Rate this season: Kamen Rider V3
- Thread starter Lustful Butchery
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Igadevil
Mr. Kamen Rider
Riderman works for me largely because of Yamaguchi's performance. Spirits, aside, he like never works in the comics because nobody really "gets" him. See the atrocious handling of Riderman in the Sugaya V3 comic for proof of that. What I mean is, I think the character on paper's mostly just, as said, the original anti-hero Rider. He's alright. But Yamaguchi makes him something more.
He's always good in anything I've seen him in (even the incredibly painful second half of Zaboger) but as Yuuki he's especially excellent. He puts a lot of sympathy into the character, beyond what's there in the script. Especially in the last few episodes, where things have settled down between them.
I actually would go so far to say I'm on his side at some points, and it's Kazami who comes off as a real bastard! That takes some skill. This is why I love the character so much. Gray-area Riders are a dime a dozen now, but Riderman's one of the few where I can simultaneously root for him and V3, and yet also see that both have faults in their views. It's never simply a "kick his ass!" kind of thing, even when they're fighting. I don't want either to lose. Only a couple other Rider combos really manage that, the Agito crew being one.
I think his motivation is great. He's basically been betrayed by the people he considered his friends (and father-figure in the Leader.) He's got to work with a guy he's been told is pretty much opposed to everything Destron stands for. He's not aware of the full extent of their evil until the end.
He becomes more and more aware along the way, but he's always making up excuses, always going into denial, always trying to justify Destron, while at the same time fighting against them. It's easy to write it off as Yuuki being a big hypocritical jerk there, but I think there's more to it than that. There's a connection between losing his arm and losing what he had in Destron, and how he comes to terms with both and turns them into what makes him a hero.
I also think that while V3 is maybe the best showcase of Riderman, later appearances do an even better job at showing how great *Yuuki* can be (especially his V3-less appearance with Skyrider.) He's a character who's often helped by his later cameos. That said, I think he's great in V3.
As for the costume, I never minded it. Actually, I'm gonna say I really like it, because it's so different, yet still looks like the others that came before it. It's literally a bunch of guys trying to simulate what a Rider looks like. Nowadaways that would be something more like G3, which is cool in its own way, but I love the Riderman origin.
So all I'm saying is, he's one character who's worth a reevaluation.
He's always good in anything I've seen him in (even the incredibly painful second half of Zaboger) but as Yuuki he's especially excellent. He puts a lot of sympathy into the character, beyond what's there in the script. Especially in the last few episodes, where things have settled down between them.
I actually would go so far to say I'm on his side at some points, and it's Kazami who comes off as a real bastard! That takes some skill. This is why I love the character so much. Gray-area Riders are a dime a dozen now, but Riderman's one of the few where I can simultaneously root for him and V3, and yet also see that both have faults in their views. It's never simply a "kick his ass!" kind of thing, even when they're fighting. I don't want either to lose. Only a couple other Rider combos really manage that, the Agito crew being one.
I think his motivation is great. He's basically been betrayed by the people he considered his friends (and father-figure in the Leader.) He's got to work with a guy he's been told is pretty much opposed to everything Destron stands for. He's not aware of the full extent of their evil until the end.
He becomes more and more aware along the way, but he's always making up excuses, always going into denial, always trying to justify Destron, while at the same time fighting against them. It's easy to write it off as Yuuki being a big hypocritical jerk there, but I think there's more to it than that. There's a connection between losing his arm and losing what he had in Destron, and how he comes to terms with both and turns them into what makes him a hero.
I also think that while V3 is maybe the best showcase of Riderman, later appearances do an even better job at showing how great *Yuuki* can be (especially his V3-less appearance with Skyrider.) He's a character who's often helped by his later cameos. That said, I think he's great in V3.
As for the costume, I never minded it. Actually, I'm gonna say I really like it, because it's so different, yet still looks like the others that came before it. It's literally a bunch of guys trying to simulate what a Rider looks like. Nowadaways that would be something more like G3, which is cool in its own way, but I love the Riderman origin.
So all I'm saying is, he's one character who's worth a reevaluation.
Chronotia Archzenom
Member
Even if I did not see the series, still I consider it an EPIC WIN!
Bolt
boogie woogie feng shui
This is an excellent point and one I didn't consider until you brought it up. There were times when I actually felt like Shiro was being a jerk and couldn't help but feel sympathetic for Yuuki, misguided as he was. I think the biggest flaw was that they brought him in literally in the last, what, twelve episodes of the show? Instead of introducing him in the first twelve like a Heisei show would, and thus giving him extra time to develop and play a bigger role in the story, they brought him in seemingly as an afterthought and then dumped him, much like any of the Destron leaders that came and went without a second though.
But I still don't like the costume.
Way too much black spandex and not enough anything else. He looks kind of like a cross between Evel Knievel and Havok from X-Men and the way his helmet doesn't have a mouthpiece always made his head look like a giant mushroom. Gotta love the arm, though!
Igadevil
Mr. Kamen Rider
Bolt said:
Very true. I think his late intro is partly due to V3's crazy direction. I mean look at Sakuma, the Not-Taki. He's got a purpose, but it's over as soon as it starts and then he's hanging around for a few episodes before disappearing. The show's always sort of looking for something new to try. This makes it look less cohesive than the others, but like I said, I don't oddly mind that as much now.
The other reason: I really think it's better if you hold off on guest heroes/secondary heroes until the main guy has had some time to establish himself. V3's a special case because it has the Double Riders right there are the beginning, but they're gone by #2 and don't turn up again for ages. It wisely makes the majority of the show about V3, and then Riderman is just for the last quarter. Not to knock Kikaida 01, but it does the complete opposite, throwing in Jiro at episode #3 and then he never goes away! Not until long after he's saved 01 so much, you wonder why the show is named after who it is.
I agree Riderman could have appeared earlier on, because he's got enough story and character to support being around longer. But there's at least two things about his placement at the end that I really like:
1) He comes after the Double Riders return, and thus never meets them in the series. I like this for some reason. They're almost in a different world than he is, until they cross in a later show, but his character and motivations are defined more by V3 specifically, than the Riders in general.
2) By that point, Kazami's so fed up with Destron and so close to the end, throwing Riderman in as this late twist just works for me. He's suddenly having to face someone who isn't evil, but comes from a group which he's spent the rest of the series fighting and knows is badder than bad. You could set this up earlier, but I think the placement of it near the end works better in a dramatic sense. I've often seen it wondered if Yuuki had appeared earlier, not becoming Riderman until the end. That would have been interesting.
Riderman probably didn't get all the development he could, but on the other hand, at least he got to come back later. Look at poor Tackle. She's good, but she doesn't get her defining moments until her last episode. I think some secondary Riders benefit from showing up early, and some don't.
The newer shows strike a pretty good balance sometimes (Agito, and I like Blade's handling most of the time.) My problem is with say, characters like Ibuki and TheBee. They turn up early and they're great, but then they're around so long the writers get tired of them and make them get weak in the knees, or just become part of the bigass final sword. I think if you're gonna introduce a secondary Rider early on, it helps to put some gaps in their appearances. Use them sparingly, or keep them away from the main hero (this is what I love about Gills.) Riderman could have been done like this, I agree, but I like what we've got.
And I'm never going to understand the deal with the helmet needing a mouthpiece.
I wouldn't want any other Rider to do it, but since he's Riderman and it's just him, I like it there. It's funny how many rough sketches of other Riders did it though, all the way up to the pre-Kuuga days. Ishinomori liked that look.Personally, I've always felt it's more important that a Rider's mask simply looks non-human, rather than be based on an insect or whatever (this is why Ryuki/Hibiki/etc. work for me.) They shouldn't have noses or regular human mouths, but I like Riderman (and Tackle if you wanna count her) as the exception to the rule. And if people must have their covered mouth, he sorta does it for a while in Spirits with his scarf. :laugh:
Fair points all around though! Self-confessed Riderman-iac that I am, it's good to actually have an actual interesting and insightful discussion about him.
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