Worst Heisei KR series

[JettoJaguar]

I would say Hibiki, because it was really hard for me to finish, the story line became so lame i didnt care anymore... but the concept of the show is aweosme and i love the oni riders, so i'll have to say Kiva. I dont hate Kiva, i really enjoyed it, but the other 9 series are way better.

 

[big_j_ny]

Storyline wise.......Decade is the worst with Kabuto coming in second

Overall worst preference.........meh, Den-O

 

[FreedomR8G6B1]

The Friendly Neighborhood, Watermeleon Bubblegum flavored, Pink, Jesus-Allegory, Kamen Rider from the Outer Limits of the Twlight Zone.:sly:

 

[Lynxara]

After a bit of thought on this I went with Blade.*

All of the other Rider shows I feel were laudable either for doing something original with the show's production or coming up with a novel KR premise or design. A lot of the shows that don't so much work as Rider shows (Hibiki, Den-O) still weren't bad tokusatsu ideas at all. Actually, they were kind of brilliant, if executed unevenly.

Blade was a case of a syndrome I like to call All The Popular Elements. At the time Blade was made, Rider had been so many different thing that the fandom was getting fractious. Toei made the enormous mistake of trying to make a show that would somehow please all Rider fans by containing everything anyone had liked in Rider to date.

They wanted to please the Showa fans by giving them a purely superheroic character again in Kenzaki. They wanted to please Kuuga fans by having a mysterious plot with a big twist at the end. They wanted to please Agito fans by playing up the conflict between Blade and Garren against a procedural backdrop. They wanted to please the Ryuki fans by having morally ambiguous Riders and a card-based power system. They wanted to please the Faiz fans by telling a story driven by interpersonal conflict, complete with a sympathetic monster character or two (eventually).

Whenever you make a show in a fashion this calculated and formulaic, it ends up not working. It doesn't work because it's not really about anything-- you work in all the formula beats, suddenly there's no room for developed themes beyond what's been borrowed. There's nothing surprising or original your idea can suggest, because your entire point was to make something containing no originality whatsoever.

What I've observed over the years is that the shows that usually turn into big successes (or at least spectacular failures) are ones that are somehow personal to the creators. Because they're personal, there's a sense of the crew working extra-hard to make something good, something lasting. Because they're personal, these shows often end up reflecting the unique style and personality of the individuals who created it.

I never felt any sense of purpose in Blade, and while I did watch it a long time ago (and so mix up some bits of the plot) I watched more of it than I care to think about in retrospect. Blade to me felt like the year Toei took off while they trying to find creators with some big ideas they could use next time. This feeling was confirmed when I saw Hibiki announced....

* I'm sorry, Blade Dancer! We're still cool! I figure you defend the show here so often and so well, it can take a few lumps from me.

 

[Milky Rose]

I'd say the worst overall is Kabuto.

Sure...it carried the concept of Clock up (not seen since Faiz)...and we had a main protagonist that people loved. Tendou Souji was a usually-unflappable man who did have a human side, after all.

However, One of the big issues I had was the mishandling of Tokuyama's char -- Yaguruma. He started off as a "for the team" leader whose actions started to contradict his ideals...then he fell off the map. He later resurfaces as a dark-emo type, who then devolves into the comic relief char after Kagami and Tsurugi (the first Comic relief chars) evolved and matured as the series progressed.

The whole Dark Kabuto idea was pointless, and a waste of the remaining eps that could have been used to resolve certain elements -- like the roots of the Hopper Zecters.

Which brings me to another point: At the time of the Hopper Zecters' arrival, we already had a glut of Zecters scurrying about. WTF were they thinking of including MORE zecters, while TheBee and Drake zipped about under the radar???

Don't get me started with Negishi. It's as if the writers threw him in upon realizing "OMG!!! WE DON'T HAVE A FINAL BOSS FOR KABUTO!!!"

Now...I did enjoy Kabuto, because of the premise of "Clock Up"....which unfortunately was sacrificed for Tendou transforming into Hyper Kabuto and blasting the worm till kingdom come with the Perfect Zecter.

 

[Oedipus 3000]

Kabuto for all of it's eating, goofy antics, plot holes, clumsy explanations for said plot-hole and a complete waste of a good show.

Ryuki could also be here just because of how absolutely shitty the second half was.

 

[Igadevil]

It's hard. Kuuga's a great show, but that also has the only two episodes of Kamen Rider that I could honestly say I hate nearly every single second of. But that's two out of nearly 50, and the next two following those are some of my favorites in the series (the episodes I don't like, BTW, are #25 & 26.)

Den-O has my pick for Kamen Rider's worst cliffhanger ever, but that's one moment in one episode written by a sub-writer. I can't fault the whole show for that. Cuz otherwise, it's an okay show that actually got even better as it went along.

Faiz and Kabuto would be my least-favorite of the Heisei era and Kamen Rider in general, but there's still lots of good in them both. There are things in both that drive me up the wall, but they saddle it with just enough of the good stuff.

 

[Khaiden]

I can't find the option ''All of them'', can you help me?

[hide]:loltongue:[/hide]

 

[hyper_zeronos]

The last time I checked we're still in the Heisei era so Double counts as a Heisei series. :ding: Although I personally vote for Faiz as the most boring out of the series I've watched. Storywise, it's okay but I just don't like the SMART BRAIN concept.

 

[Aoi Kurenai]

Faiz and Kabuto for me, especially Kabuto since I thought those first 7 or 8 episodes were some of my favorite Kamen Rider episodes ever and it was a decent series up until Kagami became Gatack.

lol :laugh: And even the series was nowhere near as gloomy as the tie-in novel. Rapes and murders right, left and centre!

Overblown story that isn't true.