[Locke]

Decade 29. Personally I think being turned into a Kaijin would be pretty sweet.

You know, even toku shows I like, get really boring in how they play storybeats the same no matter the show. Kamen Rider is certainly better than Sentai for this, as sentai really does feel like it's just redressing the same show over and over again - literally - but Kamen Rider is still a victim for going in circles with every show.

Oh look, that person is an asshole, I'm sure they won't have some dramatic reveal just around the corner with some sort of melodramatic backstory that tries to bait sympathy from the audience, who have up to those point despised that character. No not possible, because I haven't followed this character arc at least fifty times per toku series or anything...

Do Japanese writers not realise that tragedy is only impactful in moderation and that if you give every character a personal tragedy then that sets a baseline for the emotions which can't be peaked so everything just feels dull and monotonous? When I meet an important character or protagonist with a happy life with his parents, and friends, none of which die for the sake of false tension and pseudo character building then I will eat my own arm off.

Honestly I'm kinda glad Amazon didn't travel with them, because apparently the fate of Tsukasa's sidekicks is to be utterly wasted. Even Kaitou, who gets to do a lot more than Kuuga, still just feels like a bit of fluff for the fight sequences and very little more. Even in the episodes focusing on him, he still feels superfluous. I guess it's almost impressive to feel so pointless all the time.

Also - an INSANELY petty aside, but why does Japan always cast such girly men? I get that it is cultural difference, but I grew up with rippling, older men in underwear or leather jackets, so it's a shock to the system to see those replaced by near anorexic men with hair like Justin Beiber and styles that make you sexually confused - for men AND women.

I get that everyone can be a hero etc, but I do find it hard to take seriously when 'badass' in Japan is a pair of drainpipes and a braid whereas in the UK that would be known as Vince Noir, someone who is SUPPOSED to be laughed AT by the audience.