Transformations
 

Hey, which Rider do you think has the most interesting transformation?
Also, to prevent this from being a one track thread, how do you like your transformations to occur? This being Kamen Rider and not Sentai, transformation sequences are sparse. Do you like the "EPIC POSING" which is the closest they come to a transformation sequence? Do you like the running henshin? The mid attack transformation? The defense transformation (Like enemy shoots fireball, the armor materializing acting as a shield)? What?

I think OOO's has the best, both visually and musically. The swirling energy medals look cool and work as defence, and the jingles are damn catchy.

Second place would go to Fourze and his base states henshin, smoke and bright lights to protect and the awesomeness of the 3..2..1 build up. Oh and the whole reaching for the stars pose thing =]

I love Fourze's 3-2-1 countdown, but visually, I just never really enjoyed it as much as some others.

Ooo hands down :)

Fourze in close second, with Meteor third

It's really hard to choose my favourite. It's more of a I like the last couple of riders or so but for different reasons. I can't even say I have a list of tops.

Now as for why I like them?

Decade, his is awesome because of the cards flying in and giving detail to his suit, and wee as the d-d-d-d-DECADO!
Kiva, is awesome because of the Chains... Heh...heh.
Double? CYYYYYCRRRRROOOONE, JOOOOOOKKKAAAAAH. That whole building up to the henshin is epic, followed by a counting of sins.
Fourze? The pan shots... oh god the pan shots. Also, UCCCCCHHHUUU KIIIITAAAAAAA!!!
Den-o? Den-o... ok yeah, that has to be my least favourite. Probably only interesting by Momo's Ikouze storm.
Ryuki? Nothing but boring...
OOO? The little 80's jingles are awesome. Taka! Tora! Batta! TA-TO-BAH TATOBAH TA-TO-BAH! I love that, really old 90's/80's feel about it. The medals floating around him? Work... but, it's more so about the announcer.

As for secondary riders?

I dont feel like any of them are really worth mentioning.

What about Birth?

Birth's transformation is meh, made more narm by the popping noise of the bubbles.
If you're looking for a cool secondary rider transformation, check out Diend's.

Didn't really like Diend, so his Henshin really... didn't catch me.

I'm a big fan of the arm-waving poses for transformation. My favorite of these is probably V3. Miyauchi really made that motion look stylish and badass.

Black is a close second, of course. Still love the way his gloves creak right at the start of the henshin motion.

From the Heisei era my favorite is probably Kuuga. It looked cool and the sound effects were great.

Hmm...
The arm-waving ones are kinda neat, but there's a certain extent where I find it a little ridiculous.
Meteor's, for example. I find his arm circle he does before he transforms to be just a bit excessive :P

V3's and Black's are cool though.

no mention of IXA

I am dissapoint

IXA's transformation is nothing special.

Meh. None of those can compare to the epicness of Kamen Rider G.

1go's is timeless
Skyrider's is my fav with the movement
Black's fist clench is nice in the beginning
RX has very fluid motion
Kuuga's belt being summoned and then activated by a side switch is cool
Agito's hand movements when materializing his belt is cool
Faiz with the code input and locking in the belt is always cool to see
Blade's mixture of 1go and Kuuga movements are my fav
Decade's card flicking is cool
W's is simple yet cool
and Joker's pose in the end is very Jojo's bizzare adventureish

^This. Name one transformation that wasn't epic. You can't, don't try.

I tend to like the ones that don't have a little dance associated. I really like kabutos because its utilitarian, he can henshin and punch somebody in the face. W is very dramatic with his speeches so it makes sense he takes a moment. Fourze I just dont know. Its ill fitting for the character to have to flip so many switches when he just wants to henshin and brawl. I like blade with the running charge through the cards. Its fitting for his weapon. The showa are really cheesey but its part of their charm I think. I hate to say it but ooo is really clunky. He has to insert coins and then scan and then wait for the song to be over before he can begin fighting. I would be pretty frustrated after a while

Aaaaammmmmaaaaaaazooooooonnnnnn!

Fourze's flipping switches is so fitting it's almost redundant :lol

OOO's henshin on multiple occasions has acted as a shield, so while it may be clunky, it's rather useful.

I must agree with Kabuto's. I really like the simple and efficient "Slide Zector on belt" transformation, especially since it doesn't hinder movement whatsoever.

One of the most memorable ones IMO is G3, an entirely mechanical system that requires the installation of all components before each fight.

oh dont get me wrong, the switch flipping is totally appropriate for the space theme of the show, but Gentaro is a bit derpy so it seems ill fitting that he was given the burden of all these switches to flip.

while i recognize the useful addition of the transformation acting as a shield for OOO, it reminds me of those toys that interact with the television (that OOO merchandise surprisingly doesn't have). i hate it.
there was a batman cartoon (and many others previously) maybe about 5 years ago that i enjoyed but every time the batmobile deployed or something of the sort happened, a sound and a symbol showed up on the screen and that was supposed to engage the electronic feature on the toy, like a transformation or light up gimmick.

do i sound like a grumpy old man yet?

Double's henshin is probably my favorite, I get a big smile on my face every time I see it. Plus the jazz music and the materialization of the suit are really cool. A close second would be Blade or Decade, I love Blade's build up and how the card can be used for defense, while Decade's has some great music.

Thinking about it some, I love Kiva's transformation. The stained glass effect that appears on his face when he's bitten by Kivat, his body morphing into Kiva kind of like he's a Fangire, and finally the shattering into color. Really cool ^^