[Matrixbeast]

Sitting back on it and thinking, I reevaluated Kuuga now that I've had time to calm down and actually think over the series.
I still fucking hate it.
However, there's more to it than just that.

Our lead, Ichijou, is still relatively solid and super enjoyable. Godai, while he was rather static as a character, his enthusiasm and ability to keep spirits up and his general energy is easy to make him likable. While I do wish he actually grew outside of the last 4 episodes, he's hard to dislike.
Our secondary cast, however, did wallow in rather shallow waters. The only one to really dip into the deep end, Enokida, had a rather interesting, if unoriginal, story. Workaholic who prioritizes getting the job done over her family. I liked the emotional response she gave, but the problem was that there was no true consequence. The boy longed for his mother, and when she finally gave in, he got his wish. She was never shown to regret her decisions of pulling all nighters at the lab, only merely lamenting not spending more time with him. However, the biggest problem is that this story is never brought up by her. It's usually something like Jean or Godai mentioning her son before she even realizes she abandoned him again.
The other, Sawatori, really didn't have a plot to speak of. While she was relevant at moving the main plot (What little there was) forward, she didn't have any story arc. She just sat in an office typing away while occasionally going out in the field. She felt underutilized as she was merely used to translate the Grongi, and literally nothing else.
The doctor was an interesting character in his own right, but like the rest of the ancillary characters, didn't really amount to much. He did play a vital role in Kuuga's Rising forms, but beyond that, he just...Existed. Having no minor subplot of his own, there were numerous scenes where it felt like they forced him in for no reason beyond perhaps a contract requiring X amount of appearances.
Jean appeared to study the Gouram. That was it. Beyond that, his only purpose seemed to set up Enokida's subplot of abandoning her son for her job...
Then there's the cafe characters and Godai's sister. For a group of characters that appeared almost as often as Ichijou, it felt like a slap in the face for how little they do. It especially got aggravating when the girl attempted to get a subplot, but it was shot down and only brought up on occasion, that being her attempts at being an actress. Their comic relief was weak, and they just didn't need to be involved in a series with too many side characters as is.

The action was standard to subpar. Kuuga was a barebones series in this regard, which was a bit of a downer. Often resorting to basic punches and grappling, it made the fight scenes rather uninteresting. Even once he gained his alternate forms, he would only use them on occasion, oftentimes using Dragon to get to a high place then immediately shifting back to Mighty for some basic fighting. This usually meant an episode with a dull or pointless plot was followed up by a boring fight scene, making it a chore to watch. Also not helping was that his forms often did little to keep any interest. His work with a sword or staff was quite lacking, while his using the bowgun was usually ineffective. It did vary things up by having multiple bike fights, which is a rarity for KR these days, but one positive in the action doesn't save it from a slew of negatives.
(I'm choosing not to comment on the special effects because it was early 2000's)

But my biggest failing with Kuuga was the near incomprehensible plot. The villains of the series speak in their own language near exclusively for the first half of the series. While it is nice to know that they have to actively learn human (Linto), even including a few scenes (Rather, one scene) of them learning to speak it, the problem is that oftentimes, it feels like the scenes with the Grongi are entirely pointless, at least during the first half. By uttering complete gibberish, it makes the audience unable to follow along. I'm often told it only adds to the mystery, but the problem is that a mystery with no clues isn't worth following. Yes, we don't know anything about the Grongi, and yes, there are plenty of villains in all forms of media that have an air of mystique to them. However, here there is nothing to piece together. The series doesn't give any hints or clues to their motives, how their games are played, or just why they're doing what their doing. They just act. When the series is inclined to give the audience some sort of clue to follow, they just outright tell the viewer what it is, rather than let the viewer figure it out.
It's a poor way to tell a mystery, as we never know the hints of what's occurring until long after they were relevant, and when they do possibly drop a hint of what's to come, they talk down to the audience by hammering it in to make sure everyone gets it.
The main plot suffers the most from their forced mystery approach. They intentionally slow everything to a crawl just for some kind of pseudo drama to occur. Episodes will end on a cliffhanger only for it to be immediately resolved before the next episode's opening theme starts. Plots that seem to be advancing are intentionally cut and put aside for 10 episodes later just to keep the show's snail pace set. It just doesn't ever escalate. At no point did I ever feel that there was any sense of tension because the show simply did not want their forced mystery to be undermined in any way.
Our main villains are beaten by a bullet to the chest by Ichijou with no sense of accomplishment and a dull fist fight that lasts about 30 seconds. What should be major points in the series are treated with less achievement than killing a MOTW. We learn literally nothing about the big bad, N-Daguva-Zeba, and the ultimate darkness that can only be accessed by hatred, but Godai managed to use his hope to accomplish, was on screen for less than 15 seconds.

I, personally, can't call Kuuga good by any stretch of the word. When it seems to be stepping in the right direction, they proceed to botch it up. Story arcs get resolved in the most unsatisfying way possible. The plot moves as slowly as they can get away with, forcibly pausing them when it seems to pick up steam. And the characters just don't feel well fleshed out or very interesting.

However, I can see why some people could possibly like it. The mystery aspect is interesting and I guess on multiple viewings (Or watching it with the Grongi subbed) it could be possible to piece together the villains' plot. Ichijou is awesome and is easily one of the best non main characters in the franchise (Right up there with Tackle for "Characters that should be Kamen Riders"), and it can be argued that seeing more visceral fighting without flashy backflips and stunts could be refreshing for viewers that are used to seeing crap like Wizard and Decade pulled off.

There is some merit to Kuuga. Design wise, he's wonderful. All of his major forms are designed excellently, having a simple look, but not being too basic. He cemented many trends for KR to follow (Notably multiple form shifting on a semi-regular basis. And yes, I know Black RX did mutliple forms first). But ultimately, for me, Kuuga was just a draining experience. It felt like a chore to watch after a certain point, and I just couldn't put up with how little it seemed to give back.
Decade was insulting, but Kuuga was disappointing.