[MarsHottentot]

Yo, you alright with me, Fish

[Dr Kain]

What's funny is that I was one of the few who was defending Wizard throughout its run and then the last 8 episodes happened. UGH!! Total waste of time.

It also didn'thelp matters that Shunpei was hands down the worst sidekick for any Kamen Rider. The actor should have been embarssed because he was like 18 playing a character that was written to act like a 10 year old.

[Switchblade]

Personally, I really like the show Wizard wanted to be. I think the villain's plot is actually very interesting and does a good job of justifying his actions throughout the show. Unfortunately, the execution was incredibly lacking. The show was deeply formulaic, poorly paced, and deeply hamstrung by Koyomi's actress being largely unavailable.

I spent a lot of time defending Wizard when it was on, but I eventually realized that it just wasn't worth it. As much as I like Haruto - and I really, really like Haruto - the rest of the show just isn't worth the effort to defend.

And I genuinely like Haruto because of how stoic he generally is and I like how he always saves the day. He reminds me a lot of a Showa era Rider and I found that fun for a change. I honestly think he's the show's one of the few redeeming factors.

[Powerman293]

Super Hero Taisen GP

Firstly, before I ramble on about the plot, I have to say, there are some shots in this movie in the later half, that for some reason looks... different. Like they've been filmed at a higher framerate, or just the camera is finally sitting still for a damn minute and getting close ups, and it looks like the way early Heisei Rider looked. You can especially see this when Drive and 3 are talking to each other partway through the race, and I have to say I think these few shots look fantastic. I feel like this should be the way Rider looks. I understand that these might not be the same cameras used to film the show, so something like that wouldn't be possible but damn.

I like the idea of the opening sequence, looking through an old 4:3 view with grainy visuals to show an altered timeline. But my problem is that they use old footage mixed with new footage. You can tell what's the new footage, excluding 3 being there, because the way it's filmed is completely different from the early segment with Great Leader. I feel like they should have committed to a more old school style of filming for the 3 fight, or remade that Great Leader scene.

The first part of the movie when the characters are trying to get to Rider town was alright. Kotaro Minami was fantastic in that opening scene trying to protect those kids. The Riders from the current series were alright, I like Gou more, personally, but maybe it's because he's got a deeper voice despite his boyish looks. And Takumi is in this movie, oh sweet! And they got Faiz to light up for that one underground fight that was way too short. Yuuto was fine as well, but I was surprised that Deneb was in all of two scenes.

The one returning character I was personally disappointed in what they did with or lackthereof was Tachibana. I mean, I like his fabulous hair and all but he was wasted in this movie. Considering the whole plot of this movie took place in the altered shocker timeline, I guess the writers couldn't give him any sort of subplot to develop his character a bit like with Takumi in Heisei v Showa. Maybe it's just because I'm a blade fanboy. Not to mention the Blade and Garren masks are aging about as well as a super nintendo.

The plot is nonsensical, Kamen Rider 3 is with shocker, then not, then with shocker, then with them but deep down inside he regrets doing what he did. Not to mention the whole Rider town/Shocker town thing. And then Great Leader absorbs Rider 3 to become a giant time destroying mech which pops out Riders 1 and 2, which I don't even know how that's possible, who promptly get defeated by some basic Sentai Mecha attacks. And then Gou dies but I know he's not dead because they still need him for the show.

It's okay. Rider 3's arc isn't too bad and the fights are cool. It's not better than Heisei vs Showa due to that movie having actual semi cohesive subplots.

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr Kain

It also didn'thelp matters that Shunpei was hands down the worst sidekick for any Kamen Rider.

I know you've barely seen Ghost but I think Onari gives him some competition. He's more helpful but more annoying, so it kind of balances out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Personally, I really like the show Wizard wanted to be. I think the villain's plot is actually very interesting and does a good job of justifying his actions throughout the show. Unfortunately, the execution was incredibly lacking. The show was deeply formulaic, poorly paced, and deeply hamstrung by Koyomi's actress being largely unavailable.

Koyomi being out of the spotlight so much really was a crippling issue though. I don't know why they didn't just get someone else to play her at that point.

I've always felt Wizard's snail-like pacing was a very deliberate move but I totally understand how it rubbed people the wrong way, given that it was still trying to have an overarching plot, even as it was relegated to a background element most of the time.

I actually still remember a lot of people at the time expecting something a little more old-school and/or dark after hearing the premise and I guess at that point it was hard not to be disappointed by the show we got. The initial reaction was still pretty positive as I recall and since I lost interest in posting here about 10 episodes in it was a MAJOR shock to the system when I came back as Gaim was starting and discovered it'd become Kamen Rider's own Goseiger in the meantime.

I think it suffers most from being the perfect level of average not to inspire very strong feelings one way or the other (unless you're, you know, me). Faiz may be a melodramatic mess but it had some really unique concepts and themes behind it. Wizard is mostly just a bunch of decent ideas executed decently.

I guess. Obviously my personal feelings are a lot different but that's my objective(ish) assessment.

[barnstenchfartface]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I know you've barely seen Ghost but I think Onari gives him some competition. He's more helpful but more annoying, so it kind of balances out.

I would...personally rather dispute that Shunpei is less helpful. I mean...maybe? Onari never really had the real moments of true heroism that Shunpei did--like when he risked his life to save Nitou's grandma, or when he did the same to save a Gate's hope when Haruto was kind of losing sight of his goal. They're not many, but they are unarguably great things he does that one can latch on to (as I do, sometimes) to say, well, he's not too bad. He also has a goal, to be even more useful to Haruto, at the end of the show, and he does end up doing so in the Sengoku Movie War. Shunpei isn't amazing but I really don't think he's all that useless.

On the other hand, Onari...gives Javert onigiri a couple of times? Really, he just doesn't accomplish much. He does kind of throw himself into danger's way a few times because he wants to be useful, but it literally never once proves useful. It never gets any actual results, it's just jokes. (Well, never up until episode 48, but even Kanon was beating up Ganma at that point so the writers just sort of stopped caring for that bit just so they could have the team all together so eh, doesn't count). In the end, the best he ever did was deal with Javert, and at the very, very end, he was just what he was throughout the entire show: a fucking joke. Which I mean, is ok, but...it's not ok.

He also is indeed far more annoying.

I dunno, maybe it's just because I watched Wizard after I'd already watched so much of Ghost, after hearing so much about how Shunpei was Literally The Worst, and seeing Onari compared favorably to him, but I never saw anything wrong with him.* Even now can not figure out why the guy is so hated. And perhaps for the same reason, I'm kinda prejudiced in this respect. Because man, screw Onari.

*myna bird episodes aside. the myna bird episodes are...they're not good for anybody, is all im gonna say

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I've always felt Wizard's snail-like pacing was a very deliberate move but I totally understand how it rubbed people the wrong way, given that it was still trying to have an overarching plot, even as it was relegated to a background element most of the time.

Part of the problem was that Wizard was the fourth series in a row to focus mostly on two-episode arcs with a monster- and victim-of-the-fortnight. Rider had really started to stagnate and Wizard definitely suffered from it. One of the best parts of Gaim was that it broke that pattern and did something truly different for the first time in years.

[Kamen Rider Lolita]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Koyomi being out of the spotlight so much really was a crippling issue though. I don't know why they didn't just get someone else to play her at that point.

I was just about to ask this.

As I understand it, the actress was also an idol at the time. Maybe she had been cast long before they knew how her schedule was going to be, and/ or the writers couldn’t think of a way to explain Koyomi’s change in appearance had the part been re-cast later on.

Wajima creating a ring that changes the wearer’s appearance and Haruto using Koyomi as a test subject, would’ve been a solution, I guess.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Lolita

I was just about to ask this.

As I understand it, the actress was also an idol at the time. Maybe she had been cast long before they knew how her schedule was going to be, and/ or the writers couldn’t think of a way to explain Koyomi’s change in appearance had the part been re-cast later on.

I don't think it's ever been confirmed, but this is the standard assumption most people have about it. They weren't going to recast her, though - she was way too big of a name to replace.

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Part of the problem was that Wizard was the fourth series in a row to focus mostly on two-episode arcs with a monster- and victim-of-the-fortnight. Rider had really started to stagnate and Wizard definitely suffered from it. One of the best parts of Gaim was that it broke that pattern and did something truly different for the first time in years.

That always did seem to be the single most common complaint I saw.

I guess that's probably a big reason I like it so much. Not only did I really like that formula to begin with, I try to look at each series as its own thing as much as possible. I get why that would be hard to do though.

Gaim definitely hit at the right time. Rider has kind of gone right back to post-Decade basics since then but Drive and especially Ghost have both put a bit more of a spin on that structure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Lolita

Wajima creating a ring that changes the wearer’s appearance and Haruto using Koyomi as a test subject, would’ve been a solution, I guess.

Honestly I'd prefer barely being around to pulling a Den-O. They ended up working it into the plot decently enough but Hana never felt quite the same afterwards despite still being written the same way.

Let's not even mention Shibuy- uh, Ryoutarou.