So okay I had a hiatus from Kamen Rider while watching Japanese drama, Chinese drama, Super Sentai and Power Rangers (that was I eventually hanged over with Disney when it came to Kalish seasons). My liking for Tokusatsu I'll admit isn't as great as me liking those "slice of life" stories or in another angle, I do like those that had fantasy elements like the live adaptation of the Condor trilogy (Love of Condor Heroes, Return of Condor Heroes and, Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber)... and now I'll say this that Kamen Rider in the Heisei era had radically departed from stereotypical Tokusatsu writing into a J-Drama x Kamen Rider type of show..Quite a radical departure from my imaginary friend, Kotaro Minami. =) Now let's move on...
Kamen Rider Kuuga was a return for Kamen Rider after the end of Kamen Rider in the 80s. There were no new Kamen Rider seasons after the Kotaro saga (Black to Black RX). Now in 2000 after the entrance of Timeranger came Kamen Rider Kuuga. Compared to the Showa riders, these were the really not so episodic but rather feels like a J-Drama. How can I say that? Here are some instances:
1.) The way the episodes and plots are written. These seasons in itself had a dangler per episode until it finally ended, like a soap opera isn't it? I would say that, it is really for example in Kuuga, the "realistic approach" actually turns everything into a TV drama while the mysteries (an element that makes TV drama FUN TO WATCH) really are into the way each and every episode is written. In the case of Kuuga, it felt like the final episode was more of a wrap-up than a final battle, that's what I didn't like about Kuuga. Fortunately other seasons managed to work its way better but still, Kuuga is the starter.
2.) The way the other good characters are written. In the newer Rider seasons, they are actually more involved in the lives of the heroes than they are in the Showa era. Okay, a bit of that concept was later put in Black RX for starters (experimental perhaps?) though Heisei era did the execution better. The good guys are far more involved than just being part of the real life of the Kamen Rider. For example, Kuuga is tied with the police forces more than we want to think or each character he works with, helps him in his fight against the Grongi.
3.) The enemy forces involved with Heisei riders. Rather than the standard Tokusatsu "take over the world" kind of organization, most of them don't have the footsoldiers, terrorist type organization. Instead, we have mostly races that want to wipe out the humans while some of them are not really evil. In the case of Kiva, its villains tend to play a LOT of drama like Fangires loving humans (ex. Maya), the human hatred for Fangires or the lingering monsters (ex. Spider Fangire, Rook Fangire). There's even lots of royal drama plots in Kiva among the Fangires. The way they operate for me is as if they are J-Drama villains than Toku villains.
4.) Inserting plenty of slice of life elements slapping fantasy elements into them too. There's much of that love, suspense and the like. Kiva had the love triangles weaved better by Toshiki Inoue than he did with Jetman in my opinion. In Agito the story of the Agito seed, amnesia (we've seen LOTS OF THAT in TV Drama more than Toku ever will have it!) and Mana seems like a TV Drama heroine in some way or all that police department drama goes that intense (Kuuga done it but I think Agito is better). I think Kamen Rider will definitely click with females too for that reason with the more "feminine" side of the story though it's aimed at guys.
So I've said my piece on Kamen Rider these days. Hee hee, I might do Kamen Rider reviews (Heisei era) in here occasionally rather than open my own Kamen Rider blog. I'm still a fan of Super Sentai, Power Rangers (though my fandom of it is getting questionable) and Kamen Rider but TV drama is where I like it better. So I might really stick around with Kamen Rider, I might even like it better than Super Sentai too. Also, only if the writers of Zaido examined how the writing of Kamen Rider in the Heisei era was done, they would not suck balls.
Kamen Rider Kuuga was a return for Kamen Rider after the end of Kamen Rider in the 80s. There were no new Kamen Rider seasons after the Kotaro saga (Black to Black RX). Now in 2000 after the entrance of Timeranger came Kamen Rider Kuuga. Compared to the Showa riders, these were the really not so episodic but rather feels like a J-Drama. How can I say that? Here are some instances:
1.) The way the episodes and plots are written. These seasons in itself had a dangler per episode until it finally ended, like a soap opera isn't it? I would say that, it is really for example in Kuuga, the "realistic approach" actually turns everything into a TV drama while the mysteries (an element that makes TV drama FUN TO WATCH) really are into the way each and every episode is written. In the case of Kuuga, it felt like the final episode was more of a wrap-up than a final battle, that's what I didn't like about Kuuga. Fortunately other seasons managed to work its way better but still, Kuuga is the starter.
2.) The way the other good characters are written. In the newer Rider seasons, they are actually more involved in the lives of the heroes than they are in the Showa era. Okay, a bit of that concept was later put in Black RX for starters (experimental perhaps?) though Heisei era did the execution better. The good guys are far more involved than just being part of the real life of the Kamen Rider. For example, Kuuga is tied with the police forces more than we want to think or each character he works with, helps him in his fight against the Grongi.
3.) The enemy forces involved with Heisei riders. Rather than the standard Tokusatsu "take over the world" kind of organization, most of them don't have the footsoldiers, terrorist type organization. Instead, we have mostly races that want to wipe out the humans while some of them are not really evil. In the case of Kiva, its villains tend to play a LOT of drama like Fangires loving humans (ex. Maya), the human hatred for Fangires or the lingering monsters (ex. Spider Fangire, Rook Fangire). There's even lots of royal drama plots in Kiva among the Fangires. The way they operate for me is as if they are J-Drama villains than Toku villains.
4.) Inserting plenty of slice of life elements slapping fantasy elements into them too. There's much of that love, suspense and the like. Kiva had the love triangles weaved better by Toshiki Inoue than he did with Jetman in my opinion. In Agito the story of the Agito seed, amnesia (we've seen LOTS OF THAT in TV Drama more than Toku ever will have it!) and Mana seems like a TV Drama heroine in some way or all that police department drama goes that intense (Kuuga done it but I think Agito is better). I think Kamen Rider will definitely click with females too for that reason with the more "feminine" side of the story though it's aimed at guys.
So I've said my piece on Kamen Rider these days. Hee hee, I might do Kamen Rider reviews (Heisei era) in here occasionally rather than open my own Kamen Rider blog. I'm still a fan of Super Sentai, Power Rangers (though my fandom of it is getting questionable) and Kamen Rider but TV drama is where I like it better. So I might really stick around with Kamen Rider, I might even like it better than Super Sentai too. Also, only if the writers of Zaido examined how the writing of Kamen Rider in the Heisei era was done, they would not suck balls.
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