[Shin Densetsu]

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Originally Posted by Den-O

I just don't know that I could ever choose between the 2. For the same reasons that both Switchblade and Matrixbeast stated I would have to pick Ren and Shinji. They are arguably the best team of main/secondary riders ever. What one lacks the other has. They are a perfect balance to each other. I love Ren for being a complete badass, never giving up on his goals, and always making the tough choices. And I also love Shinji for that goofball heart of gold that he has, his inexperience which makes him relatable, and his overall personality.

Ryuki had the perfect balance of characters to love or hate all around. Ren and Shinji are just the shining example of how to do the Rider 1/2 thing right. So right that I think most people would have a tough time choosing between them.

That balance did make the show more interesting. I think the duo complemented each other pretty well. I think it gave viewers an option of who to latch onto more in the beginning too.

If you like a Rider who already knows what to fight for and already has the ambition, you'll probably like Ren.

If you are new to the series and want a Rider to parallel your viewing experience to that of the Rider himself exploring the Mirror World, Shinji is your pick.

It was definitely a yin/yang experience for the viewer, I wouldn't be surprised if fans ended up liking the other by the time the series was over, as they definitely grew over the series, but in different ways, since both had opposing views.

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Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

I guess that's true, but even still, that doesn't change my opinion of Shinji. I wanted to see Shinji succeed not because I like seeing heroes win in the end, but because I wanted to see how he would win the Rider War without giving in like Zolda or Taiga. I genuinely wanted to see Shinji succeed. He's naive, innocent, relatable, and overall just a great guy and a nice character to follow a series through (I know a lot of people say they wish Ryuki followed Ren instead of Shinji, but I really don't think the series would be anywhere near as interesting following Ren).

I think that set up, having the series follow Ryuki in lieu of Ren, was done on purpose. Having the story revolve around Shinji meant introducing the Mirror World to viewers just as Shinji was introduced to it, with that, the viewer could relate to Shinji, as if the viewer was in the Shinji's shoes, meeting all the Riders, Shirou, monsters, et al, experiencing the Mirror World as if completely new to it. Whereas Ren already knows about it, so by following him, there would be much less of an introduction.

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Originally Posted by Brainchild

I'll be blunt and say that I don't like either of them at all.
Shinji is a gullible piece of jelly for almost all of the show, and while I can't say I'd be any different given the situation, he just seemed to be too forgiving and lacking in conviction. Added to how naive and overly trusting he was, I just found him to be irritating.
Ren, on the other hand, is just too cold. He, in complete contrast to Shinji, is nothing but conviction, and doesn't have the ability to put others before himself, like a traditional hero character should be able to. (His fiancee doesn't really count as far as I'm concerned; valuing one person's life over that of multiple others' because of a relationship is fairly selfish.) Beyond that, he just seems to be trying too hard to be cool.

I did find Shinji's naiveness to be annoying. For example, taking Sano-san in, et al. I was shocked that he apparently never figured out that Goro and Kitaoka tricked him. I mean hell Shinji is a grown man, no wonder Akiyama looked at him like an idiot in that episode. I don't hate Shinji however, he had noble goals and at least tried to stop the War til the end. The last episode where he died was pretty sad.

As far as Ren, I think he figured that in the Rider War, it's every man for himself but he was pretty much just fighting for Eri(but he even admits in the last episode that Shinji was the one that needed to live, not him). I think with Ren, he knew there was only going to be one and whether it was him or not, he wasn't going to give up.