[Kurona]

I've recently come to terms with Ryuki being a series that while very well-made and good at what it does, is just not really for me and what it was saying didn't resonate too well; so I probably won't have an awful lot to say (I tend to only like talking about stuff like this when it's A) something I love or like, or B) Hey Here's This Interesting Production Fun Fact!)

And Ryuki does have a fair few of the latter, but there's actually a lot in these early episodes I genuinely enjoy so I'll be sticking around for a hot second! The big thing I love is very early on so I'll say when you get there, but for now I also felt this was a super strong introduction especially when contrasted against Kuuga and Agito's strong willingness to stick to basics and simplicity. There's hardly anything wrong with that (the fact I love both those shows probably says that I don't think there's anything wrong with that), and in fact I think it's something Kamen Rider tends to do best; but when Kamen Rider isn't doing it it's something that's interesting to look at. And I've got little to add to what you said because you basically summed it up: it just gets right in there, tells you what Shinji and everything else is about, and has some neat subversions with police corruption and all the rest of it!

Double super agree on the suits too. Ryuki himself I feel is pretty good but, like, in a 7/10 sort of way? Great aspects but I've seen better main suits. But Knight? Holy Spooky Man that's some top 10 Kamen Rider design material right there! It's like if Batman was a knight but, like, the designer was a god who was able to take two awesome yet incredibly conflicting concepts and make them work together! The colour scheme is on-point for how basic it is; the theming is subtle yet clear; the armour and visor are just so -crisp- and well-balanced in a way that feels like a way better version of Ryuki! I could gush about this design forever, it's just wonderful!