Overall thoughts on this series?

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CaptainTalon448
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Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by CaptainTalon448 »

So...out of curiosity what does every think now that this series is nearing it's end? For me, I was very disappointed Haruto was very bland throughout the entire season and I felt they took too long with his backstory to the point where I didn't care
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by takenoko »

I liked it. I thought Haruto was a bit too stoic at first, but I think he got into the feeling of his character later on. He's not a hot-blooded Rider, but he gets some funny double take moments when weird stuff happens around him.

I don't think every story needs to have a strong main plot in the forefront to drive it. Wizard is a series of little battles with some major battles spread inbetween. Like Wizard versus Phoenix or Beast overcoming his thing. I find the characters amusing and endearing (except Shunpei) so it's fun to see their adventures of the week even if it doesn't seem like it's going anywhere.

But I do feel like the series does a pretty good job at dropping main plot stuff in at a reasonable pace. We start off with the mystery of the solar eclipse stuff and who is the white mage. Then we're introduced to Wiseman and start to learn about his deal with the Philosopher's stone throughout the series. All the while we have white mage guiding Haruto along. I definitely think there'll be some pay off later on for when white mage goes "This is bad that Haruto got the Infinity Style". And then we have the Iimori sister subplot to go along with that.

Hopefully all these little sub plots will get resolved in a satisfying way over the next ten episodes.
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by Go-On Macaroni »

I'm just gonna c/p what I posted on HJU --

"I'll say this - I have fallen behind twice during this show and came close to forever dropping it that same amount of times. I just have a total sense of apathy about this show that I can't seem to get rid of and it's a shame."
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by locuas »

to be honest, i am trying to save my toughts of the show until the last episode airs, because there are a few things about the series that may change depending of how the series end, but i can give my toughts in a few things:

First of all, Nitou, as a character, not as a kamen rider, was entirely pointless to the series. you could remove all the scenes with nitou, give the belt to, say, shunpei and i don't think you would need to change anything(aside for a few things here and there). he has no ties to the main story, he has no ties to the characters or the phantoms, the only reason he is around is for the eating phantoms thing, which i think wasn't effective enough.

There is a few things i liked about the characters, but when the characters acted like idiots, i just found it painful. and i especially hated the police in this series.

say whatever you want about the toys, i liked the way they introduced stuff. and the drago timer was really cool for me(even tough i still wish to make a fake opening with Wizard as a sentai team)

the rest of my toughts(including the characters and Nitou, as a Kamen Rider, not as a character) will come when the final episode airs.
Last edited by locuas on Fri Jun 28, 2013 6:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by Lunagel »

I think in some scenes Wizard has an incredible sense of quirkiness and if it was more of that and less serious then I'd probably like it more. I still do like it a lot though and I think the villains are some of the best I've seen in a while.
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by kikaida »

I really didn't like Fourze, so I found Wizard a breath of fresh air. It's been more episode driven than story driven. But I love the effects (isn't that what toku is about?) I also love Wizard's "fancy" fighting style (hey, I like Hibiki) . . . The monster designs are good and I like the "cocky" attitude that many of them have (like Phoenix, Gremlin). I could live without Shunpei and the donut queen - what's the point, besides pathetic comic relief? I would have loved a coffee shop atmosphere for their "home base" (maybe like Kiva in Kurenai's era) instead of a mobile donut stand, but since the antique shop is their "home base" I guess we need to find out where all of those yummy donuts come from (but I'd prefer another place rather than "Hungry"). Wajima's character could be stronger and more parental. Hopefully they'll tell us more about Koyomi (really want to know). . . and I really don't see the point of a second rider in this series, since Nitou doesn't seem to have a purpose (yet?) - maybe he'll be sacrificed!

Did I rant too much? 1 being bad and 10 being great - Wizard gets a 7 from me.
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by kiyominai »

I liked the series, but I would have liked it even more if they had used a bit more of Wizard's personality used in his debut appearance in the Fourze movie. I feel that Wizard, or at least Haruto has to be a bit more whimsical.
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by [kuronogantzryu] »

I liked that Haruto was rather optimistic and a bit quirky sometimes. The other characters were introduced really well and had their own charm to them so I actually cared about them. About halfway into the series is where they lost me. The characters became boring especially the supporting. They seemed to lose their reason for being a part of Haruto's crew and were really just becoming an annoyance. A few characters/moments garnered my interest but the series just doesn't capture my attention as much as it did in the beginning.
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by XIII »

could have had so much potential, but the supporting cast just make this a terrible show to watch, I cant watch more than 2 at a time and its normally a month or two gap between viewings, im just not all that interested to find out what happens next,

had they had less annoying supporting cast and a tad less comedy, this show could have been really good, but as it stands, its just another Den-O and Kiva style show for me, lots of flash, but no substance or anybody to care about
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by Kamen Rider Unknown »

Well, so far I'm enjoying it. I admit the secondary cast members has fallen to the wayside. :(

Koyomi - Didn't see the need for her to be there in the first place. Unless she has something to do with the White Wizard's plans. :?:

Wajima - Would of liked to see him in a more "father figured" role also. Dispensing advice and words of wisdom, when the need arises.

Rinko - How much longer is going to take for her to become Haruto girlfriend? Didn't see the need for her to be there either. Would've thought that her being a detective would've played a more crucial role within the show.

Shunpei - Everyone would've thought he'd be the secondary rider or a third rider. Seeing that he's not actually learning any magic, I don't see the need for him to be there either. Other then for comic relief, but he really isn't cast in that role.

Kosuke - If this show was in real life, this man would be dead already. If he has to feed on phantoms to survive, how did he last this long? That would've been nice to have been added to his back story.

But still it's a good show and I look forward to seeing how it all ends. :D
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by XIII »

Kamen Rider Unknown wrote:Kosuke - If this show was in real life, this man would be dead already. If he has to feed on phantoms to survive, how did he last this long? That would've been nice to have been added to his back story.
its not to feed him, its to feed the phantom thats within him, he only needed to do it once the phantom came to reside in him
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by butyoumight »

Shunpei - Everyone would've thought he'd be the secondary rider or a third rider. Seeing that he's not actually learning any magic, I don't see the need for him to be there either. Other then for comic relief, but he really isn't cast in that role.
Not sure how so many people have missed this and always view Shunpei as an extraneous comic relief character, but Shunpei is one of the best 'Civilian Wranglers' I can remember in recent Kamen Rider memory. He's always right there to support the Gate, to get them out of there if need be. If Shunpei is present, it's basically guaranteed that the Riders don't have to waste time worrying directly about the Gate until they drive the Phantom off/destroy it. It's actually my favorite thing about Shunpei, is how quickly he rises to that challenge, and how GOOD AT IT he is.

So, yeah, I see plenty of reason for Shunpei to be there.

As for my own opinion, I am actually loving Wizard so far. I definitely fell out of the habit of watching it sometime before the Christmas episode, even. I wasn't really driven to catch up on it until I found out one of my favored actors was going to be recurring. But once I started watching, and I really fell hard for it. It's hard to put my finger on why, with the exception of my usual love of trolling villains.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how it's going to end.
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by Kamen Rider Unknown »

Azazel wrote:
Kamen Rider Unknown wrote:Kosuke - If this show was in real life, this man would be dead already. If he has to feed on phantoms to survive, how did he last this long? That would've been nice to have been added to his back story.
its not to feed him, its to feed the phantom thats within him, he only needed to do it once the phantom came to reside in him
Yes it's to feed the phantom within him. Remember he'll die if that doesn't occur on almost a regular basis. It would've been nice to see how he managed to find phantoms before he ran into Haruto. Or is the time line within the series, have him recently turn into Beast,The Wizard?
butyoumight wrote:
Shunpei - Everyone would've thought he'd be the secondary rider or a third rider. Seeing that he's not actually learning any magic, I don't see the need for him to be there either. Other then for comic relief, but he really isn't cast in that role.
Not sure how so many people have missed this and always view Shunpei as an extraneous comic relief character, but Shunpei is one of the best 'Civilian Wranglers' I can remember in recent Kamen Rider memory. He's always right there to support the Gate, to get them out of there if need be. If Shunpei is present, it's basically guaranteed that the Riders don't have to waste time worrying directly about the Gate until they drive the Phantom off/destroy it. It's actually my favorite thing about Shunpei, is how quickly he rises to that challenge, and how GOOD AT IT he is.

So, yeah, I see plenty of reason for Shunpei to be there.

As for my own opinion, I am actually loving Wizard so far. I definitely fell out of the habit of watching it sometime before the Christmas episode, even. I wasn't really driven to catch up on it until I found out one of my favored actors was going to be recurring. But once I started watching, and I really fell hard for it. It's hard to put my finger on why, with the exception of my usual love of trolling villains.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how it's going to end.
Point out the episodes where his extraneous comic relief was on display. It seems like they are making Kosuke more of the comic relief element now.

That's all Shunpei does is tell the Gate to run or hide. But once they start going into despair, he is as useless as a hammer would be at that point. I see if he could jump in there underworld and fight the phantom. But he can only hold someone and tell them to hang in there.
Last edited by Kamen Rider Unknown on Mon Jul 01, 2013 12:05 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by chcoman123 »

My thought are...mixed. On one hand, I love the series. On the other, it's one of my least favorites.

Pros:
AMAZING villians. I seriously love the Phantoms. The designs are cool, and a lot of the commander phantoms are really complex characters. And they are...y'know, threatning? Also the series had much ebtter special effects than previous series, and thank god for it. It looks SO much better. The fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed, and are a lot of fun, especially when Wizard uses magic. I also like it of how the series is actually considerably darker than the previous Neo Heisei series (looking at you Fourze)...although that's not to say Double and OOO didn't have their dark moments, it's just that it was as consistent all the way through, only at the end.

Cons:
TERRIBLE main characters. Seriously, I'm still waiting for Koyomi, Shunpei, Rinko, and Wajima to all DO SOMETHING other than just stand there and be there for dialog options and comic relief. They are barely developed, and are NOT funny. The comedy is awful...that donut shop owner is just...my god, WHAT WERE THEY THINKING? Haruto is SUCH a bland main character, it's unbelievable. Nitou is also the worst secondary rider to date. He isn't funny, he doesn't do much, and he is WEAK. His super form is barely used and is really not strong at all. There was also too much of a focus on the episodes, and not the overall plot, making the series not very well paced.

I think my main problem with the series is that it had too much wasted potential. It could've been a great series if they made the main characters stronger and more developed. Instead we got an OK series. Ah well, at least the action and the villians were great. Actually, the aciton and villians in this series are probably my favorite of the Neo Heisei, with Double being an EXTREMELY close second. Of course, my thoughts could still change on all these things, as the series is not yet concluded, and who knows? Maybe all of a sudden it has really strong characters. I guess i'll just wait and see.
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Re: Overall thoughts on this series?

Post by Kogashi »

I'm really not getting why people at Haruto so much. True he's nowhere near as spastic or over the top as Gentarou he I don't see him as being bland... I just say Gentarou as annoyingly exaggerated. There's a subtlety to the actor's performances, the slight eyebrow raises, pitch of his voice in response to the absurd, hell his interactions with Kousuke along as hilarious, watching the wackiness of Beast bounce off the deadpan stoniness of Wizard (first shown off with the 'Bang' gag) is one of my favorite out of suit aspects of this series.

True, it does have some faults or characters who are simply set dressings but so has every Rider series, especially before Agito when you'd only have one Rider to even consider. Rinko and Shunpie, though they could be done better, are a nice set of foils to Haruto and Koyomi. Of COURSE you need Wajima to just sit in the background and occasionally make rings. There is NOTHING I repeat in all caps NOT A THING! wrong with Owner and I'm sorry all of you are so very freaked out by he/she whichever they decide to go by... Kosuke gets annoying. Would rather have gotten someone else as a second Rider but well we have Kosuke and as I mentioned before the two play off each other very nicely.

And the action, ah man, it's so nice to have a main Rider who's fight has a flair and pizzazz about it. There's a bit too much CG for the Dragon effects, and most of the Phantom's plans for driving people to despair... Well it's easy to see how they keep failing. But generally, I'm really enjoying this series... just hope they don't turn and shot themselves in the foot before it ends.
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