[Shin Densetsu]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Den-O

I actually adore the ending to this series. It does everything right that I've always wanted out of a rider show. Shinji's death was incredibly powerful. The wide-eyed heartfelt kid who just wanted to stop the fighting lost his life fighting and finally humanized Ren in a way that I wouldn't have thought possible.

Ren, my god Ren. After everything he's done and seen, for him to become the person he is by the final episode is beautiful. Watching Shinji die in his arms was painful that's for certain. And seeing him truly be outclassed by Odin in every way just goes to show that Kanzaki would not have begun the battle without the absolute assurance that his rider would win. Odins' existence is proof that Kanzaki had total control even if we didn't always think he did.

I actually love that the sort of fated Ouja/Zolda fight didn't happen. Kitaokas' death was great and subtle and I thought it was incredibly powerful that Goro took his place as zolda in the final fight. Ouja thought he finally obtained his victory only to find out that he had been completely bested. Ouja really came out as the best and most interesting character of the series. His death was the most interesting and, to me, the most tragic.

I can't even begin to express how much this series as a whole is good. It just grabs you and doesn't really let go aside from a few less than spectacular extra riders (looking at you Gai, Tiger, Imperor)

I completely agree with how Ren grew in the series and how Shinji's death humanized him. Definitely a powerful scene and definitely one of the highest moments in the series. Akiyama even admitted that Shinji was the one that needed to live, and not him! Incredibly sad ending.

When fighting with Odin, when Kanzaki finally gave in to Yui and Odin went haywire, you can tell Ren knew he didn't have any advantage over Odin but that he was striking Odin with all the power he had left for the final blow. It was as if Ren knew he himself was going to die but decided to fight not only for Eri, but for Shinji in the end.

I have to say too, the impact Shinji's death had on Ren was unexpected, yet perfectly timed. Kudos to the screenwriters for that one. It also showed that Takamasa Suga did an incredible job portraying Shinji, especially his last words before he died in Ren's arms. Just so sad.

It was cool to see Goro as Zolda, I just wish it happened earlier so that we could see Goro fleshed out as Zolda more, see what made him different as Kitaoka when Zolda. I was just hoping Kitaoka would be the one to take Asakura out, as both had a grudge against each other throughout the series. However, it was neat that Kitaoka technically had the last laugh; he knew Asakura wanted to kill him but he didn't give him the opportunity. Hell, he didn't even care, he even said himself that he lived a fine life and didn't really think the Rider War was necessary anymore.

It was cool to see how everything turned up in the end, Toujo running into Shinji on accident, Megumi and Shimada still somewhat antagonistic towards each other, Tezuka showing up to say his predictions are always right, Yui's grandma showing up to say her predictions are always right, and Ren and Shinji's "reunion" at Tea Atori. I was happy to see all of them alright.