- Hibiki
- Kabuto
- Den-O
- Kiva
- Decade
But what are those for you? Best or worst?
As for me. One thing I like about endings is when they are fulfilling to the the show itself and/or imply the story continues and the heroes will keep fighting.
The latter, unfortunately, can be done wrong.
And so for worst, I pick:
Hibiki & Faiz.
I think Inoue wanted to give that ''the adventure continues'' feel, but the way he did was just wrong to me, the villains didn't die for heaven's sake. It's understandable what they did in Faiz but he could have at least killed Kageyama Saeko/Lobster Orphenoch.
I've already given my opinion on Hibiki's, it's the general consensus that the writing got corrupted and we were left with a lukewarm conclusion to Asumu's story.
Even though I say that, I could watch those two series a dozen times, endings and all.
Every other ending, I think is excellent, though my personal favorites are:
-New Kamen Rider: I was lucky, because this was one of the few things I didn't get spoiled about. Wow, what a finale. Spoilers ahead.
[HIDE]Not only the final battle with
GiantSpaceDragon!GreatLeader and the conclusion to it. It's what happens before and the emotional journey Tsukuba goes through, from thinking Admiral Majin as his father then finding out he's not, to the sudden and unexpected death of his mother. Here he is, with his last glimmer of hope crushed, his last loved one dying. That classic sorrowfulness of a Kamen Rider being a hero with nothing to lose anymore and ''cursed'' to live forever as that is in full motion now, you could say his story is complete. As I saw him when he faced the Great Leader, I saw him in the same light I see a Rider when he returned in a newer series, he struck me as a seasoned veteran, he blended with the rest of the Riders in a way I didn't get from the rest of the show. Throughout the series he had gotten the treatment any Rider will get around the veteran Riders: the new hero who gets aided by them, and is ultimately still the protagonist of his story. I got a similar feel in the Stronger finale, but it was more accentuated here, partly because Skyrider had been running around with his senpai for a while already, where as with Stronger, they just came until the end and Shigeru had already graduated from Rider School.
There's also this small moment, I don't know much japanese, but I knew very damn well what they were saying:
Rider 2: ''Tsukuba, what about your mother?''
Skyrider: ''NeoShocker killed her!''
The reaction of #2 is priceless. He just turns to the others as if saying ''What are we gonna do now?''. I could guess the expression of Ichimonji behind the helmet. Take in mind he had helped Hiroshi tend to his mother for a while and even saved her. Thinking they were peacefully safe, he left them to fight the Great Leader. I think it was a few moments later when she was killed.[/HIDE]
-Stronger: Awesome, just amazing. It's a great goodbye to Tachibana Tobei too. They did damn a good job at what was the end of Kamen Rider at the time, considering the series was cancelled.
-Black: As it was said. He just sits alone, in the coffee shop, saying ''Goodbye, my old friends''. Damn. They kept showing us flashbacks of the 4 together throughout the series for that very moment. It hit. Just as the scene with Kotaro mourning under the rain with the Satan Saber in hand. One thing I don't like about the final episode in the 70's and 80's series, is how they still show the regular credits afterwards. Most of the time it's kind of anti-climatic, but here it blends in perfectly. Black drives, then walks alone.
And Whale Mutant is a hero.
-X: Holy Molly. King Dark blows up! In pieces! It's what everyone wanted to see! Not before X gets impaled. How did he get away? Who knows! He's a Kamen Rider, he can do it. More awesome is what follows afterwards, everyone thinks he's dead only to find a letter stating that he went with his senpai Riders. What a goodbye. This is how ''the story goes on'' is done right. The 70's series were full of it. Even the Stronger finale, the original ending to Rider, does it.
-Ryuki: Shinji's wish is ultimately fulfilled. That's why it worked IMO. While others see it as vain, I see it as a happy ending for a series full of tragic characters.
-Kuuga: Another example of ''the story continues'' done right. And it's fulfilling for all the characters too. Specially a certain moment for a certain character. I swear, I had the same expression as the teacher Kanzaki when it happened.
-Kabuto: The build-up is included, it is what made it great. The build-up concluded a lot of things and allowed the final episode to be all explosions.