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NeonZ

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,372
Are the Build movies worth a watch? I've watched the series twice but I've never seen any of the movies.
The ones that take place during the show are pretty good. Heisei Generations Final happens fairly early though, so there are some oddities with Banjo's characterization, and it's also a crossover with Ex-Aid, OOO, Fourze and Gaim, heavily spoiling the endings of Ex-Aid, OOO and Gaim. The solo Build movie is pretty much a conclusion for the daddy issues arc, and that part it does well, although the villains themselves are oddly downplayed
they're hyped up as other members of Evolt's race, but then it's revealed none of them have drivers and so they need an insanely convoluted plan just for one of them to get close to Evolt's level, while two others are stuck as Smashs. The whole plot would have worked much better if they all were Riders. They could just have reused Evolt's suit and gave it new helmets for each one).

The post-series movies are more controversial. I wasn't fond of the Cross-Z one and what it does with Build's ending (Heisei Generations Forever, which is more of a Zi-O movie featuring Build's characters feels like a better follow up to Build's finale), but the Grease one (which actually heavily features the entire cast) was a good conclusion coming from Cross-Z's set up.
 

Slayven

Never read a comic in his life
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
93,043
Build has the best team dynamic in modern rider series. Most secondary riders have just enough story to keep them in the show. In Build everybody could have been the main guy with the shit going on in their lives.
 

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,124
I've never seen any of the Rider movies. Non-serial movies are kind of a mixed bag in these Japanese media franchises.

EDIT: Oh, I saw Episode Final from Ryuki. So uh... I guess I did see one.
 
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Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,124
Just got up through episode 13 of Hugtto. Jumping right into another show after binging Build was maybe not the best idea, but I'm having a pretty good time. The first 10ish episodes are pretty standard PreCure fare, but it definitely starts to take an interesting turn from there. They're humanizing the villains more than any PreCure season I've watched up to this point - which uh, makes sense, as they're humans this time around. And Hana gets a lot of good character development and engaging story compared to the typical genki pink PreCure lead... from my small sample size, anyway lol

...still not totally on board with the magical baby though.
 

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
Best movie is Farewell, Den-O (the "last" one with Takeru Sato) because of a masterfully shot and emotional single shot fight scene.
 

Valkerion

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,229
Finished Zi-O. Pretty decent imo. The trinity form is pure silly design wise, but it was fine. Stuff felt like it was happening at a decent pace as well but it got hard to follow since I wasn't familiar with all the cameos/powers. Shoutouts to Tsukiyomi's actress though, she was running fast as hell in those heels in so many episodes. Anyway, I enjoyed a lot of it, was fun to see riders from shows I haven't watched (yet.)

Have not decided on what to watch next. I might do Sabre just because I looked at the cast and seems good in that regard. Maybe Decade for the memes. Every time I tell my friends I've been watching Kamen Rider someone screams D-D-D-DECADE! lol
 

Delio

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,464
Just got up through episode 13 of Hugtto. Jumping right into another show after binging Build was maybe not the best idea, but I'm having a pretty good time. The first 10ish episodes are pretty standard PreCure fare, but it definitely starts to take an interesting turn from there. They're humanizing the villains more than any PreCure season I've watched up to this point - which uh, makes sense, as they're humans this time around. And Hana gets a lot of good character development and engaging story compared to the typical genki pink PreCure lead... from my small sample size, anyway lol

...still not totally on board with the magical baby though.

Man I LOVE Hugtto. Sits up there with Fresh and Princess Precure as one of my favorites especially with the conventions it breaks. I hope you enjoy it later on once it really gets going.
 

TheAggroCraig

One Winged Slayer
Member
Nov 6, 2017
5,908
Finished Zi-O. Pretty decent imo. The trinity form is pure silly design wise, but it was fine. Stuff felt like it was happening at a decent pace as well but it got hard to follow since I wasn't familiar with all the cameos/powers. Shoutouts to Tsukiyomi's actress though, she was running fast as hell in those heels in so many episodes. Anyway, I enjoyed a lot of it, was fun to see riders from shows I haven't watched (yet.)

Have not decided on what to watch next. I might do Sabre just because I looked at the cast and seems good in that regard. Maybe Decade for the memes. Every time I tell my friends I've been watching Kamen Rider someone screams D-D-D-DECADE! lol

Decade is a bit of a mess, but it's still fun and a pretty easy watch at only 31 episodes or whatever.
 
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DioMuller

DioMuller

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,468
Brazil
Saber 46

Saber doesn't really know what to do with this whole "Destiny is predetermined" thing. It flip-flopped on that a couple times already. I know it's villain-speak, but man, change it a bit!

Can't believe that the series that tried to be Ex-Aid for most of it's run now is trying to do Build's finale.
 

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,124
Man I LOVE Hugtto. Sits up there with Fresh and Princess Precure as one of my favorites especially with the conventions it breaks. I hope you enjoy it later on once it really gets going.
Just got through episode 22. I binged a bunch today unexpectedly.

The story arc with Ruru and Emiru hit me like a truck. Some really solid character development, I got particularly choked up when Ruru jumped in front of Hana to save her from the beam of dark energy and when they argue over which one should get to be the PreCure. I'm a huge sucker for "robot discovers their own humanity" storylines, but also how the other Cures accept her contrasted with how the villains treat her like a tool... damn. Not to mention her friendship with Emiru is so endearing and heartwarming, the way they support each other and Ruru standing up to Emiru's dickhead brother. Really excellent stuff. Topping it off with them getting guitars for their Cure forms was perfect.

Also really enjoying the exploration of genderqueer themes. It's definitely clicking why this season is considered one of the best in the franchise. Curious where this goes from here.
 
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DioMuller

DioMuller

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,468
Brazil
Zenkaiger 23

Another *fantastic* episode. Zenkai has the pacing of Ex-Aid, but with the humor of Carranger, it's amazing.

Also, that was... a weird way to do Gege. I wonder if they'll recast the VA soon, because he seems pretty important for the plot.
 

chaobreaker

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,541
The Japan Action Club (ジャパンアクションクラブ, Japan Akushon Kurabu) was founded in 1970 by actor Sonny Chiba (the late father of Drive-star Mackenyu), who wanted bring elite stunting to the Japanese entertainment industry. He set up offices in Roppongi with an initial capital of 1.5 million yen. Amongst the first stuntmen to complete training were Jyunichi Haruta, Kenji Ohba and Osamu Kaneda, who would later gain popularity in Japan.

In 1991, Chiba sold the agency to DAISHINTO Inc, who integrated the action club with their own entertainment branch.

I didn't know Sonny Chiba basically founded the organization that eventually became Japan Action Enterprise.

He also was involved in a lot of toku shows early in his career.

RIP
 

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,124
I'm only a few episodes into Ex-Aid so I'll have more thoughts later but between this and Build, I really missed out on some high quality Rider taking a break from the series after Drive, huh?

I genuinely love how tacky the suits are this season. It's kitsch in the truest sense of the word.
 

NeonZ

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,372
The suits are the one bit about Ex-Aid I never could get used to. I dislike the spandex with those lines mimicking shorts and dislike the overall head designs of most suits. I still enjoyed the show though and like some of the later designs.

Also, In Ex-Aid's case, you really need to watch the Another Ending trilogy after the tv show. It really feels like the show's final arc left out story content just for that (well, at least the 2nd and 3rd movies, the first one is rather unnecessary).
 
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MHWilliams

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,473
I'm only a few episodes into Ex-Aid so I'll have more thoughts later but between this and Build, I really missed out on some high quality Rider taking a break from the series after Drive, huh?

I genuinely love how tacky the suits are this season. It's kitsch in the truest sense of the word.
I utterly hate the suits, similar to most of Fourze's looks outside of the base suit. But the story and characters carry it, also similar to Fourze.
 

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,124
You guys are just jealous of this drip:

VyXFwht.png
 

chaobreaker

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,541
Saber 47

That ending has some NGE vibes which is a plus in my book. Despite being all "main protag is the chosen one" plot device, Saber did a good job giving all of the main cast their time to shine in this final arc. Gotta give props to that.

All in all, I would say Saber is a decent rider show that stumbles in the beginning but has some of the best directed episodes in the franchise. I bet a decade from now you couldn't tell it was filmed in its entirety during the height of the pandemic.
 

NeonZ

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 28, 2017
9,372
I really wonder what happened behind the scenes in Saber.


sen_big said:
It almost looks like you are the main script writer, but you were considered sub-writer. Thank you for your hard work.
Hasegawa said:
There are no main or sub writers, it's a story that we created together.
sen_big said:
The official site mentions the main/sub split though, and I was wondering why Takuro Fukuda stopped writing the script halfway through. That being said, I've enjoyed watching your work, thank you very much!
Hasegawa said:
It's like baseball with everyone together. Even if one person is missing. It was an honor to be on the mound for the ending.

It's bizarre because they refused to officially change the main writer even though Fukuda clearly wasn't around for the ending.
 

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
Honestly the last three episodes of Saber or so were amazing...easily one of the best Rider finales I can think of.
 

Vareon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,816
Saber is far from being the best Rider but it is one tale of the team working so hard to salvage a wreck from the beginning. I really liked it in the end.
 

chaobreaker

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,541
To put it another way: I can't remember a series that had the main rider do the final blow against the final villain with both the secondary and the tertiary rider.

On the top of my head, in preceding series 01, Zi-O, Build and Ex-Aid it was just the main hero in the climatic final battle.
 
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Vareon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,816
Yea we don't have a lot of them, do we? The Riders usually got whittled down on the final Arc, it's rare that we see an all-out war with all 10 Riders against a common enemy in a series.
 

GalaxyDive

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,659
Saber's beginning was such a mess but I hear good things about the endgame and a few other points of the series. They should probably just give Hasegawa a chance with his own series.
 

ahdurian

Member
Oct 25, 2017
928
To put it another way: I can't remember a series that had the main rider do the final blow against the final villain with both the secondary and the tertiary rider.

On the top of my head, in preceding series 01, Zi-O, Build and Ex-Aid it was just the main hero in the climatic final battle.

not the final blow, since it was done by main Rider, but in terms of the full battle
all of the main riders in Ex-Aid (including Genm) were there for the final battle, which is also great since they used the night scene from the OP to start the battle.
 

Kard8p3

Member
Oct 25, 2017
7,269
Decided to start go-busters recently after having some people tell me the main villain is the 2nd best villain next to Long. So far it's been pretty good but I'm only like 6 episodes in.
 

KingWillance

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,376
Zenkaiger episode 24 was exactly the kind of pure, undiluted joy I needed on a really grumpy Monday. This season has been a gift.
 

chaobreaker

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,541
not the final blow, since it was done by main Rider, but in terms of the full battle
all of the main riders in Ex-Aid (including Genm) were there for the final battle, which is also great since they used the night scene from the OP to start the battle.

I believe that was just the penultimate fight. a stronger Cronus comes back for another round against just Ex-Aid on the next episode.
 

Mekanos

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Oct 17, 2018
44,124
Finished both Hugtto PreCure and Kamen Rider Ex-Aid today. That's the second time I finished a PreCure and Rider show the same day, and the second time I binged a Rider in four days. Welp.

Hugtto PreCure is great and has earned its reputation for sure despite my initial skepticism. Though I wish the final battle had a bit more of a knock out drag down fight, it was extremely potent on a thematic level. I'd say overall I think I liked Star Twinkle and HeartCatch a tiny bit more, but all three are quality shows you can't go wrong with in my book. And Hana is a great protagonist with a satisfying full arc. I'm still not too hot on the Cure designs overall this show, the only ones I really liked in particular were Yell and Ange, so I guess I gotta take points off for that. But the visuals and animation overall were definitely topnotch.

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid seemed oddly timely to watch with the COVID-19 pandemic and I couldn't help but think about it while watching it, for better or worse. But it's a great setup and mashing together a medical drama with video game weirdness worked surprisingly well. I loved the suits and overall theme for sure, and once it gets going they really roll along with a lot of twists and turns. I'd say overall though I felt the final arc (last 15 episodes or so) had a few issues; namely the final villain wasn't really particularly satisfying (granted, it's hard to not draw comparison to Build's, who was easily my favorite Rider villain ever) and I thought Brave had a really convoluted and out of character subplot in that last chunk (if you know, you know). There was also the teeniest bit of a sense of "wait, who's with who?" with characters kinda flip flopping alliances here and there, but that's a more minor complaint. Great show overall, despite a somewhat abrupt ending (which might make me check out the movies). I'd rank it third on my Rider list (short as it may be) after Build and Gaim.

For now I'm gonna take a little break from Cure and Rider after alternating them for a good two months. Time to watch the last main Digimon show I've never seen, Digimon Frontier. (Digimon is toku... kinda... right? Right?)

I'll still watch whatever wins my poll for my next Rider show, whenever I decide to pick up Rider again. Hopefully not before long!

PS: Dan Kuroto is an incredibly huge bastard man and we love him for it.

WylsEWL.gif
 
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jwk94

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,420
So how was Saber? More specifically, how were the fights? I saw a few gifs here and there and it looked great.
 

Injustice45

Member
Oct 29, 2017
357
So how was Saber? More specifically, how were the fights? I saw a few gifs here and there and it looked great.
Saber, in my opinion, was decent. The show had some odd pacing choices early on. I think the show reaches its stride around the time when Yuri appears. The fights were pretty good throughout, with nice choreography and direction, especially when they eased up on the green screen. The last three episodes had some of the best fights by far.
 

jwk94

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,420
Saber, in my opinion, was decent. The show had some odd pacing choices early on. I think the show reaches its stride around the time when Yuri appears. The fights were pretty good throughout, with nice choreography and direction, especially when they eased up on the green screen. The last three episodes had some of the best fights by far.
That doesn't sound bad! I'll have to give it a watch. Thanks!
 
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DioMuller

DioMuller

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,468
Brazil
Ultraman Trigger 05

Good episode. Fights weren't as great, but the character scenes were pretty good.

Saber 47

Prove that a very good finale may, after all, save a series. A bit cliche? Yeah. But man, they stuck the landing, after failing so much in so many things.

Good emotion, great ending, good fights.

Normally I'd do a review of the series now, but I'll wait next week's special to do that.
 

Murasaki

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,726
The Deep North
So how was Saber? More specifically, how were the fights? I saw a few gifs here and there and it looked great.

Saved by its characters and their actors' commitment to their roles.
Some inventive fight choreography, atypical locations and - with a few exceptions - excellent sound design.
The cast (mostly) deserved better than the scripts they were given.
 

Valkerion

Member
Oct 29, 2017
7,229
Watched the first 10 episodes of Saber. I'm into the concept so far but its really all over the place. Lots of characters and almost no introductions. Like the princess lady or whatever? they just say her name to introduce her and give no info as of yet to what her role is. Not to mention Touma is incredibly hard to grasp as a character. A novelist who is kinda carefree I just wanna read and make kids happy, then will snap into "I MUST SAVE PEOPLE, ITS MY SACRED DUTY!" ... like where the hell did that come from dude...

Glad the all CG poorly scaled backgrounds were quickly ditched as well. Also the green rider whos name I don't remember's, face must hurt after every scene with all that smiling they are making him do for his archetype. And I love that there is/are older riders who have kids and stuff.
 

Birdie

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
26,289
Buster and Slash should've got to do more.

I really liked how they let Durandal have fun in the Zenkaiger crossover.
 

mrmoose

Member
Nov 13, 2017
21,175
Watched the first 10 episodes of Saber. I'm into the concept so far but its really all over the place. Lots of characters and almost no introductions. Like the princess lady or whatever? they just say her name to introduce her and give no info as of yet to what her role is. Not to mention Touma is incredibly hard to grasp as a character. A novelist who is kinda carefree I just wanna read and make kids happy, then will snap into "I MUST SAVE PEOPLE, ITS MY SACRED DUTY!" ... like where the hell did that come from dude...

Glad the all CG poorly scaled backgrounds were quickly ditched as well. Also the green rider whos name I don't remember's, face must hurt after every scene with all that smiling they are making him do for his archetype. And I love that there is/are older riders who have kids and stuff.

Yeah, as mentioned earlier early Saber is a mess in pacing/storytelling. I agree that when Yuri comes in it gets a little better but still the whole setup of the Sword of Logos just doesn't make any sense at all, nor does the motivations of the villains until really near the end. But yeah it gets better and I still think it was a brilliant idea to have all the riders use swords of some kind (for the fights as well as the toys)
 
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DioMuller

DioMuller

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,468
Brazil
Zenkai 24

What a fantastic, fun episode. That's how you do filler!

Yodonna Special 01

That's... incredible. How did the series about dumbasses and their friendly crystals become... this?

Lots of fanservice, so this may be good or bad for some. The fights, however? Those are great for everybody, for sure.
 
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chaobreaker

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,541
If anyone's wondering why Travis is referencing a Rider series that aired 2 years ago: Wikipedia says No More Heroes 3's development started right after Travis Strikes Again was released in early 2019. They most likely did all the voice work while Zi-O was still airing on TV.
 

jwk94

Member
Oct 25, 2017
13,420
If anyone's wondering why Travis is referencing a Rider series that aired 2 years after the release of the game: Wikipedia says No More Heroes 3's development started right after Travis Strikes Again's development ended and shipped out in early 2019. They most likely did all the voice work while Zi-O was still airing on TV.
Any idea why the subs censor kamen rider, but the voice over doesn't?