[Switchblade]

So, I want to talk about Mort Weisinger for a minute. Weisinger was an editor at DC comics back in the 1940s-60s, most famously known for holding an ironclad grip on the reins of Superman family. I bring him up because he held this belief that comic books' target audience was around for about four years before they grew out of the hobby and moved on. As such, it was really common during his editorship to see old stories get reused every few years under the assumption that nobody reading comics in 1956 would have been reading the books when the same story appeared in 1953.

This brings me to Gentlemen.

Wait, sorry.

This brings me to Jetman.

I think I talked about this show back in the Faiz thread, but 1991's Choujin Sentai Jetman is the show that put Toshiki Inoue on the map. It was long cited as the most beloved Super Sentai series in Japan, with particular praise going to its darker and edgier tone (which is ridiculous, as the real praise should go to Noodle Dimension, the greatest tokusatsu monster of all time). Like most Sentai series, Jetman had a core group of main villains who persisted through most of the show. This group was led by a man named Radiguet. I bring all of this up because one of the most iconic episodes of Jetman is the one where Radiguet is turned human and given amnesia as punishment for failing to destroy the Jetmen. During this period he meets a sick young woman and falls in love with her. At the end of the episode he gets his memory back and kills her without hesitation or regret. It's a shocking moment and one of the most memorably twisted actions by a Sentai villain.

It's also something that Inoue uses again here on Kiva, 17 years later. Probably just figured that no one who watched Jetman would still be watching these shows so many years later.

It's not a bad story concept - fantastic way to demonstrate how monstrous the villain is, in fact - but if you know Inoue's back catalog it definitely feels like he's essentially plagiarizing himself. It won't be the last time in Kiva.

On the whole, I do like these episodes, although its more for the past segments than the present ones. I get more interest out of watching Jirou teaming up with Otoya to team up against Rook while Yuri gets knocked unconscious repeatedly. the modern day stuff with Dai-chan gets old for me really fast. It leads to a big pay-off in the end, but it's something that feels like Inoue recycling old plots.

The modern story does properly introduce the Powered Ixer, though. Because nothing fits the "holy knight Kamen Rider" aesthetic like a barrel-throwing dinosaur crane.