I legitimately enjoyed Wizard and all its fabulous glory.:coolshades:
*convulses*
I generally enjoyed the Fourze 2-parters. The show's arsenal of side characters attributes a lot to it, often receiving much-needed fleshing out. As does the fact that the occasional fortnight guests would make reappearances down the line, rather than disappear from existence, lending to the idea that through the course of the journey, Gentarou and the KR Club genuinely create a lasting difference.
But Wizard is the 2-parter format at its worst. Sans the rare instances when Koyomi, Rinko and Shunpei have anything worth showing up to the filming set for, beyond usual background hijinks, fortnight after fortnight would be nigh exclusive focus on whoever the Gate is. Sometimes, the Gate is downright unsympathetic, meaning any investment I should have in this one-time character dissipates before it barely had the chance to form. And if I cannot bring myself to care for this Gate's story - on top of the show's feeble addressing of hope and despair (let the fear of death drive you to despair, anyone?) - and if the overarching plot isn't going anywhere, because today Gremlin randomly wants to start a long-winded money scam for some reason, why should I care about any of this?
IF Toei deems that Gaim's lukewarm ratings can be attributed to its serial storytelling format, I also hope at the very least they consider some kind of hybrid. I don't want to completely lose that serial format that allowed me to look forward week after week to the plot going somewhere the next time I tune in. But if the 2-parter is to rear its head again in whatever shape or form (and given that I generally enjoyed Fourze and W, so I'm not of the opinion that there is anything inherently wrong with the format), learn from Wizard's failings. In fact, they can even learn from Wizard's own Beelzebub-Phoenix 4-episode arc. That was a rare brilliant moment in the show when one 2-parter elegantly flowed into the next, before the show decided to sink back into rigid mediocrity.
I've a few things to note about Gaim at the moment, but this will be a topic I will rather save for after the show's conclusion. You can probably guess what I might say (ahem, Jounouchi), but the issue of the bikes is currently rather pertinent for me. Though underuse of bikes has been the case since Blade, Gaim has managed to make me forget for a short while that the bikes even exist. Without the need to enter Helheim these days, characters have a bizarre tendency of having to RUN everywhere, even when there's an emergency. Like say, when an ally of yours is in a life or death match against a misguided former friend. Especially when Lock Vehicles are so portable,
and even grow on trees.