[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

I didn't know that the Decade talk here would involve various different people, I thought it's all Zatyme. I guess this is called "TokuNation watches for a reason".

I don't think anybody can praise Kuuga like #1 (or rather, #2 and #4) fan Fish Sandwich can. You'll definitely be seeing a lot more contributors here as a dozen people have been meticulously selected for each arc.

Anyway, as one of many who started with Decade, Onodera Yuusuke was also my first Kuuga and to this day the one who I most associate with that suit. It helps that unlike most of the AU Riders, he's not just a guest in Tsukasa's show, he's a main character as well. The major thing he lacks compared to Godai is that thumbs up gesture and the friendly attitude that it symbolizes. Not everybody can be as selfless as Godai. But they don't have to be! I don't hold any resentment towards Yuusuke for not being exactly like Godai. Honestly, I think it's a great message to the kids that anybody can be Kuuga, as long as they have the will to fight for justice and freedom. That goes for other Riders as well.

So I previously brought up my currently Blade-less Heisei Rider Ranking in the Kiva thread and I thought maybe this would be a good opportunity to elaborate on that. Kuuga is ranked 18/19. It's not that I dislike it or anything like that, I generally enjoyed it, but something had to go there. It's a very classic take on the superhero concept and modernization of the Kamen Rider themes, but the conflict feels very raw between this ideal hero and these Unidentified Lifeforms whose entire motivation is simply to do evil stuff for entertainment. I think that most of the quality of this show, outside of the action, is instead the powerful effect that Godai's wisdom and empathy has on other people. It's thanks to Kuuga's foundation of heroism that the Heisei Rider Era was able to grow in to something bigger. It's the legend that started it all.

In (Onodera) Yuusuke's case, he's also the start of his own legend, which is an important part of Tsukasa's story. Similar to Godai, Yuusuke also has a positive influence on the people around him and that's not just a part of his personality but also a legacy of Yashiro who gave him the courage to be a hero. As others have pointed out, their relationship is like Godai and Ichijo, except here the Ichijo counterpart dies, unfortunately, and that motivates Yuusuke to be the kind of hero she wanted him to be. It's through Tsukasa's exposure to him, as a person who now has a clear future and something he wants to fight for, that maybe he can also get closer to figuring out his place in the world. Yuusuke may not be the same Kuuga as the one who started the legend of the Heisei Rider Era, but I think he's the right Yuusuke for this specific story.