[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

But speaking of characters, I gotta know, is it a standard for pre-Super-1 Showa Rider shows to get rid of their extremely cool second-in-command villain to be replaced by a way lamer one? First it happened with General Monster in Skyrider, and now here with Mister Titan. Mister Titan is so cool! His design is simplistic but effective, he has cool powers, and the actor they got for him was charismatic as heck! Dude also had some legit smart plans, to the point that he almost won in his final bout with Stronger.

At least that's exactly what happened at Amazon. In general, changing enemy generals is a normal practice for many tokusatsu shows, as constant failure deprives the villain auri of threat. Plus, in some cases this serves as an excuse to change the tone of the show, change individual details, take into account the wishes of the audience, in a word. But sometimes it turns out to be a bad decision.

[Switchblade]

I think Stronger got, er… stronger near the end, when they replace Black Satan with the Delza Army. Having some recurring villains with an ongoing power struggle made for more engaging stories.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

At least that's exactly what happened at Amazon. In general, changing enemy generals is a normal practice for many tokusatsu shows, as constant failure deprives the villain auri of threat. Plus, in some cases this serves as an excuse to change the tone of the show, change individual details, take into account the wishes of the audience, in a word. But sometimes it turns out to be a bad decision.

I mean, I get all of that, but man, I really would've liked for baddies like Mister Titan and General Monster to stick around more, especially since their replacements do little to impress me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

I think Stronger got, er? stronger near the end, when they replace Black Satan with the Delza Army. Having some recurring villains with an ongoing power struggle made for more engaging stories.

I look forward to that, especially since General Shadow so far does nothing for me as a villain.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

I wasn't lying! I have infact been watching Stronger!

I believe you! Stronger is my second favorite Showa season after V3, so I hope you'll enjoy it more later!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Speaking of Shigeru, this dude has to be the template for the a-hole Riders we'd see in the future, right? He has so many moments of just being a total showboat-y jerk, but his actor is so charismatic that it comes across more comical than it does malicious. Though I could easily see modern viewers having a problem with the way he treats Yuriko half the time.

Jo's actor originally auditioned for the role of Akaranger, so I think maybe he used that as inspiration for his long roll call as Stronger. But yeah, Jo has a pretty big ego by Showa standards. He's the only one I know about that has his own Stronger-branded S shirts. I love how he tricks Black Satan in to making him a remodified human, admires his new hands while using them to casually destroy one of their soldiers and then immediately laughs at their misfortune. This also makes him one of the few Showa Riders who became a Rider by choice, instead of being experimented on against his will or as means to save his life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

As for Yuriko, I do respect that she's (arguably) the first female hero/Rider in the franchise, but man, I feel so bad for her. Her track record is terrible -- so far having only two definitive wins in terms of fights, and alot of times serves as the jobber of the cast. And like I said, Shigeru treats her pretty poorly, like the time Tackle fell off a cliff and he didn't even care! He just left her there! I like the duo as characters but jeez man!

I liked the novelty of having Electro Wave Human Tackle as a sidekick for the main Rider, but sadly, she performs pretty much as badly as I'd expect from a female sidekick in the 70s. Her cool moments are sparse enough to be counted on one hand, but I assure you she definitely has some cool moments. Other than being a heroine, I like Misaki as a female lead, in a similar way that I like Junko from V3, or Mako and Chiko from X. She's generally likable, I guess. I think it's just nice to have Misaki as this character who's consistently involved in Jo's adventures, rather than mostly hanging around at Tachibana's place.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Jo's actor originally auditioned for the role of Akaranger, so I think maybe he used that as inspiration for his long roll call as Stronger.

I've legit loved that call out ever since I first heard it in Skyrider. It's such a great boast!

Quote:

I liked the novelty of having Electro Wave Human Tackle as a sidekick for the main Rider, but sadly, she performs pretty much as badly as I'd expect from a female sidekick in the 70s. Her cool moments are sparse enough to be counted on one hand, but I assure you she definitely has some cool moments. Other than being a heroine, I like Misaki as a female lead, in a similar way that I like Junko from V3, or Mako and Chiko from X. She's generally likable, I guess. I think it's just nice to have Misaki as this character who's consistently involved in Jo's adventures, rather than mostly hanging around at Tachibana's place.

Yeah, it's very much a "baby steps" sort of thing when it comes to this. I like Tackle as a character, and she is certainly a step up from alot of other female characters in the Showa era, but it's just a shame that the times really wouldn't allow for much else.

[DreamSword]

I just finished season 1 of Saban's Masked Rider.

And while there've certainly been some rough patches here and there, my overall view of the show hasn't really changed.

So rather than talk about the most current 13 episodes and end up repeating what I said before, I instead wanna turn attention to what is probably the most contentious aspect of the show: Ferbus



Even people who've never watched the show know who Ferbus is, as he's essentially the mascot of the show and the thing most people couldn't stand most in the whole affair. And to be honest, while I personally think he's just kinda there, I can easily see why he grew so hated.

Sure there's the common complaints, about Ferbus eating up screentime and being an obnoxious kid-appeal character, but I think the biggest detriment of it all is that Ferbus is a big reason why alot of things in the story either go wrong or are made worse off than what they were, and unfortunately he never learns even when scenarios blow up in his face, and is often easily forgiven.

Episodes 20 and 22 especially will test your patience when it comes to Ferbus, as those two episodes focus almost entirely on him and it's when he's at his absolute worst behavior. Heck, the 20s in general could be considered that, as even in episodes not with him at the forefront he often does something incredibly selfish or stupid that makes things worse for everyone else. It's very easy to hate this little fuzzball.

Do I hate him, and does he ruin the show for me? No, as I have experienced far, far worse, even if we're just strictly talking toku or even just Kamen Rider. But man, even I found myself either rolling my eyes or doing a deep exhale during certain moments or episodes. Luckily though, everyone else in the cast, even if they aren't exactly "deep" in terms of character writing, are likable enough to keep me invested. Especially Dex, who as I've noted before remains a very likable lead.

Similar to my stance on the second half of Super-1 where I said there was fun to be had if you could get passed the kids, there's some genuine heart to various aspects of Masked Rider if you can get passed Ferbus.

[Switchblade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Sure there's the common complaints, about Ferbus eating up screentime and being an obnoxious kid-appeal character, but I think the biggest detriment of it all is that Ferbus is a big reason why alot of things in the story either go wrong or are made worse off than what they were, and unfortunately he never learns even when scenarios blow up in his face, and is often easily forgiven.

This is pretty much word-for-word why I hate Onari from Ghost.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

This is pretty much word-for-word why I hate Onari from Ghost.

It's a big reason as to why I can't stand JK from Fourze most of the time. Dude nearly gets the cast killed multiple times, and all he ever gets is the equivalent of an "Oh you~."

[Fish Sandwich]

Finished rewatching Fourze today, which is something I've been taking my sweet time with for a while now (a hair over a year and a half, making this the exact opposite of a binge-watch!), and even with so long to think about it, I mean, there's absolutely no way I can describe how much this show means to me, or how much I've enjoyed finally going back to it in full after a decade. Fourze isn't the show I call my favorite Rider series, but part of that is simply that it transcends such petty labels. This isn't just a show I like a lot; it's something etched into my very soul, and without it, I don't think I'd have stuck around to meet those shows I do call my favorites, let alone make the effort to find a place like this where I can share that love with people who are generous enough to care. Fourze was a hero created to bring cheer to people, and I'll probably never have the words to express the sincere gratitude I feel for all the cheer he's brought me over the years. But even if I can't manage to get across how special Fourze is to me, I can at least leave this post here simply to mark that I have in fact finished watching Fourze through again, and had a great time with it, because it's still as fun as ever, and always will be.

[GoldenXtreme]

I rewatched Black with the Discotek subs. If I am infamous for anything on this forum, I hope I am infamous as "that member who thinks Black RX is better than Black". But I do like Black too! I think its reputation is hugely overblown, but the final stretch of episodes is fantastic and it's often very cool looking. I do think that the majority of the show is pretty... standard for the era though. When people think of Black, I think they are usually actually thinking of the really good final stretch and not the silly Showa nonsense that encompasses most of the show. Solid C in my book, so my opinion hasn't changed much. Can't wait to rewatch Black RX soon and find out if my love for it is as strong as ever or entirely misplaced...