I get sick of hearing people bitch about how "un-Ishinomori-like" some of the new Rider shows are, especially when most of those shows have a lot more to offer than a lot of those older series' that people are so stuck up about. Change in itself is not a negative quality; as happy as you may be with the formula, almost every single one of the pre-80's Rider shows were almost exactly the same. Why see the same thing over and over again when you can get some fresh ideas?
See, I've never gotten that thing about them all being the same. I'll admit V3 plays closely by the original series book early on, but when you consider what it was going to be originally (episodes #99, 100, and so on) that sorta makes sense. And even then, there's still a load of differences. After that it gets even more diverse- in fact I'd say V3 has more in common with Hibiki than it does with Stronger, because at least two of those shows are about the good guys being centralized and having a support network for dealing with the bad guys, whereas the other one is the heroes taking the ultimate roadtrip. Maybe I'm looking at it the wrong way, but that's how I look at it.
There's stylistic similarties, but the new shows have those going on as well. I mean okay, there's *lot* of scientists getting kidnapped between 1971 and 1975. But the new shows are basically doing the same things in their own way- how many times has the monster of the week's motivation been "kill people?" (This isn't a critique on them, I'm just citing a very broad generalization, because there's a lot of variables I'm overlooking, I know.) There's similar themes, but I think Kamen Rider should have some themes that run throughout the different series. I think I've gone off on a long-ass rant about that before- lonliness, isolation, inhumanity, rising above you situation. Stuff like that, I see it in the old shows and in the new ones.
The old shows are sticking with a formula, but it's basically the exact same formula of the new shows, and a lot of other Toku (heroes fight monsters and save people.) Despite all this there
is still a lot of diversity among the old shows. Maybe it's more subtle, maybe the viewer has to work more to find it. All I know is, I've watched the 70's Riders over more times than I have the later ones, and it never feels like the exact same thing, even if the basic premise is similar. There's always a twist, there's always something that keeps it fresh. It does feel like part of the same overarching franchise, but I get that watching the new stuff too.
I get what you're trying to say. I agree that there's a lot of needless complaining, to the point that it's gotten ridiculous. Change is good, but I'm just saying Kamen Rider's always been changing anyway. Every series feels like something different and exciting, at least to me.