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08-27-2021, 05:00 PM | #141 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Something I really like about Abyss design-wise is that he's kind of an example of working backwards! His two contract monsters - Abysslasher I think and something else - are actually Rider-less Mirror Monsters that were in the original Ryuki TV show!! So they're basically saying "what if a Rider contracted with them" and arrived at that. Just a super cool concept!
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For the Ryuki-ness of teamwork (even if Ryuki doesn't have the Riders eventually team up at the end actually...) and understanding, dunno if I got that too even in main characters, as I'd think the understanding is the main part of Shinji (Kido) getting the dilemma in the series for his plan to stop the war, as he'd get to know about other Riders' motives and that he can't please everyone in his actions, causing hesitation. Shinji and Ren were common primary-secondary Rider dynamic (albeit Ryuki probably kickstarted that like you said as unique), so that'd be probably not Ryuki-centric thing, but almost all of the Rider series (the outlier is when they're more cooperative Blade except at first, Hibiki, OOO for Date, and iirc Wizard).
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For Abyss, there's an outlier for him compared to the other Ryuki Riders, that his Final Vent is summoning a stronger Contract Monster, combining Abysslasher and Abysshammer into Abyssodon. But... dunno about it being Final Vent worthy tbh, Dragreder can go toe to toe with it no problem!
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08-27-2021, 06:47 PM | #142 |
Kaiju or Hero?
Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Even I Don't Know Anymore.
Posts: 1,397
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At this rate, I might as well be recapping the previous arc.
Though honestly, I don't have much to say on the Kiva arc. Looking back, now that I have a little more Rider knowledge under my belt (or in this case, a Driver), that I find it funny how Kiva, the previous season to Decade, features the youngest of the AR Riders, which at first, I thought "That can't be Kiva," and boy did they throw me for a loop. One thing I absolutely adore about Kiva, or at least what has been presented, is it's amazing suit designs for the Fangires, with their stained-glass and classic horror monster motif, to Kiva's amazing design. Easily the coolest Vampires aesthetically. Looking back, I'm pretty sure the attendants for Kiva were trying to ride off the success of the Imagin from Den-O, but I'm sure everyone put that together already, but I like how they're not the wild, comedic bunch their predecessors were, which serves as a fun contrast. At this point, I believed Kivala and (might as well refer him this way for now) travelling hobo were antagonists, the former being one of his minions, leading me to think that he commanded villains from the other Rider Worlds at the time, as someone who was new to Rider. Tsukasa was slowly becoming more and more enjoyable as the series progressed, and that was something that had my interest moving forward with the series. AR Kuuga and Natsume were fun characters, and I was honestly surprised and ever dubious about Kivala joining the crew, which made me wonder: just what sort of direction this show was going. And I think that's one of Decade's greatest strength in the perspective of a newcomer, of course, there's usually some hook when it comes to how some of these shows operate. From cool suits, to interesting characters and plot developments, you name it. For now, all I have time to say about the Ryuki arc (at the moment) was that I could not get Ace Attorney out of my head, and would imagine Phoenix and Edgeworth turning into Riders in the middle of a court session. |
08-27-2021, 08:52 PM | #143 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
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They really are cool designs. I don't know that most/any of them feel like unique characters, relative to Phase 2 monsters of the week, but they communicate Kiva's world very effectively. It's all gothic and foreboding and hungry, you know? It feels like it's in search of something to give it meaning, like a cathedral or castle might need inhabitants. Some really ornate and compelling monster designs.
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08-27-2021, 10:28 PM | #144 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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So, I find myself with some open time to work on this thread this weekend, and there's a thing I was going to hold off on until later, but maybe now I can squeeze it in? Maybe now's a good time talk about some non-Phase 1 stories I'm going to need help with?
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There was a really good episode of Shinkenger about something exactly like this, and it kind of blew my mind when I watched it to the point where I still think about it a ton. This doesn't really have anything to do with the topic of the thread, by the way; I just like thinking about Shinkenger.
As Fish is coyly referring to (and I got and let slide), Decade will eventually pay homage to more than just the preceding nine Kamen Rider series. This is something I learned in my prep for this thread, but after I'd already booked people to help. I've got people to help with Kuuga through Decade, but what's going to happen for the other series? Who's going to work on those with me? There are two options. The first is that I go back to the folks that have already volunteered their time and ask them for even more of it. A few have already offered to pitch in extra if necessary, but that's not what I'd want to do. I don't want to take more of their time, even if they're offering it. The second option is that other folks join the party. That's what I'm hoping for. I already have someone for the Shinkengers story, so we're good there. I need three people to pitch in on these stories, if they're willing: -Amazon -Black/Black RX -"Dark Riders" If you feel like you'd want to help out with those stories, please PM me! We'll hopefully get a chance to chat on Discord for the pre-show stuff (the beginning of the episode posts, where I ask about your toku history), and then circle back in a few weeks to talk about the episodes. If you're into this idea, let me know! This is going to be a first come, first served situation (since I'd really like to get this all in the can by Monday), so please don't take too long to decide. Thanks in advance for the consideration!
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08-28-2021, 03:10 PM | #145 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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I love that the teaser for Blade's world is just the four Riders recreating a shot from that show's first opening.
As for these episodes about Ryuki, it's sort of tricky to say how I feel? I remember being a bit grumpy about them watching Decade the first time since, for those keeping track, Ryuki was the only Rider show I had seen all the way through by that point, and ever since I've always assumed I was simply unfairly expecting some perfect recreation of the show, even though that is explicitly not Decade's goal as a series. Going back to them, then... I'm still not sure it's a great tribute to Ryuki? The whole approach Decade took, going back to what I said talking about the Kuuga episodes, is to feature these sorts of "snapshots" of the previous Riders. Capturing the entirety of a year-long series in a single pair of episodes might be impossible, but maybe you can capture something of that essence. And like, for how consciously different they chose to make Newsuke, his episodes are ultimately an origin story for a hero who selflessly fights to protect people's smiles. Kiva may not have romances and a whole second time period to take place in, but it's still the story of a troubled young person learning to believe he has a place in the world. And with Ryuki, it's like, what they came up with doesn't *not* line up with stuff that was in that show. It still has that core of Riders with conflicting viewpoints battling one another; it's got a buddy cop thing going on with Shinji and Ren learning to work together. There are even some touches that sort of hover between being superficial and not, due to changes in context, like Shinji being hesitant to fight (that downward tilt of his head when Decade is about to finish Knight off is so Ryuki) or how Ren is only participating in the conflict because of a personal crusade focused around a woman. There are plenty of Ryuki-isms here, for sure. Decade even does Ryuki's Rider Kick and it's awesome! (And also the entire plot erases itself at the end, so, you know, they got that part down.) But I think it lacks the weight Ryuki had? The entire tagline for that series was "if you don't fight, you won't survive." The theme song was called Alive A Life. We had a main Rider who wanted to protect all life so much he'd even paradoxically protect murderers, and a rival who would crush his own soul in a lonely battle all to save a single life that mattered to him. The main villain's goal wasn't all that different from the latter. That was a pretty big focus of Ryuki, the way I see it – these people can only have these clashing views because they're individuals, every one precious and irreplaceable in their own right. Then in Decade, these guys are all glorified jurors, and most of that strong conviction just kinda evaporates? (As evidenced by how petty Shinji's grudge against Ren feels.) Being a Rider ain't a commitment anymore, and it ain't lethal, which makes it one of the absolute most striking, different, and weird remixes Decade did... which is sort of commendable! ...and it's also frustrating as a big Ryuki fan, to have something so major completely excised this way, and I still don't know if I'm just being unnecessarily harsh here, even years later. I mean, I'm evidently a big Kuuga fan, and I like Newsuke fine enough! Looking at these more strictly as Decade episodes, I do like aspects of them a lot, and I even think it's a great pair of episodes for Tsukasa. It highlights how abrasive his surface-level personality is more than any other set of episodes yet through his insensitive treatment of Natsumi's entire dilemma (I won't lie, it IS pretty funny), while still making a point that he's trying to live up to an ideal deep down, and that ideal is Kuuga. It reminds me a bit of Cross-Z's whole deal in Build; basically believing he can be a better person because someone else is willing to believe it first. Not only does it make a nice beat for Tsukasa, it's also another instance of Newsuke contributing more with his kindness than with his fists, which is again, very Kuuga of him. I really liked that beat at the end with Tsukasa's photo showing both Shinji/Ren, and him and Newsuke. Look, my hands were tied, alright? If Kobayashi had written the scene I was thinking of into Gingaman or something, I would've gladly thought of that instead!
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08-28-2021, 03:32 PM | #146 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
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I feel like Ryuki is, more than any other Phase 1 series, really difficult to encapsulate in two episodes. It's a series about how slow and frustrating and confusing and necessary it is to understand other people. When it takes a year, that theme is well-served. When it takes a couple days? Feels like it's not really doing the show justice.
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08-28-2021, 04:20 PM | #147 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Quote:
Oh, and while I'm on the subject, the one for 7 calls out something else that made Ryuki relevant in 2009, which is that Dragon Knight was airing by this point. It makes specific mention of how the title isn't translated as Masked Rider, and how all that talk of translation kinda sorta apparently connected to Decade's transformations having the whole "Kamen Ride" callout? Interesting stuff to read, considering Dragon Knight didn't exactly end up making a huge lasting impact. Although on the other hand, every Kamen Rider from Double forward is still called a Kamen Rider, even when written in English, so...
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08-28-2021, 04:45 PM | #148 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Quote:
Oh, and while I'm on the subject, the one for 7 calls out something else that made Ryuki relevant in 2009, which is that Dragon Knight was airing by this point. It makes specific mention of how the title isn't translated as Masked Rider, and how all that talk of translation kinda sorta apparently connected to Decade's transformations having the whole "Kamen Ride" callout? Interesting stuff to read, considering Dragon Knight didn't exactly end up making a huge lasting impact. Although on the other hand, every Kamen Rider from Double forward is still called a Kamen Rider, even when written in English, so...
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08-28-2021, 06:20 PM | #149 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,417
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Japan actually really liked Dragon Knight, to the point of giving the show its own blu-ray release years later that the US never got as well as creating their own sequel to it in the form of a light novel.
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Last edited by DreamSword; 08-29-2021 at 07:31 PM.. |
09-01-2021, 06:00 AM | #150 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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Literally the days before the Ryuki episodes aired, Dragon Knight was airing episodes 9 and 10. It's strange to think that, on both sides of the world, kids could wake up and watch new characters in Ryuki costumes fighting each other in a weird reimagining of a show from 2002. (And hey, this isn't the only time Dragon Knight will come up in this thread!)
Anyway, Ryuki episodes. For the longest time, my signature's been Ryuki based, be it a group shot of the 13 Riders, or Kamen Rider Femme. The irony is, I've never seen Ryuki beyond these two episodes and the Zi-O tribute. I just think the suits look really cool. (Well, that and a very old Ryuki RP that happened once. I didn't do well.) And that's the energy this episode seems to give off too? It likes the Ryuki aesthetic, Riders mass-brawling, time travel, CGI monster fights (It likes the aesthetic enough to have a Ryuki OC do not steal as the main villain!), but struggles beyond that to make it actually connect to Ryuki itself. Also, it's such an odd set-up and with Natsumi being put on murder played for comedy, I did have to check if Inoue wrote it. He did not. (Also, Die, how's the search for assistants going?)
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