[Kurona]

Fish's thread has really been reminding me which episodes are which, so...

For Kuuga, while I definitely agree with the assertion of Episode 2 being one of them; I would also absolutely put forward Episodes 11 and 12 (Promise/Teacher), Episodes 25/26 (Wandering/Myself), and Episodes 34/35 (Tremble/Emotion), and of course -- Episodes 48/49 (Kuuga/Yusuke).

It's difficult to get into exactly why at the moment, but I imagine some of them are pretty obvious.

[DreamSword]

I really couldn't say for all the ones I've seen, but for my top 2 it'd be:

Kuuga: Episode 35, which not only is a big turning point for the show as a whole, but also contains the moment I still show people to get them interested in the show. The ones Kurona listed are also valid.

OOO: Episode 1, actually. The moment where the wall falls and everyone is just standing there, staring at Eiji still makes me giggle like an idiot.

[Sunred]

I think what really helped Showa Riders regain some popularity while the Heisei Riders were doing their thing on TV during the early 2000s was the manga title Kamen Rider Spirits. I lost track some time later but when I first encounted it, it was AMAZING. The art was beautiful and ZX finally was further fleshed out than that one-shot TV special, at least that is how I remember. Again, I lost track after some time so the details are fuzzy but I still do remember it really made ZX the most badass rider of all time.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

I think what really helped Showa Riders regain some popularity while the Heisei Riders were doing their thing on TV during the early 2000s was the manga title Kamen Rider Spirits. I lost track some time later but when I first encounted it, it was AMAZING. The art was beautiful and ZX finally was further fleshed out than that one-shot TV special, at least that is how I remember. Again, I lost track after some time so the details are fuzzy but I still do remember it really made ZX the most badass rider of all time.

You know, I'm a little amazed that (to my limited knowledge) there aren't a steady stream of Kamen Rider manga releases. Here in the US, any moderately successful sci-fi/fantasy/horror TV series can get at least a limited series, if not a raft of spinoffs. I mean, there's a currently-running Blade Runner comic. The idea that a 50-year franchise with dozens of potential characters to flesh out or revisit isn't constantly churning out material... I really don't get it.

[AkibaSilver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

You know, I'm a little amazed that (to my limited knowledge) there aren't a steady stream of Kamen Rider manga releases. Here in the US, any moderately successful sci-fi/fantasy/horror TV series can get at least a limited series, if not a raft of spinoffs. I mean, there's a currently-running Blade Runner comic. The idea that a 50-year franchise with dozens of potential characters to flesh out or revisit isn't constantly churning out material... I really don't get it.

Last I checked, Kamen Rider Spirits is still going, plus there's the SIC stuff that's *definitely* still going. Add in the Kuuga reboot manga, the Double sequel manga, a Faiz reboot manga, it's not as if it doesn't exist. It's available, it's just not easily accessable to us Western fans because so little of it gets translated.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

Last I checked, Kamen Rider Spirits is still going, plus there's the SIC stuff that's *definitely* still going. Add in the Kuuga reboot manga, the Double sequel manga, a Faiz reboot manga, it's not as if it doesn't exist. It's available, it's just not easily accessable to us Western fans because so little of it gets translated.

I didn't know about the Spirits manga (Showa, a thing I don't truck with), so you're completely right that there's more manga than I was aware of. Thanks!

The other ones, though, they're all one-offs, and most of them are from years ago. It's weird to me that there isn't a steady stream of manga focusing on the current show (seems like a great promotional tool?), or recent/hit seasons. With all of the V-Cinemas and Rider Times and whatnot, it's not like Toei doesn't want to mine those fanbases. And mangas allow for team-ups and continuations you'd never get to see in live-action. Why isn't there a Den-O/Kuuga/Double team-up manga right now?

Like, it's not that the manga don't exist, but I'm used to something like the Doctor Who or Star Wars comics, where it's intensely focused on what's happening right now in the franchise, with plenty of new stories for older corners. It's weird that there isn't (again, from what I've seen on this forum) a Zero-One series running, alongside new volumes of Build, Ex-Aid, Drive, Fourze, etc.

[AkibaSilver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I didn't know about the Spirits manga (Showa, a thing I don't truck with), so you're completely right that there's more manga than I was aware of. Thanks!

The other ones, though, they're all one-offs, and most of them are from years ago. It's weird to me that there isn't a steady stream of manga focusing on the current show (seems like a great promotional tool?), or recent/hit seasons. With all of the V-Cinemas and Rider Times and whatnot, it's not like Toei doesn't want to mine those fanbases. And mangas allow for team-ups and continuations you'd never get to see in live-action. Why isn't there a Den-O/Kuuga/Double team-up manga right now?

Like, it's not that the manga don't exist, but I'm used to something like the Doctor Who or Star Wars comics, where it's intensely focused on what's happening right now in the franchise, with plenty of new stories for older corners. It's weird that there isn't (again, from what I've seen n this forum) a Zero-One series running, alongside new volumes of Build, Ex-Aid, Drive, Fourze, etc.

All the manga I mentioned are still running! The Faiz one began last September, afaik. Plus, I always got the feeling Rider is a much more closed off world than most superhero things - it's not like there's a continuing series of adventures or a huge range of cast to go on, most stories are pretty self-contained, with week to week changes probably being hard to keep track of in the comics.

EDIT: Oh, and if you're after weird crossovers, the SIC Manga is where you want to look. The wiki is a little scant on the details, but they have the heroine of Decade become a version of Gaim.

[Matrixbeast]

I dropped the Spirits manga years ago mainly because the site I read it on got taken down, but if you can still find it, it's actually a fairly solid read. It's a more modern take on Showa characters and it's actually fairly gripping.

Honestly, the only thing that kept me from going back to it is the fact that it's still going (I think it's 18-19 years old, now), making it hard to know when the end is in sight

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

All the manga I mentioned are still running! The Faiz one began last September, afaik. Plus, I always got the feeling Rider is a much more closed off world than most superhero things - it's not like there's a continuing series of adventures or a huge range of cast to go on, most stories are pretty self-contained, with week to week changes probably being hard to keep track of in the comics.

EDIT: Oh, and if you're after weird crossovers, the SIC Manga is where you want to look. The wiki is a little scant on the details, but they have the heroine of Decade become a version of Gaim.

Neat! The Wiki is... a little difficult to get info about the manga series, and most of the links I clicked were for stuff from years ago. Sorry to be so off-base on this! I will stop trying to figure this out!

[Guyver Spawn]

At one point, many people try to have Dark Horse to get Kamen Rider Spirits to be released in North America and nothing happened. I'm pretty sure it will do fine in the US because manga still sells well in North America.