Integration

Sh Ranger · 01-23-2021, 02:26 PM

Ryuki is the ninth and most recent Phase 1 show I've watched. However, I had put off watching it until a few years ago after hearing how the ending rendered everything that came before it irrelevant, but I was surprised to learn later that it might not actually Kobayashi's fault. Apparently, she wanted to end it with all the Riders and Kanzakis dead but was overruled by executives. Fortunately, Inoue later wrote Rider Time Ryuki which comes pretty close to her original intention.

Kobayashi isn't without her flaws though. There's usually a subplot in her shows that's critically important to the overall story and yet very boring compared to the more spectacular parts. In Ryuki, the Kanzaki plot is the reason for the Rider War but it feels detached from all the clashing philosophies of the Riders and suffers from a lot of dragging to make it last until the end. In Den-O, the Zeronos memory plot feels intrusive to the comedic character interactions that made the show popular. She also wrote ToQGer....

Uh, anyway, I agree that Ryuki is the darkest Phase 1 show but I think it's saved from being too dark and edgy by its heroic characters like Shinji, Tezuka and eventually Ren. Amazons is the bloodiest Rider show I've watched but the darkest overall is Gaim since the most archetypal heroic Rider is Zack but he's also the second weakest. With Ryuki, there's a feeling that Shinji is stuck in a hopeless situation, which he is, all the Riders are, they're all doomed. But in the face of abundant cynicism and at least 10 people who want to murder him, his persistent heroism eventually finds a way to save Ren's soul. It's a moral that doing only what's logical or pragmatic in a hopeless situation will never be good enough and a true hero will always do the right thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

I like Ghost a lot more than others and why I'm giving it another shot with my rewatch at the moment

Ditto! It's super weird rewatching it back-to-back with Kiramager with Kudo Mio playing two completely different characters.

01-23-2021, 02:26 PM	#17
Sh Ranger Standing By Join Date: Feb 2020 Location: USA Posts: 2,662	Ryuki is the ninth and most recent Phase 1 show I've watched. However, I had put off watching it until a few years ago after hearing how the ending rendered everything that came before it irrelevant, but I was surprised to learn later that it might not actually Kobayashi's fault. Apparently, she wanted to end it with all the Riders and Kanzakis dead but was overruled by executives. Fortunately, Inoue later wrote Rider Time Ryuki which comes pretty close to her original intention. Kobayashi isn't without her flaws though. There's usually a subplot in her shows that's critically important to the overall story and yet very boring compared to the more spectacular parts. In Ryuki, the Kanzaki plot is the reason for the Rider War but it feels detached from all the clashing philosophies of the Riders and suffers from a lot of dragging to make it last until the end. In Den-O, the Zeronos memory plot feels intrusive to the comedic character interactions that made the show popular. She also wrote ToQGer.... Uh, anyway, I agree that Ryuki is the darkest Phase 1 show but I think it's saved from being too dark and edgy by its heroic characters like Shinji, Tezuka and eventually Ren. Amazons is the bloodiest Rider show I've watched but the darkest overall is Gaim since the most archetypal heroic Rider is Zack but he's also the second weakest. With Ryuki, there's a feeling that Shinji is stuck in a hopeless situation, which he is, all the Riders are, they're all doomed. But in the face of abundant cynicism and at least 10 people who want to murder him, his persistent heroism eventually finds a way to save Ren's soul. It's a moral that doing only what's logical or pragmatic in a hopeless situation will never be good enough and a true hero will always do the right thing. Quote: Originally Posted by Kurona I like Ghost a lot more than others and why I'm giving it another shot with my rewatch at the moment Ditto! It's super weird rewatching it back-to-back with Kiramager with Kudo Mio playing two completely different characters. __________________ 心と刃