[PaperBag Sniper]

So I was tempted to watch the first couple episodes of Ryuki since it's next on my list...I'm now 6 episodes in. I have to say that despite my previous hang-ups about KR series with multiple riders I've found myself sucked into Ryuki's story almost as fast as I was into Kuuga. I think for the most part the show has a fairly steady pace so far and we've just cleared the third rider.

I do have one observation though As far as the talks about how Riders behave vs their un-transformed state, at times Shinji seems way to good at fighting as Ryuki despite being a rookie journalist and not having any stated martial arts training. He fights like I would think a novice would until you give him a sword or have him perform his final vent. Speaking of which, it kind of bothered me that he just instantly knew how to perform his final vent on the first go. Even Godai had to practice his rider kick and it was a very good plotline.

Aside from that in the most recent episode Shinji just shows up with some weird Pauldron/sword combo and it's promptly thrown to the side for his final vent. That was weird and I feel like, having watched Kuuga, Agito, and now Ryuki in chronological order; this is the series that really jump started the merchandising aspect of Kamen Rider. Although I should clarify that I've never been much of a toy collector so I'm not too aware of the history of Kamen Rider merchandise.

I'll probably cap off Ryuki around episode 10 or so and finish off Agito.