Sean Akizuki's East Asian Drama and Movie Blog

  There are times I feel too embarrassed to admit that I do enjoy some messy shows. For example, I was afraid to admit that I liked the unpopular Kamen Rider BLACK RX . I could agree that BLACK RX is a mess but it still deserves some credit for trying out new stuff - just that it wasn't done properly. Right now, I feel somewhat similar to Kamen Rider Faiz . Heck, there are times I feel that Faiz could've potentially been better than the fan-favorite Kamen Rider BLACK . The show may be full of unlikable characters, Toshiki Inoue trying to get as dark as he could (and he even made a cameo here for a reason), and it was the time when Inoue was also starting to lose charge. Eventually, Inoue hit Burnout Ville during Kamen Rider Kiva - a show I enjoy but I also must acknowledge what other fans say that it's a mess. I find Faiz a mess but it's basically a watchable mess! Faiz has that depressing scenario belonging to the seven nightmare fuel Heisei era riders . It's quite...

I remembered all the biases I had towards the overly depresing Kamen Rider Faiz -- something that was where you love it or you hate it with Toshiki Inoue. But after a second rewatch and I do have changing opinions on said show . Now, I guess this is where teenage Kamen Riders gone wrong. Instead of the now a man Takumi Inui -- why do we have Takumi Ogami who is a teenager defending Smart Brain high? Now it's time to play the opening intro of Saban's Mashed Rider! Yup, it reminds me of almost everything wrong with Saban's Mashed Rider. I guess you know why I purposely mispell Mashed Rider. If any Kamen Rider did teenagers right then the honor goes to Kamen Rider Fourze! Heck, there was even that April Fool's joke that Saban was localizing Kamen Rider Fourze into Power Rider Apollo. Fortunatetly, it was just a joke considering how much of an Adaptation Decay that Saban's Mashed Rider was. Now for a bit of criticism yet again. Do you remember Masato Kusaka in Ka...

Well I don't know how often I'd be doing a Kamen Rider Zi-O weekly episode review (though expect them to be around Wednesday or Thursday depending on when Over-Time releases the subs) and do expect that maybe after next week -- I'd probably give updates once every two weeks or whenever I feel like it like I did with previous Kamen Rider posts. Now it's time for me to write what's a two-in-one tribute episode where two riders contrast each other namely the extremely dark Kamen Rider Faiz and the super-lighthearted Kamen Rider Fourze. Okay, I'm thinking about the slipping down here. I remembered when Kamen Rider Fourze aired around September 4, 2011 and ended on August 26, 2012. There are many girls who are missing having the zodiac sign called Libra. What's going on? Our heroes Sougo, Geiz and Tsukuyomi now enter as "students" of what could be Amanogawa High School in 2018. For one, I want to criticize how Geiz and Tsukuyomi do a poor job blendi...

Just seeing next week's episode preview in this week's Kamen Rider Zi-O has me thinking about my changing opinions towards Toshiki Inoue's favorite work -- Kamen Rider Faiz! Inoue was responsible for a couple of my favorite shows in the past such as Chojin Sentai Jetman (which unexpectedly saved Super Sentai after its supposed near cancellation with Chikyu Sentai Fiveman) or Kamen Rider Agito which was an ambitious, sprawling tapestry and well I have a soft spot for Kamen Rider Kiva even if it's well -- Inoue's burnout season! Faiz is what I'd call a show where it's got a good amount of people who like or those who hate it. I remembered Kamen Rider Faiz aired on GMA-7 and if I'm not wrong -- it was also that time Power Rangers Dino Thunder was crap-dubbed by ABS-CBN. Ironic how Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger aired the same year as Kamen Rider Faiz. Now it's time for me think about how this show has me constantly shifting my opinions. I didn't start...

This year is Kamen Rider Faiz's 15th anniversary and I don't really feel like celebrating it that much. If there's anything I like about it's writer Toshiki Inoue -- it's that he wrote my personal favorite Super Sentai Chojin Sentai Jetman, Kamen Rider Agito (though some people now treat it with disdain because -- DUH IT'S INOUE) or that he wrote a couple of my favorite episodes in Super Sentai. I even thought that maybe, just maybe he should have had more episodes in Timeranger -- and he could have focused on anti-hero Naoto Takizawa! Hmmm... if he had more involvement in Timeranger then maybe he and Shinji Kasahara would have been best friends! There's some things I do like about Kamen Rider Faiz -- even if I tend to think less of it. What are the stuff I like about it? I'm somewhat strongly attacked to darker and edgier storylines, I like how "mature" Faiz can feel in a certain level, I like the whole human vs. Orphnoch war, I like the sa...

Just a bit of art here... Kamen Rider in the Heisei era started tackling human evolution, a topic not so touched upon in Kamen Rider Black. I did notice that while Kuuga had some hits on human evolution, the idea was taken into a huge leap in Kamen Rider Agito. Agito was a Kamen Rider series that focused on the concept of human evolution, except it dealt with it in a theistic manner. The beginning of Agito felt like a mixture of several Middle Eastern mythos like the Lords look like the gods of Egypt, the concept of dual forces (Light and Darkness represent both day and night) and the concept of man's evolution. The whole question in Agito between the two Overlords is... to evolve or not to evolve, that is the question. The Overlord of Light wished to bestow the power of Agito upon some people while the Overlord of Darkness viewed that human evolution had reached its peak. Kamen Rider Faiz was yet another series to tackle on the concept of evolution. Unlike Agito, Faiz foc...

I wonder if it's really debatable that Masato Kusaka is a villain or not but I can see him more as a villain.  So what's the real point?   A villain in any series can either be opposed to both the recurring villains and heroes or part of the recurring villain team.  In his case, while he was not part of Smart Brain but he was definitely a menace to Takumi.  I really, REALLY hated this guy and I would say he is definitely another villain with noble goals. Why do I consider him to be a villain?  He's a manipulative backstabber who always makes your day miserable so he can further his own agenda.  So he is the current user of Kaixa but he has also used the Delta and Faiz belts.  His entire plan is focused on his own agendas.  He's a tragic character once being bullied.  He develops a crush on Mari who doesn't reciprocate it... which he feels like Takumi is that obstacle.  So really, while I feel sorry for his past but I cannot feel sorry...

As if having a douchebag in Ryuya in Timeranger isn't enough, this guy feels like another Ryuya except it's in the Kamen Rider franchise.  Masato Kusaka gets to hold the power of the Ixa Belt and holds one deadly secret - he has Orphnoch DNA in him while he hates Orphnochs.  In short, he was becoming what he always hated, but whether human or Orphnoch HE IS ONE MAGNIFICENTLY ANNOYING BASTARD AND DOUCHEBAG! Now what does he have in common with Captain Ryuya?  Here's some of them but note that Ryuya was not often shown in Timeranger compared to Masato: 1.) They are both manipulative bastards towards the protagonists.  Remember that Ryuya manipulated the Timerangers and time itself so he can live, although he wanted to make sure that the future was still secure.  He just wanted to live.  In Masato's case, he manipulated the people around Takumi to make his rival suffer and he would do anything to get rid of all Orphnochs. 2.) They both hate the main vil...

This was one series with an interesting concept and potential but sadly, Toshiki Inoue either burned out or was what I'd call self-indulgent after his Magnum Opus Agito or a bad combination of such factors that led to this disaster.  So what went wrong with Kamen Rider Faiz?  Now I do like some of its elements but here's some factors that made me think the series was so much of a pain to watch: Another is the "Let's play pass the belt." plot is SO DAMN ANNOYING!  If you ask me how many times do the Faiz, Kaixa and Delta belts keep get PASSED AROUND?!  A lot!  And I mean a lot!  It gets really painful to play the pass the belt game.  And if you ask me, you get one user after the other.  So really what's this show about?  Pass the belt?! Masato Kusaka!  Yes him!  He's seriously one dickhead of an anti-hero or wait, THERE IS NOTHING HEROIC ABOUT THIS GUY!  He's one racist bastard, he's always being bad and there is nothing l...

From the many points in common between Toshiki Inoue and Yasuko Kobayashi, they do have a habit of putting douchebag protagonists in their shows whether it's the depressing seasons (Ryuki and Faiz) or the lighter seasons like OOO and Kiva.  Moving on... here's a collection of them as they appeared: When it comes to douchebag protagonists, Shinji, Kamen Rider Ryuki's main character is definitely one. How can I say that?  He can get pretty inconsiderate and can annoy you a lot though he does want to stop the Rider War so I can let him slide since he's not that bad of a douchebag.   Ren from Kamen Rider Ryuki is another.  Well we know how sad you are with your fiance's life at stake but you DO NOT mess up others (that's why he became Kamen Rider Knight) just to get your fiance to be better.  I was thinking he might not be as annoying as Masato but he does get annoying nonetheless.  Considering Kobayashi and Inoue were both working on Ryuki, he does...

While I'd say that Kamen Rider Faiz was a so-so season imo (I'd rather watch this over Decade), here's what's good about it for me: The Smart Brain's plot to turn humans extinct and to promote the Orphnoch.  For me the Smart Brain where they despite the fact it turns around in circles, they are somewhat like Gorgom when it comes to giving viewers a scare with nightmare fuel.  In fact, I thought that they really truly represent the darker side of humanity to where Agito and Kuuga wasn't able to cover as much imo.  For me, I'd want to see this kind of plot done again in Kamen Rider while learning from the mistakes in Faiz to make it better.  Although I like Kamen Rider Kiva better than Kamen Rider Faiz, I'd admit these guys can rip off the Fangires. The Renegade Orphnoch plot- Well we have Yuji, Yuka and Naoya who are proving that not all Orphnoch are bad in contrast to what Masato wants us to think.  I just thought that this side of the plan was one o...

Yup that's Toshiki Inoue and I wonder if he's even related to one of my favorite actresses Mao Inoue.  I was reading the post at Them's Fighting Words about Inoue and endings .  Now here's my share.  I don't know what other critics like Fantasy Leader or That Chick will think or comment, well I could accept if they disagree or agree but here's my two cents: Warning!  Spoilers ahead! Kamen Rider Agito- So far this is his BEST ENDING.  Okay I don't like Toujou (but then again, most of his actions are clearer to be more of not knowing much or being skeptical, or just following rules) and later he was tolerated.  For me, while the ending did have some WTF that is that very HIIIIIIIGH jump that Agito did to defeat the Lord of Darkness from killing off the human race, it was in fact a very passable finale.  So nobody's pointlessly killed (unlike Gai Yuki's death was really lame in Jetman).  In fact, the ending is pretty passable, meets better stan...

I finally figured out that the reason why I really can't like Faiz for myself personally was the whole thought it's reality bites.  How?  Well I'd like to share my thoughts that it's not what I see as bad writing but all these reality bites stuff makes it hard for me to like Faiz which all of these I am pretty mixed on to like or dislike these elements which are some ups and downs of Faiz: Masato is one of those characters I really love to hate because he seems to be the embodiment of "humans are bastards" trope making him very painful to watch.  All he does is whine about how much he hates Orphnochs, reminds me of the time I used to whine (or overly whine) about how much I hated certain races or shows like I am really guilty of overly whining of how much I hate much of American TV for instance.  And I'll admit I grew up having racist tendencies which this guy is also a mirror of me in some way- that is my  old self.  But not only me but also other peopl...

Well I didn't expect I would do this but as part of learning experience, I will do this.  I thought the concept was really cool but sadly, the show Faiz was too painful for me to watch.  Now I'd like to analyze them: I would say that compared to most monsters, I find them to be well lacking color for some reason.  In fact, they're like an army of living gargoyles.  IMO I didn't like their designs that much due to their lack of color.  I really thought that the concept was interesting but POORLY implemented. Now for the Smart Brain, one behind them: The head is Kyoji Murakami (Rose Orphnoch) who is the President of Smart Brain.  I pretty thought he's one really survival of the fittest maniac as he views Orphnochs as the "next step of human evolution" where some dead humans were later revived as Orphnochs.  It's pretty disappointing he wasn't the final villain in the series. Eichi Toda the temporary head, well he's really forgettable. ...

I've done reviews on Kamen Rider Agito, Kamen Rider Faiz, and Kamen Rider Ryuki now for a run-through on them. Where was he good at and where did he mess up? Well, it's time for a critique summary of these things: Kamen Rider Agito Definitely Toshiki Inoue's masterpiece well-written from start to end. Everything in this series was what I'd call finishing the work that Naruhisa Arakawa started with Kuuga. With how the mysteries and complexities were written together with characters that aren't there for just being there and then dying for dying's sake, this is his top masterpiece. For the finale, I pretty much think that it's passable but not awesome since that whole "I can jump that high do that rider kick." against the Overlord of Darkness can make anybody go O_o in some way. However, nobody was getting unnecessarily killed except if it was for plot and everything was close to perfection. Overall, too bad Inoue didn't maintain this kind o...

Well it's time for another review and I'm afraid this isn't a very pleasant one.  Just tell me if I've gotten into some bad mood swings here because this is one series I was thinking had really had me mixed.  So I get pretty mixed about this series.  Sure there was the good concept of the human/Orphnoch war or the conflicts going on but really, I would say this series is where I would practically think Toshiki Inoue needed to rethink what he did to write good and how he could write better.  Now where do I start?  So pretty much we are introduced into the world of the Smart Brain who I think is more on the stupid side, since really why are they forcing evolution on people and why do they want certain people to discard their humanity?  Also Takumi is kind of an idiot though I can tolerate him.  Along with him is that he's with Mari and the laundry boy Keitaro who does get on my nerves. So the real issue has to be with the whole get the belt, lose the ...

It's a hard to admit thing but Faiz is really one of the those quite harder to digest shows for me though it's not as bad as Decade.  SO far I am enduring it up to episode 27 and I still think there's still some cool drama though it's not as exciting as Agito was and I still like the rainbow world of Kiva better.  So compared to Agito and Kiva, it's darker.  This is where I think Toshiki Inoue as a head writer needed to brace impact.  I would admit I am already getting used to Keitaro and Mari, though I think I'll have to try and endure Delta when he arrives. Yuka's sort of a "laxative" to the show for me which is giving me "mental indigestion".  Heck, but I guess this one and I have pictures of her in my Oriental Fanatics Celebrities blog.  But as said, I really just thought I am stuck in superficiality as a way to digest this show. For the Orphonoch, why are they all gray like stone?  I just looked at the Orphonochs so this is a ...