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12-02-2021, 11:38 AM | #1 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Hey, gang. Welcome to KAMEN RIDER DIE REWATCHES LEGEND RIDER PROJECTS (AND MORE!).
So, we've just finished up Kamen Rider Decade. I've watched W through Build. The next thing on my plate should be Kamen Rider Zi-O. It's just... watching Decade, seeing that little team-up with Double at the end, knowing there were going to be a whole bunch of Heisei Phase 2 returns in Zi-O... it got me wanting to rewatch some Phase 2 stuff. Not all of it! I do not have that kind of time! But, like, a little taste of each Phase 2 Rider, as well as any Phase 1 Legend Rider reappearances? That I'll actually understand now? That sounds like it could be a pretty fun couple months between finishing Decade and starting Zi-O. Which is what this thread is going to be! I'll be rewatching a selection of Heisei Phase 2 Kamen Rider material (movies, online specials, V-Cinemas, what have you) and talking about them in this thread. My list, for the next while, looks like the following: Kamen Rider W Forever: A to Z/The Gaia Memories of Fate Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider OOO & W feat. Skull: Movie War Core OOO, Den-O, All Riders: Let's Go Kamen Riders Kamen Rider OOO Wonderful: The Shogun and the 21 Core Medals Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Fourze & OOO: Movie War Mega Max Kamen Rider Fourze: Rocket Drill States of Friendship Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Super Hero Taisen Kamen Rider Fourze the Movie: Everyone! Let's Feel The Universe! Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Wizard & Fourze: Movie War Ultimatum Kamen Rider x Super Sentai x Space Sheriff: Super Hero Taisen Z Kamen Rider Wizard Episodes 52-53 Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Gaim & Wizard: The Fateful Sengoku Movie Battle Heisei Rider vs. Showa Rider: Kamen Rider Taisen feat. Super Sentai Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Drive & Gaim: Movie War Full Throttle Super Hero Taisen GP: Kamen Rider 3 D-Video Special: Kamen Rider 4 Kamen Rider Drive: Surprise Future Kamen Rider Chaser Drive Saga: Kamen Rider Brain Kamen Rider Drive Episode 48 Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Ghost & Drive: Super Movie Wars Genesis Kamen Rider 1 *Kamen Rider Ghost: The 100 Eyecons and Ghost's Fateful Moment *Kamen Rider Ghost: Legendary! Riders' Souls! *Kamen Rider Ghost Episode 50 *Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man vs. Ex-Aid & Ghost with Legend Riders *Kamen Rider x Super Sentai: Chou Super Hero Taisen Kamen Rider Brave: ~Let's Survive! Revival of the Beast Rider Squad!~ Kamen Sentai Gorider *Kamen Rider Heisei Generations FINAL: Build & Ex-Aid with Legend Riders *Kamen Rider Build: Be The One I'm going to be covering those, in order, which should put us up to Zi-O's debut. (The titles that are preceded by an asterisk are ones I've already written up for TokuNation. I'll be reposting those write-ups in this thread for continuity's sake. I won't necessarily do a new write-up or anything, but I will be rewatching them, and I'll add any new thoughts if I have them.) I'm focusing on anything with a Legend Rider appearance or Early-Bird team-up, and at least one solid solo outing from each season's cast. I'm shying away from Net-Movies and comedic content; not because I don't like it, but because it would take an entire month to tackle, like, all of the Fourze online content. I would like to watch Zi-O sometime in 2022! As this is a rewatch thread, there are only two real guidelines I?d ask everyone to keep in mind. PLEASE AVOID TALKING ABOUT ANYTHING PAST KAMEN RIDER BUILD. I'm going to be getting to Zi-O and the Reiwa shows in 2022, and I'd prefer to stay as unspoiled on those shows as possible. We'll get there! Save your fun stories and memes about, like, Thouser for those threads! EVERYTHING FROM KUUGA TO BUILD IS FAIR GAME FOR DISCUSSION. If you'd like to stay spoiler-free on any of those shows, maybe skip this thread! Otherwise, it's totally fine to discuss any of the non-Zi-O Heisei shows. We'll be checking in with each show, so it's cool (and welcome!) to talk about elements from those shows you think the movies did or did not handle well. Or even just randomly mention how weird you thought the Akiko/Terui romantic subplot always was on Kamen Rider W. Y'know, whichever! That's about it for the setup on this thread. I've only done a rewatch thread once before, and they're (hopefully!) nice and chill. I'll be reminiscing a bit about my original journey through Phase 2, and potentially finding new details that I didn't have the context to enjoy last time. It'll be a relaxing and nostalgic couple months for everyone, I hope. These Phase 2 movies and such are all pretty long, relative to a half-hour TV installment I'd usually cover six times a week, so expect this coverage to be in the 2-3 times a week range. Maybe more if things line up, but my December is already looking sort of slammed. I will do my best, but certain things take priority over rewatching Kamen Rider movies. (I can't believe I just said that, either! I'm so sorry! I don't really mean it!) Final thing that I need to say every time: I cherish your participation. While I'm keen to re-experience stuff that I watched over ten series ago, I'm excited to get to share that experience with all of you for the first time. You are smart, generous fans, and I can't think of a better holiday season than chatting about Kamen Rider movies and related media with all of you. Participation isn't mandatory (feel free to lurk!), but it is always treasured. You are the best fans in the world, and I'm lucky to get to talk about a franchise I love with all of you. That's the setup out of the way! Let's watch some Phase 2 Heisei goodness! And also some Taisen movies!
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 03-20-2023 at 11:08 PM.. |
12-02-2021, 11:46 AM | #2 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER W FOREVER: A TO Z/THE GAIA MEMORIES OF FATE
Oh man, is this my favorite Kamen Rider movie? I honestly didn't think it was, before now. I remember it being solid. I remember thinking Foundation X was a weirdly inert overarching menace for several movies to come, and they got their dull start here. (Just, like, the boring pragmatism of funding a dozen different World Domination mad science schemes. I want a global terror initiative that commits!) I remember Eternal, of course, and his strangely theatrical group of zombie soldiers. But, like, that's it? Quality-wise, I didn't remember it being any better or worse than any other summer movie. And, okay, maybe it's the intensely lowered standards of the Phase 1 films and their nebulous continuity and their frequent poorly deployed themes and their air of exhaustion and their inability to find time for the entire cast of the series they're spinning off from and their etc., but I thought this film was just about perfect? I honestly don't know what I could find fault with. Thematically, it's doing some interesting stuff with the topic/keyword of Memory. Philip is the lead for the emotional part of the narrative, since his identity is wrapped up in his amnesia. His disconnection stems from his belief that his past holds the answers to his sense of self, so a story that forces him to set aside what his memories have to offer in favor of a present surrounded by people who care for him, that's going to be an excellent dilemma to base a W movie on. Like, this movie is about the value of Memories and memories, and how the lack thereof can't keep you from being a hero. Structurally, the movie sort of hands off from Philip in the first half to Shotaro in the second half, which I really enjoyed. This isn't really Shotaro's story, so his involvement gains intensity from Philip's absence. With Philip captured, the movie pivots slightly to a more straightforward Assault On The Villains' Base plot, and it's here that I really dug the film. It's... pacing these things is hard. Any number of these movies have bungled their story by coming out of the gate strong, padding out the middle, and then trying to land an emotional punch in the climax. It doesn't work great, since the audience (or maybe just me) has lost patience with the thinness of the narrative. Here, it's the Kamen Rider W team as a multi-act motion picture story. There's all of Philip's cerebral empathy – the puzzle-solving interest in human connection – and then Shotaro's two-fisted heart-on-his-sleeve problem-solving. Whenever you start to get tired of one, the other tags in. It makes for a viewing experience that never wears out its welcome. Even the parts I might've found a little too deus ex machiny, I find them charming now? Stuff like Skull providing the crucial Lost Driver to Shotaro, or the town of Fuuto lifting Double up with a gust of wind; it all reads as Magical Realism to me now, not some hacky writing or regrettable plot hole. Skull's appearance is the theme of Memory, the power we imbue it with, and ways it can help us better protect our present. In a story freighted with the importance of Memories/memories, why shouldn't the memory of Skull be a weapon for our heroes to call on? And the town of Fuuto – maybe literally the town of Fuuto – protecting its hero long enough for its hero to protect the town, man, that's just an A+ ending. I can't even slightly get mad at an ending that corny. That's a refutation of Eternal's villainous philosophy of Inhumanity As Freedom, the separation from community as a pathway to power. Here, it's Double's commitment to the townspeople that provides a route to victory. And Eternal as a villain! The trope of Evil Version Of The Hero, like, always works. Trope for a reason. The way Daidou needles at Philip's insecurity, and then laughs at Philip's connection to humanity, it gives the superhero side of this movie a lot to work with. Daidou's scheme is born out of the same outsider frustration Philip has, the same need to find a connection, but Daidou gleefully solves it with citywide terror and a giant laser. The premise of this one totally delivers, which is a very low bar that not every Kamen Rider film clears! Eternal just looks awesome, too. The sideways E on his forehead to play off of Double's W antenna. The cape, the holsters, the knife; all boss as hell. The whole movie looks great, honestly. I love how they suspend the Hardboilder in the air for a couple shots, to make Shotaro and Double's attacks look insanely epic. All of the weird lieutenant villains feel distinct and have memorable fights with multiple heroes. AND THE FIGHTS ARE ALL SO GOOD. This thing just looks phenomenal. Absolutely everything you love about the action of Kamen Rider W, but bigger and faster and cooler. Plus, like, everyone you love from the series (who's still alive at this point) gets at least a few minutes of screentime. Saeko! Saeko acts as a clearly-filmed-separately Greek Chorus! But there's also a half-dozen characters I smiled at remembering (that AKB48 gag!), a cool moment for Shotaro and Terui to acknowledge each other's commitment to justice in a manly way, and an entire subplot where Akiko is horny and Terui treats her like a little sister. (I have never loved their "romance", and that didn't change today.) Just, like, everyone's in this. Everyone. Even a brand-new Kamen Rider! Yep, first OOO appearance, and the continuation of the Early-Bird guest appearance Double inaugurated in the Dai Shocker film. Pretty much the same thing here, but we get Actual Eiji instead of just the suit and some ADR. It's cute! It's OOO showing off his Henshin, a form change, and a finisher, which I think is the high water mark for this sort of thing. I dig it, mostly because A NEW KAMEN RIDER DEBUTS is the icing on the cake, rather than the reward for putting up with nonsense. It's a bonus. The whole movie around it is so fun, so entertaining, that it almost felt greedy to me when Eiji showed up. I already loved this thing! You don't need to give me a gift when I'm neck-deep in gifts! And what a gift this movie was. I didn't remember much from it before, but now I'll never forget it. (I will 100% forget it. My brain's like a sieve for this franchise! I will have forgotten this movie by next week.)
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 03-20-2023 at 11:18 PM.. |
12-02-2021, 11:48 AM | #3 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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(Boy, I tried two new, different things -- pasting from Word, and pasting from Word into TextEdit into here -- and this site borked them both. Awesome. Feeling real good about this new project!)
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12-02-2021, 01:05 PM | #4 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,601
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Oof
That stinks that you haven't gotten a workaround yet. I know I've seen it happening to a few other posts on this site. So I'm really curious what the issue is and if they'll fix it. Anyway this movie! I'll probably be more active here since I have seen like... the entirety of Phase 2 Kamen Rider and I can just get my thoughts out on things I enjoy. But regardless, the first actual Summer Movie I saw for Rider! And it still probably is my favorite of the Summer Movies off the top of my head? I feel like Surprise Future is close up there alongside Be The One. But A to Z really edges them out in just like everything for me honestly. But also I've never really ranked the Summer Movies even though maybe I should since I basically made it a mission to watch all the Phase 1 ones. But yeah I suppose W was the first time I ever actively read up on placement stuff, like hearing there was like some semi-continuity in where movies were placed was weird to me. And A to Z makes a real good strong impression. If Skull wasn't right there, Eternal might be my favorite suit in W, the fact that the eyes don't get cut off and form the shape of an infinity symbol/mobius strip is a real good touch. Suit aside, he just makes a good antagonist in general, him and his quirky miniboss squad. It also has like some of my favorite setpieces and lines in Rider as well. The whole W just rapid changing into all 9 Forms before going Xtreme is real good. Plus the whole "Count up your sins!" , "There's too many at this point to count up!" exchange was real good. Also Eiji! Probably still one of my favorite Rider Cameos that I've witnessed. "Rider's should help each other" indeed! Just him showing up and his brief fight to get rid of one of the movies mid-bosses is a perfect showcase on how a Rider Debut should be done. |
12-02-2021, 01:32 PM | #5 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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"Oof" is right! Kind of not in the mood to write a bunch when the formatting is so off-putting and illegible that I can't imagine anyone reading it! Kind of need this site to get it together!
Quote:
Plus, it's nice to have something that keeps the spotlight on the show it's spinning out from, rather than the Winter Movie thing of serving as an epilogue for another series, or the Spring Movie thing where it's got to integrate Sentai casts. This one's just, like, A Kamen Rider Show You Like as a movie. That's very cool.
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12-02-2021, 02:45 PM | #6 |
Filthy SU/FE Trash
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 572
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awww shit I didn't know the W thread happened how did you watch it
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12-02-2021, 02:47 PM | #7 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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No W thread (yet?), unfortunately. Just rewatching some Phase 2 stuff I originally watched pre-TokuNation, to get myself primed for Zi-O.
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
12-02-2021, 05:42 PM | #8 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,448
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Eternal in this movie is good. Eternal in his own V-Cin is bad.
Anyway, W was the... fourth full season of Kamen Rider I watched, I believe? If the US shows aren't counted, anyway. But yeah I felt the show was a bit slow to start, once it got good it got really good. And even now, after having seen most of Phase 1 and that W isn't technically what started alot of Phase 2 trends, it still feels like a really unique entry in the franchise, and while it might not have started alot of Phase 2 trends(though it most certainly did start some), it sure as heck perfected a good chunk of them. Granted, I've only seen about half of Phase 2 as of this writing, but I still feel like out of all the "typical" elements of a Phase 2 Heisei season, W is the one to do most of them the best, only to be outdone by OOO. Really hoping I can find the time to rewatch the show before the anime comes out, but even I can't, you'd better believe I'll be watching the simulcast alongside the rest of the message board when it happens next year. First time I'll be able to do it, too!
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12-02-2021, 06:51 PM | #9 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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My workaround for the formatting right now is to just paste the text in again using the edit button right after I make a post, which for some reason seems to make things fine? Hopefully this inexplicably works for you too, Die!
But yeah, on a much happier note: one of the best Rider movies ever! I'm going to beat you to the punch with recycling old content here, because this happens to be something I already wrote up my opinions on: Quote:
This one is also the bomb. It's right up there with Mega Max in terms of legendarily awesome Rider films. It totally rewrote the book on what the summer movies could be, and being Double, did it by being simple, clean, and effective.
And also high-impact, in this case, because this is the movie where Koichi Sakamoto decided cameras don't need to be stationary. Like, ever. I think there might've been a couple entirely still shots, but even in the ones that are largely stationary, the camera is still subtly bobbing about. The sense of energy the entire movie has is nuts, even outside of the action scenes, which are all completely spectacular. Any Rider movie that has some good bike action is a win in my book, and that's only the tip of the iceberg here. It's all in support of a story that avoids overcomplicating itself so hard, it's basically a video game. I know when people say that, it's usually not a compliment, but hear me out. The strength of any given Double arc in the show is always directly tied to how interesting the villain is, so the movie takes it to the next level. We've got the final boss, and his gang of goon mini-bosses, who are introduced at the start, and spend the first half of the movie tearing up the place, before the heroes turn things around and start working through them one by one until the movie ends. It doesn't need to be any more complex than that in terms of structure, especially when Eternal is such a memorable bad guy. The emotional core of this movie revolves around Philip, taking his family woes straight out of the show and delivering a sort of extra chapter that doesn't change anything, meaning you aren't "forced" to watch the movie, yet on its own merits explores the characters in an interesting way. The parallels the movie draws between Philip and Daidou aren't particularly deep, but they work, and it gives the story a good hook. Shoutarou isn't left out either though, getting to do a ton of the heavy lifting in the back half as he single-handedly starts turning the tables back over after the darkest hour. The way the movie almost immediately presents you with that hole in the ceiling is some great foreshadowing, and even makes up for the fact that his new belt is given to him by a ghost (and you thought Faiz Accel's debut made no sense!), but really, even then, Kamen Rider Joker is just plain awesome. As is this movie, if you somehow aren't getting it yet. Like the show itself, it's the gold standard every other summer movie should be trying to live up to.
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12-02-2021, 07:30 PM | #10 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,581
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Eternal is the best movie rider ever. And A to Z was if I recall voted best rider movie ever in a survey once by fans.
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