Where Should I Start?
 

Toku's been something that I've enjoyed pretty much since I was a kid. Power Rangers, Beetleborgs, Godzilla, Sentai, I love these things to death. But Kamen Rider is the one series that does spark my interest, but I can't seem to get into. Mostly because I don't know where to start.

You guys know more about Kamen Rider more then I do, do you have any suggestions on which series to start with?

Kamen Rider is easy to get into, primarily since the series (Beyond crossover movies) aren't connected.
Good starting series would be OOO, Decade or Double.

I'd say OOO as that's what first caught my attention. It's got some awesome designs, isn't too dark or too goofy. And the music is incredible, it just fell a bit flat at the end for me.

My other suggestion would be Fourze, but don't expect all other series to be as goofy or light or friendship focused =]

Yeah,any of the later series would be best.Their easier to get into and everyone is talking about them right now.The earlier series can always be looked up.

My first series was W (Double). W and OOO are great series to start with as they balance seriousness with comedy. If you want a darker, more serious storyline Kuuga or Ryuki are great series.

I honestly wouldn't start with Ryuki. It's a good series, but not a good starting point.

Oh I agree. I was just saying if he wants a darker storyline with little to no comedy it's a decent series to start with. I'd still go with W or OOO personally as first ever series.

W or OOO would be great starting points.

Most definitely do not touch Decade, though. Eventually, sure, but to start things off it does a much better job at confusing you than explaining Rider lore.

If you do want to start dark, Ryuki's not bad. Conversely, for over-the-top comedic relief, Den-O then.

I would say OOO is a really good starting point, as it's definitely one of the better series out there, although W is also both pretty great and balanced as far as a darker tone and goofyness go. If you want something more goofy though, Den-O is pretty great, although, I wouldn't really start with one of darker series, like Ryuki.

You all already know what I'm gonna say :p

Well thank you all (and hahaha at your comment KROOO). I'll probably just start with OOO, go through W, and then just start picking at random.

Beware of Decade. It spoils major plot points in Kabuto, Faiz, and possibly a few others.

My suggestion would be Kamen Rider Fourze. It's a Fun series with alot of humor, and a very good story throughout. I'd also suggest watching Kamen Rider Kabuto. It's another very good series, and it's a must-watch- for anyone into Kamen Rider.

I love Fourze as heck, but my suggestion for starting point is actually W, even before OOO. W represented a shift in Kamen Rider direction after Decade sort of rebooted everything. The post Decade series just felt different and they all feel more connected to each other than the pre-Decade series did.

W is also a good balance of goofy and serious, thus I see it as a prototypical modern Kamen Rider series. Fourze is my favorite, but it is definitely different in its focus on light-heartedness.

I may not be right in my analyses, but these are my reasons for recommending W first.

W and OOO are popular starting points and you can't go wrong with either. I'd recommend Agito, too, though, as it was the first show that really hooked me.

I started with Wizard, and am all nice and caught up on that, minus the newest episode (waiting on subs for that). I've always liked Kamen Rider, at least watching reviews of the various figuarts from people like TJ and Vangelus. Wizard was what really interested me in watching the series though. I had some passing interest in Fourze as well, I thought the suit design was...a bit silly (mostly due to the rocket head), but I dug the whole module/switch thing so I ended up getting the Figuart of his base states, which got me interested in watching the series. I'm up to episode 15 there and have been enjoying it.

OOO is what got me into it

I started watching Wizard because I loved Flame Style's design. I find it's a pretty good show, although it's still ongoing. From there I watched W. Great story, amazing characters, especially Shotaro and Wakana. It's a nice balance between humor and seriousness. Then I watched Fourze. I actually tried getting into it when it first started, but the silliness REALLY turned me off. Luckily that drops off quite a bit after the first few episodes and Meteor ended up making the show for me. Then I started Den-O. Not as lighthearted as Fourze, but still a silly show. However, I feel like Den-O is so over-the-top in concept alone that the silliness works to its advantage. Finally I started OOO, which I have to say is my hands-down favorite. Eiji is a compelling main character, Ankh's personality and motives are cunning and complex, the fights are excellently choreographed, and the dynamic between Date and Gotou after Birth's appearance is spectacular.

I might get some flack from this, but start with Decade. It has a very gripping story, the series is absolutely epic and it acts as a history lesson for Kamen Rider all be it a slightly inaccurate one. It also leads into W which is another great series.

I agree that it's a decent starting point.
But a gripping story? Lol no. There is no story. Everything the series builds up to leads to absolutely nothing. Literally. There is no resolution. The opening scene is the ending scene. Diend shooting Tsukasa was retconned out and doesn't have any bearing on the follow up movie audiences were supposed to see. The hints of what Tsukasa might really be is never resolved. He just is.
History lesson? No. It just parades the suits and spoils one of the twists in Faiz.
Leads into W? Heh, no. Double and Decade aren't connected. Double showing up in Decade's movie isn't proof of it. It just means that Double appeared early.
Decade is a terrible, terrible show that's only value is it's reduced length and it lets you see the previous 10 Heisei suits in action (And it spoils Faiz, meaning you don't need to see Faiz). A couple cool fights and scenes here and there does not redeem an entire series and make it good.

Look. I'll defend Decade until the day I die. If you want to get into Kamen Rider, I think it's a Must-Watch. Along with the various movies. DiEnd is one of our greatest Kamen Rider trolls right beside Tendou. But.. Matrix is right. It has no story. Well, it has something of a story but then the ending turns into a steaming pile of Wtf. But don't watch it because you're expecting Fourze or W. You won't get it. Faiz though I think you should watch. It's really grown on me as an excellent series.

Loving you focusing on that and not where I call Faiz and excellent series :lol

I've never been able to sit through and complete 1/3 of Faiz, so my insults towards it are empty, for the most part.

Decade has a story- you just have to perform a series of complex equations to realize it was actually an allegory about the Great Potato-Muffin War of February 31.

(But seriously, I thought Decade had a story.)

Decade does have a story. It's just not a very good one and it doesn't have an ending.

Really? Because I'd love to hear what it is.
Going from world to world and giving a speech isn't a story. It's just sightseeing.

Yea really, this ought to be good. Decade didn't have a Story. It kept promising me a story, kept hinting at a story, but never delivered. The first episode alone promised us this great Rider War, the series built and built.. and then nothing. Nothing but "Decade worked for Daishocker lol".

I love Decade but come on. It had no story.

Id reccomend kiva or decade as those are probably 2 of my favorite series of what ive seen. That being everything from kiva onward. Though one of my friends has highly recommended faiz as it is her favorite series from what she has seen.

Oh god no, not Faiz. Never start with Faiz.

A thousand times this.

Better yer? Just skip Faiz, you'll feel better about yourself for it.

That bad of a series?

NO!!! Faiz is a good ride damn it...just not the strongest...still better than Decade...great suit design, cool concept, movie is awesome... just the ending was beyond rushed. Great second series to watch though.

Brought to you by the Friends of Faiz Foundation

Faiz isn't that bad, the characters can be at least entertaining. I do agree though that it's not a good place to start.

Watching a snail do a 360 is better than watching Decade.


I will always recommand W as a starting point. It's a solid, consistent, and balanced show with most of the good Kamen Rider tropes. Perfect for beginners. The only downside to W is that one of the important sub plots is resolved in a crossover movie with Decade. Thankfully, it's segmented out so the rest of the movie is skippable.

I'll also recommend Agito as the best overall with strongest narrative and character development and the first half of Kabuto for over the top action and entertaining banter (Just be aware Kabuto gets pretty bad later on).

I'm sorry but I'd have to say W is not a good starting point. It'll bore the hell out of a new fan. I was a long time fan and it bored me to death, watching that show weekly was painful. And Faiz is irredeemably bad for me. Awful characters, awful interactions between them, and outside of Delta and Kaixa, less than inspired designs.

Good places to start would be (for varying reasons) Agito, Ryuki, Blade, Kabuto, OOO.

The one person who was bored by Double notwithstanding, it really is a great show. It just placed an emphasis on story rather than flare. Substance over style. Double is a great series because it had a story and it told it, rather than putting it on the backburner for 5 to 6 episodes at a time to make lots of fight scenes with big explosions.

I agree with you, but your sig made me laugh on that last sentence :lol

I said for beginners. For long time fans, W was on autopilot. If you were bored, it was because you've seen everything W has to offer many times already. These things are new for beginners. Alternately, you're just wrong. :p


PS Blade is a terrible one for beginners. It starts off very confusing and takes from to long to get into.

What kind of a world do we live in where Matrix makes more sense than Den-O, and a man dressed as a bat steals all my press... wait.. No, just the first part.

W should be watched by anyone wanting to get into Kamen Rider. It has a charm alot of series' lack, it has an actual damn story that's well-written and not just 30 episodes of "Oooo.. More toys a'commin'!".

My love for Fourze is unquestioned, and I adore Kamen Rider OOO, but come on. They were episode after episode of power spam and toy commcericals with story peppered in because they realized "Oh dip, this is a show ain't it?". Not that they aren't good. Fourze had some genuine emotional moments, and OOO is fun all the way through. W just had a much richer story.

And there's nothing wrong with Faiz. The first episode alone has a plot-twist I certainly never saw coming, and later on it's the same. You haters.

Gekiranger was so perfect it could do both. :p

And as much as I love Blade, I must agree. A beginning that gives new viewers nothing with a snails pace. I pointed out when I first started Blade that it was one of the rare occasions of a show having plenty of plot, but no story to go around it until the 10-12 mark.

Because my logic is king! I demand to be made the new Super God of the Tokunation and Kickback step down immediately! *Dawns Starscream's crown*

I adore OOO, and while it's drive to sell more toys wasn't as strong as other series, the middle did meander with the dropped medals/newly obtained medals (While it could be argued that it kept things fresh by preventing Eiji from spamming any one combo beyond TaToBa, after a certain point you have to relent and realize they're just hawking the most recently released medal set when Eiji just happens to lose Cheetah and somehow obtains all 3 White medals in the same episode).

You in charge of Tokunation is the most frightening thing you've ever written :lol