First Impressions Of Kamen Rider GOTChard

Currently, I found myself not so impressed (but still liking) Kamen Rider Geats. If one thinks about it - the Reiwa Era reboot has Kamen Rider Zero-One (signifying a restart), Kamen Rider Saber, Kamen Rider Revice, Kamen Rider Geats (which is an obvious Kamen Rider Ryuki tribute in some way), and we have the fifth installment, Kamen Rider Gotchard. The show is pretty new but I'm getting some old vibes that only soon-to-be old schooler smay get. 

The three sisters of fate look rather terrifying. A mysterious man (whose name is Fuga Kudo according to the reports) and is Rinne's father. The quest to find the Chemies is because the Dark Sisters namely Lachesis, Atropos, and Clotho are up to something. I was wondering if the use of Clotho here is because it's Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers' anniversary? Clotho was an ally in Kyoryu Sentai Zyuranger while Gotchard Clotho is a VILLAIN. In Greek mythology, only the Fates are more powerful than the gods and not even Zeus can change the final outcome. 

The main hero Hotaro Ichinose is pretty much a 17-year-old student. I think the actor Junsei Motojima would be 18 years old if he was born in 2005. This might be the fresh pace that Kamen Rider needs. Fresh new actors that would focus more on the younger ones. I do have a hard time connecting with MUCH YOUNGER cast members.

Reiyo Matsumoto is only 15 years old. Since they're playing students then I guess Dawson Casting isn't going to work that well these days. Earlier shows such as Kosoku Sentai Turboranger, Mighty Morphin', and Denji Sentai Megaranger did have cast members who were older than their roles. I guess letting Reiyo play her role as Rinne Kudo is setting her up to be the Emma Watson of Japan. I guess Tokusatsu has become a launching point with cast members in their late teens. 

I do get the vibes of Kamen Rider Den-O (because of the train) and a reference to the older Kamen Rider series. The grasshopper has become a very common theme among the Kamen Riders. The Showa era had most of its Kamen Riders with the grasshopper motif. We also had beetle themes like Kamen Rider Stronger and Kamen Rider Kabuto. In my mind, I do feel that a beetle theme might be more welcome but let's see how this goes. The series has children in mind so only older fans like myself will recognize the SUBTLE Easter Eggs. 

The Chemies have spread across the world. It becomes the responsibility of the alchemists to get the power back. Gotchard has an incomplete transformation which is later completed. The classic Rider Kick is given. However, I feel the Rider Kick may soon be replaced by whatever cool weapons there will be. With some 100+ Chemies - I wonder how the show intends to deal with that. Monsters-of-the-week are rather scarce from the Heisei era and nearly non-existent in the Reiwa era. Instead, it's almost like a whole year of action-based J-Drama. I even remember the conversation I had when somebody said that the newer Kamen Rider entries are like telenovelas. 

I guess there's a load of Bandai merchandise, Pokemon-style. Speaking of which, Toei did produce Digimon as well. I wonder how Toei will spin around the merchandise for this show. We have a Grasshopper and a Praying Mantis. Speaking of mantis, it's become more common to see a praying mantis monster instead of having one as a Kamen Rider theme.

Next week might start to get things straight. Mr. Minato would test Hotaro. I'm actually getting more glad that the cast is so new it's hard to connect. Hopefully, Toei will realize that they can't miss out by being too stingy with their content. I don't know if I'll still be watching it. I found many new stuff worth watching and some old stuff I want to check out as well.