protection. It's a premise KR doesn't touch on much. Last I remember was Daiji's character arc in Revice where losing Kagerou left his just side imbalanced and caused him to make extreme decisions.

The solution to this and the key players involved not only make things interesting, but also either tie up loose ends to previous characters and series, undo some things or give fans things they've been wanting to see for ages. Stuff like Tachibana being the one developing Zein and Yuuto being the user. Or how Zein's powers essentially come from copied Decade cards that he shreds with each use. Blue Bird apparently supporting Tachibana's work and George personally coming to enlist Nico's help since she's taken over Genm Corp as its president post Ex-Aid and they needed Kamen Rider Chronicle's data for Zein's completion. Nico reviving Horobi to function as a Genm Corp enforcer who Ark originally wanted to revive against Zein, only for him to obviously refuse since he's not evil. Foundation X using whatever means necessary to gather the most evil riders they can find to oppose Zein, including reviving Desast, Banno and Brain or trying to recruit Ouja. Even forming a partnership with Smart Brain and the damn Orphenoch King. It's such a wtf series that keeps shocking me every episode with what they do and where they pull from that I hope it continues for as long as it needs to.

Only real downside I have is the wait between episodes. 2 or so months each round is such a painful time frame when they keep bomb-dropping you one after another.

Basically, that's why I abandoned it for a while. It's just that you still have to review all the episodes from the beginning in order to fully appreciate the whole work.

I watched Movie Battle Royale. Kind of disappointing that I waited until I finished rewatching Ryuki, only for the special guests to do nothing that a troop of random GM Riders couldn't have done. Their placement in the poster and trailer make them seem way more important than they actually are. I guess it does explain Asakura's appearance in Outsiders, but that's about it.

Honestly, this movie is pretty dumb in general. Like, the only reason the plot happens is due to the Igarashis suddenly having a fourth sibling like the Saimas from GoGo V (male, male, female, male). Unlike Salamandes, this baby isn't a character, but rather a plot device, as the villains extract the devil and use him as a power source for their evil goal. Maybe in 20 years, he'll be the coolest Igarashi of all time, but for now, I'm indifferent.

Similar to the previous "Movie Battle", Sengoku Movie Battle, there are only 2 parts compared to the average 3 part Movie War. Wizard and Revice get the first part, while Gaim and Geats share their part with the crossover part. Despite my problem with Gaim, if I try and look objectively, I still think a Movie War should give proper focus to both sides. Kinoshita writes the Revice part all by himself and yet Takahashi still has to work alongside him for the rest.

The good thing about the Revice part is Vice coming back, as I expected he would. But typical of Revice, nothing is ever that simple. Later it turns out his revival was temporary, so we still have to go through more of this nonsense. Even when there's a solution to this, Ace writes a desire card to make Ikki remember Vice, rather than literally just writing, "a world where Vice is alive". So, what the hell, Ace? Again, I frankly don't care whether Ikki remembers anything. Furthermore, if Vice died due to Ikki's memory problem, then why is he still dead after Ikki remembered? Nothing here makes sense!

Kaima's father is an even worse parent than the Kuramas used to be. Kaima is kind of a bad dude as well for going along with the evil plan just to appease his father, but I have to pity him that his father only sees him as a tool due to him apparently not being as successful as his older siblings, even though he's literally an MMA champion. His father must be the same type as Amatsu Gai's father, expecting nothing less than 1000% all the time.

Tamaki gets a new upgrade to Over Demons, but unless you're actively looking for it, you may miss it. Well, it looks cool anyway, even though it lost its debut fight. Surely they could've put this somewhere else?

Tsumuri gets another costume change, which I also prefer to the original.

Ikki riding a motorcycle in one scene made me wonder if he ever did that before, which was immediately followed by the line chat with Vice asking the same thing. I thought that was pretty humorous, at least. As this is hopefully the last Revice content I'll see for a long time, I guess I may as well give them one last promotion. #NiceIkki #NiceVice #NiceBike

Overall, this was slightly more enjoyable than Super Movie War Genesis, but that's a low bar. The action was visually appealing and there were some good jokes, but doesn't compensate for the frustratingly bad plot. I doubt I'll have any desire to rewatch this one anytime soon.

If it's your purpose in rewatching Ryuki... uhh... even I wouldn't ever make these expectations because, I don't have high expectations for the crossover movies in general, but is it something wrong to have that approach (guess I do watch those for obligation)? Other than the complaint,there seems to be counterparts regarding Ryuki cast's wishes and the Geats cast's, but in general form. Ren is "the power to destroy a̶l̶l̶ ̶K̶a̶m̶e̶n̶ ̶R̶i̶d̶e̶r̶s̶ everything" (general version of Michinaga's Kamen Rider exclusive). While Asakura's wish is "fight i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶D̶G̶P̶ until the day I die" (general version of Ace's DGP-related first wish). It also feels smart to pair Ryuga with both Keiwa and Daiji - Keiwa's actor is named Ryuga Sato, and Daiji has dark twisted version of his personality in Kagerou like Shinji's Dark Shinji.

Perhaps this also takes away the screentime that can be used for more series dynamics, maybe if this doesn't focus much on the saving Koshiro from Baridero and Izangi fight, which feels similar to Battle Familia focusing on saving the pregnant woman to prove a point, but this victim isn't a stranger for the cast, there can be more meaningful screentime for each series including Ryuki who here is only used as extra muscles to fight.. Though here, so even you can have complaints about someone only being used as a plot device, rather than character, of which it seems to be how people like Sophia and Luna from Saber are hated so much, and you also have finished Ryuki recently..

I guess you wouldn't complain about this when, you'd like the W ending of Philip returning. It was said that Vice (and likely Vail) are still dormant inside of Ikki, though it was never stated how to bring him back, albeit this one just feels easier (I thought it's simple while you think it's not that simple). N̶o̶t̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶l̶a̶i̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶e̶i̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶t̶a̶i̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶m̶e̶m̶o̶r̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶e̶i̶t̶h̶e̶r̶.̶ With Hiromi saying that Ikki's power as Revi would be halved without Vice, it feels like a missed opportunity for a reasonable excuse to downgrade a final form to base form (Geats MagnumBoost) of the current Rider honestly. Regarding you questioning Ace's wish in this movie, you don't have similar questions to those in the actual series?

Well the Kuramas are far from the worst parents of the whole KR franchise, when there are parents that qualify for irredeemable villain such as Banno and Masamune. Ryuki also had the war starting due to abusive parents as well (... with their daughter also learning that they're actually dead, and is currently otherwordly). Though Kaima got mistreated, I do still think that, Kaima is an example when someone only selectively cares about family, they'd want to support their family while throwing everyone else under the bus in doing so, which makes a case of love turning someone bad (and how I think love doesn't necessarily mean goodness or good trait).

I was already planning to rewatch Ryuki before the reveal of their appearance in this movie, so it just turned out that way. There's nothing wrong with your approach either though, it's all personal preference. For me, I was concerned that watching this movie too early would've pulled me out of the experience of Ryuki, as I wanted to see the characters progress gradually from start to end. But if I'd known in advance how irrelevant they'd be, I would've watched it weeks ago. It's true that there are parallels to the DGP Riders, but it's all on a surface level of trivia and doesn't really contribute much to the story.

Well, it might be a moot point to complain about a baby having no character to relate to (Salamandes cheats by having a sudden growth spurt), but the way the story goes from casually introducing the new Igarashi to making that the catalyst for the plot seems way too convenient. Like so many problems with Revice, there's no plausible sense of time between major events. This baby didn't exist for 19 years after the previous sibling's birth, but Kinoshita clearly only writes for the plot, so now there's a baby, which if you remove, the plot totally falls apart.

I just feel like it's another unnecessary attempt to subvert viewer expectations. Even Vice makes a big deal about how happy the cinema-goers must be to see him back and how heartbroken they'd be if he left them again. The twist of his borrowed time is delivered through the same tedious exposition that Revice always does, which leaves me with the same apathy I felt towards Ikki's memory loss problem. It's always, "oh no, this bad thing is happening", but I can't suspend my disbelief for problems that are only created by the writer's vanity.

I've definitely had problems with other DGP Riders' desires, like Neon's to disappear and Keiwa's to bring back all the dead, but this is the first time I've had a problem with one of Ace's desires. Even though it's a rare selfless desire in early Geats that doesn't further his search for Mitsume, it's also half-a**ed, negligible, when there was the simple option to just bring back Vice. If Ikki truly values Vice as family, then why isn't he willing to try and save him like he would for his siblings? If Ace understands the suffering of remembering a lost family member and frequently tells people they're better off forgetting, then why does he think Ikki should remember? These guys just left Vice to die, or disappear anyway, for reasons that I cannot make sense of.

Yeah, Kaima is like an unhealthy version of Neon, where instead of searching for validation outside his toxic family environment, he desperately clings to the hope that by making himself useful as an obedient company asset, he can earn the approval of his father, who actually doesn't deserve his loyalty. It's a tragic depiction of unrequited love in the familial sense, which I would've liked to see explored more in Revice, instead of only idealizing the concept of happy family. Something like Rintarou's arc in Saber. I think Kaima had the potential to be an intriguing character, but alas, he was overshadowed. Even Kaima's father's arrest doesn't get much reaction from the Ultimate Busybody beyond "damn".

Well, last year has been a very atypical and eventful year for the Igarashi family, so an addition to the family isn't the most unusual thing that could happen.

Watched the 1st episode of the Geats anime. To be honest, I'm disappointed. Not as funny and inventive as the cartoon shorts by Saber and Zero-One. Plus, it is very much aimed at advertising the film. Michinaga also apologizes for being very out of character. Maybe episode 2 will be more fun?
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After months of mostly focusing on the Ultraman franchise, I am now officially back on my Ryuki rewatch as of last night via my copy of the series on Blu-Ray and I am up to where Takeshi Asakura/Kamen Rider Ouja makes his first official appearance in the series. I am also hoping to finish off Wizard and/or Kiva before the end of this year.

3rd attempt at watching Saber. Reached episode 8. Did not expect the Oren and Hideyasu cameo.

Not only have I finally continued right where I left off on Kiva, I am also now down to the show's final quarter as of today.

I'm a little late, but I finished Geats. Spoilers incoming obviously.

So, uh, hmm. That was... strange. This is the morning after I finished the show and no matter how much I mull it over my feelings towards it aren't budging from "confused". I don't think it was very good, but it WAS fairly entertaining and had some creative fights. The plot is baffling and honestly felt like 6 different shows stitched together. The characters aren't too great? Man, I dunno. Definitely my least favorite Takahashi show, if nothing else.

I feel like the plot is the first thing I have to address. I think the show started fairly strongly. There was a good sense of intrigue surrounding the nature of the DGP and the Jamato that had me interested. The basic idea behind the characters was ripe for interesting development. However, the longer the show went on, the most obvious it was that not much had been planned in advance. Entire DGP seasons could have been removed with no real impact, especially the one where there was no winner. Then they just keep dumping more characters and plot points that are barely relevant to anything in the mix. Supporters, DGP staff, Ace's past lives, finite amounts of happiness in the world, constant world resets, the tree of knowledge! It was absolute narrative chaos that I can barely even process and didn't come together to make a satisfying whole.

The characters were a mess. I think Neon was maybe the most cohesive character in the show? Her arc generally made sense and was paced decently throughout the show, even if the whole "the kidnapper is back and he's kidnapping a Kurama daughter again" moment was just absurd. Ace was borderline irrelevant large amounts of the time. I genuinely like the CONCEPT behind "Michinaga kills Keiwa's sister, sending Keiwa into a spiral of desperate violence", but the implementation was just SILLY and resolved so suddenly. Tsumuri cried and then Jitto grabbed her magic tear and used it to make EVIL Tsumuri? And then evil Tsumuri possessed her so she shot Ace? What? I can't say I really loved a single character as much as I was vaguely amused by them sometimes. In Ex-Aid and Zero-One I was pretty impressed by Takahashi's character writing, but not so much here unfortunately.

Thematically I think the ideas of continuing to strive towards your desires and giving people second chances are good stuff, even if the writing didn't always do it justice. There are some other tonal issues with the show however. One thing that kept really rubbing me the wrong way is how the show almost seemed like it wanted to make fun of Rider fans, while at the same time not really understanding them. The audience and Kekera in particular felt like a parody of the idea that "Rider fans just want to see people suffer on TV" and more broadly the kinds of people who enjoy these death game stories, without really getting why it is that people want these kinds of things. Generally, fans don't just want to watch a character suffer for the sake of it, characters who suffer are relatable. We want to root for them to overcome their challenges because they seem more real. When they succeed we are reminded that we can do the same, and when they fail we feel their pain. The way Geats approaches it felt like it was talking down to fans when they have very real criticisms like "it feels cheap to constantly revive characters just for a happy ending" and reducing it to all of them being a bunch of sadists. It was almost like the show was smugly looking at the viewer and going "There, isn't the story better this way, where everyone can be happy?" while making an absolute mess. I keep wanting to compare it to Shin Kamen Rider, which had a similar story about human happiness. Shin Kamen Rider was serious and goofy and completely earnest, with a deep love of Kamen Rider and what it was about, while Geats' poor meta commentary towards fans just felt cynical. Ugh, sorry, but this particular aspect just really peeved me.

Ultimately, I think this was about the same quality as Revice. I think Revice was better in terms of characters while Geats was more entertaining, but both had serious issues that bring them down to D tier for me. Two bad shows in a row is nothing new for the series though, so whatever, haha.

Kamen Rider Fourze Episodes 28 & 29 - Silent Treatment from Juniors & No Need For Seniors

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So for the start of the school year, we have a story about how young people can be betrayed by their elders, and how only actively repairing that trust is the way forwards. How you can't suffocate your friends withou them lashing out at the percieved patronisation. But the more interesting part of this one is Ohsugi.

I've been a Kamen Rider fan a while, and Ohsugi is up there as one of the most iconic parts of the show. He was even the best rep we got in Zi-O! And yet so far in the show, it's been difficult to see why. His schtick has mainly been "Sad over the Scorpio Zodiarts" and "Shout at Gentarou, Yuki and Kengo". This one, though, finally brings him into the fold. Granted, he almost sells them out to Tachibana-san first, but might be the first to realise the entire staff of Amonogawa High School might be evil Zodiarts makers. Hopefully, there's more of him being a protective senior to the club, and less of an slightly-obssessive creep.

Or, let's be honest, probably both.

So hey, if you didn't know, episodes 31 and 32 have a Director's Cut known as Climax Episode. I highly recommend that being the way you experience those episodes.

I did not know that, thanks for saying! I watched #31 earlier today, but I guess I'll just do the Climax Episode instead of #32.

Sorry if those'd be contradictory, but....

Maybe it being dubbed as "game" rubbed you the wrong way, or the DGP being suspicious from the get-go, but I think it's just doing what Kamen Riders often do with their organizations? Where the main cast work for certain organization in fighting monsters, but midway discover that the organization is corrupt, and Geats does have the transition that time too, when the time of using Kamen Rider powers for good begins, against Beroba and the Jamato crew trying to achieve their goals of getting the Goddess of Creation for their own ends, like Gaim's battle of Forbidden Fruit. Though yeah, those people still dub their schemes as "games" too, but yeah don't be misled, from that point it's villains' schemes being set on motion as usual (outside of the DR).

Ace's past lives explain why he's so good at everything, he has far greater experience than any humans, of which for others there are unexplained ones like Tendou and Tsukasa's OPness. Also the past lives come from his creation powers, which is something that is important to solve the problems in last arc, so yeah, Ace is someone who has always inherited the creation powers, but is not aware of it until he reunites with Mitsume - of which he does reunite with her to ask why he's reincarnating, the answer is subconsciously making use of his creation powers to reincarnate and ensure he'd be reunited with her someday, but after aware, he makes use of said power to great effect in the last arc.

The finite happiness in the world is Kekera's belief, thus he molds Keiwa into his ideal kind of "hero" by having him go through throwing people under the bus to save people that he wants, his family, rather than the "wishy-washy" type of striving for everyone's (fans also often hate that and like, want those people to kill and sacrifice more "for the greater good"), shown in him going through the DGP's wishes with the full knowledge that he'd sacrifice people's happiness. One characters' belief doesn't mean series' representation. Overall it's just the DGP crime of making few happy at the expense of many, and ofc they want to keep that secret, of which Ace seeks to atone for his mother being put through that by acting as a total antithesis of the DGP, including making use of his powers in other ways that doesn't come to people's expense unlike the DGP, and he gave Keiwa hope too that drastic means isn't the only way to achieve ideal world - of which Keiwa chooses to follow Ace's teachings over Kekera's, making him stop cooking up extreme ideas if he fails (he gets more drastic as he got deprived of the wish like others destroying DGP or Sara dying) for good.

Who says Kekera doesn't want to overcome the challenges? It's Kekera's belief that humans can only change when they're brought low. But the thing is, he's the one who orchestrated the suffering himself, so that makes him villainous that he'd harm anyone to get Keiwa to develop, like Sara or other people by backing up Daichi. Kekera also wants Keiwa to grow constantly so he'd keep causing suffering so he can keep growing, there are no limits in growth. And it's my personal fear, but I think that perhaps people like, for example authority figures who want to have their students/workers/etc, got better (and those people's crimes are also swept under the rug, as people can think they know best to put people through suffering for development), may cook up something that makes their underlings suffer constantly so that they can keep consistently grow, but may be forbidden due to society rules or such - and when they fail, those kind of people often berate and discard the failing people btw. It's my paranoia but perhaps that idea can happen.

I'm someone who is fed up with people justifying villains or such and in general seem like feeling the world is centered around them, like wishing hell for those who they personally dislike only due to "annoying" or such, honestly, so I guess I support the criticism of those type of fans based on these supporter type of characters... but perhaps people'd hate them while still not realizing about these kind of people on internet - particularly that, they're harmless only because they don't have powers like those 2, but I'd want if sometimes people can be aware of that, of which this series now do have people who have similar thoughts being described as Kekeras, and I feel that even though people can not perform the evil schemes they do can normalize those evil deeds performed by others. I know people'd complain about not being unable to differentiate real life or fiction, but yeah those characters are those representation that, I think I'd want to make some fandom more aware.

No no, it's good to disagree! I think that for a lot of fans Geats resonated with them and it's good to hear why. I do agree that there are certainly toxic fans who just want to watch the world burn, which is likely what triggered Takahashi to write this way.

Likewise I hope it is clear why stuff I feel the way I do about some things the show did. For example I think several rounds of the game has low impact for me because I found the character growth for our mains relatively lacking and they felt like they could be incorporated into other parts of the show better. Similarly, I hope you can see how the audience criticisms can feel like they cast too wide of a net and come across like Takahashi bashing on Rider fans in general, since the show doesn't really show much in the way of normal DGP fans besides allusions that the show used to be different in the past. Combined with Takahashi's very deliberate indulgence in things he has been criticized for in the past (cheap revivals especially), and it can easily come across like a defensive writer for some viewers.

I do want to emphasize too that I enjoyed the show even if I didn't think it was very good. A little like Ghost, I was oddly riveted by the whole experience!

This is probably the biggest reason why I fell off of Geats: I just actively did not care for any of the characters. Neon was probably the one that felt the most compelling to me, but it also felt like she completely stagnated after her backstory reveal and she got hit hard by the same "silly girl, effectiveness is for boys" stick that bludgeoned Yua to irrelevancy in Zero-One. Michy 2 similarly felt like he wasn't really going anywhere. Making Ace not be the focus character at the start of the show was an interesting decision that I know Rider has pulled off before (Faiz and Hibiki), but it didn't work for me here. I never felt like I really connected much with Ace because the show pushed Keiwa and Neon more as protagonists than our title character. When he did start getting more central it still felt to me like he was more of an elevated side character than the real main character.

And then there's Keiwa, aka "we have Shinji Kido at home." I do not care for Keiwa. When the show started, I assumed he was going to be the Kagami to Ace's Tendou, but it feels a lot more like he was taking Shinji's role as the character who protested that the game was bullshit and that he just wanted to protect people. Except Shinji had a fire inside of him that made him compelling as a protagonist, while Keiwa just came off as a weenie. He sucked at Kamen Riding, sucked at changing anyone else's perspective on the DGP, and generally felt like a useless sad sack. The main reason I stopped watching the show was because I had absolutely zero interest in watching an arc where the show tried to have him go through an angsty evil phase because dear lord do I not have the patience for an evil Keiwa. I barely had patience for the good version.


This was actually one of the things I liked the most about Geats. I liked that it tried to do some meta commentary on toxic fandoms. Beroba and Kekera, obviously, reflect certain kinds of negative fans who are more interested in schadenfreude than they are in healthy enjoyment of their idols, but Ziin and (pause to look up name) Kyuun are also good examples of unhealthy parasocial relationships. I don't think all of this landed, especially since Ziin and Kyuun aren't always shown as being as problematic as they actually are, but I respect the show for running with this as a major theme.

Just recently finished the next entry in my Kamen Rider journey: The not-at-all controversial Kamen Rider Kiva!

I think people are starting to forget it more and more as time goes on, but up until stuff like Wizard and Ghost premiered, Kiva was pretty much the definitive "worst Rider show ever" for a number of reasons.

So what was my take? Honestly, I just found it overall very... "whatever."

Like, yeah, there are its ups and downs like with any show, but as an overall, my main emotional state throughout a majority of the thing was just me sort of shrugging and going "sure." The key thing in all of that, I feel, was that once Act 2 hit, it was clear that this was not a story aimed at someone with my tastes.

Because really, I found the plot to be the weakest aspect of it all, with most of the character arcs severely suffering because of it. Meanwhile, the music and general aesthetic of the show were pretty well done, and what few characters I did like were ones that almost made the entire experience worth it despite my gripes. And for the record, yes, I like both Wataru and Otoya.

The show oddly enough reminded me of Dynazenon in that, every time a potential story hook or character arc would get proposed that I found interesting, it would immediately get thrown out to instead focus on romance that I felt nothing for. Inoue writes for plot, and unfortunately the plot we wanted to hard focus on in Kiva was romance and race relations, two things that I personally feel he's never been well equipped to handle.

I found alot of the more interesting stuff to be in Act 1 as a result. Stuff like Nago and how his black and white view of morality does more harm than good, Wataru learning to express himself through music and friendship, Kengo needing to learn that's he's more than just his guitar, Megumi's idol career and how it interferes with her job as a warrior, and of course, where in the heck half of the stuff in the world of Kiva even comes from. All of these are things brought up in Act 1 only to get immediately get thrown out once Act 2 hits.

Don't get me wrong, I understand that "thinking with your dick" is very much a thing, but even with that in mind I found alot of character choices to be ones that either didn't make sense or were very forced. My favorite example being how Nago turns into an entirely different character the moment he gets slapped by Maya. It's incredibly lazy to begin with, and makes it so that Nago doesn't ever get a full blown, naturally flowing arc as a result. Same deal goes for Kengo, who goes through two wild swings in character with only exposition given by other characters, which not only makes it feel not genuine, but also ends up contradicted throughout the show's' run regardless.

It also makes me wonder what it must've been like for anyone who watched the show weekly, because I full on binged this show(as I usually do), and still felt like alot of Act 2 was a serious drag. Meanwhile with Act 3, I felt was solid enough in seclusion, but in context to the rest of the show? Really I wouldn't blame anyone who felt like all three acts were written by different writers. Because yet again, when it comes to characterization, there are things that rub me the wrong way. For example, Taiga not caring at all about Sagarc dying, despite Sagarc being Taiga's' friend since Taiga was a toddler.

That's another thing too. One thing I've read certain defenders of Kiva's' story choices say is that they "don't care about where the toys come from." And sure, for many other toku shows I could see that, but when it comes to Kiva I really can't agree, because this is one of the tokusatsu where not only are many of the toys closely tied to the characters, in alot of cases the toys ARE actual characters. Kivat, Tatsulot, Sagarc, the three Servants... they are all toys, and also all characters with their own personalities. So to me, saying one doesn't care about the toys is to also say that they don't care about the characters, and that's a notion that I personally just can't agree with. Characters are my primary appeal: If I'd liked most of the cast, the plot being dumb wouldn't matter!

But, so as to not end all of this on a sour note, I'm now gonna list off all of the positives that I took away from Kiva.

• The soundtrack is pretty good, not that you get to hear it very often.
• The general gothic aesthetic of the show really works. Wataru and Taiga having entire Hallmark paragraphs on their shirts is certainly a fun fashion statement.
• Really loved the characterization and arcs of Yuri, Megumi, and Maya, and how it showcased the importance of mothers. Especially in a franchise that more often than not honors horrible fathers.
• Liked both Otoya and Wataru as protagonists. Otoya for his wonderful charisma, and Wataru's' steady(if a bit messy) growth and for being one of the few protags I've seen with Asperger's Syndrome.
• The few times the show went for comedy, it typically worked. Really only falling flat during bits with Nago and Kengo.
• The execution was a bit messy at times, but I overall ended up liking the jumping back and forth between time periods. It's not a bad idea!

When all is said and done though, I give Kamen Rider Kiva a 2/6. It's not horrible, but it's a show that's very much not for me.

The song I ended up choosing to represent Kiva on my Kamen Rider Playlist is "Weaving the Threads of Time" which is a song that not only has a fitting name, but heavily features violin work, which was basically a necessity for a show that has such a deep appreciation for the instrument. Even if they only ever played like two songs on it.

I think Decade overshadowed Kiva as "worst of the worst" pretty quickly, it's just that Tsukasa later whitewashed his reputation with frequent appearances. Perhaps the main problem of Kiva is that he came out after the mega-successful Den-O and tried to repeat his formula. My version is that Toei had a plan to mix Den-O and Faiz, adding chic costumes and a gothic vibe to it, in order to get a best-selling masterpiece that will satisfy all groups of fans. But it didn't work out.
And yet I think that Kivu can rightly be called the most rarely mentioned show. That is, I think that some Dapan or Tiger is mentioned more often than IXA. A shame!

Arranged with my father (born in 1969) a Kamen Rider viewing marathon. Watch the first two episodes on YouTube in chronological order. We settled on Ryuki, his opinion: "It became boring when they stopped making enemies of the Nazis."

Despite being a G3 clone, IXA is a neat suit! Was not a fan of Kengo magically knowing how to use it with no issue, though.

Metamorphoses with Kengo is a very strange part of the show. It's not that it annoyed me, I just didn't understand why.

Funny you guys should mention Kiva since that is the Kamen Rider series I'm currently going through and I often find myself keeping putting it off over the last several months and even still doing so now despite finally being at its last quarter. I want to like Kiva as a show, I truly do, but it's sadly coming off as a bit of a chore to get through half the time.

Yeah, I feel you there. It's the sort of melodrama that you kinda have to really be into in order to get through it at a solid pace, as otherwise things tend to feel rather circular and/or stagnant. Act 2 is the worst about this.

I have my gripes with Geats as well for personal reason, where the final arc is cramped due to screentime. Though I find closure in how it's caused by Takebe's decision to keep Sara for a while that halts the middle and Keiwa's dark arc which perhaps can give less room for anything else. I also won't defend all reasons of why Geats resonated with people - I won't agree with the reason like it's dark (perhaps leading "realistic" or "complex cast"), cuz being light-toned or dark doesn't determine quality, and I won't like the view of characters having to be terrible to be "complex", same for Gaim's reason.

I'd say it'd be ok for me as long as you won't dismiss any explanations given to you as them only being a sheep who just goes with the flow, or being overthinking in defending things due to personal bias (e.g. my explanation of Ace's past lives or finite happiness explanation - I hate double standards), or even going as far to spite them for explaining it or liking the series.

Continuing for above, I guess I just wanna make sure that, even if the audience knows it from the start, for the cast, the DGP just plays like other Rider organizations outside of "game" terms thrown around, and that yeah, growth being lacking would be something subjective and personal taste. I guess I do want for the irl audience to be called out sometimes, particularly as they deflect any criticisms thrown to them (in general anyone anonymous on internet), though I'd like to hear another way from you to do that while not doing it in what you think as bashing on Rider fans. The DGP being different is something onscreen as well not only past, where the DGP goes from a world saving competition to a sadist show designed to only maximize suffering, courtesy of Suel and the VIPs. The JGP was a polar opposite to DGP too in every way.

I guess I can see you thinking this if you're one of those who like Sakura's focus that can be even considered spotlight-stealing. I do think that she feels weaker in DR arc, though it may can be attributed to her sacrificial moves against Sara to shield her with her body that can rather backfire, other than Keiwa and her being stuck in base forms. But I can feel that perhaps there's too high of a standard for female characters due to being disappointed with how they're handled as well, like judging with the standard of impossible image of "strong", and doing anything to maintain that impossible image like those "empowered" moves like culling any "weaknesses" including personality wise. I didn't know when you dropped, but since getting Fantasy she's competent again.

I know you're the type to hate jokes like Wataru or Onari, but I'd still perhaps want for the human or vulnerable side in toku to not be dismissed or outright mocked which just comes across as bully-ish. Keiwa does get made to be the antithesis of people like Kagami (or Hiromi), the ones who are impossible to break against any kind of mind-breaking obstacles. Keiwa gets the human and ordinary person part emphasized more - he eventually gets stressed out and breaks by being put through this, not meant to shoulder the weight of the world. Kekera's actions on putting an ordinary person (including actual cruelty) through usual expectations of Kamen Rider going through so much more than an average individual could handle doesn't go as typically planned where he instead creates a grief and vengeance driven villain instead of a just true hero (with Keiwa later rejecting Kekera's teachings when he returns to good), succumbing to his latent cynicism until he grows out of it in ep. 45.

Also, "changing anyone else's perspective on the DGP"? What Keiwa learns is to tolerate other people's wishes more. Anyone has a right to achieve their dreams, and wanting personal dreams and being a good person isn't mutually exclusive. Personally don't want for the DGP to be treated similarly as Rider War, the DGP chooses all kind of humanity, not specifically bad ones like Rider War does, and thus they can vary and wouldn't like for Keiwa to be treated as all bad which'd be just negative bias and cynicism in view of humanity (albeit ofc the DGP has nasty ones like Kanato or Kirito). Another twist is that Keiwa's more altruistic sounding wish did get to his head to turn him self-righteously dismissing others' problems, and he didn't get away with it with hero license or such, he shouldn't impose his ideals on others. Particularly that the DGP (the one the cast was in until ep. 22) doesn't have you being forced to murder each other like Rider War was (with those moves being punished), just perform better.

To be honest, it's a little strange that Takahashi already has problems with the producer on the second show. Especially since no other writers have them, or at least keep them behind closed doors. I mean, let's say the dinosaur Inoue is allowed to write whatever he wants, but I doubt the ideas of someone like Fukuda are met with applause.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnfgpDEa...g&name=900x900
COME HERE SO I CAN EXPLAIN WHY BLACK RX IS MY FAVORITE SHOWA ERA KAMEN RIDER SHOW. I'M GONNA TALK ABOUT THIS SHOW THE WAY A MORE REASONABLE PERSON WOULD TALK ABOUT KUUGA.

So, I finished rewatching Black RX and honestly going into it I was convinced I wouldn't like it as much the second time and that all the stars had aligned the first time I saw it, deluding me into thinking it was great. But no! This show is a delight and one of the most unusual entries in the KR series, even if imperfect.

I think a lot of people struggle with this show because it is a sequel to Black, but personally I think Black is a lot sillier and rough around the edges than most people give it credit for, while RX has more serious moments and polish that most people seem to think. Anyways, let's dive in!

The Good

• I think most people can agree that the show looks great. The choreography is clean and there are lots of good stunts. I'm always really impressed at how good the Revolcane effect looks even now. The suit design is also peak stuff, many of the monsters have unusual designs that move far from the typical beastman stuff you see in most Showa Riders. I also love how each of the 4 commanders have monsters with a distinct aesthetic! The Black RX suit is actually a favorite of mine, the epitome of the classic grasshopper man design. I really like how the thick neck plating and large eyes give it an inhuman vibe.
• I think incorporating Sentai and Metal Hero characteristics is actually very nice, making the show feel surprisingly modern with is extended cast of non-transforming allies and large ensemble of villains. Classical Kamen Riders are lonely heroes of course, but this often results in Showa Kamen Rider shows being astonishingly bland to watch because our protagonists don't have many recurring cast members to bounce off of. Even the shows with recurring characters like Tachibana don't quite give me enough to really dig into the character interactions. Due to this, I actually consider KR shows to hold up very poorly among pre-90s tokusatsu, so I really like Black RX breaking away from that without abandoning the core of the series.
• Kotaro is a much more cheerful person in RX. I wont deny that the heartrending highs of Black are fantastic (even if they take up a pretty small amount of the show), but I think there is a lot to appreciate about how RX follows up on that. Broken after the events of Black, he rediscovers human warmth with the Sahara family and is able to regain a sense of normalcy in his life. Yet at the same time, you can frequently see that just beneath the surface he has a deep fear of loss and is terrorized by how he constantly gets those around him involved. Ultimately he comes to accept letting the people around him fight by his side, even they might get hurt, because they have something they want to protect too. Even if you aren't a superpowered grasshopper man, we can still use what little strength we have to fight for what we believe in.
• This show has modern style form changes and guess what? They're great! I love how all three forms stay relevant and have their own strengths and weaknesses. From the powerful armored Robo Rider who lacks speed and dexterity to the balanced base form to the weak yet tricky Bio Rider form. They always get incorporated really well into the fights and story.
• I think the setting is generally good. The Kaima Realm feels like a real place with its own politics and cultures, even though it is only seen occasionally. I also like how there's regularly people from the Kaima Realm who are seen fighting against Crisis' corrupt regime. The antagonists have a fascinating dynamic too. At times allies and at times just undermining each other, they're always fun to watch. To be honest, you even start to feel bad for them after a certain point because Kotaro is constantly owning them.

The Bad

• The ending is cool, but also doesn't mesh too well with the rest of the show or make much sense. A bunch of Riders show up, Dasmadder is suddenly revealed to be Emperor Crisis and we blow up the Kaima Realm?! It's hard not to think about how many sympathetic people from the Kaima Realm seen throughout the show when this happens...
• I think the show at times struggles to find the right balance of silly vs serious, especially early on.

The Other

• Kotaro is famous for overreacting to Gorgom, but I actually think RX has more funny moments of "Kotaro immediately assumes a mundane thing is the work of an evil organization".
• Shadow Moon's reappearance is probably one of the most contentious aspects of this show. I think there is good and bad to how it is handled. Ultimately he has to bitterly die again, although it is a slightly more hopeful ending this time. I do like the ambiguity of whether Shadow Moon regained some of his humanity or not before the end. Yet at the same time it can definitely come across as disrespectful to his original end.

So yeah, honestly? I'm not going to say this show will work for everyone, but I think there is a lot to love here and I'd encourage anyone who avoided it after seeing Black to at least give it a try with an open mind.

Speaking of special effects, I'm always amazed that Black and RX did it better than Kuuga and Agito.

In all honesty, I really liked Black RX and it’s even among my top favorite seasons of Kamen Rider along with Black albeit not as high as some of the other entries from said list.

I think Black RX started a bit rough, especially coming right on Black's heels, but by the end it's easily on par with the original.

I had alot of fun with Black RX, but man did I not like that ending at all.

Still, Joe the Haze is the man, and the show still has my favorite MOTW in Rider(the Banana Shaman).

Fun fact: The date of that particular episode of Black RX first aired is the same date where Kamen Rider Banana, I mean, Baron's actor was born. Anyway, I'm still currently trying to power through Kiva. As of now, I am up to episode 42. Also, why do people like Otoya as a character again? I really don't get the show's fanbase sometimes.