[Guyver Spawn]

Den-O turns 15 years old this year. While I do like the show, but I don't like the impact it has done with the series. I can't help to notice later KR shows try to copy & paste its format (slap stick comedy and the main rider having a non-human partner).

[gashatfreak]

According to the wiki, Zero-One's black undersuit is supposedly full of 'non-Newtonian fluid' (liquid whose state changes depending on the amount of stress put on it) that helps absorb damage in combat. I recently found out that ketchup is a non-Newtonian fluid so now I can't help but think of Zero-One as one giant ketchup packet.

All those wounds Aruto receives in the show? Ketchup.

[Deepsea]

Weird au idea what if adult Asumu from hibiki became a doctor and worked in the same pediatrics unit as Emu from Ex-aid?

[Fish Sandwich]

I haven't been meeting my quota for obsessively talking about Kuuga lately, so, for no particular reason besides it's fun, I'm going to take a moment to do something I've always wanted to -- explain a bit about the Linto writing system.

I just think it's really cool? I feel like learning to understand Grongi is the more time-honored die-hard Kuuga fan tradition, but in my typical contrarian manner, I've realized I find all those little characters way more interesting. I have no idea how many other people do, but you know, there's all these phrases with actual meaning written all over Kuuga's designs and elsewhere, and I feel like it contributes a ton to the show's identity, because no other Rider show has anything quite like it. So for the sake of getting other people to maybe appreciate those intricate details a little more, I figure there's no better place to start than with a passage of Linto writing that's about as iconic as they come. And in the process, I can even answer the question I know *I* was always asking when I first watched Kuuga -- "Wait, did this ancient civilization really have a character for 'television'?"


"Please watch in a well-lit room, at a good distance from the screen"

Yes, today we're going to be looking over the warning that pops up at the start of nearly every episode of Kuuga. Because again, it's pretty cool, right? They took the obligatory "please don't literally glue your face to the TV" warning and then wrapped even that into the lore and universe of the series. From the second an episode of Kuuga starts, you know exactly what show you're watching.

But how, exactly, do those eight symbols equate to the Japanese translation at the bottom, or the English translation of that? Well, just like Japanese, the Linto writing system makes use of characters that represent entire words and concepts, and if we simply figure out what each of those means, it'll start to seem a lot less mysterious. Indeed, one of the coolest things about Linto writing is that the characters are often extremely clear and direct as to what they represent. One at a time then!


First up is the Linto character representing "you", and I couldn't ask for a more perfect example of how simple these things are. The backbone of the entire writing system is basically just a crude stick figure drawing of a person. A person by itself is, naturally, representing "people", and again, just as with kanji in Japanese, by combining those root parts with other shapes, a wide variety of things can be expressed. Here, we have two people, with the one on the left reaching out their arm to the other, as if I am reaching out to you. Pretty easy, right?


Second comes the Linto character for "this", which I believe to be in the shape of two open hands reaching out to grab a nearby object. Much like that basic person shape is repeated all over the place, a simple circle is used by the Linto to stand in for quite a few different non-person things. Characters associated with the Amadam in Kuuga's belt, for example, make frequent use of this for obvious reasons.


Third, we have the character for "to see". Verbs in Linto writing are consistently expressed by putting different characters within this exact version of the "people" character, because they're all representing things people do. In this case, we have what is pretty clearly a stylized drawing of an eye, complete with two eyelids, two little eyelashes, and a pupil.


For the fourth character, we have "time", which is simply an hourglass with sand falling from top to bottom.


Up fifth is a character that is *not* representing television, as hilarious as that would be. The one character I thought I figured out on my own back when I first watched Kuuga, and I was totally off the mark! No, as it turns out, this is the character for "room". While the way in which they're stylized is a bit different, we've still got what is very clearly a person, this time enclosed on either side by walls. Pretty self-explanatory... even if I managed to misinterpret it anyway!


The sixth character, to put it as simply as I can, means "to make (something) brighter". As I said, verbs all have that exact same version of the people character, and the other character in this one is, by itself, the Linto character for "sun", represented by a circle that's placed up as if in the sky. shining down five rays of light, as if they were warming the earth.


The seventh character is maybe the trickiest to explain, but even then, I don't think it's all that complicated? The exact way you'd translate it changes a bit by context, but the picture is of a container (like a glass for drinks), filled to the top. Broadly speaking, I suppose "fully" is maybe how I'd sum it up, but in this particular case, that's being used in the sense of performing an action to the full extent of your ability. Doing something the proper amount, basically. Don't worry if you're a little lost, because I'll try and bring this all together in a second. Hang in there a bit longer!


The eight and final character is one last verb, this time meaning "to separate". The sub-character this time is two people heading in opposite directions, which is to say, two people creating distance between themselves.

So! Bringing things back around to the start!



It's important to note that the sentence structure of Linto writing mirrors that of Japanese, which means it goes subject-object-verb rather than subject-verb-object, as in English. It's essentially Japanese without all the connective bits between words. Taking those first three characters, for example, it goes "you" "this" "watch", which would obviously be a little out of order to an English-speaker. But I'm not really the best person to explain that kind of stuff well, and fortunately for me and you, the finer points aren't super relevant to this crash course.

Ignoring the specifics and keeping things loose, this passage breaks down into the exact two lines of four characters it's already separated by. Putting the first four together results in "when you're watching this", and the latter four combine to say "keep the room well-lit and keep a proper distance (from the screen)"

Like I said -- pretty simple, all things considered! It comes off like some secret code at first, but only in the way any language does to someone not familiar with it. Part of what makes me find Linto writing so neat is that it really does come across as a system a civilization would believably come up with in order to better communicate, which means it's doing its job perfectly as a constructed bit of lore for Kuuga.

Hopefully seeing it demystified a bit was of some help to anyone like me who always wanted to know a little more about how this stuff works. Especially because, as far as I'm aware, there really isn't anyone who's ever gone in-depth on Linto writing in English? Which is part of what motivated me to take even a tiny stab at it myself. I get that it's a niche topic within a niche fandom, but at the same time, it's like, why even be a sci-fi/fantasy nerd if you aren't going to geek out at least a little over some world-building here or there? At any rate, I'm always darn happy to have a chance to bring attention to the insane amount of detail that went into Kamen Rider Kuuga.

[DreamSword]

You do us Kuuga fans a great service with stuff like this, Fish. Please keep these things saved for future reference.

[Kurona]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I haven't been meeting my quota for obsessively talking about Kuuga lately, so, for no particular reason besides it's fun, I'm going to take a moment to do something I've always wanted to -- explain a bit about the Linto writing system.

This is really cool!! I never even thought about these characters before but now I really feel like I've got a good rudimentary understanding. Love the idea of having a person representing a verb

[Kurona]

I've asked before about tricking electronic devices into playing transformation noises... and, well, I'm asking again! Does anyone know how to play the noises on electronic upgrade items for belts that usually use non-electronic devices? I'm mostly interested in the Mugen Eyecon here, but I have to admit I'm very curious how items like the Cross-ZBuild Can or the Toucon Boost Eyecon or the Cosmic Switch work

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kurona

Does anyone know how to play the noises on electronic upgrade items for belts that usually use non-electronic devices? I'm mostly interested in the Mugen Eyecon here, but I have to admit I'm very curious how items like the Cross-ZBuild Can or the Toucon Boost Eyecon or the Cosmic Switch work

Basically it's just extra switches somewhere on the upgrade item that work with the existing mechanics of the belt and/or just kinda bump against something when you put it in.

- The Mugen Eyecon is a hilariously straightforward example, as there's a very conspicuous switch sticking out the back that can be pushed in by hand just as easily as by the inside of the belt. You just have to hit the usual switch on the side after that (which is all the lever on the Ghost Driver actually does to begin with), and you've unlocked Infinite Potential™ the easy way.

- The Cross-Z Build Can (and Sparkling by extension), I'm not too sure about, but I know it would have something to do with the holes in the "bottlecaps", since the Build Driver's lever pushes little pins up and down in there, which is normally to make the insides of the regular DX Full Bottles move. I think you already have a Cross-Z Dragon, right? I'd imagine it works in a similar way to however that does.

- For the Toucon Boost Eyecon, it's worth noting that most of that transformation sound actually still comes from the belt, with the Eyecon itself just doing a sort of Kiwami Arms thing where it contributes a few minor parts of it.

[Androzani84]

If it helps, I can trigger the sounds for the Saiko Kyutama (which is the same principle of an electronic item in a line of rotor cast items) by depressing a button on the bottom and then acting as if it was in the Seiza Blaster (which I don’t have)

[henshinzero]

How do you all picture female riders who’re mothers since we have a number of male riders who’re fathers?