[NGW]

And as the credits roll to the sounds of the excellent "Justi-faiz" another season comes to its end.

Kamen Rider Faiz was the 6th full season of Kamen Rider I have watched from start to finish. Of the seasons, it was far and away the darkest and most dramatic, topping Ryuki, which previously held that distinction. It featured an extraordinary cast of characters, both heroes and villains, and incredible action.

The characters and drama were definitely where Faiz excelled the most, and the way the two were interwoven was nothing short of superb. Some of my favorite moments came from the interactions between our heroes and the main cast of orphenocs, the dramatic irony of knowing the two were rival factions and that there would come a point where things would come to a head added some real tension to the earlier stages of the show as the characters and their relationships grew and developed.

The action is also worth mentioning, Faiz has some of the strongest action scenes of any toku that I have seen at least.

The overall techy theme of the riders was really interesting and something I would like to see explored again. The belts being treated as something that actually has to be carried around and the risk and burden that poses was refreshing after getting so used to riders being able to pull their magical henshin device out of their ass with no risk of ever losing it, or worse having the enemy got hold of it. That was another interesting aspect, the belts were not locked to any one specific individual, being able to see different personalities behind each suit was something I think was only really done again in Kabuto, and it added a nice dynamic. Another thing I enjoyed was how all of the different attacks and gadgets had at least some semblance of, not necessarily realism, but you at least can see how they work and why. It made for a relatively grounded season, which was a smart move given the tone and style of it.

I firmly stand by my belief that the orphenocs, particularly the main three, are the strongest set of villains (and in their particular case I do use the term villain lightly) we've ever had. You actually feel for them as characters, they have interesting story arcs and growth and development, you actually care about what happens to them. The Lucky Clover orphenocs were a touch less interesting, with Kitazaki being the only one that really really stood out to me. Saeko was alright, but more or less your typical femme fatale. Mr. J wasn't around long enough to leave too much of an impression, and the relationship between him and his dog seemed like there may have been an interesting story to it, one that we never got. I can't even really recall the name of the other one, he went from being kinda badass to a shivering coward and seemed to soften the major villains a tad too much. Sawada was a fun wildcard, his earliest appearances were quite cool, and he played an important part in some major character arcs. Murakami was a pretty decent mastermind/main villain role player, the actor did a good job and he was always a fun, charismatic..character to watch.

Takumi really grew on me as a rider. He had some good ups and downs in his development. The big twist with him was unexpected, but done in just the right way, especially given that the hints were there if you could catch them. Kusaka was probably my least favorite character in the season, amongst my least favorite characters in the franchise. I've said my spiel on him before and have nothing to add really. Mihara was just straight up useless. Disgraceful how they built up the Delta gear and then stick it with just about the least worthy person on the show. I'd have rather it stay with the orphenocs or gone to just about anyone else besides him. I may have hated Kusaka, but at least he added something to the show.

I already said what I really had to say about Kaido and Kiba previously with little to add now.

Going into the finale a bit. I do see why people were not happy with the ending, if you can call it that. Hibiki ending as it did I totally got and was totally behind it, the conflict the riders were involved in was ongoing before the season started and was not the main focus of the show, there was no need for it to end just because Asumu's story and involvement in it did. Faiz basically introduces it's major plot points near the tail end of the series, quickly sorta wraps them up, and gives us a cliffhanger we're likely to never actually see anything come of.

Kiba was a bit over the top as well, particularly with the experimentation on Takumi and the flip flopping after having his life spared. I get they were trying to go for a redemption angle, showing that, as Takumi said, Kiba was still human, but I honestly didn't buy it. I felt him killing Kusaka the way he did was him truly letting go of his humanity. I didn't expect him to survive the series, but I really felt that Kiba's death should have come at the hands of Takumi in their final battle. Cut out the Orphenoc King nonsense entirely while we're at it.

Takumi finding his dream was a nice way to end things, and it falling in line with Keitaro's felt fitting enough.

Yeah, not much else I really have to say. Most anything I can think to add I brought up in previous posts, and I don't feel necessarily needs to be repeated here.

Final thoughts, I really enjoyed Faiz. It wasn't quite on the same level as Ryuki was for me, not even quite there with Hibiki, but I'd probably put it above just about everything else. The story was the only really weak aspect, the series was really driven more by the drama and the characters, with the plot coming mostly as an afterthought it felt.

If I were to rank everything I've watched up this point...

Ryuki
Hibiki
Faiz
W
Fourze
Wizard

Gaim is still ongoing so I don't feel it is fair to include it amongst the rankings just yet. It's been a very strong season, but it could still totally drop the ball and fall flat on its face before it finishes its run.

Kabuto is the only other season I've watched more than a few episodes of, but certainly not enough to rank it at all.

Kiva and OOO I've started a few times but never got more than a few episodes into. Den-O I think I only made it passed the first or second.

And that brings me to the obvious question. What do I watch from here? I know I probably should get back to watching Kabuto, but I'm not really feeling it quite right now.

OOO may deserve a second real shot. So many people seem to just love it, I really couldn't get into it when I attempted to.

Kiva I'll watch at some point, but now is not the time.

Also not really looking to watch any showa era seasons right now.

Given my tastes, what would you guys suggest?