[Battlizer]

Ryuki 25

So I know Kanzaki invented the Rider battles and is basically the ruler of the mirror monsters and all, but he can essentially just change the rules however he wants? And just take away Rider powers...? That doesn't bode well...

I was suspicious of Asakura's sincerity when he told Reiko about his brother, but I didn't think he was the trickster type. But haha no, he's just fucking crazy and killed his brother. What a piece of shit.

But man, Ryuki, Knight, and Zolda teaming up at the end was pretty awesome. The monster of week was...pretty pointless. But them teaming up against Ouja was cool.

But uh....Ouja captured Raia's monster. Okay...so he had another card, but...holy shit he can combine them?! Whaaaaat?! Did Kanzaki just cheat and give Asakura the most overpowered cards imaginable.

Ryuki 26

Alright, a Kitaoka focused episode. I like that Goro has to take up his lawyer job now that he's injured. Does he even have any law schooling? Well, Goro's pretty competent, I'm sure he can handle it.

Shinji's pretty much given up on reforming Asakura, so he's decided to try with Kitaoka. Ren somehow thinks reforming Kitaoka is even more difficult than reforming Asakura, an unrepentant murderer. Alright, Ren.

Kitaoka does seem to slightly put Shinji's words about remembering the reason he became a rider in the first place. Them allying to team up against that monster was a pretty fun fight. IT was kinda weird.

Partially because, uh...maybe I forgot how these cards work, but how does Shinji using Kitaoka's cards let only Kitaoka use the weapons they produced? I don't even know, it was weird...

And Shinji just used Kitaoka's contract monster as a shield and it didn't seem to mind. Everyone was right. Magnugiga really just doesn't give a shit about anything.

[KyoryuGreen]

Watched Agito 8-10, which were great. I feel like I can relate to each of Shouichi, Hikawa, and Ryou. The optimistic, out there-ness of Shouichi, the clumsy but still dedicated Hikawa, and the sorrow of Ryou. I love Blaze form, his sword looks so awesome, I want it lol. I'm glad Hojo ran as G3 because he annoyed me. Still I love Hikawa whether he is a detective or as G3 he is awesome. I love how he broke the saws helping Shouichi because that would be my clumsyness too. I just love how he interacts with people. Ozawa, I believe is the name of the one who works with Hikawa is very interesting with her background. Mana's powers are very interesting too and makes me want to know more about Shouichi's past. That Akigatsu or whatever it's called incident involving Ryou's father now definitely feels like a big event connecting them. Also that Miura woman seemed to know Shouichi, I wonder what did she know? It was fun to see Shouichi being interrogated, he was being silly. The guy in the black clothes is one of the biggest mysteries I want to know and why was Gills afraid of him. Can't wait for more, and hope to see more of Ryou, I hope he gets more screen time. Also with the mysteries, this show reminds me a bit of Gaim honestly.

[SPLIT LIP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Battlizer

But uh....Ouja captured Raia's monster. Okay...so he had another card, but...holy shit he can combine them?! Whaaaaat?! Did Kanzaki just cheat and give Asakura the most overpowered cards imaginable.

Frustratingly, this is NEVER explained. Plenty of fans have theories, but never does the show explain why Ouja can do this. The most popular theory is that each deck has a special ability... which is BS, because that's never even hinted at, and many riders just have the same abilities.

Quote:

Partially because, uh...maybe I forgot how these cards work, but how does Shinji using Kitaoka's cards let only Kitaoka use the weapons they produced? I don't even know, it was weird...

Much like before, this is also never explained. The cards have NO consistent use in this show. When Ryuki's contract card is taken, he loses the contract and reverts to blank, even though that makes no sense because to whom then does the contract belong? (and thus why does Ouja need multiple contract cards, instead of just stealing cards like a school yard bully?) Then later, Ouja summons Metalgelas untransformed without using his staff simply by HOLDING the contract card, which makes even LESS sense than Ryuki using Zolda cards and them coming to Zolda. I guess those card slot things are just totally pointless, huh?

Ryuki's biggest downfall by far is it's nonsensical, inconsistent portrayal of the rider powers and cards. It just doesn't add up, and they can basically do whatever you want, regardless of logic.

Quote:

And Shinji just used Kitaoka's contract monster as a shield and it didn't seem to mind. Everyone was right. Magnugiga really just doesn't give a shit about anything.

I am eternally perplexed by the fact that Magnugiga is a suit with a guy in it and not a rigged prop. He never DOES anything except move his arms once or twice.

[Battlizer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

Ryuki's biggest downfall by far is it's nonsensical, inconsistent portrayal of the rider powers and cards. It just doesn't add up, and they can basically do whatever you want, regardless of logic.

Yeaaaah. I feel like they occasionally forget that they're supposed to have a time limit in the mirror world too, or maybe the riders just finish their battles in time.

Kanzaki being able to fuck with the rules whenever he wants is kinda grating too. But at least it (sorta) makes sense in his case since all of this mirror world stuff is his creation.

[SPLIT LIP]

Yeah, the "time limit" is just ridiculous. Why it exists, I have no idea, since it's entirely arbitrary.

But despite this all, I still really like Ryuki. When it's bad, it's bad, but when it's good, it's damn good.

BTW, I checked out episode 2 of Blade (having seen episode 1) and just couldn't get into it. I checked out the first episode of Decade and... I couldn't even make it to the theme song. Probably gonna retry Fourze or Kiva.

[guncannon109]

Got back into watching Wizard with episode 34... Holy crap, why did I ever drop this show back when it was airing?

[NGW]

Quote:

Originally Posted by guncannon109

Got back into watching Wizard with episode 34... Holy crap, why did I ever drop this show back when it was airing?

Because, sadly, those really awesome moments are overshadowed by filler and crap.

[guncannon109]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NGW

Because, sadly, those really awesome moments are overshadowed by filler and crap.

Sadly I have to agree with you. I think episodes 34 & 35 are a shining example of what was wrong with Wizard. It has some very interesting ideas and moments that are truly awesome but when it tries to be funny... boy does it fail and just comes off as trying way too hard. In short, Wizard please stick to the world building and complex story lines that you're good at and stay far away from comedy.

[Powerman293]

Blade endgame

Wow, this endgame was a good on my scale, not amazing like Ryuki's final episodes but still I enjoyed it. The show treats Tennouji the supposed final human villain before the joker and he wasn't very intimidating at all. I like his plan, and his use of Kerberos was interesting but it felt like just another arc not something leading up to the end.

With the completion of Kamen Rider Blade, I say its probably my favorite Rider series out of the ones I've currently seen. Best pacing, character development, interesting villains and heroes, great ending, and the card gimmick actually didn't bog down the show. I'd argue that it made it better by embodying the themes of the show, having power within your hands and have it be able to be taken away from you and change others' and your own fate.

I do have a few complaints for the series though. Tachibana and Mutski kinda felt pointless in the end. And I don't just mean the final battle but in the overall story. I like their characters but most of the time they're either obstacles for Kenzaki and Hajime or to demonstrate and enemy's power level by having their asses getting kicked. I mean they were useful when the 2-10 and royal undead were still prominent in that they sealed quicker but by the time King form and the Trials and Wild Form show up, yeah they're kind of there only to give moral support.

Mutski becoming free of the Spider Undead's will. Again, I like his story arc and resolution (though he really didn't change that much from the first episode he appeared in to episode 49) but it should have been happening in the middle of the series not god damn episode 42. You know the middle, where the Riders were fighting the Jacks and Queens and not much was happening and Mutski's full submission to the spider rather then his "embrace the darkness" BS towards the end that made him act like he normally does except more like a dick.

Kotaro. What was the point of this character other then to ex posit to when new shit happens. explaining stuff to the audience through a character in a similar situation is a great way of explanation but that character still needs to be useful afterwards. Here we have this journalist sleeping in the same house as a Kamen Rider and gets to talk with him everyday, this would have been a great subplot about getting the truth about Riders out there. Seriously, where the hell was Kotaro with his journalism skills when King was filling the internet with horrible Kamen Rider rumors and speculation. I think we see Kotaro at his job once in the actually series. Hell, I think in Blade vs Blade we got more about what Kotaro does then in the entire series combined.

For all 0 of you keeping track of my top Kamen Riders list, here it is updated. These are all of them I've completed or near completed.

1 Blade
2 OOO
3 Ryuki
4 W

And Way further down in quality..

5 Wizard
Worst: Kuuga

[NGW]

^Ryuki and W that low eh?