[ZeoRangerV]

Thanks to a huge backlog I've had to put it off for a while, but I've finally watched the last two bits of Faiz media I needed to see to finish the series - Paradise Lost and the Hyper Battle Video.

First up, Paradise Lost - why couldn't the whole series have just been this?!

The movie was fantastic. The AU setting where the Orphnochs had taken over suited show perfectly, and I loved seeing all the human cast as this ragtag bunch of rebels living in a shanty town. A lot of the plot was a bit too convenient thanks to the short running time and plenty of it was batshit insane (Murakami as a head in a jar topping that list) but the whole thing was the big thing Faiz wasn't - enjoyable from start to finish. Psyga was cool as hell (especially with all the completely out of place English speech ) and the Orga suit was pretty neat as well. Definitely my favourite AU Rider film and quite possibly my favourite overall as well.

It gave me major Kabuto vibes, in that I also pretty much hated the show but ended up loving the movie. Maybe I just need a completely dystopian Rider series in my life?

Meanwhile the Hyper Battle Video. Yeah....I take everything bad I've ever said about Faiz back, it's the greatest Rider series of all time based solely on this. Words cannot describe those wonderful 10 minutes of insanity.

So that's Faiz over and done with. Not sure if I hated it as much as Ghost, but it's definitely at the very bottom of my favourites list out of the stuff I've seen. Was really good to end it on two good things though, rather than just more squandered potential and disappointment.