Kamen Rider/toku is awesome

[BWprowl]

Because I said I would make this topic, even if Gomess, Annhell, and I are the only ones who could get mileage out of it. Feel free to chime in if you hear something you're interested in, chances are we could explain it in such a way as to make it appealing. Look, I even stuck a 'toku' qualifier in there so our scope wouldn't be too limited!

I know Gomess is watching Amazon (which I'm solidly planning to check out once I'm done with Den-O, which I only have a few episodes left on), but what series have you seen/are you watching, ann? What's your favorite series? Who's your favorite Rider? Shouwa or Heisei?

Ye Gods Den-O picks up quite a bit once Kai gets introduced. Amazing what actually having a central villain can do for a show, right? I think W spoiled me with its likable, interesting group of villains who often were more relevant to the plot of the series than the heroes themselves.

[annhell]

For favourite KR series, I am (unfortunately) the KR equivalent of a TF Geewunner. As in, not just Shouwa era, but the very "First". I loved what Takeshi Hongo as the first Rider brought into the Japanese fiction industry back in the late 1960s when a lot of the works had dark undertones. Even Astroboy, which was a kids' cartoon, had dark origins that got glossed over and made to look all pretty and cool.

Transforming-costumed-karate-warriors has always been a staple of the Japanese media, and as common to them as bacon cheeseburgers are to American eateries. So, my very first impression of KR was "meh". It was only after I learnt more about the premise behind the first Kamen Rider that I really aprpeciated it. It was dark from begining to end, and it was darkness on an entirely human level, with no bright costumes, fancy posing or one-liners to pander to the comemrcial markets with, and it wasn't dumbed down (yes, "dumb", not "dump") for the kids like Sentai and Ultraman were.

And for better or worse, that has always been my primary reference point for KR. Admittedly, I haven't seen any other Shouwa series besides KR Black. So, yea, I'm a typical ignorant Geewunner. But I liked Black for the similarity in tone and it's portrayal of the tragic hero.

The Heisei era disappointed me in that it was clearly going to pander to the kids for commercialism. I've have preferred they grew the franchise up with the original viewers and made it more adult. But, hey, they gotta eat, and kids love their heroes. So, with that said, I liked Blade best among the heisei Riders, as I felt it did a good job of retaining the human drama and tragedy while telling a coherent story, plus sell a range of neat toys to kids along the way.

So, going down through the Heisei generations...

I liked the villains' concept in Kuuga but the happy-go-lucky hero Godai Yuusuke made the series too light eharted for me. As the first foray for Heisei, though, it was close enough to what its predecessors represented to at least be enjoyable.

I liked the Agito series because of Gills, and the involvement of the "everyman" police, albeit with some technological edge. The underlying story was silly though.

Ryuki would've been a good contender as one of my preferred Heisei series, except that I hated, HATED, Shinji and Ren's characters. Also, the story was too Pokemon for me.

Faiz was too draggy with the drama, and the flat ending made the journey unworthwhile.

Then, there was Blade, and then...

Hibiki... aargh... I don't hate it, in fact, I loved it. I just wished it was made as a standalone piece and allowed to develop as such instead of being forced into the Heisei Kamen Rider mould.

Next, Kabuto. This was a mixed bag. There were many elements I liked, but also way too many over-the-top manga-style characters that just grated me the wrong way in the live-action portrayals.

Den-O had a really strong writer, and IMO, that was what saved the show from being plain ludicrous. I mean, I understand it being essentially a kids' show and all, but the whole whimpy-loser-gets-possessed-by-weird-personalities thing as the hero's shtick was too over-the-top for me.

But, like I said, the plot came through. Almost everything falls into place and makes sense in the end, and that level of intelligence and thoroughness compensated for a lot in my eyes. It took a while, for Kai to enter the scene and bring coherence to everything, but another way to look at it is that the story needed that much setting up.Sure, there were a few plot holes, but it's less than what a lot of the preceding series had. And, for a plotline that invovled time travel, fewer plot holes is a huge achievement.

Btw, you probably know this by now, but just to say it anyway... after Den-O, the writer went on to write the Samurai Sentai Shinkenger series. (Hey, this IS a toku thread and not just Kamen Rider, right? )

Then came Kiva. Nice first costume, neat idea to introduce vampires in the Heisei era, but the overall execution was just disappointing.

Decade... There's a difference between tribute and fanwank, and I don't thing the production team behind Decade really understood that. And the costumes.. what were they smoking??

Ozu, I haven't watched past episode 20, but what I saw was promising. And, it was written by Den-O's writer. That's all the reason I need to want to finish the series some day. Again, the costumes... I want some of what the designers are using.

Oh yea, and have you seen the design for the upcoming Kamen Rider RocketEggHead - I mean - Fouze? Really, I'm serious, gimme the name of their dealer. Now. That is some serious shit they're smoking.

See, I told you i'd rant.

[BWprowl]

Oh yea, and have you seen the design for the upcoming Kamen Rider RocketEggHead - I mean - Fouze? Really, I'm serious, gimme the name of their dealer. Now. That is some serious shit they're smoking.

Actually, recent romanizations I've seen (and Gomess and I figured this out weeks ago) suggest that it's actually 'Fourze'. As in, the FOUR-tieth anniversary series and the FOURS to OOO's threes and W's twos, with a hero that uses all FOUR of his limbs to mount weapons. So I guess they'll just be rerunning Faiz next season? But yeah, the design walks confidently into downtown Sillyville.

Dude, you totally left out your thoughts on W!

Aaaaaand just finished Den-O, by the way (well, technically. There are still at least like, six movies I have to watch). You're right that the way the plot falls into place and comes through at the end, almost making the sheer amount of build-up in the first half worth it, though the strong characterization there helped a lot (the characters, especially Yuuto and the Taros Imagins, are the only reasons I didn't stop watching the series as it spent its first twenty or so episodes going absolutely nowhere). Some of the plot twists actually surprised me (especially

Spoiler

Airi's pregnancy, and her being the junction point, which I did NOT see coming

). I want the Momotaros Figuarts more than I want any toy of Den-O.

Honestly, I wasn't aware that OOO was written by the same guy that did Den-O, though in hindsight I don't know how I missed it. Sure, I picked up on a lot of the similarities, but for some reason never thought to just check the source of each. This actually brings it up a bit in my eyes, since it's just writing style, and not OOO trying to shallowly rip off parts of one of the more popular Heisei series like I had initially thought. Like I've said before though, I'm not crazy about the suit design either, though TaJaDor does admittedly look kind of kickass. Again, the characters, especially Ankh and the other Greeed, have been a big driving part of the series for me (though they

Spoiler

killed off a couple of the more prominent Greeed a little prematurely

if you ask me).

Knowing that the Den-O/OOO guy also wrote Shikenger makes me want to check that series out even more, though I've been bouncing between the idea of that or Gokaiger as my Sentai gateway drug. Gokaiger just looks too ridiculously awesome to ignore.

Torrenting Amazon as we speak...

[Gomess]

It was only after I learnt more about the premise behind the first Kamen Rider that I really aprpeciated it. It was dark from begining to end, and it was darkness on an entirely human level

I think a lot of people- even Kamen Rider fans- are unaware of just how dramatic the original was. Early on, Takeshi's enhanced strength frequently hurt those around him in very direct ways, and heck, the first major plot point is that he's falsely accused of his benefactor's murder by the man's daughter!

It's a shame that Ichigo and Black are undeniably the most exposed Shouwa series, because there's so much I like in there. Kabuto is my favourite Heisei series, and Stronger needs to be recognised for sowing a lot of its seeds.

And Super-1 is just nuts. So many disparate ideas, and that's why I like it. "So, your dream is to go into space? Well, don't forget to stop by the Shaolin temple for a year on your way! What's that? Robots from space want to turn Earth into a cyborg utopia? Uh-oh!"

Ryuki's story was too Pokemon for me.

Yes indeed... The whole Collect And Scan The Cards! gimmick stops me loving Ryuki and Blade, even though the latter is my girlfriend's favourite Heisei series. Trouble in paradise!

I just wished Hibiki was made as a standalone piece and allowed to develop as such instead of being forced into the Heisei Kamen Rider mould.

It was always clear to me just from the designs that there was something dodgy about Hibiki. Something, "We made these suits for an original series but something went wrong so now they're Kamen Rider". =/

...Isn't DCD *meant* to be fanwank? I mean, it's clearly not just meant to be a tribute. Plenty of Rider series have paid tribute to the past. DCD was meant to take it to another level, and just spoil the fans. I'm not too into it myself, but I wouldn't accuse it of pretending to be deeper than it is. =p

I feel bad for not really liking Deno. I mean, I know I like Super-1, but Deno's elements just seem SO disparate... trains... time travel... memories... fairytales... I guess there's something there, but almost too much. Other series might have more "plain" concepts, but I think I prefer that in general.

Annhell, since you're not to into a lot of the Heisei series maybe you should check out more Shouwa stuff? Amazon certainly isn't for everyone, but it's just so unique for the time. Heck, Tachibana Tobei (y'know, the original's mentor) turns up for a couple of episodes and says just that:



Also the song is flipping ace. Shouwa themes in particular were great at reflecting the Rider's story and personality, something I think isn't quite as strong (or at least just more metaphorical) in Heisei.

[annhell]

Actually, recent romanizations I've seen (and Gomess and I figured this out weeks ago) suggest that it's actually 'Fourze'. As in, the FOUR-tieth anniversary series and the FOURS to OOO's threes and W's twos, with a hero that uses all FOUR of his limbs to mount weapons. So I guess they'll just be rerunning Faiz next season? But yeah, the design walks confidently into downtown Sillyville.

Yea, you're right. It's "Fourze". I accidentally left out the R.
Someone pointed out to me that the symbols on Egghead's limbs resemble the PlayStation control pad's X, [], /\ and O buttons, and his shoulder pad designs also look like the PSP's shoulder buttons. Hmm....

Dude, you totally left out your thoughts on W!

So I did. Got too caught up with the costume designs' descend into hell, I guess. W had a decent design, IMO, but I'd have preferred darker metallic tones instead of the bright pastel colours. LunarTrigger was hideous against the Japanese cityscape. On the other hand, the full-on Joker in the last episode was epic. And it's only the colours that differed. Accel's design was ... I'll just be nice and consider it an attempt in experimentation.

But I did quite like this series and it's offbeat take on the Noir detective genre, right down to the policeman sidekick and references to Chicago ("Fuuto' = Wind City). Naturally, being a Heisei Rider series, it didn't take itself seriously and I was glad that the resultant Noir parody didn't let the slapstick distract from the rest of the show. I also like the plot for its simplicity. When the "core of the Earth's knowledge" concept was revealed, I was worried that the series was gonna go into some global scale apocalypse thing or some such, in a bid to sensationalise the climax. I'm glad that it didn't, and that the closure was faithful to the general direction of the entire series.

Double Joker Extreme is one of the tackiest Rider Kicks ever.

...the strong characterization there helped a lot (the characters, especially Yuuto and the Taros Imagins, are the only reasons I didn't stop watching the series as it spent its first twenty or so episodes going absolutely nowhere). Some of the plot twists actually surprised me ... I want the Momotaros Figuarts more than I want any toy of Den-O.

Yea, the characterisations were really good. Even whimpy Ryoutaro has good lines and reactions to his situations. His actor (forgot his name) did a pretty good job portrayng all the different personas. Oh, you do know that he did all the break dancing as well, right?

The movies are no loss, to be honest. They're mainly cash cow milking efforts and don't really add anything to the series' continuity.

Oh and, I think the Sentai toy speciality shop here still has heaps of Figuarts Momotaros.

Honestly, I wasn't aware that OOO was written by the same guy that did Den-O... Knowing that the Den-O/OOO guy also wrote Shikenger makes me want to check that series out even more, though I've been bouncing between the idea of that or Gokaiger as my Sentai gateway drug. Gokaiger just looks too ridiculously awesome to ignore.

Same lady, actually.

Gokaiger is the Super Sentai's take on what KR Decade tried to do. It's a commenorative tribute to the past series and makes close references to a lot of those series' elements. I don't know whether this makes or breaks it for you. Some people may find the lack of knowldge of the references to take the fun away, and yet others may see it as a great introduction to kickstart further exploration into the franchise.

Episode 3, for instance, was a character episode for one of the Gokaigers, and his character development revolved around the central concept for the Magirangers series.

Torrenting Amazon as we speak...

Where? WHERE?!?

And Gomess, if you know where to get Shouwa episodes, you have to tell me. PLEASE!!
You guys can't jsut make this thread to feed my inner KR fanatic and leave me hangin'! Noooo!!!

(You -WERE- warned...)

[annhell]

I think a lot of people- even Kamen Rider fans- are unaware of just how dramatic the original was. Early on, Takeshi's enhanced strength frequently hurt those around him in very direct ways, and heck, the first major plot point is that he's falsely accused of his benefactor's murder by the man's daughter!

Yea, and that's what I loved about it. It wasn't just another squeaky-clean super-hero-beats-the-bad-guys routine. Considering the context of the day that series was made, that kind of drama was as big a mindfuck as public television got, and it was awesome.

It's a shame that Ichigo and Black are undeniably the most exposed Shouwa series, because there's so much I like in there. Kabuto is my favourite Heisei series, and Stronger needs to be recognised for sowing a lot of its seeds.

True. A big reason why I've never watched any of the others was the lack of exposure and availability. I -STILL- haven't found any of them, and my KR Black DVD has awful subs.

Ryuki's story was too Pokemon for me.

Yes indeed... The whole Collect And Scan The Cards! gimmick stops me loving Ryuki and Blade, even though the latter is my girlfriend's favourite Heisei series. Trouble in paradise!

At least Blade had a better explanation for the whole gimmick being an emulation of the Joker's powers. Plus, Tachibana did manage to lecture Leangle about not treating the war as a card collection game. That scene alone was worth the card gimmick for the entire show.

..Isn't DCD *meant* to be fanwank? I mean, it's clearly not just meant to be a tribute. Plenty of Rider series have paid tribute to the past. DCD was meant to take it to another level, and just spoil the fans. I'm not too into it myself, but I wouldn't accuse it of pretending to be deeper than it is. =p

You're probably right, but even for a fanwank, I found it more on the level of a kid's fanfic than a production-worthy script. I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I'd like ot think that even fanwank can retain some level of intelligence. Gokaiger is a good example.

..I feel bad for not really liking Deno. I mean, I know I like Super-1, but Deno's elements just seem SO disparate... trains... time travel... memories... fairytales... I guess there's something there, but almost too much. Other series might have more "plain" concepts, but I think I prefer that in general.

You know what they say.. to each his own.
I do agree that Den-O has very disparate elements. I was kinda put off by it initially and only watched it out of boredom. But, when it ended, it turned out to be one of the more thought-out and intelligent KR plots in the Heisei line up.

Annhell, since you're not to into a lot of the Heisei series maybe you should check out more Shouwa stuff?

Links.... must... have.. links.... KR.. my precioussss.....

[Gomess]

Get Ichigo/Nigo, Sky Rider and Super-1 (WHICH THEY'VE SINCE DROPPED AUUGHH) from http://kitsubs.blogspot.com/. They're not even halfway through any of those series, but in my opinion they're the best quality- video and translations- for those series. Definitely worth waiting for, IMO.

X- only just started, great subs, but I'm a little worried whether it'll ever be finished- can be found at http://www.orderofzeronos.com/forum212.html.

I get Amazon from http://www.hinotori-fansubs.com/forum/v ... m.php?f=27, which also has a bunch of quite obscure toku. Amazon is totally complete. Special thanks to Prowl for pointing me here.

Get Stronger, Kuuga and the ZX movie from http://midnightcrewsubs.blogspot.com. Again, Stronger is a work in progress.

Black from http://www.centurykings.com (go to Downloads > MediaFire > Kamen Rider Black). It's complete.

And last but certainly not least, get the Shin, ZO and J movies, Ryuuki (complete), 555 (complete), Blade (complete), Hibiki (complete), Kabuto (complete), Denou (complete), Kiva (complete), DCD (complete), W (complete) and OOO (in progress) from http://www.tvnihon.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=151, which is just as massive as it sounds and worth poking around for other shows.

...Still looking for good versions of V3, Black RX and Agito. I actually found some decent Black RX and Agito subs, but lost them! Little help? This place http://tokusatsu-download.blogspot.com/ ... results=10 appears to have all of Agito subbed, and V3 too, but just looks dodgy to me. I'm not downloading anything from them until I've backed up all my files again. =/

Oh, and there's the recent Kamen Rider Spirits manga, too, which expands on ZX's backstory and features all previous nine Shouwa Riders... It does justice to the classic Riders, with some really quite satisfying scenes (particularly for Stronger, whom the author seems to LOVE; it even gives an in-character argument for why Tackle was never made an official Rider) and ZX seems like a decent guy, but the villains... Well, let's just say "major retcon". My girl gets Spirits for us, I dunno where, I'll ask when I next see her.

Here's hoping all these links give us even more to discuss. =3

[BWprowl]

So I did. Got too caught up with the costume designs' descend into hell, I guess. W had a decent design, IMO, but I'd have preferred darker metallic tones instead of the bright pastel colours. LunarTrigger was hideous against the Japanese cityscape. On the other hand, the full-on Joker in the last episode was epic. And it's only the colours that differed. Accel's design was ... I'll just be nice and consider it an attempt in experimentation.

I quite dig W's simple color-swapping style, but I'll concede that I'm biased for being a big fan of W in general. He at least demonstrated each side's gimmick well every time it was used, and I'm a big fan of lesser-seen combinations like CycloneMetal and HeatJoker. Xtreme was...a little on the silly side, but worked for what it was. We do agree that Kamen Rider Joker is effing awesome though.

I wasn't crazy about Accel's design either, but I'll go one step further and say that it wasn't even experimentation, since they stole so much from Char and his Zaku. A fast red guy with a forehead crest, a cyclops eye and a blade that heats up? Please. Did like Accel Trial a bit more though, it seemed more tasteful and refined in ways regular Accel wasn't, plus I just dig the idea of a weaponized stopwatch.

But I did quite like this series and it's offbeat take on the Noir detective genre, right down to the policeman sidekick and references to Chicago ("Fuuto' = Wind City). Naturally, being a Heisei Rider series, it didn't take itself seriously and I was glad that the resultant Noir parody didn't let the slapstick distract from the rest of the show. I also like the plot for its simplicity. When the "core of the Earth's knowledge" concept was revealed, I was worried that the series was gonna go into some global scale apocalypse thing or some such, in a bid to sensationalise the climax. I'm glad that it didn't, and that the closure was faithful to the general direction of the entire series.

Full disclosure: One thing I love so much about W is that its tone hews VERY close to that of my beloved Ace Attorney series, and like you said, it's damn consistent about it. It's a show that felt like it knew exactly what it wanted to do and never strayed from that, and that's something I give a series big-time points for.

Double Joker Extreme is one of the tackiest Rider Kicks ever.

What, the casual hands out to the side with the half-mumbled 'Joker Extreme' doesn't work for you? I can't imagine why. They can't all be Final Attack Ride: Decade (one of the coolest Rider Kicks, in my opinion), I suppose.

Yea, the characterisations were really good. Even whimpy Ryoutaro has good lines and reactions to his situations. His actor (forgot his name) did a pretty good job portrayng all the different personas. Oh, you do know that he did all the break dancing as well, right?

For a long time I was sure it was a stunt dancer, especially since Ryuutaros' hair/hat combo seemed design to hide Ryoutaro's face during his scenes. But then there's that bit late in the series where they first go to the station, and you see him pull off his usual awesome moves followed by the camera lingering on him finishing. I was expecting a quick cut back to the actor, but instead he just turns more fully with the camera still running and reveals that it was the actual actor all along! Yeah, I was pretty impressed.

Oh and, I think the Sentai toy speciality shop here still has heaps of Figuarts Momotaros.

They got them on deep discount of any sort? I know he can be had fairly cheaply on eBay, but if I can score one for even less, I may ask a favor of you...

Honestly, I wasn't aware that OOO was written by the same guy that did Den-O... Knowing that the Den-O/OOO guy also wrote Shikenger makes me want to check that series out even more, though I've been bouncing between the idea of that or Gokaiger as my Sentai gateway drug. Gokaiger just looks too ridiculously awesome to ignore.

Same lady, actually.

Well now I just feel like a sexist jerk.

I feel bad for not really liking Deno. I mean, I know I like Super-1, but Deno's elements just seem SO disparate... trains... time travel... memories... fairytales... I guess there's something there, but almost too much. Other series might have more "plain" concepts, but I think I prefer that in general.

The memory and time concepts actually dovetail quite nicely with each other about three-quarters of the way through the series, but as you've probably already gathered, Den-O is a series that REALLY takes its time building up steam before it really gets going. Not unlike...a train. The fairy-tale names/concepts are mostly there as window dressing because they wanted cute theme-naming for the Imagins. So things aren't *too* disparate...though I did just above describe a scene in which a dragon-boy-genie possesses a time-paradox transforming superhero to breakdance off against a psychotic monster-summoning villain with a magical day planner inside of a train station from the future...so yeah.

Also the song is flipping ace. Shouwa themes in particular were great at reflecting the Rider's story and personality, something I think isn't quite as strong (or at least just more metaphorical) in Heisei.

I haven't even watched the show and I dig the hell out of Black RX's theme.

You guys are really making me want to watch Ichigo.

[annhell]

Thaks, Gomess, for the links. Can't say i'm surprised that TvNihon is among them. That's where I got my Heisei fix along with Sentai actually. I'll check out the rest in due time, but my graphic card just gave out on me last night (no more War for Cybertron. Waaah!)

I'm kinda out of touch with Torrents actually, and have been catching up on this stuff via online Streaming for over a year until those sites got cracked down on. Any recommendations for a good Torrent sfotware?

Oh, and there's the recent Kamen Rider Spirits manga, too, which expands on ZX's backstory and features all previous nine Shouwa Riders... It does justice to the classic Riders, with some really quite satisfying scenes (particularly for Stronger, whom the author seems to LOVE; it even gives an in-character argument for why Tackle was never made an official Rider) and ZX seems like a decent guy, but the villains... Well, let's just say "major retcon". My girl gets Spirits for us, I dunno where, I'll ask when I next see her.

I've only read the first volume, and I kinda like it. Still trying to find more.

I quite dig W's simple color-swapping style, but I'll concede that I'm biased for being a big fan of W in general. He at least demonstrated each side's gimmick well every time it was used, and I'm a big fan of lesser-seen combinations like CycloneMetal and HeatJoker. Xtreme was...a little on the silly side, but worked for what it was. We do agree that Kamen Rider Joker is effing awesome though.

Agreed on the ample demonstration of eash side's gimmick. That was something I found severely lacking in Kiva. The number of times Kiva used the weapon add-ons were pathetic. And Exia's use of his crane/tank vehicle? Only once. Same with Kiva's Dragon transformation from Emperor form. Only once.

I wasn't crazy about Accel's design either, but I'll go one step further and say that it wasn't even experimentation, since they stole so much from Char and his Zaku.

Ok, now that I know you're with me on this, fine, I'll stop being tactful. The red was stupid. The bike mode was even worse. That's a Kamen Ridee, not a Rider. But, yes, I did prefer the Trial form as well. I've always been a speed-over-power person, and I rather liked the idea that Trial form was a double-edged sowrd more than a full-out upgrade, in that he also suffered some penalties in damage dealt and received in exchange for the speed boost. Not something that showed up much on screen, but at least it was mentioned.

Double Joker Extreme is one of the tackiest Rider Kicks ever.

What, the casual hands out to the side with the half-mumbled 'Joker Extreme' doesn't work for you? I can't imagine why. They can't all be Final Attack Ride: Decade (one of the coolest Rider Kicks, in my opinion), I suppose.

No, no... I was referring to the move he does in Cycle-Joker form, where he splits in two with Shoutaro's side leading a bit and landing 2 kicks consecutive. I might have made a mistake in the move name which led to confusion. If so, my bad.

For a long time I was sure it was a stunt dancer...

I saw a Den-O "making of" clip on Youtube once where they showed the process of filming his dance scene. That was how I knew for sure that he did it. I'll see if I can find that again, but it's been ages.

Oh and, I think the Sentai toy speciality shop here still has heaps of Figuarts Momotaros.

They got them on deep discount of any sort? I know he can be had fairly cheaply on eBay, but if I can score one for even less, I may ask a favor of you...

Let me see if I can find it. Just for your reference, the shop's price for Figuarts range between SGD35 to SGD50 depending on popularity and supply. Sans shipping, mind.

The fairy-tale names/concepts are mostly there as window dressing because they wanted cute theme-naming for the Imagins.

Probably true that the show's producers wanted cutesy names. But, in-story, it's explained that Ryoutaro lacks imagination and just plucked names from old fairy tales. The same lack of "sense" led him to name Liner Form's finisher as "Train Cut" (Densha Giri).

You guys are really making me want to watch Ichigo.

I'm making me wanna watch Ichigo again too.

[BWprowl]

I'm kinda out of touch with Torrents actually, and have been catching up on this stuff via online Streaming for over a year until those sites got cracked down on. Any recommendations for a good Torrent sfotware?

I use Vuze, which works really well, and is even pretty good at finding torrents on its own without the need to hunt through various websites (though TokyoToshokan is a goldmine if you're looking specifically for torrents of Japanese stuff.)

Ok, now that I know you're with me on this, fine, I'll stop being tactful. The red was stupid. The bike mode was even worse. That's a Kamen Ridee, not a Rider.

The Transfan in me loved the idea of a Kamen Rider who IS a motorcycle, but the execution was rather weak. Best thing about it was referring to W riding Accel as 'Threesome Form'.

What, the casual hands out to the side with the half-mumbled 'Joker Extreme' doesn't work for you? I can't imagine why. They can't all be Final Attack Ride: Decade (one of the coolest Rider Kicks, in my opinion), I suppose.

No, no... I was referring to the move he does in Cycle-Joker form, where he splits in two with Shoutaro's side leading a bit and landing 2 kicks consecutive. I might have made a mistake in the move name which led to confusion. If so, my bad.

No, we're talking about the same move. I was just bashing all the lame parts that came before the actual kick (the splitting gimmick being the defining portion of all of the Joker-side Maximum Drives, though Joker Grenade and Joker Strange make *far* better use of it. Too bad we got to see Joker Strange all of once. In the movie.).

Let me see if I can find it. Just for your reference, the shop's price for Figuarts range between SGD35 to SGD50 depending on popularity and supply. Sans shipping, mind.

Lessee...*runs online currency converter* Yeah, that's not a bad price for Figuarts. Let me know what you find, though I don't know what shipping from Singapore to CA would be, exactly. Figuarts boxes are on the compact side, at least.

Probably true that the show's producers wanted cutesy names. But, in-story, it's explained that Ryoutaro lacks imagination and just plucked names from old fairy tales. The same lack of "sense" led him to name Liner Form's finisher as "Train Cut" (Densha Giri).

Oh yeah, I totally forgot about that explanation! Although I think Shotaro only actually named Momotaros. He might've done Kintaros too, but Naomi named Urataros and Ryuutaros named himself. I did laugh out loud the first time I heard Densha Giri though. That was the highlight of that first Liner Form appearance, since Liner Form was always really, really underwhelming to me. They didn't really play up the whole 'switching the sword to fight with the Imagins' styles' angle all that well, he pretty much just clunked it around like a sword the whole time (I think he shot it in 'Ryuu Gun' form, like, once) and the whole execution just came off as a half-assed way to sell a switchable talking sword toy (Look, I'm fine with KR being a big toy commercial, because they usually put more effort into it than that). Climax Form was a lot more interesting and entertaining, by comparison. Too bad it barely showed up after getting pre-empted by Liner Form.