Henshinger
Member
I always feel you have to watch the entire series before one can actually criticize it. One episode here and there can't justify an entire series IMHO. And I also never take someone else's word for it but to each his own.
Early Heisei Riders...
- Thread starter HonestHeart17
- Start date
I always feel you have to watch the entire series before one can actually criticize it. One episode here and there can't justify an entire series IMHO. And I also never take someone else's word for it but to each his own.
I - completely agree, tbh.
Okay, well, not completely. I enjoyed Faiz, even though I know it has a mountain of flaws, and I enjoyed Blade. But Agito, certainly, I really struggled to finish, because I just found it really boring. Kuuga and Ryuki I didn't manage to get very far in at all.
I can see that a few people on this thread have been remarking that more recent Heisei series are breaking from tradition, and that they're departing from Kamen Rider's roots, and to be honest, I can't help but wonder if that's a good thing. Double to Gaim has been some of the most consistently enjoyable Kamen Rider I've seen (er. Apart from maybe Wizard, that genuinely frustrated me at times) precisely because there's been a push to play with the formula.
Okay, well, not completely. I enjoyed Faiz, even though I know it has a mountain of flaws, and I enjoyed Blade. But Agito, certainly, I really struggled to finish, because I just found it really boring. Kuuga and Ryuki I didn't manage to get very far in at all.
I can see that a few people on this thread have been remarking that more recent Heisei series are breaking from tradition, and that they're departing from Kamen Rider's roots, and to be honest, I can't help but wonder if that's a good thing. Double to Gaim has been some of the most consistently enjoyable Kamen Rider I've seen (er. Apart from maybe Wizard, that genuinely frustrated me at times) precisely because there's been a push to play with the formula.
HurricaneDragon
Member
I already said it, but I feel Gaim is actually specifically trying to return to the franchise's early Heisei roots in many respects. The strict two episode formula was dropped, we had a more consistent running and developing plot, there was more focus put on the characters and drama, and so on. If I ignore the suits and the toy gimmick, it reminds me much more of shows like Agito, Ryuki, Blade, and Kabuto than it does the likes of Fourze and Wizard.
Also, I think they even said in an interview that they were trying to evoke the feeling of the early Heisei shows, didn't they?
Early Heisei Riders were amazing
I love all of the early Hesei, although it took e awhile to get into them because I got introduced to them through Decade, which was admittedly a mistake in itself. Decade honestly made me not want to watch a lot of them bar Kabuto, which I really wanted to watch because super speed is always great. But, instead of putting all of my thoughts on the early Heisei (which ends after Kabuto for me).
Kuuga: I loved Kuuga. Absolutely loved it. It was a true dramatic Kamen Rider, and the stories were so well done. The stakes always seemed to be high with people dying left and right through games that the monsters were playing, and later because of rituals. The stakes were always so high, and I loved that the police in this show (and Agito) were always mobile and helping to fight the monsters. Although I didn't watch this show until much later in my Kamen Rider series, I'm glad that I watched it when I did because I can see where a lot of the later Heisei shows got their influece from. 10/10, would watch again
Agito: I watched this show immediately after I finished Kuuga. There were a lot of things I liked about it, like the monsters being fought a lot more by the police, and I loved the thought of G3 (and later Gr) being police Riders. Granted, the show did move a little slowly, but when it got going it got going. My biggest problem was the fact that, through most of the series, G3 was pretty useless. Agito himself was, while extremely stong, a sort of boring character. Gills was pretty great, and I love that his finishers were so violent. 8/10, would think before watching again.
Ryuki: This show was amazing. I loved the fact that the stakes were just so high throughout it, and Ouja was one of my favorite characters. The fact that people were always getting attacked by monsters made the stakes really high, and the rider battles were always fun to watch. This is the first show with constant rider deaths, and that was something really different for Rider. I loved this show, even the characters on their bad days. 10/10, would tatakai again.
Faiz: Faiz was a show that had a lot of things I really loved. The suits are still my favorite out of all the rider suits (night filming with lightsabers ftw), and I loved the fights with Accel. Kaixa was a character I just loved to hate, and I was so happy when his main user got his neck snapped. The biggest problem that I had with this show was that everything could have been solved by people talking to each other instead of everyone being an assuming asshole. 7/10, might light up again.
Blade: For the first 10 episodes, I didn't like Blade. It was just boring, and not very interesting. However, after the first 10, the show really started to pick up and I loved it. Seeing the characters fight amongst each other, and them fighting together at the end was great. King form is one of my favorite final forms, and Kanzaki's forceful yet willful transformation into a monster at the end of the series to save Chalice was amazingness and such a selfless act that it was very profound just how far he was willing to go to save his friends. Blade, bar the first 10 episodes, is one of my favorite Rider shows. 8/10, would deal the cards again.
Hibiki: For the first 30 episodes, I loved Hibiki. The tone was amazing, and I just enjoyed it so much. The fact that Asumu was the main character instead of the riders was a welcome change, and it was great that we got to see his growth throughout the show. I loved Hibiki as a character, and he was just so much fun to watch and learn from. The surrounding cast was also very interesting, and fun to watch.
Kabuto: Being that this show was my first reall Rider after Decade, and I've rewatched this more than any other Rider show, it's my favorite. I loved everyone in this show, especially Tendou and Kagami. Their chemistry was so much fun to witness, and I honestly don't see the problem that people have with Tendou. He was a characature of a super-serial guy, and he was just so good at it. Also, we can't forget KAAAAGAAAAMI. To me, he was the real main character, and it was very good to see him grow as a character like Asumu did in Hibiki. While the second half was a little all over the place, I enjoyed just as much as the first half. 11/10, would clock into watching forever.
After Kabuto, the shows basically started to go downhill. Den-O was forced a lot, and didn't have a real plot until the end. Kiva, I was never really interested in the present storyline as much as I was the past. Decade is...Decade and has it's own problems. W was very good, but Akiki was unbearable. I liked OOO, but the two episode format was painful for a lot fot this show, but the same could be said about a lot of the post-Den-O shows. Fourze was a chore to get through. It had it's good moments (the Cosmic Arc was great until it friendship that brought him back to life. Gemini was amazing though), but the characters were all unlikable to me. Which is the same problem that I had with Wizard, but that show was boring, and most of the time the surrounding characters were useless.
Gaim, however, is a breath of fresh air. The stakes are there, with people dying and staying dead, and the writing is incredible. This show feels like much more of a early Heisei show than most of the post-Den-O show, and that is a god send in itself.
I love all of the early Hesei, although it took e awhile to get into them because I got introduced to them through Decade, which was admittedly a mistake in itself. Decade honestly made me not want to watch a lot of them bar Kabuto, which I really wanted to watch because super speed is always great. But, instead of putting all of my thoughts on the early Heisei (which ends after Kabuto for me).
Kuuga: I loved Kuuga. Absolutely loved it. It was a true dramatic Kamen Rider, and the stories were so well done. The stakes always seemed to be high with people dying left and right through games that the monsters were playing, and later because of rituals. The stakes were always so high, and I loved that the police in this show (and Agito) were always mobile and helping to fight the monsters. Although I didn't watch this show until much later in my Kamen Rider series, I'm glad that I watched it when I did because I can see where a lot of the later Heisei shows got their influece from. 10/10, would watch again
Agito: I watched this show immediately after I finished Kuuga. There were a lot of things I liked about it, like the monsters being fought a lot more by the police, and I loved the thought of G3 (and later Gr) being police Riders. Granted, the show did move a little slowly, but when it got going it got going. My biggest problem was the fact that, through most of the series, G3 was pretty useless. Agito himself was, while extremely stong, a sort of boring character. Gills was pretty great, and I love that his finishers were so violent. 8/10, would think before watching again.
Ryuki: This show was amazing. I loved the fact that the stakes were just so high throughout it, and Ouja was one of my favorite characters. The fact that people were always getting attacked by monsters made the stakes really high, and the rider battles were always fun to watch. This is the first show with constant rider deaths, and that was something really different for Rider. I loved this show, even the characters on their bad days. 10/10, would tatakai again.
Faiz: Faiz was a show that had a lot of things I really loved. The suits are still my favorite out of all the rider suits (night filming with lightsabers ftw), and I loved the fights with Accel. Kaixa was a character I just loved to hate, and I was so happy when his main user got his neck snapped. The biggest problem that I had with this show was that everything could have been solved by people talking to each other instead of everyone being an assuming asshole. 7/10, might light up again.
Blade: For the first 10 episodes, I didn't like Blade. It was just boring, and not very interesting. However, after the first 10, the show really started to pick up and I loved it. Seeing the characters fight amongst each other, and them fighting together at the end was great. King form is one of my favorite final forms, and Kanzaki's forceful yet willful transformation into a monster at the end of the series to save Chalice was amazingness and such a selfless act that it was very profound just how far he was willing to go to save his friends. Blade, bar the first 10 episodes, is one of my favorite Rider shows. 8/10, would deal the cards again.
Hibiki: For the first 30 episodes, I loved Hibiki. The tone was amazing, and I just enjoyed it so much. The fact that Asumu was the main character instead of the riders was a welcome change, and it was great that we got to see his growth throughout the show. I loved Hibiki as a character, and he was just so much fun to watch and learn from. The surrounding cast was also very interesting, and fun to watch.
Kabuto: Being that this show was my first reall Rider after Decade, and I've rewatched this more than any other Rider show, it's my favorite. I loved everyone in this show, especially Tendou and Kagami. Their chemistry was so much fun to witness, and I honestly don't see the problem that people have with Tendou. He was a characature of a super-serial guy, and he was just so good at it. Also, we can't forget KAAAAGAAAAMI. To me, he was the real main character, and it was very good to see him grow as a character like Asumu did in Hibiki. While the second half was a little all over the place, I enjoyed just as much as the first half. 11/10, would clock into watching forever.
After Kabuto, the shows basically started to go downhill. Den-O was forced a lot, and didn't have a real plot until the end. Kiva, I was never really interested in the present storyline as much as I was the past. Decade is...Decade and has it's own problems. W was very good, but Akiki was unbearable. I liked OOO, but the two episode format was painful for a lot fot this show, but the same could be said about a lot of the post-Den-O shows. Fourze was a chore to get through. It had it's good moments (the Cosmic Arc was great until it friendship that brought him back to life. Gemini was amazing though), but the characters were all unlikable to me. Which is the same problem that I had with Wizard, but that show was boring, and most of the time the surrounding characters were useless.
Gaim, however, is a breath of fresh air. The stakes are there, with people dying and staying dead, and the writing is incredible. This show feels like much more of a early Heisei show than most of the post-Den-O show, and that is a god send in itself.
NeonZ
Active Member
Although Gaim in multiple ways resembles earlier Heisei shows, it's not just emulating earlier Heisei either.
Aside from the elements dictated by the merchandising line, there's much more action per episode than in earlier Heisei, and also much more focus on the main plot, with most of the drama directly connected to it, while often early Heisei series devoted a lot of screentime for personal drama and other matters not directly related to monsters or Riders.
In fact, Gaim is written in such a way that we often don't know many details about the personal lives of the main cast, like their families, or even homes.
Aside from the elements dictated by the merchandising line, there's much more action per episode than in earlier Heisei, and also much more focus on the main plot, with most of the drama directly connected to it, while often early Heisei series devoted a lot of screentime for personal drama and other matters not directly related to monsters or Riders.
In fact, Gaim is written in such a way that we often don't know many details about the personal lives of the main cast, like their families, or even homes.
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