Hehe, I was beginning to wonder if anyone was going to even read this thread. Well, guess I'll REALLY be making a go of this then. I was actually staring to think no one cared so there for, no reason to bother with the lets watch, instead, just cut to the watching. Maybe try again when I got to like, Amazon or Black RX or whatever Heisei series get's covered first (See below on that.).


The site I'm using has, as mentioned, a fan sub, and it's got 98 episodes for this series. It, seems to have an awful lot of other Rider Series as well. I've no idea if this is a whole series or not for it though.



The not being a kid show explains some of the, for the time, both rather horrifying and graphic deaths. Yes, I know, this is nothing compared to modern television, but for 71, yikes. I, legit don't think I could have handled this as a child back then.


I've actually seen the next ep at this stage, so, with that little Segway,

Spoiler: Episode 3: Monster, Scorpion Man.
Show
I, I, ... wow. That's a freaking BLEAK Opening! This is kinda starting to remind me of Dressrosa over on One Piece in that I feel like "Ok, there irredeemably evil, we get it already!". I, I mean, come on, that's not even a practical weapon! That's one of those things you make just for intimidation effect and because you want to prove that it can technically be done.

I am starting to wonder if there all Cyborgs why do they have the animal mofit anyway? And why does Shocker Army's leader have the Nazi Symbolism thing going on?

Come to think of it they've made the point a couple of times now that Hongo's always super strong now, why does he need to transform to fight in the first place if that's the case?

Anyway, I can't decide if I like the camera angle jumps they keep doing in the fights. On the one hand, it IS sorta different, at least from were I'm sitting, but on the other, it feels, I dunno, it feels a lot like shakey cam, and I don't much care for shaky cam in most instances.

Ok, so, they got to Hongo's child hood friend. And Hongo is forced to kill him at the end of the fight. And the guy they tried to save STILL get's murdered horribly.



Yeah, I'm, glad this was not initially aimed at being a kids show, cause this seems like it would have caused a LOT of child hood trauma if it had been.

Aside from all that, I generally thought Riders were suppose to be these hot blooded hero's, and well, Hongo seems rather restrained actually.





And about skipping a bunch of the early Heisei Riders,

Ok, follow my logic. I'm known for having a finite amount of tolerance for darkness in a story. Rider 1 isn't pushing it persay so far, but its definitely more then I had anticipated. I'd always been told that Black RX, the last of the Showa Riders, was also the Darkest of the Showa Riders by a noticeable margin. Given that that's from 89, when the tech was more sophisticated, the franchise would have grown and grown likely more sophisticated, and the budget, I'm certain, would be bigger. If darkest of all the Showa's is including THIS stuff, and Black RX is even darker then this, which is what I'm currently understanding, it's going to be quite dark indeed.

And I've been given to Understand that a LOT of the early Heisei Riders are deliberately darker and edgier then ANY of the showa era riders ever were, on purpose.

If that's the case, I'm thinking it's probably better if I just skip those. Hell, It's already been brought to my attention that Gaim is basically Madoka Magica, but aimed at Boys, and with a less good ending, and I don't need that. And that Ryuki is Madoka before there was a Madoka, and that it has an even DARKER ending then Gaim OR Madoka. Which I really don't need to subject myself too.



If you want to know were I get this from, I've poked around the fandom for a little bit now, sort of debating how interested I'd be in actually trying to start getting into this franchise. My decision is I think I'd like some series, but not others. Most of the first 10 Heisei, I'd be legit shocked if by the time I'd watched the whole thing I could say on the whole, I enjoyed myself. A pity I know cause Ryuki and Kabuto are said to have excellent fight scenes and Gaim has that and some wonderfully intricate and ridiculous costuming, and hell, a first half that I'd likely have enjoyed before the mid series point hits you with the Madoka style WHAM episode.

I think I'll like Den O from some snippets and I've seen or heard about it. I'm sort of looking forward to that one actually.

I think Kiva's got potential to either be a wonderful little Gothic Romp ala Hellsing/Castlevania/Vampire Hunter D. (Dark stuff I can usually tolerate for the most part.), or an overly dark (for me anyway.) outing that I'll drop part way in and move on to the next one. So I'll be checking that one out. Likely before Den O as I understand Den O is the self parody season, were as Kiva is in line with what's BEING parodied, particularly if it works.

I'm planning to Skip Gaim for the reasons discussed above, Decade and Ghost cause the consensus with the fandom is that these are probably the two most badly produced Heisei shows, and I'm not digging there hooks either.




I will likely make it a point to watch W, as, while I don't think I really care for the Gestalt people thing, I DO kind of like the detective idea.

I will be watching Wizard, Drive, Forza and OOO. I'm particularly looking forward to the last 3, as bits I've seen and heard make them sound like I'll probably make them my favorites of the lot.

It seems that Ex-Aid went the same route as Gaim, so, thinking I'll give that one a pass.

I don't think I need to explain why I'm Skipping Amazon's if darker and edgier is something of a turn off for me more often then not.


Part of why this works is the camp value of the 71 budget production values and writing. It makes you take it just a bit less seriously I'm finding. Which in this case is good otherwise I think this would be a lot more of a slog. Beyond that, it also makes me cut it a bit more slack in the writing department, that age. It why, for example, I'm not complaining about the obvious designated love interest/eye candy getting kidnapped and needing to be rescued. Don't worry, by the time were in the Heisei era I expect that's going to be a point I'll find annoying.