Kamen Rider OOO - Talk Up!

[Black Fang]

Right now Toei want to take KR into a new direction by making it both funny & serious at the same time, like what they did with W.

That's a public relations statement. Not an explanation.

No, I think I see what he means there. I think we know about the funny/serious angle KR is taking, but it's like, the serious scene is off-set by the comedic music and stuff. It's like, if it's going to be serious, keep it serious or if it's going to sound comedic, be comedic.

Yes, exactly. There is a time and place for seriousness and comedy alike. But all of OOO's otherwise dramatic scenes seem to be sprinkled with inappropriate silliness. Eiji threatens to throw away the belt if Ankh harms Hina, but it's done in a comedic manner. Eiji clashes with Ankh over Cat Yummy's victim's fate, yet the music for the fight is very upbeat and "jazzy", like in Den-O and Kiva. It's like they're trying to force an otherwise not-really-comedic premise (despite the dumb Ride Vendor gimmick) to be as silly as possible.

 

[garfield15]

Well, that belt scene, I don't think that could be taken otherwise seriously since Eiji was doing it the sarcastic way. Like if he had said "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER OR THE BELT GOES IN THE WATER," (which would be kind of out of character) that would have been a serious moment but he went for the "oh no, the belt is slipping, if only you would just let go of the girl, maybe I'll have enough strength to pull it up" route or a Batman Gambit as TV Tropes would put it.

 

[Ryuutaros]

Despite what everyone says I still love OOO.

 

[Khaiden]

At this point, you can think of Erika as the equivilent of Den-O's Naomi.........she's there only for eye candy, primarily the eye candy of the Kougami foundation. Nothing more than that right now, hopefully she'll become useful in the future.........but as of right now, she's this series Naomi

Meh, for me she just seems so sweet it reaches a cloying point.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

Well, that belt scene, I don't think that could be taken otherwise seriously since Eiji was doing it the sarcastic way. Like if he had said "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER OR THE BELT GOES IN THE WATER," (which would be kind of out of character) that would have been a serious moment but he went for the "oh no, the belt is slipping, if only you would just let go of the girl, maybe I'll have enough strength to pull it up" route or a Batman Gambit as TV Tropes would put it.

I definitely think this is something that would have worked better in the hands of a more capable actor. I do like the approach of feigning weakness in holding the belt, but the way Shu Watanabe played it seemed more like the entire situation was a joke and not in a good way. Both the serious approach and comical approach do work, but you gotta play to the strength of the actor.

 

[garfield15]

I think he's a good actor :sweat:

Despite what everyone says I still love OOO.

I really like it too, but I think it can grow

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

I don't actually dislike OOO at this point, there are definitely those "..meh" moments in regards to certain things and it does seem to have somewhat of a grand mystery going on (Eiji failed to save the girl, kay, cool, but wtf caused that destruction and...meteor?) that will...hopefully be revealed and not be like Den-O where no one really has any idea what was going on by the end of it.

 

[Blazeking]

OOO3 sub here. There's not one sub on YT.

 

[social_deviance]

Yeah, not while Toei is still campaigning its YT holocaust.

 

[Lynxara]

There is a time and place for seriousness and comedy alike. But all of OOO's otherwise dramatic scenes seem to be sprinkled with inappropriate silliness.

So I don't know how badly this has affected tokusatsu, but anime's had a fairly serious problem over the past decade where mainstream audiences completely reject most series that attempt to treat their subject matter seriously. Most of the big hits, regardless of premise, have been comedic, satirical, or at most ironic light action-comedies.

Some serious shows have managed to become niche hits running in late-night timeslots, but otherwise everything is either nonstop silliness or so leavened with humor that it feels like you're just not supposed to take any of it too seriously. I can't point to why this is really popular but it just seems to be a shift in audience tastes.

I'm hoping things swing back toward a taste for 80s hot-blooded grit soon, I really miss that approach to writing tokusatsu and anime both.