[Locke]

Definitely gonna check out an episode of this.

[Locke]

Decade 29. Personally I think being turned into a Kaijin would be pretty sweet.

You know, even toku shows I like, get really boring in how they play storybeats the same no matter the show. Kamen Rider is certainly better than Sentai for this, as sentai really does feel like it's just redressing the same show over and over again - literally - but Kamen Rider is still a victim for going in circles with every show.

Oh look, that person is an asshole, I'm sure they won't have some dramatic reveal just around the corner with some sort of melodramatic backstory that tries to bait sympathy from the audience, who have up to those point despised that character. No not possible, because I haven't followed this character arc at least fifty times per toku series or anything...

Do Japanese writers not realise that tragedy is only impactful in moderation and that if you give every character a personal tragedy then that sets a baseline for the emotions which can't be peaked so everything just feels dull and monotonous? When I meet an important character or protagonist with a happy life with his parents, and friends, none of which die for the sake of false tension and pseudo character building then I will eat my own arm off.

Honestly I'm kinda glad Amazon didn't travel with them, because apparently the fate of Tsukasa's sidekicks is to be utterly wasted. Even Kaitou, who gets to do a lot more than Kuuga, still just feels like a bit of fluff for the fight sequences and very little more. Even in the episodes focusing on him, he still feels superfluous. I guess it's almost impressive to feel so pointless all the time.

Also - an INSANELY petty aside, but why does Japan always cast such girly men? I get that it is cultural difference, but I grew up with rippling, older men in underwear or leather jackets, so it's a shock to the system to see those replaced by near anorexic men with hair like Justin Beiber and styles that make you sexually confused - for men AND women.

I get that everyone can be a hero etc, but I do find it hard to take seriously when 'badass' in Japan is a pair of drainpipes and a braid whereas in the UK that would be known as Vince Noir, someone who is SUPPOSED to be laughed AT by the audience.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

Also - an INSANELY petty aside, but why does Japan always cast such girly men? I get that it is cultural difference, but I grew up with rippling, older men in underwear or leather jackets, so it's a shock to the system to see those replaced by near anorexic men with hair like Justin Beiber and styles that make you sexually confused - for men AND women.

Eye candy for the moms staying home to keep an eye on the kids.

[Powerman293]

Kouta's actor has been the most masculine main Rider we've had in awhile....

[Locke]

Kamen Rider X 01. I love how Keisuke spent the entire episode getting shot, like literally.

It took me a long time to articulate this post, as I attempted to side step 'HYPOCRITE' remarks but it was impossible to do so. Look right, I HATE the rinse repeat style of tokusatsu storytelling, let's get that out of the way. However have you ever read a comicbook from forty years ago and just hated it? The art is weird, the story is paced odd, the structuring of the comic is strange, it just all feels so damn alien and therefore alienates your enjoyment.

For tokusatsu though, not a whole lot has changed in forty years. Sure comics are still doing the same song and dance too, but the technology needed to create comicbook artwork has come leaps and bounds and has been utterly embraced, whereas with toku advancements in technology is something they only ever seem to embrace gingerly. Cardboard robots, back fins and bendy rubber swords have become a part of the fabric of these shows and are still used at a time where technology could make all of these things irrelevant.

So as much as I hate the rinse repeat style of tokusatsu storytelling, I was able to get on board with X so quickly because the show felt so familiar despite being born in a very different time and culture. A lot of the tropes of the Rider you love now, are present here, so it allows these older shows to age a lot better than they might of otherwise.

Ironically the worst part about this is X himself. The suit is boring looking. He looks like he's the product of a slapped together pile of prop scraps, layered over a tracksuit with a pan on his head. It's hard to imagine that just ten years later we'd be getting classic, timeless designs like Black.

The little touches were nice though, with how Neptune stabbed X in the leg so in the next scene with Keisuke he's clutching his bleeding leg. I can't remember the last time, outside of the climactic battles at the end of a series, a Rider show actually connected the injuries sustained in battle, to the character out of the suit. But then I guess these days with the sheer quantity of explosions and lasers you couldn't really do that without having the characters just being one giant open wound, all the time.

[Locke]

Kamen Rider Amazon 01. It was kinda like being on drugs, aka GREAT. ()

Not a lot to really say, as so much was so fucking trippy, and EXTREMELY violent (but in a fun way, not a Kuuga way). I think this is my first time seeing a genuinely unique Rider series, and if nothing else Amazon the character is fantastic in and out of suit.

[Battlizer]

So I've watched up to seven of Faiz. I was wary about getting into this one after all I've heard about it. So far it's not that bad, but I can see it getting there. Do all Orphenocs have to go through insanely cruel circumstances before they become one, or is that coincidence? Because holy shit, horse guy, bird girl, and snake guy had some terrible luck before they became Orphenocs.

The plot is interesting enough for now, it has enough mysteries to keep me invested, though I'm more interested in the main Orphenoc's plot than Faiz' own right now.

Takami is alright so far. He's kind of a tool, which is irritating at tiems, but not obnoxiously so. He was by far the least heroic rider I've seen at first. By the time his friend at coffee shop, he seemed actually invested in taking down Orphenocs.

Also, does anyone else think this has WAY better camera work than Ryuki which came right before it and Blade which came right after it? Maybe it's just me, but I dunno. In general, it's less blurry and I don't remember any shaky cam shit.

Also the opening and ending songs are pretty cool too.

[ryan]

They're main characters, so that's why we get their backstories. The rest of the Orphenocs we don't learn nearly as much about.

I'm finally up to about episode 30 of Faiz, and i"m still really enjoying it. I can see where the criticism of it comes, that a lot of the problems would be solved if the characters would just talk to each other, but I can also see WHY they wouldn't really be comfortable talking about these things. It's not really bothering me.

I really warmed up to Takumi over the first ten-ish episodes. He's still plenty standoff-ish later on, or a jerk at times, but he also is trying to be a nice guy and help out ant what not.

Kaixa, on the other hand, sheesh. He started out all badass and cool, and I really liked him. But now, he's just being a douchebag because he can.

But I'm still finding it an intriguing show, and I really dig the designs of the Riders, and watching a couple episodes a week, I should be done in another 3 months. Maybe I should pick up the pace, cuz people keep harassing me to watch Gaim, as though it's a really good show or something.

[Battlizer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryan

They're main characters, so that's why we get their backstories. The rest of the Orphenocs we don't learn nearly as much about.

Well, that I know. I wasn't asking why we learn about their backstories or anything. I was just commenting on how the SADDEST POSSIBLE SHIT happened to each of them in the past.

[KyoryuGreen]

Super-1 Episode 32:This episode had so much craziness in it, it was hilarious and awesome. Kazuya was riding on top of a car, then was dragged by a fishing line, and jumped away from Sharks. The Fishing Rod monster was weirdly one of the monsters that actually gave Super-1 a challenge, then again so was the Hair spray monster. Shinichi the new kid of the Junior Rider Squad had a lot of courage standing up to Jin Dogma so that was really awesome.