Kamen Rider General Discussion

[Tactics]

Gotchard looks fine for me.

Houtarou is goofy but people around him are quick to tell his fault, or how he can be a problem with that way of thinking.
It better than, say, Sougo (Zi-O) who tend to hyped by Woz while Geiz critics nulled; Houtarou slowly endangered someone by putting Chemies on pedestal.
Rinne is the stiffest but turn of events did well on telling she's honor student who suck at social skill currently learning about workforce and befriending others.

Spanner is Chaser 2.0. He got enough personality by last episode IMO.

Man arrived, cook better food; dislike Houtarou food, but he still finished it in respect.
Then you see Boruto accusation to him is one-sided, telling enough that Spanner is "less talk, prove it through action".
He's open to any support or challenge as shown but do not expect it will be easy to melt him because he's man with mission.

I'd say he's written better than Gotou because you can't deny he's relevant to keep things in check.
Gotou is troubled because his early characterization wanted to tell Eiji and Ankh doing it wrong to get the spotlight but not many reason to pay attention to him until Date included, Satonaka and Kougami hardly helped him while Maki on his way to hijack main antagonist status. Spanner OTOH within span of two episodes manages to convey Houtarou is better only by luxury of Gotchard Driver.

It also him who noticed weirdness of what Norns doing.
There should be no issue for them to kill Houtarou first especially after how they made Fuga, skilled and experienced Alchemist, MIA.
For some reason this time more Malgams is better than get the Driver first, nun Lachesis shown they're serious about it took priority over Driver.

[Tactics]

I like they tried to recreate 555 atmosphere, too bad the lighting is 2020s instead of 90s.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/rfTAWxkrbsE

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YouTube

https://youtu.be/wNEEZJpgrvg

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https://youtu.be/77gqbFuX7v8

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[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

At this point, a new anniversary movie means a new way to ruin your beloved Kamen Rider from the past. They already ruined Ryuki with the Rider Time, ruined OOO with the V-Cinema, and now 555 is within their sight.

Also, Takumi & co. look pretty dang old now. Here's hoping that their characters actually mature after all these years. It won't be funny if they still act like their 20s selves.

Oh, and the new Suits look bad.

[Tactics]

I won't go as far as saying OOO is ruined with 10th Anniversary.

Poorly done, yes (we don't need Goda the budget King OOO seriously) but OOO movies and side-story has been hinting Ankh return will be a monkey paw deal. Megamax movie already set it with Future Ankh avoided Eiji question about how Future Eiji doing and why Future Ankh is considered as future OOO, implying something bad happen to Eiji at some point.

It also fitting to Eiji character arc.
He got no desire, then he learned nothing wrong with having desire, he settled on desire reviving Ankh, he died as his desire fulfilled with Ankh became his living legacy; Goda subtly shown Eiji at worst is someone who think "I solved Ankh problem, surely this means more power = I can fix everything wrong with this world".

The suits grew on me, Muse though, so boxy it looks odd by thematic comparison with Delta (three lines compare to 555 single and Kaixa two lines, more sleek design signify technological advancement compare to former, adapted into Psyga and Omega in AU)

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Tactics

Megamax movie already set it with Future Ankh avoided Eiji question about how Future Eiji doing and why Future Ankh is considered as future OOO, implying something bad happen to Eiji at some point.

I just watched this yesterday. This never happened. All Eiji asked was how Ankh came back, and then inferred that it'd be their last time fighting together because of how easily Ankh was willing to fight alongside him.

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by GDB

I just watched this yesterday. This never happened. All Eiji asked was how Ankh came back, and then inferred that it'd be their last time fighting together because of how easily Ankh was willing to fight alongside him.

I see thanks for your correction.

I take it as Ankh avoided the question because further explanation would be bad as he didn't want to explain the process but still telling Eiji able to do it.
Since the movie(s) made it clear that Future Ankh is traveling alone and quick to help Eiji, also Kougami printing more artificial medals in future, by that IMO not many possibilities other than Eiji went MIA after resurrecting Ankh.

[GDB]

Kougami was already working on making more medals in the present, so that doesn't factor into Eiji's status at all. The only thing that hints at anything is Eiji inferring that this was the last time he and Ankh would fight together. But that could also just mean that Eiji's too old to fight alongside him by the time he successfully resurrects. He's 21 during the main story of OOO, so if Ankh just resurrected shortly before the time hole issue, Eiji could be around 60 by then. Not exactly fighting fit.

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by GDB

Kougami was already working on making more medals in the present, so that doesn't factor into Eiji's status at all. The only thing that hints at anything is Eiji inferring that this was the last time he and Ankh would fight together. But that could also just mean that Eiji's too old to fight alongside him by the time he successfully resurrects. He's 21 during the main story of OOO, so if Ankh just resurrected shortly before the time hole issue, Eiji could be around 60 by then. Not exactly fighting fit.

If Eiji really retired by old age, then Ankh shouldn't have problem to explain his retirement. After all, Ankh never have problem partnering with old man as he got experience with King OOO; he might even appreciate if Eiji can retire peacefully instead of trying what King OOO did on his old age. IMO it really narrowed the option to Eiji died at some point possibly in process of reviving Ankh.

From writing standpoint Eiji died in process of reviving Ankh looks negative but IMO proper end to his character arc than died by old age.
After all, 10th Anniversary still going with theme of excessive desire is not a good thing. Eiji raw desire made him seek King power on last second is not entirely OOC either as we saw in series he's type who quick resorting on Putotyra without Ankh guidance.

[GDB]

Ankh's never been one to just say things. It isn't out of character in the slightest to not reveal information regardless of reason.

Also, Eiji didn't seek the King's power. The King was revived by Kougami by accident. Eiji had literally nothing to do with the King other than trying to stop him.

And most of the time in the series he didn't choose to use the purple coins, they forcefully inserted themselves quite often.

[justavisitor]

I think you guys are giving too much credit to Toei. There is a 9 years of gap between mega max and the 10th anniversary special. No way they put down any hints 9 years ago. (if they planned that far, we wouldn't complain the constant change of direction in the middle of the show )

This is like saying, the series in 1971 always emphasizes the value of training, and the reason they did that was because so rider ichigo can get the new form 40 years later in the movie heisei vs showa!

And OOO, to me, I don't think they handle the concept of desire that well. It was first stated that because Eiji has no desire so OOO won't go out of control, then I remember in one episode it was realized that Eiji's desire is as big as the Earth itself...so something has to give lol

The special point from OOO to me, is always the bond between ankh, Eiji, and the heroine, the bond between two "Births", and the growth of the secondary rider (The one who becomes "Birth" much later)

[Tactics]

While the execution is terrible, I'd say the writer do intend to finish Eiji there.
Thematically, if Eiji still alive as Ankh resurrected it would defeat the series part of telling you have to pay to make your desire come true; Date and Goto working hard for what they wanted and Eiji got it for free, with no consequences?

And no, there's nothing wrong with that details.
Its not Eiji no desire kept OOO in check, but core medals amplify user desire so Eiji is their safest bet. Also the context of his desire as big as world is Eiji desire to help everyone on Earth, to draw parallel with Maki who believes all life is worthless after his older sister death.

I believe that's the reason behind why they made Goda.
They wanted people to see the worst Eiji can be and make Eiji pay the price without making him truly the enemy in less than three hours duration.

[Dengar]

Originally Posted by GDB

good actors seem this bad on their own.

Not saying this is the case, but you'd be surprised. Out of curiosity who is making this show anyway?

At least it's not Saber levels of bad (yet).

[Tactics]

Originally Posted by Dengar

Out of curiosity who is making this show anyway?

Toei.

Directed by Ryuta Tasaki.

Producer is Yosuke Minato who responsible to Zero-One and Saber before (started his debut on Reiwa, basically).

The main writer is Hasegawa Keiichi.

He's main writer for anime: Zoids, Gridman, Dynazenon and Gridman Universe; secondary writer for TDG Ultras and main writer of Ultraman Nexus and Ginga.
Helper for a lot of Heisei Riders writing. He assisted Riku Sanjo for second half of W and Drive; to Fourze, also Ghost and Saber main writers as well. As note, being such helper is not a bad thing because Fourze, Ghost and Saber main writer do expressed in their interview, that they have difficulty translating their ideas into something KR-ish (things like: what can and can't; finished it within 50 episode, late season toys distribution, etc).

Hasegawa initially proposed Gotchard to have mature protagonist tackling serious issue but Toei wanted Gotchard to be about youth, light and happy.
Minato said he's happy that, as fan of Ultraman Nexus, working with Gotchard script is fun because they have to be careful removing dark aspect of the story as it may have ties to something in future (e.g. deserted area with Ouroboros symbol in the sky on first episode).

[Dengar]

So the writer is actually quite the veteran at this point. Wonder what's up then. I'd say the direction or acting is off but it's not like the writing is particularly compelling either. Maybe it's the executive meddling. Then again, Urobuchi somehow managed to worm his way into writing a compelling kids show with dark undertones. But maybe I shouldn't use him as a standard.

[Tactics]

Well, they need to sell toys, after all.

Toei probably didn't like how Reiwa goes for Kamen Rider.

From Zero-One to Geats, all tried to be serious on their own way, only Geats truly made it into trending topic on Twitter.
Even so, said fame is not constant (e.g. Geats IX is hyped, but no one amazed by Sueru as final boss); on average, Reiwa Sentai perform better (steady popularity), skyrocketed with Donbrothers and King-Ohger. From marketing standpoint it really raise question: Is it worth maintaining serious tone? Are you sure audience didn't need some break?

If you pay attention carefully, its been like this since second-line of Heisei, take Gaim as example:

- Gaim happened after four-years light-hearted Riders (W, OOO, Fourze (hired TTGL writer, even so decline is inevitable), Wizard (schedule issue seal the deal)).
- After Gaim, we back doing light-hearted Riders (Drive (aspiring policeman MC), Ghost (blonde monk-in-training MC)).
- Ex-Aid and Build, both serious series, come after Ghost that got the worst rating and toys sales compare to other Heisei second-line.

So Urobuchi isn't really an unique choice by means of totally free from Toei to write anything he wanted;
Not when he himself said in interview he didn't plan any upgrade for Kaito past regular LS until Toei told him to because Kaito is popular among children.



I personally fine with Gotchard probably because I already watched all his works but Ultraman Ginga.
Both Zoids have slow start but steady exposition. Gridman and Dynazenon loves playing around with small stuffs to tell more. Ultraman Nexus style is there too, only lighter; it doesn't try it best saying "This story is super good" like Geats do with surprise and hints, but I'd say care that goes to MOTW situation is better than other Reiwa Riders so far.

From basic case, to wrestler, to salty person, now parent and child relationship.
At glance we're just moving around but looking closely, Houtarou really is lucky. Spanner is there to prevent conflict escalation, Riku is positive enough to talk with him and the father still can be surprised; at worst either Riku die or it became Malgam vs. Malgam, so it make sense this time Houtarou cannot refute about upsetting order. Spanner made good point about it, how long Houtarou can stay winning. At some point he have to admit he can't always put Chemy on pedestal. Bonus point for acknowledging the real problem is lack of communication between father and son due to their busy schedule.

Minato, Renge and Sabimaru not doing anything big but they're active and build their importance nicely.
Stiff acting, yeah, especially Rinne. Boring, maybe, but IMO they did it right so I don't really see need to seriously doubt it to the point of throwing "Who the hell writing this" or "Definitely executives fault"; besides, every writer got their own style and method to handle 50 episodes. If you can't enjoy it after eight episodes, reminder that no one here forced you to watch Gotchard.

[Kanon]

The problem with Gotchard is that the characters are obnoxious, especially the MC. I want to punch his face every time he starts talking. It's the first KR series I'm considering dropping in 10 years of watching KR weekly. That shit is even worse than Ghost.

[Tactics]

Me, who dropped Ghost by third episode: "You ... survive Takeru? How?"



Seriously guys, if you wanted to drop it because you have difficulty to enjoy it, just drop it. We're at eighth episode already.
IMO, if your opinion doesn't change after wrestler episode, then maybe its not for you; there's nothing wrong with that, can use this thread to discuss other KR instead.
For sure, you won't be the first to drop this series. There are enough "I watched KR from Ichigo to Geats; Gotchard is the worst. Dropped." kind of claim on various tokusatsu discussion out there it quite amazing.

[Tactics]

Spoiler for Gotchard Ep. 9:

We start with Houtarou became even more louder after nice balance of conversation on eighth episode.
Kajiki come to tell Houtarou about how the news about unidentified object coincide with their trip to Kyoto, happy with it he ended up annoying guests (and Rinne, later).
Its weird that focus to guests and Rinne being annoyed by how loud Houtarou seems to implied that Houtarou is loud so its not quiet around his mother (given his father is nowhere to see) and Kajiki (the only person called him friend) rather than kid trying to be shonen protagonist like Gentarou; look forward to father reveal in future.

Kajiki met woman who can appreciate his interest, turned out she worked in Haunted House.
Thanks to that Rinne got good laugh from Houtarou overreacting to ghosts. Kajiki who decide to pursue said woman ended up learn she's attached to a handsome criminal. Meanwhile, Dark Sisters / Norns shown to be on process of creating their own transformation device.

"Hasegawa-san, what can we do to finish Kyoto montage in single episode?"
"Well, I'd like to celebrate Gridman Universe Blu-Ray release, so ..."

Yeah, giant mecha fight against local Jyureimon visible to entire Kyoto, complete with chest beam, light timer and effort to dodge important building.
Love how Japanese Twitter react to it with "Man, no way we can get serious mecha battle" then proceed to talk about CGI cost that hurts forms like Gatakiriba and many others.

[GDB]

Originally Posted by Tactics

Seriously guys, if you wanted to drop it because you have difficulty to enjoy it, just drop it. We're at eighth episode already.

To be fair, this is why I think it's not as bad as Ghost. Ghost within the first 2-3 episodes you can tell will just be a pile of trash. This feels like it's as bad as it'll get, so it'll either remain awful or get better. Which honestly is the same feeling I had for Zero-One, so I'll at least give it until the end of the first arc to see if it gets better from there.

[justavisitor]

I think Gotchard is just slow (and the sloppiness of ep 1 doesn't help). Put this show into showa and it will be golden (hey the bad guy is planning something), but in 2023, where in 01 the MC destroyed the terrorist group in ep 14?? and it's natural we feel gotchard is not as inspiring.

I see the staff is trying to add some characteristics into some characters. For example, the secondary rider is a good cook and enjoys the food even tho the cook is bad (or it is not that bad but he just likes trolling); Rinne enjoys hanunted house and may not have a lot of common knowledge since her life is focused on alchemy (she had trouble in choosing cake order)...of course, any staff can add random characteristics into any characters, but if the staffs can use those characteristics again in the latter part of the story, to the point we can expect how the characters will behave and indeed they behave this certain way, then there will be a bond between audiences and the characters (or we chalk it off to character development)

Regarding to the MC, somehow I can tolerate him more than the MC in Fourze . Both have very idealistic belief. Usually these kind of MCs have two paths, either they have a major setback then grow beyond it (old 90s show), or somehow their belief change everyone beside the MC (MC in Fourze). MC in Fourze has more authority somehow so it was easy for him to change everyone.

This MC's image is a lot weaker, so I expect him to get a major setback. Problem is that I don't see many shows use this formula anymore. If he ends up doing what the MC in Fourze did, I don't see it as a correct fit .

Just my 2 cents, and is probably wrong XD