[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

Even though this is a bit of a diversion and you did touch on this, I must admit I'm curious: After watching those shows, how did you like them; and did they live up to your expectations here?

(with the exception of Ghost, of course -- I think you've written a little bit on that already )

These Riders specifically? Um, quick takes, working backwards:

EX-AID: My first rider show, so I'm always going to be a little sentimental and deferential towards it. The only thing I can think of right now that really bugged me was the making Masamune Dan the big bad. Cronus is a cool villain, and the performance is strong, it just felt a little left-field, plotwise.

GHOST: I'm not sure I remember watching it. I hear it's not bad, though! I'm gonna add it to my watch list.

DRIVE: Loved it to pieces. Blew through it. I didn't really have any knowledge of it ahead of time, so nothing colored my reaction. Loved the suit designs, Kiriko is one of my favorite female sidekicks, Heart is maybe my favorite villain ("villain"), Chase and Gou are my favorite couple, and that goddamn theme song is a winner.

GAIM: I knew that people liked it a lot, but I wasn't sure why. It's really great, though! Didn't love the suit designs, but the overall story is really special. Baron is, like, next level secondary Rider. For a franchise that doesn't seem to know how to best serve women's stories, BOY did they drop the ball with the women of Gaim. Marika's story is basically "I just want a strong man, any strong man, to succeed", while Mai becomes a literal prize for two men to fight over. It's a black mark on an otherwise really great season.

WIZARD: The show was overly repetitive, I never really enjoyed Haruto, I think the lack of a dayjob for the Rider really handicapped the ability to generate stories, and most of the supporting cast just plain sucked. However! Beast was what got me through the middle-third, the three villain spotlight two-parters are all five-stars, and I really, really liked the big bad's scheme once it was revealed. Also, the bonus materials have my absolute favorite, all-time #1 Kamen Rider thing:






















I could've posted a hundred screencaps from those three Net-Movies. They are solid gold. They are the pinnacle of Kamen Rider entertainment.