[Tokumonkey]

I started Super Hero Time 2006 recently, so Boukenger/Kabuto.

I'm up to episode 9, and I'm impressed by how much better-constructed Kabuto is than some later Heisei series. Tonally, I think it's the closest series I've seen to what I'd hoped Kamen Rider would be before I actually started watching the shows. The Worms are creepy and interesting. I didn't realize how much I'd appreciate the absence of shadowy villains saying ominous things to one another until now. There are no plotting master villains, yet, so the Worms get to be mysterious.

The show also isn't as weighed down by toys as more recent series. Cast Off is obviously reflected in the retail toy line, and I'm sure there were roleplay toys, but they look less like toys than, say, Shift Cars or Lock Seeds. It's easier to sink into the fantasy of this series and watch the show as a story rather than a toy commercial.

Oh, my gosh! A chatty Driver that's not obnoxious. It makes me regret the relatively singsong voices of more recent drivers.

Now that I'm on 9, I'm starting to suspect how Zecters work. (I don't yet know how to do the spoiler-tag thing, so I'm being vague.) I love that Tendou isn't necessarily the main character. I've somehow managed to avoid many spoilers for this series, so the first secondary Rider to appear was... not who I'd expected. I love being surprised.

I'm enjoying Ex-Aid and Zyuohger, but Super Hero Time 2006 is tremendously more aesthetically pleasing to me. Weapons look less like toys, designs could aim for cool without feeling the need to also be wacky. Both shows feel like they're aiming for older audiences than Super Hero Time 2016. My enjoyment level so far is hitting Gekiranger/Den-O and Kyoryuger/Gaim heights. On to episodes 10...!