[DreamSword]

Well, I went ahead and finished up the rest of Build. Including the specials and movies.

One of the few things I knew about Build via osmosis about going in was that many people agreed that the third act of the show was where quality declined.

And yeah, sure, there's definitely alot of stuff in the last leg of the show that I could definitely complain about, such as Gentoku becoming one of the most obnoxious characters I've ever had to deal with in Kamen Rider.

But the thing is... I actually thought it was overall a step up from the rest of the show? I mean, it didn't salvage the show for me or anything, but it at the very least gave me a character that I liked watching in Evolto, and it's also when the show embraced putting more spectacle into its fight scenes.

Shallow? Sure, but it was more than anything that I had gotten out of the show prior. Heck, I actually ended up being okay with the New World movies because they gave me more of the few things out of Build that I actually liked. If nothing else, I think that Cross-Z Evol and Grease Perfect Kingdom are great looking suits, and take advantage of character traits way better than other suits do.

Look, I didn't go into Build wanting to hate it, alright? And if it all sounds like I'm trying to dunk on anyone who got something out of the show, I'm really not trying to. If you love it, that's awesome. I wish I could! It's just that, Build in general really does not align with my tastes, with the biggest factor most certainly being that, by the end of it, I pretty much liked almost no one in the cast. And what little stuff I got that I did like was too little too late.

As such, I hate to do it, but my final rating for Kamen Rider Build is a 1/6. It's easily the weakest entry in Phase 2 Heisei for me so far, and is really only a step above Decade for me in terms of Rider shows in general. Heck, I can't even think of a song to associate with the show right now like I usually do: The show straight up creatively drained me. Next in line for whenever I decide to watch some Rider again is Ex-Aid, and I'm hoping I have more fun with that then I did with either Build or Black Sun.

[wentwood]

Update

Series 1 (Episode 02)
V3 (Episode 03)
X (Episode 03)
Amazon (Episode 02)
Stronger (Episode 02)
Sky Rider (Episode 02)
Super 1 (Episode 02)
Black (Episode 02)
Black RX (Episode 02)
Kuga (Episode 02)
Agito (Episode 02)
Ryuki (Episode 02)
555 (Episode 02)
Blade (Episode 02)
Hibiki (Episode 02)
Den O (Episode 02)
Kiva (Episode 01)
Decade (Episode 01)
W (Episode 01)
OOO (Episode 01)
Fourze (Episode 01)
Wizard (Episode 01)
Gaim (Episode 01)
Drive (Episode 01)
Ghost (Episode 01)
Ex Aid (Episode 01)
Build (Episode 01)
Zi O (Episode 01)
Zero One (Episode 01)
Saber (Episode 01)
Revice (Episode 02)

[Enchilada645]

Been doing some catch up on various specials/watching ones that recently released and I won't post too in depth stuff but...

Sabela & Durendal: An honestly average and plain special, but one that really manages to portray the Shindai Siblings as actual normal siblings. I'd say it's up there with their best appearance (Their Zenkaiger Crossover Episode). We also got to see Kaiji in its sword mode potentially more than we ever did in the show and we got a new Megid as well even if it was a retool. I'd consider that a win.

Birth of Chimera: Basically a prologue to Battle Familia and I think it does a nice job at bringing you what amounts to 95% new characters with only Hiromi and George making brief appearances. A very tragic prologue that sets up the movie and helps introduce the guest cast. Also Chimera as a suit is pretty nice, I prefer it over Daimon though Juuga is the superior suit of that system entirely tbh.

Battle Familia: Just a fun time getting to see the cast together again. The returning cast from the show that isn't our main three characters put in some real good work here. Also Geats' cameo was unintentionally the most hilarious part of the movie. Also for those of you who aren't too hot on Vice, dude very much takes a backseat in the movie (He does a lot of English One-Liners) for Ikki who gets some good stuff with Daimon, who I consider a better Akaishi even if I was entertained by Apollogeistman in the show.

Revice Final Stage: Given the time Battle Familia came out, despite the continuity and where it takes place... it was missing a few things. Luckily final stage rectifies the movie lacking those things. By that I mean Evilyty Live and Invincible Jeanne. It also has the most hilarious usage of "Clap your hands to give us strength!" in that it's mostly just for Hiromi who needs the extra power in order to fight as Demons because, he's an old man, though would rather be called Uncle if he's being honest.

[Mesnick]

Watched Kamen Rider Saber Spin-off: Kamen Rider Sabela & Kamen Rider Durendal. I think this story would have worked much better as a side story in the original show or a movie about various swordsmen. And so it feels empty, even compared to the Hyper Battle DVD. Not even new forms, just a cool exchange of books. Nevertheless, there is character development, there are no cringe moments, the battle, albeit short, but cool, the siblings' acrobatics were especially pleased. Well, Angella Mei looks beautiful in a wedding dress.

So in general, I have no complaints about the story itself, rather its format. Simply put: good, but too short.

[Sh Ranger]

I also watched Sabela & Durandal.

The wedding was a bust, what a shocker. Nevertheless, I think this was an improvement over Twokaizer VS Gokaiger (even though I like the Goldtwoikars a lot more than the Shindais), as it presented a more complex moral about getting married for the right reasons. Like, don't get married to appease your family, you should only get married to someone you truly love and respect. That's what the romantic spirit of marriage is all about! Don't be a Canalo, be a Bamba instead!

I may have admitted before that I was apprehensive about this special due to, uh, you know, Reika. But Kaneko had never let me down before and that still hasn't changed. I was impressed with how she gave some much needed constructive development to this dysfunctional character and even made her sympathetic and likable. And yeah, I'm still Sh Ranger, I haven't been replaced by some kind of doppelganger. I give praise where due.

Ryouga's development is good as well. He pushed the idea of marriage to encourage Reika to find someone with whom she can stand equal, rather than continuing to worship him like a god. And while she does initially go along it to appease him, she learned to want it for herself after seeing how Rui could actually be a good fit for her. Of course, he totally wasn't, but even though we didn't get a wedding, I still feel like we got a touching story about the social benefit of marriage and the importance of maintaining a healthy and honest sibling relationship.

[Mesnick]

Looked Battle Familia. Not the best of these films, but full of events and references to classic action movies. At the end, it's just impossible not to smile. Pleased Hiromi with his bow. Also, for once, a pregnant woman gave birth throughout the film, and not in a couple of minutes, as is usually shown in the movies. And here is the fact that Nozomu is the rider's excuse to sell another toy.
Geats' cameo wasn't the best. The fight scene was good, but the ending was clearly not worked out. Is he and Dimon just waved goodbye and parted ways? It would have been better if "Mission Complete" had sounded and Geats had simply vanished into thin air.

[GrandComplete]

I just finsihed reading the new prequel manga to the upcoming Shin Kamen Rider movie and it's siper intreasting the direction they've taken with the concept with the original series and it makes me excited for the movie.

https://mangadex.org/title/c2f91f0c-...r-shocker-side

[DreamSword]

I've started watching Ex-Aid. Currently up through episode 13, including the Pac-Man movie, the Gemn specials, and Episode Zero.

And so far it's... okay.

The first quarter certainly flows way better than what the first quarter of Build did, and most of the characters sans Brave are likable enough. Though I will give the show credit in that Brave does have a good point every now and then.

Maybe seeing Zero-One first spoiled me in terms of Yuya Takahashi's' writing, because comparatively, there aren't nearly as many strong character moments in Ex-Aid as there were during Zero-One's' first quarter. Even the infamous Christmas episode really didn't do much for me.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Kujo fine and all, but his arc being nothing super engrossing for me ontop of the weird way the episode itself is structured more so made the entire experience feel as if the episode was written just for shock value rather than anything character based. The biggest point of contention being that it felt like two separate episodes fused into one.

I think watching Episode Zero after the third episode might've put a bit of a different expectation in me, because I actually rather liked that set of extra episodes for the most part, and is the biggest reason why Taiga is my favorite character so far. Also helps that I think he has the best suits out of the whole cast so far. Although I will say that the introduction of Nico has me worried given that she didn't exactly make a good first impression.

But yeah, so far the show is overall just fine. Nothing terrible, but nothing spectacular either.

[DreamSword]

I'm now up through episode 23, and have also seen the Beast Rider and GoRider specials.

My fears of Nico and Taiga were not unfounded. The best way I think of to sum it up is that Nico is written very much like a modern MCU character; An obnoxious character who constantly undermines and ruins any sort of tone that the show goes for when she's around. I'll actually be getting into the story of Ex-Aid for once but then here comes Nico to make a derogatory comment or calls the scenario stupid and just immediately take me out of everything. And Taiga becoming a simp for her really does not help anything.

Meanwhile, it's been so interesting seeing just how different Kuroto is here compared to how he is literally every other piece of Rider media that I've seen him in. And really it's actually refreshing in a way, given that I'm pretty 50/50 on whether his antics work for me in a given bit of Rider media.

As for the specials, as infamous as the Beast Rider special is... I don't think it was that bad? Like, sure, it's not anything great, but I've seen far worse in terms of like, everything in terms of Rider. Even the graphic content really is nothing compared to early Phase 1 Heisei or Showa. It was overall just kinda there for me. Really don't get the disdain towards this one.

On the opposite end is GoRider, which from what I understand alot of people really love, and I just don't see it. It's not that it's horrible or anything, and I infact think the overall atmosphere of it is rather good, but outside of that, it just really didn't do anything for me. The logistics of how the final part play out are especially confusing to me. Because like, taking the casual spoiling of Blade's' ending aside, if Kuroto taking on Kenzaki's' form really did cause Battle Fight rules to take effect, wouldn't the game world have crumbled like, immediately, rather than waiting for Kenzaki to show up? And where the heck did Emu even get those GoRider cards?

That's about all the specific thoughts I have. Outside of those, Ex-Aid continues to just be thoroughly okay in my eyes.

[GrandComplete]

People like Gorider for it atmosphere, the character interactions and the Blade stuff was cool cause I remember people hand waving why Kenzaki despite not being dead as just oh crossover logic only for that to be turned upside down cauaing a bit of a stir it was a fun time to be had. And it offered an alternative to the Taisen movies which people where sick off at the time.

Also the Gorider cards where from Chou Super Hero Taisen which this was made to promote/piggy back off