[Matrixbeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryan

Actually, I'm kind of sad you don't like it, but in rewatching it, it's not like I can argue that you're wrong for finding it slow and dull, because it is.

Yet strangely, I still like it. But I ONLY like it for Kuuga, and I'm clearly giving it a lot more credit in my mind than it deserves.

It's fine to like it. There is...Some things worth enjoying it for.
Godai is likable, and his ability to instill hope is admirable. Ichijou is one of my favorite characters in Kamen Rider period, and he can't even transform. And...Kuuga's design is good.

I don't want to sound mean, but I went into Kuuga expecting a lot. I got nothing out of it. The story was so slow that we, as viewers, got no information until the early 20's, when the Grongi started speaking Linto, so we could actually keep up. Not helped that even when the story looked to be advancing, the integral characters would disappear and it would be just MOTW for a few episodes straight (I'm looking at you, bat Grongi).
The characters rarely felt like they were growing (It took the entire flipping series for Enokida to acknowledge that maybe her son is starting to have abandonment issues), while others just didn't change at all (Everyone at the restaurant, Sawatori, and Minori, for example).
But let's be a little more fair, shall we? The story arcs they did present were great. You could feel the emotions the characters were going through, the dread and despair was conveyed wonderfully. The downside would be that it would end next episode and never be brought up again. It really felt like a waste of time to give characters these levels of attention now, after the fact, since they play no real role in the plot at hand.

Then, as if it's just pushing to see what it can get away with, with the exception of maybe 2 occasions, every cliffhanger is instantly resolved before the opening theme of the next episode. Kuuga stabbed and pinned to a wall and the episode ends? Next begins with Ichijou firing at the monster's back, Kuuga unpinning himself, and the monster running, as if that tension never existed at all.

I did not enjoy Kuuga at all. Half the cast played no role beyond set dressing, the other half that were important didn't actually contribute outside of the rare occasions.

The action was lacking, being very subdued. Some would say that's not a bad thing. And it's not. The first 20 times. The remaining 30 made fight scenes just dull and time consuming. The bike scenes were nice, but those don't save a series. Kuuga's transformations were also fun, but the Rising forms were glorified finishers, such worry was placed on Rising Mighty that he barely used it, and Amazing and Ultimate were used a whopping 1 time, so it's hard to really call them memorable.
And that climax. Oh, that climax. Punching each other on a snowy mountain. Then cut to Ichijou, then cut to them in their human forms, still just punching each other. Then they fall down. That was the most anti climactic fight I've seen and it was so angering that the only reason why I watched the final episode immediately afterwards was so I could just get it over with.

The final episode was mediocre. Showing everyone after everything was said and done. Godai saved the world and everything is perfect. Yay.

I really wanted to like Kuuga, I really did. While I'm forgiving to a lot, it's attempts at trying something different led to such a boring experience that was only enjoyable because Ichijou was written well.
And that's the problem with Kuuga. It's not bad, in a sense. It's just boring. It reels all it's action in, it wants to make the characters "Real" in the sense that they do fucking nothing, and it just doesn't want to keep any sense of flow or pace.
It's not offensively bad as Decade, or as facepalmingly dumb as Faiz (Which I couldn't even finish), but Kuuga is the slowest, most dull, most boring series Kamen Rider I've ever seen.