#YOU ARE A KAIJIN MAN WHY DO YOU WANT ALL OF THEM DEAD

[official-saul-goodman]

This old man is racist as fuck

[jokerxtreme36]

Thoughts on Zero One and Kiramager so far + extra (Spoilers)

Man it has been a while since I’ve done this. I was a bit uncertain to really come back and speak my mind on these since I feel what I say doesn’t really matter, I tend to fear what I say could be an unpopular opinion and get flack for it. I’m still hesitant on writing but I felt like wanting to write again after so long. I don’t know if I’ll bring this back but we’ll see. A lot has happened with Toku that’s surprising, I’m surprised how much Toku has been slowly getting itself up to be official over here thanks to various services like discotek and Shout Factory, in an age where you can officially watch the original Kamen Rider series and Kuuga online, If you told me that 5 years ago, I wouldn’t know what to believe.

Recap:

Been three years since I’ve done this iirc, but here’s My thoughts on the seasons I never wrote my full thoughts on.

Kyuranger: This was an up and down series for me. When I first started, I was hating it, due to awful pacing and was doing an awful job of establishing characters, especially Lucky who was hitting the marks of why I disliked Right and Takaharu, thankfully the series picked itself up around the second quarter with Scorpio’s arc and introducing Tsurugi. Would later go down and up with each arc but In my opinion, ended on a decent note. It does suck it never had a crossover with Zyuohger but I did enjoy the Space Squad crossover, which utilized the strengths of the characters really well and was ultimately satisfying.

Ex-Aid: Ex-Aid was a series I was a bit skeptical by but was one over by the end. I enjoyed Emu and his adventures and I give props for the show having two female Riders (Nico counts, fight me!). If there’s an issue, it’d be that I wish they’d just end with the crossover movie cause I feel the V-cinema’s felt like tacked on alternate endings, I do give them credit for trying to connect it to other films.

Lupinranger vs Patranger: A series I’ve seen that’s either enjoyed or disliked. I’m in the former and do like that they experimented with the concept of two different teams. I dig the idea that the Lupins are influenced by more modern Sentai that get the gimmick of the episode while the Pat’s are more akin to classic seasons where they just focus on the Monster, also doesn’t help that Japan has very low views on their justice system so the Lupins are more favorable. Plus I loved the way it ended on an open note, much like how Sanjo tends to do in his writing.

Amazons: Another divisive series and I’m leaning towards those that dislike it.On its own, it’s alright but as a series that uses elements from a classic series, it mostly is superficial in how it uses it cause the original series was remembered for how violent it could be, but there was more to it than just mindless violence. Also doesn’t help the producer’s comment on how “Recent Rider’s aren’t interesting, this series will give it it’s fangs back” saying the shows before it were not good when they were enjoyed by a lot fans. I do give the series credit for trying to write a gray moral type of setting but its flimsily written that it can come off as irritating,, especially around Season 2. Though I’ll give the movie credit for ending the series on a decent note.

Dino Force Brave: A miniseries that caught a lot of fans by surprise, since Korea commissioned a miniseries/continuation for Kyoryuger given how popular it was. It seemed promising, then I saw who was producing and writing it, instead of Sanjo returning. we got Ninninger’s writer. it retcons things like Torin’s not dead and Devius isn’t mentioned (the latter I don’t mind). The series is short which is both its strenght and weakness because for a miniseries, it isn’t given much time to flesh out the new characters, since they only have 12 minutes for each story, shows like the Ultra Fight series work since its serialized and can work as a movie, this not so much but unlike Amazons, I consider this harmless, its nothing too bad and there’s some merit to it (even if they tried saying it was canon in the last Taisen film)

Build: Now this was a series I was actually surprised by, this series is probably my third favorite post Decade Rider series. The series blends the right amount of silly and mature moments. It has a lot of memorable characters and one of my new favorite villlains in the franchise, Evolt was a great villain that really brought the stakes and made you think how this series was gonna deal with him. I remember the ending being divisive but I was ok with it since it does give an explanation for how Build could interact with the other Riders in future crossovers with how the previous seasons (minus Amazons) could connect. plus the V-cinema’s were well handled from an ok one like Cross-Z to a surprisingly Amazing one that is Grease’s V-cinema, now this is how you do a continuation.

Strongest Battle: Now this was a miniseries that caught me by surprise as well since they brought back returning actors to lead up to the next season. Seeing Arakawa still got it and made me hope to see him return writing someday (hint hint).The cast they got surprised me, some I was glad to see return and some I wasn’t too happy with like Takaharu and to an extent Kagura (but too be fair, she wasn’t as bad as Right), but I was intrigued to see what Arakawa would do with them and I was ok with how they were written here though still dislike Takaharu as a character.

Ryusoulger: Ryusoulger is a series that I’ve seen that is pretty loved from what I’ve seen but sadly I’m on the opposite side, I don’t think it was that terrible but more or less disappointing and somehow boring. Strongest Battle setup a lot of things for Ryusoul to follow up on that it felt like a downgrade, like Gaisorg being underutilized that you can tell they didn’t know what to do with him. The writing was all over the place that it was hard to be invested with the characters, who did their best with what they were given but their wasn’t much stakes. If there’s one thing I enjoyed, I really loved the ending arc for giving us not only a Female big bad but also blowing my expectations and breaking status quo, with Red not being the one to finish off the main villain. The ending arc was great yet at the same time was upsetting that the rest of the series wasn’t up to par with it. But now its gonna be the next adaptation after Beast Morphers. With Hasbro in charge, I’m intrigued to see what they do with it.

Zi-o: From the same minds behind Dino Force Brave and Amazons comes what is meant to be a big celebrate/closure of the Heisei era, but threw logic out the window for what is ultimately a fun kind of mess. I don’t mind continuity but I was iffy on how Zi-o retconned the previous seasons as not connected since that’s what they were trying to do until this series went (rip paper) whoops it broke. The series does have some merit with the idea of the Another Rider’s and showing the development of our protagonist and his attempt to defy fate. I also enjoyed when the series stopped time travelling but instead met the characters in the present day cause then the arcs were written better like in Blade and Agito’s tribute episodes. I haven’t watched Geiz’s V-cinema yet but also heard from the producer’s twitter that Woz’s V-cinema isn’t happening, which sucks cause there’s potential in it.

Now that those are done, here we go.

Kamen Rider Zero One:

Now with the start of the Reiwa era, I was hyped since we had Ex-Aid’s writer returning and we got not only a cool awesome secondary but a surprising Female Rider early on and is our third Rider. The first arc starts off strong with Aruto wanting to save the Humagears from Metsubojinrai. Things were looking good until things went downhill thanks to a certain Gold turd known as Thouser, before I get to my issues, I love his suit and how his finishers have a trademark, but that loses its charm when you see him everytime as he’s a very arrogant and obnoxious about his views on how “Humagears aren’t necessary” almost every time. There’s character’s that are meant to be hated, but then there’s characters that you just want to see go away. Once the arc ends the series thankfully pics up with Fuwa getting Rampage, Yua quitting and the return of Izakuchi and Naki. I’m interested to see where things go from here.

Mashin Sentai Kiramager:

Now this was a series I was cautiously optimistic by, since Arakawa returns to write a new series and after my disappointment with Ryusoul, I was nervous but thankfully this series is off to a good start, was surprised we started with episode 0, which does a good job setting up the main 4 before the red shows up. I was a bit skeptical on Juru since he screamed a lot of traits that they could’ve easily screwed up. Thankfully they’ve been doing a good job with Juru, he’s cheerful and imaginative but not a total idiot (what Right should’ve been) and the series has been doing a good job giving everyone their own center episode while not being afraid to take a few risks. I also enjoy the villains like Garza and his rivalry towards Juru due to having a similar ability to his brother that he despised, especially the fight in episode 4 being a highlight. I like that Juru wasn’t sure if he was qualified into being the leader but saw that his passion could help the team in his own unique way. Another thing I love is the Monsters with them going for a Showa aesthetic on mask based Kaijin but with an added twist of a Kaiju counterpart for them to fight, it’s a nice change of pace from just having them grow. The series has done a great job at bringing back an old style and breathing fresh life to it. Was scared hearing what happened to Juru’s actor but thankfully heard he’s doing ok and I’m excited to see what the series brings next.

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

BnHA 49 - 50 | Hinamatsuri 11 - 12 (FINAL) | MSO 12 (FINAL) | Boueibu HK 10 - 11 | Rokuhoudou 11

BnHA 49

“Tsukauchi…All Might…” – Come to think of it, what is Tsukauchi doing at this moment in time, anyway?

“…the ones who are smiling are the strongest.” – This reminds me of what Atro Spyker said in Rokka no Yuusha…“If you want to be strong, smile! He who can smile, even when he's so sad that he wants to die, when it's so painful that he wants to give it all up and run away, is the one who becomes strong.”

Why is there a person wearing a LLENN cap in the crowd, anyway? Is that intentional?

“What is with that pitiful back?!” – You can really see parallels between Bakugo and Izuku now between Endeavour and All Might…hmm.

Gran Torino in his prime…looks like Knuckleduster from Vigilantes somewhat.

Interestingly, the word daikokubashira (central pillar) comes to mind with all this talk about pillars. Normally I’d use that word in conjunction with a nuclear family and apparently the word can be used in a more literal sense with a house. However, in both cases, All Might is the pillar to the structure he made with society itself. Now that he’s pretty much done for, it’s like a Jenga game’s end. Everything falls apart. (Hey, I have a post on this topic in progress! Probably shouldn’t have mentioned all this…)

Hypertrophy.

All for One looks…normal when he’s dead. I thought he was creepy when he was still up and about, but now I’m no longer afraid. Ha…haha…

Hey, it’s Uwabami! Haven’t seen her in a while.

Oh, the guy in the ED is Eraserhead with his hair slung back.

Hinamatsuri 11

One more episode until we have to say goodbye to this show…I really liked it while it was around.

Isn’t Rairaiken the name of the Chinese restaurant Anzu works at…?

Wait, so Nitta’s sister knows karate?! What?! Why didn’t anyone mention that earlier?!

This scene with the ashtray reminds me of Nitta’s senpai, although I forgot what the senpai’s name is…wasn’t he in the previous episode though? I really do have a terrible memory sometimes, huh?

“Is he really just a regular nice guy?”

It’s basically the Ember Island Players all over again! Hahaha…

Hina’s shirt says doutoku. The only kanji combo I could get for that means “morals” or “morality”.

What’s up with the line about yaks, anyway?

Hina’s shirt says sugosugi = “too awesome”. Then it said “haha”, which could mean her mother…but I think it’s more the English meaning, out of context.

I’d read in an interview on Seiyuu+ that “Anzu is an angel” and that Nitta wanted to keep Anzu instead of Hina, but I never thought it meant either so literally…

“Reality (Hina) is coming home.” – LOL!

What…? Hina’s gone missing, in the mountains? What if Ikaruga took her??? Oh dear…

Boueibu HK 10

Well, there ain’t nothing more manly than sleeping in nothing but your birthday suit on a futon…right? (kidding)

I laughed so hard at Kyoutarou sneezing. The “person’s drowning” trope for fanservice at least goes back to 2004 or so – DN Angel (the anime, I believe) did it, I definitely remember that.

Poor Kyoutarou is being used as a demo dummy in this set of illustrations, LOL.

Everyone’s using the phrase nechatta, which holds some interesting implications. You see, the meaning of chatta means either completion…or the fact the action being done has negative implications. In this case, it’s both.

I think Kyoutarou called Karurusu “Karuru” or “Karu” or something.

Turtle-kun is so smol, I wanna cuddle him!

Hey, even the subs use “Martha” now…I’m so confused, still.

The word the old men want is “monster” (kaijin), but then the other word they thought of was katsukare- (pork cutlet curry), so I can see why the word was bent out of shape like that now. Notably, Karurusu didn’t age at all…

Taishi’s using the word yancha (naughty), which basically confirms he was a delinquent when he was younger. Just in a very roundabout way.

Notably, Nanao hasn’t stopped drinking tea after all those years, and Karurusu seems to have a very very long lifespan if he comments on it like that…

Inago = locust. Ichigo = strawberry. The former is correct (it’s in katakana, so there’s one stroke’s difference between na and chi).

Wow…spoilers told me I should’ve seen that coming, but watching old men transform is not my gig, so thank goodness I was spared from that ordeal…

Hey, we’re back to our old tradition of dark skies for the finale…although we didn’t have that in s2, eh?

They don’t even have voice roles for smol!Ata, Ryoma and Kyoutarou! That’s unfair!

The reason we all call the show “Boueibu” is because the staff did it first…so here’s (the next ep preview) just some extra proof of that.

MSO 12 (FINAL)

Noticeably, Yamo uses the word taoshite (to collapse), so literally his demand is to “make me collapse”…it’s a bit weird to translate it like that, which is probably why the subbers went with a different translation.

What did Mohiro ever do to be hurt like this, anyway? He doesn’t deserve to be hurt, Yamo…dangit. This is why you can’t be MVP anymore.

More montages…*sigh*

What the-orbefjvpenfp, Hyoue?! Don’t ruin the moment, regardless of whether it constitutes yaoi or not!

So…uh, somehow demons are talked about in terms of code? Y’see, this is why you need a good garbage collector.

I love how they were just called “The Hyoue Squad”, even though this show is called “Mahou Shoujo Ore”.

Gah! Anime-original characters steal the spotlight again…well, there goes my hopes for a good MSO ending, eh?

To think that Michiru’s male form is voiced by Kisho Taniyama – the guy who voiced Chuuya (Bungou Stray Dogs) – though…I still don’t match those voices with each other in my head, y’know.

…and somehow they were in Tokyo Tower. Of course, because Tokyo is the centre of the universe (sarcastic).

The thing about this show is that it’s so off-the-wall it doesn’t quite make emotional moments work, even ones like Yamo’s final handshake…sure, it kind of hit me in the feels because I’ve known this series for longer than some people, but not really…if you get what I mean.

I think Astral was thinking about this during one of the other episodes, but…they’re only bringing the topic of who Ore is to Michiru now??? Wuh???

The experience of this show wasn’t as bad as I was making it out to be in the beginning, but it wasn’t the most perfect thing either. I would rather they have done more filler with Saki and Sakuyo instead of coming up with anime-original characters to fill the gaps, but I’m also fine with what we got in the end...it’s a complex set of feelings that I don’t think I’ll ever get over. Anyways, that’s another show over and done. See you next time!

Rokuhoudou 11

Demi-glace.

Gotta love Sui’s Gendo poses! By the way, ponzu is some kind of citrus sauce.

This isn’t a particularly standout OP, but I might miss it for a week or two after this show’s end…I don’t want this show to end, actually. But as they say, be careful what you wish for.

(I still have no idea why they say “girls be ambitious” in the OP when the main stars are dudes…)

You might’ve noticed the one I like best from Rokuhoudou is Tokitaka. His voice, his hair, his caring nature (as demonstrated here with the old people), his ability to cook great food…*sighs dreamily* what a man he is!

You might not know this is you haven’t read the character pages for the show, but Tokitaka runs a pottery class. That’s why Osada and co. call him “Sensei”.

“Nagae”? I’ve never seen Sui refer to Tokitaka by his last name before! This is really something!

Oh dear, more Hotel East Side…notably, Osada is using very polite words (keigo) since she’s not really familiar with Sui.

There’s a shot where the light from the window streams on to Sui and you can’t tell if he’s wearing a kimono or a business suit…ooh, that must be symbolic in some way, y’know?

Mirin is a type of alcohol.

Rokuhoudou keeps surprising its customers…I wonder if I, as a blogger, can keep surprising people that way too…then I’d be set for life.

So that’s how Tokitaka uses unused stuff from his classes (using them at the Rokuhoudou)?! Wow, didn’t see that coming!

Osada looked like she was gonna cry, and that almost made me cry for a second!

“My father built East Side Grande.” – *spits out half-eaten food* Holy shiitake mushrooms! Rokuhoudou is best enjoyed with food, but if I keep spitting it out, I’m going to have to clean up around here…(kidding)

I didn’t even realise half the episode had gone so quickly! Yipes!

Hinamatsuri 12 (FINAL)

“It’s snow big deal.” – I get the feeling it was meant to have a pun in Japanese, but I don’t hear one when I listen to the audio…

Oh, there’s no Utako at the end of the OP! I kept skipping it, so that’s why I never knew…

Interestingly, the yuki is in kanji and the rest is in hiragana, which probably means it has to be a riff on the show’s name and not referring to any particular snow festival in particular.

Wait, forcible shipping? C’mon, they’re 13! That just lowered my opinion of the show somewhat.

Doesn’t this remind you of when Mao got stranded on the island and then made Hina go “Feed me”? She was on the ball after all…

Geez, that kid on the left (either Kengo or the other guy) is sadistic…

“Although you’ll be getting a roe deal.” – This was a pun on ikura (salmon roe)…although I can’t tell exactly how the pun works…

Is this Namahage Town, or what? What is up with all the namahage puns? Can someone tell me???

Wait, if credits are appearing here, then why is there half an episode left…?

Montage time…*sigh*

Why did a shot of Anzu appear (LOL)?

The yakuza guys are still watching that documentary?! What (LOL)?!

The horse seems to be called Eiyon Size…or something like that.

Hey, I think it was pretty accurate for “Oi, get your hands off her!” or “Oi, young man, don’t touch her!” in Chinese…or something like that. It is pretty garbled though…

LOL, Atsushi’s screaming in English though…”Mayonnaise is Atsushi!”

The monk’s name is Shinyhead (LOL)!

Ehh? Ain’t this the same scene from the beginning? Aw man, don’t make it like DN Angel…

“Watashi no smartphone ga!” Gets me every time, man.

In the end, Pruny Shinyhead just wants money, eh?...Haha.

Wait, so Pruny Shinyhead is like Mao like the boss man to Hina, huh?

That’s an actual plane company written on the side of that plane! Lufthansa! (The writing gets cut off when it’s at its most visible, though.)

So…in the end, we don’t discover what happened to Hina and Anzu three years later. Read the manga…I get it. *sigh*

BnHA 50

Noticeably, the sign says “stop!” in katakana.

I read on the wiki Shouto’s sister is called Fuyumi. That makes sense if she has an ice quirk like her mother (fuyu = winter).

“I can’t accept it. Not like this…” - Once again, you can see Bakugo in Endeavour…

Yap! (Yahoo!) News, LOL. The site doesn’t even bother parodying the purple or other style things about Yahoo!, though.

They…actually told us what happened to Ragdoll and Best Jeanist? That’s kinda sad, y’know?

Jiro’s parents are rockers? Well…that makes a lot of sense, actually.

Didn’t Brian the Sun do…yep, BnHA ED 1!

I’ve never seen a kid embarrass their dad before. It’s amazing…and so fresh.

Wow, Bakugo’s mum is…really something else. She’s got exactly the same temperament, I wonder how that family functions…

Midoriya’s shirt says “dress shirt”, LOL!

Inko’s feelings for Izuku resonated so strongly with me, I nearly cried…nearly.

I just realised…that computer in the flashback is a Windows 10. It’s got the menu and everything!

Wait…there’s an extra bit after the credits! The credits are way too long! Keep watching, keep watching…

Tartarus…? Like Alcatraz or something?

Hmm…in a lot of stories, the mentor dies. Here, the mentor doesn’t die. Good point, All for One.

Boueibu HK 11

Can I stop screaming “No duh!” every time they say “This is bad!”?

Manza the delinquent is exposed!

They’re attaching –san to the end of people’s magical aliases! Fabulous, if I do say so myself.

“We’ll stand up again and again!” – Uh, Karurusu? Kyoutarou’s sitting down…(LOL)

And…skip the transformation sequence again…and skip the purification sequence again…*sigh*

Notably, the kanji word on the wall not too far away from the pictures is “hope”.

*screams* My LOVE! boys! They’re back! (I knew they were coming because spoilers said they would, but this…this is wonderful…)

“…fail to realise…”

This entire conflict…it really is Kin-chan all over again.

This pink pigeon…is adorable! Like Turtle-kun last episode!

You can clearly see a purple hand (paw?) taking Kamopapa away, which is clearly Wao, that scoundrel of a lemur.

*voice caught in throat as Karurusu cries* Karurusu…don’t cry…

Does this mean the thing Ata wanted all along…was a handshake?

The next ep preview says "Danger is approaching King Kamopapa! Now isn't the time to be arguing!", by the way.