Masked Rider v. Kamen Rider Dragon Knight: Adaption Decay

The long and short of it, which one do you think was better and why?

But why ask this you may be thinking? Well in full disclosure, my good friend Dante (SpeedRacerFlubber on youtube otherwise known as the creator of “Adaption Decayâ€) and I are working on an in depth video comparing and contrasting the two series. We’ve had this idea for a while but decided to get feedback from the fandom. To make sure we hit everything, and to address any and all points people raise about the two shows.

So let us know what YOU think. It may very well end up in the video in one form or another.

By default, I always tend to favor the original over the adaption. But I am beginning to see why it's only fair the give both shows an equal opportunity.

On their own, it's easy to tell that the original Dragon Knight opening pales in comparison to the Ryuki theme song. Do I really need to go into why?

As for the shows, I just cannot tell. Did not follow Dragon Knight enough, though I did watch some key episodes here and there. I liked that it had a similar set up to Ryuki. I think they had the right idea with some of the original elements they gave it, like actually giving the main Riders some motorcycles for their base forms. However, the ending ultimately turns me off. I know they were giving the story a different twist than it's Japanese counterpart, but the whole "combining powers" scene at the end felt too much like Power Rangers to me, which is what they were trying to avoid in the first place.

I liked the ending in Ryuki better. While I'm not saying it's a better ending, the ending and the events leading up to it are something the resonate with real life. The truth is, life is unfair. Even those with the purest and selfless intentions don't always win in the end. Many people are just out to further their own goals, and not everyone can be saved. Some people don't even want to be helped. Sometimes it takes a sacrifice to see what is really important. The lessons of Ryuki may be bittersweet, and some only see the bitter, but I respect it for not giving us the same sugar-coated hero story we can get any day.

In this, Ryuki achieved a more meaningful accomplishment for the genre. Rather than being just your standard tokusatsu, it played up it's highlander style story like a soap opera. While some may not like that, Ryuki has proven that it's possible to transcend the limitations of being a "kids show" (but I could be reading too much into it). I don't think Dragon Knight accomplished as much as they wanted it to. Blame lack of promotions or airing it on the 4Kids block of programming. Maybe if it had gotten better ratings or promotions, it could have become successful enough to start something as big and as popular as Power Rangers, a western version of Kamen Rider.

It's too bad, but I'm not complaining much. To me, the less adaptions the better. Adaptions in America usually decrease the chances of us getting the source material, which is what I'd rather see. Fansubs are okay, but I'd prefer an official translation I can buy and support.

SamuraiEchidna, while I agree with you that the adapts do make it harder for the source to come here, I would like something in the middle.

Something that was attempted with Ultraman.

In the 90's, the two foreign Ultraman shows Powered and Great were connected to the other shows as they were considered a part of the Ultra saga.

Now imagine this was done with Power Ranger or Kamen Rider.

Have the remake or "adaptation" be cast in the same shared universe as the past shows to generate interest into them, or even like a sorta sequel and play on the whole "year later" meme that affects foreign media when it used to come here like that or still does with some others.

If something was done with Power Rangers with "other warriors from Earth", it would be a neat thing if they had counterparts in other lands because seriously, I always wondered why didn't the villains ever attack a far away foreign country as well as attack the heroes?

I want something like Ultraman Great/Powered, but more interconnected with the Japanese universe [the original shows] that it would be selling the main series for the kids, but then selling the older shows to the nostalgic types.

This leads to a question: Why don't Tsuburaya and Chaiyo just compromise and push the Ultra brand here and just merge them?

Chaiyo does have or had great ideas for the character and Tsuburaya has a decade of series just waiting to be dubbed abroad.

The purist army is coming.

Bigdog said:

SamuraiEchidna, while I agree with you that the adapts do make it harder for the source to come here, I would like something in the middle.

Something that was attempted with Ultraman.

In the 90's, the two foreign Ultraman shows Powered and Great were connected to the other shows as they were considered a part of the Ultra saga.

Now imagine this was done with Power Ranger or Kamen Rider.

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I've actually considered that idea. I would love it a lot more than an adaption, if the money and resources for it were there. It just depends on how successful shows like this can turn out, and if history serves, they don't always see much success. They become more like those rare, one time shows that only gather a small, cult following (like us!)

Getting back on topic, this reminds much of a series of reviews I've been making.
I've seen Adaption Decay movies concerning Power Rangers on the internet, and I wanted to get into something like that, maybe challenge myself to give adaptions a second chance.
I call them my Let's Compare reviews (kind of like Let's Play). So far, it's been restricted to just OP Themes, but I could extend in series themselves. Might even compare other, similar things. Like anime and their edited, westernized (4Kids-style) dubs. Or different cartoons from the same franchise, like Ninja Turtles.

I just wonder if anyone would be interested in that or not...

Just to clarify, this isn't really about how the two shows were adapted (Although it will be covered in some fashion) It's more about comparing and contrasting KRDK and Saban's Masked Rider in terms of quality/ entertainment value.

SamuraiEchidna said:

I've actually considered that idea. I would love it a lot more than an adaption, if the money and resources for it were there. It just depends on how successful shows like this can turn out, and if history serves, they don't always see much success. They become more like those rare, one time shows that only gather a small, cult following (like us!)

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The issue with tokusatsu is if Kamen Rider was taken as a primetime superhero series with grittier Ishinomori elements ,I believe everyone would like it. Just give the suit and helmet basis in grounded reality with a design that is more befitting of an military operation that had elements of the Bionic Man while having choreography grounded like the film Haywire.

But until Kamen Rider is actually given the time and day, it has a chance in hell.

Getting back on topic, this reminds much of a series of reviews I've been making.
I've seen Adaption Decay movies concerning Power Rangers on the internet, and I wanted to get into something like that, maybe challenge myself to give adaptions a second chance.
I call them my Let's Compare reviews (kind of like Let's Play). So far, it's been restricted to just OP Themes, but I could extend in series themselves. Might even compare other, similar things. Like anime and their edited, westernized (4Kids-style) dubs. Or different cartoons from the same franchise, like Ninja Turtles.

I just wonder if anyone would be interested in that or not...

Click to expand...

I would definitely be interested in these shows, as something needs to take the void of Nostalgia Critic.

Rider Jetfire said:

Just to clarify, this isn't really about how the two shows were adapted (Although it will be covered in some fashion) It's more about comparing and contrasting KRDK and Saban's Masked Rider in terms of quality/ entertainment value.

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Sorry, RJ. Must have misread your entry.

In comparison to the two western adaptions, over all, I'd say Ryuki was way more in tune with its source material than Saban's Masked Rider was. Not to mention, there has all ready been videos about how badly the Black RX footage was spliced in with the American footage. Backgrounds that don't match, shots of characters from Black RX that never actually show up in the series, the mislabeling of classic Riders or "Masked Rider Warriors", etc. Saban's Masked Rider was a huge poster child for how NOT to make an adaption.

But if we were to remove the source material from the equation, I'd still say Dragon Knight is a better show. It has a deeper, more adult plot. Masked Rider almost feels like it can't make a super hero TV show without talking down to us, thanks to things like Ferbus, or without going out of their way to be as PC as possible, like with the inexplicable multiracial family. Saban's Masked Rider tried too hard to inject things that didn't need to be in there.

But a failure both shows share was the ability to make Masked/Kamen Rider as big and as popular an adaption as Power Rangers. Saban's show tried to be too much like Power Rangers (even with their Space Knight style story) while being a cheaper production, and the lead actor playing the hero was too annoying for most people to get into. Dragon Knight did nearly everything right, but lack of good promotions and hype really ruined their chances of going on to make new, better adaptions.

Bigdog said:

I would definitely be interested in these shows, as something needs to take the void of Nostalgia Critic.

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Bigdog, you humble me. I could NEVER fill the huge void that the legendary Nostalgia Critic left behind, but it pleases me to know some would get entertainment out of my humble little reviews. If I can find the right medium to present my Let Compare's, I might just get on that. Right now, they are just written reviews. But maybe one day, resources allowing, I might make video reviews.

SamuraiEchidna said:

Dragon Knight is a better show. It has a deeper, more adult plot.

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SamuraiEchidna said:

Dragon Knight did nearly everything right, but lack of good promotions and hype really ruined their chances of going on to make new, better adaptions.

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This may come as a surprise to you, but Masked Rider accomplished more in its 40 episodes than Dragon Knight did in its 40. KRDK has the surface appearance of being "Darker and Grittier", but it ends up being much more shallow, because the characters are even less defined than Masked Rider's. It also doesn't help that KRDK has a wonky sense of pacing, stretching 13 episodes' worth of story out across roughly 30 episodes, and then pulling the completely ridiculous move of bringing in the blank slate mirror doubles in the last 10ish - they effectively replace the main character, but not in a way that feels planned out at all. While Masked Rider may have been all downtime and goofy hijinks, KRDK needed more of that. The show has no status quo or idea of a second act at all. It goes direct from Act 1 to Act 3, giving neither the audience nor the characters a chance to breathe. And it has three clip shows. That's horrible by any TV standard.

The problem with KRDK was only partially that it wasn't hyped enough. The biggest problem was that it aspired to be a more "mature" take on the Ameritoku genre, and ended up creating a world that felt more artificial than MMPR - roughly on par with Samurai. Masked Rider wasn't the best, but it had network assistance and a good idea of what it was setting out to do. KRDK went off the rails before it even went to air.

Rider Jetfire said:

Just to clarify, this isn't really about how the two shows were adapted (Although it will be covered in some fashion) It's more about comparing and contrasting KRDK and Saban's Masked Rider in terms of quality/ entertainment value.

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Yeah, I thought that it was made very clear. :thumbs:

I think that Dragon Knight had a very good thing going because it set up itself in a way that allowed it to use a large amount of stock footage while making the story its own while Masked Rider was trying to incorporate some very weird things into the story then go with the barrage of stock footage.

Dragon Knight had its original fight scenes mixed into the stock footage very well, and it did not completely rely on the stock footage to save the show.

Masked Rider had a very weak and generic story with very weak characters, so it relied on the stock footage which the kids would enjoy more and it did not try to do anything else with it. Bringing the other Riders and getting their names wrong was overkill.