[Locke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

Thing is we don't really disagree all that much except on Haruto.

And really, even you should understand why people wouldn't like it if the only reason to watch the show is just the main character and nothing else. You say Haruto is great yet freely admit the rets of the cast blows yet can't understand why people dislike it?

I meant as far as a unique spin. OOO has other strengths, but my point is the reason series these days are so wildly different when approaching the Kamen Rider thing is because they have to be in order to not be bland as hell. It's gotten to the point where "I can transform into a superhero freely of my own volition without any catch or augmentation to my behavior" is really, really fucking boring. He just recives powers out of nowhere, never earning or struggling to obtain these gifts.

What does Wizard do? He puts on the belt and gains super powers. What does, say, W do? Why, W is actually two people. And he can change the different halves of his body. OOO, at first, isn't even allowed to transform whenever he wants, and he has the three sections. Den-O gets possessed and his personality overwritten by an invading spirit when he transforms. Ryuki teleports to another dimension and works with a monster that is only there to eat him when he loses. Fourze is basically Inspector Gadget. Wizard... fight monsters. He sometimes enters a person's memories... which is actually something Den-O did, and better, but wasn't as interesting to note as the possesion thing. And Wizard barely does that to the point where I don't count it as the premise.

Wizard's biggest shortcoming is, for lack of a better term, his gimmick. The magic is boring, and is pretty basic. Only a few of his spells are unique, and they're not even spells. He literally just puts a ring on. He's not a Wizard, he's not magic, he's just using tools. The entire point of the show is a lie. That isn't really the problem in and of itself, but because the rest of the show is uninspired or insipid, it's really fucking boring to watch. Putting your hand over your belt in such an unenergetic way just makes it look like he's going through the motions. Nothing is exciting, nobody even pretends to be exciting! His Henshin pose is him just sticking his arm out!

It was less of a 'watch Wizard you twats' () and more a 'why are you so forgiving of these flaws in other series and not in this one?' Wizard has a great central Rider and stunning fight scenes so you think that would appeal to an audience of some sort, but Wizard seems to almost be unanimously hated. And I don't get it.

Personally I think Beast is much more wasted than Haruto is, his base form gimmick is really cool but he's CONSTANTLY in the background unless the plot is specifically about him and his base form was quickly replaced by Ultimate Warrior with a Water Pistol, it just seems like such a waste. In many senses Beast could have probably made for a better main Rider with Haruto as his badass support.

It is a real shame though that the first Rider series to use magic is actually more like a shitty version of Green Lantern...as in the Earth 2 one, seems like a waste, especially as Urban Fantasy is one of my all time favourite genres.

Could you imagine like Harry Dresden becoming a Rider? With Bob turning into his bike or something? Awesome.