[Fish Sandwich]

It's probably going to be a while yet before I give the whole series a go, but I've just gotten done watching the first 13 episodes (the initial chunk with Rider 1) on Tubi, and, I gotta say, very impressed with the subs! I always worry about official translations still managing to screw things up, so I'm happy to say, at least for what I watched, a show this monumental got a properly professional treatment. The dialogue is impeccably accurate, and hits a good sweet spot between being directly loyal to the Japanese without getting so literal as to make the characters sound inhuman. "So localized it might as well be a gag dub" and "unrelatable robots no viewer could invest themselves in" are the two extremes no translation wants to fall into, so it's good to see Kamen Rider avoid that, and without a timing error in sight, to boot!



You don't translate しょうがないお嬢さんだな like this unless you're serious about your job, is what I'm saying. Bits of monster names and the like are also translated as necessary, so the only Japanese left in is what you'll find in the title. And the stylistic choice was made to have dialogue use the phrase "The Kamen Rider" when appropriate, which does a lot to preserve the romantic, mysterious vibe that name is supposed to have.

Literally the biggest mistakes I caught were an episode title that used the same descriptor for the monster as a previous one, and some episode previews that didn't feel the need to acknowledge that occasionally the narration says "next time" instead of "next week". This s*** is tight.

And the show itself ain't no slouch either. That first batch of episodes is the primordial bedrock upon which the franchise is built. I'm sure all of has our own level of acceptance (tolerance?) for material past a certain age, but there's never been a better time (assuming you're in America...) to open your heart to the classics. If recent Rider episodes have been leaving you 1000% fed up with frustrating plot developments and character beats, maybe it's time to roll back to a simpler age, and just revel in the glory of one awesome cyborg going around smashing up secret bases, saving civilians from deadly schemes, occasionally tracking down Nazi treasure, and generally letting Shocker know who's boss. I never saw a dog foil a snake monster's attempt to steal gold in Zero-One. Checkmate.

Also, on a largely unrelated note, do you know how many times I've seen that original opening and never noticed Rider 1's slightly disturbing exposed human teeth?



Like I'm almost sorry I pointed this out. I feel like I just ruined someone's day, almost as much as if I mentioned I'm pretty sure he's not wearing his belt in some of the shots. Spooky stuff!