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mirai-e-jump · 9 months

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Hero Vision Vol.14 (2004/Spring) ft. Kamen Rider Blade Cast Interviews Ryoji Moromoto x Makoto Ito (Suit Actor) Segment (translation below)

Publication: May 20, 2004 (between episodes 17-18) Ryoji Moromoto (Hajime Aikawa) x Makoto Ito (Chalice Suit Actor)

"When did you two first meet?"

Ito: When? (laughs)

Moromoto: When we first met? I'm pretty sure it was before filming started. My first impression of Ito-san was that he was, "A kind big bro."

Ito: He made me think, "This year's also going to turn out cool" (laughs).

Moromoto: We talked alot about Chalice back then. You said, "Chalice has existed for 10,000 years, so I want to show you 10,000 years worth of my career." What were some of the other things you said again?

Ito:……not much, I really don't remember (laughs).

Moromoto: Ahaha! One thing we have in common, is that we have similar bikes, don't we? We've talked about how we want to go (motorcycle) touring together after the show ends. I ride a Yamaha SR400 and, ah...I'm sorry……(Note: The bikes used in Kamen Rider are provided by Honda)

Ito:…Sorry, but I'm also a WR250F (Yamaha) rider~, but before that, it's always been a Honda! I'd love to see Moromoto-kun's rumored SR. I've heard that they're loud and rather slow……

Moromoto: That's right! I actually modified it too much, and now it can only go about 80kph (50mph) (laughs). Right now, I'm too busy to work on it. I feel like my love for it is fading~!

"What were your first impressions of Chalice?"

Moromoto: I received a call from my agency, saying I passed the audition with, "You're Heart." "Eh?! You mean Momorenger?!," I was so surprised and alittle bit intimidated (laughs), but when I saw the design in person, it was cool and I liked it alot because it was something I had never seen before.

Ito: When I was first told about it, I jokingly thought, "Heart……(sinking in)…ah, alright then, I'll just act like a gay guy……" But, after seeing the design, I was relieved and thought about what kind of pose would suit this Rider. My first thought when I read his setup, was that it would be nice to have something wild and different from the other Riders. Compared to G3-X in "Kamen Rider Agito" and Knight in "Kamen Rider Ryuki," this is the wildest work I've ever done. Even with Kaixa in "Kamen Rider 555," I tried to keep martial arts like movements in mind, and to avoid any unnecessary movements. But with Chalice, there's just so many unnecessary movements…(laughs).

Moromoto: That's why I also tried to make the movements bigger in that fight scene (episode 9).

"Morimoto-san, "Hajime Aikawa is not a normal human being," what do you pay attention to when playing such a role?"

Moromoto: When my heart is closer to the human side, it's not so different, but when it's closer to Chalice's side, I try not to blink as much as possible, and when I talk to people, I try to give subtle pauses in my responses. It's almost like a foreigner hearing Japanese and interpreting it in their head before replying. In general, when I'm on Chalice's side, I don't think with my mind, but instead, try to act with my feelings

"Do you have any techniques for the dubbing process?"

Moromoto: I have a high pitched voice, so it can be difficult for me to make Chalice sound intimidating or violent. That's why I'm trying to lower the tone of my voice. I also did research by studying "monsters" such as the Hulk, Akuma from "Street Fighter II" and King Piccolo from "Dragon Ball Z." One time I even played the videos, and would try to voice the characters myself with the sound off, but there was still something wrong. What could it be…I don't know what Chalice's true form is yet, so my image may not be perfect. (Note: The actors have not been told where the story is going at this time.)

Ito: When it's my turn to "Henshin!," I'm trying to decide if it's better to change or to fight and further develop myself. Essentially, Chalice is supposed to be used to fighting, so I want to keep my methods in check. I'm so focused that I feel like I can see my opponent's movements, even when they've stopped. However, the tension is still high.

Moromoto: The way I say "Transformation" is different depending on if I'm fighting to protect Amane-chan or with my natural emotions. For Amane-chan, it's, "Henshin!" but naturally it's, "…Henshin" (lower tone).

"Did you face any challenges during filming?"

Ito: I'm not good when it comes to cold weather, so I almost cried during the snowy mountain shoot.

Moromoto: It was -15C (5F)! And when the sun went down, they brought out one of those giant fans! It kept spraying us with cold water! Man, I remember my face being scrunched up with anger (laughs).

Ito: When I did a test shot without the mask on, my hair ended up freezing. It wouldn't even melt when I put my head over the space heater, so I just had to keep it as is.

Moromoto: There was also the scene where Amane-chan's father gives Hajime the photo, with it being so cold I thought, "This guy, is he really going to die?!"

Ito: I'm bad with Winter, but I'm also bad with Summer too. When I wear a suit, my body temperature rises and my face turns bright red. My heart starts to race too and I think, "Ah, my life is getting shorter…"

Moromoto: It's good for Chalice though, isn't it? Blood rushing, a fast pulse, it's like an unleashing of the instincts.

Ito: But, when I get like that, I become quiet. In the Summer, Chalice becomes more like a domesticated cat (laughs).

Moromoto: Please keep doing your best~, I'm also prepared to risk my life for this role!

Ito: I also want to play the role of a Rider who will continue to remain in everyone's heart. Personally, it's frustrating to often hear people say, "Chalice looks like Gills (Agito)" (laughs), regardless, please continue to watch us in the future. We're going to give it our all!

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quartzroolz · 1 year

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Fuck it Rider runthrough rankings

Ok so, I have decided to go through kamen rider from start of heisei to end of heisei, in order. Kuuga to Zi-O. And I already Regret it but here goes a long form attempt at consolidating my feelings on this stupid fucking franchise. Currently Watching: Hibiki

KUUGA (2000)

kuuga is the best season of Kamen Rider I have seen. Its not my favourite, but its basically as close to "Objectivly perfect" as this dumb bugman franchise gets.

the characters are likable, the plot is well structured, Godai and Ichijou are gay as hell and I love it, The Mystery works really well, the action is well choriagraphed and outright brutal on occasion (y'all who have seen this show know exactly the occasion I am talking about), and it is paced really well.

if I have to compalin about anything, and I probably do, yeah forms are spaced out a bit weird and if your watching in the modern age the gurongi are subtitled which might hurt your experience somewhat (It didnt for me but I can see an argument).

9/10, amazing show.

AGITO (2001)

I would like to give a solemn Appology to the agito stans: I dont like this show, and I honestly do not get why some people do. Yes, the suits are really cool with all of the mechanical stuff they can do, like agitos horns or Gills mouth, etc. but as for the actual Plot itself... its painfully slow, the mysery aspect is boring and poorly executed, and the show meanders around for the majority of its run.

Shoichi regains his memories breifly midway through the show, just to basically imediatly lose them again, delaying any actual story progression even further. Ryo Spends 4 episodes (a month IRL time) dead in a river, and once again it really goes no-where.

Now I do like G3. I think its hillarious that the G3 armour is litterally in the wrong show. I like Hikawa (even if hes just Diet coke Ichijo from kuuga) and I think that actually tying back the story of agito to Kuuga is cool and something I wish rider would do more.

I also think the show picks up significantly once another agito is introduced and the plot gets going. problem is at that point the majority of the season is already gone and potentially interesting character arcs and stories are speedran. whats there is good, I just wish it started earlier and lasted long.

3/10. sorry agito stans. glad you like this one, it aint for me.

Ryuki (2002)

Ryuki is the season of all time. its... kind of similar to agito, which is strange because I actually ended up liking this one. I think this works because its the first time Rider did a season where everyone, sans main Character Shinji Kide/Ryuki, is a massive prick, and that works because your going to see all of these characters die on screen so that helps soften the blow.

which is not to say that Ryuki suffers from unlikable characters, even the most detestable characters (exceptions of Gai and Ouja not withstanding) have moments which help humanise them.

pacing wise, yes, it kinda has the agito problem where the main plot happens all in one go right at the start and right at the end and the middle is mostly kinda filler, and I do think that if ryukis time had been used better we could have seen all 13 riders in the actual tv show, rather than relegating Femme, Ryuga and Verde to the Alternate ending movie, but its not a huge deal really.

also, the Mirror monsters almost certainly gave some japanese kids nightmares and I count that as a good thing. Mirror monsters, while their designs can be kinda so-so, are a wonderfully scary concept. Consider how often there are Mirrored or reflective surfaces in your day to day life. the extreme paranoia the concept conjures is wonderful

Final score, 7/10. Ryuki could do a lot better in some places (and was, in seasons like geats and also Dragon Knight or so I hear? IDK not watched dragon knight yet) but for what it is it is more than solid.

Faiz (555) (2003)

Faiz is one of the less talked about entries within the western sphere of the fandom... which is Fair. I think Faiz is an OK season but I did find myself tiring with it. the suits are rad but none of the characters ever really stuck, Powerups are often barely utilised which raises the question of why have them in the first place and like... Yeah IDK it just never really Gel for me.

the ending kind of comes out of no-where as well, plus I think (Spoilers) MURDERING A CHILD FOR SHOCK VALUE at the end is bad writing and was not very fun. Kiba becoming a major villain also felt forced as his fall from grace and redemption happen very quickly just do not feel congruent with his character up to that point.

I think my biggest Faiz Takeaway is the surprise that this is japans favourite season? this kind-of-just-ok entry into a franchise which has far better and more re-watchable entries? this?

(also this is not the fault of faiz but DO NOT FIND YOURSELF READING ORPHENOCHS AS A TRANS ALAGORY, WORST MISTAKE OF MY LIFE. I acknowledge that this is a me thing, it was almost certainly not what the writters where going for... but Damn Sweaty that aged.)

so its like a... 5/10? that feels right. am I maybe lowballing the ranking for the sake of a "haha kamen rider 555 is a 5 out of 10" joke? maybe but honestly I just did not feel this one.

Blade (2004)

Frankly all I can say is that blade sure is another Early Heisei series. I don't want that to come off as bad or negative, its not meant that way, but once you have watched from agito to here back to back you start to notice how repetitive things feel in terms of pacing and story.

not to say that anything about blade is actually that bad, however, I did end up quite liking this series even if the hostility between its main characters got really grating at times. like seriously guys, can we go 5 episodes without someone being labelled a traitor or evil?

also on negatives, Kenzaki is kind of a wet cloth of a protagonist. Hes not bad, I do like him, but Hes far from the most interesting MC the series has produced. luckily this is made up for with the supporting cast, all of whom are great characters. Tachibana and Hajime especially are compelling secondary Main characters and I did really want to see them happy.

on the subject of happy, the one thing that always has to come up in blade discussion is the ending, which while I pretty imediatly picked up on other ways the characters could have resolved it the second they found out about the whole "the joker cant be the last undead standing" thing (Mutsuki just mcfucking use remote on shima before you defeat the catagory King of diamonds, then you wouldnt have had to go through any of this shit) I do feel that, with how the series plays out, its ultimately the best ending the characters could have hopped for. its not perfect, but it means that everyone gets to live, and despite what I know about the post series novels, I do firmly beleive that, yes, one day Kenzaki would figure out a way to defy their fate.

oh and one other thing. I dont like Chalices design. or, rather, I guess, I do like it but it feels weird to find out that chalice is visually just the catagory ace of hearts undead despite looking nothing like any other Undead in the show. it kinda reaks of contrivance and I dont like it, but honestly its fine all things considered.

7/10. Good show, enjoyable, but god I want early heisei to stop repeating itself.

Hibiki (2005)

Oh Hibiki, I was so torn on how to talk about this fuckass seasons. Because, like... heres the thing. This should be easy. This should have been a 10/10. This season should have been the second coming of kuuga, and for 30 episodes it was... and then it happens.

Hibiki is infamous for its production history, with the entire creative team being fired and replaced around episode 30, with the new team being sent in by toei to make the show "more kamen rider". And thats the problem.

Hibikis first half is brilliant because it breaks so many series rules. Its different, its fresh, its so cool. The tone is so different from anything that came before. Being a rider in this season isn't a great thing, its a job. More than any other season Hibiki is a coming of age story, one where we watch the shows real main character, Tag-along kid Asumu, grow into an adult. The characters are charming and grounded. The world of Hibiki is steaped in a level of fantastical realism which sets it apart from anything else. Fights take place in the Forests and natural areas rather than cities and quarries. Its all just perfectly different enough to be unique

And its great. Its so good. Its near perfect. And then the writers change. and the show gets bad. its gets so bad that for me it tainted the first half of the show. gone is any of the creativity or freshness of the series. Now Hibiki feels like any other rider season. And thats what killed it for me. My response to Hibiki as a whole is driven purely by an emotional response to its last 18 episodes, but its a rough 18, and frankly and 18 I have no desire to ever experience again.

To give the second half its due, the Movie is pretty decent and the final episode actually kinda sticks the series's thematic landing despite the majority of the second half fumbling most aspects. I can believe that it ends how it was always going to, even if characters like Kiriya would not and should not have been there.

If you only watch episodes 1-30 (and the movie fuck it) then Hibiki is an easy 9.5/10. Top Tier season. But that's not Hibiki. Hibiki is the full 48+movie run. and that full run is, to me, and I am sorry to say this, a 1/10. Maybe 1.25 due to sticking the landing on the ending.

Writing about Hibiki makes me sad. I hate this season because I loved this season, and I just hope what comes after can get me past this massive blemish.

W (DOUBLE) (2009)

I have like 3 go to series which I use to introduce new people to Rider, and the one I think I personally am Happy re-watching the most is W. Yes, its very episodic. Yes, becaue of this the background plot ends up getting resolved in 2 episodes ultimatly. Yes, Akiko can be really annoying sometimes. Yes. I know its not perfect. I do not care.

W is pure fun. It is one of the funniest seasons the show has to offer, and also one of the most heartfelt. The show can go from sidesplitting comedy to actual serious moments in a heartbeat and it manages this without once experiencing tonal whiplash. the entire cast is likeable, the story is light and not super high stakes but fun, the individual clients that the cast encounter are great, the Music SLAPS (nobodys perfect is an under-rated rider banger IMO, love that song), and the suits are immaculate (even if most of the riders are just W retools).

speaking of other riders, the side content here is A+ too, with the WXDecade movies W portion being a really solid explaination of the backstory and giving us time with the best kamen rider who unfortunatly doesnt have more screen time, and Gaia memories of fate is also just a good time, with a good set of villains and some really cool action.

also Phillip and shotaro are just funny. I love Wikipedia and crap sherlock holmes, they are great.

8.5/10. cant give better because it is not perfect but I love it.

OOO (2010)

OOO is a mess. Like, the plot changed 5 times behind the scenes kind of mess. like I hear that during the seasons development and even airing who the final boss was going to be was constantly shifting between Ankh, Date, Maki and the eventually Cut-save-for-one-canonically-questionable-movie Giru. This, like many things, I blame on Decade... because its all Decades fault. However, despite all that... yeah OOO is kinda good innit?

OOO still stands as the, objectively, best execution of the Mix-and-match Rider gimmick. OOO does not have super forms in the traditional sense, everything is just a variation on the base form, and the closest to super forms that you do get, the combos, are not very reliable long term. also, what forms the character has access to change constantly through the series based on what Medal Eiji has, meaning that you never get OOO at their full power. hell the series ends with Eiji with almost no medals, making them (debatably) the weakest they are in the whole series. its a very interesting dynamic and its something I wish would be done more often in rider. (Geats does get close and I applaude that.)

Also... you know, its just well written. I love all of the characters, Ankh is an amazing foil to Eiji, Goto and Date make fun Secondary Riders, Mr Kogami is Amazing and I love that they keep bringing the character back in unrelated media, best part of super hero senkei fight me.

yeah. OOOs good. I wish I could be more analytical with this particular season but I cant. my brain does not allow it. 8/10. great season.

Fourze (2011)

how the fuck do I talk about Fourze? Its a great season, don't get me wrong, but I think its the most uncomplicatedly "good season" I have ever seen. like its just good. its not good in and interesting way, its not good in a way that is worth talking about in any depth, its just Good.

and theres my problem, because I dont like that, I really want to have thoughts on these seasons because otherwise... what am I doing here, wasting my time writing about funny Bugmen on the hellsite. but really, fourze is just good. its got good characters, its got a good story, its got good vibes, its just good in a very uncomplicated way.

my biggest criticism, which isnt even really that much of a criticism, is because the show has to get through 40 astroswitches, a good number either never re-occur during the show or are just kinda weird and pointless in their function outside of their specific focus period. But even then thats so minor because the 40 astroswitches are never really that much of a focus and also, once again, the weird and whacky ones are just fun.

9/10. I wish I could say more, but its fourze

Amazons (season 1) (2016)

it has occurred to me after finishing Geats I should probably include the oddities in this post/run-through because even if they are not "Main seasons" they are certainly worthy of discussion (and also I do intend to include showa here at some point, even if I am not watching it yet. who knows, by the time you are reading it maybe the showa shows are included). they give us a glimpse at ideas and characters which cant be explored normally in rider, and grant potentially interesting re-interpretations of age old characters.

with all that said... I don't really care for Amazons. season 1 specifically, I have not yet finished season 2 and it was removed from amazon prime so there goes one of the few ways to legally enjoy this franchise.

on its own its fine, like I dont think this is a particuarly bad attempt at "kamen rider but adult, violent and edgy" but I do feel that ultimatly thats all that Amazons really has. its unbearable dower and dark and features so few really likeable characters. I get why its so violent, the violence was the defining feature of original Amazon and so of course with an adult re-imagining you lean into that, but it still feels really tryhard, and more than anything, just miserable.

I might come back to this particular entry at some point because Honestly I think season 1 warrants a re-watch from me and maybe I will get it more or care more for what its doing. but all that said, 7/10. its fine. if you want Violent rider this is violent rider. I just dont feel like its that much more than that.

Zero-One (2019)

Zero One was my first season, and its a pretty well loved season by the wider community. its one of my 3 go-to "if you want to get into Kamen Rider, Start here" seasons, and its the one I point too most often when that question comes up because its the most recent, and therefore has the best VFX of any of my go-tos.

so when I say that I fucking hate this season, that might come as a surprise. if I hate it, why do I recomend it?

well its simple really. Zero-One has major, Ground up Writing and stakes issues which makes it, at best, a very frustrating watch.

Death is meaningless. most of the characters who die are AIs who are revived in the very next episode with no cost, and remembering everything that happened to them prior to their death. only 1 character death, in the whole show, Sticks, and thats Wazu (I will be using Izu, Azu and Wazu because Is, As and Was would get confusing), and that episode set is ultimatly kinda unimportant and Wazu's death is forgotten, never to be bought up again.

the ending is a mess, mostly due to covid causing constant changes to the series plans, but those final few episodes are rough and I wish that the series had ended with the Ark as the main Badguy, rather than having Aruto Heelturn and then making Horobi the final boss.

also, and I try not to bring up post-series in this because its broadly unimportant, but zero-ones post season content is utter dogshit. the movie is ok, although reviving Izu not only retroactivly makes the series ending dumber but also effectively means new Izu was murdered and her body was jacked by old izu (WHICH THIS IS NEVER EXPANDED UPON, IT JUST HAPPENS), but what the hell was zero-one Others? yeah, sure, just kill off all of the interesting characters who could have had really interesting post-series stories, Lets character assassinate everyone in this show, and then lets also kill off the secondary rider in the cruellest way possible because fuck you I guess. No I am not over Fuwa, I will never be over Fuwa, but even more so I am not over Ikazuchi and Naki. those two where Criminally underused in the show, but now we will never get a chance to get more time with them. Thanks toei.

with all that having been said... IDK, Zero one is fine. its far from the worst season I have seen, and I do still recomend it as a starting point for the franchise as a whole because its a good "onboarding" point if you will. its about as basic as a rider season can get.

Despite everything I have said: 5/10

Saber (2020)

Saber is also really bad, but kind of in the same way that fourze is really good. Its bad but I don't really have much to say about it. by all accounts, it would have worked much better as a sentai season rather than rider given the heavy team focus and a core Red-Yellow-Blue Main trio.

Saber is largely forgettable. its plot meanders around, its characters exist, and its individual story arcs tend to just happen. its not a very interesting series, and I think that really its problem. if it was as bad as it is but in an interesting way, i would probably prefer it because at least I would get that it was trying something, but really the Series is just kind of bland.

However, its not completely pointless. The henshin jingles and standby loops are A+ tier, Special shoutouts going to Slash. Desast, while he does nothing most of the season and his existance is confusing, is a fun character and I am glad he is back in recent media (although I... haven't watched any of it yet, maybe it sucks). and, of course, the Crossover Movie with Zenkaiger is Excelent. you do not have to watch saber, but you owe it to yourself to watch that film. its a wonderful, heartfelt love letter to both franchises and I love it.

but in all... saber kinda bad. I think the biggest example of why is found in Durandal, who is introduced as this big problem... but then the moment Touma figures out his gimmick hes now nothing. while this is the biggest example, its kinda an inherent repeating problem for the whole show.

2/10. not 1 because it has some good aspects... but ultimatly I would rather be angry at a season than bored with it.

Revice (2021)

So its... kinda a catchphrase of mine to say "Revice is fine, y'all are just mean" but also like... I do Get why some people dont like it. the second half can feel strange as compared to the first, Vice is a very Abrasive character to have around for every episode, and a lot of its best aspects are in side content.

but like... man I like revice. I like its themes of Freedom VS saftey, I like how it handles the aspect that being a rider pretty universally sucks for all of its characters. I like how Morally ambiguous the majority of the cast are. I like how no-one is treated as irredeemable, even if some of them are.

and mostly I like Ikki and Vice. this season lives or dies for you based on if you like the two characters at the center of it. all of the awesome suits and interesting villains mean nothing if your main characters are not likeable. and I think these two work. they bounce off of each other well and I really like the sort of broadly unstated fact that vice is all of the parts of Ikki which Ikki rejects. Ikki is humble and selfless to a fault, mostly quite and reserved, while vice is loud and narcissistic and energetic. I think their dynamic works really well.

it also plays into a theme of the season which I really enjoy, the Idea that the characters inner demons are the parts of themselves that they reject and that they ultimately have to come to terms with those parts of themselves. by the end of the series, Ikki is a bit more like vice, and is much more comfortable with the "Vice" parts of himself (even if he doesnt know why because of tragedy and heartbreak). In comparison, the other igurashis have done the same. Sakura is much more comfortable with the parts of herself she considered weak, while not letting that over ride her kung-fu Girlboss attitude. Daiji has come to terms with his Middle-child angst and insecurities. and Genta has come to terms with the mistakes of his youth and is looking to grow past them.

revice is not perfect, its storytelling can be a mess sometimes, its barely a crossover/anniversary season, the last 4 episodes feel more like Vcines than actual episodes of the show... but Damn it Revice meant something to me. this was the first season I watched as it was airing, but even regardless it stands out to me on how well handled this was. I have yet to really dive in on post series and god I hope they dont fuck it up like they did with zero one... but For me, Revice is special.

8/10. Revice is Fine. Y'all are just mean

Geats (2022)

Kamen Rider Geats is... something else. I am writing this literal seconds after finishing the final episode, because I have known what I want to say about this season for a long time but after seeing its ending just... wow.

Put simply: Geats is the first time (as far as I have seen) since Kuuga that the show has reached this level of pure, technical "greatness". Not since Kuuga has the writing been this good, the suits this good, the fights this good. and remember, I consider Kuuga to be the best season this show has done. Geats is that good.

its rich, its deep, its beautifully shot and choreographed, Its characters are layered and interesting. Geats is a tour-de-force in terms of this franchise. I thought revice was going to be a hard act to follow but geats blew it out of the water.

I do want to stress that while I consider Geats to be up there in terms of quality, I don't necessarily enjoy it as much as other seasons. Reminder that Enjoyment and "objective" quality are frequently two different things, but I would be lying if I said that I did not also still love this season.

also Geats says eat the rich. I will not elaborate further but if you have seen the show you know what I mean.

9/10. only losing a point because the disaster arc kind of never went anywhere

Shin Kamen Rider (2023)

fuck it this counts. As of Writing this part, I have not actually seen the original 1971 Kamen Rider series. I whole intend to some day, I just haven't gotten around to it. so please bare in mind that some stuff I have to say about this movie may just be accurate to what that show is like.

now I am going to leave the Pacing of the film alone as far as criticism goes. even though Shin deviates heavily from the source material, it is still trying to adapt the broad strokes and tone of a 90-odd episode TV show from the 90s into under 3 hours. Plus, this is nothing new for the Shin Japan Heros films, Shin Ultraman also suffered from this.

what I will criticise is the fight scenes. Hot take but like... Geats was better. a tv show with a fraction of the budget and half the development time has better fight scenes than the big budget movie. so much of the action, especially in the first half, is weirdly edited and lacks cohesion. this does pick up towards the end, and, yes, I cheered in delight when Takeshi and Ichimonji went sicko mode on the shocker riders. like audible yell of "YEAH!" chear, but again those first few fights are weird and not great to watch.

beyond that honestly pretty major criticism, the film is very good. its kind of melodramatic and dower a lot of the time but given its specifically aiming for the tone of those 14 episodes of 1971, from what I know that's fine, that's how those episodes went. Plus, I am not going to say it isnt effective. I cried, I cheered, a good time was had by all.

This is not my favourite piece of Kamen rider media. honestly I dont know If I will revisit it for a long time. it lacks a lot of what I enjoy in this franchise. that said, this is a phenomenal work. I respect if for what it attempts, and enjoy it regardless of my aversion to the style. 9/10. Kamen rider in its purest, most raw, most uncut form.

Gotchard Section Coming once Gotchard is done and not a second sooner.

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ask-dcf · 2 years

Note

Hey mod i have a question that might seem childish but there is a meaning behind this simple question

Do you still believe in fairytales and fantasies like you used to as a kid?

Yeah seems like a normal question to some people but to those kids including me growing up imagining dragons and knights on my little brain of mine and also for artists this might seem hard to answer so do you?

Ooohh big question.

Well. I would have to say yes and no. When it comes to stuff we know is just a franchise like Star Wars we know that it doesn’t exist but enjoy it anyways. But the thing is. When it comes to stuff like kamen rider and undertale and the theory of multiverse. Something like that CAN be real if you BELIEVE it’s real. If you think it’s there and you see it in front of you. Then to you it DOES exist. For instance when I was starting out in my AU. I had a dream of my frisk and chara waking me up and calling me papa. In some instances it was just them always waking me up but one rare instance was when it was just me my gf and our three kids all huddled in bed together. I swear I could feel her arms. Chara’s soft hair, Frisk’s light warm body, and Stella’s tight grip on my arm. It was one of those moments where I didn’t want to wake up because it was so real to me… imagine how I cried when I did wake up…

The best quote I can give is from kamen rider in the hesei generation where real and fiction literally clashed.

“So long as you remember someone. They will exist. Memories are what make people real.”

And I take that to the next level. I love my characters as if they are my own children and so does my gf. To me. They are real. And I will forever cherish them.

I hope this answers your question qwq excuse me imma go cry and try and hug my kids aaaaa

#mod talks

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cina-full-moon-xanadium · 2 years

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Besides Mr Taiga Nobori (gotta put respect on his name) are their any other alien like riders (story wise, aesthetic, or anything close)

I was having a hard time thinking of what would very specifically qualify as 'alien' riders but then you led off with Saga and now I have no idea where the boundaries lie here...

There have been quite a few alien riders, in any case! Even putting aside "parallel world with human/human-like race" cases like Necrom and Kamuro there's been explicit aliens like Nadeshiko and Ginga; and everyone's favourite cunt Evolt. Also noting it's funny that both american adaptions have featured alien riders in Masked Rider and Advent Master! Thinking about it it's something I'd like them to toy with more; an alien rider would be a fun take on distancing from humanity to really dig into those themes. Ultraman Geed is a pretty good story about that, actually! Watch Geed!

Aesthetically? Especially when we're leading with Saga here? Uhhh... man, I don't know! I'm not sure what to really count as that. I guess Dragon Knight making Alternative an alien was a decent choice because the suit does look a bit like that. Eden? Extremer? Woz?? I'm honestly not sure I'm really throwing stuff out here

As a final note: the original concept for Kamen Rider ZO did in fact dig into those alien themes I was talking about earlier -- he was initially conceptualised as a warrior from space who came to Earth to defend it from alien invasion! I guess they realised that specific concept was literally just Ultraman, though. There's concept art too, complete with a spaceship!

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chojin-cu-chulain · 1 year

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Now I'm done with Dragon Knight

I think my biggest problem besides all the clip show episodes was how it felt disjointed with characters who were good in Ryuki becoming evil in Dragon Knight, and vice versa, or characters who showed up later in Ryuki showing up earlier, and vice versa.

The thing I kept going back to is if they wanted to adapt Ryuki it should have been more like something like Yu-Gi-Oh with power armor, and if they wanted to have a saving the world from monsters story they should have used something like Kabuto, Den O, or even Kiva since they were more recent anyway.

I did like the characters though, and I liked the final battle. In fact I'm actually kind of bummed it didn't take off, and we didn't get more American Kamen Rider shows.

#kamen rider #dragon knight

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hxroic-wxlls · 2 years

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(@moonlitsorceress)

"Those will do. Though speaking of Kamen Riders. Saya, Hikari help me out with something." She got up went over to Hikari and dragged her over to Saya. "Hey, hey kids look!"

"Must you?" Hikari asked while having Kurayami appear in her hand.

"Yes." Freyja's going with Rekka.

"Henshin." Dragonic Knight and Jaou Dragon. Showing off as Kamen Riders for the kids was Freyja's goal and she dragged Hikari into helping and maybe Saya too.

“ Hm? Oh, hey! Appy! Louise! Aya, take a look! They’re doing something cool! “

With their attention taken away from the TV show, the kids would focus on the act that the Kamen trio were attempting to put on.

…

After the transformation was finished, the kids would let out a loud round of applause!

“ Man, that was just like the show! How totally awesome! …Say, maybe once we’re older, we can be riders, ourselves? That’d be pretty sweet, wouldn’t it? “

“ Y-yeah! I think that’d be pretty fun. “

“ Oh, that’d DEFINITELY be a blast! You can count me in, for sure! How about you, Aya? “

“ Oh, I’d love to! Getting the chance to do the same things my mom can…that’d be amazing! “

Especially so, if she got the superhuman and magic abilities. Considering that she was one of the only non-powered humans here, she did feel a bit left out.

#warriorsofcrimsonrealms #{little m: ic}#{little l: ic}#{cheerful royalty: ic}#{drevis tragedy: ic}#{ask answered}

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dogecream-sundae · 7 years

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Hey uh does anyone know where to start with kamen rider? It looks ridiculous and great but idk where to start.

#the only experience i've had with it was the kamen rider in the us #i think it was kamen rider dragon knight or something #kamen rider #dogecream brand textposts

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tsuki-sennin · 3 years

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Lemme ask ya something real quick... Do you have the courage to ride with the devil?

Hoo-hoo, boy~! Revice already hitting us with the good shit!

I'll say this right now, I love this cast already. All great performances, all great characters.

The action's all consistently great, all the forms and attacks have great visual design. I love how every kid in the Igarashi fam's a badass. They also lean into Ikki's soccer player past by having him kick around big-ass rocks, it reminds me a lot of how Haruto/Wizard used to be a pro soccer player. ...I get a lot of Wizard vibes from Revice, actually. Forming a contract with a naughty inner demon to beat up an evil cult, the kicks, the extra catchy transformation jingles, he even has an axe! ...we got the Ouin Buster way earlier than we did the Wizardragon's Axcalibur, but hey!

Our homegirl Sakura putting in work! I don't expect her karate skills to be super relevant to the plot ("ladies" and "combat" usually aren't allowed to mix in Kamen Rider), but goddamn! First episode and she's already throwing down against the Deadmans! ...I'm foolishly hoping for the unlikely event that it lasts and she ends up being our Secondary Rider, but hey! I'm also a big fan of Daiji so far, he reminds me a lot of Akito from Ultraman Trigger. I wonder if we'll get a similar character arc?

The comedy's admittedly been very hit or miss so far though. Y'know Deadpool? Yeah, that's what I assume they're going for with Vice. I'd rather they play more into his viciousness and his sitcom/manzai dynamic with Ikki, now those are funny character traits. But at least we're not getting assaulted with fart jokes like in the Saber epilogue. ...yet.

Do you think Fenix runs into jurisdiction problems with AIMS? Is there some kind of inter-agency rivalry between Yaiba and Karizaki? Because MetsubouJinrai and the Deadmans seem to have very similar MOs of forcing out evil, and Yaiba and Karizaki don't seem like the kind of people who'd willingly be friendly with each other. I'd personally love to be Karizaki's secretary though, I love how his reaction to his bodyguard awakening another demon is basically "What did I tell you?"

Speaking of which, our antagonists this season all lookin' fresh. Going all in on the Mexican influence feels like a call back to how the Shocker Combatmen stuck with their iconic luchador designs after they introduced the Mexican branch of Shocker. You could argue that Olteca and Julio look a bit too silly, and you're probably not wrong, but it seems as though everyone's in agreement that Aguilera... hoo! It's weird how we haven't seen our new all-powerful queen of evil transform yet, buuuuuut I wouldn't be against the idea of a main villainess as our Big Bad Rider, wink wink nudge nudge. Perhaps she forms a direct contract with their god using a variant on the Revice Driver? They did steal the stamps from Fenix. I... don't really appreciate the name of their god though. Gifu? Do you think they get mad if the English speakers in the cult call him "Jifu?" I like how the Deadmans' contracts fold into origiami monsters, that's a clever effect.

I also love the idea that they're a cult situated in the middle of a night club and they drum up hype for demonic subjugation by handing out free hits of the Vistamps, that's perfect use of your set design. They probably even have an entire city to themselves the way MetsubouJinrai did, and in their case it's likely an unholy combination of Vegas, Kabuki-cho, Miami, Ibiza, and Monaco. I'd love to see Ikki and Vice fuck shit up on the dance floor with the eventual full version of liveDevil playing in the background. And to segue... Da-iCE, my dudes! Every time I listen to this theme, I love it more! It's decadent, it's powerful, it's loud, it's proud, it's bangin'! It's the kind of club banger that feels like it should be accompanied by big booty bad bitches, bourgeois booze, and back-of-the-bar brawling. I really appreciate this bold new direction; it kinda reminds me of Defspiral's Dive into the Mirror, the theme for the Japanese dub of Dragon Knight, which has a similar energy despite the difference in genre.

Looking forward to how the rest of Revice plays out. Alright, I'm done for today, bye.

#revive the vice: imprinted like stamps and fossils #kamen rider revice #tsuki talks #kamen rider

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reversemoon255 · 3 years

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(From September 2020 to February 2021, I worked on a Pokémon themed Dungeons and Dragons campaign for a few friends. We didn’t get very far, but I put a significant amount of work into the world, story, and several Pokémon that would appear throughout, including an original set of starters. I want to to leave some record of my work, so I thought I’d write a few summary posts. And while I designed these Pokémon, their fantastic art was done by @extyrannomon on Twitter. I highly recommend you check them out.)

Dungeons 'n' Dragonites - Phase 1: Hello Stelopy City

Our story starts in Stelopy City, located in the Wellou Region. We get a brief introduction from DJ Tomomitsu, a radio host, before each player got their own brief story segments. Our first player was Ethan, as aspiring chef, who lived on campus at his high school. Ethan was approached by one of his dorm mates with a favor (to get him out of the building), as well as having an attractive girl meandering around the kitchen (if he wished to try flaunting his culinary skills). He would then get to choose to either finish up his side-quest or go to the local fisher's market, with him transitioning between those locations taking him to the area where he would meet his starter Pokémon:

"As you enter the alleyway, the walls are covered floor-to-ceiling in moss that seem to appear as soon as the shadows overtake the sunlight. The farther you walk, the more weeds you see popping through the cracks. Once you reach the half-way point, you come to a small open space. With the sunlight now flickering down through the plants brave enough to venture off the verdant walls, the entire area shines a bright, emerald green. In the center of this area is a decently sized fountain. It's no longer flowing, but there's a decent amount of rain water filling it up close to the brim. As you approach it, even through the murky iridescent waters, you can see a thick, fuzzy amount of lichen growing all throughout the inside of the basin. As you pass by the fountain, you hear an audible sploosh. Do you turn around? (Y/N)"

There he would meet the first of our new Starter, the Grass-Type Flymph. I kept it secret that I was doing original Starters. Part of my personal excitement in planning everything was the eventual reveal of these designs I had created. Kept me going when things started feeling like a grind.

Our second player, Johnny, started off at home, woken by his father asking him to run an errand. After being able to talk to his family a bit, he proceeded to a somewhat beaten-up house on the edge of the Pokémon-overrun abandoned district where he would receive some boat parts before leaving and the sidewalk underneath him collapses. Stumbling around the abandoned subway tunnels for a bit, he would run into our second Starter, the Fire-Type Calfyre.

Johnny's player wanted to become an entertainer, which didn't give me a lot to work session one, so a lot of his opener was focused on expanding the world and giving everyone an idea of areas they would be exploring later.

Third was Orion who had a quiet morning at home before being provoked via text messages from his siblings to chase down a mysterious "Wailord in a Top Hat." This pursuit would also lead him to the fisher's market and the nearby docks, where, after just catching sight of his quarry, he would encounter the Water-Starter Squisque.

Orion's player wanted a lot of his story to be based on his relationship with his father, so most of his opening was based on reinforcing his family dynamic. Not home, everyone’s busy, focus on work. This particular Saturday was strange in that Orion didn’t have anything going on.

Our last player was Arthur, who also lived on campus. While our other three players started their segments in bed, Arthur was playing lacrosse. After having an opportunity to show off (or fail), he would be told by a friend that he had upset his girlfriend that morning (kitchen girl from Ethan's story), and needed Arthur to pick up her favorite dessert while he attempted to woo her for the rest of the day. After doing so (while being given a chance to explore some of the local stores) he encountered a hungry Houndoom who proceeds to chase him up a fire escape. Once up there he encountered our final Starter, the Fairy-Type Utaw.

After each player met their Starters, they would have a brief tutorial battle against three Pokémon they were advantageous against before running into each other, and were subsequently arrested for "stealing" Pokémon, which would cap session one.

=====

Let's talk design. Stelopy City is loosely based on Chicago, is a portmanteau of "Steel Canopy," and Wellou is a joke on Illinois. The vast majority of the campaign was to take place in this location. Most of my players had very busy schedules (so busy it took us three sessions to get through the above opener), so DJ Tomomitsu was a way for me to easily start each session with a list of things to do (side-quests), and they as a group could decide which they were the most interested in based on time. Tomomitsu himself was based on DJ Sagara from Kamen Rider Gaim, with Tomomitsu being the name of the actor who played him.

As for the starters, I tried to stick to the reoccurring themes we’ve seen over the past 8 Generations. Flymph's name is a portmanteau of Dragonfly, Errol Flynn, and Nymph (the larval form of a Dragonfly). He's meant to be a special attacker, but, like an early DND Wizard, doesn't have access to a lot of them so he brandishes his sword-like arms to intimidate his foes instead. His diet consists entirely of lichens, algae, and similar flora, storing them in his transparent stomach pouches, and can be seen sunbathing in the water, belly up, feeding the plant matter the sunlight they need to grow. He also does not like Bug-Types, and isn’t Bug himself because of Grass/Bug’s myriad of weaknesses (for balancing), plus he changes Types after his first evolution. The theme of Grass Starters is extinction, which won’t become clear until his final evolution, but you may be able to guess how he relates.

Fire Starters are themed after the Chinese Zodiac, and of the remaining four yet to be used (including Snake, Ram, and Horse), I went with Ox. Calfyre's name is a play on Calf and Fire, and is meant to play like a Barbarian. When it comes to personality he's very timid and unsure of himself like a first-time DND player might be acting in a group. Unlike most Fire-Types, Calfyre lacks a Flame Sac. Instead, his spiral horns are filled with a freon-like liquid that, when swirled, rapidly absorbs energy from the air, which he uses for attacks. This chills the air around him, and makes him one of the few Fire-Types that are cold to the touch. Which sucks, because he’s a snugly sleeper.

Water Starters are usually themed after a weapon or character class. This usually shows in the later evolutions, but it's pretty obvious Squisque (a portmanteau of Squirt, Squire, and Bisque) is themed off a lance and shield. He's a paladin in both role and personality, charging in at the slightest sign of trouble, even if there isn't any real danger. It's the typical non-nuanced idea of what people think when they hear "Paladin." He was to a degree supposed to play a catalyst role, charging into situations the players may not want to in order to force them into helping people or combat if need be. He was also the first design I settled on, being based on an old Kaijin idea I had of a lobster-knight using its asymmetrical claws as different medieval weapons.

Utaw is unique, not just in that he was a fourth or Fairy Starter, but in conception. I was only supposed to have three players, but ended up with four. As such, his design is responsive to the others. Why a dinosaur? Because I had a mammal, crustacean, and bug, was unsure if I wanted a bird or reptile, and decided to meet half-way. Why is he Fairy? Because it has very little interaction with Fire, Water, and Grass, while still having defined weaknesses and resistances to certain types. (Also, this player wanted a Dragon-Type.) He’s based on a Utahraptor, hence the name, and is misspelled to include “Claw” or “Caw.” He’s meant to play team Bard, and uses sound moves. As for personality, he's a bit of a birdbrain who enjoys fighting. Not maliciously; it’s just fun, again acting like a new DND player who’s more interested in combat than role playing.

The idea with the personalities was that each Pokémon was supposed to start out like a rookie DND player on their first campaign. Not knowing how to play their class, being uncomfortable acting in front of a group, leaning too hard into your role without bending, or just fighting everything you see without diplomacy. It felt like a fun extra layer to each of these Pokémon that tied them just as much into the DND side of things as the Pokémon.

=====

Back to our story, after being briefly detained (mostly as an excuse to give the players time to introduce themselves to each other, something my DMs have struggled with), they meet Professor(-in-training) Bianca. The four Pokémon had been found by Silph Co., and had decided to donate them to the Unovan Pokémon Research Lab. However, after seeing the Pokémon interacting with these people, Bianca decides to give them up instead. "Pokémon should be with people," after all.

I had three side quests set up following this (after they all go to the DMV to get their Trainer's licenses). The first was a general "there's wild Pokémon here" quest where they could train and catch things. There was a sale at the mall where they could get some cheap held items and have their first trainer battle, and an event at the fisher's market where they could win some free items and would lead into their first dungeon.

The dungeon was what I was hoping they would pick, and would have them chase a group of Poipole through a warehouse, with them having different battles if they chose to enter from the front or the back. After defeating them, the Poipole would be sucked through a spontaneously generating Ultra Wormhole, with a high enough perception check revealing a strange laugh, or on a 20 have them catch a glimpse of a grey Charizard O_O

From there it was a matter of coming up with (or possibly recycling unused) side-quests until we reached the point where the Starters were about to evolve. I had a few things planned; introductions to a few reoccurring NPCs, a field trip to the local museum where they would be able to catch a Yamask (and possibly learn something about the origins of their Starters), and a raid battle against a group of Onix who would recur through the campaign.

The end of Phase 1 would come about with another dungeon. In the middle of the night, Ethan and Arthur would be awoken by their Pokémon to a group of Durant having busted through the floor of the dorm and raiding their kitchen. Easily driving them off, their Pokémon would encourage them to pursue. Later, full party in toe, the four of them would explore the Duranthill. There would be a number of possible encounters, but only one mandatory fight before reaching the depths. In said encounter, while being surrounded by a group of Durant, they would receive unexpected help from this Pokémon:

With some interpretation, they would discover that this Princess Durant was afraid for the sake of her colony. A new queen had taken up residence there, and was commanding the Durant to attack the surface and steal food for her. With additional party member in toe, they would descend further with better direction, eventually discovering the lair of the Queen Durant...

#Pokemon #Dungeons and Dragons #DND #DND Homebrew #durant

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writingpaperghost · 3 years

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There is a Me Who Can Become Strong (Chapter 9)

Chapter 9: Beat Up the Dragon!

The CR prepares for the arrival of the Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Kyotaro Hinata, but as he arrives at Seito, Graphite infects him. As it turns out, there's one person here who is rather familiar with Hinata, Emu, who takes Hinata's infection close to heart.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32857183/chapters/82742431

The CR was not in a state of panic. Director Kagami was in a state of panic, intensely cleaning and rearranging everything in the CR. Saki and Poppy are already there when Emu arrives, Poppy watching a bit concerned, while Saki just looks resigned. Emu thinks this is probably something to be at least a bit concerned about. Why was the director obsessively cleaning everything?

After a moment, Emu finally asks, “Is… is the director okay?”

“He’s fine,” Saki responds, “Just nervous. He gets like this sometimes.”

Watching the scene for a moment again, he asks another question, “Why is he so worked up?”

This time, it’s Poppy who responds, “The Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health, Hinata, is arriving today,” At her words, Emu can’t help but get excited. He knew who Hinata was very well. “He’s here to discuss recent events with the rise in Game Disease cases, this black Rider, Gemn, and what we should do about Nico and Kiriya, since they aren’t apart of the CR.”

While Emu certainly heard her words past the mention of Hinata, that was the part that he was fixating on, “Doctor Kyotaro?”

At such a casual and familiar use of the Deputy Director-General’s name, Director Kagami froze mid-wipe of the table. He looks up at Emu with shock, “What?”

This was when Emu realized that none of the CR probably knew of his past with Doctor Kyotaro. They’d have no way of knowing and he’d certainly never mentioned it. He should probably explain, because even Saki and Poppy were looking at him with surprise and confusion.

“When I was eight,” He began to explain, “He saved my life. He was the one who inspired me to become a doctor myself.” The little child in the hospital bed, treated by an adult with genuine kindness that wasn’t required, changing that child’s life forever. Words that would echo in his thoughts constantly, “a smile is proof of your health”. It was the actions of Doctor Kyotaro that made Emu want to become a doctor, to be to other children what Doctor Kyotaro had been to Emu.

That’s what he was fulfilling right now. That dream that had been planted sixteen years ago. It was now growing and growing and about to bear fruit. Even more so, perhaps, with him working as a Rider.

Poppy is the first to speak, wondering, “What are the odds…?”

---

Graphite’s waiting patiently, knowing that his target will arrive soon. He knows that Mu is watching from somewhere further away, ready to help if necessary, having gotten the Gashats and Driver back from Kuroto, but far enough away he wasn’t in any unnecessary danger.

He sees the one he’s waiting for entering the hospital and grins. Teleporting to appear in front of the Deputy Director-General, he puts his plan into motion, a fog of black flowing from him to the director, infecting him. His action and the sudden collapse of Hinata draws the attention of several people in the hospital, but Graphite teleports away before anyone else can get near him.

Reappearing where Mu was hiding, Graphite is immediately greeted with Mu grabbing his shoulders, “Graphite what the hell?!”

Graphite wasn’t sure why Mu was starting to freak out like this, “What’s wrong?” He asked, looking around to see if he’d somehow been followed or someone had found Mu. There was no one to be saw, though.

“Why did you infect him?!”

Still unsure what exactly was wrong, Graphite answered, “Because he’s the Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health,” He watched as Mu’s expression failed to get any less frantic. “What better target would there be?”

Mu’s hands fall off Graphite’s shoulders, “But- but why him?! He’s – He’s – But!” He’s seemed to have lost his ability to speak as clearly as he’d probably like. But Graphite still didn’t understand.

There were brief areas on the ground that began to glitch, with Mu’s own hands beginning to glitch. His red eye began to glow more. If they didn’t want the possibility of getting caught Graphite would have to make sure that Mu calmed down.

Placing his own hands on Mu’s shoulders, Graphite said, “Calm down,” Though his words were doing little on their own, he continued, “Calm down. Tell me why you’re upset.”

---

Worriedly, Emu scanned the CR’s newest patient, Doctor Kyotaro Hinata, the Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health. He didn’t like seeing Doctor Kyotaro in the patient bed, knowing that he’d been infected. No matter how capable the Riders were of defeating Bugsters, it still made him worried. More so than usual.

Saki looks over his shoulder at what the scan brought up. She frowned, “Drago Knight Hunter Z,” She said, her tone bitter and grave, “Graphite’s strain.”

“So you think that Graphite infected him?” Emu asked, putting his Game Scope down.

“Almost certainly,” Saki glances at the infection percentage, “Be ready, the Bugster will certainly appear soon.”

As she speaks, a mass begins to form from Hinata. She places her Gamer Driver on his waist and holds up the Taddle Quest Gashat. As the mass grows and Saki clearly prepares to transform, Emu can’t help but curse his inability to help against the Level 1 Bugsters again. He really doesn’t know how he did it with Salty and wasn’t going to risk the lecture from anyone if he tried to do it again.

Taddle Quest!

Let’s game! Metcha game! Mucha game! What’s your name? I’m a Kamen Rider!

As Saki transforms, the Bugster finally forms and she moves the three of them to a different stage, this a forest waterfall.

Taking a good look at the Bugster, Emu realizes that he’s seen it before, “Saki!” He called, “That’s an enemy from Drago Knight Hunter Z!” Before he can say anything more on the matter, he’s cut off by the arrival of Graphite. He wasn’t even in his Bugster form, instead standing as a human. Out of the corner of his eye, Emu can see Saki’s grip on the Gashacon Sword tighten.

Graphite is holding something in his hand, he’s a bit far away, but it looks like a Gashat. It was grey colored, though, like the one that Gemn used. He looks between the two Riders, one transformed, one not, and says, “I will use the Prototype Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat,” He begins firmly, “To create more Bugsters.” With his declaration, he holds the Gashat up and stabs it into his chest. He takes his Bugster form, but now he’s no longer green colored, instead being black.

---

Kuroto watches as Mu enters the room and falls onto the couch. “You look tired,” He says bluntly, “More than usual.”

“Did you know who Graphite was going to infect?”

Considering the question for a moment, Kuroto answers, “I knew he would take the Prototype Gashat, I let him, really. I need data from it to finish the complete Gashat.” Though even he knew that didn’t answer Mu’s question, “But no, Mu, I did not know who he was going to infect.”

That seems to reassure Mu, at least a little, thought Kuroto is still unsure why Mu was so upset at all. Why was he upset with who Graphite infected? Mu had never talked about really knowing anyone before, so it couldn’t have been because he knew whoever it was Graphite had infected.

Mu falls a bit, ending up in a lying position on the couch, throwing an arm over his eyes. Kuroto regards the sight for a moment, before getting up and wrangling one of the blankets free from the nest. “Get some rest,” he says, “I’ll keep an eye on Graphite and makes sure nothing happens.”

“’M not tired,”

“Sleep,” Kuroto insists, laying the blanket down over Mu. Mu doesn’t continue to protest, at least.

---

“Emu, transform and help me!” Saki calls, quickly dodging out of the way of an attack from Graphite’s weapon.

Nodding, Emu pulls out Mighty Action X. Now would be a good time to have access to another Gashat, but there wasn’t much they could do about that.

Mighty Action X!

Let’s game! Metcha game! Mucha game! What’s your name? I’m a Kamen Rider!

Level Up! Mighty Jump! Mighty Kick! Mighty-Mighty Action X!

Emu slashes at Graphite hoping to be able to knock his weapon off a little, but given how much bigger his weapon was, all the attack managed to do was get blocked. Beside Emu, Saki switches her sword to fire mode and slashes, causing Emu to need to move away from Graphite.

“I’ll handle Graphite,” Saki declared, “Worry about the other Bugster.”

“What?” Emu asked, looking between Saki and the other Bugster, “Saki, I can’t fight that Bugster. I don’t have a Level 1!” It was literally the worst idea. At least Emu had to fight at Level 2, meaning that he’d probably stand a better chance against Graphite.

Still, his protests fall on deaf ears, Saki’s attention drawn almost, if not entirely, on Graphite. Left with no other choice, Emu turns his attention towards the other Bugster, clearly a dragon. It was obviously based off one of the dragons in Drago Knight Hunter Z, but it was hard to tell which type. Not that Emu was entirely convinced that knowledge would help.

He was already at a disadvantage since this was usually the stage of the fight that he’d have to let the others handle, since it was supposed to be done with Level 1. That level that he distinctly lacked and hadn’t had ever. He’d managed, somehow, against Salty, but he isn’t really sure what he did that day.

After getting thrown around by the dragon, Emu was knocked out of his transformation, having never really stood a chance. Moments later, Saki’s knocked down not too far from him, her own transformation disappearing. Neither of them were a match for even one of these Bugster, certainly not without their Level 3s.

Graphite looks at the two for a moment, before turning his back to them, “How pathetic of a fight,” He said, “I expected more from the both of you.” With that, the game world around them disappeared and Graphite and the dragon Bugster were gone.

---

“Saki, why the hell did you decide I should be the one to fight the dragon Bugster?” Emu growled, glaring at Saki. The two of them stood in the CR, with Asuna watching them from the side. “I don’t have a Level 1! There’s nothing I can do against it!”

Saki crosses her arms, a serious look on her face, the sort of look she always had when Graphite was involved, “I can handle Graphite,” She said, clearly trying to end this argument before it even really started, “You seem to want to save Director Hinata so badly, why shouldn’t you deal with the Bugster that’s certainly afflicting him?”

There was a lot there that didn’t even make sense. Like she hadn’t heard a word he’d said earlier. And she was also throwing in at least one assumption on the Bugsters they were fighting. “I don’t care who fights Graphite,” he said, “I just know that I can’t beat that Bugster. It’s not that I don’t want to, but I don’t have a Level 1! So please, how the hell am I suppose to beat a Bugster I literally cannot beat?” He’s not expecting an answer, Saki clearly isn’t thinking straight.

Finally, Asuna growls and jumps between them, “Enough!” She yells, “Enough fighting you two!”

Emu takes a step back, startled by Asuna’s sudden outburst. Saki, though, seems rather unphased. She doesn’t say anything, but continues to watch Asuna anyway. The three stand in silence for more than a few moments.

Then they hear the door to the CR open. Emu initially assumes it’s just the director and sighs, going to go sit down, only to see he was wrong. Entering the room, briefcase in hand, was Masamune.

“I’ve heard about Director Hinata,” He began, “I have something that might help you, but it’s still incomplete.”

Asuna’s the one to ask first, “Incomplete?”

Masamune nods, “It will require the data of that dragon Bugster that currently infects Director Hinata to be complete.” Opening the briefcase, they’re presented with a discolored Gashat. It bore the cover from Drago Knight Hunter Z.

Though Saki reaches to take it, Emu walks over and grabs it first. He takes the briefest moment to examine it before declaring, “I’ll be the one to cure Doctor Kyotaro,” He can’t afford to be the nice, kind, pushoverEmu. He had to be Genius Gamer M today, so he could make sure that Doctor Kyotaro was cured. Doctor Kyotaro had saved Emu’s life sixteen years ago, so he’d save Doctor Kyotaro’s life now.

“Drago Knight Hunter Z,” Masamune quickly began to say, “Is a four player game, designed to be played in co-operation-“

Emu ignored him.

---

Kiriya waltzes into the room in Taiga’s clinic that Nico’s commandeered. Nico sits on the bed, clicking away at the keyboard of her laptop. “Yo, N,” He greeted, “Were you able to find it?”

Looking up, Nico grins, “Surprisingly easy, actually,” She clicks and types for a moment, before turning her laptop towards him. “Emu Hojo, born August 16th, 1992,” She began to summarize, “Had a surgery when he was eight, performed by one Doctor Kyotaro Hinata, now Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Health-“

“Oh really?” Kiriya quirked his eyebrow in interest, “Director Hinata performed a surgery on him?”

“Yes,” Nico rolled her eyes and continued, “Prone to accidents growing up, just enough to land him in the hospital for a bit, had regular check-ups until six years ago when they just stopped. Same with the minor injuries. Now he hasn’t been to a doctor for six years.”

“Six years?” Kiriya read as questioned the statement, “Hm, his last appointment was in June… Before Zero Day, even.”

Watching Kiriya, Nico comments, “I don’t really see how his medical records will help, other than he obviously hasn’t had the compatibility surgery, but then he shouldn’t even be able to use a Gashat.” Kiriya finishes reading and Nico swings her laptop back around to face her, “Do you think that Emu’s lack of compatibility surgery and lack of trips to the doctor so suddenly has something to do with each other?”

Sighing, Kiriya answers, “I’m not sure,” He shoves his hands in his pant’s pockets, “It’s hard to say yet, there’s still some answers we need. He probably has them himself but…”

“He probably wouldn’t give them if we asked,” Nico finished, shaking her head, “Maybe I can dig into what M was like prior to six years ago, see if there’s anything else that might have changed.”

Kiriya nods, “You do that,” He turns to leave, “Keep an eye out, Graphite’s infected Director Hinata and Ace and Saki are outmatched without their Level 3s.”

Of course that would happen. In a way, Nico knew that there was always a chance that something like this would happen. “Director Hinata?” Nico wondered. It couldn’t have been a coincidence, could it? “Yeah, I’ll see about helping them out soon.”

After Kiriya left, Nico sets her laptop aside, looking at the white board she had on the wall. Grabbing a marker, a pen, some sticky notes, string, and magnets, she gets to work. Twenty minutes later she’s made good progress and she hears footsteps coming down the hallway. Probably Taiga.

“Hey Nico-“ Taiga stops mid-sentence, standing in the doorway and staring at the whiteboard. At the moment, it had the heading, written in colorful marker, “The Mystery of Emu Hojo”. There were notes pointing out the lack of Driver but ability to use Gashats, his newly found out medical history, and occasional odd behavior.

Taiga stares as Nico turns to look at him. He blinks. Finally, he breaths in, “Nico,” There’s a pause before he asks, “What the fuck are you and Kujo doing?”

Nico stared at him for a moment, put the cap on her marker without looking away from him, blinked, set the marker down, again without breaking eye contact, and finally answers, “Investigating,” She grabs her bag off the ground, throwing it over her shoulder, “Anyway, I’ve got some dragon slaying to do, so if you’ll excuse me.”

Taiga blinks but otherwise doesn’t say anything else. It seems, he’s still rather shocked.

---

As Emu was about to enter the patient room, hoping to figure out what might stress Director Hinata, he’s stopped by Asuna. She stares him down, serious, “Emu,” She said, “You haven’t been acting like yourself since Hinata got infected, but especially since you and Saki got back from fighting.”

Tilting his head, Emu shrugged, “I want to cure Doctor Kyotaro, that’s all.” That was true. What was also true was that he was worried and knew there wasn’t room for worrying about nice, kind, caring Emu, when the more aggressive and confident Genius Gamer M was what was required. He couldn’t let Doctor Kyotaro die because Saki was being stubborn and Nico had taken their Level 3 Gashats.

Continuing into the patient room, Emu put on a smile, walking over to the bed Hinata was in. “Doctor Kyotaro,” He greets.

Doctor Kyotaro gives him a smile, “Emu, it’s good to actually see you again. It’s been a while since we met in person, though I do wish it were under different circumstances.”.

“Don’t worry, we’ll make sure you get cured,” Emu assured.

“Which reminds me,” Doctor Kyotaro began, “If you’re trying to figure out what would stress me, I can tell you. People finding out about Game Disease and the panic it would cause.”

“So that’s what Graphite’s probably planning to do right now,” Emu realized, “Thank you Doctor Kyotaro – I have to go.” Rushing out of the room and past Asuna, Emu made his way out of the hospital. The best way to spread a disease openly and largely would be someplace that was exactly that – large and open. So Graphite was probably somewhere large and open where there would be lots of people.

Quickly he finds people being infected with the Drago Knight Hunter Z strain of Game Disease and he knows he’s on the right course. He can see that it’s coming from the top of a roof, so he rushes up.

On the rooftop, standing and looking out over the city, was Graphite. He turns to look at Emu.

“About time one of you arrived,” He said, “I assume you are ready?”

Emu answers by pulling out his Gashat. The two are brought into the game world, though Emu isn’t sure who did it. He didn’t have a Gamer Driver to do so and neither did Graphite. Emu transforms and is about to attack Graphite, only for the dragon Bugster to fly by, catching him off guard. It was bigger now, maybe because of all the new people who have been infected.

Wasting little time, Saki arrives, already transformed and focusing her attention once more on Graphite. That was alright though, because Emu had an idea on how to beat the dragon Bugster. Hopefully Saki wouldn’t even see, so he wouldn’t get a lecture.

Jet Combat!

Jet! Jet! In the sky! Jet! Jet! Jet Combat!

Just as quickly as Saki, Nico arrives – at least Emu assumes it’s still Nico, shooting at the dragon Bugster. At least she was also focusing on the more important target. She probably didn’t even know much, if anything, about the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat.

---

Mu watched as the Riders fought Graphite and the dragon Bugster from afar. When Para-DX had arrived to confront Graphite, Mu had used the Gamer Driver to relocate them to the forest. A rooftop was no place for a good fight.

He notes that a colorfully dressed and haired woman, who looked like she was cosplaying Poppy Pipopapo had arrived. He wasn’t sure who she was or where she came from, but could only assume she was connected to one of the Riders. He paid her little mind.

As upset as he was about who Graphite had chosen to infect, he also didn’t want anything bad to happen to Graphite. So he was making sure nothing bad happened. He’d leave this to Graphite, but was ready to step in if necessary.

---

Entering the CR’s patient room, still marveling at how easy it was to get into the CR, Kiriya is ready to ask the question that’s been burning in his mind since he and Nico spoke earlier. “Director Hinata,” He begins, seeing how Hinata watched him, “I have a question for you, about Emu Hojo.”

“And what’s that?”

“Did that operation you perform on him really save his life?”

“Yes,” Hinata insisted, “He’d been hit by a car, if I hadn’t operated on him he would have died.”

Kiriya frowned, “Is that all you did? Save his life?”

“What are you implying?”

---

Emu decided that he and Nico had done enough that he could put his plan into action. He was hoping not to have Poppy and Nico here to witness it, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He grabbed his Gashat, letting his transformation disappear. He needed to replicate this.

He puts his Gashat in his axe, still in his hand. By Graphite, who just so happened to be near where the dragon Bugster was heading, Saki was preparing her own attack, her sword in ice mode. Emu runs over toward her.

“M, what are you doing!?” He can hear Nico yell, but ignores her. He grabs Saki’s sword, using it to pave an iceway up to the dragon.

“Intern what are you doing!?”

“I’ll change Doctor Kyotaro’s fate with my own hands!” Holding both his axe and Saki’s sword, he slashes at the dragon Bugster.

Mighty-Taddle Critical Finish!

The attacks comes in contact with the dragon Bugster and Emu can feel something rush through his entire body. He feels the glitching before he sees it. It’s small and brief, hopefully only noticeable to him, but it’s there. For a moment, his entire appearance changed, only to revert back to what it had been.

As the dragon disappeared, four pieces of armor emerged from it. The pieces flew into the Drago Knight Hunter Z Gashat, completing it as it changed to be gold colored. Landing on the ground and dropping the two weapons, Emu holds the Gashat, alongside Mighty Action X.

Mighty Action X!

Drago Knight Hunter Z!

Do-Do-Drago Kni-Kni-Kni-Knight! Dra! Dra! Drago Knight Hunter! Z! Para-DX!

Four pieces of armor, like the ones that had come from the dragon Bugster, appeared, landing on Emu. Then everyone was moved to a different stage, this one an open field. There was now extra armor on his head and both his arms, each seeming like its own weapon.

Despite this new power, there was something off about it. It flowed through him, yes, but for some reason, it also brought powerful urges that he just couldn’t resist. He’s reminded of six years ago with the pain and the lack of control. Crying out, he realizes his attacks are heading towards both Graphite and Saki and Nico.

Graphite looks at him and rushes, hitting him with what would definitely have been a strong attack. Despite that, Emu was still, somehow, standing. He counters with his own attack, which knocks Graphite back a considerable amount. As the transformation disappears, Emu falls to the ground, feeling oddly exhausted. He could feel a tingling in his hands and feet, which surely was tiny glitches trying to reveal what laid underneath.

The game area disappears and Emu’s on the roof, Graphite nowhere to be seen.

#kamen rider ex aid #kamen rider exaid #kamen rider #my writing #there is a me who can become strong

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fivzen · 3 years

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50 Years of Kamen Rider, and What the Show Means to Me

As I’m writing this, it is April 3rd 2021 (At least it still is in my timezone) and it’s only dawning on me now that, as of this year, Kamen Rider (and associated Tokusatsu Hero Shows) have been a part of my life personally for almost 7 Years now.

An astonishing thought.

That said, I thought I would for once take the time to establish how I was introduced to Rider, and how it’s changed my life since. Of course, I don’t want to get to emotional, or overwhelming, so I will be keeping this brief, while also still sticking to my point as titled. That said, let us begin.

From October of 2013 to August of 2014, I was in a very bad spot in my life. The details of which I do not wish to discuss at this time, but needless to say, it was not good. I spent my days on my iPod, waiting for my next chance to be connected to the internet, so that I might have a chance at downloading a video podcast I would be able to enjoy until the next time I was connected.

At one of the stops I was able to get internet, I was browsing youtube while the videos downloaded, and came across something very interesting in my recommended: Episode 5 of Kamen Rider Den-O, Urataros’ introduction episode. I was intrigued, to say the least. I was only aware of Power Rangers at that time, and I knew it came from Japan originally at least, but Kamen Rider? I had thought that a one off thing from 2009 on CW Kids (KR Dragon Knight). So, with some slight curiosity, I tapped on it, and watched.

And I. Was. Hooked. It was incredible! I found the characters funny and interesting, I liked the action, and the music was cool! Underneath it had the following episodes, but it also listed Kamen Rider OOO Episode 1. So, I opened that one up too, and also enjoyed it! I opened the channel uploading it, and whenever I could get on Wi-Fi, or sneak my mom’s phone away from her, I would watch either OOO or Den-O, and have a great time.

And even when my hard times started coming to an end, I continued watching it (alongside Super Sentai which had also entered my life before hand). I watched all of OOO and Den-O, I watched Wizard, and Fourze, and W, and Decade, and Kiva! Those sub vids are long gone now (copyright and all that) but I will always have those fond memories of watching the show and keeping up with whatever new stuff came out. Drive was my first live show from start to end, and despite how much I complain about it, it still holds a special place in my heart.

Ghost came at a time when I needed it most. My grandpa had just passed away, and my depression skyrocketed to an all new high. But it showed me that even after life, the people in your life are still connected to you, and still love you, and it really saved me from some bad choices. Ex-Aid got me through my freshman year of high school, providing some relief despite it’s odd writing choices from the loud halls I was still getting used to.

Build... Man, what didn’t Build do for me? Build came at a time in my life when I started to question everything about myself. Who am I? Who do I like? What makes me the happiest? And Build came in, and helped me in that process. Because Build, at it’s core (at least to me) is a show about finding your identity. No matter where you come from, as long as you find yourself and others happy, then that’s where and Who you can be.

Zi-O chugged me along through junior year, but I didn’t touch too much on it. Zero One got me through Senior year, as well as the start of quarantine, and well, if you know me you already know how much Zero One has done for me, since I gush on it so much. And Saber, currently airing, is already shaping up to be one of my favorites.

But, where does that really leave me? Why is it that I continue to watch this show? It’s clear it’s shaped my life, but what else? Well, it’s simple.

Kamen Rider, to me, is a show about Love, Life, Hope, and Reshaping.

Love that can be transferred between Family, Friends, Partners, Significant Others, even random acts of love towards your fellow man between strangers. Life that can go through hard times, and rocky terrain, but find beauty in the everyday. Hope, that forms through actions big and small, and words that can effect a person’s entire worldview. And Reshaping, changing how one thinks of the world and people around them, and growing because of the things they face.

Kamen Rider came into my life, and has bettered it ever since. I sincerely think that I would not be where I am today where it not for my curiosity leading me to open up that episode of Den-O.

Thank you Kamen Rider, for always being with me.

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fantasyinvader · 3 years

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Kamen Rider Saber: Finale and Series Review

Okay, before I start disemboweling this series I want to give the finale two points of props.

It was nice to see the main trio fight the big bad together rather than it just being the lead Rider.

The ending really feels nostalgic for me. It's like one of those old games or anime that tried to do something like Evangelion, mostly Star Ocean 3 comes to mind.

I was going to add another point: how the ending didn't have to rely on a cosmic retcon to turn things into a happy ending like Build or Zi-o did, leaving those who died dead and having some level of maturity. I was going to give the show that point, even if it felt like it was leading into Touma essentially becoming God, but then the show did it and...I'm going to be honest here, I was saying fuck you at the screen. Multiple times, kinda like when Doctor Who's 50th anniversary where it turns out Gallifrey wasn't destroyed, the Doctor sealed it away and just couldn't remember it. Like, that is the level of bullshit I was calling out, and with Doctor Who I only said it as an “oh fuck you” rather than just “fuck you fuck you fuck you” until I noticed I was doing this and stopped myself.

Got it? Good. Now let's put Kamen Rider Saber on the examination table, rip it open, and see what went wrong with it.

Oh my god, where to begin with this series?

You ever see a show or movie that tries to do too much for it's runtime? Maybe a book that has some ultimately good ideas, but it never fleshed them out properly? That's my biggest feeling with Saber. Individual parts of the story, some arcs and characters are good on paper. Not to mention, Touma has two incredibly sexy upgrades (the Ryuki-inspired Draconic Knight and the berserker Primitive Dragon). But there is just so much in here that, given the proper focus could have carried the show if properly developed. It's a case of quantity over quality.

But the main problem comes to it's central McGufffin, the Omniscient Tome. This book is supposed to have all knowledge and later on all stories contained within it. It's what powers Wonderworld and the Wonder Ridebooks that are the main collectable trinket of the season. But when you stop and think about it, Saber is a world where there is no free will and the antagonists are all rebelling against this in their own way. Kento's dad (former Kamen Rider Calibur) went rogue in the backstory because he was given a vision of the future through his sword, and it led to the former Saber taking up the role of Calibur and going rogue in order to learn the truth. When the other riders are turned against Touma, the argument is over how he's destined to become more powerful, making Touma seem like he's seeking power and could be a future threat. When Kento returns from the dead, he's haunted by visions of the world ending in multiple variations, leading to him trying to seal the Sacred Blades in order to stop it. But then Master Logos is revealed to be buttfucking insane, wanting to rebel against his position in the world. Then it turns out the monster faction's leader, was a former poet who lost hope when he learned that all his creations were already in the Omniscient Tome, so he decided he would end the world his way rather than the predetermined ending. And even then, the world still ended the way it was always fated to end, even with Touma disappearing to nu-Wonderworld if only for a year.

The world wasn't saved, it was destroyed and then rebuilt because Mei wrote an online post that encouraged people to share their stories, which they did in oblivion even though these guys shouldn't have seen the post at all and instead just heard her voice.

Like, maybe the nu-World has free will. I'd buy that. But when applied to the 47 episodes I've spent the last year watching (alongside the Zenkaiger crossover episode), it felt pointless because it ended the way it was foretold in the Omniscient Tome. It didn't matter that Storious was defeated, fate was not averted. It's like, the complaints people have about the MCU post-Loki. It doesn't matter that Tony decided to sacrifice himself, because he didn't have free will. He was always going to sacrifice himself. Thanos was always going to snap away half the universe, and it would always be undone because choices didn't matter before Loki's ending.

And that's not even going into how they final arc reveals that Touma can somehow create stories not present in the Omniscient Tome. That he can somehow, because the personification of Wonderworld choose him as a child, that for some reason he's the only writer in history that can do this. His catchphrase is about how he'll be the one who'll decide how the story ends, but with the idea that everything was set into stone? It's laughable.

Like, my problem with Zero One's ending was the last scene. Aruto had learned a lot about the Humagears and was an advocate for them finding their own dreams as they became self-aware AI. So him trying to treat a new humagear as just an amnesiac Is and try to help her “remember”? That felt like a betrayal of the character and what he stood for. But the post-series movie revealed that Is left a copy of herself in the Zero Two driver, and merged with the non-self aware nu-Is who the movie kept reminding us wasn't the Is we knew. Aruto even had a sobbing scene about what he was doing, lowkey acknowledging what he was doing but without overtly calling him out. It fixed Zero One for me after that last scene left me with a bad taste in my mouth that overshadowed an otherwise excellent show.

You can't fix Saber with a single movie, that's what I'm getting at here.

So, with that out of the way let's go into my thoughts on each character.

Touma: Is one of the blandest main riders in the franchise. His sense of style is probably one of the worst I've ever seen though. Like I know they like to try and give the main riders their own look rather than having them dress like normal people, like Aruto wearing a hoodie under his suit jacket alongside with his very bright shoes, but this wasn't a W or even something like Ghost (where honestly I really liked Takeru's robe-like shirts). What they eventually settled on with Touma was a stupid hat, really baggy pants, and shirts that look like they came out of a stern librarian's closest. You know, the type with her hair in a bun and their horned-framed glasses on a chain.

Rintaro:Is one of those cases where he's meant to be the secondary Rider of the series, but is overshadowed because the writer likes to use someone else more. The idea of him having to turn against the organization that raised him (like a child soldier) could have worked really well if the series had a more free will-direction. But alas.

Kento: Kento's the one character I found I could really like. His arc was more interesting during the first quarter, his return as Calibur, but then he returned to being Espada and, as much as I love that suit, he just became Touma's main cheerleader. Really, I felt like towards the end it was a waste of him, especially since he doesn't get any power ups like Rintaro did to solidify him as one of the main three. He definitely feels like a victim of rewrites or just the writer not knowing what he was doing.

Mei: The female lead. Honestly, I just found her annoying most of the time. A womanchild to match Touma's more manchild moments, with a potential romance with Rintaro thrown in to only be confirmed in a future movie. Really, she should have taken over as Espada after Kento disappeared early on (especially since she's one of the three in the Ending dance while Kento isn't).

Daishinji: I'd say best boy, but he became a background character pretty quick.

Ogami: An older Kamen Rider who is also a father to a young child? Cool, and could even have worked in contrast to Rintaro's raising as essentially a child soldier. But alas, it was not to be.

Ren: OMG. A somewhat psycho younger Rider, idolizing Kento, and his social Darwinist beliefs on strength leading to conflict as Touma gets more powerful, leading to him abandoning the team to train with an enemy monster? HOW DO YOU MAKE THAT NOT WORK! I swear, Ren should have been the secondary Rider of the series, with his changes in beliefs being used more effectively.

Yuri: One of the most competantly written characters in the entire show. One of the original swordsman who became his sword, returning after 2000 years and not only feeling the culture clash of then and now but even how the idea of what makes a hero has changed? Good boy. Also loved him using a shadow body early on during fights.

Sophia: Why are you even here?

Reika: Oh boy, the swordswoman who leads the rest to distrust Touma under the orders of Master Logos, and doesn't sway from this until he's proven to be batshit insane? And even then, reluctant to join the others? Could have been better, especially if her relationship with her brother didn't come across as incesty. Though, could we please return her to Magine in Zenkaiger? Reika hugging her was really cute, in a socially awkward type of way.

Ryoga: Reika's brother. With his powers being something out of Jojo, time manipulation powers which are a bit hard to explain. He starts them and to his opponents things seem like the fight is continuing as normal, but he really exists outside of that and then can attack from a blindspot? Could have been really good with if the series had gone Team Free Will is all I'm saying.

Master Logos: What I mentioned above, but his Rider suit is one I'm in lust with. Just laughs like a madman and you're wondering why Reika and Ryoga don't rebel against him earlier.

The Megid: Two are a waste who I never bothered to learn their names. Fall out of focus for a bit and only return to be beaten, with the sad fact that they were once human. Storious is the exception, but even then I felt he was a little too late to save the series.

Tassel: Bon Lecture! I still hate you you weirdo, even if your death scene made me feel a little sad. The fact that you treated the early parts of the show as a story you were reading? Have you seen my other complaints?

As for the message of what the show tried to say? I don't really mind it. It's encouraging people to love stories, even if they are copies (considering the controversy of Time Paradox Ghostwriter and Cheat Slayer within recent memory, I'm trying not to make jokes about Saber encouraging plagiarism). And I don't think that's a bad thing in itself. Hell, how many stories take stuff from older stories and just tweak elements to make them their own? I love the Elric saga, but that was based on old legends and meant to subvert the likes of Conan the Barbarian, and some other stories I've liked have borrowed elements from it as well. The idea that stories can be used to pass on our hopes, thoughts and dreams to others is pretty nice as well, rather than writing being a form of masturbation on the author's part.

But in the shadow of the Omniscient Tome and it's implications, I really feel the story should have taken another route.

A lot of Riders start of weak, having to introduce the plot as well as the main release of whatever trinket they want kids to gorge themselves on this year. But they usually start getting better towards the end of the first quarter, while maybe stalling a bit towards the end of the second/third. Saber was a series that I felt never really found it's legs. Too many bareboned plot threads on the go, dropping some for a while only to pick them up again after they've been forgotten about. This is not a good series, to be honest I think Zi-O and even Ghost were better, and really feel it would have been better handled in the hands of someone who could actually write.

Not to mention, this gave me flashbacks of Power Rangers Megaforce over how much this series relied on fight scenes. Throw in greenscreen everywhere, lack of civilians...oh god, it is Kamen Rider Megaforce. And it felt like Saber was trying to have a story, unlike Megaforce, but it has the same “it’s a kid’s show, we don’t have to try that hard” energy.

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kamenriderlogik27 · 3 years

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Kamen Rider Saber ep 13: Live-ish thoughts 2

Just finished the ep... I’m gonna do this in bullets to make things a bit easier.

Mei, you’re adorable, but you had ONE JOB!

Despite that, I’m really glad you were AWARE that you had one job and yet still failed. Thank you.

Rintaro called Mei without using her last name! woohoo! I called that ‘progress’! (I also love how Ogami calls her “Ojou-chan” hehe! That’s super adorable~)

yay!! Luna’s alive!!! and She’s the one that helped power up Touma!! I wonder if Rintaro’s master will do the same for him next week?

HOLY CRAP DRAGONIC KNIGHT, BOTH THE WRB AND THE SUIT, ARE SO FRICKIN’ AMAZING!!!!

Dragonic Knight totally looks like a... I can’t think of the word right now, but something like a callback? to both Ryuuki and Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. Which is cool in my oppinion

So.... the thing with Caliber’s sword..... are they gonna do something similar with Gaisoulg? That’d be SUPER COOL if so!!! OOOH!!!!! I hope that’s where they’re going with this!!!!!!!!!

Kenta’s “2nd death” I guess, was still heartbreaking, but where they’re going with the story feels like it’ll make up for it!

Does this mean that Daichi’s dead? what if..... the sword was taking control over his body? COUGH!*Gaisoulg* COUGH!

I mean, ‘cmon! That’d give us great reason’s as to why Kento’s father committed treason, and WHY Daichi took over his suit. Though.... if Kento’s father has always been Caliber even when he was good, I wonder what happened to make his suit evil like that.... omgosh this is getting so much more interesting now!!!!

I’m even starting to like Touma more now! which I will say.... This is the first time I’ve EVER liked the 2nd and 3rd riders MORE than the 1st. I usually LOVE the 1st riders and also the 2nd or 3rds, but I’ve never had such a disinterest in the 1st rider before Touma. Which I really hate because Touma IS interesting.... but only to a certain point. I think he’s a character that relies more on a growing plot. If that makes any sense. hehe. But, like I said, he’s getting MORE interesting now! yay!

But now we also have a few more questions

will Toei really do a Gaisoulg thing and make Kento the new Caliber?

what really happened to Kento’s father?

What will happen to Kento’s sword?

Who’s the guy in white and how the HELL is he friends with creepy Tassel?!

WHO THE HELL IS TESSEL?! AND WHY IS HE SO CREEPY?!

#kamen rider #kamen rider saber #kamiyama touma #fukamiya kento #shindo rintaro #kamen rider espada #kamen rider blades #quick thoughts

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toku-explained · 3 years

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A Southern Swordsman

Heroes' Odyssey: After a quick lookin at Z's battle with Destrudos, we witness the arrival of Zogu on earth, and how on the face of overwhelming destructive power, XiG stood with the Kaiju of earth and enabled Gaia and Agul to be reborn and overcome the odds.

Saber: Sneaking in to meet Master Logos is definitely a bold play, but that first scene does confirm Reika is getting orders from him. Zooous' rampage gives Storious a way to sneak in. While Yuri, Rintaro, Ren and Zooous all fight, Storious encounters the current Master Logos, who identifies him as one of the The First. A Southern Base Swordsman leads Touma to where Storious appears after finding his book. Storious' attempt to use the book knocks even himself down, allowing Touma to grab it, and as Legeiel attacks it activates and configures into Primitive Dragon, Touma, not himself, places Brave Dragon within, and transforms into the wild Primitive Dragon. And this is exactly what Master Logos wanted. Yuri senses this and rushes to the site, followed by Rintaro and Ren, and then Zooous, and all are witness to his destructive power.

Kiramager: Juru is dead, and they skipped the OP even though it isn't the final episode, we're getting serious here. Yodon sends Yodonna to retrieve the other Kanaema Stones. Energia to empower Oradin, Reversia to revert him to the Yodonna of 10 days ago, enabling Oradin to seal her, but as they go to use Destoria to destroy them, Yodon kills Yodonna, allowing his escape. Just as Yodon's victory seems assured, Crunchula grabs Illusia and Jouki appears, bringing Juru with it. OK, we're 3 for 3 now of members of the royal family placing their souls in Kiramai Stones rather than dying, but now Garza IS Jouki. But his soul gets burnt out by it, leaving Jouki in Juru's hands, dying wishing for a better relationship with Oradin.

Decade Vs Zi-O: So according to something I read, I've been watching these in the wrong order up until now, so let's try the correct order for these last two parts, where it'll matter most. Anyway, tensions are fraying amongst the survivors. Yusuke tries to keep the peace, nobody sees Oma Zi-O in the mirror behind him. The final round is announced, trying to find a treasure while avoiding being killed by Another Ryuki. Tsukasa finds a blade, Heurue finds a musket when Ora charges him with a cutlass, losing her nerve when he spots her, she then gets jumped and killed by Another Ryuki while he runs, only to be killed by the axe. While Sougo sits in melancholy the axe is thrown at him and he falls to his death. Tsukasa finds Yusuke, who shows the blade he found before attacking from behind with the axe, which Tsukasa blocks, I'm pretty sure he says this isn't his Yusuke, but Yusuke manages to stab him. As he gloats, Sougo appears, revealing himself as a robot, as does Heure, who reveals himself as Uchu Ninja Demost and flies away, and Misa reveals she was a spirit all along and vanishes. Yusuke rushes into the house to demand the reward, while Sougo helps Tsukasa in, where the masked jester arrives, revealing themself as Narutaki. He explains he was forced to organise the game by the True Sougo. Yusuke goes to attack him, but is killed by Oma Zi-O from the mirror. Narutaki explains that he brought Tsukasa here in the hopes he could stop Oma Zi-O, before Tsukasa and Sougo both Henshin, and Decade and Zi-O leap into the mirror. The pair fight with Oma Zi-O, tho is overpowering them when Diend, Kuuga and Kiva-la arrive to help, and Sougo hands Tsukasa the Saber Ridewatch. Despite the Riders' efforts, Oma Zi-O is victorious, and uses an attack that appears to unmake the world, and Sougo awakens, in school, to find it isolated in another world.

Zi-O Vs Decade: Swartz dubs Punk Sougo as Sougo D and Cute Sougo as Sougo E. Woz observes. Tsukuyomi and the boy are attacked by Inves, she defeats them but her leg is injured. The Sougo's continue their competition. Misa makes a move on Sougo C. Heure reveals Sougo C is actually Sougo A, C took his place to read the letter for him, but when Heure noticed he wasn't his Sougo C knocked him out, leading to the end of the previous episode. A explains C was only killed due to an unseen attack from Decade. B and D arrive as Tsukasa makes his presence known, explaining he intends to destroy the True Sougo, interesting D, who becomes Zi-O to challenge him, but Tsukasa defeats him and he vanishes. At night, Tsukuyomi tells the boy about Sougo and Geiz, who decides he wants to be named Sougo. Tsukasa looks like he might be vanishing. A helps Swartz prepare meat for the next day. The boy at A's festival stand finally gives up, but Geiz comes to see him. In the midst of the Sougo votes, Tsukasa let's the Inves into the school. Geiz fights the Inves while A goes to where B and E are confronting Tsukasa, who explains he's fighting to stop Oma Zi-O, the True Sougo. Sougo A and Tsukasa fight, while Sougo B stops E from joining. Tsukuyomi and the boy Sougo arrive at the site of Decade and Zi-O's battle, the site of Sougo awakening the boy's memories and power, as I understand it the world reset at the end of Decade Vs Zi-O reduced his power significantly, but when Sougo E becomes Zi-O and attacks him he still destroys him effortlessly. He tells them they must fight for the chance to acquire his power, but when Swartz appears and announces Sougo A has won the election, Sougo B decides not to fight and leaves, watched by Heure and Ora. The True Sougo becomes Oma Zi-O, his first attack at Sougo is taken by Heurue, who dies after giving Sougo his letter at last, Sougo then becomes Zi-O, and Tsukasa pulls out the K-Touch 21, transforming into Decade Complete Form 21, and Swartz also rejoins the fray, becoming Another Decade again. Despite the combined power of Zi-O and Decade, Oma Zi-O continuously overpowers them, and eventually deals a lethal blow to Tsukasa, who passes to Sougo the Saber Ridewatch, which he uses with the Decade Ridewatch to become Zi-O Decade Armour Saber Form. I'm not one to criticise the forms used in specials, but I really feel like they should have used Dragonic Knight for the undersuit here. As the two Zi-O's finishers meet, Tsukuyomi calls out for the boy Sougo to stop, his memories of their time together giving him enough pause that Zi-O manages to defeat to Oma Zi-O. Tsukasa vanishes from the world, seeming satisfied, and the world is restored around the school. Sougo B and Misa leave after some parting words. Sougo, Geiz and Tsukuyomi make their plans for the future, unaware that Swartz and Ora are watching them, both of them now in their Time Jacker attire. Ora asks about Heure, but gets little response, and they both vanish, observed by Woz, who awaits his King's next move.

Dogengers: The show makes sure to tell us all 5 heroes split the rent. Tanaka is forced to give a strategy meeting, he also had to give Yuki the rundown. Yabai Kamen heads his own meeting, and recalls the Insurgent Power Harassment that lead to his broken arm, though in a way he's glad only he was hurt by I-Doll. Fukuokaliber discusses the idea the Golden Seal could give them the edge up they need, while I-Doll decides to attack the heroes directly. Yamashiron recognises the Golden Seal from when he was upgraded into Tsuyobi Mode, but none of the other heroes remember seeing it. A package is delivered, and after Yuki signs for it the heroes notice I-Doll upstairs. The 5 heroes fight, but she's overpowering all of them, but Rookie, remembering all he's learnt from the others, asks them to leave things to him, asking I-Doll to explain what her worries are so he can help, angering her further. She goes to deal with the others when he calls out, saying he won't allow evil, she pauses at being told to wait, then charges, but Rookie manages to knock her down with a pinch. And then a change happens. And so the worried Yuki rushes to the door to greet Tanaka, to find him there holding the unconscious figure of a girl very much like I-Doll, in a school uniform.

Super Sentai Movie Ranger: Just going off vague summaries

Memory of Soulmates: Sounds like just a nice little interlude, the Gaisoulg Soul saves the day by absorbing something to do with the Minusaur involved. Kinjo Mana RIP.

Bebop Dream: Set around the time this would have originally come out, resolves the Minjo plot hook, establishes Garza still thinks of Crystalia. Apparently the Red Shovellow isn't important to anything happening, but Zabyun is used in a new Kiramazin formation.

Red Battle! All Sentai Battle: Reportedly set after episode 7 of the series, but I imagine there will have been some stuff introduced by then not featured in the movie. The main villain is a Tojitendo monster called Super Warumono World, who incorporates features of main villains of the 44 previous Sentai, list below, who summons an army of past monsters, most notably Basco ta Jolokia, Izayoi Kyuemon, Bangray and Zamigo Delma. After being defeated the Zenkaigers manage to summon the past 45 reds, who help them defeat the villains.

Villains: Kuro Juji Soto, Shuryo Iron Claw, Satan Egos, Queen Hedrian, Hell Saturn Soto, Soto Taboo, Teio Aton, Doctor Man, Seio Bazeu, Daitei La Deus, Chiteio Zeba, Daikyoju Bias, Dai Boma Teio Lagorn, Ginga Choju Vulgyre, Kyodaiju Raguem, Majo Bandora, Gorma XV, Daimaou, Bacchus Wrath, Sochi Gynamo, Dr. Hinelar, Zeihab Seicho, Meio Zylpheeza, Don Dolnero, Kyukyoku Org Senki, Shuryo Tau Zant, Jameishin Dezumozoriya, Agent Abrella, Zettaishin N Ma, Daishinkan Gajah, Long, Soridaijin Yogoshimacritein, Chimatsuri Doukoku, Kyuseishu no Brajira, Ackdos Gil, Messiah Reboot, Hyakumen Shinkan Chaos, Z Shin, Kibaoni Gengetsu, Shin Ginis, Don Armage, Dogranio Yabun, Eras and Yodon Kotei.

#toku explained #mashin sentai kirameiger #kamen rider saber #kamen rider zi o #kamen rider decade #dogengers

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