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Series Review: Kamen Rider Den-O


While I'm watching Ryuki, I just thought another article I could come up with was Den-O, the very Rider series that re-opened my mind to Kamen Rider with its J-Drama-esque feel.  Though not exactly awesome but I do so some things to this series.  Now where do I begin?  We have the story of unlucky Ryotaro Nogami (Takeru Sato) who starts out pretty unlucky especially he gets caught in the war against the Imagins that threaten to destroy the past.  So what happens is four benevolent (but can be annoying) Imagins get involved and they are Momotaros who does annoy me a lot, Urataros the "lawyer", the noble Kintaros (gold) and Ryutaros (the dancing dragon) who all become part of his four forms in the series.  Also he has his hot sister Airi who took care of him, she's the older sister.  So the Den-Liner comes one day and fate changes for him as he must combat malignant Imagins that invade the past.  Hmmm does Yasuko Kobayashi love time travel that much?  Aboard the Den-Liner are Hana who came from the future (and freakishly became a child again because her actress suddenly left), the Owner and Naomi (acted by Rina Akiyama) who makes un-edible coffee, which I think was just there for laughs and really yawns at me.

So yeah, I did enjoy Den-O at first with the time travel concept or how there are four Imagins who help Den-O fight against the malice of other Imagins that threaten the fabric of our very existence.  Just a thought- why did this concept of possession happen?  Can't the producer Shinichiro Shirakura or the writer Yasuko Kobayashi come up with something better?  I just accepted it.  For me, every bit of the drama goes back to save other people.  So what's the deal with the Imagins?  They grant a wish, stick to that memory the go back to the past to destroy it.  What double-crossers!  Hmmm fortunately Den-O goes back in time to combat them learning to use the various Imagins he has to fight the evil ones.  What I also find pretty much WTF or awesome about the Denliner is that, it can arrive anywhere WITHOUT destroying a building or so.  For example, I am in school and it's dismissal, it can pick me up even when I'm inside the classroom.  Later on Yuto Sakurai/Zeronos is actually the younger version of Airi's fiance which makes the story confusing.  For starters, Zeronos is also having Deneb as his Imagin, he's the anti-thesis to Den-O where he's more concerned about saving time than people.  Hmmm... time travel does get messy and I can say it's messier here than the Timeranger, also written by Yasuko Kobayashi.  But I'll just admit it got messier than expected.

Why do I say messier?  So aside from just Yuto Sakurai's younger version appearing, the effects were soon added.  So Hana becomes a child again due to time travel?  WTF and it's not even explained.  And I just thought even Den-Liner fighting some berserk Imagins turned giant was not even a concept I enjoyed either. While the Imagin concept was cool but it had a messy execution.  And I just had a thought also that I was pretty much WTFed to learn that Hana is actually the child of Airi and Yuto making her the niece of Den-O from the future.  Again WTF?  Well the finale has the Imagin army led by Kai who seeks to destroy Hana (who is now a child again) and his creation of the Death Imagin for the finale.  For me, it could have been better, maybe I'll say he's a poor attempt to repeat Ryuuya from Timeranger.  And I'd say even the finale is in a wreck with that Imagin attack.  So Kai as the antagonist tries to destroy time.  When his Death Imagin is destroyed, Kai fades away.  The battle is over, Ryotaro returns to the present and hoping to see them all in the future. I just say this is really one era that confused me though I'd rather watch this series over Decade.

My rating?  6.5/10.  Not really terrible but I'd say I just can't enjoy it the second time around.  But I respect all who enjoy this nonetheless.  You can tell I didn't like it as much with a short summary for a series review.

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