Tagged: kamen rider
“We Can Dance If We Want To” – It’s Kamen Rider Gaim
![[OZC-Live]Kamen Rider Gaim BD Box E02 'Deathblow! Pineapple Kick!' [720p].mkv_snapshot_01.04_[2019.02.26_22.52.33]](https://ideaswithoutend.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/ozc-livekamen-rider-gaim-bd-box-e02-deathblow-pineapple-kick-720p.mkv_snapshot_01.04_2019.02.26_22.52.33.jpg?w=830)
Kamen Rider Gaim is a very different beast to the previous series in the franchise I had watched and enjoyed; perhaps the closest comparison is 2018’s Kamen Rider Build in terms of tone, storyline and general feel, with heroes on all factions trying to get ahead of each other and eventually realising this is playing into a greater threat’s hands. But even so it is quite different, and the purpose of this review is not really to compare the series directly but to talk about what makes Gaim so compelling to watch.
“Together, they fight crime!” – It’s Kamen Rider W
![[OZC-Live]Kamen Rider W BD Box E02 'W's Search - The One Who Makes the City Cry' [720p].mkv_snapshot_01.24_[2018.12.01_18.01.50].jpg](https://ideaswithoutend.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/ozc-livekamen-rider-w-bd-box-e02-ws-search-the-one-who-makes-the-city-cry-720p-mkv_snapshot_01-24_2018-12-01_18-01-50.jpg?w=830)
Kamen Rider W is very good; it has a solid cast of characters and offers a strong mystery. The villain plots work well, and it is endearingly socially conscious in a way that is unsubtle without being patronising. At the end of the day, behind much of the superhero bombast, it is an action series about cool, all-action detectives trying to stop an organised crime gang selling drugs on the streets. Except the drugs are magic USB sticks that give you the power to become a supervillain, and the heroes have a cool bike, transforming armour and a dubious CGI go-kart full of gadgets.
“One morning, as Yusuke Godai was waking up from anxious dreams, he discovered that he had been changed into a man who can kick things very hard.”
![[MCS] Masked Rider Kuuga (BD) 08 [51E4C3C2].mkv_snapshot_02.10_[2018.06.04_23.28.24]](https://ideaswithoutend.files.wordpress.com/2018/06/mcs-masked-rider-kuuga-bd-08-51e4c3c2-mkv_snapshot_02-10_2018-06-04_23-28-24.jpg?w=830)
I have not seen many Kamen Rider series, least of all Showa-era ones; as a result, any frame of reference I have for discussing the franchise is limited to select individual series rather than the franchise as any kind of whole. Nevertheless, I am currently watching Kuuga, and it is proving highly enjoyable television and quite watchable without any foreknowledge or wider sense of what one can or should expect. Taken outside of its franchise, it is a series that does superhero origins and self-discovery very well, and creates a world that realistically adapts to the sudden arrival of supervillains. It manages to be dark and atmospheric without necessarily being graphically violent or exploitative, in part owing to the understated creature designs and simple, easily-read hero suit.
Everything to Hide and Everything to Fear – Moral Panic in Concrete Revolutio
![[HorribleSubs] Concrete Revolutio - 01 [720p].mkv_snapshot_15.25_[2015.10.27_08.08.34]](https://ideaswithoutend.files.wordpress.com/2015/11/horriblesubs-concrete-revolutio-01-720p-mkv_snapshot_15-25_2015-10-27_08-08-34.jpg?w=830)
Concrete Revolutio is a series which is complex, holding the cards of its main plot close to its chest; eight episodes in it is hard to see exactly where the endgame will be despite Shin Mazinger-esque flashforwards showing some dystopian, uncertain future where alliances made during the main episodic plots seem inverted and the utopia that the heroes want to fight for has failed. It is clear from these main plots that the hoped-for utopia is based on a faulty premise, but there is the hope that the characters will realise this; each story has their faith in the world shaken a little more, but how this ties into a future where their actions are framed almost villainously is as yet unclear. This is fitting; it is a series about the people who control the image of, and perception of, heroism and justice. It is a series that calls into question the popular perception of justice, and it is perhaps for this reason I find myself comparing it repeatedly to Giant Robo.
Ideas Without End 