Kuuga at 25: Retrospective Rewatch Project
 

Hi everyone,

A few weeks ago I decided to try my hand at writing about Kamen Rider Kuuga for it's 25th Anniversary. I'm 3 episodes in, and looking for ways to get it out to other fans and continue the discussion! Drops are 'usually' once a week (attempting to keep them close to airdate). Some other places like reddit didn't take kindly to firing a bunch of blog links into the void (understandable), and upon further reflection, a message board thread I could update with each drop makes a lot more sense.

So if you come across these, I hope they find you well, and I'd love to hear your thought on each episode throughout the course of this rewatch!

Each drop thus far:

Introduction: https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...-introduction/

Episode 1: "REVIVAL" https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...ode-1-revival/

Episode 2: "TRANSFORMATION" https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...ransformation/

Episode 3: "TOKYO" https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...isode-3-tokyo/

Thanks for your time!

Cool idea! Good luck in bringing it to life!

This does remind me that I need to get back to my Kamen Rider Kuuga rewatch at some point.

Episode 2 of Kuuga can be summed up as "Why you never let an auteur direct or produce a kid's superhero show" pretty much. :lolol

I finished watching Kuuga last year. And as much as I'd love to blab about the whole thing, I'll keep it brief:

I absolutely loved it!

I will elaborate more if I find the time to...

Always great to see people rewatching Kuuga! A quarter-century of Cool Guy is definitely a good excuse, but really, it's not like any excuse is needed at all. This show is just kinda eternal that way. Much like its title character, no matter how old it gets, it will still awaken from its ancient slumber when its power is needed again. :p

You misspelled ?always.?

Thanks for checking out the thread everyone!

We're picking back up with Episode 4, featuring a whole lot of murder, and Kuuga becoming a Rider in the conventional sense.

EPISODE 4 - "SPRINT": https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...sode-4-sprint/

Ahahaha:lolol

Real talk, so this bit of behind the scenes trivia, for those not familiar, Takatera who worked on the show had a chapel set built from scratch but he set it on actual fire for the epic transformation scene of the episode. Masashi Taniguchi known for GogoV, Kamen Rider Amazons, Kamen Rider Saber, and Ultraman Decker has gone on record at a press conference for I believe Amazons saying around the time GogoV was wrapping up production he saw the aftermath of the chapel set and asked one of the staff members what happened. :lolol
Keep in mind folks, Toei was ceasing production of Metal Hero shows and gearing up for Kamen Rider with Kuuga circa 1999 when GogoV and Robocon were the toku shows for Toei.

I love your idea.
That's amazing

We're back with another drop. As always, thanks for reading and engaging with the thread!
EPISODE 5 - "DISTANCE"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...de-5-distance/

Also, I was having technical difficulties quoting Sunred's post regarding the church set, but man, that makes me appreciate that scene even more now! Have to respect the dedication to the craft.

I had a crazy week and got derailed from this project for a bit, but I'm back to discuss episode 6! If you've followed these, thank you so much for your patience. Plan is to have 7 out this week as well to catch up.

EPISODE 6 - "AZURE DRAGON":
https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...-azure-dragon/

Going back to check the episode, it seems Shouts subs messed up the line where Ichijou explains this, but the point of the smokestack is that Badzuu actively avoids being anywhere near the fumes, which is the reason he leaves before finishing off Kuuga. Evidently, either the Grongi aren't big fans of the Industrial Revolution, or maybe Badzuu in particular just feels that way since he's such a direct throwback to the original Kamen Rider, who was always meant to be a sort of champion of nature against the heartless technology of Shocker.

Either way, Kuuga being Kuuga, the police taking note of this ends up being relevant down the line, so hopefully it helps having this plot point cleared up.

Once again I'm having trouble doing quoted replies in here (could be cause I'm a new account), but I really appreciate Fish Sandwich for clearing up that confusion with the smokestack point from last episode. Most series it wouldn't have stuck out, but with the care and attention to detail present in Kuuga, it stuck out to me.

Here's what I got for episode 7, which was very much a "building" show, but I'm still having a great time with this series. As always, thanks for checking out the thread and blog. Have a great weekend everyone!

EPISODE 7 - "GRIEF"
https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...isode-7-grief/

Late night drop for episode 8, which deals with some real heavy themes.

Thanks for reading!

EPISODE 8 - "ARCHER"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...sode-8-archer/

Another week that wasn't kind to my personal projects, but nonetheless we keep going, and I should have 10 out this week as well to make up for lost time. Thanks to everyone who's continued to engaged with these. I'm still having a wonderful time revisiting the show.

EPISODE 9 - "SIBLINGS"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...de-9-siblings/

EPISODE 10 - "FIERCENESS"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...-9-fierceness/

Thanks for reading!

So, now that the main four forms are revealed, which out of the four (Mighty, Dragon, Pegasus, Titan) is your favorite design?

This might be the boring answer, but it's hard to go against Mighty. It being the only 'warm' color out of the bunch does make it leap off of the screen a bit more. I will say 17 year old me did not appreciate Titan form nearly enough. I think it's sneakily great. The base elements of the Kuuga suit are strong enough that you can't go wrong with any choice!

Not a boring answer at all. Solid debut in episode 2, simple design yet flashy colors is more than enough. :rock:

Taking our first steps into the next chapter of the series with

EPISODE 11 - "PROMISE"

Thanks for reading!

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...de-11-promise/

Didn't plan on a 2 week hiatus, but life happens. Nonetheless, we're back! It's a big one too.

As always, thanks for reading and engaging with the thread.

EPISODE 12 - "TEACHER"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...de-12-teacher/

Was able to get one more out before the weekend. Thanks for reading!

EPISODE 13 - "SUSPICION"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...-13-suspicion/

Late night drop, this time with 40% more music links. Thanks for reading!

EPISODE 14 - "OMEN"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...isode-14-omen/

Slowly but surely catching up with the airdates again!

EPISODE 15 - "ARMOR"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...sode-16-armor/

EPISODE 16 - "CREED"

Thanks for reading!

http://https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/2025/06/02/kuuga-at-25-episode-16-creed/

The clip show allowed me to get a quick one out. Thanks for reading!

EPISODE 17 -
"PREPARATION"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...7-preparation/

EPISODE 18 - "LOSS"

Thanks for reading!

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...isode-18-loss/

This thread might be an appropriate place to put this. Joe Odagiri recnetly came back as the narrator for the Kuuga 25th anniversary exhibiton.

https://i.imgur.com/6BrJUXA.jpeg

That's so awesome that Odagiri finally came back! The cast looks great too, thanks so much for sharing!

Got the latest write up finished:

EPISODE 19 - "ARTIFACT"

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...e-19-artifact/

Have a great week everyone!

That shot of the three Grongis in front of the neon lights reminds me of the first episode of Kamen Rider Black. It's probably not a tribute or anything but still reminds me of it. Also, it's interesting looking back how police drama this show is with the time stamps and locations on the bottom.

That is a great shout, and whether intended or not, it looked great!

The procedural timestamps are cool, especially taking the passage of time into consideration in certain episodes (how fast the Grongi are killing, Godai's recovery time, ect.)

New write up is out on what was a really cool standalone episode!

I recently finished another elaborate watch project in one of my other hobbies, so I'll make a concerted effort to get these out closer to air date anniversaries.

As always, thanks for reading!

EPISODE 20 - "SMILE" :

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...sode-20-smile/

According to the wiki, they skipped a week, so I'm actually closer to being caught up to airdate than I thought! I'll try to get there this week or next.

Thanks for reading!

EPISODE 21 - "SECRETS" :

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...de-21-secrets/

EPISODE 22 - "GAME"

Thanks for reading!

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...isode-22-game/

EPISODE 23 - "UNEASINESS"

Almost Rising time. Thanks for reading!

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...23-uneasiness/

EPISODE 24 - "STRENGTHENING"

Thanks for reading!

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...strengthening/

Since you specifically asked to be corrected, I will point out that episode 23 draws specific attention to the incense burner thing Garima has on the train, with the strong implication it's the scent that was used to mark the victims and track them down later. I don't recall if that ever gets mentioned in dialogue explicitly, but the information is definitely there in the visuals. Although, considering it's meant to be a mystery throughout 24, I suppose it's exactly what the show intended if the significance of it all went over your head in the immediate moment.

Figured I was missing something, thank you!

EPISODE 25 - "WANDERING"

Thanks for reading!

https://outerstevan.wordpress.com/20...-25-wandering/