Kamen Rider DCD #5 (SPOILERS)

[SPOILERS etc. - I'm sure you all know the deal by now as seeing as the episode has been fansubbed, there probably isn't anyone left to spoil, nonetheless...]

Episode #4 starts in the most awesome fashion.

As previously documented, I was concerned about the possibility of Yuusuke not acting as Kuuga after the conclusion of the opening arc so seeing his brief henshin sequence and fight with the Fangire usurper in this episode was fantastic.

"Chou Tanuki Henshin!"

I can not stress how disinterested I am in Kiva as a series, however it’s hard not to feel for Wataru in these episodes. He really sums up the sorrow of being a child of two very different traditions (and species!) in a way that what I saw of the original series did not. I’m having a tough time adjusting to the fact that not everyone encountered in the show can become a series regular and, whilst I have no doubts that *all* the Riders will return during the series finale, I really wanted the young Wataru to join the Hikari Photo Studio cast.

This fondness for new characters might well end once the next episode rolls around as I have nothing but contempt for the original Ryuki, however so far, one of the things that DCD has done for me is to portray interesting and endearing characters in each of its arcs. If this can be accomplished with Ryuki, then I will be both grateful and amazed. I want to continue to like DCD as a series and so I want it to succeed in its reconstruction of both series and characters so I’ve got my fingers crossed.

I’m not sure where I stand on the idea of Kivala joining the cast though!

"It's only comfort calling late."

The fight sequence in this episode, and Kiva’s Final Form Ride, the Kiva Arrow, are both as good as expected. Granted the Final Form Rides still look like big toys (which they probably are) however *all* of the associated merchandise in Kiva looked like it had just rolled out of the Bandai factories anyway so it’s not out of keeping. I can’t believe how rewarding the final confrontation between the two Riders and the previous king was…the fact that one of them was a Rider who, this time last year I had no interest in, only makes it all the more amazing.

I can’t believe how much I’m enjoying this show.

My only criticism of the show as a whole is the secondary Rider subplot which continues to feel like filler material. Having said that, something that surprised me with this arc was that, despite having swiftly revealed all of Kiva’s multiple forms, the second Rider associated with his show never made an appearance. The Ryuki arc looks like it will be different but I wonder if this is simply because Ryuki is a series made famous for its excessive multiple Riders. Whatever the case, I certainly hope none of the Oni are relegated to this subplot and appear, even just as mentions, as proper aspects of the Hibiki arc.

Aside from that, the only disappointment in this episode was a lack of big scenes featuring Natsumi. ♥(｡◕‿‿<｡)

Samurai Sentai Shinkenger #1 (SPOILERS)

[Close this page to avoid SPOILERS now]

I said I wasn’t going to watch the first episode of Shinkenger and, well, I kind of did anyway. Culpable targets of blame in this endeavour are automated_alice and seiji982.

So, this time last year, and in reference to Go-onger, I wrote:

“So all in all, a good episode. It’s very much a kid’s TV show and I don’t feel as I’m looking for the same things as I was when Hurricanger came out and that’s probably helped. I’m certainly not going to pretend that the episode is a real life-defining event but, much like the new American Transformers cartoon, it’s good Sunday morning television, and on that level, I recommend it highly.”

I’m inclined to say much the same thing about the first episode of this new series. There’s a tiny bit more depth of character it seems but, for the most part, the sentiment remains the same.

When the first information about the villains and cast of the series came out, I immediately expected the show to be another Magiranger or sorts but, in truth, it’s surprisingly more like Boukenger and as such the division lines are drawn quite early on.

Tani Chiaki/ShinkenGreen and Shiraishi Mako/ShinkenPink are the voices of dissent; ShibaTakeru/ShinkenRed might be the next BoukenRed, but then again he might just be an arse; HanaoriKotoha/ShinkenYellow hasn’t done anything yet and Ikenami Ryunosuke/Shinken Blue is the most likeable character thus far. It’s hard not to like this line up on some level, but I’m also surprised by how superficial the show seems in arranging the necessary elements. I know a lot of this is obviously to do with the significance of selling the toys – and trust me, I am ready to buy the Origami mech now – but when compared to contemporary anime, it just feels hollow.

Another aspect of this is of course the fact that Shinkenger (and sentai as a franchise) straddles age group demographics so maybe that’s why the characters say very little during the set up of this story, or maybe it’s simply the case that the significant sentai beats need to be hit: invasion, meeting, first transformation, villain defeat, non-gattai mech use. Regardless, when the opening here is compared to something like Bleach, Shinkenger pales by comparison, if you’ll excuse the pun.

Which isn’t to say it’s terrible. The opening hits those aforementioned beats with relative ease, only really stumbling with the use of the Origami mech against the first monster. This whole scene, whilst evoking the spirit of Gingaman does not come across as exciting as it should have been for a first episode. That was to be expected, I guess.

All of this sounds perhaps a little more negative than it should. I liked the episode, I was impressed that the opening sequence was passed over in favour of showing ShinkenRed in action but I also felt that it failed to really highlight the action it was showcasing – the mech fight and the first battle featuring ShinkenRed and the standard ‘putty’ henchmen didn’t go anywhere and Psychic Lover’s godawful retread of the Dekaranger theme tune didn’t help either.

I also can’t help but feel that the character of Kusakabe Hikoma should have been played by either Ban Daisuke, Ooba Kenji or Miyauchi Hiroshi and I would also have been happier if Takatori Hideaki had performed the opening rather the ending.

Aside from that, there isn’t much else to say.

More than anything, it will be the development of the characters that will really prove if Shinkenger is a hit or a miss.

Kamen Rider DCD #4 Review (SPOILERS)

[SPOILERS for current untranslated DCD episodes, read at your own caution]

I will admit to being somewhat out of my depth with this episode. I know nothing about Kiva, having seen only about three or four episodes of the show, one of which I feel asleep during whilst watching it in a hotel room. I remember when the series concept was first announced I found it absurd to attempt to mix a Kamen Rider series with Universal Monsters. Perhaps if the show had followed its inspirations a little more closely, it would have won a nostalgia vote from me but as it was, I found it a bit slow and a little dull…which is fine really because I’m sure had I actually liked the show, Toei would have cast Nakamura Yuichi as some important character just to spite me.

All of this is totally beside the point as, what I’m trying to explain is that I knew nothing about Kiva before watching this episode.

First off, I really did find child actor Fukasawa Arashi’s ‘Wataru‘ preferable to the canon Kurenai Wataru played by Seto Koji. I was never quite able to get behind the concept of hikkikomori!Rider so, despite my initial hesitations I’m actually really pleased to see that this character is such a departure from the original source. As the episode progressed, I found myself feeling the same things that I did upon Yuusuke’s introduction – that I would be sad to see this character depart after the end of his arc.

Fortunately for Yuusuke he makes a comeback in this episode, tied to the monster court located within Kiva’s Castle Doran.

"What do you mean Agito totally ripped off my style?"

Due to the fact that Kiva was such a recent series, the set up for this arc seems radically different from what we’ve seen before. Not only is Kiva as a Rider very different, but ‘Kiva’s World’ seems to posit a unique alternative reality where Fangires, fangirls and humans all live in relative peace. Whether that peace is imposed by the Fangires or if all normal humans have now become Fangires I can’t actually tell but whatever the case, everyone is happy and Kiva’s out of favour.

What Kiva *will* get out of bed for, bad reputation or not, is a fight with DCD it seems. Like Kuuga before him, I’m assuming Wataru was given some bad information.

One note on the actual fight sequence, without getting too technical, is that I was interested to see the DCD belt remains even when Tsukasa mimics Kuuga. I don’t know how or why that’s significant but it looks fairly interesting to see ‘Kuuga’ kicking around with a different power source

The episode’s other fight sequence against 555’s Kaixa is less interesting. Taking place in an empty baseball stadium – which I seem to recall being the location of an early fight in Kiva – it’s just more of the Hopper fight really. Pointless second Rider turns up, starts a fight and is scheduled to get beaten/run away at the beginning of episode #5.

Aside from that, DCD is still riding high. Despite the focus on a large number of shows that I’m neither keen on nor interested in, the series is something I’m really looking forwards to every week.

Whilst I still lament the loss of actual cyborg-Riders and billowing scarves, I have to say that this show is, thus far, a really good tokusatsu series and for that it deserves your attention.

As for the kaizo ningen, well, perhaps this V3-inspired villain from Super Den-o & Decade will help address the balance.

Kamen Rider DCD #3 Review (SPOILERS)

Once again, apologies for those of you only watching the subbed releases of this show. Please look away now if you wish to avoid SPOILERS.

Episode #3 concludes the ‘Kuuga’s World’ arc in an admirably dramatic fashion. At the episode’s opening we witness the somewhat ill-placed fight against Kamen Rider Kabuto’s Punch Hopper and Kick Hopper, who turned up at the whim of evil!canvas hat!man and disappeared behind a wall overlaid by what looked to be demonic versions of Kabuto or Ryuki characters.

"Brotherly Love"

I could be wrong with that but the Ryuki were so far out of left-field that every time some shadowy version of a character turns up like this I assume it’s related to them.

The alternative of course is that they are entirely new evil Rider characters…or that maybe Ichigo is travelling forward from 1971 in order to take down DCD whilst projecting really weird shadows on the walls of the Fifth Dimension as he moves closer towards 2009.

Yeah, that’s right, *I* can write fanfic too.

Anyhow, judging from the glimpse of Kaixa in the preview for episode #4, I’m assuming that the secondary Riders from each series will be turning up in this sort of fashion a lot more as the series progresses. It’s not the best fate for some of these characters but, again, it should stop the show from getting bogged down too much by the myriad characters of Ryuki.

After the padding of this fight sequence, the storyline really begins to pick up with the unleashing of some ultimate Grongi who seemed markedly different from the original series’ N-Daguba-Zeba and, in fact, appeared to be more like Boukenger’s pre-Quester Gai and Rei (I really wouldn’t be surprised if his suit was hashed together from these earlier characters). There are similarities in the design, although not enough for me to completely say that this *is* Daguba. Perhaps Kuuga fans can however correct my suspicious mind and identify this character.

Unidentified Life Form #X?

This new Grongi unleashes the ultimate darkness upon the world, raising hordes of Grongi footsoldiers and transforming humans into Grongi themselves. Along the way, we also learn that Onodera Yuusuke’s origins differ again from Godai’s in that evil!canvas hat!man appears to have given him a prior warning about DCD.

After which, the episode hits a high note, showing all the chaos usually reserved only for the last few episodes of a Rider series and presenting a brilliant fight sequence as Kuuga and DCD at last join forces to save the world.

I can’t stress how powerful some of the scenes in this episode are and, at several points, I found the show genuinely surprising me with the bold way in which it made such changes to the established status quo of the previous episode. The deaths of both Suwa Taro’s character and Detective Yashiro were genuinely surprising and saddening.

Other surprises include Kuuga’s new transformed mode. Yes, you read that right. Kuuga transforms…into a giant Insecticon-like beetle stead for DCD during the final battle…and surprisingly it works. It’s all CGI gloss but the mass of zombie-like-Grongi suit actors and the sight of Kuuga sprinting down the side of a building to execute a Rider Kick from above is well worth the price of admission.

Tsukasa also really comes into his own during this fight, proving that he’s not just another arsehole with a henshin device but is really up to the task of confronting such monstrous injustice as the Grongi represent.

I can’t remember the last time I had so many good things to say about an episode of a Heisei Rider series.

…

Oh yes I can. It was Hibiki.

The next episode looks to be set in ‘Kiva’s World’ with some, ah, interesting changes.

Regardless of which, DCD has earnt its pocket money this month. The only thing missing from this episode was a kaizo ningen, everything else was perfect.

Cure DCD!

Amongst fan artist AMON’s old!new!reinterpretations of Fresh Pretty Cure!’s Aono Miki is a somewhat striking and familiar armour…with lace and frills.

Kamen Rider DCD #2 Review (SPOILERS)

First off, apologies for those of you in LJ land only watching the subbed version of this. You will hate me but, whilst doing so, take a moment to also hate my RSS feed which doesn’t seem to translate WordPress’ page cuts when it re-posts content…not that I’m actually using cuts much on this journal.

Regardless, look away now if you want to avoid spoilers for DCD’s second episode.

In this episode…an X-Man dies!!

First off, we need to talk about Suwa Taro!

"It was a shared love of Dino Curry that eventually brought them together."

The man is a living legend so it’s great to see him here as the chief in ‘Kuuga’s World’. Hopefully both he and Sato Hiroko will continue to make semi-regular appearances although I’m guessing there’s less chance of Suwa cropping up again after this arc than Sato.

The other, and most significant character in ‘Kuuga’s World’ is of course Kamen Rider Kuuga himself, Godai Onodera Yuusuke.

Yuusuke himself is a much more likeable character than Tsukasa, who displays an increasing level of arrogance in this episode and is downright condescending towards Yuusuke. I am interested in the inversion of the original Kuuga friendship between Godai and Ichijo Kaoru’s relationship in regards to Yuusuke and Tsukasa, as well as this series parallel between Ichijo and Sato Hiroko’s character, Yashiro Ai.

I must admit that part of the reason why I seem to like Yuusuke more is that he comes across as a more confident GaoBlue.

"Ne, GaoBlack?"

One problem I do have is that follwing the episode title and, based on information from pre-release material and the footage in episode #1, I was expecting ‘Kuuga’s World’ to be a little more like the world seen in Kamen Rider Kuuga…but it’s not. The background and the set-up have similarities to what I vaguely recall from the original series but there’s a lot here that’s been restructured for the new storyline.

I realise now that this isn’t a case of crossovers but rather retcons. I don’t know if that changes my opinion on the show but it’s one of those things that I can see either being a good ‘get out clause’ or just a poor excuse for why things haven’t been done right.

Initially I signed up for this for the vague Crisis of Infinite Riders concept because of the promise of a Hibiki episode…now I’m pertrified about how they’re going to portray Takeshi company. This could be a great chance to address previous wrongs perpetuated by Toei, wrongs that even the cast of Hibiki have spoken about, but I get the feeling that Toei, in its usual manner, will simply steamroller over any discussion and transform Hibiki into another generic character in a story arc that amounts to little more than a pale shadow of the original series.

In an ideal world, Toei would be commissioning Takadera Shigenori as the producer of this upcoming arc and Kida Tsuyoshi and Ooishi Shinji would be writing it.

There is of course the chance that Decade’s ‘damage control’ approach to past continuity might actually work in favour of Hibiki – at least we won’t have to see a direct continuation of the atrocious plotlines Shirakura Shinichiro, Inoue Toshiki and Yonemura Shouji conceived for the second half of the series…and that should at least ensure that the pointlessness of characters such as Kiriya Kyosuke do not infringe on this story. If there is a God, then Decade will hopefully pretend this character never existed.

But back to Decade and, by default, Kuuga.

Accepting the retcons and changes endemic in this story arc, one of the neat moments was seeing Tsukasa speaking Gegeru, the Grongi language (and I will confess that I never knew it was called this until I looked it up on wikipedia). Other points of interest were the suggestion that the Decade armour has a ‘Plat Form’ prior to the addition of the ten cards representing the main Heisei Riders (including Decade himself) and the fight between Kuuga and Decade.

"What do you mean there aren't any raccoons here?"

There is a sense from Tsukasa’s arrogance and smugness that he could be the destructive force highlighted in episode #1’s preview – a man destined to destroy all Metal Heroes Heisei Riders. Although, all props to him, the future flashback to the ‘Riderless World’ showing Kuuga’s Ultimate Form is enough to give me faith that *someone* might be enough of a hero to at least give him a run for his money.

Of particular note is Kuuga’s transformation from Mighty Form to Ultimate Form, lifting up the ruin and the felled form of Faizu and one another Rider as he prepares to take down Decade.

Scenes like that are the kind of thing that epics are made of…and high sales.

Unlike the disappointing action of the first episode, Decade also uses his own signature attacks here as well. It should be noted that I was indeed very pleased to see that, whilst very different from like the original cyborg Riders, he at least still has a ‘Rider Kick‘ move in his arsenal.

What isn’t as impressive is the main threat of the next few episodes seems to be an older gentleman in a canvas hat…which isn’t really the most sinister of evil archetypes.

Nonetheless Decade #2 is a nice episode full of good action sequences and, for the most part, is significantly more sensible than the previous episode.