[DreadBringer]

I know probably you won't reply to all like the previous one, but I just want to balance my focus for KR series like Ryuki in Die's thread too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Young Optimus14

Kuuga form change woo! Easily one of the best things about Kuuga is how they handled form changes. Instead of all of them being there from the beginning or just being power ups, all of Kuuga's forms are meant for different situations and have advantages and drawbacks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Dragon Form's debut is yet another example of Kuuga's desire to break rules resulting in a way more entertaining show. There's still that sense of wonder at what these mysterious new powers represent, but it starts getting undercut from the second Yuusuke utters his nonchalant reaction of "I turned blue!". The idea that Yuusuke has zero clue what's going on adds such an extra dimension to the scene. He has to work out what the details of this new form are through trial and error, and as it turns out, he can't do it fast enough. Rather than this new piece of merchandise immediately being the key to a heroic turnaround, it actually just throws him off, resulting in Badzuu easily overpowering him, giving Kuuga the same treatment as all his other victims: thrown off a skyscraper for the trouble. It's a heck of a way to end an episode.

Well, it depends on which form tbh. There are forms which are only interchangable and balanced to the other ones, and there are upgrades. Dragon form is the former so it's meant for different situations with advantages and drawbacks. And for neo-heisei ones, that goes for forms like Drive Type Speed (Shadow, Monster, etc.), W CycloneJoker or LunaTrigger, etc. The one that would be pure power up for Kuuga are forms like Rising, Amazing, etc. which equivalent in neo-heisei are Ex-Aid Maximum Gamer, Build RabbitRabbit, etc. I think I just don't want you to shit on newer media ones compared to old ones.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

This is one of my favorite Kamen Rider episodes ever. It's got everything. When "the main character gets shot at by cops" is only the start of the story, you know you've got something special. This episode is about a lot of things, but mostly, it's about speed. So much speed.

It's a bit of a shame that the scene of Kuuga being cornered by cops were not shown, other than Yuusuke telling a bit about what happened. I want to see how Yuusuke balanced himself between fighting Mebio and protecting himself from the relentless cops. The smart way would be using Mebio as a shield from the guns (although the guns wouldn't affect anyway). And how did the situation end there, if neither fighters lose? Mebio escaping for some reason? Kuuga successfully driving Mebio away (I wanna see the methods used here)?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

The basic idea here is that Zu-Mebio-Da (that's the leopard one!) runs fast as s***, and going into the episode, there's nothing anyone can do to stop her, which is bad news, since she got shot in the eye at the start, and is now going around murdering cops for revenge. Yuusuke tries his best, but he kinda lost his last bike in a church fire, and the police bike he, er, "borrows" proves to be less than up to the challenge. Especially once it's put up against the dreaded enemy of all motorcycles... stairs!

Yuusuke is a total goody two shoes but....he doesn't mind breaking some rules to get the job done like a literal offense to cops (stealing their motorcycles like criminals at GTA do)?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Later on, Sakurako calls Ichijou in an effort to stop Yuusuke from getting in harm's way, saying he has much the same habit, which Ichijou clearly takes note of. The two end up in a squad car together, and the conversation they have marks a turning point in their relationship.

Ichijou is far more accepting and tolerant to Yuusuke here now, but I have to talk that it happened especially after Yuusuke actually commit a crime, and that's quite quick for them. Now here he just genuinely advises Yuusuke not to push himself too hard, and partly at Sakurako's insistence, without any aggression. Probably the aggression was just a forgotten early trait as they try to give a footing for the characters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

The answer is obvious though. This is the fourth episode, and we've had Yuuske on a bike, and we've had Kuuga, but don't you think it's about time we have Kuuga on a bike? Ichijou sure thinks so, giving Yuusuke the super-duper awesome prototype police motorcycle, the one, the only, TryChaser 2000. To her credit, Mebio is smart enough to try taking advantage of the dreaded staircase once more, but she failed to account for one thing: stairs don't mean s*** to Kuuga now.

The TryChaser's base form is modeled on a GasGas Pampera 250. And even if stairs don't mean anything anymore, pure skills are still needed to do all the maneuver Kuuga done. Kuuga still insists to stay in the bike and ram Mebio for some reason... even if it will be easier to track down Mebio on foot, and Riders' strikes are no less dangerous than being rammed by a bike! The Rider's stats are measured in tons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I think it's very important to take a second to give credit to Takumi Narita, the actual, legit motorcycle trial rider responsible for the insane stuntwork you see when Kuuga's on his bike. Once Yuusuke hops on that thing, he only gets off it to ask a cop he saved if he's okay (good hero moment!), and then hops right back on to basically see how much stuff he can climb up and down without getting off.

Saving cops like that is the definition of true hero, going for someone you know less.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Again, to her credit, Mebio makes it a point to rip Kuuga off the bike as soon as she gets the chance, but it doesn't help too much. I mean, he was already pretty awesome without it. He takes her out with a slightly fancier weird kick move than the last time (and his right foot is still burning for some reason I'm sure doesn't matter), and the episode ends with some great payoffs, like the cop Kuuga saved earlier backing up Ichijou when he tells everyone not to shoot Kuuga, and of course, the very end, with Ichijou expressing his approval of a job well done by his new unofficial partner. This is some all-time classic stuff right here.

Why do you keep insisting that his right foot keep burning for some reason (probably a joke?)? Ichijou should've prepared himself before and tried to make this moment a real proof that Unidentified Life Form #2 & #4 aren't enemies, like recording?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

This episode opens up with a triple threat of new supporting characters. First comes the glorious introduction of Jean, a character I love because of his remarkable unremarkability.

Jean also gives gratituous Englishes!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

After the opening, it's finally time to meet Pops, and what more perfect introduction could he receive than boring Ichijou to death with a story while he waits for Yuusuke to show up at Pole Pole? Naturally, Ichijou is out the door the second he sees Yuusuke, and together they go to meet someone much more charismatic. Tsubaki is probably my favorite member of Kuuga's extended supporting cast. Extraordinarily useful to the plot, but also quirky enough to be more than a simple device for exposition. Although make no mistake, he's great at exposition. This episode makes it explicit that there's little functional difference between Yuusuke's body and those of the Grongi, and further establishes that his belt is gradually fusing with him, which could present some problems in the future. For now, though, it's just making Yuusuke awesome at fighting monsters, especially in his right leg, for some reason. That last bit of information probably won't amount to anything, though.

Cops like Ichijou aren't in for an ordinary "useless" stories, unfortinately a common trait for people in charges. Also, that would mean anyone cannot actually stop being Kuuga with the belt fusing on him? In case someone wants to quit being a Kuuga. And the belt fusing on Yuusuke and giving him enhanced physical stats also gives a real advantage for fighting monsters where Badzuu hit Yuusuke on the face before the Dragon Kuuga head forms, but Yuusuke is fine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

The main emotional thread for this two-parter is Sakurako's concern for Yuusuke's safety. Again, his childlike enthusiasm has a tendency to make him look reckless, so I don't blame her for being upset when she finds out that not only did Ichijou not stop him from fighting last episode, he gave him a fancy bike and sent him on his way.

I wonder what's in Sakurako's mind, does she have a solution for both Yuusuke's safety and Grongis attacking humans? Like just give the Kuuga belt to someone else? Because Yuusuke being Kuuga would actually make him safer against the Grongis.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

There's a truly egregious sequence of Yuusuke riding to the scene of the crime on his bike that lasts a full minute, that feels an awful lot like padding, and is also awesome.

Already covered above with Ancient Kuuga and "horse". But I have to ask how did he henshin while riding the bike? Did he pose or not?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Once Kuuga manages to eventually get where he's going, he makes another sweet hero entrance catching a cop who was just thrown off a building by our bad guy for these episodes, Zu-Badzuu-Ba.

The first monster to actually introduce his name!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

What's a lot less intact is Yuusuke, who's in the hospital after the beating he took from Badzuu. As soon as Sakurako is informed of this, she naturally rushes over to see him... only to find him on his way out, smiling and assuring her he's fine. Tsubaki begs to differ, saying that even with his enhanced strength, his injuries shouldn't be healed this fast. Sure enough, the next we see of Yuusuke, he's not looking so hot.

I don't like this shot however...

Not good Yuusuke, you probably should've enough manners not to do that... unless Yuusuke collapsed and Pops brought him on bed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Sakurako is still freaking out a bit over everything that's happening, especially since those fears are turning out to be justifiable. A conversation with Minori sets her straight though.

Yeah, it's kinda selfish to push your decisions to others. Especially in this one case, without Kuuga, people may be more doomed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Sakurako gets back to work, trying to decipher anything helpful about Kuuga's new powers, which is a good thing, too, because Pops' advice on the situation, while a perfectly adequate summation of how form-changing heroes work, isn't gonna be much help to poor Yuusuke. Especially not when he's already out there getting beat up again. Sakurako figures out that Dragon Form is supposed to use long objects as weapons, but in all the carnage, Ichijou is unable to answer his phone, meaning she has to go into action herself to relay the message.

So that's the meaning of translating the ancient texts! It holds the hints and tips for Kuuga! It's surprising that Kuuga Dragon's weapon actually comes from a nearby object. I guess the TryChaser 2000 one before is like the Dragon one? Kuuga's power to transform objects into something with Kuuga-motif.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

It's around this point that it starts to become apparent how big Yuusuke's influence on people is.

Finally the entire cast thumbs up instead of just Yuusuke!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

Between this and the back-and-forth on Ryuki 28, I'm really sensing a strong Fish-Die rivalry here. Not gonna lie, it's thoroughly entertaining. You two should get some lockseeds or something!

But for Ryuki 28, Die is the one with unpopular opinions of hating that episode.