[Switchblade]

I actually just rewatched Ryuki a few months ago, but I'll still add in some of my own thoughts.

I think Ryuki gets off to a really strong start. The mirror world is one of the coolest and simultaneously creepiest set-ups for Rider monsters ever. Seriously, look around you right now and count how many reflective surfaces you see. Now realize that, in Ryuki, any one of them could be a doorway from which a horrible monster could suddenly reach out and grab you for its lunch. That is some Grade A nightmare fuel right there.

I remember that the show did a good job of introducing the characters and setting up their relationships. Shinji is pretty much fully fleshed out from the start, primarily because the guy is so open and honest about himself. He's still pretty naive at this point (which is basically what drives the whole Scissors arc) and comes off as a bit weak and goofy. That will change once he starts getting a real sense of the horrors of the Rider War.

Ren is still pretty mysterious at this point - I don't think we'll get to his backstory episode until next week. There's a lot more floating under the surface than the badass exterior lets on, but it will take awhile to see it.

The first five episodes also give us the first of the other Riders beyond Knight and Ryuki - Scissors. I've honestly always viewed him as more of a plot device than an actual character. He exists primarily to demonstrate a lot of the rules of the mirror world and the Rider War, most notably that not all the Riders are good guys. He's an okay villain, but pretty much outclassed by later villains like Gai, Ouja, and Tiger.