Kamen rider series with best/worst action

[Shougo B'Stard]

The problem with many of the early Showa-era fights was that they were slowed down for no reason.
This has nothing to do with the age, because there are tons of old japanese movies with fast-paced action.

I think the big difference is what stunt organization they used; the Riders from the original series to ZX used the Ono Ken Yuukai to do stunts. As far as I'm aware, the Ono Ken Yuukai got their start as, like, stage combat and swordplay experts. What sets the Japan Action Club (Japan Action Enterprise) apart is that they're trained to be PERFORMERS, skilled not only in just action and fighting, but acting.

I find a lot of the '70s shows that use the Ono Ken Yuukai tend to have some stiff action -- I used to think it was due to the cloth material that the hero suits were made out of, but that's not really it. I think it's just that when a show uses a group like the Ono Ken Yuukai, the results vary because comic book superhero action and suit acting really wasn't exactly their comfort zone in those early days. You can see this in Goranger -- the Ono Ken Yuukai do the stunts for the first 60 or so episodes, and they're similar to the '70s Rider scenes. But action director Junji Yamaoka and the Japan Action Club take over for the last 20 episodes and the difference is notable right away -- the Goranger action becomes quick and just so ALIVE under the JAC.

 

[Fantasy Leader]

Even a show as relatively recent as Kamen Rider Black still has fight choreography that's all over the place, sometimes reveling in camp, other times attempting to be tense and atmospheric. It really begs the question of how an uneven-but-sometimes-inspired show like Black stacks up to say, Black RX, which was very consistent but never really hits any of Black's action highs.

For me, what made Black's action consistently enjoyable was the heroic superhero action energy that flowed throughout it. Black knew what it's premise was, even during those bizarre episodes where the show feels like it almost forgets about it. So while the action is all over the place, I feel like it's consistent energy makes it a much stronger and memorable superhero action show than RX could ever be.

 

[Hypado]

Agito always is the worst. Have a few actions scenes, and the most of scenes are drama and boring dialogues.

The older shows, like Black RX, V3 and Stronger are the best in the action territory.

 

[FreedomR8G6B1]

Hmmm...I kinda liked Hibiki for some reason. Anyway, the fight scene has to suit the motif, so nothing bothered me that much.

X has also been pretty good.

Well if your opponents include a Scarface ant with the great lakes on his chest and a starfish from third reich...you know you have to make it look good.

I will give OOO X Fourze credit for this...they showed what X Rider Kick looks like in a 3rd Person POV.

 

[HurricaneDragon]

I'm pretty partial to Wizard's action despite the rest of the show (though the movies were pretty solid), but Gaim was nice too - that final confrontation with Kouta and Kaito with Ranbu Escalation playing in the back is probably going to be one of my favorite fights in the series (if not my favorite) for a long time to come.

In general, I give a lot of points to shows where the Rider has a more distinct fighting style to them, though admittedly, that is harder to pull as time goes on ("That's been done!") or the gimmicks get in the way of a Rider having too much freedom.