[Magnugiga]

I finally started the Kikaider anime, and I liked these first two episodes!

Right off the bat, it really reminded me of Astro Boy (well Ishinomori was an assistant to Tezuka after all), and Jiro himself felt a lot like a teen version of Atom. Which is fine and dandy, I love Astro Boy, and Kikaider so far felt like a more toku-fied version of it with a super distinct transformation sequence and signature vehicle. Very much looking forward to the eventual elucidation on the red-and-blue duality, as well as that random ass guitar on his back.

The atmosphere was indeed very GRIMDARK, almost to the point of overdoing it with all the rain, cloudy sky, and nighttime battles. It makes for a pretty amusing contrast to the cartoonish-looking character design, but somehow it worked out pretty well overall and there were already some moments that I think wouldn't work as effectively in live action form.

My favorite moment so far was the scene of Jiro helping the kids with their kite. Jiro's solution to the problem was both hilarious and sad, and it very effectively underlines his character, the show's thematic crux, and Ishinomori's general philosophy (superhero power being a blessing and a curse, but really, it's a curse 99% of the time :v). Such a good 'show, don't tell' example of a scene.

I agree that the character work has been really clean and strong so far. The interaction between Jiro and Mitsuko was on point with appropriate amount of tension, and I totally got the logic behind each character's perspective (hopefully they don't drag it out for too long and make it too much of a melodrama though...).

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Honestly I'm having a really hard time deciding between the two, so if any of you wanna weigh in and cast your vote over which you think would be the more interesting show to watch/discuss, then by all means, lemme know! Either way, again, it's gonna be a bit because I'm still watching Kamen Rider Fourze(10 episodes left to go!) and I might also finally watch my first proper Ultraman show in Nexus, but after that it's back to doing daily updates to this thread again.

Skull Man sounded interesting and more Ishinomori stuff is always good, but I'll throw a vote for Garo because I've seen it, it's pretty damn good, and the Spanish Inquisition backdrop makes for a pretty unique toku/toku-inspired show. Also, seeing it again through others' perspective may motivate me to finally see the live action version, which I've been delaying to do for far too long~