Kamen Rider Ghost Episode 4- "Astonishing Castle In The Sky!" Discussion
 

Takeru and the Strange Phenomenon Laboratory investigate mysterious events at a corporate headquarters, hoping to find another Ganma.

But it soon turns out Takeru is not the only one interested in this case...

Dammit. I was hoping they'd actually incorporate the Newton Eyecon better than: "OH HEY. REMEMBER THAT DRIVE EPISODE? HERE'S NEWTON."

Better add "how the hell was the Newton Eyecon created?" to the growing list of unanswered questions. Oh well, aside from that the episode was pretty great.

This episode got kinda weird.

I know the Kamen Rider fandom has developed a phobia for two-parters, but this got crazy enough to warrant one I think. Just...felt very rushed. With everything going on it was all just sort of a mess.

I also hope the hugs aren't going to be like, A Thing from now on, because come on man. It bothered me last week and it bothered me now: that shit is cheesy beyond a level even I can tolerate. (and I can tolerate plenty)

Stuff with Newton made no sense. Acknowledged the Drive stuff but...didn't actually explain anything at all. Just...what even? Takeru forgetting he's a ghost was pretty funny though. Robin got more time to shine in this one compared to last week, so that's good too.

Nobunaga looks GREAT. That is a very cool ghost. And Specter's theme is also pretty great; seems that if nothing else Ghost is staying strong in its designs and its music.

And, the most interesting thing in this ep, looks like Makoto and Aran are connected in some way. Seeing as we know nothing about either of them, this is good info to have. Aran also did Stuff for the first time, so...good on that front.

Preview looks solid. I didn't spot Tutankhamen, oddly, but apparently Nobunaga is in episode 5 so...still weird. We're finally seeing Makoto proper and Aran also seems to be more involved then, so, yeah. Looks like a pretty interesting episode. Shame we have to wait two weeks for it.

I just hope they don't cram it full of stuff, it is getting kind of old and the pacing is really suffering for it.

I still don't think this at all. I'm not tired of the one weekly arcs just yet; in fact I'm probably enjoying the packed episodes more than I would two-parters. Also, to me the pacing for the overarching story info doesn't feel any less developed at this point than usual. >shrug<

Overarching plot stuff seems fine thus far, but I still think each episode tries to do too much. Like, stuff with Onari and Akari in this episode didn't lead anywhere and could have easily been cut. I feel like time is spread out too thinly between too much stuff and it hurts the supposed main plot.

And with too much other stuff in the episode, we end up with unexplained crap like with Newton. Because that is some real bull. (seriously, the drive plot took place over a month but takeru has only been ghost for 11 days, how do they even figure)

I mean, I'm not saying they have to be two parters. They just need to cut stuff down so that it gives us a good, focused one-off episode.

edit: specter stuff better served for main ghost discussion i guess

Specter's a dick.
Just sayin'.
Not Masato dick.
But still a giant dick.

So he'll be Gaim Kaito then?

What? How exactly can you tell from the 30 seconds of meaningful screen time he had in the whole episode? He jumped in, the Nobunaga ghost basically chose him over Takeru, and he ran away with the Eyecon. That's really not enough to conclude anything about what kind of character he'll end up being.

I hope he's not another Kaito. And not another Kusaka! I hate Kusaka!

Please may Ghost be like Blade!

I'm getting major Ren vibes from the scans we've seen. I'd be fine with that.

I like Specter's theme already. I'd like to know why he's collecting the Eyecons thought, since he's still alive.

I've heard two theories on why he's collecting the Eyecons: he's either gonna use the wish to help a loved one or he himself is actually dying and he's gonna use the wish to cure himself.

Does anyone think ghost is kind of silly with the over the top reactions and the way the ganma act? Also the action is kind of lame.

The I don't think the silliness is any more than it has been for the last several years, (excluding the grimdark of Gaim) but the fights have been a little hit or miss so far. When it's good I think it's pretty great, but a lot of the skirmishes have been a sort of boring. Probably overall a step down from Drive in terms of action. But who knows? It could ramp up as the series goes on and the stakes are raised.

Not even Gaim was grimdark. May I remind you of that episode with the Oren Lockseed, for example?

There is also the theory that he is in a coma, which could explain the ECG waves on his suit.

Honestly I find the battles quite good. As for the structures of the episodes I find the one part thing to be well structured. Most probably they want to get rid of the collections of the varius ghosts early because most probably it will have a more elaborated plot in the 2nd part of the story

True, it wasn't constantly dark; there were often breaks from the drama for a bit, but overall the silliness was probably toned down more than it had been since like... Faiz maybe.

I think there are a few main reasons why Rider has gotten sillier in the last few years. The first is Den-O, which was a huge success based in no small part on the humorous antics of the Imagin. The second is that the target audience seems to be skewing younger since Fourze, which kids loved and older viewers were much cooler on. The younger audience is why I think the humor from Wizard onwards has tended more towards slapstick, shouting, and wacky facial expressions. Thirdly, I strongly suspect that the last couple shows have really ratcheted up the humor as a response to how bleak Gaim got by the end, which was pretty alienating to the younger kid audience.

Huh. Apparently they actually reused footage from OOO Wonderful for that flying city scene. They're more similar than I thought. XD

Once all the 15 eyecons are revealed and are gathered together, the REAL BATTLES are about to begin!

I hope for more eyecons than just 15!

Actually, Drive was pretty mature, and I have a vibe that it will be the same with this series. In any case, the main reason why KR is made in this way it's because they make a lot of money form the toy, and the general target of this merchandise is younger people

Or it could just be a sign that signify's that he's alive, while Ghost's highlights being bones just emphasizes his being dead.

Drive got there eventually, but the first half was just people screaming and flailing, funny faces, and fish-eyed lenses as far as the eye could see.

Along with the Kamen Rider Club 2.0.

Can I just say that Specters musical theme, was really nice.

I assume its his at least but I have no official confirmation on it yet, still quite an enjoyable episode, the villains are becoming more interesting as well.

Gaim had good toy sales though. I would imagine kids bought the toys because they thought the riders in the show where cool and didn't care about the tone for the show. Someone must be watching the show if the toy sales where good.

It was also the lowest rated Rider series to date.

I find it odd that people are buying the toys, but not watching the show. Who buys the toys, but doesn't watch the show? I would imagine kids who buy the toys must be watching the shows too.

Don't the ratings get progressively lower each year though? That's what it seems like anyway.

Observations:
I think i get how the production of heroic eyecons goes. A subject that has a sincere connection (appreciation, it seems) to a particular spirit gets nudged by the Ganma's mindfuck power into channeling that hero's characteristics, which strengthens the bond to the spirit. This can reach a boiling point, when an eyecon can either be produced on its own through magic, or helped along by KR Ghost's power.

As for the pacing comments . . . it went by a little fast, but any longer and it would have dragged. They hit the points they needed to hit and moved on, allowing us to get to the fight and further down the overall story of the series.

I enjoyed the Urusan scoffing at Takeru as he was almost trapped by the falling city block; he forgot he can phase through matter.

Speaking of which, Takero still tiptoeing around Metal Gear style even though he's invisible and can phase through matter is always amusing; he still bows to people as he sneaks through.

Specter is gonna have some badass music.

Question:
The Robin form finisher multiple shots were fired - did he clone himself? If so, where'd that power come from? Were they just trying to illustrate his focusing his aim, or did he really copy himself, because that power can easily be broken and OP.

Why the fuck is Old Man fucking with Takeru?

Yeah. It looks like Robin's Driver Omega Drive allows ghost to clone himself briefly and rapid fire shots at the enemy. This episode had so many OOO references in it, I wouldn't be surprised if Robin was only given that ability to directly mirror GataKiriBa.

This episode was pretty good. Probably my favorite Ghost so far since some of the plot seems to be beginning to unravel. I don't mind the way Newton was introduced, really, it was used well enough. I don't even mind that it's a two parter since I feel this episode has a pretty good lead up into the second part.

Interesting that Sage seems to have granted the title of Kamen Rider to someone else besides Takeru...but then again, I suppose that's the only way to get a Ghost Driver. I wonder what qualifications made Spectre and Takeru worthy enough to become Riders in Sage's eye.

The preview indicates that the mysterious guy knows Spectre. Maybe he and the mystery man were fighting him before Ghost or maybe it was something else. I think someone said Spectre reminded them of Ren from Ryuki and judging from Spectre's words in the preview, I can see that may be the case. Maybe he became a Rider to save someone else's life?

Good episode. Newton coming out of nowhere (especially with the Drive reference) was kinda stupid, other than that I enjoyed it.

But now I need to wait two weeks before seeing Spectre in action? That sucks.

I love the cord that played during Specter's ghost grab.

[QUOTE=OptionZero;569756

I enjoyed the Urusan scoffing at Takeru as he was almost trapped by the falling city block; he forgot he can phase through matter.

/QUOTE]

I love Yurusen, he/she's easily the best character on this show.

SHF Ghost needs to come with a little Yurusen as an accessory.

I would say Gramps is the best, just because how crazy the role is and how well the actor pulls it off. And I fully suspect him to become a lot more serious and important over the course of the show, he heavily reminds me of DJ Sagara.

This. Even if it's just a first run bonus, they need to include a small Yurusen figure with a stand so I can have the little dude next to Ghost in my cabinet.

Not a bad episode, better than three at least. I will say that Spectre was kinda weird in how they showed him. That whole day to night flash showing was just weird to me. When he actually appears it's decent, but I dunno, kinda wish he just walked onto the scene and just took the Eyecon and left without saying anything. Oh well.

Not a fan of Newton form to be honest. I think it looks a little silly/dumb.

I'm a little more bothered by the fact that Newton apparently happened out of context with the rest of the show...

Okay, this was definitely an episode where the show's fast pacing got problematic. Two new Eyecons, debut of the secondary Rider, and a standard MotW plot were way too much to cram into 24 minutes. It wasn't a bad episode, but everything in the last 5-6 minutes felt incredibly rushed. The biggest problem is I can't tell how many dudes with blonde highlights there are - was one of them Spectre and the other one mysterious villain guy, or was that MVG who drew the eye symbol and made all the little Eyecons. It went by so fast and I've seen so little of the bad guy that I honestly can't tell whether it was the same guy or different ones.