Kamen Rider Gaim Series Review

Hey all, it's been 6 months. Things have been chugging along and I just don't have that much to say about the current tokusatsu. But since my birthday is coming up and I always make it a point to post something on that day, I don't really know why, here are my thoughts on Kamen Rider Gaim. Also it's cool that my birth month coincides with the new Rider show.

I was 10% interested in Gaim when it started. I gave it a chance. I liked the samurai theme since I really enjoy toku sword fight scenes. I continued till the episode where Micchy became an armored rider and I stopped right there.  I wasn't feeling the whole dancing plot. And when I saw all those other riders showing up (Baron, Bravo, Gridon), I really wasn't interested anymore.

But then news came out of a PINK female rider. I couldn't resist. I love pink warriors. So I started watching again but I did revisit the old episodes. Until now, I don't really know what they were about, maybe I'll check it out later. With the arrival of the Genesis Drivers as heralded a very nice upgrade, the Kachidoki Arms. I gotta say, it was the bomb to watch this form dish out the pain. I like the form so much I might consider buying the figuart. Kiwami isn't too bad but I'm disappointed it didn't come with its own special weapon. It just reuses old weapons and uses the DJ Matlock gun for its finisher just like Kachidoki.

I love this form and weapon

Radiant Mai

The story by this time transitioned to a more serious tone. I gotta say, to make me more interested in the story than the fight scenes is rare.  All the betrayals, revelations, triumphs and defeats just meshed perfectly and constantly moved the story forward at a lightning pace.

This series caught me and probably everyone else off guard on how good it turned to be. It was a joy watching this amazing drama coupled with armored rider fight scenes.  Amazing how a show with a childish concept could gradually transform into a darker story, all the while incorporating various real world legends into its own.

Drive has a lot to live up to.

Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger Series Review

Kyoryuger is the 2^nd sentai I have followed through its entire run.  Now that it has finished at a surprisingly low 48 episodes, what can I say about?  Well, since I stuck with it for a whole year, I undoubtedly like it.  This brought back elements that were missing from its predecessor Go-Buster.  It had a lot of roll calls for one, and they were very entertaining.  Go-Buster’s roll call was unspectacular at best.  I understand why but part of the fun of sentai for me is a good old fashioned roll call when the team finally gets together to kick ass, coupled with the theme music and a united shout of their team name.   Going hand in hand with the roll call are the suits.  When they were revealed, I had absolutely no negative thoughts.  I was ecstatic that there was no yellow.  It was a bold move and I loved it.  I can’t say they have the best looking suits but definitely not the worst or even the near the middle.  They look nice and that always helps when I watch.  

 

For the story, it’s an accept it and move along story.  This big blue bird monster recruits a homeless drifter to be a Kyoryuger cause he’s brave.  Fine, whatever.  Let’s get on with it.  For the heroes, I can say I don’t really hate a single one that much that I find their focus episode boring.  King is the ultimate strong good guy and spouts out encouragement a lot.  Ian is a playboy jerk with a heart of gold.  Nossan has a weird sense of humor but a strong sense of justice.  Souji has awesome sword fights and matures throughout the series.  Amy was a very bold pink warrior, a worthy successor to the legacy of female warriors.  Utchy was a powerful warrior with the innocence of a child.  Ramires was a cool character played by a foreigner.  Tessai was a jerk at 1^st but had an awesome focus episode near the end that showcased his humorous side.  Yayoi was the shy girl who found the strength to be awesome.  Torin was a good mentor, genuinely caring for the humans.  Dantetsu was a mystery for most of the series but eventually became a Kyoryuger as well.

I will miss this sentai for the nice suits, the roll calls and the cast.  It was really enjoyable and a blast to watch. Tokkyuger is just around the corner. 

So what follows are screenshots from each episode with some words below.

Nice 1^st ep.  Obviously allotted a lot of the budget for it.

I thought I was gonna get a dancing mecha, I was mistaken.

I admit to holding whatever sword like object like this after this ep.  It’s a good one.

This is the awesome roll call scene I talked about up there.

I am liking how Green fights more and more, also a really funny roll call

I loved the pink suit from the moment I laid my eyes on it and ep is full of it!

This was certainly a memorable scene

One of the less memorable eps, really got nothing else so have this

I felt it was a little too early for the 6^th but this was a pretty nice build up ep

This was one of the best intro for an extra ranger

Pink and the cool Gold ranger focus ep! Yes, there are a lot of awesome moments in this one!

As much as I like Gold joining, I think the real show stopper was the mecha battle this ep

I love how Green fights so this ep is a real treat to watch!

Pink focus but not much suit action, also Gold just solo killed the MOTW.

Past mechas only had a finisher like this to rely on. Nowadays it’s pick your finisher

Hmm, look at where Daigo’s staring at.

Grey just doesn’t look that good as a color

So they got two dead warriors helping them out from the side, isn’t that cheating?

This line is just too funny!

This is that encouragement I was talking about

This guy was crazy, crazily entertaining!

Here’s where the writers started shipping with Pink and Red. Good or bad move?

Daigo gets all the girls, lucky bastard.

I will always welcome a female warrior, the only thing I’m not feeling are those flippers behind the helmet.

A blatant rip off of Nightmare on Elm.  Humorous roll call though

Abaranger did it 1st

We’re gonna be seeing this a lot.  Not that bad but not that good

I’ve got nothing to say except look how dirty the suit gets

This is the real highlight. The rest is staring at a toy and how it works.

This ep is about the two guys with Amy thrown in and ushers in a new arc

This is getting crazy, but a smart move by the bad guys

A friend of mine asked me once why they cluster around a cannon finisher, this actually tries to explain it.

I really like Utchy

I really got nothing unique here

The chanting was really weird this ep

I wonder what that stain is. Also, the suit actor for silver seems a little bigger than the rest.

This is a really fun episode.  After all the serious stuff, it’s a blast to watch.

I really like this ep.  Tessai got some great and memorable scenes. His theme music is awesome as well.

Now this is the true spirit of sentai!  Colorful suits all together, with background music and explosions.

Is that King Ghidorah from Godzilla?

I love the Spirit Ranger humor!

Great Christmas present having all ten again so soon.

I wouldn’t mind getting his Figuart. 

Very nice 3 way attack

In this ep, stuff starts happening

I gotta admit, though I wish it was something else, I was touched by this ep.

I don’t care if there’s one more, this was the finale this series deserved!

Goodbye King! It was a lot of fun but I’m kinda sick of you.