[DecadeW Climax]

It's time. I've held it back too long. I'm typing this on mobile no less.

It's Ryuki gush time.

P.S. I'm not spoiler tagging this and PLEASE, if you're watching or planning to watch Ryuki, don't read this and please try not to get spoiled. This is a great show and watch it correctly!

How do I explain Ryuki? Every Rider series after this tried to be like it. It shook up Heisei forever. J-pop theme songs and lots of death. Yet somehow, I feel this series did what it did really well (besides one thing) and most series fail to do so many things this did right. Humor, (plenty of) interesting characters with realistic, relatable goals and great character development, interesting and engaging plot, not annoying side characters, dark, adult tone and mood and last but not least, great suit designs. Imagine back to 2002, Kamen Rider was known for belts that didn't talk or have collectibles. They all looked like bugs for the main inspiration (at least for the main riders if we count Agito) and they were in small numbers. Now here's Ryuki being announced. Knights? Cards? Talking belts? 13 RIDERS?!? They must've been thinking how we think now for shows like Gaim and Ex-Aid. People were thinking Kamen Rider was a kindergarten show with obvious good and bad guys. Ryuki had to shake it up, and boy did it.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS TIME! Wait, how many Riders are there? No, no, I give up wai-

Shinji (Ryuki): If you've watched Gaim, then you know Kouta, he's definitely like Shinji in a lot of ways. However, I believe Shinji was handled better. I guess I shouldn't start with the endgame, but Shinji's death was really well handled. He died as a civilian saving somebody. This harkens back to the fact Shiro never chose him. He just wanted to save people. Shinji is an idiot in a war filled of people who have planned out how they will win and have many strong desires. He doesn't want to win, and he doesn't. This actually makes him stronger, as he cares for others and have their desires riding on him. He's the most light-hearted of all the Riders and definitely helps makes the show not become too depressing that'll it be boring to watch. I also like how they develop his caring for others with his heroic B.S.O.D. with him "killing" Gorou.

Ren (Knight): 3edge5me, done. Kidding, he walks the line between black and white. He so desperately wants to kill the other Riders to save Eri, but he wants to stay by Shinji. Sometimes he shows his bar-brawler side and fights people, but sometimes he just chooses to fight the monster and done. He went from stoic and rude, to kind, caring and rude. Him crying for Shinji at the end was heartfelt and it was really sad when he chose to spend his dying moments with Eri, despite him saving her, he still died, not being able to see the fruits of his labor.

Kitaoka (Zolda): He's a bit of a cocky jerk, but he's cool with me. He developed into less of a jerk and it was disheartening to see him die of cancer.

Asakura (Ouja): I root against him, but he's still interesting to watch and he kept the rest on their toes. He's ruthless and his mannerisms are very animal-like. His character was well done.

Tezuka (Raia): He didn't last long, but his death served as a good lesson for Shinji. He fought against fate and I think his legacy stuck with Shinji until the end, which would be for his friend's wishes. The pink stingray concept is pretty funny though.

Jun (Gai): Really annoying. This is one of the characters I really wanted to die. Next.

Masashi (Scissors): Ummmm... Dirty backstabber!

Toujou (Tiger): He definitely suffers from Chronic Backstabbing Syndrome. Anyway, his way of becoming a "hero" was a bit wrong, but he really tried. This is a prime example of Ryuki showing people have different views on what's right and wrong. At least he got a hero's death before he did any worse.

Sano (Imperer): One of the saddest deaths in Ryuki. He wanted happiness, but he wasn't able to compete with the inhumanness of the other Riders. He was a normal person who finally got riches and a girl, but he died because of his fatal choice to become a Rider.

Kagawa (Alternate Zero): He's also a good example of a normal person who was sucked into Mirror World strife. Less so than Sami, but still. He's a good father who was neglectful because of his work, but ended up dying anyway. A good sensei to Toujou (though he probably should've taught him how to not murder him).

Shiro (Odin): He just wanted the best for Yui, but even though he did the right thing and let her die, WHY DID HE RESE- that's a rant for later. He learned a lot throughout the Rider War, probably about if you try to change fate you'll get bitten. Like him trying to prevent Shinji from becoming a Rider multiple times and trying to save You, he failed anyway, but he learned how to accept it, EXCEPT THAT HE RESE-

Miho (Femme): Good development but limited to movie exclusive, which is a shame.

Itsuro (Verde): I don't remember anything about him at all.

Shinji? (Ryuga): It would've been cool to see how mirror copies feel by being just illusions and seeing Shinji's dark side (does he even have one). Alas, movie exclusive.

Papillon: Who?

Cerberus: I'm feeling like I missed something.

Side characters: The cast of the ORE Journal are a good laugh and Gorou and Grandma got good character moments too (but seeing Grandma alone at the end was really sad).

STORY ANALYSIS TIME! *pant* *pant* Can I have a break? That character thing was exhausting! No?

The story starts with Shinji investigating some dead guy's house with all reflective surfaces covered with newspapers. He finds a card deck, previously belonging to the dead guy, Sakikbara. This is a good start because it's mysterious with the newspapers hinting to something cruel within the mirrors and the death, setting a mystery to who could kill a Rider. Then, Shinji gets thrown into a battle, bonds with Dragreder and gets in his first Rider-to-Rider fight with Ren. Sets the mood for Ryuki. Then he meets Scissors, gets betrayed and Scissors is eaten. Another mood setter and eye-opener. Meets Raia and he dies, making the first sad death. Toujou and Asakura are the main threats that make Shinji's job of making friends hard until he decides he's going to close the Mirror World, despite if it's wrong because it's what he believes in. He dies Ren wins and he dies too. Ryuki is best experienced, there's no way I can give across the feelings and experiences in this show. It's all about characters that move the plot and the characters are made through the dialogue. That's my excuse for this terrible summary. All though there may be a part of the story that's controversial and I may have forgot. Maybe it's... THE RESET. Terrible. The themes of Ryuki were to fight fate, fate is strong, right and wrong is never obvious and depends on the person, desire is strong and is a good motive and sometimes there's not a happy ending. Shiro learned this and yet there was still a reset, negating everything that happened in the show and instead of the adult tone with great ending, they decided to make everyone alive and happy.

Movie was good, Ryuki vs. Agito was funny, 13 Riders was a bit pointless and I didn't watch the stage show. Ryuki was a great ride, sad to see it end, but if I pretend the reset never happened, the rest of the ending was a fitting end. I'm sorry if this was lackluster as I'm not in the writing mood, but I'm glad to get my thoughts on this great series off my chest. Next up...

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RIDER KICK!