[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And here is where we come to something that gets nowhere near the same amount of gravitas post-W, the debut of the Big Bad. It used to be a big mystery who the main villain really was, as they never appeared until the final arc/episode. Not like nowadays, where they appear as soon as the actor is announced.

I sort-of agree. The #0/Daguva setup is very strong, and there's a compelling mystery to what he's up to. I mean, he's killed more Grongi than Kuuga and the Task Force have! That's a terrifying piece of data!

I'd argue against post-W shows not doing well with the Final Villain setup/reveal. Off the top of my head, Wizard in particular does a great job with its final arc and who the specific villain is, and both Drive and OOO have a final villain that's not super predictable.

If anything, I think I prefer the more modern way of doing it? I like a villain who has some depth, some sense of why they're doing what they're doing and how the hero complicates that plan, and it's difficult to get that emotional heft if it's someone who's only a dozen episodes. Like, Build has a Final Villain who's in almost every single episode, and he's maybe my favorite Kamen Rider villain ever.

I mean, not counting Jean, obviously.