Oh god we're out of the shadows.
Uhhh... go buy the official Super Sentai and GARO releases on DVD & Blu-Ray. Good ways to get started.
Uhhh... go buy the official Super Sentai and GARO releases on DVD & Blu-Ray. Good ways to get started.
Congrats TokuERA, you're one of our next Community Spotlights!
Real talk: when the fuck is Hiroaki Iwanaga coming back to Rider? His role in the new Shaider is cool, but I need him a show again. Bring back Mayuko Arisue too.For people coming in from the spotlight who may be wondering what we're about
Alcohol, music, and dat gay shit
Aw man I hate when they incorporate movie concepts, especially when we won't see the movie for months.
Yes! Honestly, better designs than the heroes'.
The two guys with the gear suits, they're based on designs from the Heisei Generations Final villain.
They are a great design for the grunts.
Build 23
Aw man I hate when they incorporate movie concepts, especially when we won't see the movie for months.
THEY DID THE SAME JAZZ IN GHOST WITH THE NEWTON EYECON TOO
Its good they do this from time to time though it just confirmed how SUPER CANON the movies are.
O-T's work into properly localizing and highlighting all the absurd references and cultural stuff in Akibaranger is outstanding.
I HAVE NO WORDSSo, apparently, a Brazilian company is doing a Jaspion Remake. With Toei's approval.
Actually, the Newton eyecon flashbacks in early Ghost were referencing Drive's finale, not a movie.THEY DID THE SAME JAZZ IN GHOST WITH THE NEWTON EYECON TOO
Its good they do this from time to time though it just confirmed how SUPER CANON the movies are.
Makoto is the walking embodiment of wasted potential. I like how they decided to give him a V-cinema where he can be given some much needed focus and drama only to create an unfocused mess that has Alain involved, the tertiary characters faffing about in the background, Takeru trying to convert the most pointless character in the whole film (the villain's daughter?) and even Saionji inexplicably turning up to save Kanon's useless ass.
I hate Ghost. Not as much as Wizard, but god, I hate Ghost.
We do have regular explosions...
Your friend is right.I kind of took a hiatus from watching Kamen Rider after stopping around 30 episodes into Ghost.
A friend of mine keeps telling me to watch Ex-Aid and Build.
It is always the butler.
Sin Specter thouuuuugh Makoto got a bigger coat after all this time.
IT IS MY DUTY TO ALWAYS REMIND THE THREAD ABOUT GHOST THAT IS MY GOD GIVEN DUTY HUE HUE HUE
Makoto is the walking embodiment of wasted potential. I like how they decided to give him a V-cinema where he can be given some much needed focus and drama only to create an unfocused mess that has Alain involved, the tertiary characters faffing about in the background, Takeru trying to convert the most pointless character in the whole film (the villain's daughter?) and even Saionji inexplicably turning up to save Kanon's useless ass.
I hate Ghost. Not as much as Wizard, but god, I hate Ghost.
Ghost would have worked better as almost anything else. It is like they gave up writing after the first dozen epsGhost would have worked better if it was just Ghostbusters with more fisticuffs. Having to bust the ghosts of the Hero Eyecons to get them. Busting makes them feel good.
On another note, the new Reboot show is just VR Troopers. Bleh...
WAIT WE ARE IN THE SPOTLIGHT RIGHT NOW
QUICK, PULL OUR BEST GIFS
That's what we call a good friend.I kind of took a hiatus from watching Kamen Rider after stopping around 30 episodes into Ghost.
A friend of mine keeps telling me to watch Ex-Aid and Build.
...I must watch this.
Ghost is like the Final Fantasy XIII of Rider. And Takeru is our Lightning.
Kamen Rider Gaim-
The evolution of Micchy:
Episode 3 | Episode 28 | Episode 45
After watching the new Thunderbolt Fantasy movie, I was on an Urobuchi high and decided to watch Kamen Rider Gaim which I've seen people praise over the years. It's a 47 episode series that Urobuchi wrote back in 2013 and falls under the tokusatsu genre. The only tokusatsu thing I've seen in my life was the original Power Rangers back when I was a kid. So let's get this out of the way, it's not Urobuchi's best written show or best work. I wanted to state this because I've seen some rankings with this on the top. Now that said, Micchy has the most fleshed out character arc and development out of any of his shows. One of the criticisms I've seen of Urobuchi is that his characters are static and don't really develop over the course of a series, I should note I don't completely agree with this but can see where that criticism is somewhat founded, and so Micchy is the clearest example out of all of his shows where a character goes through clear changes. Micchy is by far the most interesting thing about the show and the character where Urobuchi's influence shines through the most. His character arc can be summed up by this classic tweet:
Micchy is vastly more interesting than the main character and some of the side characters because unlike the rest of the characters, besides ironically his brother, he ends up repeatedly compromising his beliefs. The show really has a deuteragonist format between Kouta Kazuraba and Kaito Kumon, but Kouta is the main character. Kouta and Micchy start out as close friends and that relationship quickly degrades. Unlike Micchy, Kouta constantly reaffirms his ideals despite the surrounding pressure in which logic would have dictated for Kouta to give up. In a sense, Micchy was too smart for his own good as Kouta ended up lucking out of a number of hard scenarios. Gaim actually reminds me a lot of Madoka Magica in how the show is set up and concluded. Kouta has very clear comparisons to Madoka besides the obvious onein which they both become gods and end up leaving their friends behind to go to a different dimension/world.
The other lead, Kaito Kumon, is probably the most un-Urobuchi like character out of any his shows. The closest I can think of Bones of Creation in Thunderbolt Fantasy. Kaito is obsessed with power and repeatedly repeatedly says how he wants to rule from the top and purge the world of weaklings. He only respects you if you can demonstrate some form of strength to him. I don't know if this was due to the writing or the acting, probably both, but I found Kaito completely unsufferable. His actor dramatized every single line and when half the lines coming out of your character's mouth has to do with power/strength/victory, that shit gets old really fast. The most intriguing part about Kaito was his background as he watched Yggdrasil, an evil corporation ala Shinra, take over and wipe out his town. He's a character the world left behind and what he learned from that was the victor writes the rule. I like his character in concept as he presents a striking contrast to Kouta, who is concerned not only about how to use his powers but also helping others. This leads into a bigger problem I have with the show, mainly the acting. I understand it's Japanese television and so not only are the actors not of the highest caliber but Japanese acting is different from Western acting which emphasizes naturalism. I understand that but I still can't get over some of the line delivery that comes across as extremely stilted and fake. Since I finished the show I've read reviews and seen the acting being praised in particular so maybe this is just how Japanese television is and I'm not used to it. When I earlier stated this wasn't Urobuchi's best work, it's due to the production values and acting. It's not that either are bad but they can be frequently immersion breaking unlike a number of his other shows which are more consistent across the board.
In regards to the production values, the show sometimes had really excellent camera work in fights during which the characters would be well framed and the camera would follow both along as they ran in parallel. It used that trick a number of times and every time it looked outstanding. There were also episodes such as episode 28 that expertly utilized shadows for dramatic effect. Overall the fight choreography wasn't particularly noteworthy or impressive except the final battle between Kouta and Kaito in which the show went all out and there was a noticeably jump in quality. There was one thing that bugged me and that was Kouta occasionally flipping off a wall and all I can think about was that stupid Arrow gif every time he did it.
The framing in this show was beautiful though for a large percentage of its run. Just look at the above image in which Sid, a villain, is spouting off this line. The camera is slightly tilted to show how off-kilter his perspective is. Also the lens flare works to give off the impression that he said and did something heroic when it was exactly the opposite. As for the music, this morning I was ready to call it the best OST out of any Urobuchi work, which is extremely high praise. I've walked that opinion back a bit but it's still an outstanding soundtrack done by Kousuke Yamashita. It reminds me a lot of Toshiko Sahashi's style. Watching a show like this reminds me of the value a great OST can bring to a show, something important after listening to how limp-dicked the Darling in the FranXX OST is.
I found the setting of the show fairly interesting in that it feels heavily inspired by Jet Grind Radio. As there are gangs which are dancing and fighting turf wars indirectly, along with a large corporation running the city and police. DJ Sagara reminded me a lot of DJ Professor K. That said, while I found that setting interesting, I'm not sure I liked it as the dancing came off as a bit corny at times. Early on I found the story fairly boring as it's doing a lot of setup and it feels like a typical MOTW show. It's around episode 11 or 12 where the show picks up as there starts to be large scale public ramifications for the characters' actions. For a time I was thinking the show was heading down a Devilman route with the mass hysteria and public outcry. The second half really goes places with the entire world in turmoil. The motivation for Takatora, an early villain, is complicated and some of his initial actions in retrospect could be justified. Actually, a more interesting show could have shifted perspectives to follow Takatora and made Kouta into a villain (of course it's still a kid's show so that would have been too much).
I can't help but think if this was an anime I would have loved this to death. There are some really great acting scenes in the show but the low points are just too much for me. I should warn anybody interested though there is a gay stereotype type of character that could rub some people the wrong way. He's extremely flamboyant and the show makes fun of that but there weren't direct homophobic jokes in a mocking manner as far as I can tell. It does come across as a bit insensitive though so that is something to be aware of. The show was definitely a fun watch otherwise I couldn't have burned through all 47 episodes in a couple of weeks, although I have zero interest in watching the side material or future tokusatsu shows. You can tell Urobuchi didn't have as much control as say Thunderbolt Fantasy but his writing style definitely came through.
Wasted potential? How about how horribly unimportant Alain became after his character arc completed? I dare say he became Kurokage level of powerful when he turned. Even when he uses the only two Eyecons he possesses (seewhatididthar) he's still used to mop the floor. Can you name another Rider who just perpetually lost every fight he was in other than Sigurd? I wanted Alain to be on part with Deep Specter at the very least and I cant even get that.
May be worth noting I never played FFXIII =PHuh, I'm now sold on it (already kinda was from the pac-man movie but saying this confirms me watching it :P)