[TF RyuShin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

I looove W. Although it was my first Rider, I feel like it held up on subsequent rewatches. I just found the main cast extremely endearing (okay maybe not Ryu), the villains great, and it is really good as slowly building up more overarching elements. How many other shows are about 2-in-1 superhero detectives that fight drug inspired monsters?! Drive and Gaim, while also good, don't manage to pull off so many individual elements so perfectly for me. I can kind of see where you are coming from though, it could be a bit weird watching a bunch of newer Neo-Heisei stuff then going back to the first one, where some of its elements might not seem as fresh by comparison.

TO be honest, the more I see it, the more I realize that W's villains aren't that great. The back-and-forth villains are seemed to be intimidating, especially Isaka, but because of the two-parters, they really didn't get a much needed screen time, especially for Kirihiko. Not to mention, Isaka's master plan is granting him a gigantic wings which is absolutely weird to me.

It bugs me to that Wakana so easily agrees with his father during Philip's revelation arc. I thought it was some kind of brainwashing but it didn't seem so in the end. The way they describe both Ryubee and Shroud's characters are so complex for my brain to process. Admittedly, they want to show them as a rather tragic character but the way they executed it is full of interpretations.

Still, you maybe right that W's whole theme about 2-in-1 Kamen Rider and Detective is great. I also really like Philip so much and Shotaro's antics are so delightful. I don't mind of Akiko and she's one of the breather in this series. But, yeah, maybe because W used two-parters arc, I felt that it has more potential and could be even greater if they didn't use it in the first place. The build up for W CJX was also a bit of bummer too and they should have just go with the other ways around or give Shotaro more exposition instead.

It might sound like a rant, but this is why I love Drive more than W. While the thematic is particularly same, Drive didn't dictate too much with its parters episodes. Believe it or not, Drive still has two (or three) parters but the way that they build up each elements of stories felt so natural compared to W. They really build up the last 5 or 6 episodes as a climax. Unlike, W, where I still even thought it will be the same filler-ish two-parters during Ryubee's final act.