So I just finished to episode 49. And good god if I don't talk about this, it will itch at the back of my eyeballs forever.
Ryuki has kicked the living crap out of Kabuto. Faiz. or hell, Blade. Out of the previous full series new-gen riders that I've watched, nothing is holding a candle to Ryuki after 49 episodes of it. I love Kabuto's suits and gadgets. I love Faiz' gadgets and semi-drama. I enjoyed Blade's kinda-neat storyline. But for the first time, I really felt that I enjoyed a Kamen Rider series for reasons transcending wanting to watch men in plastic suits beat the crap out of each other.
Kido Shinji is dead. He got punk'd even before he transformed. He got stabbed saving a kid. When the dude puked out blood and continued to assist Ren anyway, I really wanted him to just go to the hospital or something. This wasn't natural. The lead Kamen Rider shouldn't be dying like this. But no. He utilizes Survive mode and kicks some monster ass before going. It was a messed up episode for me. But it was so messed up because Shinji was, after 49 episodes a dear character to me, even in his clumsy stupid red spandex costume. And he was just another Rider dying in a series where a lot of Riders died. If anything, Ryuki gave its characters value and didn't depend on cheap plot devices to bail them out(EDIT : THIS IS A LIE.). No. If he dies, he dies.
Does Ryuki belong in the lineup of Kamen Riders, courtesy of Ishinomori? By a conventional means, no. But Shinji represented the ideal Kamen Rider in a brutal, grim world where you must fight to survive. And in the end, he didn't kill anything but monsters. Even then he did it to save people. Sounds cheesy and utterly simple on paper, but that's what Kamen Rider is. Dudes who had the power to put on/transform into costumes, and then used it to save people. And that's it.
Now, on to the Shinji-less finale. This is a bummer.