Allow me to make a totally underwhelming and anti-climactic response post to all of that by simply saying, yeah, the first time I saw that explosion from Rising Mighty? "HOLY SHIT!!!" at the top of my lungs.

I knew I'd forgotten something, because YEAH, WOW, OH MY GOD

I actually really like the design of Rising Mighty because it almost feels more 'complete' than regular Mighty, with the extra gold lines and the guard over his leg. It's too bad (but necessary, I suppose!) that he doesn't really fight in it, only finish things off!

Am I that guy? I guess I'm going to be that guy. I don't really like the big explosions of Rising Mighty.

(Look, in a Fish Sandwich Rewatches thread, you can't exactly have Fish Sandwich coming in to play the contrarian. I'm happy to cosplay as that character, at least this once.)

The enormous body count in this series frequently gets brought up by Kuuga detractors as being so depressingly high that it loops around to being unrelatable. Ten people dead is a tragedy, ten thousand dead is a statistic, you know? There's a point where the scale increases and your brain just doesn't have a space for it.

The visual of Kuuga accidentally detonating a... I don't know, a district, it's just too much for me. It takes it from the realm of the personal, the specific, Kuuga on his own versus a monster, and turns it into special effects, makes it feel gratuitous.

I get that there's supposed to be a danger to Rising Mighty, to the Grongi, and that all of this should start to feel cataclysmic. It's just, for me, that escalation started to make it less heroic. It's not a hero fighting to save humanity at the cost of his own, it's whichever monster can blow up the most stuff.

Like, I get it, your mileage may vary. There's a more gritty, endangered feel to Kuuga than another show. Things being this dangerous, I guess that works for a lot people. It's just, the introduction of Rising Mighty makes Kuuga feel less like a proector and more like a natural disaster, and I'm just not as into that.

I was going to argue this point right here and now, but considering we're only at the cliffhanger where it happens, I think I'd rather wait at least a few episodes to discuss this in detail. For now, I'll just tell you, I don't think "Kuuga" and "gratuitous" are two words that go together. It's a very thoughtful and deliberate show, and all of this stuff is no exception. The thoughts you have about that explosion are all things it actively wants you to be considering.

Fair enough!

And according to Kazari people love the #4 and wants to use it to promote Pole Pole. Now Yusuke should expand his Kuuga emblem creation for the restaurant too with Kazari still not knowing about him being Kuuga. And of course Nana wants not only her but everything to be centered on Yusuke... (probably if Kazari plans to use Yusuke as promotion she'd agreed immediately).

But Enokida hasn't told the cop's boss yet unlike Jean (and namedrops Godai making him confused which only knows him as #4). Well at least they want to tell that #4 is heroic like Sugita does.

So even the random kills aren't really random... the random part is only determined by a roulette. And yeah, it's truly brutal with the attacks feeling like a meteor shower to me. And at one point a corpse is shown in one piece... ??

OK Ichijou why are you complaining about Tsubaki calling them to explain Yusuke's situation while usually asking Sakurako to do the same. Well, with Sakurako still not knowing the latest translation Tsubaki just hypothesized that. I think this scene is kinda to show that, Kuuga is operating out of the box (aka the translations) compared to its time in the past due to the modern era? Kuuga's experiencing something that is exempt from the texts. Yeah but Yusuke if you become a living weapon, you will just be another threat who takes away people's smiles and is unstoppable with no one to fight the Grongi-like destroyer.

If Kuuga Pegasus' limit is the overloading nerves, what makes the limit of other Risings like Titan here? And I know that Titan Form's sthick is power walking, but can it actually run? Also so Grongis in human form wouldn't easily kill humans like Chouno?

So this is how it should go normally for Tsubaki? Competely serious about the work without any distraction like flirting. I'm not really sure if they haven't given their best in previous parts of the series where this part of the episode is just a rephrasing...

And poor Mika, being threatened by Nana just because of wanting to meet Yusuke.

Well yeah he's getting better. Though dunno if it's because of the new writer or just development (Inoue can ignore character developments). He's still an asshat but he's not outright evil like in his debut. My petty concern for this scene? I'm afraid of the drawing getting ruined, teared apart :p. And in this scene, not only Tsubaki, but I already know where it goes when Chouno claims everything's easy for Yusuke, which is about his burden of fighting as Kuuga (I straight up predicted what Tsubaki will explain to Chouno). Also I wonder if it's about him getting fired within work, does that have to do with Chouno's attitude? He doesn't seem to be good with people.

And that's... how a finisher should be! I think a finisher should be totally distinct from usual attacks, to show that the attack is really strong (and sorry, not really getting that from Kuuga before). If it's not in how the attack is done, it should be shown in the effect of the attack. Kuuga Rising Mighty's Kick is only a standard jumping side kick, but the effect is phenomenal. For this time, the nuke explosion isn't a part of a monster dying (which is not the part of the finisher attack itself), but it's caused by the attack itself, which would truly show the power within the attack.

So you've promoted a good external source of a Kamen Rider series too. I think I'm in it too, by alsopromoting a good external source for another series in another thread... but it's an encyclopedia about a Rider series (Ryuki and OOO) instead of a video. As for Kuuga, I have been watching here, a link coming from KR Reddit Discord: https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...jLh5sAN5FeNZKM

I̶ ̶m̶e̶a̶n̶ ̶w̶h̶o̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶a̶p̶a̶r̶t̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶m̶e̶?̶ Well, I just want to give a fair focus on most part of the series, instead of just focusing like on, like, the fighting part (and neglect other parts a tokusatsu series cover), or certain characters only.

I know Inoue's gotten infamy, but honestly I'm confused, I mean the style you mentioned there, "It's goofy, it's over-the-top, it's larger than life and laugh out loud and in your face and wide-angle lenses.", is the thing that gets most memorable in internet, as those are the easiest to make use of a meme material, instead of grounded stuffs that is considered less stand-out (and can seem more lifeless) compared to the wacky stuffs like that.

But Enokida's already a mom with a child! Jean as stepfather?

Well I like the big explostions as to show how powerful a finisher attack compared to an ordinary attack.... and I feel like Kuuga IS meant to be a disaster, meant as a living weapon. But Yusuke's heart is the key to avert that part of Kuuga.

You don't need to justify yourself, and I wasn't referencing you.

Yeah, and quite clearly there's no other parent around. There's a reason Enokida relies on her mother to look after her son...

Same. I was actually going to reply to Die in detail but then remembered that it'd technically count as spoilers.

For the record though Die, it's all cool you think different. I just disagree, is all.

It's not even just implication. When she's defending Ichijou's personality to Sasayama in episode 16, Enokida specifically mentions her husband left her because of her workaholic tendencies.

Though this might not be all that well known on account of MCS' subs having her say instead that she tries to avoid work because it makes her tired (you know, the exact opposite of her personality?), which is another one of those errors that reminds how glad I am to have new subs of Kuuga! :p

Which, yeah! I figured it was going to be an unpopular opinion. And, believe me, I think I can already see the shape of what the counter-argument is, based on subsequent episodes.

Just, even watching that episode the first time, the scale of the explosion... I didn't like it. And even after all of the work the show does following it up... I still didn't like it? It's just a narrative, aesthetic choice that I don't find a lot in.

I wasn't trying to argue that it was bad, or that it doesn't fit, it just maneuvers the story, the world, into something I found more difficult to invest in. That is clearly not the case for other viewers! I get that! I'm happy to have people tell me why they disagree later in the series (and literally everyone is going to disagree with me, that vision is coming through crystal clear), but all I'm talking about is how that escalation in the story affected me.

I totally get all the stuff about Kuuga's growing power being terrifying, but I can't blame someone for thinking him kicking someone causing a city-wide explosion is kinda silly.

City-wide? I thought it was only a block? Was that just the subs I watched?

I used the wrong choice of words. Point is, it was just a really big effect from such a small action. Which I understand is the intention, but I think something like... him exploding a wall from swinging his fist the wrong way, or shaking the ground when he walks would be better shows of Kuuga's power getting out of hand in a scary way.

EPISODE 31: "Retaliation"

Recap episode time again! Kind of! See, this episode sort of exists in halves. It's partially a recap, and partially a completely new story, with a plot beyond Kuuga fighting a monster for two hours. It's also got one foot in the last two-parter, and the other in the next one, which means it kind of frustratingly fits in with neither, and thus I once again get to talk about a clip show by itself.

Like I said though, this one is a bit different. It's still directed by Nobuhiro Suzumura, but Arakawa is actually on board to write this time, presumably just for the new bits. Going on this assumption would mean that Kiyoshi Takenaka, the other credited writer, handled the two segments of narration over the old footage. I'd love to give some trivia about who Takenaka is, and what he went on to do after Kuuga, but I honestly have no clue who this guy is, or what else he's worked on. So your guess is as good as mine.

Fortunately, there's actually stuff worth talking about in the episode this time. It opens up with Yuusuke and Minori chatting at Pole Pole, and seeing some news about the big explosion last episode. Fortunately, as is confirmed here, nobody did end up getting hurt, but that kind of collateral damage is sill a problem in its own right, and I don't think anyone is very happy about how things turned out. Including Yuusuke, who once again gets a nice little pensive moment watching the television.

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

Beyond this, there are only a few real highlights of Yuusuke's scenes. One is him explaining to Sakurako how the Rising forms were created by comparing it to the way he got his base forms essentially by wanting them hard enough, which is yet one more fact to add on top of the ever growing pile of explanations for how Kuuga's big power-up happened, which might be considered excessive at this point, but I mean, I've also seen shows where people wish things like this were given more explanation, so it depends what you're after, I guess. The other is just him riding off to deal with the latest Unidentified Lifeform at the end as Kuuga, driving down the road towards the camera to narration like the ending of an episode of an old Showa series, which is cute.

Speaking of, the Grongi get their obilgatory new scene here too, which is pretty okay. If Watanabe is Ishida Jr. when it comes to directing their scenes, then I suppose Suzumura can be Watanabe Jr. The washed out colors are definitely on point here. As for what the scene is about, it's just Badaa getting ready to start his game, which is mostly setup for the next episode, but I will give this one some credit for having one scene of Badaa terrorizing a person with his bike. Keeps things a little more exciting, and the more screentime that bike gets, the better. Also, I guess this isn't true of Badaa's previous appearances, since he only starts being credited here, but the guy doing his bike stunts is actually Takumi Narita's younger brother Ryou, who's a trial rider in his own right. Just a fun extra thing to keep in mind when Badaa and Kuuga start going at it next time.

https://i.imgur.com/I4DyFdSl.png

The other chunk of new material is a brief scene with Ichijou and Sakurai. Uh, I haven't really mentioned Sakurai yet, have I? You might know him better as "the not Sugita one". Anyway, their scene serves to establish that the police have decided to distance themselves from Unidentified Lifeform #4... right after they were finally starting to admit they consider #4 an ally. A little cowardly, maybe, but to be fair, it's hard to trust someone you've never met. Even Sakurai asks Ichijou to be more upfront with what he knows about Kuuga.

...And I think that's about all I can manage to squeeze out of this episode! Obviously not a high point for the series, or anything. Actually, I think I respect this one a lot less than the first recap episode for being so uncommitted. Unlike that episode, which totally owned its format, this one wants to pretend to have relevance to the progressing story. Don't be fooled. There are no valuable insights into the characters or plot you're missing here. It's still ultimately just a straightforward summary of everything that's happened since the last clip show. And it's not bad at that, to be fair, but there's nothing to really recommend about it either.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

A couple more are featured in old footage, but as I said with episode 17, only new ones count.

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

Total thumbs up count: 55+1 = 56

I... completely forgot this episode happened.

Like, legitimately, the only clip show I remember happening in Kuuga is the first one. Are-- are there more? Did I completely forget more Kuuga clip shows happened than the one that I defended purely on the basis of "kids would need to catch up"?

Correction, it has Ichijo, and that man completely owns every scene he's in.

(yeah Ichijo is my favorite so what?)

Ichijou is wonderful. I feel I never have as much to say about him as Godai, but there's a lot to be admired in the lengths he goes to for both Godai and the general population he's protecting.

There's a lot more to him of course, but I think he nails that simple aspect extremely well

I just told you not to be fooled!

Putting to one side the fact that you can say the same thing about any other episode, yeah, I guess that's something to say. I mean, if you were just dying for an episode where you can see Ichijou having his morning coffee while reading a newspaper, this one's got ya' covered!

Definitely. Forgot to note it way back when Fish covered the episode, but him going to work despite having three broken ribs? Spoke volumes. Adored the guy ever since.

Lmao, dang right! Man of culture right there!!

Yeah, even if there's no one getting hurt/killed, the collateral damage is proven to be bad on the human life in general with the lost foundations to support them. Collateral damage is something that has to be prevented by the safety forces too, not only bodycounts. But well, a nice change of pace that the explosions from attack (fRising Mighty Kick) here aren't only used as an aesthetic, but as a plot point of the negative things #4 brings to the public even if he's their main protector. Other than that, any good reason that it seems everyone is slowly joining Pole Pole, sooner or later? I mean even if Yusuke's the main reason to gather there, they also gather when he's not there to help out.

So now it's fully confirmed that it's Yusuke's willpower. I would like for outside (specifically modern stuff) inteference to tamper with the Kuuga's system that is not part of the translated text like the defibrillator, but oh well, now there it's officially confirmed.

Why won't you tell if Yusuke himself also freely tells others (probably except Kazari) about Kuuga including to you Ichijou? Also regarding Rising Mighty causing collateral damage, is it's because of the kick's power (as Yusuke hypothesized), or it's just from the bigger explosions stronger Grongis give (as the recap narration stated)?

Off topic but a bit relevant because it is Kuuga-related, but I just remembered officer Nozomi Sasayama was played by Eri Tanaka aka Chisato/Mega Yellow from Megaranger. Sorry, just had to get that off my chest. :lolol

EPISODE 32: "Obstacle"

Something interesting to note about these episodes is that they're directed by Osamu Kaneda. Kaneda is a pretty prominent figure throughout Kamen Rider's history, and there's probably a lot that could be said about him, but what's important here is that he was the action director for all but a few early episodes of Kuuga. Which is why there's definitely a logic to giving him this two-parter, which is not only way more about action than normal, but is about a very specific kind of action -- bike action.

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

It actually takes over five minutes of the runtime before we even see Yuusuke this episode. The beginning carries right over from the last episode, and since that one wanted to end with Kuuga riding off on the way to his next adventure, it means this one just starts with him already transformed, and doesn't really give it a second thought. It's sort of retro how much screentime is given to Kuuga in costume here. Yuusuke is generally only transformed when he's in the middle of a fight, but here, he gets a fair bit of dialogue in-costume, chatting it up with Ichijou during a break in the action. It's not long before it's right back to that, though, and the Try Chaser is definitely put to the test here, and it ultimately proves incapable of standing up to Badaa, who has to be chased off for the moment by Ichijou. The poor thing is so worn down at this point that Yuusuke can't even flip the colors off the "Kuuga" setting, which might sound like a bad thing if I knew how that worked in the first place. Still, it's evident Yuusuke is in need of a new ride. That's why the police finishing up development on the brand new Beat Chaser 2000 would be great news, if Unidentified Lifeform #4 being involved with a massive explosion a while back wasn't putting pressure on them not to give it to him.

The central dramatic thrust for this episode is, of course, Ichijou trying to sort this mess out. His immediate plan is to try telling chief Matsukura that the explosion wasn't #4's fault, which... well, one, it's arguable if he's even right there. Two, it doesn't matter anyway, because as Matsukura points out, the police are just trying to avoid getting caught up in the matter at all. Whether Matsukura actually agrees with that line of thinking or not is another question, however. In the meantime, Ichijou works together with... basically everyone, to get a plan together to stop Badaa with what they've got. It'll take at least that much effort. He's going around on a motorcycle killing anyone else on bikes faster than they can keep up with, so the plan here is both big in scale, and also simple in concept. Essentially, they're going to put one of their guys on one of the also newly completed mass-produced Try Chasers, using him as bait to lead Badaa through a series of blockades, with the end goal being to lure to him a secluded enough spot that #4 can blow him to bits without worrying about damaging anything. Simple in concept, yes, but an operation that huge needs quite a lot of manpower behind it.

This includes #4 himself, of course, because the cops actually out in the field dealing with monsters every day don't really have the luxury of pretending they don't need him. Ichijou is a little busy running the show and trying to talk the higher-ups into giving the Beat Chaser to Kuuga, however, so this episode pulls the interesting twist of having Yuusuke hang out with Sugita, of all people. This is a really fun twist on the formula. Sugita has such a massively different energy from Ichijou, being a lot older and gruffer, but Yuusuke is still just his usual self, so the contrast is great. Sugita, presumably above caring, after all the impossible things he sees on a regular basis, doesn't even take a second to question that Yuusuke is Kuuga. It sounds obvious, but even with him on the bike when they meet, I wouldn't have been surprised to see a moment where Sugita is obligated to say some kind of generic "so are you really #4?" line, but this is way more in-character.

Eventually, Kuuga gets another chance at taking Badaa down, leading to an insane last couple of minutes of these guys fighting on their bikes. They quickly move from the street onto a rocky shore, and from there, it is just on, man.

https://i.imgur.com/gNeg6ail.png

These guys are riding next to each other. They're riding between each other. Kuuga narrowly dodges a tire to the face when Badaa uses his own front-wheel punch move on him. They're going over things, under things. I mean, if stairs don't mean s*** to Kuuga on a bike, than some random rocks mean even less. There are a couple moments here where Kuuga, and by Kuuga I mean Takumi Narita, seems to lift his bike clean into the air through sheer force of will, just to turn 180 degrees a little quicker. You can also tell the episode was directed by the same guy who handles the action because one of those shots is shown in loving slow motion. This sequence is a spectacle. If it weren't so hard to find frames that aren't blurry from all the intense motion going on, I probably would've just covered this one in screencaps. It's like every second some new exciting thing is happening. And then to top it all off, the episode ends with Badaa stealing the Try Chaser?! Are you kidding me?! This episode rules!

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Yuusuke gives this episode the thumbs up.

https://i.imgur.com/I1vJtz5m.png

Total thumbs up count: 56+1 = 57

EPISODE 33: "Cooperation"

Kuuga has a habit of revealing cliffhangers to be less perilous than they seem at first, but the excuse this episode comes up with is far more clever than usual, because the thing that saves Kuuga is actually more bad news. Badaa's fun with his new ride is almost immediately cut short when the poor, overworked Try Chaser's engine finally just gives up completely, and he leaves the smoking wreck on the ground without a second thought to go back to his old bike. That climax last episode was a final tribute to one of the coolest Rider machines of all time, and, after over half a year of invaluable service to Kuuga, the Try Chaser 2000 has hit its limit.

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

So, at this point, there's really no getting around it. Kuuga needs the Beat Chaser to stand up to Badaa. Which is why it's good everybody's doing their best to make that happen. Enokida is stalling the guys who have come to take the bike into their custody, which gives Ichijou time to get over there and try to talk some sense into them, something Matsukura is doing on his end too, telling the brass to take a second to really consider what the best choice is to protect the people. After all, there's a killer grasshopper on the loose, and they can't stop him just by worrying about their image. Oh, and speaking of Badaa and pretty images, there's a fantastically shot scene of the Grongi in this one. Like, Ishida level beautiful.

https://i.imgur.com/yH7aN9Rl.png

One other cool thing here is that after losing his bike, the first thing Yuusuke does is try to think of a plan that works around that. The idea he comes up with is to try hitching a ride on Gouram and using Pegasus Form. There's something about the scene of him just calmly working out the logic on this with Sugita in his car I really love. I guess it goes back to how much I love seeing heroes using training and preparation. Yuusuke isn't some super genius, so there's a distinct flow to him gradually thinking up the plan, and realizing the drawbacks. You can almost see the "oh" moments happening in between his sentences where he thinks of stuff like "what if he goes in a tunnel though?"

Once he and Sugita arrive at the next location Badaa is headed for, there's another cool moment, where Yuusuke heads off on a mass-production Try Chaser (actually asking permission to borrow the bike this time!), and after Sugita hands him his gun to use for Pegasus Form, Sakurai realizes who Yuusuke is as he's driving away. It's a perfect place for the obligatory "was that guy...?" moment, and Sugita's nonchalant response is once again wonderfully in-character. This also means we have the rare mid-episode fight scene in Kuuga, which is yet more reason why they gave these ones to the action director. Yuusuke puts his plan into motion, and it doesn't work out, but he at least remembers to switch out of Pegasus Form before he hits his time limit.

As amazing as the action is in these episodes, there's also some supremely solid character building going on to, with the scene of Yuusuke and Sugita chatting in the car after the failed attempt to use Gouram being a highlight of the entire two-parter. Like I was saying, these two build some good chemistry in a short time, and the show takes advantage of bringing Sugita face to face with the guy who saved his life all the way back in episode 4, when he was just some mysterious Unidentified Lifeform, to give him a chance to apologize for the early misunderstandings between Kuuga and the police. Spending a day alongside Yuusuke is really all it takes to realize how absurd it was to have ever considered #4 an enemy.

After this, Ichijou comes bearing some good news for Yuusuke. Not only has he worked out the situation with the Beat Chaser (under the impression he's breaking the rules to do so; he won't find out until the ending that Matsukura fixed things on his end too), he actually rides the bike there to give it to Yuusuke, which is all kinds of awesome. There's yet another fun little payoff where actually witnessing Yuusuke transform into Kuuga manages to get a reaction out of Sugita, after all this time being so unfazed.

https://i.imgur.com/5bjPIU3l.png

So yeah, the Beat Chaser 2000. I'm not going to lie, the Try Chaser will always be my favorite of the two out of sheer sentimental value, but it's not like this bike is any less cool. It's debut can't quite top the absurd stunts of the Try Chaser's final stand, either, but it's a cool showdown in its own right, with a much greater sense of speed. So much speed, in fact, that the Beat Chaser comes equipped with its own parachute to slow it down. Kuuga uses this ability to race far ahead of Badaa to where it's safe to blow him up, and hits him with a Rising Mighty Kick, bringing an end to to their epic rider rivalry.

These episodes are absolutely fantastic. In terms of the greater story, it's this start of a new chapter, with more direct and involved cooperation between the police and Kuuga to stop Grongi with as little harm to their surroundings as possible. On its own, it's a thrilling, adrenaline-fueled action adventure with a great villain, and tons of epic hero moments, culminating in Ichijou's arrival with the Beat Chaser. There's a very feel-good tone to these ones. It's also worth noting these are the last episodes of the show by a guest writer. I didn't find a good spot to mention it, but Inoue wrote 32, and is credited alongside Arakawa for 33. From here on out, though, it's all Arakawa, all the time.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Kuuga shows his approval of a fancy new bike the only way he knows how.

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

Total thumbs up count: 57+1 = 58

With the Rising Forms having just gotten completed and this being on the way - with toys to accompany - I would not have blinked an eye if the BeatChaser here was justified in-story as the TryChaser getting a Rising form. Heck, it doesn't even lack too much precedence given that Kuuga apparently is just able to power up bikes with his colour scheme and emblem. It would have worked perfectly fine, provided a structure for a decent episode, and allowed you to tell most any story you could.


And I am SO glad they didn't go for it! Again, I would have been happy; I wouldn't have been disappointed or anything, but there's something so great about them going above and beyond like this to not just make the stakes more interesting, but more importantly; have Ichijou and the police be so much more instrumental in Kuuga gaining the power he needs. Okay, Tsubaki gave him the electric shocks and they're helping every episode, but in comparison this is very very direct. It's like... it's like a reminder of just how important Ichijou and the police are in this, and really brings it full circle to when Godai first got the Trychaser. It feels like it follows similar beats to that episode and like it's a more progressed, powered-up version of it -- and well it should!


Something I'd like to highlight is how... absent Ichijou is for this episode. You mentioned it of course especially in relation to how it gave a chance for a different dynamic to rise between Godai and Sugita, and that's absolutely wonderful -- and there's lines in there from Sugita about his daughter that really struck my heart in how they were acted out. But there's something more significant here to me about Ichijou himself.

As already stated, this episode has thrown convention out the window a little -- as opposed to the usual formula, Godai starts out this episode as Kuuga fighting the good fight and riding the good ride. That's a bit of a break from him coming in as Kuuga at the end of the day to save things, and I think there's a bit of intention to that... because think about it.

The common Kuuga formula goes that Ichijou spends the episode leading the fight against the Grongi with little effectiveness; slowly figuring things out; and then when at the end Kuuga comes in on his bike to save the day. It's lovely and serves the series well.

This episode, however? Kuuga spends the episode leading the fight against the Grongi with little effectiveness; slowly figuring things out... and then Ichijou rides in on his bike to save Godai.

You already said how cool it was, of course, but I find it just a WONDERFUL roleswap to see Ichijou riding in. It's-- man. It really gets their relationship so well. Love this show.



...



pretty sure this is where Gouram Pegasus Rising Gun comes from

Huh!

Yes.

It sucks that BeatChaser is never used in any of the future Kuuga appearances IIRC. I always liked it more than the TryChaser, and these episodes are a big reason why(design-wise I think it's way cooler too).

Now I wonder the reason TryChaser can't stand up to Badaa, is it because the speed, or the strength of the bikes (as they strike each other with the bike a lot like it's hand-to-hand combat!), or the skill of handling the bike? And regarding the Kuuga turning the TryChaser into Kuuga setting, isn't it just similar as Kuuga Dragon/Pegasus/Titan turning other objects into his weapons? I probably think Kuuga's main power, like Yusuke itself, is transforming others into objects Kuuga can use. Too bad Kuuga can only change the colors of TryChaser, not turning it into Kuuga weapon (Gouram is another thing).

So the episode really shows Ichijou's prominence. All this time I thought he's just one of the many cops working, just that he's the only one who knows about Yusuke as Kuuga (and having Sasayama crushing on him). Ichijou's the one who's in charge here with the plan, with him having the most knowledge about Yusuke. I guess there's a difference with Badaa and Gyarido, that Gyarido only uses ordinary transportation, but Badaa is using a motorcycle that also has a Grongi properties (beating TryChaser who makes stairs like joke is a starter) so that it feels like an actual supernatural threat.

Finally yeah, Yusuke interacting with cops other than Ichijou. Gruff as he be, something better he has is that he immediately consider #4 as an ally right after he saved him, unlike Ichijou who was hard to Yusuke at first. Probably I'm mistaken, but I wonder why TryChaser only responded calls from Ichijou all this time, I mean it's also cop's creation? All this time, it's practically Ichijou acting as Yusuke's personal "Sasayama" (and Yusuke always responded, so it's not a disturbing thing to include that in Yusuke's bike too).

Lol yeah, Badaa stealing TryChaser really caught me. Kuuga should've used the chance to steal back Badaa's superior bike though. Also for a minor thing, why Badaa stop posing for changing in the bike like Yusuke did. I know that Kuuga talks about how Gouram won't help with the Badaa bike's agility (motocross type), but I still would like to see the bike clashes in Gouram. TryGouram has the same max. speed as Badaa's bike at 400 km/h.

I thought at first it was Matsukara who insists to distance away from #4 and stop helping him/considering him an ally. It's a relief he's on their side too and he goes to the other party who wants to shut down #4.

Does no one know about the name of Kuuga's Forms, in-universe? Yusuke only talks about the colors of Kuuga forms he has. Also yeah a clear indication, being super powerful doesn't equal being intelligent (those 2 have the same impact on toku world though). If he's a genius too, he should be able to do even the research institute's job too. What's the speed of flying Gouram though? I want to know so I can think up about keeping up with Badaa's bike (400 km/h).

Yep, this time, he asked for permission, so it's borrowing and not a criminal act. So Yusuke acknowledges Pegasus' time limit, do the other forms also has time limit? (Rising Titan reverts when fighting Gamego).

How did Yusuke guess about Sugita's daughter though? As he just met him today. Also Sugita, heroes aren't only polices, that's the reason Yusuke fights! There should be many heroes in the world that fight for others, and Yusuke's one of them, just superpowered one.

I want to see if Ichijou actually spots Badaa in BeatChaser 2000. As it's about bike combat (Badaa doesn't seem to physically attack much, but well, his Grongi body would prevent cops from killing him), I wonder what will Ichijou do. Sugita's pretty much one of the biggest #4 fans (he's also puzzled before why they can't see #4 is good).

BeatChaser 2000 only has 420 km/h max. speed though, 20 km/h ahead of Badaa's bike. IMO it shouldn't need the parachute. But yeah there are no bike combat this time, I would like to see a demonstration of BeatChaser other than speed too. Also Badaa wasn't trying to turn when Kuuga kicks him? All I say is, I'm glad that Rising Mighty's kick still has the same power and destruction behind it, not that it perished away after debut.

Definitely not. As weird as it is, the series goes out of its way at several points to show the color changing is accomplished simply by pressing some buttons on the bikes. Ichijou even flips the setting on the BeatChaser before Yuusuke gets on it.

Not in the slightest. Just another one of those fun quirks of how the show is written. It wouldn't have been hard to have a scene where Sakurako finds some old text that says the names or something, but it's way more fitting for the casual atmosphere of Kuuga for them to exclusively be "the red one" or "the green one". It's like, why would Yuusuke or anyone else really care, you know?

It doesn't come up much since he has little reason to use them for very long anyway, but there is actually a limit on how long Yuusuke can maintain the extra power of the Rising forms.

I mean, I guess I'd disagree that Yuusuke (it hurts me just to type that) wouldn't care. This dude sews Kuuga marks onto his clothes and brainstormed shouting Super Transformation, so I feel like it wouldn't be out-of-character for him to name the different forms.

Yeah, exactly, and the names he came up with are White Kuuga, Red Kuuga, Blue Kuuga, Green Kuuga, and Purple Kuuga. Even "Super Transformation" is just one extra word slapped in front of the thing he already says all the time. Yuusuke prefers to keep things simple!

But when he modified Henshin, he didn't make the additional word Another or Different or even New. He made it Super. And he was testing how it sounds out on Ichijou, which seems to me like he was trying to see what sounded cool.

I don't know, I feel like you're going to have a tough time convincing me that the creator of Stomp doesn't value showmanship.

EPISODE 34: "Tremble"

Cold opens don't come much colder than this. A high school student lies in a hospital bed, reduced to hysteria at the thought of what someone told him four days ago. He's going to die today, and he knows it, because the same thing has already happened to many of his classmates. He's surrounded by his family, who try to assure him everything will be okay, but there's nothing they, or anyone else can do, and sure enough, his life is cut short right there in that bed, to the horror of his family, as well as Ichijou, who was in the adjacent hallway, unaware as the person responsible for all of this passes by him without notice. These are going to be some pretty heavy episodes.

https://i.imgur.com/fKdC5ZHl.png

They aren't entirely without their moments of levity, though. This is chiefly provided by Yuusuke. There's an amusing bit right after the opening (which, along with the ED, switches to its second verse starting here) with him and Nana cleaning the Beat Chaser outside of Pole Pole, but he quickly heads over to Minori's preschool, where even his side of the plot isn't all fun and games. He was only heading over there to amuse the children with another one of his many skills, but when two little kids are having a spat, dealing with it takes priority. They had a bit of a fight over some building blocks that ended with one of them kicking over the whole project and walking off, which obviously isn't ideal behavior. Yuusuke tries to stress the importance of properly communicating your feelings, and working things out that way, instead of letting your anger get the better of you. This is always one of my favorite sides of Yuusuke to see. He's way more about explaining "why" than simply telling people "what", and the show underscores how much people's little struggles mean to Yuusuke by having him consciously ignore Ichijou calling on the Beat Chaser's radio for a second to try and make sure things at the preschool will be okay before leaving.

Back on Ichijou's end, it's a much more grim situation. They aren't even positive an Unidentified Lifeform is responsible just yet, but dozens upon dozens of high school students have died the same way as the one in the opening over a period of only a few days. Obviously something they'd like to put a stop to, but finding out how this is even happening proves tricky in its own right. Tsubaki has figured out from his autopsies there are huge barbs in the students' brains that caused the deaths, that he theorizes start out as something smaller and more benign, which is why it takes four days for the students to succumb to the effects. It's also probably why they apparently can't do anything to detect where they are beforehand, and why they can't remove them before it's too late. The sheer hopelessness of the Grongi plot here is something special. It feels so much more personal than usual. An entire grade of male high school students is being killed, and by the time the episode starts, most of them are already gone. It'd get anyone trembling with fear, and that lends the story a great sense of urgency, especially when you see one of the funerals, too.

Sakurako is helping out on that front by heading over to Nagano to take a look at something relating to a massacre that recently happened there. While it's not made clear in this episode exactly what that is, it obviously has to do something with the Grongi, and this is as good a chance as any to mention Ishida's usual great direction on these episodes. It's keenly felt in parts like the cold open as well, but as always, the Grongi scenes are crazy atmospheric. There's a bit of the woman with the rose tattoo walking through a forest where everything is so excessively green, it looks like the air is full of poison gas or something. The later scene with the other Grongi discussing her absence is a combination of a bunch of his other favorite tricks, with fences and grates obscuring the characters, who are also barely illuminated outside of brief flashes of light, all done in that cold blue palette.

https://i.imgur.com/aMcgEZLl.png
https://i.imgur.com/idtJnlol.png

Ichijou and Yuusuke head off to protect Kazuya, the sole suspected target of the recent killings who hasn't had any contact with the mysterious perpetrator yet, currently held up in a house in the middle of nowhere with his parents, hoping to avoid his notice. It's obviously not that simple, though, and he gets to the family before the heroes can. It's a very tense sequence straight out of a horror movie, and yet, what's most horrifying of all is this monster's response when asked why he's doing all this. His name is Go-Jaraji-Da, his motif is a porcupine, and his goal is to make people suffer as much as possible, because it's fun.

Kuuga manages to get there before he can do the family any (physical) harm, which leads to some great bike action, including a bit where he changes to Dragon Form and breaks off a random branch from a tree to use as his weapon. It's barely over a minute of action before the episode is over, but it's a cool way to close out the first part.

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Yuusuke is having a pretty good time right now. Let's hope it lasts.

https://i.imgur.com/BdpelALm.png
https://i.imgur.com/jh7tsIAm.png
https://i.imgur.com/JiCTw79m.png

Total thumbs up count: 58+3 = 61

EPISODE 35: "Emotion"

Kuuga's fight against Jaraji takes a turn for the worse when it turns out he can teleport all around the place, which he uses in combination with his more straightforward ability to shoot needles everywhere to turn Kuuga into a pincushion, because being Yuusuke is suffering. Jaraji leaves before finishing the job though, seemingly a lot less interested in taking down Kuuga than Grongi usually are. Presumably it's no "fun" hunting something that isn't afraid of him.

https://i.imgur.com/MwIbLp1l.png

Sakurako has arrived in Nagano, where it turns out the victims of that massacre were actually Grongi themselves, with it being suspected the one who did the deed was Unidentified Lifeform #0. Immediately after this suggestion is put forth, the show cuts to the woman with the rose tattoo, further hinting she might just be the one responsible. After all, she was in Nagano while all this was going down. Could be something to consider, I don't know. At any rate, what Sakurako is actually there for, which she finds out after taking a trek through the rancid smelling remains of the slaughter (more wonderful atmosphere), is to take a look at a symbol on a wall, drawn in blood, that resembles the ancient symbol for "warrior" that represents Kuuga.

Kazuya is now being held at a police station in the hopes of protecting him from coming to any harm. There's a lot of weight to how terrified he is by the terrible situation he's suddenly found himself in. How he can't do anything other than cry and ask "why us?" This has quite the effect on Yuusuke, who seems a little less patient than usual seeing the kind of terror Jaraji is inflicting on people. Yuusuke's always been very sensitive of other people's feelings, and because of that, I think he really understands on a deep level that the damage being caused here goes far beyond just the deaths themselves. Nobody is just another statistic to Yuusuke, and that's why it makes sense that all he can say hearing that question from Kazuya is that there isn't any reason they have to die, and that he won't let that happen to Kazuya. It's a very striking moment, because I don't think Yuusuke really makes explicit promises to protect people like this. It's usually implied enough that he doesn't feel the need to outright say it, and that's how you know this particular case is starting to mean a lot to him. And it probably means even more when Kazuya mentions how Jaraji told them he was making them suffer for his own amusement.

The lone element of comic relief left in this otherwise deadly serious episode is a scene at Pole Pole with Jean and Pops bonding over their mutual favorite actresses. As much as I love Jean, there's probably an argument to be made this scene doesn't contribute anything to the story, but I'd argue it's at least placed well enough not to detract from it. Having a minute in there to cool down might have been good for the kids watching the show, too, but I can't do anything other than guess, there. It's just that this is a very intense episode all the way through, and it only becomes more so after that midpoint.

The big turning point is when Yuusuke happens to catch a news broadcast announcing the deaths of the last of Jaraji's victims besides Kazuya himself, who has only become a target to begin with after one of the students' decision to commit suicide left him a person short for his "game". But even if that death doesn't count to the Grongi, it sure does to Yuusuke, and as he sees the names and faces on the screen, all he can think about is how Jaraji is doing all this for fun, and all he can feel at that thought is anger. To the point he feels the need to admit as much to Ichijou. How upset he is he couldn't stop this sooner. It's all pretty worrying behavior from a character who almost always manages to keep a lid on himself no matter how dark things get.

Following this, Jaraji makes his way to the station, and effortlessly sneaks right up to Kazuya in his room, only stopped by Yuusuke, who, turning into Kuuga and tackling him out of a window, begins to absolutely maul the monster. It is disconcertingly vicious, which Kuuga doing almost nothing but punching Jaraji in the mouth, over and over again, his blood spraying onto both of them, to the point Jaraji tries to run away, evidently either having lost the ability to teleport from the beating, or simply being unable to think straight due to sheer terror. The tables have been completely turned, and Kuuga is so intent on pummeling Jaraji right then and there, for a second it seems almost like he'll forget he can't kill monsters with people around anymore. Fortunately, he's still got the presence of mind to load him onto the Beat Gouram and drive him off to somewhere more remote. He changes to Rising Titan Form, and as images of the lives lost in the past few days swirl in his head, Kuuga finishes off Jaraji in a fit of pure rage. The monster is dead, Kazuya is safe, and the deaths of the other students have been avenged. All of which begs one question -- how does Yuusuke feel?

https://i.imgur.com/F9twskyl.png

And of course, he feels awful. Jaraji's death hasn't brought him the slightest bit of peace, and it isn't just because of the 90 dead teenagers that won't ever come back. That's a huge part of it, but what I think is truly eating Yuusuke right in that moment, after the fight, is how upset he let that get him. At the end, he wasn't fighting just to protect someone's smile, or because it was something that needed to be done. He was fighting because he wanted to. Each of those blows to Jaraji, it was no longer simply a means to an end; Yuusuke genuinely desired to make him feel the kind of suffering he was dishing out, and that terrifies him. He doesn't want to believe he has that kind of darkness in him, but right there, in the fires of that explosion, he sees it for the first time. A vision of a Kuuga that's nothing more than a living weapon, with no purpose beyond fighting.

This is one of the most definitive episodes of the series. It pushes the show's central themes farther than they've ever gone to this point, resulting in a narrative that's wildly unlike standard hero tokusatsu fare. There's a central theme here that's a really bold choice for this kind of show in having Jaraji's defeat be so empty. Because it's like, what's the big deal, right? That guy was a scumbag among scumbags; Yuusuke should be cheering at the end... shouldn't he? But what Kuuga is trying to emphasize with these ones is the fundamental futility of violence. That's how the subplot with the kids at the preschool, who ultimately learn to understand each other after Minori talks about how important it is to have the courage to speak openly to one another, factors in. Why Yuusuke is so sure they'll work it out in the end, because, after all, they're both human. At the end of the episode, those kids are smiling, but Yuusuke isn't. It's a pretty three-dimensional moral, because the show also never falls into the trap of trying to say what Kuuga does is "bad". There's no mistaking that defeating the Grongi through force is necessary. But even still, it just isn't something to be proud of, and that's what I think these ones capture so well, especially by making the choice to have all the Grongi victims be so young. How hollow that whole cycle is. People are constantly being killed by these monsters, and the best Yuusuke can do is kill them back. When you get down to it, that can barely be called winning, and it's certainly no ideal solution.

So between the thoroughly explored themes, the tense plotting, the strong direction, the insanely memorable climax, and the relevance to the series as a whole, it's safe to say this two-parter is another highlight of the entirety of Kuuga. One of the best of the best.

https://i.imgur.com/gHqF24cl.png

THUMBS UP COUNTING CORNER

Obviously Yuusuke has a little too much on his plate this time, but thankfully Minori is there to pick up the slack.

https://i.imgur.com/8M2lbrim.png

Total thumbs up count: 61+1 = 62

One of my favorite things about the Kamen Rider franchise is that, for a series that speaks exclusively in the dialect of fighting, it's intensely critical of the psychological effects of violence. Like, this is a franchise that rarely lets vengeance be rewarded, it frequently resolves problems with trying to find commonality or compromise, and any death the hero causes is given an enormous weight. I really like that. I like that a show that could probably coast on Might Makes Right is always finding ways to undercut that, to make a case for healthier solutions.

I don't know if that's something that started with Kuuga (I don't truck with Showa), but if it was, I'm super grateful for it.

And, yeah, if it wasn't obvious before; this is what I was talking about in regards to Titan being the closest Godai comes to being... well, heck, how better do I put it than 'living weapon'?

This episode lends credence to my theory of it being Godai in a really bad mood not just by using Rising Titan, but by having it be so much more savage. Before this it's been defined as a very slow minimalist killer -- it moves like a snail, and what little movements it uses beyond that are very deliberate to kill in as little moves as possible. But in this episode, once he reaches that Grongi; Godai just thrashes about as he whales on the dude. It becomes clear that it's not like Rising Titan couldn't make much quicker slices and dish out a lot more damage than was necessary -- it feels more like Godai was choosing not to do it. It makes the scene so much scarier for me by using Titan like this.


Kuuga always does a good job of making you think about where the line is drawn between necessity and indulgence, but these two episodes escalate it to a horrifying new level. Such an incredible job.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-0KLHwjRCQ

Fun fact: This is the clip I showed a handful of friends of mine to convince them to check the show out.

This is a really good point! Titan Form tends not to do much in the way of swordplay, and by that point in the episode, Jaraji is barely fighting back. Yuusuke could've easily done the usual single stab routine, but slicing him up half a dozen times, yeah, that absolutely emphasizes how much anger is behind each swing. It's sort of, wasteful, I guess, in a way that shows just how not himself Yuusuke is in that moment.

This is exactly the terms used by I and my schoolmates back then when discussing and role-playing Kuuga (literally "henshin to... Blue Kuuga!" while swinging the broomstick like a maniac). To this day, it still took me a while to parse the actual, fancier nomenclature :o

Damn, can't praise the framing of those Grongi scenes enough. A huge part of why they're my favorite KR villain group ever (also I'm reminded again that Rose Grongi was one of my earliest TV show crushes, she's just so mesmerizing to watch).

I was thinking about it being somebody else with the scene played out in lengths, but is actually just a victim scene. And totally didn't know at first what was he talking about. Both parts ended when I saw Ichijou and Jaraji outside.

Why Yusuke just claim he borrows the bike... And now Nana has imitated Yusuke's thumbs-up, but hasn't used it with its true purpose yet. Yusuke should teach her to use that for good. That kid is just selfish to fight over something that doesn't meet what he wants. But yeah... no scolding involved here. That moment usually would make the kids be scolded for what they do.

So it's hopeless compared to the previous ones of sudden deaths, that the objects killing them are never occured outside, unlike the needles before. For this time though... only the doctor side (Tsubaki) can properly decipher the reasons of the deaths. Even if it's a problem for the cops, I wonder why none of the mysterious Grongi killing here scares people as worse as this before.... I guess because Jaraji focuses on one place (the high school) instead of random civilians?

So this time Ichijou asks Sakurako's help... in investigating instead of the translations. Can't say anything else other than her meeting Sakurai. I usually can't get the Grongi scenes because of the different language, except for the scenery like the rose tattoo one here.

I really thought this time Kazuya's family would be killed, like many of the victims in the previous episodes, but not this time. Kazuya's father somehow can legally own a gun... but alas, he never know how ineffective it is against Grongis like what we saw from the cops. And yeah Kuuga's ability to turn things into weapon is versatile as shown here with picking any objects near you to use. I wonder if (Rising) Dragon can use 2 Dragon Rods too.

I mean, nothing he said in that scene was a lie. The bike's not his property, but the people who do own it are letting him use it right now. All completely accurate information. If Nana wanted more details than that, like that he got it from the police to chase down monsters, she should've asked! :p

That's probably part of it. I think the real key is simply that Jaraji gives his victims time to be scared, though. With most Grongi, they kind of go around murdering people, and that's it. It's scary, but only on the level that you might die. Jaraji tells his victims they will die four days in advance, and leaves them with that fear in the meanwhile. Watching them cower and tremble is half the fun for him. His methods are sadistic even by Grongi standards, and that's what pushes Yuusuke over the edge. It's like I said. Jaraji is a scumbag among scumbags.

Being Yusuke is suffering.... but being a human victim is much worse. Yusuke can still live after all of that, and also has enhanced survival as well as Tsubaki attests. So if Jaraji fights by teleporting and throwing needles, how do he kill his victims? The object inside the victim's heads are red, aren't silver like his needles.

Yeah, the blood's symbol is shaped in Kuuga's for some reason. I know everyone here (and me as well) already know about the #0, but this does create a turning point that, Grongis are victims to another Grongi here, and this does clear up my confusion about why the Grongi number jumps up high after early few episodes. It's pretty clear now that Grongis don't prioritize upper hand, they are just playing games, and that just happens to be killing humans in certain number and certain methods, and here, it also extends to Grongi themselves.

And Yusuke here smiles a lot smaller here even when reassuring Kazuya. Probably an indication of his rage at Jaraji later. But does being serious (he's carefree but only at the outside) need to add up more frown to show it? I don't really get it for a petition of "being serious".

The one thing I can say is.... is there a JoJo reference here??
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...1026&height=40
I know that Polnareff is a name of a singer which full name is Michel Polnareff, and that Polnareff in JoJo 8is also taken up from that name (JoJo uses many outside musical reference), but if it's being done to a character named Jean (with already "Michel" as a surname), it creates an unintentionally similar one to JoJo too with full name "Jean _____ Polnareff" Pops guessed (here the gap is Michel obv, in JoJo it's Pierre). So, both traits are added up here tbh.

Well, for Yusuke, even before this, there's already many victims that Grongis killed, not only Jaraji. And for victims like Kazuya, it would be more uplifting if Yusuke shows that he's Kuuga, and that there's someone superpowered that can fight off Grongis. And Jaraji being sadistic is actually a disadvantage to himself, because Weyo only asks for kill counts (directly from Grongis), and him being sadistic led to some victims committing suicide, delaying his Weyo as it's also has a time limit in 12 days.

Why did he lost the teleport ability though? I want to know. And are there any advantage of Gouram combining with BeatChaser, compared with TryChaser? Is that the better base model also makes up for a stronger combination too? But for Yusuke, he later changes to Rising Titan, which isn't dangerous to cities as Rising Mighty so I don't feel it's that useful to move Jaraji into a remote area first.

Oh so that's the meaning of the vision of Kuuga in the fires in the explosion, that Yusuke strays from his original purpose even if he still protects by killing a Grongi. This time he wants to fight purely for revenge.

I thought Hiroki and Shouta were just enemies at default, but actually they're friends who has a falling out in that moment. And so that isn't exempt from Kuuga, just killing another living being, even if they're Grongis which has no redeeming qualities at all, to preserve the greater good.