Kabuto...Love it or Hate it?

[Kamen Rider Raven]

I haven't decided if I'm gonna watch the Movie yet I've only seen one thing from it that makes me wanna watch it.

The movie was pretty good. The main series straddled the line between "dark" and "comedy". The movie went totally dark IMO.

[Susan]

I'm still watching this one, and I just got to the part where it goes a little... weird. I was soooo confused by episode 31/32. I suspect my confusion will now only increase.

I've been loving this series so far, but it's only my second Kamen Rider series so I don't have much to compare it to.

Still, it's kind of... WTF?

[That Guy]

Ah, you're in the mini-fillers. Don't worry, they only last those two eps, maybe a third.

[Susan]

I've watched up to episode 43 now and I'm still thinking "WTF?" There have been a few more filler episodes, such as the school arc, and Tsurugi's hilarious adventures (But I love Yamamoto Yusuke, so that's fine). The Hopper brothers seem to be pure filler no matter how you look at them, as well.

I feel like around episode 30 the writer and staff had some kind of mental break because Tendou's character seems to change completely. He was so laughably serious up until around there, but then in the following episodes he's an emotional roller coaster ride. One second he's as cool as ever, and the next second I'm wondering if he's really being mimicked by a worm (I already knew about Dark Kabuto before I started watching). There are times when his sudden change in demeanor is really a lot of fun, but there are other times when I can't help but wonder where he left his brain. How do I best describe this... He's almost TOO complex. It's hard to understand what his motives are sometimes, and where they come from.

Well, only 7 episodes left so I guess I'll where this all goes. I think I read the last 5 are disappointing... I guess I'll find out tomorrow!

[dancercotillion]

>>Susan
I feel the writers waited a bit too long to start introducing human elements to Tendou. They were so hellbent on keeping him as this immovable axis upon which every event turns, that when it came time to make him sympathetic, they didn't have a lot of time left. He gets really whiny towards the end, which frustrated me to no end.

[Susan]

I agree with you. There are some little things that they've chosen to introduce so late that could have been added in earlier without losing any story and it would have made Tendou's change in attitude more gradual.

[takenoko]

I don't know, I really enjoyed Tendou as being perfect and always in control. He definitely needed some level of humanity to make him believable, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a super hero in a children's show

[dancercotillion]

I don't think anything's wrong with that either, takoneko, but it's almost as if they had a big list of foils and character ideas sitting tacked up on the writer's board, and just... forgot about them, or something. The amount of abrupt shifts and plot twists thrown about for Tendou were just crazy for the timeframe we got them in. But maybe, paced one episode a week, it's not quite as bad. I'm not about to start watching these shows over the course of a year to find out, however!

[Susan]

I don't know, I really enjoyed Tendou as being perfect and always in control. He definitely needed some level of humanity to make him believable, but I don't think there's anything wrong with a super hero in a children's show

No, I agree with you! I thought he was great as he was in the beginning of the series. I have to admit that I laughed at times at how arrogant and serious he was, but that was a great aspect of his character. But I do wonder what was going through the writer's minds to leave out those human quirks until so near the end. What I mean is, they could have just as easily put some of his funny "out of character" reactions earlier on and it would have made his change in attitude later seem less abrupt. For example, when he actually makes bad-tasting food, or when Juka talks about love and he freaks out, mistakenly thinking she has a boyfriend.

But the series still good the way it is! Maybe dancer is right and it would be better if you're watching it at a slower pace than I am. Still, if it were bad I wouldn't be watching it, let alone at this lightning-fast pace.

[takenoko]

takoneko

I am the darkness that flaps in the night, I am the cat in the taco

But I do wonder what was going through the writer's minds to leave out those human quirks until so near the end.

There is the Hajime style "I will protect the little girls!!!!!" thing that they hint about. I think the series would have been better if it were more "ow, I got defeated, hey Kagami, I need your help buddy", like more so than it already was

[Kogashi]

I am the darkness that flaps in the night, I am the cat in the taco

You, are Darkwing Take?

[dancercotillion]

SQUIDCAT.

[spincutEdge6272]

I just started watching it (I'm up to episode 7 right now), and I'm really liking the series. I love the seriousness of Tendou and the mystique that surrounds Hiyori, but my favorite character so far has been Kagami. He reminds me of Shirai Kotarou (from Blade) with the way he's always a pushover, but not in the flat-out ridiculous way Kotarou was. And yeah, thanks to Wiki, I learned he's gotta be Gatack, which is making me eager to watch the series through.

So yeah, to answer the main question, I'm loving it.

[Susan]

I finished it!

Well, I still have the HBV and God Speed Love to watch, but the series is over!

Honestly, the ending was a bit abrupt. Things didn't quite come together in the end... I kept waiting for him to master the hyper zecter and hop around time doing all the things he had seen himself do. I always suspected that Mishima was a worm but he ended up being a bit of a lame final villain. Tsurugi was way cooler. He was the man that stood on top of all worm, after all!

Yeah, I liked it! It was fun to watch.

[wingform84]

Well I just finished watching the movie tonight, a few minutes ago in fact, and I must say this series was.. it was good but disappointing at the same time?

Spoiler

1.) I loved Clock Up.
2.) The only thing about having so many riders is the fact well they'll all end up fighting each other. Rider technology in the different series all seem to come from the same place, yet somehow they end up fighting. All the Zect ones fought each other, all three in Faiz did, and now in Kiva both Kiva and Ixa are always at each other's throats. Den-O is the only series I've seen that they didn't fight, unless you wanna count the movie and evil mr. Gao Form. It seems kinda odd to me because they're all fighting for the same thing, to destroy whatever random thing is invading earth at the time.
3.) The movie tied up some loose ends for me, such as the obtainment of the belt by Tendou, but at the same time that part was even different. In the series even though it was the same "small meteor" that smashed Shibuya, suddenly there was no wall between Tendou and Hiyori, they were both under rubble and face to face.
4.) As far as the left over Tendou, I think he was the one that kept popping up all those times in the series that were just explained away by series Tendou saying he "must figure out how to use it properly in the future". Including the time that Hiyori was saved toward the end from the rider kick and the time hyper kabuto saved Gatack and normal kabuto. I know he gave his belt to his young self but something I thought was odd was that at the beginning of the series there were two belts for Kabuto. The one Zect had built, and the one from the alternate timeline. Maybe somehow future Tendou had gone forward and gotten the second belt, went back again and gave that one to his younger self, or even just went and did all those mysterious appearances before he gave up his belt. I dunno but that kinda makes sense to me.
5.) The ending to the series was so weak. Turning everyone into "natives" and all was a good plan, but it just felt so rushed, and reading what other people have said I think I'm not the only one to feel that way.
6.) Last thing before I go to bed (its 3 AM lol) is.. why did they keep humming/having background music playing "God Bless America" in the movie? That drove me nuts... Hiyorri hummed it while she cooked, on the motorcycle with Kagami, then when she died both Tendou and Kagami hummed it along with an orchestra. Has it been turned into another song in Japan that I'm unaware of, or was it just them being random?