[Magnugiga]

Ryuki 1-10 (Rewatch)
-Man, I love this show. Everything's just set up so well with what I consider the absolute best combination of main (Ryuki), secondary (Knight), and tertiary (Zolda) Riders, as well as a really strong supporting cast. Reiko and Goro-chan are two of my favorites from the non-Rider group.

-I really miss horror movie aesthetic from Kamen Rider! The very first scene introducing the Mirror World spider monster is prime J-Horror material, as well as the body discovery shot in the antique shop. Such scenes may evoke the kind of "wait this show is for kids!?" reaction, but make no mistake, kids eat this shit up. I don't care much for bloody and gory stuff, but this atmospheric urban legend stuff that leaves a lot to imagination was right up my alley as a kid.

-On the other side of the spectrum, the ORE Journal crew/segment is such an effective comedic breather. Reiko is the kind of intelligent no-nonsense character that I wish would exist in more KR shows; the Chief is a fun likeable guy who obviously cares a lot about his employees; and while I don't think I like Shimada as much later on when she's pretty much become a caricature, her early scenes were gold.

-It struck me at how Ryuki has been a bit overshadowed by Knight and Zolda; which said less about Ryuki himself (one of the best main Rider design in the franchise!) and more about how magnificently badass the other two are. As cool as Dragreder (which, let's admit it, is kinda basic; Haruto Potter also got a red dragon in Wizard) and vents are, it's still hard to compete with the Medieval Golbatman's show, in the first three episodes no less.

-And no prize for guessing who my favorite Rider is :] Zolda is just perfect: the way the design is modeled after Metal Heroes (I watched Jiban in my childhood!); the way he's framed to emphasize his deliberate movement and calculated fighting style; Kitaoka himself as a character; and the show's gradual reveal of what Zolda's capable of. Like, they don't just show everything at once with him, they show bits and pieces like the handgun and just the way he generally moves about in the first appearance, then the 'oh shit' moment with the bazooka Shoot Vent in the following episode, and finally the 'OH SHIT' moment with the End of the World fireworks a few episodes later. That's how you build up your Rider flawlessly.

-Speaking of Vents in general, the presentation is great here. It's done so intuitively that there's no unnecessary exposition about how it works. You got clean, quick, close-up of the card, brief yet oh so memorable sound clips, and immediate display of such diverse powers in action.

-Hatenaki Inochi is still my favorite insert song, nay, my favorite tune in the whole KR franchise.

-Scissor's arc is weaker than I remember, and Scissor himself functions much more as a Monster/Goon of the Week archetype than an actual Rider. Could've used a couple more episodes to polish up Sudo's character more and/or have him showcase one or two more Vents, I reckon.

-The Volcancer scene, though? Still great. As a kid watching that moment for the time I wasn't familiar yet with the term deconstruction/subversion, but I remembered thinking it was such a cool and terrifying spin on the whole 'using monster in battles' as popularised by the Pokemon and Digimon boom at that period of time.

Wizard 1-10
Okay show so far, I occasionally enjoyed it.