[ShyGuy]

I can't speak to the Sentai comparisons because I've never really watched Sentai, but to me, this felt like a pretty standard, by-the-books () first episode of Kamen Rider. Didn't really feel all that different or unusual to me compared to many other first episodes of this franchise.

That said, overall, I think I liked it for the most part. Yeah it was rushed, and most of the humor was more obnoxious than funny, but again, I expect that from a first episode. I don't expect either of those things to be long-lasting issues. Everything else though I was pretty interested in. Not much to say yet about any of the characters, but I did like Touma.

The big takeaway for me though was how much I'm into the whole aesthetic of it, which I wasn't expecting at all. Based on the promotional images, I wasn't terribly impressed by the suit designs, but after seeing the main Saber suit in action, it really won me over. I like that suit a lot now, I thought it looked really great on screen and in motion. And along with that, I just liked the general style of the show. The fantasy world looked cool, and I thought the music was good. I'm surprised by how much I ended up liking all that, considering how uninterested in it I was after the initial reveals.

So yeah it was an overall good start to me, pleasantly surprised. All of my issues with it are things that plague most first episodes of Kamen Rider, so I'm not terribly bothered by them as of now. Looking forward to seeing where this goes.