[Enchilada645]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Note that Swartz is a TIME TRAVELER, HE TRAVELS THROUGH TIME, HE CAN PREDATE WHATEVER HE WANTS

YOU FOOL

Damn it! FOILED AGAIN!!!

[Kamen Rider Die]

RIDER TIME: RYUKI EPISODE 1 - “ADVENT AGAIN”



It wouldn’t be a year-long tribute to Heisei Rider without a celebration of the most Phase 1 thing imaginable: Inoue Summer Movies!

This was a stunningly accurate recreation of the entertaining-but-inessential Inoue movie versions of various non-Inoue series, or at least the first twenty minutes of one of those movies. It’s the general premise of Ryuki, but with an emphasis on fight scenes and betrayals, rather than anything more decompressed and nuanced. TATAKAE, right from the jump.

On that level, it’s pretty fun. We saw more Riders here than we did in the entire Ryuki TV series, and a bunch of ‘em got to do cool stuff. Unlike Shinobi’s smaller and newer cast, we’ve got a ton of big-name actors here, including the returns of Shinji, Ren, Tezuka, Asakura, and GODDAMN GORO-CHAN. Just a stupid amount of fan service in this first episode.

(Real quick: boy has it been seventeen years. I was constantly flipping over to the Wiki to see if the characters were being played by the same actors, because it’s really hard to tell on some of them. I’d just seen Shinji on Zi-O, and Asakura ALWAYS looks like Asakura, so those were easy. Goro’d turned up in Kabuto, so he was an instant pop for me. Ren, for all the world, looks like Geiz’z dad, or at least how I'd imagine Geiz’z dad would look like. Put him in a big collar and you’d think you were looking at Future Geiz. But Tezuka! Tezuka don’t look so great! Would not have known it was the same guy without the Wiki.)

It’s a good thing they stuffed this first episode full of so much fan service, though, because there ain’t a lot more to talk about. Inoue opts to give almost everyone amnesia (without even throwing them in a river first!), so there’s very little explicit continuity with the TV series. It’s Shinji, for sure, but none of his previous relationships have carried over. It’s a reboot, which isn’t as much fun.

There’s echoes of the past, though. There’s a man that Shinji needs to see, and it might be Ren. Goro’s possibly confused Asakura with Kitaoka. (I think he’s scamming Asakura until he can take him out.) We’ll get back to where we left these characters in 2003, I think.

It’s just… I wanted this story to have the weight of history behind it. If you’re going to drag Shinji and Ren and Goro and Tezuka back into the Mirror World to TATAKAE, let it feel like they’re revisiting Hell. Ryuki was a series that talked about how individual choice and societal good intersected, so it’s weird for this reunion special to rob these characters of their bonds and their decisions. There should be an additional weight to these interactions, but there isn’t. It’s fun for the audience to catch these echoes, but the characters themselves are just going through familiar motions.

It’s not bad, though. Shinji, Ren, and Asakura all act like themselves, which is great. (There's an incredibly funny bit where Shinji discovers that no one in his group considers him the leader, and it's perfect.) There's a ton of action, and the premise is crystal clear. But it's not really saying anything, and it doesn't feel like it's built to, either. It’s the standard Inoue Summer Movie: bigger and faster, but rarely better.



also literally the first thing tezuka does is flip a quarter, validating "kamen rider quarters", and i have never loved inoue more

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

On that level, it?s pretty fun. We saw more Riders here than we did in the entire Ryuki TV series, and a bunch of ?em got to do cool stuff. Unlike Shinobi?s smaller and newer cast, we?ve got a ton of big-name actors here, including the returns of Shinji, Ren, Tezuka, Asakura, and GODDAMN GORO-CHAN. Just a stupid amount of fan service in this first episode.

I've read - and this is from a wiki, mind you, so grain of salt - that they wanted to get Miho/Femme back for this, too. The actress had just given birth, though, so she wasn't able to participate. My understanding is that this is why Abyss was included and Femme wasn't.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I've read - and this is from a wiki, mind you, so grain of salt - that they wanted to get Miho/Femme back for this, too. The actress had just given birth, though, so she wasn't able to participate. My understanding is that this is why Abyss was included and Femme wasn't.

It would've been great! As it is, I think it's hilarious that Abyss is included, because it makes this another Zi-O thing that Decade has his fingerprints on.

Still... Tezuka and Goro? I'm happy!

[cosmicrescend0]

Special Time: Survive Edition! (Part 1)

-Recently, an acquaintance of a friend just finished up Ryuki, and seeing them post their reactions caused me to rewatch an episode or two. Most notably, the finale. It reminded of why I intentionally skipped RTR in the first place: Does a story like this even need a major follow-up, especially one that brings back the Rider War? I didn't think so, so I didn't touch it. I still kinda feel this way, and I even mulled just skipping it again when the thread came to it. But why not? Let's see if I was actually justifed skipping it or not......

-What can I say? This really feels like a Phase 2-flavored Battle Royale to me more than anything? Not just how it looks, but the writing too? (Although I am a loss at explaining why it feels that way...) I was really surprised that it felt like that to me, since Toshiki Inoue hasn't written much for Phase 2.

-Shinji feels like Shinji, but like, less in a "hotblooded puppy" way and more "your funny uncle everyone gets along with" kind of way?

-Goro......The implication that Kitaoka scuumbed to his illness and is dead in the present, it's so sad. I'd be willing to wager Goro's going through the same thing Shinji is in half-remembering Kitaoka, but since Goro's memories of him in the Rider War often involved Asakura, he'd seem to have scrambled the two up....?

-Tezuka.....? Idk what the guy's doing, i just hope his heelturn is better explained than "lmao imagine the shock value of one of the most pacifist Riders from Ryuki as evil!".

-Imperer, Verde, Abyss, Scissors, and Tiger have completely new users, which is....interesting. And hey, isn't that Mr. Heisei Rider himself I spy, making a cameo amongst the crowd? Love when suit actors make little cameos.

-As always, it's time for the "returning character with new look" list, From best to worst:

-Asakura(God his hair here is such a glowup to whatever they were doing in Ex-Aid, he looks damn good!)
-Ren (exactly the look you'd expect from a older Ren! Very stylish, very mature!)
-Goro (Nice and simple! Never change, Goro!)
-Jun (have no real opinions on it, it's ok?)
-Shinji(Same thoughts as last time + ah, they stuffed him into a blue jacket to emulate his iconic aqua one....I honestly prefer his look in the Another Ryuga arc.)
Tezuka(I can't describe why, it's just my least favorite look? I don't like it)

-Was geniunely surprised to see the Zi-O kids here, I forgot they didn't get a Ridewatch when they fought Another Ryuga. I guess they'll be investigating Tatakae Lady while the oldheads duke it out.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

Does a story like this even need a major follow-up, especially one that brings back the Rider War?

I'm more okay with revisiting Ryuki's premise than I am a lot of other shows. Between the rebooted reality of the finale, and the tantalizing of premise of Why Would These Guys Choose To Fight Again, I was looking forward to seeing the old (and older) gang again.

But they made one pretty fatal flaw: No one chose to be there. That's huge! That's a huge part of the Ryuki premise! It wasn't about shoving people into a death match, it was about exploring why people value things more than their own lives, or if we should look at sacrifice as a different kind of murder. To have people abducted and told to TATAKAE... it's not really the same thing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

Shinji feels like Shinji, but like, less in a "hotblooded puppy" way and more "your funny uncle everyone gets along with" kind of way?

Yeah, Shinji's whole Enthusiastic Dimwit act plays a lot differently when he's approaching 40. Still funny, but a little sadder?

Quote:

Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

And hey, isn't that Mr. Heisei Rider himself I spy, making a cameo amongst the crowd? Love when suit actors make little cameos.

Not just a petrified-looking Takaiwa; Abyss's blink-and-you'll-miss-him human host was Kuuga's suit actor, Kenji Tominaga!

[Androzani84]

I remember Shirakura joked that Taikawa’s character was the new Femme.

Anyway, for spoiler reasons, I’ll be doing my response to this in two parts. First up, is the Ridewatch Playlist, then the compare and contrast, and finally some other miscellany.

So without further ado, let’s return at last to…

Ridewatch Playlist: Remade by the Guys Who Bought You the Sequel to Guyver Mix

“A rider battle in a world of mirrors. The red dragon Rider is… Ryuki”

Here, I went with the obvious choice of Alive a Life, much as I don’t like it

“Reborn to stop the battle, the red Dragon Knight, Ryuki Survive”

And here, I went for a song I have a lot more love for, Revolution

“The blue-armoured bat Rider is Knight”

And for this, I went with Ryuki’s default insert, Hatenaki Inochi

“The Knight who evolves to survive, Knight Survive”

And from here on out, I had to dig deep into the soundtrack to find songs, starting with Final Edition Dragranzer - Darkraider

“Simultaneous Shooting! Fighting with various weapons, the green rider is Zolda”

Turns out Kitaoka had a dedicated song, Dear Friend

“So, this is where the party is? The vicious evil Rider is… Ouja”

As did Asakura, Spinnin’ Around

“Contracting with Volcancer, the shifty rider is… Scissors”

And for Another Ryuki, I went with the Japanese theme song for Ryuki’s US remake Kamen Rider Dragon Knight: Dive Into The Mirror

And now, for something we haven’t seen for a while, the list of the unreleased. This time, Ouja and Scissors were winners in that competition.
Kamen Rider Ryuki (Blank Form)
Kamen Rider Raia
Kamen Rider Gai
Kamen Rider Ouja (Blank Form)
Kamen Rider Tiger
Kamen Rider Imperer
Kamen Rider Verde
Kamen Rider Femme
Kamen Rider Ryuga
Kamen Rider Odin

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

And now, for something we haven?t seen for a while, the list of the unreleased. This time, Ouja and Scissors were winners in that competition.
Kamen Rider Ryuki (Blank Form)
Kamen Rider Raia
Kamen Rider Gai
Kamen Rider Ouja (Blank Form)
Kamen Rider Tiger
Kamen Rider Imperer
Kamen Rider Verde
Kamen Rider Femme
Kamen Rider Ryuga
Kamen Rider Odin

I think this was one of the first things I learned about Scissors? I remember watching Scissors' debut on Ryuki, and going EVERYBODY NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT SCISSORS, and everybody telling me that I was about seventeen years late to break the Scissors news. Him winning a Ridewatch contest was, like, a wake-up call!

[Kamen Rider Die]

RIDER TIME: RYUKI EPISODE 2 - “ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE”



Hey, we’ve got (I think) our first-ever canonically reciprocal queer romance in Kamen Rider! That’s great!

Everything else is not great!

It’s miserable, is what it is. It’s got that dumb Amazons thing, where it mistakes Brutality for Maturity. We’re not really exploring ideas with greater sensitivity or subtlety, we’re just watching folks get randomly stabbed to death. Characters don’t exhibit hidden depths or additional facets, they just pontificate briefly before dying stupidly. It’s actually more childish than the children’s show it’s celebrating.

Nothing in here makes a great case for reuniting so many original actors. It continues to miss out on the big, important part of Ryuki – that you have to opt into the Rider War – which makes everything a super-generic Last Man Standing battle royale. There’s no sense of a greater mission to anyone in the contest (Ren, in particular, seems bizarrely undermotivated), it’s all just basic survival. Characterization is incredibly weird, with characters switching allegiances so often that it’s barely worth considering why they’ve picked who they’ve picked to partner up with. It’s weird, how haphazard this all is.

And it’s… god, it’s so hamstrung by an entire episode of You Look Familiar amnesia garbage. There’re a couple good jokes (mostly Shinji realizing much too late that he’s the only good guy in a cast of homicidal weirdos), but it keeps this story from saying absolutely anything new. There are no new ideas in this episode. Tezuka’s romance with Jun is too undercooked to be anything more Laudable Representation, and it doesn’t really square with Tezuka’s character from the TV show. (I don’t recall him being an untrustworthy knife-enthusiast?) Asakura knows what everyone’s deal is, but he’s the one character in the story who doesn’t care what everyone’s deal is. It’s an entire episode of people trying to get back to square one with their relationships, and it’s not super fun.

Whole episode’s “not super fun”, really. By the time Tezuka and Jun were stabbing Third Guy to death for no clear reason (other than TATAKAE, I guess), I basically lost all of my investment in this mini-series. Outside of pure nostalgia (including Shinji pulling out a flawless TEZUKA!!!), there’s so little in this episode to latch onto. The action’s greatly diminished. The direction is okay, but not memorable. Sara dressing up as the Woman of the Beginning is cute, but she’s about as helpful in her explanations and strategies as Mai was on Gaim.

There’s pleasure to be had in this series, mostly from Ren and Shinji being back, but it’s hardly worth all of this joyless brutality.

[TheRaizin]

Can you pass the pepper?