Battle Fight! Round 1: Skyrider vs. General Monster

If there's one overriding theme to every Kamen Rider series, it would be that, quite simply, there is nothing a kick in the face can't solve. And with so many of those being dealt out over the years, it's hard to pick favorites. But if I had to choose the really memorable battles off the top of my head, one that springs to mind instantly is the very first throw-down between Skyrider and his original heavy-duty villain, General Monster, in New Kamen Rider episode #4. Why? Because it just serves as further affirmation of my belief that Skyrider is a total butt-kicking badass.

A little context is needed for this one: In a mold-breaking change of pace, the final battle of the episode does not come down between Skyrider (still being called just "Kamen Rider", but let's not get into that now) and the Kaijin of the week. Rather, this episode's monster, Sasoranjin, just got shot full of arrows by Neoshocker because he, who's actually a she, and...well, it's complicated, let's just say that the woman who got turned into Sasoranjin had a kid sister, and upon finding her again blah blah blah regain memories of former self blah blah betray evil guys and all that jazz. Anyway, point is, Skyrider arrives on the scene too late to save the turncoat Kaijin.

He pulls out the arrows as she reverts to human form, gives some parting words ("Take care of my sister") and the does the Neoshocker dissolve thingy all those early New Kamen Rider Kaijin do.

Needless to say, our hero is now pretty ticked off.

SNAP!* Yeah, bet you saw that coming. To make matters worse, who should start laughing it up than...

General Monster! Skyrider and him talk trash for a while, before he goes through the motions and sics the requisite legion of henchmen, whom Skyrider pretty much decimates, because by this point he's mad as hell and he ain't taking it anymore! Watch as Skyrider kicks several guys in quick succession, and we see it all from his point of view! Keep in mind now, this is the first meeting between Skyrider and the General (who's been lurking in the shadows for the past 3 episodes, seen only by us and everybody else who isn't Skyrider) and generally, these first meetings never end well for the heroes (see Rider 2's first encounter with Colonel Zol, you'll understand what I mean.)

Before he can deliver the killing blow on the big man, Monster teleports away to mock Skyrider some more from the safety of the local Neoshocker base. Or so he believes.

Our hero summons his trusty Sky Turbo...

...and you know what comes next.

RIDER BREAK!

Now, General Monster is pretty shocked at this turn of events, but his world's about to get even more painful. Because what does our fightin' mad hero do?

He nearly runs him over! This is followed by a serious Rider beat-down.

Watch as Skyrider hits Monster so hard, things just randomly start exploding. This being a 70's Rider series, it all culminates with everything blowing up.

While General Monster does live to fight another day (the final showdown between him and Skyrider comes in #17) let's look at what just happened:

Neoshocker killed one of their own monsters when the latter turned against them. Skyrider arrived too late to save him/her, and, stricken with grief, he just flipped the @#$% out and hammered a ton of guys into the ground, then drove right into the enemy base just to track down and beat up a character who, going by standard Rider Logic™, should have been home free after teleporting away. And then everything blew up.

So I guess we can declare the winner to be, without a doubt, Skyrider.

Ultimate Solid 3 Update

It's Thursday, as in the day after Wednsday, and the day before Friday. In other words, one of my busiest days of the week. But check it out:

From cow-spot. Looks like Cyclones in scale with the FIRSTy Riders will be released seperately. Everything comes out in March 2007. And Riderman has interchangeable arms!

Also, if you haven't done so, I highly advise picking up the C.O.R. Zectrooper if you can. This guy's got everything, including stuff that may not even appear on the show at this point, but hey. Seeing as how the regular Bandai RHK Zectrooper was pretty lightweight (unless you were lucked enough to get one of the many exclusive versions), this one more than makes up for it with tons of weapons and bonus parts. He's even got an interchangeable head that can be swapped out for a regular motorcycle helmet, so you can recreate the scene where one of the 'troopers drives up on Gatack's bike. You know, a scene that lasted like 10 seconds. Whoa!
If you like Kabuto, Zectroopers, or just neat figures in general, this is one to get, it's a great toy.

Tomorrow: Back to the usual nonsense with the first ever installment of IKRB Battle Fight. Yes, it'll be as bad as it sounds.

Kamen Rider Kabuto PS2 Videos

It's out! If you're lucky enough to be in Japan right now, the Kamen Rider Kabuto PS2 game is out in stores.

While I'm not expecting to play it until Christmas, there's a couple videos up on Youtube (thanks to tenza over at Henshin Justice Unlimited for pointing to these out.) Be advised there are some small spoilers, if you're trying to avoid knowing who's in the game for some reason. I for one can't get enough of the "advisory" in the first one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFzjUCgj-28
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc-9FCR0UrQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Nt5xGO3PY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxPR7QSkaYg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfKtDu4K_7g
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgttxR2xKxw

And check out the loading screen mini game!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQ0bQdGTX1k

All Rider Machines Go!

Since I can't possibly think of a way to top last night for at least another few days, here's some stuff that's slightly more educational. I think every Kamen Rider fan has, at point or another, wanted to own their very own version of one of the many Rider Machines, those indespensible partners to our masked heroes. Who wouldn't want to go to work or school on the Cyclone, running down would-be world-conquerors as they cruise into the drive-through? Well okay, maybe that's just me, but you know what I mean.

I can't really help you with that, mostly because 1) who do I look like, Tachibana? and 2) I have no clue how to put together a Rider Machine that isn't 1/15 the real size, made of plastic, and already pre-painted by some guys in China. But I can direct you to the pros:

Honda, which has been the steady provider of Rider Machine bases since about 2001, has an actual page (in Japanese) which showcases the real motorcycles that were used to make iconic bikes like Blue Spader and Kabuto Extender, as well as a few neat bonuses like Shinji's moped. Check it out here.

Unfortunately, no such page exists for the older, pre-Agito bikes, but you can still check out the names of the bikes (and in Ridoron's case, car) they were based off of at this neat fan site. (Also in Japanese)

So if you've got plenty of time and a lot of dough, you can build your very own Rider Machine replica, because now you'll know what Toei once used, and knowing is half the battle.

Also, in a bit of news that I'm sure excites me more than 99% of the people reading this, Skyrider is getting the DX Medicom treatment in May of '07...just in time for someone's birthday!

Ask the Experts: The End of Kabuto

With Kamen Rider Kabuto nearing its conclusion in a few more weeks, the question on a lot of people's minds is simply this: "How will it end? Will it be the finale to rule over all others, or will it just be another big confusing mess that resolves little and has everyone get run over a bus at the end?"

The show has been such a roller coaster ride that it's difficult to say how exactly the ending will turn out, and beyond the magazine pics that have hinted at an inevitable final showdown between Kabuto and Dark Kabuto (which could happen next week, for all we know) there really isn't much else other than speculation, unless you're either working on the show or can somehow see the future. And seeing as how I neither work for Toei (yet) nor am I psychic (working on that too) I have absolutely no clue.

Fortunately, I do have many connections on the inside.

Unfortunately none of them know either, but that didn't stop me from asking for their opinion on just how Kamen Rider Kabuto will end!

***

Hundred-Eyed Titan
Black Satan Officer

Hahahahaha! Insolent fools! I will crush you a-

....what? The end of Kamen Rider Kabuto? I have no clue who that even is.

....I see. Is this "Kabuto" related to that meddling Stronger?

...he is? They're both beetles you say? Well @#$%! He'll be destroyed too, by the might of Titan!

...what? Who is this "Kuuga" person and why does he have a "Titan" form?

...wait, there's another Rider villain named Titan? Since when!?

***

FIRSTy Ichimonji Hayato
Professional guy who looks like other people

First things first, I am not your dead fiance. Well actually I am, but I'm not. You see, I was only pretending to be him to get close to you, as I magically look just like him. But I'm not really him, okay? I just look like him, and sound like him, and I feel the same way about you that he does about...er, he did about you. Did, as in the past, because he's not here any more, and he's especally not me. I'm also not that psychic dude either, he's another guy. Wait, maybe he is me. I forget. Who am I again?

Oh, Kabuto? I have no idea how he's going to end up, but I know that I'm not him, I can promise you that much.

***

Kenzaki Kazuma
Full-time Kamen Rider, BOARD-certified

Oh wow, Kabuto! What an exciting year it's been, right guys? That Tendô, he's a really cool guy! Like Tachibana-san and Hajime-san combined! Wow! Kinda like that Titan guy we fought once. No, not the eyeball dude Stronger-senpai fought, the other guy who was- oh wow, look, TheBee is coming back! Cool! Kamen Rider TheBee! Bzzzzzzzzzzzz! That Yaguruma guy was super cool, too bad he was gone for so long, but he's back! As Kick Hopper, that's cool! I bet he could have taken that Locust Undead no problem!!! Well, anybody could have taken him, he was weak!! I took that one down without even using any cards! Wait, I did use one, but it was so fast, nobody saw it! I remember that, then there was Tachibana-san standing there watching and I was all like "Tachibana-san what are you doing!?! I need help Ahhhhh!!" That was so crazy! I bet Kabuto's ending will be even crazier, hey anybody want to go help me fight the Undead? That's a Kamen Rider's job, right? Fight monsters, save peopel, for great justice! Wooo! C'mon, hope on my bike, we've got a date with some ugly undead monsters, yeah! Oh wait my cell phone is ringing, hey Kôtarô man what's up? No not that Kôtarô, the other one who wrote the book about me an made a ton of cash and now lights cigars with 10,000 Yen bills while I'm working as a garbageman but man, can he throw one hell of a party! Well, that was actually Amane's birthday party, but he's like her uncle or something, right? Yeah! That was wild, I just wish he had brought some of those bunny girls along, where did they go for the rest of the movie? Instead I got stuck dealing with Larc, man if Hajime were around more he would have totally thrown her off a barge or something, cuz he was a badass even though we hated each other at first and- hey! My cards are all gold and shiny when I go to King Form, that rocks!

***

Inui Takumi
Part-time Dry Cleaner

Whatever.






***

Doktor G, Ph.D.
Destron Officer

Kamen Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiider Kabuto, huh? I guess it'll be pretty good, I like that Nogi guy. He just needs to do the time-freezing thing before the heroes even Henshin, then take 'em down. Too bad I didn't have that when I was fighting against Kamen Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiider V3, then I might have won! Speaking of which, considering that fight ended with me getting blown to bits...how the hell am I writing this?

***

Asakura Takeshi
Ex-Convict

Dude, remember when people thought I was the biggest badass ever? Then Kaixa came along, followed by Chalice, and now Kick Hopper. On top of that, people think that Shadow Moon guy is like, God or something, and could kill every Rider ever like it was no big deal. How times change.
Also: I'm getting nervous!!!11!one

***

TheBee Zecter
Full-time Zecter/Attention-Seeker

OMG OMG WHEEEEEEEEEEE!!! YAGURUMA I CHOOSE YOU WHEEEE!!1! NO wAIT KAGAMI 4 EVAAAAAAAAAAAA! OMG NO HE IS DESTINED TO BE WITH THAT GATACK JERK, OMG KAGEYAMA RULEZ!!! HE OWNS YOUR GRANDMOTHER, TENDOOOD! WHEEEEEEEEEEEE! OMG WAIT MISHIMA IS JAWESOME! HEY WHAT THE YAGU IS BACK, BUT AS A HOPPER!1? nOT COOL MAN, NOT COOL! bUT WAIT TENDOU LOVES ME NOW WHEEEEE! OMG OMG ALL ZECTER COMBINE SOOOOOOOOOOOO COOOL WOW AWESOME OMG WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! THEBEE POWER SUPER ULTIMATE RIDER STING TYPHOON CYCLONE OMG WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!1! WAIT LOOK I'M GONNA COME BACK OMG WHO WILL I BEEE? TADOKORO DUDE I LOVE HIS HAIR, SOOOOOO COOL AND HE'S LIKE A NA-OH WAIT SPOILER WARNING LAWLZ MY BAD OMG WHEEEEEEEEEEE!!1

***

Kazama Daisuke
Professional Make-Up Artist

I just hope I don't die.






***

Kamen Rider Kabuto Episode #42

Another week, another Kamen Rider Kabuto episode. Given that the new show is supposed to start 1/28, we'll soon be entering the home stretch.

As always, Major Spoiler Warning in effect.

Last week's episode ended with Kabuto getting his butt kicked right out of Hyper Form by the immensely powerful Cassisworm, and we pick up this week with him getting knocked back into the sea. Between this and getting Rider Kicked right out of another dimension a few weeks back, it sure sucks to be Kabuto lately!

Tadokoro attempts to save a group of Natives that are being held hostage, only to be bested by Nogi and become a hostage himself. Nogi and his goonsquad then make their demand to ZECT: turn over the last AMB, and the hostages go free.

Riku (Kagami's dad), Mishima and the ZECT elite discuss the situation in an ominous meeting room, and then Riku confers with several hooded figures, whom he refers to as "our friends".

Yaguruma, Kageyama and their new "brother", Tsurugi, engage in the usual brand of Hopper wackiness. Yaguruma runs across the Tofu seller whom he and Tendô both went to way back when, and then Tendô himself shows up. There's an intense staredown and Yaguruma challenges the other guy to another cook-off, intent on one-upping Tendô once and for all before destroying him. Tendô accepts, but then the Tofu seller reveals he's sold out.

As you can imagine, this disappoints them both greatly.

Meanwhile, Mishima barges into the Bistro and reveals that Kagami has been selected to be the negotiator. Kagami, still upset about being deceived by ZECT, his father, and most personally by Tadokoro, refuses to help the Natives and storms out, even removing his Henshin Belt. Renge goes to get Tendô. Elsewhere, the Hoppers and Tsurugi confront Nogi, who warns them they're encroaching on the Worms' current area of operations. As you can imagine, this inevitably leads to a fight, because hey, what doesn't in this show?

Things go more or less smoothly until the three Riders try to finish Cassisworm off, and he stops time. He steps out of the way and allows the Riders to hit each other. Tsurugi is thrown into a trash heap, and the Hopper duo land in the back of a truck.

Kagami plays solo catch at a baseball field, trying to sort things out in his head. Tendô arrives (in a specatacular fashion, as seen below) and gives him one of those usual Tendô pep talks. Why would he, the last person to agree to Nogi's demands, be picked? Kagami reflects on Tendô's words.

Our main man then meets up with Tsurugi. He has gone through the trouble to get Tofu for the showdown with Yaguruma, but the latter is long gone, having abandoned Tsurugi (Man, where the hell is Jiiya anyway?) Crushed by his inability to get the real Misaki's attention (as he once did with her Worm duplicate), Tsurugi tears up. Tendô now gives him a pep talk, explaining that Tofu is not Yogurt nor Cheese, it is just Tofu, and it is best enjoyed by its own inherent taste. In a sense, he says that Tsurugi should start seeing Misaki not for who he wants her to be, but for who she really is. Tsurugi realizes that he has only been thinking of her in terms of how he thought of the duplicate- the image of his dead sister- and regains his usual vigor. He runs off, taking the Tofu with him!

Kagami, having changed his mind, meets with Mishima and some Zectroopers. Although it takes a little convincing, Kagami is finally able to get them to hand over the AMB.

Although he plans to go make the negotiation himself, Misaki and Renge convince him to bring them along. The trio go to the designated exchange point and confront the Worms. True to their word, Nogi and the bad guys release Tadokoro and the Natives, but before they can get away with the AMB, Renge (who finally proves useful!) pulls a neat little trick to get the bomb back, and Kagami transforms into Gatack.

Needless to say, this ticks off Nogi a lot.

He beats the ever-living stuffing out of Gatack. The battle eventually spills outside, and Cassisworm hits Gatack so hard he reverts back to Kagami. Tadokoro shows up to help, but even he is greatly outmatched. Things look pretty bleak for the good guys.

Tendô shows up just in time and transforms. Watch this part closely, you'll notice that Tendô goofs up the Henshin, and doesn't actually slide the Zecter onto the belt!

While they fight, Tadokoro rescues Kagami and they meet up with Misaki & Renge, and proceed to get the truckload of Natives the blazes out of there. A bunch of Worms (disguised as humans) try to pull a fast one, but our heroes use the last AMB to seperate the innocents from the fakes, and kick some butt.

Hyper Kabuto and Cassisworm duke it out. Despite freezing time, Cassisworm is caught offguard by Kabuto getting off a Hyper Shooting (hehe), which then buys him enough time to deliver...

Maximum Hyper Cyclone! Even a wall of Worms can't stop Kabuto, and he blows everyone away, apparently defeating Cassisworm at last.

The Natives are saved, Kagami reconciles with Tadokoro, and everybody's happy...well, almost. Tendô realizes, over dinner, that he completely forgot about his duel with Yaguruma. Our intrepid duo are left to dwell on this fact.

Elsewhere, Kagami is at the baseball field again, until Riku arrives, and father and son wordlessly play a game of catch, perhaps finally starting to understand each other.

As it turns out, Nogi is far from finished, and reappears in the city, and transforms into a fearsome new form.

As if things couldn't possibly get any worse, guess who teleports in right after that?

Next Week: Utter chaos as Dark Kabuto returns, Cassisworm seeks revenge, Tendô-on-Tendô violence, and Yaguruma kicks a suitcase containing TheBee Zecter. Hey, it had it coming.

BONUS REVIEW!

C.O.R. 8 Kamen Rider Kick Hopper & Kamen Rider Punch Hopper

Can't get enough of those loveable Hoppers? Until the inevitable Sôchaku-Henshin scale ones, the Cast-Off Rider versions will tie you over. Ironically, they don't actually have anything to Cast-Off. But they do have nifty moving "Ancor Jacks" so you can make it look like they're going to do a Rider Kick/Rider Punch. Also included are a seperate Kick/Punch Hopper Zecter, personalized windshields to put on the Machine Zectron bike (as with the Sasword and Movie Riders C.O.R. sets) and even the Zectmizer, that weird 'lil weapon that got used like, twice, and neither time by the Hoppers. But hey, it's there if you want it. Overall, a pretty neat set that's great if you just want cool toys of the characters, plus they threw in some extra stuff that can be used with other C.O.R. toys.

Mini-Reviews Vol. 1

In my evil scheme to slowly revive the Review Corner, every so often I'll take a little time to briefly talk about the newest goodies from Japan that have been added to my ever-expanding collection, which has grown to the point that some have even dubbed it "Bandai Museum West". Ironically, the real Bandai Museum closed earlier this year, but not before I got to go there! That's a tale for another time though. I

n the future, I'll probably put in a lot more of my own pictures too, but given that I'm short on time tonight (and don't have my camera charged up) this'll have to do for now:


Sôchaku-Henshin Kamen Rider BLACK

When this guy was first announced, pretty much everybody agreed that it would be a must-buy. I mean, it's a Sôchaku-Henshin figure of Kamen Rider BLACK! There's nothing in that sentence that I don't like. So when the actual figure hit the shelves in late October, the question on all our minds was this: Is it worth the wait?

By and large, I'd say yes, depending on how much of a stickler you are for accuracy. The Sôchaku-Henshin figures aren't exactly known for being 100% true-to-life, with their occassionally chunky armor and pea-brained human heads (although in recent years they've slimmed them down by making more of the armor already part of the figure's body, and for God's sake people, you're supposed to display them with those helmets on!)

So as you might expect, BLACK takes a few anatomical liberties, most likely (as major KRB-fan pal pointed out) so he can fit on the Sôchaku-Henshin EX Battle Hopper. His legs are a bit longer than previous figures, although I think that's not nearly as noticeable as the neck area. In a move that is both a step in the right direction and an experiment still in need of some fine-tuning, Bandai did away with the tiny heads on which the helmet parts sit, and instead just use a blank ball joint with two swappable heads, one of BLACK's helmet and one of Minami Kôtarô's mug. So in other words, you can display an "unmasked" BLACK, kinda.

The problem is that the actual "neck" piece doesn't move (since the real movement is done with the heads themselves, on the ball joint) so on closer inspection, it may look a little odd if that kind of stuff bugs you. However, as long as you position his head so he's looking slightly down (like the pics on the package) he should look pretty cool, and really, that's probably how I display him the most, in that iconic "fist-crunching" pose he does before delivering the Rider Punch/Rider Kick.

Beyond that, I can't really find any reason not to love this figure. He's not as armed-to-the-teeth as most of the later Riders who have already been done in this series, so don't expect much in the way of accessories. Aside from the interchangeable heads, he just has four pieces of armor to be put on/taken off; the shoulder pads, belt buckle, and the main chest armor, which uses an interesting new interlocking system. But if you liked the FIRSTy Double Riders, chances are you'll like this guy too. He can do pretty much any pose the real dude ever did, he's a must-get if you plan on getting the Battle Hopper/Acrobatter set or Shadow Moon, and come on, it's Kamen Rider BLACK!


Sôchaku-Henshin Kamen Rider BLACK RX

Recently released (I just got him the other day in the mail) there isn't a whole lot to say here that I didn't already cover with his prior incarnation, although RX does include accessories; two versions of Revolcane, silver & blue, which is a nice little touch, considering I was only expecting one when this guy was first announced. Also, I think the new neck joint idea works a little better here, since RX already has that high collar/weird head shape combo going on. Aside from that, he's basically just like BLACK, which in other words means he's great stuff.

Well, there is one other thing: the colors, man, the colors! A number of pictures have shown this figure to look more like Kamen Rider GREY RX. To be fair, I think the black on the real RX suit was slightly lighter than on BLACK's, but whatever the case may be, I'll say this: assuming you don't shine a spotlight on him, he should look pretty good. Yes, he is a lighter shade than the hardcore RX purists (do they even exist?) may like, but really, if you don't mind the usual Sôchaku-Henshin liberties, you should like this one just fine.


Sôchaku-Henshin EX Battle Hopper & Acrobatter

The first Sôchaku-Henshin-scale bikes in a loooooooooong time, and they don't disappoint. You get one bike frame with interchangeable coverings, so you can make either BLACK's beloved Battle Hopper or its RX incarnation, Acrobatter. Gonna buy the above two guys? Seeing as how the figures were made with the bikes in mind, and vice versa, you probably want to get this too. VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!


Sôchaku-Henshin Kamen Rider Kabuto Hyper Form

Released alongside the SH BLACK, Kabuto's super-duper ultimate amazing best ever upgraded form is a good match to the his more spartan senior Rider, because this guy features accessories up the wazoo!

Seriously, in addition to all the armor (much of which can be adjusted to put him into Hyper Clock Up mode) he sports two versions of the Hyper Zecter (one with lever pulled down, just in case you wanted it), that big ol' sword which can be combined with the included TheBee, Drake and Sasword Zecters to make the Perfect Zecter (which itself can change modes, between sword and gun) and even an extra hand for making Kabuto's iconic "pointing towards the sky" pose, or just for having him point at your other figures. In short, you get pretty much everything you could probably want with a Hyper Kabuto figure. As mentioned, he has all the little bells and whistles (pull-out fins, moving chest armor, adjustable "wings") so he's almost like two figures in one, which is a great deal. If you've been collecting the other Kabuto Sôchaku-Henshin figures, you know the drill here, this is one to add to the list.

That's it for now. Kabuto #42 reviewed tomorrow, as well as a special bonus review!