[Kamen Rider Lucha]

So, I just rewatched it, and y’know what? I liked it a lot better than I did the first time. My earlier criticisms still stand, but they’re not as big an issue as I was making them.

I think my excitement for the series was so sky high that nothing would’ve held up under the weight of my unrealistic expectations. Is it the best premiere I’ve seen? No. Is it still fun? Yeah, sure, okay.

Ultimately, the thing that caught my interest this time around is how the show is low key about the proletariat Kikaitopians rising up against the Tojitendo bourgeoisie. And I am sorta here for that?

Another thing that’s kind of cool is how Juran is portrayed as a middle-aged guy. I don’t think that’s a character they could have gotten away with if the Zenkaigers were played by human-faced actors, who are always, almost exclusively, in their late teens/early twenties. So that is one advantage of the show being about robots — they have a wider selection of character types to choose from while still appealing to kids (i.e. not reminding them of their parents). And come to think of it, that’s one of the things I liked about Kyuranger, the last Sentai show Shirakura had direct input on as a consulting producer. Ryu Commander, Balance, Champ, and Houou Soldier were all distinctly adults, not pretty young actors who are often, literally, teenagers. That same energy is, so far, working well in Zenkaiger.

One thing that hasn’t changed: I still think the mech-ranger suit designs are terrible.