Rewatching Kuuga: What Kamen Rider has lost

For some reason, many fansubbing groups struggle to complete Kuuga for one reason or another. I personally wonder if there's a reason for it, or if it's just the universe telling us there's something about Kuuga that is too awesome for it to be subbed in this modern age of less-than-manly-men.

I haven't seen much of Kuuga, and admittedly what I have seen has captured my interest. However I look at a topic like this with a certain amount of wariness, as things like this tend to cause people to have a certain sense of nostalgia.

While I do want to see more of Kuuga, I am curious: thinking honestly, was the series that good, or are you looking through the rose-tinted nostalgia goggles?

Apologies for being rather blunt, and furthermore apologies to anyone who might be offended. I'm not saying the show is horrible or anything, I'm merely just...curious. Kuuga and Agito have a very strong and very passionate following, and in other things that arouse the same level of passion from their followers, some of them are invariably just looking back with nostalgia without being truly objective.

Again, no offense to anyone, I'm just curious.

I think from today's standpoint, Kuuga and Agito do invoke a certain nostalgia, as the story was quite a bit more simpler and more reminiscent of the Showa Riders. But when it first came out, Kuuga was considered a radical departure from the styles of the Showa riders. Kuuga didn't call out his attacks, he had multiple forms, the police were involved, he never fought an evil organization, and he wasn't a cyborg. The story was realistic, and in the sense that the people weren't all cartoony like today's characters.

Again, this is my opinion. You have to see Kuuga for yourself to see if its that good or not.

Smilodon said:

I think from today's standpoint, Kuuga and Agito do invoke a certain nostalgia, as the story was quite a bit more simpler and more reminiscent of the Showa Riders. But when it first came out, Kuuga was considered a radical departure from the styles of the Showa riders. Kuuga didn't call out his attacks, he had multiple forms, the police were involved, he never fought an evil organization, and he wasn't a cyborg. The story was realistic, and in the sense that the people weren't all cartoony like today's characters.

Again, this is my opinion. You have to see Kuuga for yourself to see if its that good or not.

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I can understand that. It's usually good to make things that are different from tradition at some point, especially if the gamble of a large departure from tradition pays off like it has with Kuuga. It makes me wonder what impact a sort of reverse-Kuuga would have currently. Going from the cartoony, back to the older, more serious, Showa fare that was around so long ago. How would it work? Would it be received and and revered in the future as Kuuga is now?

Smilodon said:

I think from today's standpoint, Kuuga and Agito do invoke a certain nostalgia, as the story was quite a bit more simpler and more reminiscent of the Showa Riders. But when it first came out, Kuuga was considered a radical departure from the styles of the Showa riders. Kuuga didn't call out his attacks, he had multiple forms, the police were involved, he never fought an evil organization, and he wasn't a cyborg. The story was realistic, and in the sense that the people weren't all cartoony like today's characters.

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Kuuga (as well as Ryuki) essentially took the formula of the Showa Riders and did a whole new spin on it. Granted all the Heisei shows do that to varying degrees, but these two really went all the way. There is a more "epic" (dare I speak that overused word) feel to it whenever you see Kuuga demonstrate a classic Rider characteristic. (Training for battle, the similarity between hero and villain, the hero's burden, etc.)

Kuuga has heart. It truly feels like you're watching a show about a hero. I frankly can't really say the same for OOO right now, which despite the interesting story feels more like it's just going through the motions of a hero show without any of the heart.

One thing that sticks to my mind, is the scene where Kuuga kills a Grongi in his Growing Form.
It is such a contrast to the newer shows, where a power-up is given if the enemy is too strong.
Godai basically went the other way around and took out the enemy in his weakest form. It took 3 Rider Kicks, but he did it!
It was a very powerful scene, and it showed that the powers of a Rider does not just come from the belt itself, but also from the person who wears it. The Growing Form battle was 90% Godai using his own strenght, and I loved every minute of it.

A lot of the credit also goes to Tominaga Kenji (Kuuga's suit actor)
I know most people here only talk about Takaiwa and Eitoku, but Tominaga will always be one of my personal favourites. He was THE Kuuga. He brought so much emotion into that suit, that you could easily picture the sweat and tears of Godai as he was struggling against a new threat.
It also gave more "personality" to Kuuga's powers, as you could clearly see what effect they had on him, and you could see how they were constantly growing. You knew that when those powers reached their highest point, it would be HUGE

Hercus3528 said:

MCS group has completed subbing kuuga.
You can get it here: http://midnightcrewsubs.blogspot.com/

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thanks for the link. :thumbs:

A lot of the credit also goes to Tominaga Kenji (Kuuga's suit actor)
I know most people here only talk about Takaiwa and Eitoku, but Tominaga will always be one of my personal favourites. He was THE Kuuga. He brought so much emotion into that suit, that you could easily picture the sweat and tears of Godai as he was struggling against a new threat.
It also gave more "personality" to Kuuga's powers, as you could clearly see what effect they had on him, and you could see how they were constantly growing. You knew that when those powers reached their highest point, it would be HUGE

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I think Takaiwa and Eitoku are very polished suit actors that have a knack for flair and cool poses. They are great suit actors, but when I see the emotion that Tominaga conveyed through Kuuga, I legitimately thought that it was Godai in that suit fighting. Granted, these days, Takaiwa and Eitoku have to convey are certain sense of wackyness that the main characters personalities are, and not just be serious. I love Tominaga though, especially the pain we could feel every single time Godai was overpowered, or impaled, or poisoned, we felt it.

I also heard somewhere that Tominaga was also more proficient at hand to hand fighting than Takaiwa. It was cool seeing him in Double again.

I'm 7 episodes into Kuuga. It really hasn't aged well.

I'm also finding myself wishing the cop that helps Yuuske was the show's rider more and more with each passing episode.

I hope it gets better. So far, it really isn't living up to its reputation.

Just wait when Titan Form debuts. This is when the show becomes more epic.

I don't know what to tell you since I think the first few are great and then it gets kind of uneven. :laugh: Try to stick with it though, you might like where it goes more than I do. Most people seem to.