[GoldenXtreme]

So there I was, in a car for several hours with nothing better to do but watch the first 12 episodes of Kiva in a row. I uh.. might as well start positive. The suit design is great, for the Riders and the Fangires. The legendary creature and stained glass look they went for the Fangires looks outrageously slick. I also like Wataru quite a bit, I expected him to annoy me a lot more, but he's cute and amusing. That is about all the nice stuff I have to say though. I don't even know where to start with my issues so far. Maybe the fact that that literally every character who isn't Wataru is terrible? Especially Wataru's father. God, I HATE him, he is such a irritating stalker, and just generally makes me feel wildly uncomfortable. Everyone else is just bland, including knockoff-Kaixa. Furthermore, the show has not shown itself to be very interested in explaining... anything so far. I assume at least some stuff will end up explained later on (I hope), but to be this far in the show and have no idea why Wataru has a robotic bat that turns him into a Kamen Rider or a GIANT CASTLE DRAGON THAT LUNGES OUT OF SKYSCRAPERS AND EATS FANGIRES is a bit much. This isn't even getting into Wararu's weird... adoptive mom... friend... person who also has no explaination. I also just hate the 1986 segments. Having a story told through perspectives in the past and present seems like a great idea, but the past segments are just... terrible horrible Inoue romance and chew up a bunch of screentime to add almost nothing to the story. Not to mention that they tend to be extremely confusing, as sometimes it isn't clear when the time period has changed, since both time periods tend to have similar locations, shockingly samey looking and acting characters, and often the same monster. Uuugh, does this show just go downhill from here?

It's okay Fiona, you just have to watch Decade and the Kamen Rider 1 movie and then NEVER watch an Inoue Rider again. Until he writes another. And I still have all his other toku shows. *sob*