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[Tiu Neo]

Ex-Aid vs Pacman

Heh, I like how they acknowledged the Ex-Aid cameo on Ghost. The Ghost x Drive kinda didn't and it was weird. Even the enemy weakness was kinda smart. Of course Pacman is weak to Ghost. And thanks, Onari, for doing what I wanted to do when I first heard Poppy Pipopapo.

The story was... better than the last crossover! It made sense, and was consistent with the series. And, knowing Ex-Aid's backstory now, this was kind of cool "foreshadowing". It took quite a lot of time for they to reveal that detail about Emu in the series.

The fights were very good, and lots of out-of-suit action scenes. It's funny how bad Alain clothes are on real action moments, heh. They even added some effects for Ghost! Even the bad CG was kinda justifiable sometimes, since some of it was inside a game, heh.

It was nice seeing Tomari again, and his cameo was pretty consistent with the character and useful. And, of course, good old Kiriya. How I miss him (and hope he will come back in the series. I mean, it's possible now). Never watched Wizard, but he seems like an ok guy here. And his suit is so cool. I may even fall for the trap and watch Wizard someday. Too bad they couldn't get Gaku Sano for this, but eh... Not sure if Kouta with a wig and armor acting godlike would add much to the movie.

Ghost's new form was cool, even if a bit OP for what is a three-eyecon form. Eh, anyway. The other Riders using their different forms was cool too. Might Brothers XX was a bit off, since both parts sounded like it was Gamer Emu. The main enemy suit was very good. It was more Kamen Rider-like than the Ex-Aid Kamen Riders.

The worst parts of the movie were Nice Emu and Takeru interacting. They really are very similar in a lot of ways. And of course,

Spoiler

Takeru had to die, again. The most patetic way this time, at the ending of the movie, after everything, in a totally unnecessary scene. At this point, it would be a plot twist if he DIDN'T die in the movie.

And wtf is that effect they added to Poppy's voice? If the series has that, it's not as notable.

And you know, this movie gave me a bit of hope for, maybe someday, a good Decade style series. Or maybe a Gokaiger-Style Kamen Rider series is a better way of saying that, heh. Even if they can't get all the main rider actors, get some of them, get some of the secondary actors for the ones you can't get the main, do it as a way to show how things changed for the Rider. Kinda like they are doing with Tomari every movie he shows up.

 

[Slayven]

Ex-Aid vs Pacman

Heh, I like how they acknowledged the Ex-Aid cameo on Ghost. The Ghost x Drive kinda didn't and it was weird. Even the enemy weakness was kinda smart. Of course Pacman is weak to Ghost. And thanks, Onari, for doing what I wanted to do when I first heard Poppy Pipopapo.

The story was... better than the last crossover! It made sense, and was consistent with the series. And, knowing Ex-Aid's backstory now, this was kind of cool "foreshadowing". It took quite a lot of time for they to reveal that detail about Emu in the series.

The fights were very good, and lots of out-of-suit action scenes. It's funny how bad Alain clothes are on real action moments, heh. They even added some effects for Ghost! Even the bad CG was kinda justifiable sometimes, since some of it was inside a game, heh.

It was nice seeing Tomari again, and his cameo was pretty consistent with the character and useful. And, of course, good old Kiriya. How I miss him (and hope he will come back in the series. I mean, it's possible now). Never watched Wizard, but he seems like an ok guy here. And his suit is so cool. I may even fall for the trap and watch Wizard someday. Too bad they couldn't get Gaku Sano for this, but eh... Not sure if Kouta with a wig and armor acting godlike would add much to the movie.

Ghost's new form was cool, even if a bit OP for what is a three-eyecon form. Eh, anyway. The other Riders using their different forms was cool too. Might Brothers XX was a bit off, since both parts sounded like it was Gamer Emu. The main enemy suit was very good. It was more Kamen Rider-like than the Ex-Aid Kamen Riders.

The worst parts of the movie were Nice Emu and Takeru interacting. They really are very similar in a lot of ways. And of course,

Spoiler

Takeru had to die, again. The most patetic way this time, at the ending of the movie, after everything, in a totally unnecessary scene. At this point, it would be a plot twist if he DIDN'T die in the movie.

And wtf is that effect they added to Poppy's voice? If the series has that, it's not as notable.

And you know, this movie gave me a bit of hope for, maybe someday, a good Decade style series. Or maybe a Gokaiger-Style Kamen Rider series is a better way of saying that, heh. Even if they can't get all the main rider actors, get some of them, get some of the secondary actors for the ones you can't get the main, do it as a way to show how things changed for the Rider. Kinda like they are doing with Tomari every movie he shows up.

The swag on the hench people, especially the tall skinny dude and the woman.

 

[Tiu Neo]

The swag on the hench people, especially the tall skinny dude and the woman.

Yep, those two were always fun to watch. The woman in special kicked ass every fight she was in.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

Looks like I have a toku movie watch tomorrow.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

Everytime they play a show's theme song as the Rider cycles through all their forms...fuck, that's the best shit.

Spoiler

Ghost didn't get his own theme song though lol

 

[NeonZ]

And you know, this movie gave me a bit of hope for, maybe someday, a good Decade style series. Or maybe a Gokaiger-Style Kamen Rider series is a better way of saying that, heh. Even if they can't get all the main rider actors, get some of them, get some of the secondary actors for the ones you can't get the main, do it as a way to show how things changed for the Rider. Kinda like they are doing with Tomari every movie he shows up.

It should be a modern Skyrider if anything. Gokaiger went through the effort of getting all those actors just to get them to stand around watching, which was a big waste in its own way, even if it wasn't as dumb as Decade's, "let's NOT even try to get back the actors!" premise.

Although obviously the series was much smaller back then, Skyrider brought back 5 out of the 7 actors for Riders that existed when it aired, some multiple times though, in addition to in-suit cameos for the two didn't actually return (Rider 1 and Amazon) and for some bigger team up episodes with everyone at once.

 

[Slayven]

THe worse offeense was Gokaiger/Rider keys/Metal Hero keys. Fuck the Gokai buster

 

[vareon]

boi

 

[chaobreaker]

I'm up to episode 24 of Ex-Aid. The last arc's finale was amazing (How does one man chew so much scenery?) but looks like the series is moving on to bigger and better things.

But please tell me I'm not the only one who despises the voices coming out of the gamer drivers? The constant singing and yelling on top of yelling is grating. Even when they shorten the transformation scenes they still play nearly all the soundbites. Who the fuck in Toei thought all video games have vocal themes?

 

[NeonZ]

I don't think it has anything to do with the videogame theme, it's just how the belts are now. They've all had some kind of voiced chant/almost singing for transformations since Wizard.

 

[WarRock]

I'm up to episode 24 of Ex-Aid. The last arc's finale was amazing (How does one man chew so much scenery?) but looks like the series is moving on to bigger and better things.

But please tell me I'm not the only one who despises the voices coming out of the gamer drivers? The constant singing and yelling on top of yelling is grating. Even when they shorten the transformation scenes they still play nearly all the soundbites. Who the fuck in Toei thought all video games have vocal themes?

I think they are fine. It just a single quick line during the transformation. Not like a whole fucking poem like Ghost or constant songs like Wizard.

Also, Kageyama.

 

[vareon]

It's the gimmick of every modern belts, you just have to grit it. Even Amazons Driver had some kind of song.

 

[Slayven]

Cronos first rider kick is just like Kabuto's first rider kick

 

[Tiu Neo]

It should be a modern Skyrider if anything. Gokaiger went through the effort of getting all those actors just to get them to stand around watching, which was a big waste in its own way, even if it wasn't as dumb as Decade's, "let's NOT even try to get back the actors!" premise.

Although obviously the series was much smaller back then, Skyrider brought back 5 out of the 7 actors for Riders that existed when it aired, some multiple times though, in addition to in-suit cameos for the two didn't actually return (Rider 1 and Amazon) and for some bigger team up episodes with everyone at once.

Not sure how possible it would be, since a lot of main riders got too famous for Rider, but that would be even cooler, yeah. Even if the returning Riders are the ones that show up and return. Gattack showing would be almost as cool as Tendou, imo. They could get one of the older Riders to be a mentor-loke figure or something, too, probably Fujioka or Kurata, that always show up.

Cronos first rider kick is just like Kabuto's first rider kick

Kabuto Rider Kick is far from my favorite, but also fits the character perfectly. If Cronos fights like Kabuto and Krim, I already like him.

 

[Sibersk Esto]

Not sure if posted elsewhere but

Gosei Sentai Dairanger Actor Tatsuya Nōmi Passes Away at 47

RIP

 

[Toxi]

Cronos first rider kick is just like Kabuto's first rider kick

Chronos in general is a giant Kabuto reference.

I love the clock effect for his spinning kick.

 

[Slayven]

Chronos in general is a giant Kabuto reference.

I love the clock effect for his spinning kick.

I love style in finisheres, mixnign Kabuto And Accel Trial is will do that.

 

[Jeffrey]

haven't watched current toku this year. any of the 2 superhero time shows worth catching up?

 

[Big One]

haven't watched current toku this year. any of the 2 superhero time shows worth catching up?

Ex-Aid is the best KR show since Gaim. Check it out.

 

[ShadowSwordmaster]

haven't watched current toku this year. any of the 2 superhero time shows worth catching up?

Yes. Both of them are really good.

 

[NeonZ]

Not sure how possible it would be, since a lot of main riders got too famous for Rider, but that would be even cooler, yeah. Even if the returning Riders are the ones that show up and return. Gattack showing would be almost as cool as Tendou, imo. They could get one of the older Riders to be a mentor-loke figure or something, too, probably Fujioka or Kurata, that always show up.

Considering at least VA work for games, Kuuga, Kabuto, Den-O, W (Philip) and Fourze seem to be the only main Heisei Riders that would have no chance of returning. For the Showa ones, there's Rider 2 (burn marks), V3 (health), Riderman, Stronger (deceased) and Super-1 (involved in a scam) who wouldn't return. With a year long show, they'd have a much easier time fitting the schedule for everyone else though, comparing to a Toei movie shooting which needs to be finished in a couple of months.

In some cases they could be replaced like you suggest there, like going with Gattack, rather than Kabuto or the usual Momotaros rather than Ryotaro for Den-O, but I think they could pull a good episode out of, for example, helping the police alongside a distant suit-only Kuuga.

 

[Tiu Neo]

Considering at least VA work for games, Kuuga, Kabuto, Den-O, W (Philip) and Fourze seem to be the only main Heisei Riders that would have no chance of returning. For the Showa ones, there's Rider 2 (burning marks), V3 (health), Riderman, Stronger (deceased) and Super-1 (involved in a scam) who wouldn't return. With a year long show, they'd have a much easier time fitting the schedule for everyone else though, comparing to a Toei movie shooting which needs to be finished in a couple of months.

In some cases they could be replaced like you suggest there, like going with Gattack, rather than Kabuto or the usual Momotaros rather than Ryotaro for Den-O, but I think they could pull a good episode out of, for example, helping the police alongside a distant suit-only Kuuga.

Hibiki too, his actor was let go by TV Asahi, and it was not friendly, iirc. But they can still get the other Riders, get Asumu as a character, not a Rider, and do a lot of things with it, I guess. Hibiki had his apprentice in the end of the series, after all.

EDIT: Wait, older Amazon is avaliable? They should have gotten him on Decade or on any crossover movies, since someone at Toei apparently loves him so much, heh.

 

[Jeffrey]

Yes. Both of them are really good.

both? I couldn't watch more of sentai because the red ranger pissed me off so much in the pilot eps lol. Does he get better?

 

[Big One]

Considering at least VA work for games, Kuuga, Kabuto, Den-O, W (Philip) and Fourze seem to be the only main Heisei Riders that would have no chance of returning. For the Showa ones, there's Rider 2 (burn marks), V3 (health), Riderman, Stronger (deceased) and Super-1 (involved in a scam) who wouldn't return. With a year long show, they'd have a much easier time fitting the schedule for everyone else though, comparing to a Toei movie shooting which needs to be finished in a couple of months.

In some cases they could be replaced like you suggest there, like going with Gattack, rather than Kabuto or the usual Momotaros rather than Ryotaro for Den-O, but I think they could pull a good episode out of, for example, helping the police alongside a distant suit-only Kuuga.

Isn't Phillip's case more on TOEI's end? I hear the actor basically said TOEI never tried getting him back.

What's going on with Gentarou's actor, though? Does he dislike the role like Kuuga did?

 

[BudokaiMR2]

both? I couldn't watch more of sentai because the red ranger pissed me off so much in the pilot eps lol. Does he get better?

I'm not caught up completely, but the last ep. (11 I think) I saw made it seem like there may be a somewhat interesting back story for him. Not sure where it is gonna go though.

 

[NeonZ]

Isn't Phillip's case more on TOEI's end? I hear the actor basically said TOEI never tried getting him back.

Nah, I doubt it. In the beginning, he did return for post series material several times, both live action and games. But after he stated trying to change his image, he never returned for anything - neither live action nor games or events. He has stopped trying to change his image for a while though, but even so hasn't done anything Rider related.

What's going on with Gentarou's actor, though? Does he dislike the role like Kuuga did?

Apparently he just got too big to fit in Toei's payroll. Wizard's finale was partially written with getting him back as a possibility (which is probably why there's that set up with Haruto getting the Fourze ring that goes nowhere), but obviously it didn't work in the end.

 

[vareon]

Decade's AU Riders were an already good plan to show old Riders without the baggage of having to show every past actors while still being interesting. Too bad it just went nowhere fast.

 

[Tiu Neo]

Decade's AU Riders were an already good plan to show old Riders without the baggage of having to show every past actors while still being interesting. Too bad it just went nowhere fast.

I'm divided on that. It was fine when it was well made, but in some cases it was just weird. Kiva and Amazon were very bad, for example.

However, the Hibiki episodes made me watch Hibiki... expecting something very different from it, heh.

 

[Watch Da Birdie]

The ending of Ex-Aid this week was hype as shit.

 

[NeonZ]

Decade's AU Riders were an already good plan to show old Riders without the baggage of having to show every past actors while still being interesting. Too bad it just went nowhere fast.

The problem with that plan is that it meant they didn't even try to get some of the actors they could get, which is something silly to do for an anniversary season. Losing their past history also breaks some of the connection with them.

 

[jwk94]

Hmm, guess I gotta watch the Ex-Aid movie. That aside, Chronos (It's not actually Chronus is it??) is kicking ass already. He probably had my favorite rider debut in a long, long time.

 

[Tiu Neo]

Amazons Season 2 - 7

This Chihiro and Iyu thing is getting boring, they are forcing it a bit too much, every episode. At least everything else is interesting. And even that is at least progressing a bit every episode.

That said, Jin showing all fucked up and savage was badass. And that twist at the end... that final scene. Oh boy.

Spoiler

I kinda expected Chihiro to be related to Jin,
last episode, but more like an experiment, not as his son.

Next episode will be a good one... if they drop the whole Iyu thing for a bit and focus on Chihiro and Jin.

 

[NeonZ]

Hmm, guess I gotta watch the Ex-Aid movie. That aside, Chronos (It's not actually Chronus is it??) is kicking ass already. He probably had my favorite rider debut in a long, long time.

Every official material calls him "Cronus" so far. People want to call him Chronos just because he has time powers, but even the Ancient Greek themselves associated Cronus with Chronos since Cronus was originally just a seasonal harvest deity, which is pretty lame for Zeus' father and leader of the Titans.

Cronus identity also fits his role

Spoiler

as a father of a self proclaimed god

and Toei used "Saturn" (Cronus' Roman counterpart) as a god with time control in Saint Seiya Omega, so associating him with time isn't just due to the similar spellings of their Greek names.

 

[Boss Doggie]

Cronus is the official romanization and the intentional name. Befitting too, since he is the father of the gods (i.e.

Spoiler

father of Kuroto Dan

). However Chronos and Cronus (whose alternate spelling is Kronos) share the same spelling, and even the Greeks confuse the two. It's why the concept of "Father Time" was created, since it's essentially mixing the two out of confusion. How apt too - considering Father Time also has Grim Reaper motifs.

Also, don't forget the whole Japanese pun. Since Chronos and Cronus are pronounced so similarly, Japan plays along with it.

 

[Sandfox]

Decade's AU Riders were an already good plan to show old Riders without the baggage of having to show every past actors while still being interesting. Too bad it just went nowhere fast.

Fans didn't like the Decade AU Riders.

 

[chaobreaker]

Apparently he just got too big to fit in Toei's payroll. Wizard's finale was partially written with getting him back as a possibility (which is probably why there's that set up with Haruto getting the Fourze ring that goes nowhere), but obviously it didn't work in the end.

How famous is he? I know Kabuto's actor is gotten pretty big and even had a role in a HBO show.

 

[WarRock]

Worst Season x Best Season: Pac-Man Fever
This movie is... good??? What the hell. Good pacing, decently shot when compared to 90% of other toku movies, I'm shocked.

Let's go with the bad first. Villains are MCU tier of pointless, you don't even care they're defeated. Also, they are just so much more badass in human form. I'm not sure why genome scientists are shaolin masters, but WHEW. A shame the wrestler barely fought compared to the other two, and at least the design of the "main" villain is cool as hell.

Then we get to Haruto and Kouta. At first I thought Haruto was in to justify Tomari transforming again, but that was Kouta's function in the script, except he just goes alone for one single scene after that making him totally useless and hamfisted, while making Haruto looking useless too, since he totally was a (obvious) red herring for a whole two minutes before avoiding a simple fight scene as a "grand plan" for Takeru and Emu. I normally don't care for sudden apparitions of older Riders just on the rule of cool principle, but everything else in this movie is justified and coherent, those two ended sticking out. Wouldn't be hard to add an extra with Haruto doing something else. Oh, and the police kinda not reacting to him felt weird.

Sound mixing still is complete garbage and you can't hear shit of the Drivers.

Now, the good.

The general vibe is fucking great. Riders being bros and veteran heroes is the best and incomparably better to them being rivals due to misunderstandings. And this movie got all of the continuity both in the current show and between the older ones, it's such a treat. Good fanservice all the time. Emu and Takeru being bros that admire each other feels natural. Tomari being a badass family man too. Hiiro and Taiga development fits right into Ex-Aid, as does the overall plot, with some nice foreshadowing to what is going on now. BEST BOY Kiriya had the best untransformed fight easily, dem flip kicks!

Fights are all good except for the Pac-Man x Ghost Ex-Aid + Ex-Aid Ghost, but at least that was short. And holy crap, there is a Lv1 form of Kagan Ghost and it looks better than Lv2. Why. How.

Takeru saying he is afraid of dying after dying like 4 times in less than one year is pure bollocks, but so is Takeru as a character so whatever.

Spoiler

And then he fucking dies again, god damn it.

The MV moment with each Rider is basically there to remind us that the Gaim OP is the best one in years. Ghost's new form is meh and failed to impress next to Mighty Brothers XX Rider Kicking like there is no tomorrow.

Did I mention how good the continuity is in this?

This is a fine action movie with fanservice for Rider fans. Everybody has their moment (even Onari and Poppy, even though they barely appear or do stuff), the "victim of the week" doesn't steal the focus of the actual characters neither is annoying, everything falls into a nice setup for the Ex-Aid show, itjustworks.gif

Veredict: 4 ghosts outta 1 pac-man, would be better with a fight between Kiriya and chinese sword girl.

 

[BossRush]

How famous is he? I know Kabuto's actor is gotten pretty big and even had a role in a HBO show.

The deal with Kabuto's actor is that he also made his own Agency so he could do whatever he wanted. If I'm remembering that correctly.

 

[WarRock]

Kabuto's actor pretty much walked the way of Heaven IRL and is able to do whatever he wants.

 

[jwk94]

I'd kill to see Tendou return one more time.

 

[vareon]

The problem with that plan is that it meant they didn't even try to get some of the actors they could get, which is something silly to do for an anniversary season. Losing their past history also breaks some of the connection with them.

Personally I'd rather have a season where the OU Riders are treated as something mythical (each time they appear, it's special) than the "whoever can come, please come and we'll write some kind of story about you" approach today. Decade started the good way, with both original Kiva and AU Kiva appearing close to each other so we can assume the original Riders does exist somewhere.

 

[Zynx]

Ex-aid keeps on being awesome. I honestly think it'll become my favorite series if it keeps up when all is said and done. Lots of really good ideas - I really think everything about Genm Level 0 is ingenious, for instance. The characters, the plot twists, the oneupmanship, everything is so slick. Each new OP ability as they get introduced. Kamen Rider Chronicle is Kuroto's game. Not anymore, it's now Pallad's game. And now!

It also helps that the game motif also means the usual shitty overlaid explosions can be replaced by something that is still kind of cheap but fits better with the theme and aesthetics.

Also, I haven't been reading spoilers, so I don't know if they make my following wild guess more or less likely:

Spoiler

Will Nico become Cronos too? After all, she did get infected multiple times by different bugsters.

 

[ash321]

Hot take after watch the new Ex-aid.

Spoiler

Emu will become Gemdeus.

 

[Slayven]

I like Cronus only refers to people as their game. And killing someone is discontinuing their product

Hot take after watch the new Ex-aid.

Spoiler

Emu will become Gemdeus.

Spoiler

Hotter take Emu is Gemdeus, but it will be refined into his finale form

 

[Jaeger]

What an epic episode Ex-Aid was this week. Same for Amazon. Geez. Now on to Kyuranger.

Spoiler

And characters that control time are always badass.

 

[60EffPeeEss]

Spoiler

Will Nico become Cronos too? After all, she did get infected multiple times by different bugsters.

Spoiler

Nah, she can't Game Clear Lovelica now, so they're stuck without the antibody developed through claiming his gashatrophy. Masamune seems to want the game to last forever, so he's going to freeze the final three bugsters eternally, meaning Palad and Graphite are next for going out of stock.

 

[Tiu Neo]

Worst Season x Best Season:
This movie is... good??? What the hell. Good pacing, decently shot when compared to 90% of other toku movies, I'm shocked.

Yeah, that kinda surprised me. I was expecting just another meh crossover movie, but it was consistent with both series, and with itself.

They should do something like that from now on, even if they don't get the older riders to show up.

Spoiler

Nah, she can't Game Clear Lovelica now, so they're stuck without the antibody developed through claiming his gashatrophy. Masamune seems to want the game to last forever, so he's going to freeze the final three bugsters eternally, meaning Palad and Graphite are next for going out of stock.

Damn Nintendo Genm Corp. and it's artificial scarcity.

 

[Urban Scholar]

Chronos has the baddest finisher. I said got dayum. Rewinded the clock & saw it :3

 

[Stuart444]

Kyuranger - 15

So another good episode, plenty of Hammy, some Raptor and Naga continues to be amazing.

The stuff with Stinger/Champ was also nice to see and looks like next week's episode will focus on them.

I was kinda shocked though that

Spoiler

Naga was selected without Balance in the kyulette chance.

 

[BatDan]

Kyuranger 15

It may have just been a beach, but it's nice to get an episode on another planet.
Hammy is shaping up as one of the better Kyurangers.
Next week looks hype as hell.

Ex-Aid 32

Holy shit! Masamune/Cronos just came and wrecked everything! Even has a roundhouse finisher! Emu's final form must be insane in order to take out time abilities.
This season has been too good!

Amazons 20

Jin's back! With added "blind warrior" points.
AND he's Chihiro's dad! That explains why he's such a punk, he's only mentally four or five.