Kamen Rider

[Xortberg]

So I'm bored, and can't sleep, and I just got done watching the last 4 episodes of Kamen Rider OOO with Fluxy a few hours ago because I got him into the series. So let's make a topic about Kamen Rider!

 

For those that don't know, Kamen Rider is like the other side of the coin that is Super Sentai. It's not as popular outside Japan; Sentai got turned into Power Rangers and is still going strong, whereas after 40 years KR has only had 2 American localizations. Still, I think it's way better than Power Rangers ever was myself.

 

The premise is much the same. Each series follows a different Rider who, much like a Sentai team, use either magic or science or both or whatever to transform into spandex-wearing superheros who fight bad guys. However, where Super Sentai/Power Rangers always has a full team of at least three similarly-themed crimefighters, Kamen Rider tends towards more individual heroes. In most series' I've watched so far, there's usually just two different Riders, who each follow the main theme of the series but are different from one another, and they aren't even necessarily allies. The best way I've ever heard it described is that if Super Sentai are the Avengers, then Kamen Riders are like Batman. 

 

Now, granted, it is a kid's show, and some of the series clearly show that. Fourze, for example, is very, very silly. Like, over the top to the maximum silly. But even then, Fourze dealt with some pretty hefty subject matter later on, and overall the storylines and characters are - even if somewhat cliched and childish at times - very well-written and mature. 

 

But that's really just a bonus. One hell of a bonus, mind you - Kamen Rider Fourze literally makes me crai errytiem with how emotional some of the episodes are, particularly the last one - but what about the action? Well, simply put, it's bad ass. Kamen Rider Meteor is basically a Bruce Lee clone, down to screaming "WATCHA!" as he attacks, and he's good at it. Each Rider has their own style of fighting, some more well defined than others, but the fight scenes have never disappointed me so far, even when it goes into some cheesy CGI against the rare giant monsters.

 

So yeah, I'm a massive, massive fan of the series. Of the many many seasons, I've fully completed W, OOO, and Fourze, which are the three most recent completed series, and I'm watching Wizard as the new episodes air. I'm also in the middle of watching Decade, which is the one that came before W.

 

I know some folks here are fans, so if you are feel free to discuss. If you haven't given the series a try, I wholeheartedly recommend you do. I can give W, OOO, Fourze, and Wizard so far a completely satisfactory endorsement, though moving outside of those into other series means I can't guarantee quality. Still, given the extremely strong showing I've seen so far, I doubt the others will disappoint.

 

For someone with 50 minutes to spare, every single Rider transformation up to Fourze:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3GfjV0n5QQ

 

And a few pictures. In order of appearance, it's OOO, W, Fourze and Wizard.

 

 

 

 

[Dublinthefox]

An interesting thing I just found out was the names of the first 2 riders. Since Ichigo and Nigo have the alternate names of Rider 1 and Rider 2, I find it fitting that they were given those names, since the term "Ich" in Ichigo is the Japanese translation of the number 1, while "Ni" in Nigo is the Japanese translation of the number 2.

 

Also...Starfish Hitler. 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxWONd3ZOIc&list=WLBA7F8DEE42EF9BA8

 

So this is what Patrick Star did in his earlier years.

[Snys93]

Awesome! This show is so cheesy, its great.

[Xortberg]

Does anyone have a series that stands out as your particular favorite? As for me, no matter how objectively good another series may be, I still don't think it'll ever be able to replace Fourze as my favorite. It was what got me into the series as a whole, and I managed to get so much more emotionally invested in the outcome of the show than I have for W or OOO. I just love Fourze so much.

 

W is my favorite Rider though. I love his design and the idea of two people transforming into one Rider. His bit in the first Fourze movie where he just lays the smackdown on 4 big enemies at once makes me moist :3

[Dublinthefox]

Does anyone have a series that stands out as your particular favorite? As for me, no matter how objectively good another series may be, I still don't think it'll ever be able to replace Fourze as my favorite. It was what got me into the series as a whole, and I managed to get so much more emotionally invested in the outcome of the show than I have for W or OOO. I just love Fourze so much.

 

W is my favorite Rider though. I love his design and the idea of two people transforming into one Rider. His bit in the first Fourze movie where he just lays the smackdown on 4 big enemies at once makes me moist :3

 

 

Since I don't have an absolute favorite rider that can top either the showa era and the heisei era riders I put together what are m favorite in both eras.

 

My 5 favorite showa riders:

 

1. Black RX (and don't even think of mentioning that horrible americanized version of it. Out of all the things for Saban to localize, that is by far the worst. > ) 

 

2. Skyrider (He is the only Kamen Rider that can fly and is more powerful than the legendary 7 (Ichigo, Nigo, V3 Riderman, X, Amazon & Stronger))

 

3. V3 

 

4. Ichigo 

 

5. Black (Can't love Black RX without loving its prequal.)

 

My 5 favorite Heisei riders:

 

1. OOO 

 

2. Kabuto

 

3. Kiva (It had both a great story and had well developed characters. Plus the belt was sentient and is considered one of the main characters.)  

 

4. Faiz (555) 

 

5. Ryuki 

[Xortberg]

So, since it's relevant, I might as well talk about it here and maybe revive the topic.

 

I'm not sure whether the rules would allow me to post the download link so I'll err on the side of caution, but oh my god Over-Time just finally released subs for the second Fourze movie Everyone, It's Space Time!

 

AND OH MY GOD.

 

Sometimes, when I'm out watching all the other amazing series and having a blast, I begin to forget just why Fourze is my favorite. I start to question myself, and think maybe it isn't as good as I remember it being.

 

And then we get this fucking movie and I'm reminded that Fourze is the greatest fucking thing EVER. I won't say much in the way of spoilers, because I would fucking hate someone for spoiling this for me, but I will say that the action starts early, it never stops, and dear god is it awesome. In fact, it's kind of everything I wanted from Fourze as a Rider to begin with. He cycles through so many Switches, using so many clever and awesome combos, and generally just shows off what he can really do if he wants to lay down some pain.

 

And Meteor is, still, my absolute favorite secondary Rider. Whether he's transformed or not, he gets so many awesome fight scenes, and while he doesn't have as many options in a fight as far as Switches and whatnot, he still gets plenty of time to show off just what he can do and it is GLORIOUS. Fucking planetpunch combos, man. Plus, Wizard's cameo was fucking sweet. 

 

And then the last fight scene, holy shit. This is the part that's the hardest to not talk about, because I want to sooo bad, but it's a spoiler in itself (not a big one, considering I did know about it beforehand, but to describe it would spoil a fair bit of the awesomeness IMO). Suffice to say, it was the best fight scene I've seen yet in anything Kamen Rider.

 

The plot was a little bit easy to figure out, but it was still solid, and I don't expect super deep mysteries from Fourze in the first place. It's a very loud, upfront sort of show.

 

Basically, watch this fucking movie as soon as possible. I am probably gonna watch it again really soon. So. Fucking. Awesome.