Which Kamen Rider Series Should I Start On?

[Smilodon]

I suggest starting with Agito. It's a great series and it's subbed as well.

Indeed, Kuuga subs are quite rare. And if you dont understand japanese, then you're missing out. You dont have the Grongi subbed, except in some of the early TV-Nihon ones, and then you dont even have the japanese subbed which is a double whammy.

Den-O did well I believe despite the comedy. The giant battles are a bit sentai-ish, but Time-Traveling theme was much better executed than Kiva's. I didnt like Yuuto though. I liked Hibiki, so seeing Kiriya kinda ticked me off after he became an Oni and Asumu didnt and then become Zeronos.

 

[Tokuboy]

Kuuga has the misfortune of lacking subs, though it's very good. Agito's very good, from what I've seen. Ryuki and Faiz are pretty solid, but you'll want to facepalm many times by Faiz's ending. Blade is also worth checking out.

As for Hibiki... it's quite good, but note the shift around episode 30. Kabuto has nice designs overall, but the plot's a bit thin. Den-O's the closest to a Sentai show you'd get in Rider. Kiva... imagine if Faiz were slightly less dramatic. Decade's fanservice for Rider fans, watch it after those above. Double... it's what got me hooked.

 

[Black Fang]

Start with Kuuga, Agito or Ryuki. Avoid Hibiki, Kabuto, Den-O and maybe Kiva too until you're more familiar with the franchise. Avoid Decade at all costs unless you have a masochistic streak or just really have nothing better to do.

 

[Lynxara]

You dont have the Grongi subbed, except in some of the early TV-Nihon ones, and then you dont even have the japanese subbed which is a double whammy.

You're not supposed to understand the Grongi scenes. There is absolutely nothing in them that is essential to the understanding of the story. If there was, then Grongi sequences would've been originally subtitled in Japanese. Instead, there were no "translations" of the Grongi sequences published until the Kuuga Complete Box.

 

[Tokuboy]

The Grongi are supposed to be unintellegible, right?

 

[Smilodon]

You're not supposed to understand the Grongi scenes. There is absolutely nothing in them that is essential to the understanding of the story. If there was, then Grongi sequences would've been originally subtitled in Japanese. Instead, there were no "translations" of the Grongi sequences published until the Kuuga Complete Box.

Yeah, its unessential. Although you have to wonder if it meant something....
And I thought it was necessary to say that " The monsters speak Grongi, but dont worry its not supposed to be subbed. It's to add dramatic effect "

 

[Lynxara]

Yeah, its unessential. Although you have to wonder if it meant something....

Grongi is apparently a phonetic substitution cipher based on Japanese. So they'd write lines in Japanese, cipher them into Grongi, then show the actors the original lines so they'd have some idea how to deliver them. Pretty neat idea, though I'm not surprised later shows didn't use it.

 

[Smilodon]

Grongi is apparently a phonetic substitution cipher based on Japanese. So they'd write lines in Japanese, cipher them into Grongi, then show the actors the original lines so they'd have some idea how to deliver them. Pretty neat idea, though I'm not surprised later shows didn't use it.

Thats nifty. Only in Kuuga could Toei make a fictional language that sounds cool.

 

[Oedipus 3000]

The first five seasons, from Kuuga to Blade were all pretty solid shows, each with something slightly different to offer the veiwer.

I'd suggest starting off with Kuuga, a fantastic intro to the series all the way up to Blade. Afterwards, watch the mishmash of ideas and quality of shows after Blade. I enjoyed most of the heisei seasons and the ones I didn't like, I still found things I found really well-done.

 

[Wing Saber]

I would start off with W since it's the most recent one. But if you want to take a crash course, then I suggest watching Decade. However I think that you should follow whatever plan you have in mind.