[Rider Strike]

I haven't posted here in a good while, but I'll throw my two cents in.

My favorite Toku moment from this year is the community's growth; we've hella chilled out. I've been in the community (starting over at HJU) since about 2006 and at the time, Kabuto had a lot of people thinking that Tokusatsu was this big super serious thing. Then Den-O came along and people were getting so angry they could have an aneurism at any moment. Oh, those days were brutal. Shows came and went for a little while, fans got stupidly and overly aggressive, and eventually we find ourselves at the starting point for the community as it is today, Double and Shinkenger. Both shows brought in new fans, which make up a sizable chunk of the community today. These fans love their shows and don't get too upset if something kiddy or a little floosy happens; thus leveling out more aggressive fans. They, you, me, us all realize that at the end of the day we're watching shows about guys in rubber suits beating the crap out of each other; nothing more, nothing less. And that's the "down to earth" mentality that I've been waiting to see grow in the community for years.

After something like that, I should probably mention a show or two. Love Fourze and Akibaranger, but what really stands out in my mind are the opening episodes of Wizard. I honestly can't tell you how much I've rewatched those episodes, it's probably one of the best openers to a rider show I've seen. It sets up who Haruto is, lays out the rules, and gives us a great peek at what we're going to be watching for the next year. Although Wizard has been a slow burn plot-wise, I'm still watching to see how the events set into motion in those episodes pan out... and how the use of the Dragon Styles come back to bite Haruto.