[Daikaijuman54]

Episode 15 can wait; we're going to talk about Heisei Generations: Forever!

I. Love. This. Movie. It's great, in so many ways. It's a love letter to all Kamen Rider fans, a fantastic meta story, and for the most part, a good tribute to Zi-O's predecessors.

Another Den-O is probably my favorite Another Rider, Another W is pretty neat too, one detail I like about him is that the original Cyclone Joker is a part of it, almost like a Frankenstein-esque three-in-one, where Cyclone and Joker are split down the middle by another two-in-one monster tearing through. Another Kuuga is pretty much just another big bad CGI monster boss, but the idea that it's the first Heisei Rider, I like to think that because it's the progenitor of the Heisei Era of Riders, it's grown to become a monster in its own league, moreso than it's peers.

The meta references are also pretty fun, like Grease being mixed with the guy he played in Kiva (I didn't watch Kiva, hence my statement), or people thinking the Build Riders are part of a Hero Show. This even works for the big part where the monsters from their seasons attack the city, leaving people to believe their world is under attack by a foreign invader, really adds weight to the film's conflict and setting, and it's just fantastic.

While I do agree this is, much like the Decade X Den-O crossover film, this does have a lot more to do with Den-O than Zi-O and Build (haven't seen Den-O yet), but you know what? that's fine. This was still a fun movie, which I enjoyed immensely, especially the Build Boys, Sento and Ryuga. Unfortunately, I wish they did a better job on the W tribute, since it felt a bit like an afterthought here, but overall, it wasn't the worst way they could have honored W.

But boy, do I enjoy that Re:Build Medley. It's just so good! Could it have been better and included more quips from the openings? Yes. But I still enjoyed it.

We may not have gotten to see as many Legend Rider Appearances (Apparently W's Phillip, Kabuto's Tendou, and Kiva's Wataru were all free, and some even did kind of wish they could have appeared, and Drive's Tomari wished he could have been in Heisei Gen Final if I remember right, then again, I could be wrong on all this), but honestly, I think if they added too many, they might have detracted the plot. So, in the end, only the W tribute drew the short straw. But hey, Ryoutaro is still a big deal in this case, and while it wasn't too much, it was still nice to see him.

But in the end, this movie certainly ended the year with a bang, and I love it for that.