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08-14-2016, 11:03 PM | #41 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,534
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Random ramblings on Kabuto.
They commemorated the franchise well by going back to basics motif-wise. Even after 10 years the designs have not gone out of style and the gimmicks were on point. The clock-up gimmick was an awesome addition allowing me to focus on the battles and the way Tendou stylishly finished off his enemies were awesome. Cast-off I think was awesome and clever which probably was most likely inspired from the molting process of insects. And then the additional riders. The first wave of additional riders, TheBee, Drake, and Sasword were equally awesome. They were really well-designed and really emphasized their motifs very well. And then Gatack joined the club being the Kamen Rider 2 to Kabuto's Kamen Rider 1. What I liked was that While Kabuto was a red and sleek design accompanied by Tendou's cool personality, Gatack was a blue and rugged design accompanied by Kagami's hot-blooded personality perfectly contrasting the other. And then there was the late addition but a good one... The Hell Brothers. Their brooding personalities were that of an angry teenager but boy did they make it look good. Plus the homage to the first two Kamen Riders could not have been done any better. From the color palette to their finishers they all screamed OG double riders. Anyways, that is my unorganized two cents on Kabuto.
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08-21-2016, 12:07 PM | #42 |
The Rabid Rider Fanboy
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 45
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I <3 Fourze. I see flaws with each rewatch but I can't ever bring myself to dislike it.
Gaim has the best told story in KR thus far. I could gush on about it for like, ever, but I won't. Also the suit designs for the most part kick ass. Movie War 2010 is my favorite toku movie of all time. That ending scene with Shotaro and Tsukasa is by far the best part of the movie though. Stay the Ride Alive is my favorite song of all time now by the way. Speaking of crossovers, I don't hear much about Gaim/Wizard movie, but I adored the scene with Kouta, Mai, and Haruto when they were talking outside. It's what a KR crossover should do. The more experienced Rider gives a piece of advice stemming from his struggles that ties into the situation to the newer Rider. Perfecto. Den-O had the most likable ensemble of any season with the possible exception of Fourze. I love how by the end with Ryotaro vs Momotaros you see how far they've come since the start of the season. Eiji's backstory in OOO is my favorite backstory for a primary Rider except for maybe Shotaro. Say what you will about Movie War Full Throttle but that scene with Drive and the 4 main Gaim Riders is my wallpaper at the moment. Kamen Rider in general has had veeeery good storytelling for it's medium. Not to say Sentai or anything else Toku in Japan is subpar per se, but compared to PR, it's insane how seriously Japan can take it's stories and how well they can be executed.
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Fanboy Status: Fourze |
08-21-2016, 08:11 PM | #43 |
KNIGHT OF SPADE
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 360
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I want to get into the rambling fun Let's talk Blade. (P.S. If you haven't watched Blade or plan on watching it, don't read this, spoilers will definitely ruin some of the experience and there's gonna be spoilers )
I'm not going to talk about the first 22 episodes since those SUCKED. Boring, slow, uninteresting characters don't make for a good show that's meant to be a flashy, in-your-face kids' show (don't kill me for saying that ) After those episodes however, there was a writer change and the show changed DRASTICALLY. I think I'm in the minority that thinks Round Zero~Blade Brave fits the show more than Elements, but other than that the show became one of my favorites after the change. Kenzaki became the prime example of how I want a main Rider IF they go the "I fight solely for other people" and super optimistic approach. His back story isn't the greatest... but his decisions felt like they had real weight to them and it was shown multiple times that Kenzaki meant it when he wanted to save people and there were consequences to prove it (the most drastic one I will explain later). Next is Tachibana. He's torn between Kenzaki and Hajime personality-wise. He wants to help people and really cares about Kenzaki and Mutsuki, but he wants power and he's easily the least powerful out of all the Riders. He allies himself with all the wrong people, which is why a lot of people dislike him, but I was okay with it. At the end of the show and in Missing Ace, it's shown that Tachibana learned from his mistakes and became a stronger person. Despite having his alliances in the wrong place for most of the show, him helping Mutsuki and creating new Riders show that all he wanted was the strength to help others. Now for Hajime, he's easily the fan-favorite Blade Rider. His mysterious backstory keeps you guessing and his alliances are never set until the end. Some might even say he's the main Rider as he gets a lot of screen time and is the most developed and interesting character in the whole show. When the Joker Undead part of him starts to take over, the conflict between all the other Riders grows as they have to decide how to deal with him. Hajime's relationship with Amane and her mother is also very strong, even if Amane herself is kind of annoying (even in Missing Ace when she grows up). Last is Mutsuki. He's probably the most hated Blade Rider as he's annoying when taken over by the Spider Undead, which is the whole middle part of the season. I actually didn't mind Mutsuki. He got his fair share of development with the Shima and the Tiger Undead to show how powerful the Spider Undead's control was (and to make it more satisfying when he FINALLY broke free) and his girlfriend was actually a good female side character that shows Mutsuki's dedication to his comrades. The side characters weren't annoying in this show like a certain show (you're expecting me to say Ghost right? I'm gonna say Den-O. Angry? Stop falling asleep and read my ramblings gosh darn it ). Hirose was pretty helpful, but not intrusive to the story and her arc about her and her father was pretty good and her Trial father dying was a sad scene, especially for what some could say was a villain. Kotaro was pretty forgettable though and was supposed to probably be like Keitaro, but in Faiz, Takumei was pessimistic and moped around a lot so Keitaro needed to be stupidly optimistic to balance that out, but Kenzaki is pretty happy-go-lucky so Kotaro isn't needed and just kind of blends in. That may be a lot of text, but I haven't gone much in depth with the Riders since even Hajime isn't good on his own. All the characters compliment each other very well and make the show even better. First, the visual subtleties really surprised me when I first thought about it. At first, Tachibana was like a sempai to Kenzaki. It shows when they fought together in earlier episodes, Garren would be in front of Blade, his bright red stood out more than Blade's more quiet blue and the red have off a feeling of power and leadership. Then, Chalice appeared. Blade and Warren's designs are similar but Chalice's is very different, and it matches his personality. He's an untamed wild animal, like how he has two horns sticking out of his helmet and the more angry looking compound heart compared to the flat helmets of Blade and Garren and the more subdued round, green compound eyes. Then Leangle comes in, and in his first appearance he's the strongest Rider, even beating Chalice to start. His suit looks very regal with the gold, more armor and long staff. Then, later in the season when Blade gets stronger with his Jack form, the gold on him stands out more than Garren's Jack form, where the gold just blends in with his red suit and he has less gold and smaller wings. The gold also helps him look more equal to Chalice and Leangle, who are very strong and have gold on them. Then King form comes in and draws some inspiration from Leangle's design to cement him as a king and the strongest Rider. His chest plate is smooth with his symbol in the middle, like Leangle, he has shoulder pad that are big and have points at the end, like Leangle, and his helmet is has gold on the inside and two things on the other side sandwiching the gold with compound eyes holding them together, like Leangle. He even has a huge sword to compete with Leangle's long staff. Lastly, Wild Chalice takes on a red color scheme and the heart on his helmet is now green. This may seem like an odd departure from his original design but there is a reason. At the time, Tachibana wasn't helping Kenzaki and was sticking to Hirose's father Trial and Hajime was starting to become Kenzaki's comrade. Wild Chalice's design reflects this by mirroring Garren's familiar color scheme that one would associate with a comrade of Blade. This ironically makes Wild Chalice look less wild and look more like one of Blade's allies. The ending is probably what most people remember about Blade and everyone agrees it's probably one of the best endings in all of Kamen Rider, especially compared to its predecessor, Faiz. It brings an end to all the characters' stories perfectly and really cements all of their personalities. It's a real tearjerker when Kenzaki makes the ultimate sacrifice and I think the scene when his first drop of Undead blood was REALLY well handled. A perfect end to a great season. I'd also like to mention the novel, where Kenzaki as the Navy Joker starts becoming suicidal. I would like a chance to read it as it sounds interesting, but quite sad. Also the Drama CD that was released for Blade's 10th anniversary, it's a nice epilogue to Blade. I guess I should also state my thoughts on Blade's alternate ending movie, Missing Ace, it was okay at best. TL;DR I like Blade quite a bit Last edited by DecadeW Climax; 08-22-2016 at 07:44 PM.. |
08-21-2016, 08:22 PM | #44 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,326
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I don't think the first quarter of Blade sucked at all. The focus on Tachibana early on made up for his dwindling power and relevance in the later part of the series (Note: Dwindled relevance, not worthless). It gave us a solid story arc with an interesting villain through the Peacock Undead. The loss of Sayoko and him finally mustering up his own courage was rather nice.
It wasn't perfect. Tachibana's over the top acting to portray him in shock or fear, the secondary characters having to hammer in their personalities and shtick over and over, Kenzaki was kind of in his aggressive jerk phase, and Hajime didn't really start his stride, so I can understand why some people would find it slow or dull. But that's the worst I'd say of it. I don't really think it's that bad.
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08-21-2016, 08:46 PM | #45 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Oh god, is this what I've been doing to people? I feel out of breath and I wasn't even reading that out loud. But I understand. A show as awesome as Blade cannot be contained to mere anecdotes.
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Just looking at the dang theme songs, even, their translation of Blade Brave (which, by the way, I'm in that same minority with you), for example, somehow mistakes the "kibou zetsubou" line as some complete nonsense about hope being "acute"(?!), which is half right I guess but the half they got wrong results in the line meaning nothing and sounding stupid. Their translation of Elements is comparatively fine. I think this profoundly impacts people's enjoyment of the early episodes because they have this very busy, mysterious sort of feel to them, unlike later when everything is nice and established and just moves in a straightforward fashion. I think those early episodes are absolutely fine at worst and even have some great moments (again, SAYOKO!!!!), but because people are getting inferior subs, a lot of the quality gets blurred out. You're supposed to be confused by them, but not that confused. Quote:
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It bothered me a bunch while I was watching it, but in retrospect I don't think it detracts that much from how great the stuff around it is. Takumi and Kiba's character arcs come to really nice conclusions, and the final scene with Takumi on that hill wraps the show up really nicely. Is it? I haven't really read any summaries or anything but part of the reason I like Blade's ending so much is because of how deliberately open it is, so I've always been sketchy on the idea of adding on to it. I think they already said everything they need to just with the show.
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08-22-2016, 03:46 PM | #46 |
Henshin Heaven
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Inside a Hyper Battle Video, help.
Posts: 1,240
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Just Live More is so addictively catchy. I used to just think it was okay, but it is one of those songs that gets more awesome the more you hear it. To be fair though, most Rider main themes are catchy as all get out.
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08-22-2016, 03:46 PM | #47 |
Tokusatsu Hero
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 6,589
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I have it on my iPod.
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08-22-2016, 07:38 PM | #48 |
KNIGHT OF SPADE
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 360
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Is it? I haven't really read any summaries or anything but part of the reason I like Blade's ending so much is because of how deliberately open it is, so I've always been sketchy on the idea of adding on to it. I think they already said everything they need to just with the show.
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Thank god that came to the American iTunes right? Too bad I'm strictly Android Master Race , Argh me hearty |
08-22-2016, 07:45 PM | #49 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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I've got a story about that. On first listen, I hated that song. I really didn't like it, and didn't think I ever would. Second episode rolls around, the credits come on, and it's suddenly one of the best theme songs I've ever heard. I don't know how it happened, but it's still up there in my top 3 themes ever.
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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08-22-2016, 10:57 PM | #50 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Well I don't know what your criteria are, but what I like about it is how its lyrics are extremely relevant to the show. They only make more and more sense as the show goes on, which is pretty impressive.
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Last edited by Fish Sandwich; 08-22-2016 at 11:04 PM.. |
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