Phantoms were fine in a "free agents who lust for devastation" way, evil doesn't always need some great plan. A lone guy walking into a Burger King and unloading an AR-15 because he's sick in the head is still as evil as well known local cult doing so in their quest to destroy all fat non-vegans.


And Kivat is literally Wataru's Henshin device, saying he couldn't fight without him is like saying Shotaro and Phillip were bad Riders because they couldn't fight without relying on Gaia Memories and the W Driver. Plus did you watch Kiva? He can fight very well in the start like most Riders, and one can assume he's been doing this for years. His issue is the rest of his confidence outside of battle. Which considering how he is in the end of the series means he's matured and become a true hero in and out of suit.

And that's time travel for you. Why do you think Doctor Who has the "ball of wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey" thing? Or are you not talking about the Time Door?

Concerning Ryotaro being unable to fight, that's because he's not a fighter. He preferred peaceful solutions and would much prefer shouldering the blame for something he didn't do rather than get antagonist.
Ryotaro felt like an honest to goodness pacifist who was forced to fight, which I liked.

I've not got to Kiva yet (I'll get to it - working through the Heisei Rider series) but I just recently hit the retooled episodes of Hibiki, and it's funny how you can tell Inoue got his mitts on the show - a new character appears who is a jerk, and soap opera storylines were people have trouble actually having sensible conversations with each other.

How did everybody feel about the Ryuki ending? Been a while since I've revisited that show, but I'm so torn about the ending. I hate the fact that all of the development the characters went through can basically be tossed out of the window, but at the same time it's a brilliant ending because it's a natural conclusion to the core theme of the show: that for better or worse, this is how life should be like for the Riders. I especially like it in regards to Kitaoka. Even if he may still have his cancer, at least he gets to enjoy his dying days in peace, rather than going to war trying to chase immortality.


I don't know, guys.

And if we're talking about rewrites, I have a few for Faiz:

- Mihara was a completely unnecessary character. They had several characters already in the show that would have been a great 3rd rider to complement the main two. Kaido would have been the best choice I feel, if they still wanted Kiba to be Kaixa in the end. It definitely would have been badass if Kaido, as Delta, was leading the Riotroopers. You also could have used Kiba, although I'd prefer he just become Kamen Rider Orga like how he did in the movie. Mari wouldn't have been a bad choice either, but we all know how Toei feels about woman riders. They either die, or everybody forgets about them.

- The plotline with the Orphnoch King really needed a conclusion. As it stands, Faiz as a series isn't even complete since the Big Bad is still out there, and so is the woman from Lucky Clover. All that really happened throughout the series was that a couple of allies and a couple of glorified henchmen died.

- I actually dig Takumi as a character a lot, but I feel like the writers didn't do a good job of showing what they were going for with him, with him sort of going through this self-imposed loner phase. It's probably why he sat there and let Kusaka turn the group against him.

I enjoy the ending. I do get why it upsets people, and there is some validity there to the arguments. But like you said it feels like the type of ending to a degree a Rider should have...somewhat. Pre the reversal I think it is pretty interesting and almost welcome that everybody is pretty much dead who was a Rider or had any involvement with the war (I won't count Ore since they only knew of Shinji being a Rider and not all about the war) because it harkens back to how tragic Rider was shown. You become one you're basically a soldier till the day you die. Ryuki in general is a great throwback to the tragedy of becoming a Rider and what it entails, and so I think the fact that they all basically meet their end is rather nice if again tragic (Shinji, Ren, Kitaoka, Satoru, and Mitsuru especially).

As for the re-set, I like it. True I do enjoy the whole darker ending, but considering we know about time travel being an aspect, it sort of makes sense it comes to play in the end, and tying it in with Kanzaki learning his lesson (sort of) gives it a bit more meaning. Plus it is nice that they are given the chance in the end to (for the show's timeline) have normal lives again).

Overall I like the ending. Could it be better? Probably, but it works well for the series.

Okay, this is driving me crazy. Who is that standing towards the back, inbetween Riderman and Kuuga? I recognize it but I cannot place it and none of my research is helping me

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...764320549f.jpg

That explains it. I kept thinking "Man, it looks like V3, but it clearly isn't. V3 is two riders away."

In Ryuki, the riders go into another world through mirrors.

In Den-O, he and Zeronos travel on a train through time.

And in Wizard, he and Beast travel into one's "Underworld" to destroy the inner Phantom.

How would you all propose a new rider that travel through dreams after Ghost?

LSD.

In Toucon Boost form, Ghost was able to not only use Goemon, Ryoma & Himiko, but also his other heroic eyecons too.

Will Deep Specter do the same thing after he mastered the berserk power? I can picture Deep Tutankhamen, Nobunaga & Houdini. Besides, he hasn't done Omega Giri & Dama yet and the Giga power as well.

Which Rider series do you think have the best/strongest motifs? I really like the paranormal investigator aspect of Ghost, and the police/detective theme of Drive works well too. I'm also rather fond of Amazon's motif.

Was it Wizard, Ghost, Gaim, Kiva or Blade that had an instrumental piece that sounded like the X-Files theme's eerie whistle thing that it played in slow moments?

I haven't seen the rest, so I can't be sure, but I noticed something like that while I was watching Ghost earlier. They were talking to a client and an erie tune played.

Do you need to watch the old Kamen Rider Amazon series to understand the new Amazon series?

Nope, the new show tells a completely original story with no relation to the old show. It only uses updated designs of the Amazon and the Kaijin suits and of course the name Amazon, the rest is new.

I'm not 100% sure, but I'm thinking Wizard.

Cool, I'll check it out then.

So Ghost is my first foray into non-Showa Rider, and I'm noticing that the show is MUCH less episodic than Super Sentai. I never really know what to expect with this, as opposed to Sentai where every episode is practically the same thing. Are all Rider series like this?

I would like to say "yes". But sadly it isn't always.

Most Heisei era Rider series aren't very episodic.
Which Rider series did you find to be episodic? I'm curious.

To answer your question yes rider typically does have more story driven episodes than super sentai does. Now there are filler episodes in there typically towards the middle of the show, and your mileage will vary on which show you are watching. For example if you watch Gaim there will literally be two episodes of filler. Both of which are movie tie in episodes and do not need to be watched. On the flip side Wizard has a fair amount of filler in it, yet the action does make up for it.

Generally speaking, yes. There was an era, from around Den-O through Wizard, where the show was really committed to doing two-parters, but before and after that the shows have been pretty good about having ongoing storylines and subplots that carry over for multiple episodes.

Even before Den-O, Rider would do two parters but they would just be so much more subtle about it - the monster would escape at the end of an episode despite that episode's plot being finished. Or you'd just get the same suit repainted in the next episode.

After a while, Shirakura, the head producer on a lot of the early Rider shows, felt two parters with two Riders should be the new formula of the series. Thankfully, it looks like that's coming to an end.

Now I'm understanding why Rider is so much more popular than Sentai, and even then Ghost doesn't seem to be terribly well-received. I'm loving it though, so if this is one of the not as good seasons, I can't wait to check out the rest.

Yeah, but at around Den-O - and especially after Decade - it really became all about the "victim and monster of the fortnight" pattern. A new character would be targeted by a monster, the Rider would protect her (or occasionally him), and then the character would never be seen again. The main villains would occasionally do some plotting, but the only major plot advancements would just be the newest power up. The older and newer shows are better about hiding the monster arcs with ongoing storylines.

I didn't really mind the monster of the fortnight scenario. It worked in Double's favor since they were a detective agency, first, so a lot of them just felt like daily life.
And for OOO, the Greeed's mission basically needed humans to let out their inner desires, so they weren't really just random bystanders caught in the crossfire, but directly served the goals of the villain.

I guess it was a little strained for Fourze and especially for Wizard, though.

It can work just fine, but it gets old fast when used every year for multiple series in a row.

Well, the two-part format sounds a whole lot more interesting than episodic MOTW style, but I still prefer the formula that Ghost has been following. What's another series that has a good, continuous storyline? I've heard Gaim is like that, but what else?

Also, which series has the best two-part formula? I like the paranormal investigations aspect of Ghost, so W sounds fun with its detective work. (same with Drive)

I got question about Kamen Rider Drive Saga with Mach and Heart.

Since both Mach and Heart take place 2 years after the conclusion of Kamen Rider Drive's Finale, How can Heart become Kamen Rider despite being dead?

The two part format has it's ups and downs. I feel that Double and OOO use the two-parter format best, myself.

If you want a good, continuous story, Gaim is basically the best place for it. I think Blade does it well, too, but a lot of people find the first 10-15 episodes (As well as the poor video quality due to TV rips rather than DVD) to be a bit of a slog.

I can attest to the first 15 eps of Blade being a slog. Mostly because I had no friggin clue what the hell was happening half the time. :lol

Didn't help that, at a glance, Kenzaki, Tachibana and Hajime all kinda look the same out of suit with very similar outfits and hair. At least with Hajime you know it's him because he's usually hanging out with a little girl.

First option: The entire thing where he is a Rider takes place in the past and the synopsis actually only refers to Mach. Dick move, but nothing I would put past Toei.

Second option: Gou is working on reviving Chase but the technology is stolen by a Roidmude fanatic who revives a bunch of Roidmudes which go nuts, Heart is also revived but takes care of the problem by becoming a Rider to stop his friends.

Third Option: It somehow ties into the Ghost & Drive Summer crossover movie where Heart, Brain and Medic are alive.

Lots of early Heisei is like that. Like I haven't watched all of it, but if you like what Ghost is doing you'll like a lot of early Heisei stuff. They all feature a building storyline with weekly monsters thrown in the mix.

W and OOO do it the best way IMO. W with the detective theme can keep your interest up so you actually want to know how they resolve the case next week, OOO's characters are good enough that you want to know what happens to them next.

Wizard is probably the worst example of the two-part formula since the characters are trash and the enemies are a joke. You don't care what happens to the characters and you don’t really want to know what happens next since the story goes nowhere and the enemies always die and never do anything major. Of course there are a few exceptions, but overall if a Phantom shows up you know it’s gonna fail. Not like W or OOO where you know they will find a way to win, but you don’t know how they do it. Wizard? The Phantoms are useless, Rider kick to the face, the end.

Drive isn’t as interesting as W & OOO at first, but once the show gets to the part where Shinnosuke deals with the case of his father it gets really good. That was too late for me but I still enjoyed it a little bit.

How do they all look similar? Dude, I know the vid quality sucks, but they look totally different!

I can't tell any of the science patrol apart in the original Ultraman :lol

Sounds good to me.

Episodic (bi-episodic?) can be good as long as each episode is done well. Some of the old showa stuff is fun, but there comes a point where you're just watching the same thing over and over again. Sounds like some of the later ones at least keep things interesting.

I still think it's a shame that Wizard ended up the way it did - the suit is in my top 5 easily.

How does it compare to Ghost so far?

ÕAgreed. I had fun watching Black but it doesn't really do a whole lot of story. I mean there's Shadow Moon but... still nothing like Heisei does things.

The suits and the action are the best thing about Wizard - I enjoyed both. But it's hard watching Wizard when the 5 minutes of action every episode is the only thing you can look forward to.

Drive is much better than Ghost IMO. Both suffer from terrible slapstick comedy and annoying side characters, but I like Drive better. Shinnosuke and his gang are much more interesting than Takeru and co., who are all very bland. Like, Alain got some cool development lately, but I never really felt invested with anything Takeru or Makoto were doing.

Meanwhile in Drive, Shinnosuke got the thing with his dad and the relationship with Mr. Belt, Gou got the thing with Dr. Banno I won't spoil and Chase has some really good stuff going on too.

And the SCU... well at least they have some strong episodes. Ghost has Onari.

I'm not crazy about either show, but I think Drive is better. And OOO and W are much better than Drive and Ghost.

Do you find it odd that Heart got his own movie despite being the villain and never transformed into a Kamen Rider

He would be the first villain who was originally NOT a Kamen Rider to get his own movie

It like saying they are making movie about Sonozaki family and have one of them become Kamen Rider! How that work? Who want to see a movie about Sonozaki Family?!

Do you think Toei took a huge risk of making a movie about a Non-Kamen Rider like Heart? A Non-Kamen Rider starring his own movie?!

If they remade Amazon modern and with an awesome story, why don't they do the same with Kiva?

I can just imagine Kiva into something...

- Devil May Cry
- Vampire Diaries
&
- Grimm

More riders and more arms monsters! More blood... real vampires!

But Kiva's a Heisei Rider, not a Showa Rider.

Kiva is still modern...