In your opinion what the alternate Reiwa worlds look like if Decade went to them
01 - aruto (or tarou or naruto or whatever) was ousted from HIDEN years ago by probably thouser and is now a lone rider fighting against corrupted magias, likely using 001 until the Final Moral Lesson Fight With Tsukasa gets him the 01 driver. 50/50 on whether he becomes the president at the end or HIDEN crumbles completely
Saber - Gaim
Revice - Revi is a lone rider (as in, no buddy system) fighting against the mysterious Kamen Rider Vail who is revealed at the end of the first episode of the 2-parter to be Vice. Second part of the episode is him and Vice becoming a team and rediscovering each other; Vice was probably brainwashed or something. siblings are there but in minor roles
Fuuto Tantei - i think they'd do a really fun anime 2-parter. tsukasa and the gang would probably be anime too. i'm not sure what this would be about but i think being a W spin-off series it'd riff a bit on AR Skull from the end of movie war 2010
Black Sun - not touching this one
Geats - we're only like 10 episodes into this one get back to me in a year. right now all i've got is that ace is jesus
in which i take a trip down memory lane and talk about all the toku i watched this year!
Kamen Rider
This year I completed 5 Kamen Rider series: Drive, Ghost, Ex-Aid, Zi-O, and Zero-One!
Kamen Rider Zi-O (Dec. 2021 -> Jan. 2022)
Started the year with an ending haha. Out of the 5 series I watched, this was the one that took me the longest to complete.
At the time, I had only watched Wizard, Den-O and Build, so I didn't understand every reference in the show. I honestly wonder if that makes a difference. On one hand, I couldn't be mad at the show if they botched a "tribute" cause I didn't know any better, but on the other, maybe I would've enjoyed it more/been more motivated to watch if I knew more of the returning characters.
Overall, I enjoyed the series. I thought it was very fun, even if it didn't necessarily stick to it's own mechanics (which in of itself is a huge flaw, but that's discussion for another day) and it's slow decent into a Decade AU™. I love Woz, and the main 4 group is one of my favorites. The 0.5 episodes we're also gold, I loved the self-reference humor.
As for things I wish it did differently, definitely making Tsukuyomi a rider earlier. And I didn't particularly enjoy the final episodes (although that could've been because I stayed up until 4AM and had work at 8AM).
Kamen Rider Drive (Jan. 2022)
Inspired by the 2018 hit Kamen Rider Zi-O I decided to watch Drive not to long after. It wasn't really a season on my radar, but I was intrigued by Chase.
Initially, I did enjoy it, even though the first 12-ish episodes did drag at times. But after Gou comes and especially the 001 arc, it got way better.
Looking back on it now, while I still like it, I don't like it as much as I did when I first watched it. It's solid, but I wouldn't say any character stuck out to me or with me once I finished.
Similar to Zi-O, I wish they made Kiriko a rider. I'd argue, she potentially could've made a more interesting main than Shinnosuke, given her relationship to the villains (creator). Maybe could've gotten an interesting family dynamic out of it.
Kamen Rider Ghost (Jan. 2022 -> Feb. 2022)
A more polarizing entry (on twitter anyways). I wasn't really going in with any expectations good or bad.
The first 11 episodes were hard for me to get through, but after that, the show does get a flow going and became easier to watch. Similar to Drive, none of the characters particularly stood out (except Alain) for me, but I liked the supporting cast of Ghost better than Drive.
I wish they did a bit more with Makoto because (at least concerning the show, no extras) he just feels like he's there. Sure, he has a connection to the other two riders, but he himself never does much besides look out for Kanon or the others. (Maybe he did more than I remember, but I haven't rewatched. I do think his V-Cinema delve more into his character, so maybe I'll get around to watching it).
I liked Alain's arc the most, him and Ms. Fumi were iconic and episode 30/31 made me so sad (I cried at work). And Takeru was a fine protagonist. The only thing I didn't really like was how they killed him off 3 times (4 counting Heisei Gen.)
Kamen Rider Ex-Aid (Feb. 2022)
I did not go into this series expecting the impact it would have on me. The main reason I watched it was to finish out the second half of Phase 2 (Drive -> Zi-O) before Zero-One.
Honestly, while this is the series out of this list I rewatched the most episodes of, I don't particularly love it.
Coming off of Ghost, the beginning of Ex-Aid was really refreshing, and I liked the conflict and connections between the 4 riders. It started falling off for me once Parad became a rider and the introduction of Masamune. I really don't know why I dislike Parad, every time he's was on screen I just got annoyed. And then I didn't like what happened during the finale.
But with the bad was good, ie: my namesake. I really don't know why I loved Hiiro and Taiga as much as I did at the time. In a sense, I think I related to certain parts of their respective personalities (which is probably not good...), but otherwise it wasn't like their characters storyline took off until the mid-30's of a 45 episode show. In retrospect, while it it a bit rushed given the timeframe of the show, their story was still really compelling to me.
I haven't talked much about V-Cinemas and extra content (mainly cause they're mostly harmless but not much to talk about), but allegedly Ex-Aid only got 45 episodes so they could get the V-Cin. trilogy, and boy do I hate that because the Brave and Snipe V-Cinema was bad. Surprisingly, it didn't hit until my spontaneous rewatch where I realized how dirty it did the characters.
In short, Ex-Aid: High-Highs but Low-Lows
Kamen Rider Zero-One (Apr. 2022)
The final series I watched before never finishing a series until this month. Similar to Ex-Aid, I think Zero-One has some really good highs (some of my favorite characters and moments from the franchise), and really bad lows.
The writing of Zero-One (in terms of implications) isn't the best, and even arcs were pretty hit or miss. Like a lot of people talk about how the job wars arc was drawn out, and initially I disagreed because I didn't find it that terrible, but thinking back to it, I remember making a post that was like "the most interesting thing about the past 10 episodes was that Fuwa had a chip in his head" so I guess there wasn't plot development.
I liked how a lot of the early episode felt like a tour of the town Aruto lives in and we get to meet people (workers) in the community, almost like a carrer fair. Looking at the episodes in a vacuum, I think they're quite nice.
I really liked Metsuboujinrai, probably my favorite villain group. At first I thought Horobi saying Jin was his child was going to be a throw away line or like resolved relatively quickly, but it wasn't. The reveal that Horobi was a father-type humagear, and in the final episodes where he slowly was coming to terms about caring for Jin are some of my favorite moments. In episode 42 (?) when Jin sacrificed himself, even though I knew what was coming (the whole "your the only father I ever had" line), I still cried so much during the scene. It was very well done. Ikazuchi and Naki were good support characters, I'm glad each of them have some funny/iconic/good scenes.
I wish they had done more with Yua outside of Gai. I feel like Gai gets more to do than her despite her being the tertiary introduced in episode 3. The whole chip in Fuwa's head thing was also weird (I don't have the words to explain it right now). I liked that Fuwa liked Aruto's jokes because their similar to the ones his dad made. I think Aruto is an interesting character to be the main, it's kind of weird he was just thrown into the company, and a bunch of other things I'm going to leave for another day.
I don't think Gai needed a redemption arc, but I teared up when he got Thouser back.
(Wow I had a lot to say)
2. Super Sentai
I didn't watch that much Sentai this year, and only completed 2: Seijuu Sentai Gingaman and Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger
Seijuu Sentai Gingaman (~May 2022)
I kind of forgot I watched this lol. Overall, it was better/more fun than I was expecting it to be.
Bakuyuu Sentai Abaranger (Nov. 2022 -> Dec. 2022)
I started this one day because no one (my teachers) decided not to show up to school.
I ended up enjoying it a lot. I like the team dynamics, and it was solid at balancing silliness and seriousness. I think having the motws be made from forms of art (painting and music) was cool and made for some cool designs/abilities.
3. Ultraman
This year I finished the trifecta and watched 2 Ultraman Series: X and Orb.
Ultraman X (Aug. 2022)
I watched this for totally legit reasons…/ It was alright, but it kind of just felt like the same thing (formula) for 20 episodes. I did like the 24 hours at Xio episode and the Ginga S crossover. I also think this series had some good effects and the fact that their car turns into a jet is so funny to me.
Ultraman Orb (Sept. 2022)
I liked this series better than X. It was more interesting and I feel like there was more intrigue and a story line.
The unfolding of the connection between Gai and Naomi was great and overall I liked the one episode plots
4. Power Rangers
Since I've watched most Power Rangers, I only finished the latest series this year. I sometimes forget power rangers is a tokusatsu lol.
Dino Fury (Feb 2021 -> Sept. 2022)
I said a lot about what I thought about the show on my other blog. Generally, I think it has good idea, but the execution of them is hit or miss.
001 database #0 Sparking Giraffe Ability: Electric
So, uh, yeah. Evalin here. This is going to be the first in a series of posts documenting the many forms I use during my work as a Kamen Rider and a student.
And where better to start than the first form I used? I mean, for myself. I’ll explain that later.
I’ll start off by explaining how I got the form and then follow up under a cut where I’ll detail the forms unique traits, abilities, and some notes on the suit.
Wow, that is uncomfortably long. Better get to the story then;
I first got the Sparking Giraffe key back in my home dimension. After my first outing with a forceriser I took it home, spruced it up, and took out most of the side effects involved in using it. But I still needed a progrise key to actually use the stupid thing. Without one, all I had was a very unstylish and painful belt.
Lo and behold, I hear from a certain little birdy (or a wolf in this case) that Hiden Intelligence wasn’t the only people making keys. ZAIA Enterprise was, too. So I, a teenager with aggressive tendencies and a need for attention, validation, and the sensation of shoving my boot into what I considered evil’s face. So I mounted a very small, focused assault on one of ZAIA’s development labs. It went only slightly better than you would expect since I made it out alive and with the giraffe progrise key.
Afterwards, I lost the key when I was transported to Reaper High. Still figuring out why, though. But at the very least I managed to make my own after an incident with a magical Mojo Jojo and another one with a nosedeenian from the future. But I never want the misfortune of thinking about those days again.
Now for the cut section
Shocking Giraffe is one of my more interesting forms. It'll be the first of many you'll see that has no connection between the animal and it's abilities.
I'll keep it simple and start with the forms finishers and bounce around from there.
Which means that first I should cover the basics. When using a forceriser, there are two styles of finishers you can access.
The first one is a Dystopia. Dystopia finishers bring out the damage. I use them for finishing a fight or if I need a big hit. They drain power pretty quickly, so I tend to avoid repetitive use. It would be trouble if I was forced out of my transformation in the middle of a fight.
The Shocking Dystopia is pretty straightforward, too. A large output of electricity is pushed out towards whatever limb I want. From there I dish out the electrically charged Rider Kick or Punch.
In contrast, Utopia finishers give me more options and let me be creative with a progrise key's ability.
Case in point and as you can see, the Shocking Utopia has a lot of versatility because it's focus is on letting me freely manipulate electricity. It took a lot of practice and s lot of research, but I've made Shocking Giraffe an effective offence and defense.
Rats,I don't like sounding sentimental but this form really brings back memories. Back when I first got this key, I was still trying to steal Zero-One's name for myself. I think I'll stick to 001 from now on, though. It's got a better sound to it.
Kamen Rider Zero-One forms, Kamen Rider Zero-Two, Kamen Rider Ark One, and Kamen Rider 001 idle sprites from the Side : ZEA VBM card and Side : Ark VBM card.
Roidmudes are robots from the 2014 Tokusatsu television show, Kamen Rider Drive. Roidmudes are an interesting case when it comes to robots. In the show, they are classified as mechanical life forms and/or androids. Robots are usually built to serve a purpose, or to fulfill an action. Kamen Rider Drive tells us that as a robotic species, they numbered exactly at 108, and were built with the capability of “evolving” to be more like humans. So that begs the question: are they really robots? Another feature Roidmudes have is that they possess what is called a Core. Core’s are physical numbers that are assigned to each Roidmude. For example, if you are Roidmude 001, you would have the 001 Core. Cores essentially serve as souls of sorts for Roidmudes, and as long as the Core exists, they can come back to life with ease. These similarities to souls and life alongside their sole purpose of evolving to be like humans makes you wonder if they could be classified as more than robots. Their bodies are certainly mechanical. However, the Cores and the presence of an evolving consciousness that wants to be like humans suggests that alongside being robotic, they may also be close to something akin to cyborgs, or even humans.
フィギュアーツZERO 宿儺 (Figuarts Zero "Jujutsu Kaisen" Sukuna)
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Figuarts mini アーニャ・フォージャー (Figuarts Mini "SPY x FAMILY" Anya Forger)
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Figuarts mini ヨル・フォージャー (Figuarts Mini "SPY x FAMILY" Yor Forger)
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Figuarts mini ロイド・フォージャー (Figuarts Mini "SPY x FAMILY" Loid Forger)
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Figuarts mini 鏑木・T・虎徹 (Figuarts Mini "Tiger & Bunny" Kaburagi T Kotetsu)
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Figuarts mini バーナビー・ブルックスJr. (Figuarts Mini "Tiger & Bunny" Barnaby Brooks Jr.)
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ROBOT魂 <SIDE MS> 第08MS小隊オプションパーツセット02 Ver. A.N.I.M.E. (Robot Spirits Side MS "Mobile Suit Gundam The 08th MS Team" 08th MS Squadron Optional Parts Set 02 Ver. A.N.I.M.E.)
we talk a lot about certain categories of kamen rider forms like berserkers and extra finals and fusion forms but something i dont see come up a lot is the desperation form, the shit you use when there’s nothing else left; and every time they use it it always always hits. Growing Form. Joker. Chou Dead Heat. 001. every single one of these is so so sexy and does so much for a character