A Serious Discussion about Kamen Rider

[Khaiden]

And on a personal level, I quite liked that part of the Heisei period where Rider shows were all different continuities, simply because it meant that they ended. I know that sounds weird but having a definite end meant that (in theory) you had a proper climax to build to, and IMO there's a certain satisfaction to that. Modern Rider shows don't have that same finality to them because they have to leave things open for other movies or future cameo appearances.

Not all of them, OOO ended in a very conclusive "no going back" note. Movie War Megamax expanded upon that but at no point did Kobayashi had to rewrite her story to allow certain characters to return. There's a similar situation with Gaim. Hey, now that I think about it, so did Wizard. Hell, going back to the Showa era, Skyrider ended in a very conclusive manner.

I want them to keep bringing back Riders and other characters, but the shows themselves need not be limited by this and they can tell their whole conclusive story, with no going back. It is the creative challenge of future movies to explain how they came back. Will we ever know why Ryuki is still around?

Sometimes I wonder if Hibiki and Faiz were ended in such a way because they thought of the possibility of using those characters in the future.

And that being said, many of those stories left things open enough for a return of the main Rider to not seem odd: Agito, Faiz, Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto, Den-O & Kiva. Kuuga and Ryuki seem like the only ones in which one immediately needs an explanation as to why they're still able to transform into Kamen Riders.

I don't think Doctor Who is the best comparison any more. Modern Who is broadcast (in the UK) on primetime Saturday evening and is actively marketed as a show for the whole family rather than only for kids, and due to the way the BBC is funded there's no commercial pressure on the show to get good ratings or sell toys. Plus there are 13 episodes of Who per year, while Rider will have 47-50 plus at least three movies, so each Doctor probably has a similar amount of time in the role to a Rider.

Rider is for the whole family. Toys are the main element that's marketed towards children only.

 

[Goty]

Not all of them, OOO ended in a very conclusive "no going back" note. Movie War Megamax expanded upon that but at no point did Kobayashi had to rewrite her story to allow certain characters to return. There's a similar situation with Gaim. Hey, now that I think about it, so did Wizard.

The way OOO ended wasn't as drastic as Ryuki's, though, as there was no main Rider dying, losing his powers or anything. Same for Wizard. The "problem" with Gaim can be easily solved too, as the last episode of the tv series showed. As you said, the continuity doesn't need to be affected if at least the main character can come back with no need of further explanations, and they seem to have that in mind these days.

As much as i dread Ryuki's ending, i feel like they can't get away with such "out there" stuff if they wanted, due to the movie limitations, and i kind of miss the unpredictability of that. But those were different days.

 

[CannibalS]

Why do we need a comic book-styled diegetic continuity anyway, when its been consitently proven that one can do crossovers regardless of some weird mental gymnastic.

Its all about the symbolic value anyway.