[Shin Henshin]

Strong first episode from a solely anime perspective. If you haven't watched W, you're not gonna feel lost since they establish/set up the basics of the premise from second one.

Following Shotarou through a job was a great way to get the viewer comfortable with what's going on. Also plenty of stuff that KR and W fans will love to see in terms of supporting characters and locations.

[SPLIT LIP]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jello

I'm not a big fan of the hypersexualized witch, but everything else is wonderful

Would you believe she's actually toned down from the manga in this?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Actar

Wooh! The cry of the Xtreme Memory got me so hyped.

Yeah that was pretty sweet.

I feel like adding the Begins Night recap was to assuage any concerns that the Kamen Rider aspect of the show may lack. IIRC that's not in the manga, at least not in the beginning, and the way W fights is much more kinetic and graceful than the live-action version could get, so it seems they were showing off what the anime medium can accomplish for that character. I almost wish that opening wasn't in just so the actual W reveal could've been more exciting, but there was probably some mandate to have some actual suit action in the first ep.

From what I read of the manga the story only gets better, and they did a damn good job adapting it. It wasn't 1:1 but it was paced very well. Shotaro's VA was great as was what little we heard of Philip, though I will say Akiko sounded a bit more generic but her performance was at least still very good.

Also I cannot express my delight at seeing Santa-chan and Watcherman in anime form.

[Kurona]

I feel like including the Begins Night segment is gonna confuse people not acquainted with W or Rider, because you're gonna expect that to be followed up on as part of Shotaro's backstory... and then it's not, because they already did that in the show. It would have made a bit more sense to go with something near the end of W imo

[Enchilada645]

Well depending on how far we get into the volumes in these 12 episodes and if we somehow reach Volume 6... I only say this in relation to the covers for the volumes I saw and it was a very Skull centric cover (I seem to recall Skull related chapters popping up too) so who knows we could end on Sokichi himself and stuff relating to Shotaro's backstory with him.

Just a guess and maybe not the perfect plan but hey who knows.

[Switchblade]

This was really fun. I'd actually planned to rewatch W before this began, but I completely forgot. Still, it really did capture the feel of the show, as I remember it. I did read the few chapters of the manga that got translated, but I think that the story just works better in action than it does on the page. I am not an anime person, but I'll definitely be following this.

[Shin Henshin]

I don't think the Begins Night opener's gonna confuse anyone really. It's a really quick and pretty concise origin story that can be referred back to when needed. Not to mention the episode did a good job of touching on some of the stuff shown in that segment without needing to hit the breaks and explain anything.

Lets the viewer put two and two together while offering intrigue about things.

[Jello]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPLIT LIP

Would you believe she's actually toned down from the manga in this?

...actually, yes.

[DreamSword]

A pretty decent start!

Though I will say, this definitely does feel like the sort of premiere where you're meant to watch both episodes 1 and 2 in tandem.

That aside, I like the art style, the episode itself did a solid job at establishing what the general flow of the show is gonna be, and it was nice to get a tease how, as an anime meant for a slightly older audience, this show doesn't need to adhere to the same censors it would've had to had this been live-action.

Also, I despite his hair being green in the flashback segment, I did like that once Philip shows up proper, it's shown that his green hair is actually a halfway done dye job.

Looking forward to the rest of the show!

[Daikaijuman54]

Through lag and poor internet, I finally watched it.

As someone who read the Manga (some of it, from what translations I could find), it amazes me how faithfully this was done. But what impresses me more is how well the actors portrayed the cast almost on point. It really did feel like the characters, which, yeah, I know the writer worked on W (head writer was it?), but the voices worked brilliantly. Even if they're not the same voices, I like how it does sound like they've aged from the show, which I like.

The art style, from the Manga to Anime, I've always been reminded of older Manga from the style, and the animation also gives me that feel, so once again, I must mention how happy I am with the animation.

Speaking of... That reenactment of Begins Night was perfect! I could hear the voices as it played out from the show and W segment in the Decade X W Movie, and the animation was stellar! I was grinning like an idiot once W appeared (and will probably do so again in the next episode).

And the new theme song! While I do wish the singers of WBX returned for it (then again, they could still have a song in here), but I like it. It fits W perfectly, from the jazzy, hard-boiled (heh) atmosphere, score included, it really felt like watching W again (which I would absolutely love to do, or better yet, own. Make it happen, Toei!), so I'd say I enjoyed this, and looking forward to seeing the rest of it.

Probably already Anime Contender of the Year if you ask me.

[Actar]

What a nostalgia rush. For context, Kamen Rider W was my first Heisei Kamen Rider and the series that got me back into Kamen Rider (& Kamen Rider toy collecting) over two whole decades ago. It's one of my all-time favorite Kamen Rider series (Top 3 with Faiz and Gaim), and a series that I still think stands up phenomenally well today. Also, I have not read the Fuuto PI manga that this is based on, so I am going into this completely blind.

Now, usually, I'm very, very trepidatious when going into a sequel of a well-established franchise. These things usually don't turn out well, BUT, this one does not seem half-boiled or half-baked at all. The source manga has been going strong, and I can't help but be super hyped about a Kamen Rider anime. I think the last one I saw was the '90s SD one when I was in primary school.

And, for what it's worth, the first episode was indeed a banger. It hit many of the right notes, though it wasn't 100% perfect for me. Most importantly, straight out of the bat, my favorite thing about Fuuto PI was that it took advantage of the anime medium in a myriad of ways to do things that the live-action counterpart could not. Not only were the action scenes and camera angles more dynamic, but we also have classic anime fanservice and violence/gore. Not only would that have been far more inappropriate and grotesque in live-action, it also hammers home the fact that this adaptation is for those who have grown up with the original series.

I absolutely loved how they adapted the Begins Night scene straight out of Episode 1 (and the Decade crossover movie). It not only set the tone and reimmersed old fans into the world of Kamen Rider W, but it also allowed us to get accustomed to the new anime aesthetic by showing us something that we're already familiar with in the new style.

It was also super impressive how they recreated all the little details from the show verbatim. Usually, when it comes to anime adaptations, they have a tendency to change things up a bit. However, everything, from the suit design to the Stag Phone to Philip's book, to the Detective Agency... everything was pretty much spot-on. Even the sound effects like the beeps from the Stag Phone and the cry of the Xtreme Memory are all reused.

Of course, there are some things that I felt were missed opportunities, like how they couldn't get the original actors to reprise their roles or like how they didn't reuse the original music from the show (someone on YouTube will probably do it), but all in all, I think they did a great job with the setting and the characters. One of the best parts of Kamen Rider W was the huge cast of recurring characters that made the city feel real and lived in, and I'm glad to see them all back. (^o^)