[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AgentOrange

Sorry to resurrect this a bit, but I just binged the whole thread and had to comment on this. My first KR was Faiz back in 04. I dropped out with Heisei2 because the trend from Den-O to Fourze was really not appealing to me. I missed the J-Drama sensibilities of early Heisei, and the gimmicks and collect them all toy push really hurt for me.

To go off your uncooked burger metaphor, for me Kuuga is is like a premium aged steak from a good steakhouse. They season with a bit of salt but it's all about the meat. Build got me back into KR and it's probably my second favorite series now, but modern KR to me still feels much more like the kind of steak you'd get at Applebee's. You took an ok piece of meat and threw a bunch of sauces and toppings over it instead of just letting it be a steak. Or maybe like one of those abomination chain pizzas where it's not just a pizza, it's a pizza that's also a taco and a fruit salad. As much as I love Build, I really miss the straightforwardness of Kuuga.

Don't be sorry! It's not like I've stopped thinking about Kuuga in the last few weeks!

I get what you're saying, about Simplicity vs Maximalism. It's definitely a stylistic choice, not a right-or-wrong proposition. I try to be mindful of that, and be upfront about my aesthetic preferences, i.e. Why Isn't Something Flashing Or Shouting Or Exploding Every Second. Kuuga does not do a lot to distract. It's methodical, rather than frenetic. If that's what you want out of Kamen Rider, and the sensory assault of the later Heisei stuff feels off-putting, yeah, Kuuga's going to work great. For me, the straightforwardness... it just felt thin to me. Like it needed some other levels to be worth all of the time spent on it.

Still, that's just my emotional response to Kuuga. I think it's interesting how many people find a real primal connection with what Kuuga's doing. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on it!