I have to disagree. It's pointless to complain about being to kiddy for a kids show. And the death filled ritual certainly wasn't lighthearted. And the phantoms are actively trying to kill people compared to the last few years.
The Dragons Forms were never said to have an instant back lash. Dragon said that constantly using would drive Haruto closer to despair. Then Haruto says it should be fine if he keeps using it.
Have to disagree about Phoenix. I think he's been a great villain. 8 and 9 showed how brutal he was. It was also said that he killed a gate as well. There is nothing wrong with him being scared of Medusa since she seems to run things.
And we had a whole two arcs explaining what Koyomi is.
Kamen Rider has demonstrated its ability to be dark multiple times. Most of them were during the Showa era but there are good examples in the Heisei era as well. The ceremony isn't exactly dark even though it is literally. There's nothing that implies they're really trying to kill people, all we've been seeing is the birth of new Phantoms. Killing people is an awful motive for the big bad, it's obvious that there's something else we don't know.
That's the point. After 4 uses we have no idea what Dragon is talking about. Haruto's words don't mean anything compared to the Dragon that's giving him the power in the first place.
How is that a feat? That just proved my point. Beating the crap out of someone who is over 10 times weaker than you is nothing. It's great that he is sadistic but he'd have to demonstrate that sadism on Wizard in order for that to have any significance. Same applies to Phoenix killing a Gate before. He's just all talk and hasn't done crap. He has potential but his power level and accomplishments are nothing. Letting Medusa take control is incredibly cliched and kinda dumb if you think about it. That basically means Phoenix will be her ***** for a while, downplaying him even more.
Proving my point again, those arcs didn't explain anything
useful about her. We know what she
is but that's irrelevant if we don't know
why she's there. Even Haruto only knows that he has to protect her, but
why is the important question.