[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Magnugiga

That's a nice interpretation and I feel that expectation recalibration ('Character Drama feat. Kamen Rider') applies to a lot of Phase I Heisei shows. I'm watching Faiz atm, and the Kamen Rider stuff feels even more like an afterthought, haha. They're just different, for better and for worse, and could be really jarring for viewers more accustomed to the back half of the era.

I re-watched Kuuga a couple years back, and despite the obvious stuff that don't age well as well as severe lack of fun factor, it struck me just how charming the character interaction it could be and how the set of villains could generate the sort of horror and tension that the villains from Phase II Heisei could only dream of. It takes a while to get to the really good part, though.

Yeah, "severe lack of fun factor" is what also reminded me of Amazons. There's that same Serious Show About Monster Suits thing going on. Kuuga, so far, doesn't really goof around a lot.

And, yeah, it definitely keeps the horror vibe going with its villains. I just finished Build, and for all its serious stakes and deep wells of emotion, Evolt was a HILARIOUS villain. That dude was a chatterbox when it came to kicking Rider ass, and he just oozed charisma. The monsters on Kuuga, they feel distant, unknowable. They are killing people, they don't crack wise, they don't taunt Godai (or, they do, but he can't understand them, which means the audience can't understand them), they don't have anything we can relate to, even as it looks like they have some hierarchy or community. It feels at times like "What If Roidmudes, But Terror", with how alike-but-different they feel from the human cast. (Shooting the villain meetups in that aquarium hallway is, obviously, also what makes me think of Roidmudes. Or was that set from OOO? Or has every Kamen Rider villain group met in that aquarium hallway?)

I don't know that it's bad that it's not fun, since that clearly isn't the goal. I'd maybe like it better if it was conceived as a more light-hearted show, but it wasn't, and the sci-fi/horror approach has its merits, too. Apples and oranges, I guess.