Favorite First Henshin.

FIRST HENSHIN IS FOR KAMEN RIDER KUUGA! (Mighty Form in the burning church of course) it was so epic! :buttrock:

Well, everybody probably knew I was going to say Kuuga Mighty Form but it actually kinda ties for me with Kotaro's first real henshin into Kamen Rider Black.

Both of my votes can be technically considered second henshins. But the distinction I'm making is that in both cases those initial henshins were more or less involuntary while the next one was willing and with the signature kata.

In the case of Kuuga's Growing Form the power was activating in response to Godai's basic desire to fight and survive. With Black, it's sort of the same thing. The guy has been beat up on continuously and then it activates when Gorgom drops his ass through the roof of a warehouse.

I've talked before about all the reasons I love that Mighty Form henshin scene from Kuuga in the burning church. From the visuals to the context to the dramatic point of it is just awesome and it always gets me. Every. Single. Time.

With Black, this guys entire world has been turned upside down, his brother has been kidnapped, the man he called his father has been killed before his eyes and on top of everything else this crazyass monster society spent all night smacking him around after having tried to turn him into a weapon.

When you hear that sound from his fists being clinched, the "HEEEEEN-SHIN!" and the BGM version of the theme song hits you know one thing is for sure: Minami Kotaro is tired of your evil ****. :buttrock:

While the Kuuga Growing and Kuuga Mighty Form transformations are really damn good, I feel the first transformation for Agito deserves a nod too.

We, as the audience, know goofy and silly Shouichi is the one transforming and yet the scene is still able to effectively draw the viewer into the awe and surprise of G3 and the Unknown as this mysterious man, his features hidden behind the wall of light generated by his belt, slowly steps onto the field of battle for the first time.

FlashNeko said:

While the Kuuga Growing and Kuuga Mighty Form transformations are really damn good, I feel the first transformation for Agito deserves a nod too.

We, as the audience, know goofy and silly Shouichi is the one transforming and yet the scene is still able to effectively draw the viewer into the awe and surprise of G3 and the Unknown as this mysterious man, his features hidden behind the wall of light generated by his belt, slowly steps onto the field of battle for the first time.

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I do not deny for a second that Agito's is one of the best first henshins. It may not be in my top spot but it's in my top 5 for sure. I also thing W's first henshin is worth noting as well. The way that whole opening sequence of episode 1 builds to it and puts you right into the series. One of the best henshins and also one of the best starts to a first episode.

I remember when the Spider creatures from Gorgom killed Kotaro's dad. That was shocking. Mostly because even watching Kuuga, I was kinda caught off guard with a show in the 80's that did that kinda stuff. I was still relatively new to Showa Rider at the time, and I thought Kuuga was the one that started all the violence, but when Kotaro lost his dad and transformed, that was kickass.

I also enjoyed Gaia's first transformation. In fact, every time Gaia landed and the earth around shot up, I got chills.

Kuuga Mighty is a given, so I'm not about to beat a dead horse.

As per one I quite liked, GekiRed's first henshin in Gekiranger. I haven't seen it in the longest time (not since spring 2007), but that definitely struck a chord with me and is one of the things that got me into Sentai.

Also, do first transformations of a particular form count? Because I think any of the OOO Combo debuts would be up there, then.

Sure, if you thought any of the combos stood out, go ahead!

Smilodon said:

I also enjoyed Gaia's first transformation. In fact, every time Gaia landed and the earth around shot up, I got chills.

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Gaia was awesome in how it handled the effects. They really put you in the moment for the idea of giants in a city street.

I really love the henshin in the opening of W.



If it counts, Kagami's first transformation into Gatack is also a pretty incredible scene for me. It doesn't hurt that that whole story arc reminds me of Aliens.

Black, Kuuga, and Blade are all fantastic as well.

^ I know that it's your opinion that you love Double's first henshin and that I respect it, but for me it was senseless since they really had to do a henshin pose while being subjected to bombardment of projectiles. Kinda felt out-of-place for me just to push in their henshin pose. :sayin: