[Matrixbeast]

My biggest problem with OOO was how lackluster the center of the series turned out. Random gaining and losing medals, the Greed sitting around, Maki not doing much of anything during that time, no Date, Gotou still being an abrasive ass, etc.

But I do enjoy OOO. It had a strong start and finish, a great protagonist, a very interesting anti-hero, a weird antagonist, and some cool designs (IMO).

[SPLIT LIP]

The reason I don't hold OOO's middle against it is because to it's credit, the characters remained interesting enough to keep it worthwhile and as soon as I said to myself "man this is kind of dragging" it instantly picked up. I, seriously, felt the very end was the most dissapointing. (though the finale was excellent. Again, it keeps it worthwhile) But yes, the musical medals was VERY annoying and exactly what I as afraid would happen with the rider shows that are based around collectible gizmos. (and again, credit to W for not even coming close to ever doing this. He starts with six memories and gains a few special ones, but no "gotta catch 'em all" or switching and swapping. I heard Fourze was bad at this, with there being so many switches)

[Matrixbeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

The reason I don't hold OOO's middle against it is because to it's credit, the characters remained interesting enough to keep it worthwhile and as soon as I said to myself "man this is kind of dragging" it instantly picked up. I, seriously, felt the very end was the most dissapointing. (though the finale was excellent. Again, it keeps it worthwhile) But yes, the musical medals was VERY annoying and exactly what I as afraid would happen with the rider shows that are based around collectible gizmos. (and again, credit to W for not even coming close to ever doing this. He starts with six memories and gains a few special ones, but no "gotta catch 'em all" or switching and swapping. I heard Fourze was bad at this, with there being so many switches)

Yeah. The medal swapping did seem forced, but compared to Fourze, I actually preferred it. OOO's combo possibilities changing every other week kept things fresh and kept him on his toes.
Fourze had 41 switches, and he used about 20 of them twice, max. It was insane and fights got tedious since Gentarou relied on the same switches because he had no reason to ever not use the likes of Rocket or Cosmic.

As for OOO's end, I actually enjoyed it. Then again, I was one of the few who liked Ankh turning.

[Ribieconvoy]

I've been catching up on Wizard recently, I'm about half way through episode 35. Holy crap, Sora being a murderer before he became a Phantom is a bit darker than I expected. Somehow though... I LOVE IT.

[Matrixbeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ribieconvoy

I've been catching up on Wizard recently, I'm about half way through episode 35. Holy crap, Sora being a murderer before he became a Phantom is a bit darker than I expected. Somehow though... I LOVE IT.

Yeah. That part was awesome. I loved it!

[Locke]

It's just a real shame that his Phantom side is so boring, just like pretty much every villain on the show.

[ryan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

Like I say I'm looking forward to it, and there is enough to keep me engaged out of the battles, but the fact I'm almost half way through the series and I haven't got to the 'good forms' yet is, in my opinion, shocking.

Why do so many shows structure themselves like this? What is the point in watching the first half if everything interesting is in the second half? I'm not saying this first half isn't good, but I seem to get told to wait a lot on this forum, the good stuff seems to always be coming somewhere on that horizon and it is never here right now.

Kuuga is a good show, so I don't really mind, but I ain't got time to wait around for a series to spend twenty episodes getting its arse in gear.

I know this point has come up a few times, but i'll repeat it, cuz why not?
Being the first in a new run of shows, they had to figure the formula out.
I've said this before, too, but I'll say it again, I felt finding out about each form was interesting, I wasn't waiting for the kill-everybody form, because I thought each new form was interesting on it's own.

Newer shows definitely pace it differently, so maybe more people feel like you, that the upgrade powers are more interesting to get to sooner than spending so much time with the other standard forms, but liked how Kuuga did it, and it just struck me that Kiva did it fairly similarly too, except he only got one upgrade form, instead of 7 or whatever Kuuga has.

Few shows start out strong from the get go, I've found almost across the board that every Kamen Rider show has the weakest story arcs at the beginning, because they have to find their groove, but once they do they all get better as time goes on. Better to start out weak and improve, than start strong and go downhill. That said, I've also found myself sufficiently drawn in by each beginning story arc so I've wanted to continue.

But certainly, don't force yourself to watch something you don't enjoy because people tell you it gets better. As has been stated, there are better things to spend your time on than something you don't enjoy. That's why I bailed on Dekaranger and Gokaiger- I gave them as long as I could, longer than I should have, and finally dropped them after 20-ish episodes because they weren't working for me. I love Kiva, but I'm not going to say somebody should force themselves through just because I thought it kept getting better and better.

I'm glad you're enjoying Kuuga enough to continue with it, hope you feel the satisfaction you're looking for once the Rising forms start hitting. Think it's time for me to watch another couple of episodes myself.

[Locke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryan

I know this point has come up a few times, but i'll repeat it, cuz why not?
Being the first in a new run of shows, they had to figure the formula out.
I've said this before, too, but I'll say it again, I felt finding out about each form was interesting, I wasn't waiting for the kill-everybody form, because I thought each new form was interesting on it's own.

Newer shows definitely pace it differently, so maybe more people feel like you, that the upgrade powers are more interesting to get to sooner than spending so much time with the other standard forms, but liked how Kuuga did it, and it just struck me that Kiva did it fairly similarly too, except he only got one upgrade form, instead of 7 or whatever Kuuga has.

Few shows start out strong from the get go, I've found almost across the board that every Kamen Rider show has the weakest story arcs at the beginning, because they have to find their groove, but once they do they all get better as time goes on. Better to start out weak and improve, than start strong and go downhill. That said, I've also found myself sufficiently drawn in by each beginning story arc so I've wanted to continue.

But certainly, don't force yourself to watch something you don't enjoy because people tell you it gets better. As has been stated, there are better things to spend your time on than something you don't enjoy. That's why I bailed on Dekaranger and Gokaiger- I gave them as long as I could, longer than I should have, and finally dropped them after 20-ish episodes because they weren't working for me. I love Kiva, but I'm not going to say somebody should force themselves through just because I thought it kept getting better and better.

I'm glad you're enjoying Kuuga enough to continue with it, hope you feel the satisfaction you're looking for once the Rising forms start hitting. Think it's time for me to watch another couple of episodes myself.

The show was definitely at its strongest when it basically a string of two parters introducing and showing off the new forms but that aspect seems to have been dropped from the show entirely, so maybe it would have actually been better for them to spread the forms out further in this first half and make each form more interesting to watch.

I probably could have appreciated the forms more if we didn't get four over ten episodes and like none over the next ten, and ironically his base White form has had more kills and uses than the Blue and Green forms combined so far, so what the hell is the point of them? Especially if these next ten episodes are set to replace them with even more powerful versions of themselves.

But I'm glad you understand, with the way the internet goes on it's like you have to force yourself through the entirety of a series you dislike just to have an opinion on it, like what a load of crap.

But yeah, I can't wait to see those new Rising Forms!

[ryan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Locke

But I'm glad you understand, with the way the internet goes on it's like you have to force yourself through the entirety of a series you dislike just to have an opinion on it, like what a load of crap.

Well, to a certain extend though, it's understandable. I've only seen around 8 episodes of Kabuto, so I can't really give a fair assessment of the show. I can say that I didn't enjoy Dekaranger, but I can't say it was complete crap, because I didn't even make it half-way thru (and honestly, the arc I ended on was the best one to that point).

But if you don't like what you've seen so far, there's little point in forging on, no matter what fans may say about. Even if you're wrong, and maybe it would become something you like after 15 more episodes, it's okay if you miss something you may have liked, there's more to life than just watching TV

Or so I hear, I duuno, I love Kamen Rider, and haven't started a show I didn't like yet.

Anyway, I started Kuuga episode 27 reminds me of another thing I really like about Kuuga, the opening credits sequence changes 3 or 4 times during the run of the show.

Now, obviously newer shows do that to, I think Fourze's changes shortly after each new State is acquired, but some of that is adding new characters, such as Meteor, but now that I think about it, some of it is just updates to show the new forms.

Kuuga doesn't just add the new forms, like Fourze did though, they changed a lot more of the sequence, and each change I felt brought a somewhat different mood to the opening. Though I do wish they hadn't added in all the Rising forms until they had debuted in the show, feels like spoilers to me.

I also like that around this time the Gurongi change their mode of operation around this time too, that their rules become more complicated, and at the same time, more difficult to predict. This arc in particular, I remember really liking for some reason, but I don't know what. I rather hope it's not because Rising Dragon form debuts here, because now that you bring up how fast they introduced the regular forms, at least there was an arc in between each new form. I think I got Rising Titan 2 arcs ago, Rising Pegasus last arc, and now I think I get Rising Dragon this time.

I do remember the pacing of this show was off, there were a couple of stretches where it did drag on, but they're not the first things that come to mind when I think back on it. All I really remember is the awesomeness of it all.

[Locke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryan

Well, to a certain extend though, it's understandable. I've only seen around 8 episodes of Kabuto, so I can't really give a fair assessment of the show. I can say that I didn't enjoy Dekaranger, but I can't say it was complete crap, because I didn't even make it half-way thru (and honestly, the arc I ended on was the best one to that point).

But if you don't like what you've seen so far, there's little point in forging on, no matter what fans may say about. Even if you're wrong, and maybe it would become something you like after 15 more episodes, it's okay if you miss something you may have liked, there's more to life than just watching TV

Or so I hear, I duuno, I love Kamen Rider, and haven't started a show I didn't like yet.

Anyway, I started Kuuga episode 27 reminds me of another thing I really like about Kuuga, the opening credits sequence changes 3 or 4 times during the run of the show.

Now, obviously newer shows do that to, I think Fourze's changes shortly after each new State is acquired, but some of that is adding new characters, such as Meteor, but now that I think about it, some of it is just updates to show the new forms.

Kuuga doesn't just add the new forms, like Fourze did though, they changed a lot more of the sequence, and each change I felt brought a somewhat different mood to the opening. Though I do wish they hadn't added in all the Rising forms until they had debuted in the show, feels like spoilers to me.

I also like that around this time the Gurongi change their mode of operation around this time too, that their rules become more complicated, and at the same time, more difficult to predict. This arc in particular, I remember really liking for some reason, but I don't know what. I rather hope it's not because Rising Dragon form debuts here, because now that you bring up how fast they introduced the regular forms, at least there was an arc in between each new form. I think I got Rising Titan 2 arcs ago, Rising Pegasus last arc, and now I think I get Rising Dragon this time.

I do remember the pacing of this show was off, there were a couple of stretches where it did drag on, but they're not the first things that come to mind when I think back on it. All I really remember is the awesomeness of it all.

The only reason I disagree with the whole sentiment is that although those last ten episodes may change your entire opinion on the show, no one should expect you to sit there and get to those episodes before you join in a discussion. Sure you may not be able to form an informed opinion overall, but you can form an informed opinion on what you have seen, individual episodes the aspects that come with them exist to be critiqued just as much as shows do as whole units. You are allowed to say you didn't like the show even after checking out only the first few episodes, no matter what the internet says.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the pacing of Kuuga...as such... but it is kinda weird that they've done the show in blocks with the first ten episodes being dedicated to new forms and the second ten being dedicated to character and story.

Since a lot of the acting is pretty weak in this show, I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more if they spaced out the new forms by slotting in the character focused episodes in between them, I think it would have all flowed better and been a lot more interesting.