[Locke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Lucha

I guess it's all a matter of perspective, but...

I thought the opening sequence was pretty horrific and violent, with that science team being essentially slaughtered and kid's dad getting wrapped up in those gross tentacles. The monster fights are so much more destructive and violent than those in sentai, and it's especially disturbing because they start to address the ramifications of Mikazuki's and the Watermelon Idom's urban rampage.

The Mikazuki cockpit has the kid in lotus position framed by all sorts of Buddhist imagery. Even if the content is not overtly religious, the design certainly invokes Eastern religious iconography.

I think psychedelia suffuses Amemiya's entire design aesthetic. Generalissimo's weird shared consciousness mission control center is pretty psychedelic. Eastern religious imagery often overlaps with psychedelia, so the Mikazuki cockpit reminds me of that. All the CGI imagery that happens when Mikazuki catches the kid as he's falling. The psychedelia is definitely the most subjective of all of this, but I think it's a pretty clear influence on Amemiya's style.

I guess it's testament to just how desensitized to violence I am, as I found that tentacle scene hilarious. It was so rubbery and silly. And come on, you can't say the fights are worse than sentai. Even as a kid I often questioned why the Mighty Morphin Rangers seemed to have no regard for human life, as their robot regularly fell backwards and levelled whole city blocks. Sure they never drew attention to that, but the fact that Mikazuki does, is a GOOD thing in my eyes.

I never even really noticed the religious imagery. So I dunno on this one. I'd still rather them being influenced by religious imagery, and that is where it stops, as opposed to when Japan uses religious iconography as a cheap way of trying to appear more meaningful than they actually are.

And that psychedelia thing, erm, okay on that one. I got nothing, never seen someone have that kind of reaction.