[Zolda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Ha ha, surprise, I guess! I usually do up the opening post for a thread at the same time I write-up the first episodes. I want to make sure there's actual content in a thread, instead of just the promise of content.

I didn't touch on it, and I'll probably be able to articulate it better as the show emphasizes it more, but I think they've built out Shouichi as the most Different From Kuuga character so far. (Nijou, I mean, name literally one thing about him that's different than Ichijou. One.) It's a brief scene, but I liked how Shouichi's outlook is Find A Home And Protect It, rather than just Smiles or Justice or whatever. It's a nice way of using his amnesia to be about found families, rather than mystery and isolation. It's a smart move, to build out his character. A smart choice.

As the story unfolds, you will notice several differences between Ichijou and Nijou. Compared to his previous "incarnation", he is:
- less c********,
- less t****,
- less s******,
- less a********,
- waaay more secretly q*****,
- and the last one, THE highlight of interaction between him and Shouichi: he is c*****.

And he complements all those qualities with courage and sheer d***********, making him my 3rd favorite Rider, ever.

What are those qualities? I will reveal them as the story unfolds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

See, what shook me a bit was that I don't think the tone is the same as Kuuga, even though the story very much is. There's a... not lightness, but maybe a balance to these episodes. A better sense of scale? I don't know. I had more fun watching these episodes than I did nearly any Kuuga episodes. (Not to say these were better than all of Kuuga, just more fun to watch.) It's hard to really nail down how it's different, only three episodes in, but it feels less.. solemn, maybe? More hopeful? I don't know. I gotta find more antonyms for "grim", I guess.

I think "somber" is the perfect word to describe this series.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FreshToku

Please be nice to Hikawa, he's much more sensitive than Ichijou... But alright! Agito! The first episode is fairly fresh in my mind even after all this time, what with the ending of Agito destroying the unknown and walking away from the flames at night as the first and best insert song in Kamen Rider plays.

I look forward to you unravelling all the ups and downs of this show. Its much closer to Kamen Rider as I know it today than Kuuga was.

Haha, I also think so. Every time that song started to play, I immediately knew shit's gonna get serious. That song, and Ryuki's "Final Vent song" always play in my head every time I made a risky decision.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I agree with some of that. Agito was the first Rider show I watched all the way through and it holds a very special place in my heart. But I still rank Hibiki as my favorite show from the era.

Wow. Finally!
Another fan (of the first half?) of Kamen Rider Zen!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

This is seriously, like, Heisei Kuuga, to the previous series' Showa Kuuga. There's a similarity to Wizard and Drive, while Kuuga felt like next to nothing of the Heisei shows were in it. It's also bravely asking the question "What if Kuuga, but not morose?"

Yes, Kuuga is closer to Showa in vibe. Their intention was perhaps to re-familiarize people with Kamen Rider's classic themes and tone after being absent for a decade.

You're correct in stating that Agito was the true start of Heisei, while also served as a "transition" period. The classic "somber" vibe of the Showa era is still present, with several concepts that were expanded and experimented with in Agito:
- Multiple Riders, a concept that was later taken to extreme in Ryuki,
- Multiple types of Riders, mystical, robotic/hi-tech, and biological/organic,
- Robotic/hi-tech Riders, TRUE hi-tech Riders that draws their power from purely modern man-made items. This trend is continued to this day in varying degree,
- And the last, the final appearance of biological/organic Rider. This is the last KR series that features a Rider that displays grotesque bodily change when he transforms, with a very bad side effect. You know, that guy that Lady Luck always seems to turn her back on.

After this series, different themes & motifs began to be explored, to better fit the Kamen Rider franchise to today's culture & technology. And of course, more importantly, to create more merchandising opportunity.