[NGW]

So I guess this is kinda my "how I got into Kamen Rider" post, mixed with just a getting to know the tastes of the board sorta thread.

I don't quite recall when I first learned about Kamen Rider. Obviously growing up as a child of the 90's I grew up on Power Rangers. As such I was, like most I assume, exposed to Saban's Masked Rider. Being a kid not too aware of the world abroad (excluding my love for old Godzilla flicks) I didn't really know much about the origins of either show, I just knew that there were vague connections between Power Rangers and Masked Rider, I mean there was a crossover episode afterall.

Some time passes and I find out about Power Rangers originally originating in Japan, and that Masked Rider was more or less the same thing. Now I don't believe that was when I actually learned anything about the shows that they were based on, just that it was a mix of Japanese and American footage.

Now I know that I kinda had things figured out before Dragon Knight made its debut in the US, as I recall seeing merchandise and already knowing what Kamen Rider was and the deal with that and Masked Rider and blahblahblah.

Not gonna really detail on my joining TFW or the transfandom and all that, really only thing relevant about that is Vangelus and TJOmega and their reviews. They're what really turned me onto S.H. Figuarts, and in fact it was Vangelus' review of the Black RX figure that lead to me ordering one for myself.

From that point I was still more or less a no-interest kinda guy. I mean I liked the reviews and such, but I still mostly watched them for the Transformers videos, and only really watching a Kamen Rider review in passing here and there, admiring the quality of the figures, but again not really caring much about them.

And then I saw Wizard.

I think it was an ad on some website or in someone's signature, but I saw him and thought, "Huh, now that looks/sounds kinda cool." So I did a bit of Googling around and found a site that had the show subbed up to that point and started watching, got my girlfriend into the show and everything too. Saw the Wizard Figuart and was like, "Yeah..have to have that." I started searching around for a place to discuss my new found love, knowing TFW had a few threads for Rider stuff that at this point seemed pretty damn inactive, I ended up stumbling on this place while doing a Google search for a Kamen Rider forum. Joined up, started talking to people, making some new friends with a common interest.

It was about that time I decided to start expanding myself a bit, I ended up gaining a bit of interest in Fourze, got the figure off of Amazon and started watching that. Picked up a few more figures here and there. Moved on to watching W, which I also finished. Currently I'm watching Ryuki and OOO.

So all that said, the first Kamen Rider I really watched was Wizard, it's still on-going so not sure how much that really counts. The first Kamen Rider I watched start to finish was Fourze.

As for my favorite, I'm trying not to cop out and go with a really indecisive kinda answer, but it is a tough choice as I haven't really watched all that many, and the ones I have watched I really enjoyed all for different reasons. I'm a bit bias towards Wizard just because it's really the one that started it all for me, but I can definitely see that it has its flaws. Fourze was really fun and light-hearted, I loved the cast, I thought the villains were well designed and interesting, it had some nice twists and some really emotional moments for a show that really didn't have all that much in the way of serious drama. W did a great job of walking the line between dark and light, again like Fourze I thought it had a great cast of characters and some really interesting designs, and the villains themselves had a lot of character, at least the Sonozaki family did. I also ended up really liking the 2-in-1 aspect of W, which was something I actually disliked before I really got into Kamen Rider funny enough. And I loved the whole film noir feel the series kinda went with. Ryuki, so far at least, is a nice, dark series, it's had a few comedic moments, but they're definitely not the focus, and it seems like there has been quite a few deaths even within the first few episodes (at least I assume that people have actually been getting killed by the mirror monsters). I can't really judge it too well though, I'm not even 1/4 of the way through it. OOO I've seen even less of, but of the shows I've started or watched it is the one that interested me the least I feel. Overall though I have to say W is probably my favorite, with Fourze coming in second, then Wizard (will see how the second half of the show goes, it may jump up a spot or two, the last couple episodes were great), Ryuki, and OOO.