Disappear into light!!
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Feb 12, 2011
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614
[HIDE]First of all I really like the outfits for Haruto and Koyomi, both fit them perfectly. Both outfits do exactly what they should, making Haruto look like a new age wizard, and Koyomi looks like she is caught between being a doll and a human. Rinko rocks the suit pretty well, but they don't go out of their way to make it look any different from her suit in episode 1-3. Shunpei...man Shunpei...Gai did it but he did it better. I'm all for them useing a rather child like, colorful style, but this week he looked like he stole clothes from a three year old. My suggestion to them is to tone the colors down just a little, and to create the sense of hidden potential. At least that was what I got from Gai's outfits which were childish, but still had that small flare of a wanderer to them. If that makes sense to anyone else.

The Villian was also just kind of their this episode, but it really works for that actor. The last two guys thought out their attacks and methods, especially with hellhound. Caitsith just doesn't give a **** though, as a cat shouldn't. That is what i got from the character: "I'm a giant cat....why should I give a **** if you arn't feeding me or threatening me?" Basically Medusa was a human shaped spray bottle in this episode...

Not of fan of Haruto having so many people's hands near his crotch as a major part of the plot...three main characters and a security guard. I understand why...but I don't like it.

Other then that the plot is cool, the characters are likeable, and it has enough serious buisness and subtle humor to keep me enthralled. They don't abuse the "Power of the week" too much, and focus on characters and plot as well as very cool fight scenes.

Speaking of which I am also very happy with Wizard's open palm fighting style. When they first introduced the rings I wasn't sure how he was going to fight. The mix of grappling, kicking, redirection, gun play, and sword play are very, very cool to me.

All and all each character does somthing for me and as each gets deeper into their roles I feel we will have a very time with them.

Haruto is the hero with a tragic past who choses to radiate joy while keeping his own troubles out of sight. After all it was by chosing to have hope over despair that saved his life and set him on his path. He isn't hiding his pain, he just choses to deny it control over him.

Koyomi is a hard ass with concerns for Haruto, probably because he is the only one who can totally understand her (in her mind at least) and she is the only thing keeping her alive. She may be clingy now, but I feel like once she breaks from her shell she will be this season's Sumiko Ozawa.

I wanted Rinko to be Hikawa or Ichijo, instead it looks like she will be more of a Natsumi or Hina. I am actually ok with this since it means she won't be too serious of a character unless she has to be. She can laugh when out of danger, but still run and gun when their is trouble. In this episode she was able to get in, get the gate, and get out without loosing her cool. She may not be much help in a fight, but by God she handles herself pretty well and still manages to giggle at Shunpei's...whatever it is Shunpei does.

Shunpei...believe it or not he did somthing this episode that I found interesting. True his clummsy slapstick stuff isn't very funny, but you have to say something for a guy who is commited to...well to sticking to the guy he feels he owes alot. His reaction to Koyomi "being dead" was the interesting thing about this episode. He didn't cry or over react; he just kind of froze up and wasn't sure what to do. All he could do was call Haruto and then just sit there. While this may make him seem useless, especially by not even trying to save Koyomi when Medusa had her intangled. it furthers to show his child like nature. Shunpei wants to help, but most of the time he just doesn't know how to. I bet we get an episode where he mans up soon and finds his place in the group. Gai had at least two such episodes (His second appearence, and the Hyuga episode.) Right now Shunpei may not be much, but in time I believe (and hope) he figures out what he can do.

And of course we get an appearence by the donut hungry crew who are actually more entertaining then Santa-Chan and Watcherman, two of my favorite characters from W. We also find out just how important they are to the plot, provideing Haruto with not just sugery fun treats, but with the calories that become his Mana. In essence these two are almost as important as Wajima. Almost...[/HIDE]

Everything in this post:thumbs:.

Koyomi's personality is totally different from what I imagined. I thought she'd be the cutesy, shy, helpful type, so it's nice they did something a bit different, though I'm not too sure how I feel about the possibility of her just being another Philip/Ankh/Kengo.

Like Lynxara said, it's all about doing something new and different with used tropes. Every story will have to do this at some point, and Wizard is doing a good job so far.

Rinko is basically the total opposite of that. I thought she was going to play more of an important role, similar to Ichijo from Kuuga. She's supposed to be a police detective, that doesn't mean she needs to be a completely serious hardass, but she seems a bit too ditzy and hasn't really done any kind of police work since the first episode.

Hmm...a wide-eyed idealistic ditz police detective. Yeah, that's Rinko:laugh:. And I think there's story potential in that. Also, she save the pianist pretty effectively, and she did some investigation on the pianist's past in this episode to figure out what's his deal is. She's not able to fight the Phantoms, but she's not useless and did her part well. Besides, going guns blazing against a Phantom would be useless, unless if Haruto decide to give her a silver gun or something.

First Shinkenger, then Gokaiger, now Wizard. Man, I'm just a sucker for Utsunomiya's flashy and stylish superhero shows:sweat:. I'm really loving the aesthetics and the look of the show. Everything just looks so beautiful and bright.

You pervs. Up until I went to the threads, I didn't think twice about people putting their hands on Haruto's belt. What came to my mind is "that looks like a real pain, I hope the secondary Riders/other mages don't have to do that too".

I actually had expected the twist with Koyomi, that she's not human, from the second episode. The White Wizard appearing before Haruto, carrying Koyomi like a dead body. Plus, Koyomi hadn't eaten a bite, and not even a little bit interested to.

I've been enjoying too much Type Moon stories.
 
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A Secret Messenger ...
Joined
May 6, 2005
Messages
1,281
The thing I've been kind of wondering about right now is whether or not we'll ever see a Phantom born without the involvement of another. Despair is a human state, and it's possible for a person to lose hope and give up without a monster of the week being involved. It'd be worth exploring ... though maybe that'd be "too dark" for modern Kamen Rider.

Actually, I've been wondering if we'll ever see a Phantom be born at all. Or will Haruto always be there to make things happy?

I kind of miss the days when the monsters/cyborgs/whatever would just attack people and kill them. Or the victims were nothing more than some unlucky folks that happened to see Destron test launch a missile while they were out hiking. I recently watched V3 and it was nice how they were able to add in new characters each week without having absolutely everything revolve around them.
 
Nice post!!
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Nov 20, 2008
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After the one-dimensional world of Fourze and the straightforwardness of OOOs, having a show that's subtle and multidimensional like Wizard's an interesting experience.

Man. Is Rider really at the point where a show like Wizard comes off as subtle? I guess it is.

She's supposed to be a police detective, that doesn't mean she needs to be a completely serious hardass, but she seems a bit too ditzy and hasn't really done any kind of police work since the first episode.

Oh, I dunno, she identified the victim of the week in episode 4, clearly using her police training and resources. If that's what they plan to have Rinko do for the rest of the series, I'm fine with that.
 
Member
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Feb 19, 2011
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940
Another awesome episode of Wizard!

- Shunpei was kinda just... there in this episode. He really didn't do anything of importance, and was more just there for reactions and comedy relief. Rinko was very useful, helping to get the Gate out of harm's way, but Shunpei has yet to prove what he really adds to the group. So far, it seems like he's there just to balance out the male-female ratio of the group. But I'm hopeful his character will get developed later on in the show.

- We finally get to hear the insert songs for Flame and Water Style... kinda. I felt they were pretty quite for insert songs. But at least to me they sounded better than the live performances that were released at their announcement so that's a positive. I don't think the songs are as good or are used as effectively as the insert songs from OOO or Fourze, but maybe they'll grow on me.

- So Koyomi is the result of a human soul dying as per the ritual but with the Phantom either failing to come out or coming out without taking over the human host. The result of which is the "Homunculus" known as Koyomi. And without a real soul, Koyomi has to be powered by Haruto's magic to function and move, making the doll analogy pretty accurate. I'm quite interested to see where they'll take Koyomi's character, and I expect the situation with what happened to her Phantom to become extremely relevant to the plot later down the line.

- That Wizard can run out of Mana is a good way for the writers to interrupt finishers and keep the monsters of the week alive without making it feel stupid. Take Fourze for instance, I may really like the show but even I have to admit that that one time Shun interrupted a finisher by throwing a football at Fourze was a bit much. I'm curious if the spells drain more Mana than the form changes, or if it's about even. Though I'll admit that having Wizard run out of Mana at the end of each first episode of an arc would be quite repetitive so I hope its used moderately.

- Cat Sith is pretty interesting. The last foreign monster we had in Rider was Aquarius, and the last African-American monster was Kannagi's goon from Megamax, or if we go by just the shows, J from Faiz. At least Cat Sith got to speak in actual sentences, even if the portrayal was less than... tasteful I think is the right word. But it's always nice to see Rider branch out with the nationality of their monsters.

- Can't wait next week for the truth about Koyomi revealed, Takagi's performance, and Wizard Wind Style vs Cat Sith!
 
Member
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Nov 6, 2009
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Episode 4 really sealed the deal. Wizard is impressive, flashy and fun to watch. Fourze was a straight-on comedy that I enjoyed, but Wizard has enough melodrama in it to make me want to know more about the story as well.

Koyomi in particular I was really surprised with - we know nothing about her in the first 3 episodes, and this slow revealation makes you wanna know more about her. Kudos to the actress as well for good acting skills; that scene where she was watching the fighting from the tree was really well done.

Junpei on the other hand i found extremely annoying
 
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