[Kurona]

Yeah, the Smash... never really did it for me, I have to say. They really felt like an afterthought to an otherwise awesome season; very generic monsters. It's a shame really, for the season that really went for being an update to Rider '71, the episodic Kaijin could have been better.

To get some positivity started -- the Greeed have always, always been my favourite. Deeply sympathetic tragic villains that aren't doing what they're doing because of some villain complex, but because it's all they know what to do and are left clawing and scraping for an imagined 'complete' life. Beautiful. Other favourites would be the Grongi and the Douji & Hime; who each are a huge part of their seasons' iconography and is impossible to imagine them without.

Design-wise, I adore the Grongi, and I'm gaining a newfound appreciation for the Ganma. The Unknown are phenomenally freakish and terrifying; otherworldly corruptions of the earth's creatures well beyond what any other season has done. And, damn, I really just can't not mention how consistently awesome the (non-CGI) Another Riders were, huh?