Ratings Poll: Kamen Rider 555

[takenoko]

I'll be very interested in the results for this one. I really think 555 is a flawed gem.

It had a lot of memorable characters like Kiba, Kusaka, Kaidou, the crane girl, the Lucky Clover guys. And the Rider designs were cool.

But I wonder how people will vote? Will they take into consideration the controversial ending? Is that ameliorated considering the epilogues given in Kamen Rider Yongou and Kamen Rider Taisen? It's been over 10 years, let's talk about this series once again!

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(I personally detested the whole experience. I didn't like Takumi, Mari, or Keitarou, for one thing. It's also Inoue, so women are treated pretty horribly in the series. A lot of people say 555 is flawed because of the ending, but I say there are problems throughout the series.)

2 Stars for me. Even though I'll never watch it again, I'll have to admit there's some interesting stuff in there.

[MagusKaiser]

personally Faiz was one of my favorites I liked Mari and Takumi the only character I couldn't stand was Kusaka the guy has a list of mental issues and the arrogance of the guy drove me nuts, still it was sad seeing his end but after that I couldn't care less. the one other thing I liked from Faiz is the belt designs and the rider designs as well, I'm personally really looking forward to getting my CSM Faiz Gear in november and I'm hoping to high hell that they do make a CSM Faiz Blaster case since they're doing the Axel watch

[takenoko]

Cool, pretty good spread in the poll numbers already.

[decade368990]

I give a 4 stars for 555. I do agree there are problems throughout the series such as Kusaka being an asshole, Mari getting killed, the Lucky Clover become useless, and the survived underground train workers didn't help progress the story. Those reasons don't stop me from giving up the series because the story has interesting aspects to make the show less predictable. Takumi is somewhat similar to me who only cares about himself since he doesn't have a dream. Murakami uses his professional puns to run things. Kiba eventually turns into an anti-hero in the final arc after showing his naivety to everyone. Overall, I like 555 despite some flawed and controversial concepts to the series.

The 555 movie itself is a masterpiece to date. No other Rider movies can fill up my taste except Agito movie, Ryuki movie, Movie Taisen 2010, and W Returns: Accel.

[Ashki]

My biggest gripe was Kusaka, but other than that, the series had several factors which brought me back more than once. For starters, the amount of shippage going on in this series got one of my friends hooked on Kamen Rider. We spent the entire series yelling at Takumi and Kiba to shut up and kiss already. Good times.

Another thing I really loved was the blurred lines. Takumi wasn't your average hero. In fact, his character took several qualities from Agito and the few positive traits of Kabuto with a hint of Ryuki's indecision to form a seemingly shallow character who quickly proved to have some real depth. So Faiz was a reluctant hero, Kaixa was more a villain than half the villains, and Delta was the kiss of death for much of his inclusion. But then you had the Orphenoc, who weren't your average villains. Mr. J only fought to protect his beloved Chico (whose own story had closure), for example. The clover members each had their own motivations and relationships.

But then there were the "traitors", who wanted to live in peace with the humans. Three major characters struggled to hold the balance while we caught glimpses of other Orphenoc pacifists. This deth to the "villains" alone made me love the series.

I enjoyed the multiple mysteries and plot twists throghout the show, an they did a really good job of ting it all together by the end. Was the show perfect? No. But there was a quality to it that no other Rider series has successfully reproduced. I think Ghost tried, but without a head writer keeping things together, any attempt was largely discarded after they rescued Cubi.

4/5

[takenoko]

Heathens! Don't you know it was Kaixa day just a few days ago?! How can anyone speak ill of Kusaka Masato?!

The thing with Inoue is that it just seems like he's writing the same story again and again. I think he did the Agito versus humans things best in Agito. It was fine in 555. But it was terrible in Kiva and was a convoluted mess. (Even some of the actors are recycled!)

[D-D-D-Decade]

TAKE A LIFE! IT'S DEAD OR ALIVE, TAKE ALIVE!

[Catastrophe]

It's good. Like it is the beginning of the Inoue burn out, but I think its still good.

There is a good extended cast of characters that interact well. It's tragic and bittersweet, for both the heroes and the villains.

The rider designs are fantastic. The gear is great. The bikes are great. The monster designs are great. The music is top notch. Paradise lost was a good movie and is a level that I feel not many rider series have been able to match.

[mholden020]

It's been a while since I finished this series, but from what I can remember it was a good-but-not-great series. The story was decent, and never failed to get a "whoa..." from me whenever some unexpected plot secret was shown. I didn't know the ending was controversial at all, I actually remember it being rather fitting for the story.

Where the series lost some of my highly-valued stars was in the casting. Takumi and Kiba were perfect together, both having motives that were easy to relate to, and the actors portrayed that flawlessly. On the other end, Masato Kusaka was an appalling character. Not because he was a jackass, but that character was simply awful. I'm genuinely concerned that he could pull down my Jyuohger opinion, but I'm hoping that my issue with Kaixa was the character, not the actor. Other characters were relatively two-dimensional in my opinion, leaving Takumi, Kiba, and Masato to carry the show by themselves.

[takenoko]

Why are people so mean about Kusaka? He's like my favorite character in the show. D:

He's the only person who actually expresses any ambition. And he actually tries to do stuff. Like Kiba is idealistic and I guess Takumi means well, but all they do is react to their circumstances. Kusaka is the only guy I remember having any agency in the series. Yeah, he did some mean stuff to Takumi, but it was really Takumi's fault for getting in the way.

I feel like he's the only person who actually thinks and acts like a real person in the show.

[fenrir]

i give it a 5 for Faiz.
indeed as all of you said above, this series is not perfect. However, i watch it in 2004 i think. and at that time, many of the concept in Faiz is a GENUINE/NEW IDEA for the Kamen Rider Series (at least for me). The most important thing in here is when

Spoiler

Takumi revealed himself = Wolf Orphnock & Kiba can Transform into any Kamen Rider

this is the first time the main hero also take form as the enemy form, and it revealed in surprise i think.

i see almost everybody have problem with Kusaka/Kaixa. i REALLY2 HATE that chara as well. But hey, i think his involvement in every scheming evil plot is also the part which make FAIZ interesting & never ending tragic, confusion & other character development. i helps people to grow themselves amid all the trouble he cause for his own selfishnest. AND for the actor, i give him SALUTE!!!! he successfully make Kusaka as THE MOST HATED RIDER IN HEISEI HISTORY IMHO (2nd place perhaps = Micchy from GAIM). a character who i believe most people wish him to die/beaten in every episode (it really happends here for Micchy i read it in gaim forum i think). BUT INDEED a character with such extent of NO GOOD THING but still a "hero" is also 1 necessary thing to make audience hooked for Faiz.

i like the conflict of all 3/4 faction in the series, The Kamen Riders, The Orphnock Trio, Smart Brain & Lucky Clover.
yes, all lucky clover member have own motivation & all of them also have such an interesting character (dragon = zero in Garo & the coward=police in Agito). but i think the Snake/female member kinda stick them all. each of them is interesting & never stop plotting among themself i think.
the conflict between Takumi & Kiba is also interesting but sometimes..... way too often.

for Mari, well she's quite interesting & lovable throughout the series, despite all of her dilemma & indecision. many of her story is rooted to the core of the series actually and perhaps she is way much better in here rather than in Kiva.
BUT HEY dont forget about Keitaro Kikuchi, yes he's weak. but i think he's the weigh of normal people MORALITY in the series. and his morality does influence every other character decision in certain degree i think.

Yuka & Kaido is also an intresting character which try to redempt themself throughout the series.

Delta introduction kinda bring nothing newfor the series i think. In spite of it, Psyga is more interesting for me as THE FIRST FOREIGN ACTOR become KR. but Omega well so so, except for design.

Kaixa design is cool, but for me FAIZ AXEL IS THE BEST FORM throughout the series & AUTOVAJIN is the BEST Motorcycle for me even until now. all Orphnock design also good i think. Plus the series make some audience at that time, become interested into buying a Flip Cellular Phone (at least here & among my friends i think). Music is good

FOR THE MINUS = the story sometimes dragged too much and spend 3-4 episodes which not really necessary, the ending quite a bit confusing, although i LIKE THE FINAL ENDING in Yongou.
For the original TV series ending, the final boss arc = BLAH!!!! so bad so bad. i think even Lucky Clover is much more interesting than the final boss.

Paradise Lost is perhaps 1 of the Best KR movies, above Ryuki movie & perhaps kinda on par with G4. although yes, the ending in there as well kinda left some question & pro contra thing for the audience.

still despite some flaws in some epsiodes, the main positive factor of it is the Unpredictable Conflict, Complex Storyline, Tragic events throughout the series & good Character development. Acting is also quite good i think, and no matter people hate it, i think the best actor in here is..........Kohei Murakami as Masato Kusaka/Kaixa. he;s very good in potraying a VERY VERY VERY DESPICABLE DARK NEGATIVE CHARACTER in Heisei Rider history.

all in all Faiz = 5/5 for me despite all those imperfection. 8,8/10 actually

[MaliceMasquerade]

I give Faiz a 4 out of 5. All in all, I think it's a pretty okay season. Takumi and Kiba were the selling points for me, I just love their chemistry together. Too bad they weren't a couple. LOL! Everyone else I could care less about. Kusaka is a piece of crap, I freakin hate him. This was the first time in Kamen Rider history, at least for me anyway, where I wanted to punch the screen every time I saw him. Especially when he deliberately created conflict between Takumi and Kiba. I've never hated a rider so much, at least until Michi from Gaim.

[fenrir]

kusaka & michi are the awesome NEGATIVE rider in KR heisei history indeed

[Jehal]

Faiz was my favorite rider design for the longest time, and probably still is. Everything about his suit and equipment is awesome, and makes for the best action sequences. I also find Takumi to be one of the more relatable riders. He has trouble talking about what he's thinking, gets easily angered, and at times doubts himself in ways that aren't just the enemy trying to mess with him.
Kusaka makes the perfect blend of antagonistic anti-hero. He may fights for humanity, but he's completely narcissistic.
The story itself consists mostly of sub-plots between different characters, it's these character relationships that make me love the series so much. I don't actually think there's been a rider series that made me care about this many characters. It's perfect.
I give this series a 4/5, because it has one major flaw. Lucky Clover sucks as villains, and as much as I'd like to overlook it and still give the series a 5, the amount of screen time Lucky Clover gets as they try to stay relevant throughout the series brings it down. I would have much preferred it if the setting was Paradise Lost from the beginning; Smart Brain having already won. They wouldn't need to have tried to drive the stro yforward in that sense, as their existence would already do it for them.

[godstriker8]

+Rider designs are awesome
+Awesome twist with Takumi
+Kaixa is deliciously evil
+The dual faction story was pretty well done, especially with the bait and switch of Episode 1
+Belt voice is cool, not obnoxious like in Wizard onwards
+Some of the best fight music in the series (Dead or Alive, People With No Name)
+Story has interesting mysteries, and sufficient foreshadowing (until the last bit)

Sure the melodrama is sometimes forced, but it was still a great ride. The fastest I've ever marathoned a show at about 3 days.