[cosmicrescend0]

Movie Time! Forever edition!

For reference, I haven't watched any of the other HeiGen movies, or a lot of the "big crossover" movies, so I don't really have a frame of reference for this sort of movie.

-Not gonna lie..a good chunk of this movie was was such a damn slog for me? Like yeah i know we gotta stretch the movie's mystery out (a mystery blatantly stated in promo material, mind you), but like. You definitely could've condensed that juuuuuuust a bit, right?

-The best original character in this movie by far is Ataru's Imagin. Fun design, nice to watch. I unfortunately Didn't Care about Shingo and Ataru's plot in this, at all? It's the whole "regaining belief in the things you threw away because you deemed it to be childish and embracing that they give you hope/strength", which I usually enjoy, but something about the way it's done just falls flat for me. Maybe because how long it dragged?

-Yknow I'm glad I didn't have any expectation for the Kuuga/W content, because holy hell there's a lot of Nothing here! Seeing the Anicent Kuuga's crypt was cool and all, but other than that it's just namedropping Kuuga over and over and over and over. It makes me a bit glad that the show at least attempts to allude towards themes and motifs of whatever Rider it's trying to tribute, even if they are simply surface-level/simple. Other than the goregous Another Double suit, W was payed in crumbs. Put some respect on our Rider who brought forward Phase 2, yknow? But you know who did get quite a bit....?

-Den-O! Of course it's Den-O! If you're going to do a movie about how memories keep things alive forevermore, it has to be Den-O! We get to see all the Imagins, the Owner, the Denliner, as well as....Ryotaro! Man I knew he was in this movie, but actually seeing him just hits different. The decision to still dub Urataros' VA over him, but lower so we can actually hear Takeru Satoh's voice? A wonderful decision. (You don't even have to ask what Ryotaro ranks on the "actor with slightly different look/hair" scale, dude looks too damn good!)

-But yeah. Who cares about how the slog of a plot for about 2/3 of the movies when we's got Big Fanservice Battle. It really is a wonderful sequence of events. People calling out for the riders they love, and them appearing! Den-O walking amongst the crowd, humming the OP! Riders appearing and attacking in fun pairings you can pick out! (Personal favorite has to be Dragon Gang (Ryuki/Agito/Wizard), Anniversary Trio (Kabuto/DCD/Fourze, who are 35th, Heisei 10th, and 40th), and Beloved Partners (OOO/Drive)). You can't help but feel a big damn smile grow on your face during this scene, it's so damn fun.

-So yeah, ok movie! Not something I'd nesscarily rewatch or anything, but I don't regret watching it.

(Oh, Forever.5 sounds like a delight, I'm sure I'll have fun listening to this. Reading forum posts are fun and all, but *hearing* people talk abt the stuff they enjoy hits different!)