Showing posts with label All Kamen Riders. Show all posts
Showing posts with label All Kamen Riders. Show all posts
Monday, January 30, 2012
Monday, January 02, 2012
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Friday, April 01, 2011
Let's Go Kamen Riders Reviewed!
It's the biggest Kamen Rider movie in the history of forever! But does it pass the Igadevil test? The only way to find out was to get on camera and tell you myself.
I decided to try something a little different this time, and make a vlog-ish thing. The result is not quite what I originally had in mind, but hopefully you'll enjoy it!
The first 19 minutes are mostly spoiler-free, after which I go into a plot breakdown. Though if you want to go into this one with no spoilers at all, I'll just say this: It was good.
I decided to try something a little different this time, and make a vlog-ish thing. The result is not quite what I originally had in mind, but hopefully you'll enjoy it!
The first 19 minutes are mostly spoiler-free, after which I go into a plot breakdown. Though if you want to go into this one with no spoilers at all, I'll just say this: It was good.
Monday, January 03, 2011
Top 5 Discontinued Rider Toy Lines
Everybody raves about the DX electronic toys, S.H.Figuarts and S.I.C., and if they're like me, they also rave about Digital Grade figures. But every year, a veritable mountain of Rider merchandise gets made, and for every successful, long-lasting line, there's plenty more that get canned after a few sets, if even that many.
Sometimes they just run their logical course; I don't think anybody was really counting on more FFR figures after 2009. Sometimes they just mutate into another line, like how in 2002 Sôchaku-Henshin essentially became R&M, then went back to Sôchaku-Henshin again a few years later (and eventually became Figuarts.) Or the Rider Hero Series and the Hyper Detail figures, which have seen more rebrandings than just about anything. Sometimes, you get a new line that actually finds success and sticks around for a while, or is just a really great on-off idea, and sadly gets axed before its time.
I'm going to mainly focus on the latter category for this list, with my own five favorite Rider toy lines that aren't around any more, though they really ought to be. Plus, some runners-up!
Honorable Mention: Rider Kaijin Series
The standard soft-vinyl versions of the Riders have been around forever, recently going through a rebranding and becoming the Legend Rider Series figures during 2009/most of 2010. The OOO guys have kind of gone off an done their own thing, dropping the Ganbaride card and all, but the major change from RHS (losing the boxes in favor of being sold loose or in bags, like the Ultra Kaiju Series) has stuck.
While nearly every Rider has been made by now, with the baddies it's a different story. Since 2000, there's been a good spread, but after making plenty of Grongi and Orphenochs, a few great classic villains, some Unknown and Undead and a bunch of Mirror Monsters... 2006 basically had squat. Things got a little better after that, but this is still a line that really could use a shot in the arm. Lately it seems to be on Exclusive Life Support. You could get Peacock Undead and Ucaworm, but only if you sent away for them. The upcoming Greeed figures are a good sign though, that at least somebody knows the facts: Rider villain toys do sell.
Honorable Mention: Soul of Sofubi
The super-duper RHS upgrades were going great for a time, though wound up being a victim of collateral damage courtesy of Kamen Rider THE NEXT. No really, do you remember those pricey boxed versions of Rider 1, 2 & V3 (plus 1 & 2 in the style of the first movie.) They were okay, but it was the Lawson-exclusive set that had what everybody really wanted. A nice last gasp, but still the last one. Considering the rate they came out at prior to that, and the selection (Riders! Other Toei Heroes! Uh... more Riders!) We likely won't see any more of these, which is a shame, because there's a Skyrider-shaped gap in my collection. And no BLACK or RX, which I cannot believe.
Honorable Mention: Motion Revive
One of the "Candy Toy" sets that most are probably familiar with, because they rocked. Sadly seemed to have retired though, right before Decade oddly. I mean, if ever there was a time to have a toy line with various Heisei Riders. I'm gonna blame Narutaki for that one. This almost made the top 5, but truth be told since nearly everyone in them has or will eventually be made into a Figuarts, I decided to spotlight some older favorites. So on with the list.
5. Minna No Advent: Kamen Rider (Heisei Rider Edition)
What:
A 10-day advent calendar with Heisei-Rider themed goodies!
When:
2010
Why:
If you grew up in my house, you'd know that the Christmas Countdown Calendars are a big deal. For years my dad would painstakingly design, illustrate and create a new one (eventually using Photoshop which, in those days, resulted in computer-crashingly huge files.) Filled with all sorts of Tokusatsu goodies, as this was in the days before I could do online shopping and getting stuff from Japan was always a big deal. Many a High Grade set came from those calendars. So when Bandai announced that last spring that they were coming out with their own mini-countdown calendar of sorts, I was pumped.
Now, to be fair, this is one line that's still so recent it's hard to conclusively call it "discontinued"... but I'm not getting my hopes up. It's been almost a year with not a peep about any more. The initial wave (Heisei Kamen Rider and classic Gundam) was pretty promising, though clearly it didn't take off. The almost $30 price tag probably wasn't too enticing, and not surprisingly these languished on shelves before being clearanced off (they're about 10 bucks on Amazon.jp currently.) Not to mention that if you're not familiar with the whole concept of advent calendars, it probably just seems weird. You just wanna open the box and get the thing already!
And it's too bad, because really, this was a pretty cool idea. I can only really comment on the Rider calendar (which I bought a couple of when they were cheap) but I like it a ton. Contained within are a key chain, cell phone strap, charm, stickers, tatoo sticker, magnet, pin, and several mini-figures. There's multiple varieties and you never know what you're going to get (well, you do if you've already opened one since the prizes are always in the same place, but the actual kind you get is randomized.)
For the more discerning buyer who wants a billion joints and every accessory possible, it might seem like something to skip. But if you just want some goofy little Rider-themed trinkets, you couldn't do much better. It all comes in a nice, well-designed box and everything can fit back in where it came, so it's economical if nothing else.
Perhaps most frustrating to me is that this is clearly labeled as being the "Heisei Rider Edition" which means that, yup, they were probably planning one for the older guys, that we will now never see. @#$%!
How To Bring It Back:
Either bump up the number of prizes or lower the price. I think that was the real problem with the first bunch. A full-month 30-door set for 30 bucks? Now you're talking.
As for the prizes themselves, I love what we got, but a good way to lure in more buyers would be to have more must-have items. Ganbaride cards, a Gaia Memory, a Core Medal!? Or maybe do a whole calendar of S.H.F. accessory pieces everybody would covet. The possibilities are basically endless.
4. Kamen Rider Battle
What:
A Candy Toy series with miniature Riders and notable advesaries!
When:
2000~2001
Why:
Candy Toys have recently started getting more love, with the Sentai Mecha ones that, with some additional work, can become faithful recreations of the larger, pricier toys. But I'd be willing to bet there's fans out there who were buying stuff back when Kuuga and Agito were new, and even they don't remember these.
The imaginatively-named line is sort of an offshoot of a similar thing that Ultraman had, though to be honest those figures were (initially) better-painted and a bit more high-quality. These are basically cheap, rubbery little versions of Rider 1, 2, V3, Kuuga, and the Agito crew... and they're freaking great.
Only 3 sets were made, but they covered all the basic Kuuga forms (plus a Rider Kickin' Rising Mighty, and Ultimate in the "BURN" pose.) There were a bunch of Grongi, including N Daguba Zeba back in the days when Daguba toys were few and far between. There were the initial Agito forms, G3 & Gills, plus some Unknown (BOTH Turtle guys!) The classic Rider guys have all since been done in bigger sizes, but I'll always say yes to another Ikadevil figure. Heck, toys of the villains are so rare these days, it's kind of amazing to believe these ever existed.
They're small, they're goofy and I can see why they'd get passed over for bigger, plastic-ier lines, but they're every bit as good as the shows they were inspired by.
Plus they weren't blind-boxed, and everybody likes that.
How To Bring It Back:
Bump up the paint and quality a bit, and they could be the next (little) big thing. I wouldn't even mind if they just stuck to this year's guys, cuz I can always use some figures of the Greeed.
3. Medicom RAH220 (Old-style)
What:
Medicom's smaller, cheaper and more "toylike" line of 1/8-scale figures!
When:
Uh... the late 90's-ish
Why:
Technically, this is one of those lines that reinvented itself rather than flat-out ended. After a few years' break, it came back as RAH220 DX, smaller versions of the 1/6 DX figures Medicom started making back around 2000. While those are great (though sadly, they stopped at Stronger it seems) there's a few things their predecessors really had going for them.
One was the price. Especially back then, when the bigger 1/6 figures were commanding what seemed to be astronomical rates, these were a breath of fresh air. A reasonably good smaller-sized Medicom figure for under $40? Yes please.
Next, the selection of characters. Admittedly, if you're not a Rider fan, you got screwed, but this is Medicom we're talking about. They love them Riders, what can I say. But as far as what we did get, it's pretty magnificent.
While they never got beyond Amazon, the old RAH220 line managed to do all 3 main versions of Rider 1, both version of Rider 2, V3, Riderman, X-Rider, Amazon, a bunch of Shocker Combatants, the Destron Combatant, the original 11 Shocker monsters plus Saboteguron and Zanjio, the original 4 Destron Kaijin, post-resurrection Apollo Geist, and the Kumo-Jujin from Amazon. Phew! Plus a bunch of Kikaider guys.
And yes, they're clunky by today's standards, especially when stacked up against their DX successors. Just as the old 1/6 Medicoms often pale to their DX counterparts, these guys look and feel like a bunch of rusty old Pintos next to a gleaming new Jaguar. But there's still the variety to consider. You think Tokageron will ever get another RAH figure again? And the old-style V3 wins out in the accessory department, even including the V3 Hopper! The flying thing, I mean.
The Apollo Geist, the only RAH version of his second incarnation that I know of, is also arguably one of the best RAH figures ever made. This is especially impressive given the old 220's occasional breakage problems. I apparently am the luckiest man alive in that I've yet to have a QC issue with any Medicom figure that wasn't already used/banged up/damaged... with the exception of these. In fairness though, it was only one of the earliest ones, and some later 220's has sturdier stuff in their bodies.
But the old guys have one more trick up their sleeve. While the boxes for the DX versions are okay, with the flat black backgrounds and clean layout, the older versions range from impressive to heartbreakingly beautiful. I'm not kidding.
With art by the always-talented Sugahara Yoshihito, these things were collectors' items on their own. The Riders always had good box art, but it's the baddies who really blew us all away. If you own one, you know what I'm talking about. The Destron box art was my person favorite, with the Tarot-card theme inspired by episode #43. If you're one of those fans who keeps things in the boxes, you might want to track some of these down, because the boxes themselves are practically worth the price of admission. I also like Kumo-Jujin's Incan-motif box, which is loaded with nods to Geddon monsters.
The old RAH220 eventually died off in part because, and I hate to say this, the Hakaider Squad. No really, the pricey 4-figure Toys 'R Us box set sat on shelves for years, and pretty much every time I've gone to Japan I've seen it at some point. Not having a 220 Kikaider 01 probably had something to do with that. While I do love the DX upgrades, this is one of those times when the "inferior" older versions actually have a lot more merit to them than you'd think, and it's worth remembering.
How To Bring It Back:
Give DX a kickstart and gimme my 220 Skyrider already! Bring back the amazing box art for future releases and come out with some of those Kaijin again. I don't care if they're exclusives, I'm game.
2. The Rider Machine
What:
Candy Toy model kits of those things the Riders sometimes use to get places!
When:
1999~2003
Why:
A strong contender for the best Rider Candy Toy series ever. Kicked off in '99, they were basically just small plastic kits of the original Rider bikes with a painted rubbery figure. Rubber pieces for the wheels plus clear parts for the lights, windshields, etc. Snap the pieces together, put some stickers on, and presto. A miniature Rider Machine!
The second set added Kuuga, plus X-Rider, Amazon and Stronger, and that was great as well. But it's with Part 3 where this series really took off. The 3 Agito bikes (plus that crazy Slider mode) might have been a smaller scale than everything that came before, but we didn't mind. They looked great, and that was G3-X on the bike (unlike seemingly every other Guard Chaser toy.) Filling out the set were re-do's of Rider 1 and 2 on the old Cyclone/Cyclone Custom, but with some new twists. Better, whiter plastic (unlike the off-color of the first set.) More paint instead of all the stickers. The figures somehow seemed just a little bit better. I have a lot of Cyclones in my collection, and the The Rider Machine 3 one is among the best.
This level of quality continued with Part 4 & 5, where we got a remake of V3 from the first set. An EX set completed the remakes of the originals with a New Cyclone, plus newer, improved versions of the X-Rider, Amazon and Stronger from Part 2. And then...
Well, 2004 had "The Blade Machine" featuring guys from that series and a similar idea, but it just wasn't the same. The tires were now plastic, the figures all out-of-scale with what had come before. True, that had been the case with some of the earlier ones, but it was usually with good reason (you kind of HAVE to make Jet Sliger a different scale for this to work.) But really, after that, this idea of doing high-quality bike kits kind of faded away.
I can understand why, since these were really only Candy "Toys". They're really small, inexpensive models rather than straight-up toys. They were great for painting up or super-detailing, because the sculpting was all there, and a cheap alternative to those impossible resin cast kits. But for the kid who just wants something they can take out of the box and play with, I can see how it wouldn't sell. And yet, it did, for 5 sets plus a "best-of" kind, making me wonder. Was it perhaps just a timing thing? Around this time we were getting those "Machine Chronicle" Gachapon sets after all.
In my opinion, the motorcycle is one of the most integral parts of Kamen Rider, so take any chance you have to celebrate it. Other heroes happen to drive motorcycles sometimes, but that is part of Rider's DNA. It's a defining aspect. So make all the toys of it you want!
How To Bring It Back:
The old molds are so good, they could just mix a few of them in with some new guys, and maybe market it at a slightly older audience. With the success of those plastic Double models, there's a market for it, I'd say.
Check out the complete line-up here.
1. Rider Kaijin Meikan
What:
A candy toy series with small, fixed-pose figures of Riders & monsters.
When:
2003~2004
Why:
The Meikan (Directory/List) series has been around for years, but it's with the big red guy and his family that it found the most success. There's a whole book about it, no less. By my estimation, every single episode of Ultraman and Ultra Seven has been covered, plus a lot of Ultra Q, Returns, Ace, and beyond.
Comparatively, Rider's had a hard time. While it's true that they do still make Rider Meikan sets (you know that one that had the Shocker Rider scene, the King Dark scene, and the Stronger debuts scene? That was one of 'em) they're much more disorganized than the Ultra ones were. We get a set here or there, but there's no real schedule to them and they tend to be different themes every time. One year it's "bikes", then "famous battles", then "famous scenes, some of which are battles", etc.
Back in '03 though, Bandai attempted to recapture the success of the ongoing Ultra sets with the Rider Kaijin Meikan series. Focusing on the original series, the first set had Rider 1, Rider 2, plus some famous baddies.
If you still don't know what a Meikan is, I'll try to explain. Smaller than a Gachapon figure, but no less detailed, with a display base often showing the monster's name (or episode title) on it. Again, to the articulation 'n accessory-minded buyer, they don't offer much of either. But if you want a kickass little statue that can fit on your desk and will cost you pocket change, they're super. They're also one of the few lines every to pull off both blind-boxing and chase figures because of how they were sold in the cartons. I literally got the chase figure for Part 3 for a few hundred yen, rather than the few thousand the same shop was selling it for loose.
The first Rider Meikan set was great, the next two even better. Alas, they only seemed to do the major players before folding, while Ultraman (and Seven) went the whole 9 yards with "Complete Specials" and "Special Editions". When you've made a toy of Seven's 'Robot Commander' character, you've basically won the race.
Admittedly, you probably have to be an original series fan to really care about this line. But as I am, I do, and I want it back!
How To Bring It Back:
I don't mind that they didn't do every original series guy so much as I just wish they were still doing somebody. V3, X & such would benefit a lot from a line like this since few others will ever do toys of their bad guys, but the Meikan series? I'd bet on it.
With the anniversary year upon us, now's as good a time as ever. I'd even happily take an all-Riders set with newer guys if it meant just kickstarting the line back up again. Igadevil needs his Canary-Cobra figure!
***
Sometimes they just run their logical course; I don't think anybody was really counting on more FFR figures after 2009. Sometimes they just mutate into another line, like how in 2002 Sôchaku-Henshin essentially became R&M, then went back to Sôchaku-Henshin again a few years later (and eventually became Figuarts.) Or the Rider Hero Series and the Hyper Detail figures, which have seen more rebrandings than just about anything. Sometimes, you get a new line that actually finds success and sticks around for a while, or is just a really great on-off idea, and sadly gets axed before its time.
I'm going to mainly focus on the latter category for this list, with my own five favorite Rider toy lines that aren't around any more, though they really ought to be. Plus, some runners-up!
Honorable Mention: Rider Kaijin Series
The standard soft-vinyl versions of the Riders have been around forever, recently going through a rebranding and becoming the Legend Rider Series figures during 2009/most of 2010. The OOO guys have kind of gone off an done their own thing, dropping the Ganbaride card and all, but the major change from RHS (losing the boxes in favor of being sold loose or in bags, like the Ultra Kaiju Series) has stuck.
While nearly every Rider has been made by now, with the baddies it's a different story. Since 2000, there's been a good spread, but after making plenty of Grongi and Orphenochs, a few great classic villains, some Unknown and Undead and a bunch of Mirror Monsters... 2006 basically had squat. Things got a little better after that, but this is still a line that really could use a shot in the arm. Lately it seems to be on Exclusive Life Support. You could get Peacock Undead and Ucaworm, but only if you sent away for them. The upcoming Greeed figures are a good sign though, that at least somebody knows the facts: Rider villain toys do sell.
Honorable Mention: Soul of Sofubi
The super-duper RHS upgrades were going great for a time, though wound up being a victim of collateral damage courtesy of Kamen Rider THE NEXT. No really, do you remember those pricey boxed versions of Rider 1, 2 & V3 (plus 1 & 2 in the style of the first movie.) They were okay, but it was the Lawson-exclusive set that had what everybody really wanted. A nice last gasp, but still the last one. Considering the rate they came out at prior to that, and the selection (Riders! Other Toei Heroes! Uh... more Riders!) We likely won't see any more of these, which is a shame, because there's a Skyrider-shaped gap in my collection. And no BLACK or RX, which I cannot believe.
Honorable Mention: Motion Revive
One of the "Candy Toy" sets that most are probably familiar with, because they rocked. Sadly seemed to have retired though, right before Decade oddly. I mean, if ever there was a time to have a toy line with various Heisei Riders. I'm gonna blame Narutaki for that one. This almost made the top 5, but truth be told since nearly everyone in them has or will eventually be made into a Figuarts, I decided to spotlight some older favorites. So on with the list.
5. Minna No Advent: Kamen Rider (Heisei Rider Edition)
What:
A 10-day advent calendar with Heisei-Rider themed goodies!
When:
2010
Why:
If you grew up in my house, you'd know that the Christmas Countdown Calendars are a big deal. For years my dad would painstakingly design, illustrate and create a new one (eventually using Photoshop which, in those days, resulted in computer-crashingly huge files.) Filled with all sorts of Tokusatsu goodies, as this was in the days before I could do online shopping and getting stuff from Japan was always a big deal. Many a High Grade set came from those calendars. So when Bandai announced that last spring that they were coming out with their own mini-countdown calendar of sorts, I was pumped.
Now, to be fair, this is one line that's still so recent it's hard to conclusively call it "discontinued"... but I'm not getting my hopes up. It's been almost a year with not a peep about any more. The initial wave (Heisei Kamen Rider and classic Gundam) was pretty promising, though clearly it didn't take off. The almost $30 price tag probably wasn't too enticing, and not surprisingly these languished on shelves before being clearanced off (they're about 10 bucks on Amazon.jp currently.) Not to mention that if you're not familiar with the whole concept of advent calendars, it probably just seems weird. You just wanna open the box and get the thing already!
And it's too bad, because really, this was a pretty cool idea. I can only really comment on the Rider calendar (which I bought a couple of when they were cheap) but I like it a ton. Contained within are a key chain, cell phone strap, charm, stickers, tatoo sticker, magnet, pin, and several mini-figures. There's multiple varieties and you never know what you're going to get (well, you do if you've already opened one since the prizes are always in the same place, but the actual kind you get is randomized.)
For the more discerning buyer who wants a billion joints and every accessory possible, it might seem like something to skip. But if you just want some goofy little Rider-themed trinkets, you couldn't do much better. It all comes in a nice, well-designed box and everything can fit back in where it came, so it's economical if nothing else.
Perhaps most frustrating to me is that this is clearly labeled as being the "Heisei Rider Edition" which means that, yup, they were probably planning one for the older guys, that we will now never see. @#$%!
How To Bring It Back:
Either bump up the number of prizes or lower the price. I think that was the real problem with the first bunch. A full-month 30-door set for 30 bucks? Now you're talking.
As for the prizes themselves, I love what we got, but a good way to lure in more buyers would be to have more must-have items. Ganbaride cards, a Gaia Memory, a Core Medal!? Or maybe do a whole calendar of S.H.F. accessory pieces everybody would covet. The possibilities are basically endless.
4. Kamen Rider Battle
What:
A Candy Toy series with miniature Riders and notable advesaries!
When:
2000~2001
Why:
Candy Toys have recently started getting more love, with the Sentai Mecha ones that, with some additional work, can become faithful recreations of the larger, pricier toys. But I'd be willing to bet there's fans out there who were buying stuff back when Kuuga and Agito were new, and even they don't remember these.
The imaginatively-named line is sort of an offshoot of a similar thing that Ultraman had, though to be honest those figures were (initially) better-painted and a bit more high-quality. These are basically cheap, rubbery little versions of Rider 1, 2, V3, Kuuga, and the Agito crew... and they're freaking great.
Only 3 sets were made, but they covered all the basic Kuuga forms (plus a Rider Kickin' Rising Mighty, and Ultimate in the "BURN" pose.) There were a bunch of Grongi, including N Daguba Zeba back in the days when Daguba toys were few and far between. There were the initial Agito forms, G3 & Gills, plus some Unknown (BOTH Turtle guys!) The classic Rider guys have all since been done in bigger sizes, but I'll always say yes to another Ikadevil figure. Heck, toys of the villains are so rare these days, it's kind of amazing to believe these ever existed.
They're small, they're goofy and I can see why they'd get passed over for bigger, plastic-ier lines, but they're every bit as good as the shows they were inspired by.
Plus they weren't blind-boxed, and everybody likes that.
How To Bring It Back:
Bump up the paint and quality a bit, and they could be the next (little) big thing. I wouldn't even mind if they just stuck to this year's guys, cuz I can always use some figures of the Greeed.
3. Medicom RAH220 (Old-style)
What:
Medicom's smaller, cheaper and more "toylike" line of 1/8-scale figures!
When:
Uh... the late 90's-ish
Why:
Technically, this is one of those lines that reinvented itself rather than flat-out ended. After a few years' break, it came back as RAH220 DX, smaller versions of the 1/6 DX figures Medicom started making back around 2000. While those are great (though sadly, they stopped at Stronger it seems) there's a few things their predecessors really had going for them.
One was the price. Especially back then, when the bigger 1/6 figures were commanding what seemed to be astronomical rates, these were a breath of fresh air. A reasonably good smaller-sized Medicom figure for under $40? Yes please.
Next, the selection of characters. Admittedly, if you're not a Rider fan, you got screwed, but this is Medicom we're talking about. They love them Riders, what can I say. But as far as what we did get, it's pretty magnificent.
While they never got beyond Amazon, the old RAH220 line managed to do all 3 main versions of Rider 1, both version of Rider 2, V3, Riderman, X-Rider, Amazon, a bunch of Shocker Combatants, the Destron Combatant, the original 11 Shocker monsters plus Saboteguron and Zanjio, the original 4 Destron Kaijin, post-resurrection Apollo Geist, and the Kumo-Jujin from Amazon. Phew! Plus a bunch of Kikaider guys.
And yes, they're clunky by today's standards, especially when stacked up against their DX successors. Just as the old 1/6 Medicoms often pale to their DX counterparts, these guys look and feel like a bunch of rusty old Pintos next to a gleaming new Jaguar. But there's still the variety to consider. You think Tokageron will ever get another RAH figure again? And the old-style V3 wins out in the accessory department, even including the V3 Hopper! The flying thing, I mean.
The Apollo Geist, the only RAH version of his second incarnation that I know of, is also arguably one of the best RAH figures ever made. This is especially impressive given the old 220's occasional breakage problems. I apparently am the luckiest man alive in that I've yet to have a QC issue with any Medicom figure that wasn't already used/banged up/damaged... with the exception of these. In fairness though, it was only one of the earliest ones, and some later 220's has sturdier stuff in their bodies.
But the old guys have one more trick up their sleeve. While the boxes for the DX versions are okay, with the flat black backgrounds and clean layout, the older versions range from impressive to heartbreakingly beautiful. I'm not kidding.
With art by the always-talented Sugahara Yoshihito, these things were collectors' items on their own. The Riders always had good box art, but it's the baddies who really blew us all away. If you own one, you know what I'm talking about. The Destron box art was my person favorite, with the Tarot-card theme inspired by episode #43. If you're one of those fans who keeps things in the boxes, you might want to track some of these down, because the boxes themselves are practically worth the price of admission. I also like Kumo-Jujin's Incan-motif box, which is loaded with nods to Geddon monsters.
The old RAH220 eventually died off in part because, and I hate to say this, the Hakaider Squad. No really, the pricey 4-figure Toys 'R Us box set sat on shelves for years, and pretty much every time I've gone to Japan I've seen it at some point. Not having a 220 Kikaider 01 probably had something to do with that. While I do love the DX upgrades, this is one of those times when the "inferior" older versions actually have a lot more merit to them than you'd think, and it's worth remembering.
How To Bring It Back:
Give DX a kickstart and gimme my 220 Skyrider already! Bring back the amazing box art for future releases and come out with some of those Kaijin again. I don't care if they're exclusives, I'm game.
2. The Rider Machine
What:
Candy Toy model kits of those things the Riders sometimes use to get places!
When:
1999~2003
Why:
A strong contender for the best Rider Candy Toy series ever. Kicked off in '99, they were basically just small plastic kits of the original Rider bikes with a painted rubbery figure. Rubber pieces for the wheels plus clear parts for the lights, windshields, etc. Snap the pieces together, put some stickers on, and presto. A miniature Rider Machine!
The second set added Kuuga, plus X-Rider, Amazon and Stronger, and that was great as well. But it's with Part 3 where this series really took off. The 3 Agito bikes (plus that crazy Slider mode) might have been a smaller scale than everything that came before, but we didn't mind. They looked great, and that was G3-X on the bike (unlike seemingly every other Guard Chaser toy.) Filling out the set were re-do's of Rider 1 and 2 on the old Cyclone/Cyclone Custom, but with some new twists. Better, whiter plastic (unlike the off-color of the first set.) More paint instead of all the stickers. The figures somehow seemed just a little bit better. I have a lot of Cyclones in my collection, and the The Rider Machine 3 one is among the best.
This level of quality continued with Part 4 & 5, where we got a remake of V3 from the first set. An EX set completed the remakes of the originals with a New Cyclone, plus newer, improved versions of the X-Rider, Amazon and Stronger from Part 2. And then...
Well, 2004 had "The Blade Machine" featuring guys from that series and a similar idea, but it just wasn't the same. The tires were now plastic, the figures all out-of-scale with what had come before. True, that had been the case with some of the earlier ones, but it was usually with good reason (you kind of HAVE to make Jet Sliger a different scale for this to work.) But really, after that, this idea of doing high-quality bike kits kind of faded away.
I can understand why, since these were really only Candy "Toys". They're really small, inexpensive models rather than straight-up toys. They were great for painting up or super-detailing, because the sculpting was all there, and a cheap alternative to those impossible resin cast kits. But for the kid who just wants something they can take out of the box and play with, I can see how it wouldn't sell. And yet, it did, for 5 sets plus a "best-of" kind, making me wonder. Was it perhaps just a timing thing? Around this time we were getting those "Machine Chronicle" Gachapon sets after all.
In my opinion, the motorcycle is one of the most integral parts of Kamen Rider, so take any chance you have to celebrate it. Other heroes happen to drive motorcycles sometimes, but that is part of Rider's DNA. It's a defining aspect. So make all the toys of it you want!
How To Bring It Back:
The old molds are so good, they could just mix a few of them in with some new guys, and maybe market it at a slightly older audience. With the success of those plastic Double models, there's a market for it, I'd say.
Check out the complete line-up here.
1. Rider Kaijin Meikan
What:
A candy toy series with small, fixed-pose figures of Riders & monsters.
When:
2003~2004
Why:
The Meikan (Directory/List) series has been around for years, but it's with the big red guy and his family that it found the most success. There's a whole book about it, no less. By my estimation, every single episode of Ultraman and Ultra Seven has been covered, plus a lot of Ultra Q, Returns, Ace, and beyond.
Comparatively, Rider's had a hard time. While it's true that they do still make Rider Meikan sets (you know that one that had the Shocker Rider scene, the King Dark scene, and the Stronger debuts scene? That was one of 'em) they're much more disorganized than the Ultra ones were. We get a set here or there, but there's no real schedule to them and they tend to be different themes every time. One year it's "bikes", then "famous battles", then "famous scenes, some of which are battles", etc.
Back in '03 though, Bandai attempted to recapture the success of the ongoing Ultra sets with the Rider Kaijin Meikan series. Focusing on the original series, the first set had Rider 1, Rider 2, plus some famous baddies.
If you still don't know what a Meikan is, I'll try to explain. Smaller than a Gachapon figure, but no less detailed, with a display base often showing the monster's name (or episode title) on it. Again, to the articulation 'n accessory-minded buyer, they don't offer much of either. But if you want a kickass little statue that can fit on your desk and will cost you pocket change, they're super. They're also one of the few lines every to pull off both blind-boxing and chase figures because of how they were sold in the cartons. I literally got the chase figure for Part 3 for a few hundred yen, rather than the few thousand the same shop was selling it for loose.
The first Rider Meikan set was great, the next two even better. Alas, they only seemed to do the major players before folding, while Ultraman (and Seven) went the whole 9 yards with "Complete Specials" and "Special Editions". When you've made a toy of Seven's 'Robot Commander' character, you've basically won the race.
Admittedly, you probably have to be an original series fan to really care about this line. But as I am, I do, and I want it back!
How To Bring It Back:
I don't mind that they didn't do every original series guy so much as I just wish they were still doing somebody. V3, X & such would benefit a lot from a line like this since few others will ever do toys of their bad guys, but the Meikan series? I'd bet on it.
With the anniversary year upon us, now's as good a time as ever. I'd even happily take an all-Riders set with newer guys if it meant just kickstarting the line back up again. Igadevil needs his Canary-Cobra figure!
***
Saturday, August 08, 2009
All Riders Reviewed! Spoiler-Free Version
This is the Spoiler-Free review of the new Kamen Rider Decade movie. I don't give away any major plot details, though a few well-advertised characters and moments are discussed. If you want the full deal, scroll down or click here
Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Daishocker
Here it is. Possibly the biggest Rider movie to date, and easily one of the most anticipated.
The hype for this thing has been incredible, with one of the most aggressive ad campaigns I've seen in a while. Ads up the wazoo. Kamen Rider taking over 7-11 and the Tokyo Metropolitan Subway. Net movies which I still gotta watch. Mock Shocker political rallies. More TV specials and bits than ever before (why must most of them be on early in the morning or on the version of TV-Asahi we don't get up here?) And much, much more.
And now, it's finally out. Does it live up to expectations? I'll get to that in a sec!
Obviously, this movie had a lot riding on it, if you'll forgive the terrible pun. It's the movie of the show celebrating 10 years of Kamen Rider back on TV, it's the first movie to unite all the Riders, new and old, in one film. For many of them, this is their first time back in on-screen Kamen Rider in years. It also has to be about the titular Kamen Rider Decade, since it is his movie.
And make no mistake, it is his movie. It's a Kamen Rider Decade movie featuring all the Riders, rather than a movie about all the Riders that happens to have Decade in it. He's the star attraction, even given how significant his co-stars are to selling the film to viewers. It's his story, but they all play a part in it.
There is a helluva lot of plot going on here, though unfortunately given the current near-finished of the show, we have yet to know how it will all figure in. With an epic showdown and a story that pushes the heroes to their very limit, it has the feel of being "Decade's greatest adventure". It certainly does things with the characters, and the whole premise of the show, which are pretty gutsy.
But before I get into that, let's get back to the question: Does it live up to expectations? That'll depend on what your expectations are, and how you feel about the Decade TV series. The movie's certainly got enough hype and excitement around it that I think it'll be impossible to satisfy everyone. Nothing new there though.
As for the content, if you dislike some of Decade's more unpopular ideas (recasts, AUs, Final Form Rides, Riders kicking the crap out of each other for a vague, higher cause) then you might find it hard to get into this movie. Like I said, it's a Kamen Rider Decade film. It wears that name on its sleeve.
But how about me? Upon leaving the theater, I felt pretty happy with it. I will need to see it a few more times before I make a final opinion, but I would say that, based on one viewing, I'd put it up there as one of my favorite Rider movies in recent memory. It's an honest stab at trying to combine the light-hearted Shôwa action-fests with the more plot-heavy, series-affecting tone of the Heisei movies. It ended up being a little more plot-heavy and serious than I expected, but there's still tons 'o fun and some things turned out to be sillier than I thought they'd be.
For the most part, it succeeds as a Rider movie. I think I'd say it's great, but just shy of being truly incredible. It aims for the bull's eye and misses, but still hits close enough to be score high.
This leads into the dreaded nit-picks! I'll get them out of the way now. A big one is the running time, which I feel could have been longer. The entire Shinkenger/Decade double-feature runs 89 minutes according to Toho Cinemas. Given that the Shinkenger movie was at least about as long as an average episode, that leaves something like just over an hour for Decade.
As a result, the movie is pretty well-paced, though because it's packing so much in, there's a lot of big moments that don't feel as though they have enough build-up. Rather it's just a succession of events, but they feel a little two quick.
I almost feel like, since these moments had been so heavily promoted and hinted at, the movie runs on the audience's expectations of them. It knows that we know those moments are coming, so it waits, it plays its hand, and that's that. I think that works okay now, but upon reviewing the movie a couple years from now? We'll have to see.
It'll be interesting to see how the Director's Cut turns out. This is one movie which I think could actually use just a few extra shots to flesh things out more, and build up the big moments. On the whole it succeeds at feeling epic when it needs to be, but I feel like a longer run time would improve it even more.
The other big area where the movie falls just short of achieving true masterpiece status is in how it handles the nostalgia.
Because don't get me wrong, the movie does try its damnedest. You've got all the Riders back as the title suggests, and a lot of nice surprises in how they're handled. Loads of old foes. Fan-friendly moments abound. The movie recognizes the reverence the audience holds for the series' history, and it makes good use of it. There's some nice little cameos, voice or otherwise. I can appreciate all that and for the "All Riders" aspect alone, this movie's highly commendable. I mean, who would have thought they'd do this a few years ago?
And not to sound greedy, but I think the film could have gone one step further. There's some things it doesn't do with the music and voice acting which would have made a great movie into a truly spectacular one. Ultimately, what we end up with isn't that bad, but still, for a movie this big, they could have gone just a little bit further and made it something truly spectacular.
Okay, enough with the complaining. Onto the good stuff!
I'll start with the cast. For the most part, everybody really brings their A game to this movie. I'm truly impressed.
Tsukasa rules. It's as simple as that. You might hate him for what he does in this movie, but I love what he goes through. It's got guts. It's an emotional trial that's as deep as anything he's been through so far, if not deeper. Tsukasa gets put through the mill, but comes out better than ever.
It's a great journey. Inoue's more than up to the task, offering up the kind of stuff he was doing back in Kuuga's World. He's really giving it his all, especially as the movie draws to its climax.
Yuusuke's good as well. He's out of it for a big chunk towards the end, but he still fulfills the role of loyal friend to Tsukasa. He's come a long way since those first episodes on the TV series. I'd say that he has ended up being kinda like his fellow Yuusuke, though more emotionally vulnerable. He too goes through some heavy stuff this time.
Natsumi gets more to do here than she has in a while on the show. It's a lot of running around, and I think the TV series will have to address some of her backstory that isn't covered here. She's mostly just in there for the support, but like Yuusuke, she makes the big twists feel important.
Daiki is... Daiki. I'm not really a fan of the character on the show, and his performance in the movie is largely more of the same (the character's performance, I have no problems with the actor.) He does actually get kinda cool towards the end though, when he starts to realize the full weight of things.
Eijirô... well, you'll have to see the movie on that one.
Kivaara's the same as ever, and Narutaki's pretty much what you'd expect him to be. His role is surprisingly small, but then maybe the TV show will get more into what makes him tick.
That's the regulars, how about the new people?
The new character named Sayo's okay. She's got a few secrets, including who she is (though you may already know) and who she is. I'm a little unclear on some of the story with her, but overall it's an interesting aspect to the mythos.
As for the all-new Nobuhiko, well... it's hard to compare him to the infamously-scarce original version. But he's pretty good. Ooura does a good job making the character his own, even when he's also pulling double duty as you-know-who.
Doctor Shinigami and Ambassador Hell are sort of played half-jokingly, half-seriously, but I liked them. Are they the originals? No, but few people can reach the heights of Amamoto and Ushio. As it is, they capture the spirit if not the full menace, though in his unveiling scene Shinigami actually manages to come off as quite chilling. Things get goofier later on, but to Ishibashi and Oogi's credit, they make it work. The movie acknowledges the subtle humor in Daishocker while never undermining its threat.
Jaak Shôgun is cool, voiced by Katô Seizô himself, and a certain new Rider makes an impressive debut (he is on the poster, by the way.) And the rest of the cast is pretty much returning characters!
Okay, there's Gackt's interesting little cameo. He's certainly a different approach to the character he plays. I liked Gackt just fine, though I think if you hadn't seen the music video for "The Next Decade", you'd be missing out on some parts of the character which aren't really covered here. Gackt puts in a nice performance though, and I enjoyed his scene.
In place of the usual movie-only Riders, there's a new little trick (or form) for a preexisting one. It feels a little superfluous, but looks cool and makes for some good drama.
Instead, we've got all those Riders coming back! Budget-saving fun! Although actually, I don't think they've ever looked better. In my opinion, in resurrecting the past Riders they did it just right in bringing them back as we know & love 'em. The costumes are refurbished, use modern materials and look spectacular on the big screen.
I like the costumes in movies like THE FIRST & THE NEXT, but those are, in my eyes, different characters. In those movies, it makes sense to create new versions that are distinct from the originals.
Here, it's... complicated, but I feel they should look like how they've looked for years, given how the story works. Plus, it's just so much more exciting to see the Heisei Riders on screen with their predecessors the way they're remembered. The old guys are still as great as ever, and almost everybody gets to show off at least one signature power. A few in particular make for really nice moments.
There's some original actors who do turn up, though only very briefly. Their scenes are a welcome addition though.
Only a couple other Riders have any sort of dialogue, and as I've hinted, Toei didn't got the whole nine yards when it comes to the voice casting, though I'll live. Past Rider movies and shows got away with this, and I liked those. At least the Riders all pretty much feel right, and sound right in one particular way.
Two Riders in particular are absent for much of the movie, but when they show up, it's worth the wait. It's also nice to throw in some other Riders too, along with the main 26. It offers a chance for more original voice casting! And one Rider who didn't appear in many of the early publicity photos gets perhaps his finest moment yet, outside of his own movie.
The monsters are all old, with some literally being the original suits and a couple being the attraction suits from stage shows or exhibitions. They're great though. I love the whole idea of Daishocker, with all the Rider villains finally having enough, joining together, and coming up with the ultimate evil plan. It's great just seeing a ton of mishmashed villains together, like in one of the classic movies. All that's missing is the role call, though that might have gone on for a while. It's an unabashed monster mash.
A certain popular lead villain (okay, it's Shadow Moon, he's on the poster) is cool as usual. He puts up a good fight. There's another villain (again, on the poster) who shows up right at the end. It's quick, but cool.
The music was okay (very dramatic) but I'll have to give the OST a listen. The sound effects though were top-notch. Without saying too much, they really did their homework with those.
The action scenes are great, dynamically shot and well-staged. The big epic final battle alone was worth the price of admission, kicking off with that slow-mo walk and culminating in the biggest bang ever... twice! The effects are what we've come to expect, with some dodgy CG, but that's CG for you. The real effects always look great.
Some mention must go to the stunt guys. There are a TON of them in this movie! Everybody's on fine form and as the making-of shows, they did put in the extra effort to try and get all the moves and poses right. Special mention must go to Tominaga Kenji, the original Kuuga himself, returning to do... what else, Kuuuga. The others are all stellar, and I'd never believe that V3 & Amazon were the same main suit actor if I hadn't read it.
And I think that's about it. Overall, my initial impression of this movie was "awesome", and that still holds. Like the Decade TV series, it does some things in a way that will take some getting used to. But if you can get behind it, then it's highly enjoyable.
I've nitpicked it to hell and back, but I really do have to admit that it's pretty great and the most fun I've had watching a Rider movie in years. It mixes some hard storytelling with explosive action, and there's a reasonably satisfying conclusion. And for good measure, loads of nostalgia. It might not be the perfect Rider movie, but it gets pretty close.
And besides, there's still 2011.
***
Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Daishocker
Here it is. Possibly the biggest Rider movie to date, and easily one of the most anticipated.
The hype for this thing has been incredible, with one of the most aggressive ad campaigns I've seen in a while. Ads up the wazoo. Kamen Rider taking over 7-11 and the Tokyo Metropolitan Subway. Net movies which I still gotta watch. Mock Shocker political rallies. More TV specials and bits than ever before (why must most of them be on early in the morning or on the version of TV-Asahi we don't get up here?) And much, much more.
And now, it's finally out. Does it live up to expectations? I'll get to that in a sec!
Obviously, this movie had a lot riding on it, if you'll forgive the terrible pun. It's the movie of the show celebrating 10 years of Kamen Rider back on TV, it's the first movie to unite all the Riders, new and old, in one film. For many of them, this is their first time back in on-screen Kamen Rider in years. It also has to be about the titular Kamen Rider Decade, since it is his movie.
And make no mistake, it is his movie. It's a Kamen Rider Decade movie featuring all the Riders, rather than a movie about all the Riders that happens to have Decade in it. He's the star attraction, even given how significant his co-stars are to selling the film to viewers. It's his story, but they all play a part in it.
There is a helluva lot of plot going on here, though unfortunately given the current near-finished of the show, we have yet to know how it will all figure in. With an epic showdown and a story that pushes the heroes to their very limit, it has the feel of being "Decade's greatest adventure". It certainly does things with the characters, and the whole premise of the show, which are pretty gutsy.
But before I get into that, let's get back to the question: Does it live up to expectations? That'll depend on what your expectations are, and how you feel about the Decade TV series. The movie's certainly got enough hype and excitement around it that I think it'll be impossible to satisfy everyone. Nothing new there though.
As for the content, if you dislike some of Decade's more unpopular ideas (recasts, AUs, Final Form Rides, Riders kicking the crap out of each other for a vague, higher cause) then you might find it hard to get into this movie. Like I said, it's a Kamen Rider Decade film. It wears that name on its sleeve.
But how about me? Upon leaving the theater, I felt pretty happy with it. I will need to see it a few more times before I make a final opinion, but I would say that, based on one viewing, I'd put it up there as one of my favorite Rider movies in recent memory. It's an honest stab at trying to combine the light-hearted Shôwa action-fests with the more plot-heavy, series-affecting tone of the Heisei movies. It ended up being a little more plot-heavy and serious than I expected, but there's still tons 'o fun and some things turned out to be sillier than I thought they'd be.
For the most part, it succeeds as a Rider movie. I think I'd say it's great, but just shy of being truly incredible. It aims for the bull's eye and misses, but still hits close enough to be score high.
This leads into the dreaded nit-picks! I'll get them out of the way now. A big one is the running time, which I feel could have been longer. The entire Shinkenger/Decade double-feature runs 89 minutes according to Toho Cinemas. Given that the Shinkenger movie was at least about as long as an average episode, that leaves something like just over an hour for Decade.
As a result, the movie is pretty well-paced, though because it's packing so much in, there's a lot of big moments that don't feel as though they have enough build-up. Rather it's just a succession of events, but they feel a little two quick.
I almost feel like, since these moments had been so heavily promoted and hinted at, the movie runs on the audience's expectations of them. It knows that we know those moments are coming, so it waits, it plays its hand, and that's that. I think that works okay now, but upon reviewing the movie a couple years from now? We'll have to see.
It'll be interesting to see how the Director's Cut turns out. This is one movie which I think could actually use just a few extra shots to flesh things out more, and build up the big moments. On the whole it succeeds at feeling epic when it needs to be, but I feel like a longer run time would improve it even more.
The other big area where the movie falls just short of achieving true masterpiece status is in how it handles the nostalgia.
Because don't get me wrong, the movie does try its damnedest. You've got all the Riders back as the title suggests, and a lot of nice surprises in how they're handled. Loads of old foes. Fan-friendly moments abound. The movie recognizes the reverence the audience holds for the series' history, and it makes good use of it. There's some nice little cameos, voice or otherwise. I can appreciate all that and for the "All Riders" aspect alone, this movie's highly commendable. I mean, who would have thought they'd do this a few years ago?
And not to sound greedy, but I think the film could have gone one step further. There's some things it doesn't do with the music and voice acting which would have made a great movie into a truly spectacular one. Ultimately, what we end up with isn't that bad, but still, for a movie this big, they could have gone just a little bit further and made it something truly spectacular.
Okay, enough with the complaining. Onto the good stuff!
I'll start with the cast. For the most part, everybody really brings their A game to this movie. I'm truly impressed.
Tsukasa rules. It's as simple as that. You might hate him for what he does in this movie, but I love what he goes through. It's got guts. It's an emotional trial that's as deep as anything he's been through so far, if not deeper. Tsukasa gets put through the mill, but comes out better than ever.
It's a great journey. Inoue's more than up to the task, offering up the kind of stuff he was doing back in Kuuga's World. He's really giving it his all, especially as the movie draws to its climax.
Yuusuke's good as well. He's out of it for a big chunk towards the end, but he still fulfills the role of loyal friend to Tsukasa. He's come a long way since those first episodes on the TV series. I'd say that he has ended up being kinda like his fellow Yuusuke, though more emotionally vulnerable. He too goes through some heavy stuff this time.
Natsumi gets more to do here than she has in a while on the show. It's a lot of running around, and I think the TV series will have to address some of her backstory that isn't covered here. She's mostly just in there for the support, but like Yuusuke, she makes the big twists feel important.
Daiki is... Daiki. I'm not really a fan of the character on the show, and his performance in the movie is largely more of the same (the character's performance, I have no problems with the actor.) He does actually get kinda cool towards the end though, when he starts to realize the full weight of things.
Eijirô... well, you'll have to see the movie on that one.
Kivaara's the same as ever, and Narutaki's pretty much what you'd expect him to be. His role is surprisingly small, but then maybe the TV show will get more into what makes him tick.
That's the regulars, how about the new people?
The new character named Sayo's okay. She's got a few secrets, including who she is (though you may already know) and who she is. I'm a little unclear on some of the story with her, but overall it's an interesting aspect to the mythos.
As for the all-new Nobuhiko, well... it's hard to compare him to the infamously-scarce original version. But he's pretty good. Ooura does a good job making the character his own, even when he's also pulling double duty as you-know-who.
Doctor Shinigami and Ambassador Hell are sort of played half-jokingly, half-seriously, but I liked them. Are they the originals? No, but few people can reach the heights of Amamoto and Ushio. As it is, they capture the spirit if not the full menace, though in his unveiling scene Shinigami actually manages to come off as quite chilling. Things get goofier later on, but to Ishibashi and Oogi's credit, they make it work. The movie acknowledges the subtle humor in Daishocker while never undermining its threat.
Jaak Shôgun is cool, voiced by Katô Seizô himself, and a certain new Rider makes an impressive debut (he is on the poster, by the way.) And the rest of the cast is pretty much returning characters!
Okay, there's Gackt's interesting little cameo. He's certainly a different approach to the character he plays. I liked Gackt just fine, though I think if you hadn't seen the music video for "The Next Decade", you'd be missing out on some parts of the character which aren't really covered here. Gackt puts in a nice performance though, and I enjoyed his scene.
In place of the usual movie-only Riders, there's a new little trick (or form) for a preexisting one. It feels a little superfluous, but looks cool and makes for some good drama.
Instead, we've got all those Riders coming back! Budget-saving fun! Although actually, I don't think they've ever looked better. In my opinion, in resurrecting the past Riders they did it just right in bringing them back as we know & love 'em. The costumes are refurbished, use modern materials and look spectacular on the big screen.
I like the costumes in movies like THE FIRST & THE NEXT, but those are, in my eyes, different characters. In those movies, it makes sense to create new versions that are distinct from the originals.
Here, it's... complicated, but I feel they should look like how they've looked for years, given how the story works. Plus, it's just so much more exciting to see the Heisei Riders on screen with their predecessors the way they're remembered. The old guys are still as great as ever, and almost everybody gets to show off at least one signature power. A few in particular make for really nice moments.
There's some original actors who do turn up, though only very briefly. Their scenes are a welcome addition though.
Only a couple other Riders have any sort of dialogue, and as I've hinted, Toei didn't got the whole nine yards when it comes to the voice casting, though I'll live. Past Rider movies and shows got away with this, and I liked those. At least the Riders all pretty much feel right, and sound right in one particular way.
Two Riders in particular are absent for much of the movie, but when they show up, it's worth the wait. It's also nice to throw in some other Riders too, along with the main 26. It offers a chance for more original voice casting! And one Rider who didn't appear in many of the early publicity photos gets perhaps his finest moment yet, outside of his own movie.
The monsters are all old, with some literally being the original suits and a couple being the attraction suits from stage shows or exhibitions. They're great though. I love the whole idea of Daishocker, with all the Rider villains finally having enough, joining together, and coming up with the ultimate evil plan. It's great just seeing a ton of mishmashed villains together, like in one of the classic movies. All that's missing is the role call, though that might have gone on for a while. It's an unabashed monster mash.
A certain popular lead villain (okay, it's Shadow Moon, he's on the poster) is cool as usual. He puts up a good fight. There's another villain (again, on the poster) who shows up right at the end. It's quick, but cool.
The music was okay (very dramatic) but I'll have to give the OST a listen. The sound effects though were top-notch. Without saying too much, they really did their homework with those.
The action scenes are great, dynamically shot and well-staged. The big epic final battle alone was worth the price of admission, kicking off with that slow-mo walk and culminating in the biggest bang ever... twice! The effects are what we've come to expect, with some dodgy CG, but that's CG for you. The real effects always look great.
Some mention must go to the stunt guys. There are a TON of them in this movie! Everybody's on fine form and as the making-of shows, they did put in the extra effort to try and get all the moves and poses right. Special mention must go to Tominaga Kenji, the original Kuuga himself, returning to do... what else, Kuuuga. The others are all stellar, and I'd never believe that V3 & Amazon were the same main suit actor if I hadn't read it.
And I think that's about it. Overall, my initial impression of this movie was "awesome", and that still holds. Like the Decade TV series, it does some things in a way that will take some getting used to. But if you can get behind it, then it's highly enjoyable.
I've nitpicked it to hell and back, but I really do have to admit that it's pretty great and the most fun I've had watching a Rider movie in years. It mixes some hard storytelling with explosive action, and there's a reasonably satisfying conclusion. And for good measure, loads of nostalgia. It might not be the perfect Rider movie, but it gets pretty close.
And besides, there's still 2011.
***
All Riders Reviewed! Spoiler Version
Warning! This is the Spoiler review of the new Kamen Rider Decade movie, complete with plot synopsis. Turn back now if you don't want to know all the big plot details! A Spoiler-Free version can be read here. (or just scroll up.)
Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Daishocker
Here it is. Possibly the biggest Rider movie to date, and easily one of the most anticipated.
The hype for this thing has been incredible, with one of the most aggressive ad campaigns I've seen in a while. Ads up the wazoo. Kamen Rider taking over 7-11 and the Tokyo Metropolitan Subway. Net movies which I still gotta watch. Mock Shocker political rallies. More TV specials and bits than ever before (why must most of them be on early in the morning or on the version of TV-Asahi we don't get up here?) And much, much more.
And now, it's finally out. Does it live up to expectations? I'll answer that later, and cut right to the chase. Or the plot.
Synopsis
The film opens with Tsukasa in the middle of a big empty stadium. He transforms into Kamen Rider Decade, and an announcer (the voice of the DecaDriver) gives him the shout-out whilst Decade's stats are displayed up on the mega-o-vision screen thingy. A dimensional wall appears, and out steps... Kamen Rider Amazon!
Decade & Amazon jump at each other. The camera spins around them as the background changes to a foresty-looking place. The two engage in a violent, evenly-matched struggle. Amazon calls out his famous attacks as he bites, scratches, and thrashes Decade, with all the appropriate sound effects.
Our main man does a Kamen Ride to Decade Hibiki, who sets Amazon on fire with his flame breath. Amazon's takes it on the chin and counters with his own famous Dai Setsu Dan, which knocks Decade back to his normal self. You know he's got to be pretty tough to live through that.
Decade uses his Final Attack Ride, Dimension Kick, against Amazon's Amazon Kick. They make contact in midair, and there is a huge explosion that consumes everything.
And that's all before the opening title!
After that, we jump to 3 days earlier, when Tsukasa & the crew first arrived in this strange new world. Although it seems like any other, there's one key difference from all the past worlds they've been to: Tsukasa's photographs are coming out normal. I mean normal-normal, not how they normally are, which is abnormal. Well you know what I mean. Taking this as a sign, Natsumi wonders if they've finally arrived in Tsukasa's World. Eijirô also wonders about the backdrop for this world: it's just some building. Not as ominous as usual.
Kivaara, played once again by CGI, points out that it looks like a building from one of the photos hanging up in the hall. A photo showing Tsukasa's reflection in the window, wearing the exact same coat that he happens to be wearing now. As if prompted by this revelation, Tsukasa reaches into his pocket and takes out a mysterious key. He gets a strange feeling about this world, and believes that the secrets of his past lie somewhere in it.
Tsukasa, Natsumi & Yuusuke find the house out by a lake (following Tsukasa's faulty memories.) And Machine Decader & TryChaser there? Enjoy 'em while they last, because that's about all you see of them in this movie. Anyway, they get to the house, and after Tsukasa has a brief turn where he's not quite sure if he wants to find out the answers, he tries out the key, and unlocks the door.
They enter into the lavish home and hear music. The gang head upstairs to find a girl playing the piano. This is Sayo, who addresses Tsukasa as her big brother. Oh snap!
Tsukasa can't remember having a sister, so Sayo launches into a flashback to one year ago, when he left on her on a vaguely-defined journey, promising to bring back photos as souvenirs. There's some talk about Tsukasa's parents who died 10 years prior, and our hero checks out a vintage camera belonging to the 'rents. I guess photography runs in the family.
Things are interrupted by the arrival of Tsukikage Nobuhiko, who's acted as a sort-of caretaker to Sayo in Tsukasa's absence. There's some blah-blah-blahing about Tsukasa being gone when she needed him most and all that, but let's cut the BS. Anybody reading this probably already knows who this guy is. I mean his name is Nobuhiko for cryin' out loud! His reaction upon seeing Tsukasa is one of instant recognition. He knows something's up.
An awkward pause between the two (literally, the sound cuts out and I thought something was wrong with the reel) is interrupted when nearby buildings start to dissipate away. Natsumi realizes that this world is on the verge of collapse, and we get a cutaway to the CGI earths colliding and the narrator reminding us of that whole deal. When Nobuhiko starts talking like he knows all about this, Tsukasa's reaction made me laugh. It's a mix of "Oh @#$%!" and "Should I say something, or just let him keep going?"
It turns out that the key to saving the worlds lies in the strongest Kamen Rider, of which there can only be one. As Tsukasa wonders just who he is and how he ties into all this, he looks up at the moon, on which appears a huge duel-headed eagle with the letters "DCD" written on it.
He then goes into a crazy flashback where a mysterious, shadowy man in a black and pink leather jacket receives the DecaDriver and RideBooker in a dark, castle-looking place. He sees a man hanging by one arm. He sees the eagle symbol again.
Snapping out of it, Tsukasa's attitude has suddenly changed. He orders Nobuhiko to summon all the Riders together for a tournament to determine the strongest one.
...yup. Just like that! I can't begin to imagine what's going through Nobuhiko's head at the point, but needless to say the movie then jumps back to where the pre-title scene ended. The big stadium is where the Rider Tournament is being held. Natsumi, Nobuhiko & Yuusuke watch on.
Decade emerges the victor of the battle with Amazon, though the other Rider isn't destroyed, merely weakened, and disappears in another one of those dimensional walls. Decade's next opponent turns out to be Kamen Rider BLACK RX, and... hey, it's Kurata's voice! Yup, the real BLACK RX is here, fresh off of his TV appearance.
They teleport to a warehouse to do battle. RX attacks with Revolcane, which looks better here than ever before. Decade changes his weapon to gun mode, so RX becomes Roborider and shoots 'im up. Decade becomes Decade Kabuto, and Clocks Up, running circles around Roborider. But you all know what's next: Biorider! The blue guy goes into liquid mode and wraps around Kabuto. Ha! Nothing's too fast for Biorider!
...except apparently regular old Faiz, who Decade turns into next. He uses the Crimson Smash on Biorider and is deemed the winner, despite the other Rider just starting to turn to liquid after taking the hit.
Yeah, that's the thing. This Rider Tournament feels a bit rigged. Like, I bet if one of them tripped then their enemy would be declared the winner. Somebody wants to get through this scene fast...
Decade returns to the Stadium as RX vanishes back into his world ("RX, Stay in the World!" Ba-dump.) He reverts to Tsukasa and takes a time-out as Nobuhiko gestures for Yuusuke to go into action. Here comes the obligatory Oranamin C advertising (Yuusuke gut-punches Tsukasa with a bottle) and our ersatz Kuuga even does a thumb's up! Bet you've been waiting for that.
Yuusuke transforms and his opponent is Kamen Rider X, who sounds strangely like Ryuutaros (okay, it's not that bad, but it is the same voice actor.) X-Rider uses Ridol to kick butt, so Kuuga goes to Dragon Form, complete with Dragon Rod which he apparently generated out of thin air. The rod-wielding Riders are evenly matched.
Meanwhile, other Rider battles are going on at the same time. It is a tourney, after all. ZX fights with Ryuki, who jumps into the windows. So ZX blows 'em up with his bombs, forcing Ryuki out of the Mirror World, and he now attacks with his DragSaber. Good thing this isn't Spirits ZX, or this scene would have opened with Ryuki already impaled on something.
Stronger & Blade fight it out. Despite the advantage of having a sword, Blade gets zapped by the good old Electro-Fire, and makes the goofiest scream ever (even by Blade standards.)
IXA fights Skyrider and... gets thrown off a building. Ha! Okay, he lives. He returns fire with his gun, but is it enough to stop whatever variation of the Sky Kick is heading towards him? We never find out because there's an explosive transition to... later on!
(As a side note, if this is 3 days after when Tsukasa first went to meet Sayo & Nobuhiko, what have they been doing since then? I guess that's how long it takes to gather every Rider ever together for a big contest. Make mental note of that for future reference...)
It comes down to the Finals, which ends up being a 3-on-3 that will ultimately become a last man standing. The contenders are Decade (expected) Kuuga (probable) V3 (expected) BLACK (understandable) Super-1 (ditto) and... Diend!? WTF?
Daiki strolls in, carrying the GiGi Bracelet, which he apparentlystole treasure-hunted off of the Decade/Amazon fight, somehow. He joins Tsukasa & Yuusuke in transforming just as V3, Super-1 & BLACK all arrive.
The fight starts. Super-1 uses one of his many, many, many kicks to knock down the three Heisei Riders. Diend uses a new Attack Ride (Barrier) to hold back BLACK in midair, then Blast to cover himself as he uses Invisible to... run away. Gee, thanks Daiki!
This means it becomes a 3-on-2, and Kuuga goes down after taking a V3 Kick meant for Decade (he just reverts back to Yuusuke though. This is a non-fatal deathmatch!) For whatever reason Decade & the 3 senior Riders teleport to what looks like the same parking lot that he and Kuuga fought all those Grongi in back in episode #3.
When the three Riders all do a Rider Kick, Decade uses his Final Attack Ride & Illusion Attack Ride, creating 3 Decades doing 3 Dimension Kicks. They hit the other Riders and Decade wins! You know he must be pretty tough considering that he just beat like, 3 of the Riders' best kickers. I'm pretty sure the whole "Decade wins by kicking his opponent's foot" thing doesn't even work, but like I said, this feels rigged.
As Decade returns to the stadium and reverts to Tsukasa, Nobuhiko begins clapping. Everything has gone according to plan. Yuusuke and Natsumi look around, confused. Everything begins to shake. Tsukasa just stands there, looking content (he's been rather out of it ever since his flashback scene.)
And then a giant castle rises up from under the ground, smashing through the stadium! And this is where the movie really gets rolling and goes totally bananas.
Yuusuke & Natsumi find themselves in the throne room from Tsukasa's flashbacks, surrounded by tons of old Rider monsters, from Shocker, the Grongi, Orphenochs, Imagin, Worms, Undead, you name it. Standing before the throne are two familiar-looking characters; the darker, redesigned Ambassador Hell, and the regal golden Jaak Shôgun.
Hell welcomes them to Daishocker central. Yuusuke's response is a little odd, because he says "Daishocker!" either disbelievingly, or like he's never heard of them before. I'm going to go with the former, since this is tied into the TV series (it is, they confirm that in about 1 minute.)
The villains then call for Daishocker's leader to appear. And who is it but... Eijirô? He rushes in, concerned for Natsumi, but is quickly knocked aside by Hell, as he's obviously not who they were expecting. But then, in a twist which surprises everyone, he stands up, his voice now deep and menacing. He gestures for a flowing black cloak which flies into the room, circling him, and revealing his true identity: Doctor Shinigami.
Yes. Doctor. Effing. Shinigami. How about that for a twist? Natsumi & Yuusuke can't believe it. Even Hell is stunned, but quickly composes himself. Shinigami then toasts to the actual leader of Daishocker... Tsukasa!
Dressed in the leather outfit from his flashbacks, Tsukasa enters dramatically and takes a seat on his throne. Shinigami then spells it all out in the ultimate screw-you to the good guys.
The entire thing has been a sham. Tsukasa somehow lost his memories, but with Natsumi's help (when she found the DecaDriver in episode #1) he got back onto the path of saving the worlds. Saving them from destruction... so that Daishocker could then conquer them. Everything that has transpired has been part of a grand manipulation...
Okay, with a few bumps (I don't think anyone counted on the "amnesia" part) but now things are back on track. I'm not sure how the tournament fits into it, other than that the defeated Riders aren't in any condition to be stopping anything right now and it did play a role in preventing the collapse. I'm pretty sure they did cover it specifically somewhere. Must go see movie again this week!
In any case, with Tsukasa and Eijirô having turned out to actually be eeeeeeeeeeeeeevil, Yuusuke and Natsumi are on their own. After getting roughed up by Hell, they're unceremoniously dumped down a trap door into the sewers beneath the castle, where they struggle to come to grips with these shocking revelations.
"Everything was a lie..."
With no one else to turn to, our heroes go to meet with Sayo, but she just launches into an angry flashback about how 10 years ago, shortly after the deaths of her and Tsukasa's parents, he became withdrawn and just played outside all day, while she sits inside all day with some... familiar-looking jewel... uh-oh. It's the Earth Stone, with which she somehow opened up a dimensional wall-thing to another world, into which Tsukasa stepped...
That above flashback might be a little out of whack though, as the next shocking revelation is that Nobuhiko is... wait for it... Shadow Moon! He's got a nifty transformation scene, sorta like the old one, but with more CG involvement. Sayo is also in league with Daishocker, and she uses the Earth Stone to blast Yuusuke with evil energy, unlocking the deepest, darkest secret of Kuuga. He tells Natsumi to run, and she books it.
Shadow Moon returns to the castle, reverting to Nobuhiko and talking with Tsukasa, who ponders the state of the worlds (he just looks up, and sees the CGI worlds, no longer colliding.) Nobuhiko then drops the bomb: in his absence, things have changed a bit in Daishocker and... Tsukasa's yesterday's news.
Sayo appears in strange robes, and tells a shocked Tsukasa that she is now the priestess Bishum. Because he left her behind, she grew to hate Tsukasa, and joined up with Daishocker via Nobuhiko, who stepped in and became the brother that Tsukasa stopped being.
Tsukasa suddenly realizes just how screwed he is when Nobuhiko goes after him with the Satan Saber, kicking his ass good and dumping him down the same trap door that he used on Yuusuke and Natsumi. Speaking of Yuusuke, he appears before Tsukasa in the sewers, but zombie-like and emotionless. He transforms into a newer, fiercer black-eyed Kuuga.
Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Ultimate Form, who blasts the one-time Daishocker leader with evil purple energy. Sayo also speaks through Kuuga (appearing in his eye) which is going to lead to one really awkward scene later on.
Betrayed by his organization, Tsukasa goes on the run, back to the Hikari Photo Studio in the rain, but Natsumi's locked him out. She's on her own, just as he is. He turned on his friends for the enemies that have now turned on him, and he's all alone. Tsukasa begs for her to let him in, but she can't do it. He speaks of how there is no world where he truly belongs now, except in there.
Considering it's just two people talking, this scene's awesome, and one of the best parts of the movie. It's two actors giving it their all. I really like how Natsumi comes *this* close to getting up and letting Tsukasa in, before she remembers what he just did. The only strange thing is how they can hear each other through the door when it's pouring outside. I guess it's the old Rider Logic™!!!
Some time later, Daishocker, now under the leadership of Nobuhiko, begins their grand attack. And just like that, the world goes to Hell. There's flying Shocker henchmen. Monsters stalking the street. Mass hysteria. Fleeing crowds. There's even some pretty brutal deaths. It's total chaos and Natsumi's caught in the middle of it. Who should show up to comfort her but...
Narutaki! And all he really does is the equivalent of "See? I told you this would happen! Decade really is the destroyer of worlds!" They then hoof it and get chased by Shocker goons. What happened to all-powerful Narutaki? He sees some real Rider villains and he's running for mommy. I guess I shouldn't be surprised given his tomfoolery on the show, but man. It's like he forgot that he could float and stuff.
Fortunately Daiki shows up (I can't believe I just wrote that) and saves them, taking a cue from Taki Kazuya and appearing in disguise as one of the Shocker combatants. He turns into Diend and blows everyone away. Afterward, Natsumi questions him on his knowledge of Tsukasa's true identity. He doesn't really act like it's a big deal, but adds that he got the DienDriver by stealing it from Daishocker, so at least now we know where that came from. You know, since the trip to his world neglected to tell us that detail.
At least Daiki realizes that things are actually getting heavy this time, so he offers his assistance in stopping Daishocker. Narutaki recommends gathering together the remaining Riders. Huh? The remaining Riders? I guess he wasn't paying attention during the first half of the movie!
Tsukasa has wandered alone amidst the destruction that he helped bring about. He now lies down, thinking of the friends he betrayed and the people who betrayed him. He's really in bad shape. Suddenly, he hears footsteps, and turns to see...
Special guest star Gackt! Playing Yuuki Jôji, as Tsukasa identifies him. Yuuki's been looking for Tsukasa because, back in his Daishocker Leader days, he was responsible for taking Yuuki's arm (he's the guy that's strung up in Tsukasa's flashbacks. Haha, Scientist GackT.) So naturally he wants revenge, as Yuuki would in any version.
After whacking Tsukasa in the most dramatically-delayed punch ever though, he realizes that maybe the pitiful wreck in front of him isn't the Tsukasa he knows. Maybe all that journeying around and amnesiac antics actually did rub off on him. Maybe, deep down, he really is a good guy after all.
Daishocker shows up, and then comes the scene everybody's been waiting for: Yuuki pulls off his robotic arm rather painfully, then attaches a big honkin'...something-Arm in its place, and prepares to open fire... and that's it. Huh? It's a bit strange, as that's it for Gackt. He shows up, hits the star of the movie, gives an uplifting speech, and prepares to shoot something. What is kinda neat is that as the scene transitions (into Gackt's... gun arm thing charging up) we hear the Riderman Henshin sound effect, so I guess he's meant to be transforming there? I dunno.
Natsumi & Daiki have met up with the remaining Riders, who are... Ouja and Kick Hopper. Oh yeah, this is going to end real well. Thanks Narutaki, thanks. Notice he's long gone. Yeah, that's it for him in the movie too. He buggered off first chance he got.
So our heroes lay out the deal, but naturally, being eeeeeeeeeeeeevil (or just angsty) Ouja & Kick Hopper decide to side with Daishocker, because hey, wouldn't you? As it turns out, some of the Daishocker forces are en route to wherever our heroes are (it looks like a disused classroom) so they decide to book it.
The dark Riders aren't having that, so Daiki blasts them away and becomes Diend, bringing in Raia, Gai & Punch Hopper to do battle with them while they make their escape. We don't see the outcome of the fight, but if you've seen the publicity photos than it looks like Raia and Gai sure get their revenge!
Daishocker attacks Diend and Natsumi, busting in through walls and windows. The fight spills out into the woods where Jaak Shôgun is waiting for "the DienDriver-stealing guy" with more monsters. Things look pretty bad, but then a voice calls out.
It's Tsukasa, looking more like his old self. Jaak thinks he's back to reclaim his honor and rejoin Daishocker, but Tsukasa tells him quite the opposite. He realizes what he's done, what he is, and what he could be. The lessons of his journey (or his pep talk from Yuuki) revived the spirit of justice within him. His only mission is to save the worlds, and crush Daishocker.
Tsukasa then transforms as the Decade battle theme kicks in. It's a pretty awesome moment, as the hero literally goes from being at rock bottom back up to the top. Decade joins Diend and together they defeat the monsters and the former Crisis general, blowing him away with Diend's Final Attack Ride.
Back in the castle, Hell and Shinigami are... getting drunk, apparently. One too many toasts to universal conquest, or something. Sensing that the big finale is approaching, they transform into their Kaijin forms, Garagaranda, and Ikadevil (I know, I know, I've explained it before.) I gotta say this scene is... well, not what I was expecting. If you've seen the picture of Ishibashi holding the dried squid and beer ("Ika de biiru!") well, that's now canon. Oh, it's going to get even better.
Tsukada, Daiki & Natsumi approach CastleDranDaishocker, which is now out in the middle of some valley in Gunma or something. Hey, I guess it can move around, like the Granshocker castle from SD Riders. Garagaranda & Ikadevil appear with basically EVERY SINGLE MONSTER IN THE MOVIE (even those that died earlier! Okay no Jaak, but everyone else.) Naturally our heroes are outnumbered, outgunned and probably outsmarted. Heck, the two leaders' tentacle attacks (stop laughing) slap them silly on their own. Natsumi runs for cover and prays for some kind of a savior.
Well it comes all right, in the form of Rider 1, Rider 2, V3, Riderman, X-Rider, Amazon, Stronger, Skyrider, Super-1, ZX, BLACK, BLACK RX, Shin, ZO, Agito, Ryuki, Faiz, Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto, Den-O, and Kiva! The Triple Riders are on their bikes while everybody else follows on foot. The three senior Riders dismount and join their allies in the ultimate bad-ass slow-motion walk, joining Decade & Diend. Rider 1 & 2 make the call, and the final battle begins.
Trying to summarize what happens next is pretty much impossible; you've just got to see it. But to give an idea, it's all the Riders in action, running through explosions, fighting villains, posing for the camera, it's all-out. Everybody gets their moment, most notably Skyrider executing one of the 99 techniques (yes!) and Den-O attempting his famous pose again after a misfire.
RX goes nuts with Revolcane, slashing and stabbing evil. Riders throw guys down hills like it was going out of style. It's cool just seeing so many Riders mixed together, fighting each other's villains.
Kabuto & RX team up against Garagaranda, and they're then aided by the Double Riders, who destroy the snakey guy with the Rider Double Kick. He briefly flashes back to Ambassador Hell for a "Daishocker Banzai!" moment before exploding.
Decade, Diend, Den-O, Faiz, Blade & Kiva tangle with Ikadevil, who attacks them with... well I'll explain later, but it's cool. They defeat him when Decade Final Form Rides Den-O into Momotaros (ha! Did you think we'd get through this movie without one of the Imagin?) and then Final Form Rides the others into their... Final Form Rides. Using the bigtoys, on sale now kids! weapons of justice, the good guys blow away a crowd of monsters and Ikadevil, who has a very silly but very awesome death scene. Or is it a death scene?
Anyway, the fun ends when Rising Ultimate Kuuga shows up to knock away Diend and the others and go after Decade. Bishum is ticked off, and her rage extends through into Kuuga as he strangles Tsukasa (who gets knocked back to human form.) But Tsukasa has worked out by now what's going on.
Nobuhiko's been using Sayo all along just as a way to take down Tsukasa and further his own ambition. Through the Earth Stone, he's made her into Bishum. Well, something like that, it's kinda strange. What's also strange is that Tsukasa appeals to his sister in the same way that she speaks to him, so he's talking to Kuuga as he tries to kill him.
There's the all-essential emotional moment as Tsukasa's words cause Sayo/Bishum to realize how she's been manipulated, and despite struggling with Nobuhiko, she smashes the stone. This ticks him off, though strangely he takes it out on Tsukasa rather than her. Yeah really. I thought he'd stab her right then and there, but nope. Well, okay!
Kuuga is of course now free from the evil control, and reverts to Yuusuke. He joins Tsukasa in transforming to face Nobuhiko, who shows up as Shadow Moon. The new, red-eyed Kuuga Rising Ultimate form retains his good heart and all that stuff, and Shadow Moon now has to contend with two very powerful and very unhappy Riders.
Unfortunately, Shadow Moon whups them both good with his Satan Saber and that iconic green lightning (Shadow Beam.) But they get some help from another very special guest star, Kamen Rider Double! Or W. Whichever. I'll call him Double, that's what the movie said.
He (They?) rides in on his (their?) motorcycle, literally coming out of nowhere. Okay, maybe I need to explain this. As we all probably know, Kamen Rider Double is made up of two people, Hidari Shôtarô & the weird guy known only as Phillip. We have yet to see their (his?) show, so this is Double's first ever onscreen appearance, in all his green & black glory.
It's a cool scene. At first, Decade can only see the green half, and calls him a "Green Rider", whereas Shadow Moon sees the black half, and you can figure out what he says. Double reveals that he's two-toned with a witty little comment about being either-or. It's a nice intro.
He's suitably impressive, beating up Shadow Moon in his default Cyclone-Joker form, then changing to Heat-Joker, his green half becoming Red. He delivers some flaming punches (seriously, stop laughing) and then goes to Heat-Metal, which sports a rod weapon. He changes forms by inserting USB flash drives into his belt. Well he does! I didn't make this up.
Double impresses Decade, Kuuga and the audience as he thrashes Shadow Moon good, knocking him into the air and right into the front of Daishocker's castle. He then takes off after a brief argument with himself (it's... complicated), driving off into who knows where.
The rest of the Riders have defeated the remaining monsters, and join Decade & Kuuga in an ALL RIDER KICK on Shadow Moon and the castle, which destroys both utterly. Now how cool is that?
But just when you think it's over, King Dark comes plowing up from the rubble! Yes, King Dark. He was only alluded to earlier in the movie, but now he's here in his full, giant glory. X-Rider even namechecks him. He's Daishocker's parting gift to the Riders.
Not to be outdone, the Riders' own resident giant guy, Kamen Rider J, comes rumbling in from behind a mountain (he's Diend's doing, apparently, as the latter jumps down off of his shoulder.) J goes up against King Dark, but is pretty easily knocked down. Diend still has yet one more trick: he Final Form Rides Decade into a giant sized DecaDriver. In what must be J's finest moment ever, he puts on the buckle (complete with giant CGI card belt thing) and becomes Jumbo Decade Complete Form!
Now it's a fight they can win. Big 'ol Decade beats down King Dark, and then launches into a final attack, which is like a giant version of Decade'd Dimension Kick where all the other Riders jump into the air and become huge versions of their cards. This scene's pretty cool because we get to see what all the older Riders' cards will look like (as a number of them haven't come out yet.) As you can imagine, this attack blows King Dark up so much that the explosion reshapes itself to look like his face. Huh? I dunno what that's about, but it looks cool.
And so, with the battle over, Tsukasa, Yuusuke, Natsumi & Daiki bid farewell to the Riders. It's a touching scene because of what isn't said; the looks of mutual respect between actors and costumed stunt guy speak louder. Okay, there is some talking. As they turn to depart back into the dimensional wall, Agito & RX both briefly turn to Tsukasa, flashing to their human counterparts Shôichi and Kôtarô, offering some nice parting words.
Den-O/Momotaros also offers some slightly less nicer words, telling Tsukasa to stop bothering him all the time since he's "Chô" busy. Get it? Get it? Hahahaha. So yes, Momotaros now stands on the same level as Shôichi and Kôtarô. Read it and weep.
Oh, and Daiki proves that maybe he has actually learned something when he tosses the GiGi Bracelet back to Amazon (who didn't have it the whole time? Really?) and Amazon utters "Diend. Friend" complete with the "Amazonian sign 'o friendship" sound effect. Nice!
The Riders depart as the ending theme "The Next Decade" kicks in, and we get some more scenes while the credits role.
Tsukasa parts ways with Sayo again, but on better terms than before. They've both learned from each other, and come to an understanding... or something, to be honest I was trying to read the credits here for the voice actor names. But basically things end up happy between them.
Back at the Hikari Photo Studio, Eijirô looks over photos of Shinigami, deciding to lay off the squid and beer for a while. Huh? Wha? Bwuh? I dunno, the movie doesn't even try to explain how this works. Insert your fan theory here. Natsumi just kind of gives him a strange look, and decides not to talk about it.
Tsukasa is happy to be back with Natsumi, Yuusuke, and Eijirô (and Kivaara.) Back with his friends. Back in, as he says, "the only place he belongs". Daiki shows up, and asks Tsukasa where his next destination will be. Our heroes smile at each other, as they lower the next backdrop, which shines with light...
THE END
Following that, there's a brief announcement (text and still pictures of Decade & Double) announcing that the real journey begins in December. Cue crossover movie!
Review
Obviously, this movie had a lot riding on it, if you'll forgive the terrible pun. It's the movie of the show celebrating 10 years of Kamen Rider back on TV, it's the first movie to unite all the Riders, new and old, in one film. For many of them, this is their first time back in on-screen Kamen Rider in years. It also has to be about the titular Kamen Rider Decade, since it is his movie.
And make no mistake, it is his movie. It's a Kamen Rider Decade movie featuring all the Riders, rather than a movie about all the Riders that happens to have Decade in it. He's the star attraction, even given how significant his co-stars are to selling the film to viewers. It's his story, but they all play a part in it.
There is a helluva lot of plot going on here, though unfortunately given the current near-finished of the show, we have yet to know how much of it will actually matter in the end. The movie has been said as putting the "period" to Decade's adventure, which leads us to conclude that it comes at the end, after the TV series is over. I can see it working that way.
It certainly feels like an ending, with an epic showdown and a story that pushes the heroes to their very limit. The ending's pretty open, but I kinda figure that it's Toei giving themselves breathing room for future Decade appearances. Also, as I might have said before, I feel the best Rider endings are the ones that give some closure for the heroes, but predominantly closure for the villains and the hero's struggle with them. The actual emotional turning point of the end is the fact that their battle with their particular villains is over. X-Rider beat GOD, but he can return in Stronger. Agito & co. defeated the Unknown, but they could still return in a kickass PS2 game.
Of course, in the next few weeks we might find out that the movie comes after episode #27, or #29, or indeed, after the finale. The show might pull a fast one and negate everything in it, relegating it to AU status (in which case, I think I'll break something, because an AU movie about the show that explores AUs is just going too far.)
Either way, taken as it is, it has the feel of being "Decade's greatest adventure". It certainly does things with the characters, and the whole premise of the show, which are pretty gutsy.
But before I get into that, let's get back to the question: Does it live up to expectations? That'll depend on what your expectations are, and how you feel about the Decade TV series. The movie's certainly got enough hype and excitement around it that I think it'll be impossible to satisfy everyone. Nothing new there though.
As for the content, if you dislike some of Decade's more unpopular ideas (recasts, AUs, Final Form Rides, Riders kicking the crap out of each other for a vague, higher cause) then you might find it hard to get into this movie. Like I said, it's a Kamen Rider Decade film. It wears that name on its sleeve.
But how about me? Upon leaving the theater, I felt pretty happy with it. I will need to see it a few more times before I make a final opinion, but I would say that, based on one viewing, I'd put it up there as one of my favorite Rider movies in recent memory. It's an honest stab at trying to combine the light-hearted Shôwa action-fests with the more plot-heavy, series-affecting tone of the Heisei movies. It ended up being a little more plot-heavy and serious than I expected, but there's still tons 'o fun and some things turned out to be sillier than I thought they'd be.
For the most part, it succeeds as a Rider movie. I think I'd say it's great, but just shy of being truly incredible. It aims for the bull's eye and misses, but still hits close enough to be score high.
This leads into the dreaded nit-picks! I'll get them out of the way now. A big one is the running time, which I feel could have been longer. The entire Shinkenger/Decade double-feature runs 89 minutes according to Toho Cinemas. Given that the Shinkenger movie was at least about as long as an average episode, that leaves something like just over an hour for Decade.
As a result, the movie is pretty well-paced, though because it's packing so much in, there's a lot of big moments that don't feel as though they have enough build-up. Rather it's just a succession of events, but they feel a little two quick. The revelation of Shinigami and Yuuki's appearance come to mind.
I almost feel like, since both moments had been so heavily promoted and hinted at, the movie runs on the audience's expectations of them. It knows that we know those moments are coming, so it waits, it plays its hand, and that's that. I think that works okay now, but upon reviewing the movie a couple years from now? We'll have to see.
It'll be interesting to see how the Director's Cut turns out. This is one movie which I think could actually use just a few extra shots to flesh things out more, and build up the big moments. On the whole it succeeds at feeling epic when it needs to be, but I feel like a longer run time would improve it even more.
The other big area where the movie falls just short of achieving true masterpiece status is in how it handles the nostalgia.
Because don't get me wrong, the movie does try its damnedest. You've got all the Riders back, many making use of classic moves and powers. Loads of old foes. There's tons of classic sound effects. Fan-friendly moments abound. The movie recognizes the reverence the audience holds for the series' history, and it makes good use of it. There's some nice little cameos, voice or otherwise. I can appreciate all that and for the "All Riders" aspect alone, this movie's highly commendable. I mean, who would have thought they'd do this a few years ago?
And not to sound greedy, but I think the film could have gone one step further. The music's overall okay, but I'm dying to hear the soundtrack, because if there's any recognizable themes in there (aside from Decade's) I didn't catch them, and the ending fight would probably have gone from "very awesome" to "Holy @#$% best fight ever!" with some more recognizable tunes. I do think the music really matters.
Also, in regards to the voices: As it's probably clear by now, there's been recasting. Including Rider 1, 2 & V3, which runs contrary to what was suspected (indeed, even in Japan.)
Now I do have to say that I don't mind recasted Rider voices THAT much, if only because it's been done before. The 8 Riders movie doesn't have any of the original Rider voices aside from then-current Skyrider, and I love that one too much. Heck, there's episodes of the original series where Rider 1's dubbed by a different guy due to Fujioka's absence, and I still get a kick out of those.
The thing is though, it feels like if there was any movie where they should have just totally cut loose, this is the one. Given how Fujioka, Sasaki & Miyauchi were all involved in the movie promotion press conference, you would think Toei would have been able to get them to record a few grunts and a "You're going down, Shocker!" or two.
When it comes to recast voices, I can forgive the cheapness of the 70's and 80's a little easier than I can the modern stuff, because back then they weren't thinking of DVD releases and constant repeats. Most shows were designed to go out once, maybe twice, and that was about it. They could get away with more (and boy, did they get away with a lot sometimes.)
This isn't me being an evil old-timer fan who hates everything new, but just stating a truth. These days they know the DVD release for something almost as soon as it comes out, they know that these shows will be picked apart and analyzed more closely.
And what's more, the movie seems to feel that the versions of the Riders appearing at the end are the originals, as evidenced by the Kurata and Kashuu appearances. Or at least versions which look/sound like the originals. The guy doing Rider 1's voice makes a pretty good stab at a Fujioka impression, but I still can't help feel a little let down that they didn't just get the actual Fujioka. If Rescue Guys Force Gang Thing Show The Movie could get him to be *in* their movie, why can't Rider?
They got their money's worth out of Kurata, but even he probably could have gotten more to do. Especially give how a certain old enemy of his figures into the plot. Ditto with Kashuu, though I'll talk more about both in a bit.
Ultimately, the voices we end up with aren't that bad (Seki Tomokazu's Amazon is actually a lot of fun) but still, for a movie this big, they could have gone just a little bit further and made it something truly spectacular.
Okay, enough with the complaining. Onto the good stuff!
I'll start with the cast. For the most part, everybody really brings their A game to this movie. I'm truly impressed.
Tsukasa rules. It's as simple as that. You might hate him for what he does in this movie, but I love what he goes through. It takes some real balls to have the hero of the story also turn out to be the ultimate villain. That was something that was rumored from way back, even before Decade was Decade and instead it was ugly clock-faced guy who is a geek and/or the most popular guy in school trained by Garren and part of a secret data-collecting group of aliens.
It's a nice twist on the old "Kamen Rider created by the villains" idea. While the movie doesn't spell it all out (how did Tsukasa end up as the Leader? Where exactly does the technology for the DecaDriver come from?) I kind of like that. It still leaves some mystery and makes him interesting. I would have liked a scene where he opens his mouth and it's Naya Gorô speaking, but hey, I can live.
I like that Tsukasa really is genuinely bad at one point, the version we know and love being the result of memory loss. He shows how he's been affected by those adventures he had as a good guy, and reclaims his heroic self in the end. It's a great journey. Inoue's more than up to the task, offering up the kind of stuff he was doing back in Kuuga's World. He's visibly distressed towards the middle of the movie and it makes his triumphant return all the more sweet.
Yuusuke's good as well. For a short period he even becomes the surrogate star of the movie. Though he's out of it for a big chunk towards the end, possessed by evil, he fulfills the role of loyal friend to Tsukasa up until then, taking a hit for him during the Rider Tournament.
He's come a long way since those first episodes on the TV series. I'd say that he has ended up being kinda like his fellow Yuusuke, though more emotionally vulnerable. Godai let the violence and horror get to him, but still could usually cover it with his positive attitude. Here, Tsukasa's betrayal cuts deep and Murai makes it hurt.
Natsumi gets more to do here than she has in a while on the show. It's a lot of running around, but at one point she's practically the only non-evil or untrustworthy character left! I think the TV series will have to address the remaining questions with her, like why she saw the Rider War in the first place. She's mostly just in there for the support, but like Yuusuke, she makes the big twists feel important.
Daiki is... Daiki. I'm not really a fan of the character on the show, and his performance in the movie is largely more of the same (the character's performance, I have no problems with the actor.) He does actually get kinda cool towards the end though, when he starts to realize the full weight of things. Dressing up like a Shocker goon is always cool, and I like his little moment with Amazon. Does Diend really deserve to be there though with all those other legends? I dunno, because in the end he's still pretty much the same as ever.
Eijirô, well, what to say? I'll get back to him later.
Kivaara's the same as ever, and Narutaki's pretty much what you'd expect him to be. I sort of thought he'd have a bigger role to play- summoning Double, or something. But nope! Like Natsumi, the show will have to explain what his deal is.
That's the regulars, how about the new people?
Sayo's okay, and her turn as Bishum is clever. Considering how the last time Kamen Rider dealt with a hero's neglected little sister turning evil, it ended up being... not my favorite movie, this by contrast is pretty great. I like how it was foreshadowed back in the Kabuto World episodes. I'm a little unclear on some of the story with her, but overall it's an interesting aspect to the mythos.
As for the all-new Nobuhiko, well... it's hard to compare him to the infamously-scarce original version, so I'll just say that he's a straight-up villain, lacking that kind of tragic aspect to the original. But he makes up for it by being so oily. I'll admit I was kind of surprised by his betrayal, as up to that point he's playing the loyal retainer-type. Ooura does a good job making the character his own, even when he's Shadow Moon. I find in funny that Toei passed on a chance to use Terasoma again, but I suppose they had to let the new guy take a shot at it.
Okay, back to Eijirô. Or Doctor Shinigami. Or not? I dunno. That whole thing at the end just left me confused to be honest. I suppose that Shinigami just happened to resemble him, and used that to trick the good guys, but it seemed like a helluva strange thing to do for about 10 seconds, and... aw, who knows? It seems like the whole thing is almost a big non-sequitur.
While Shinigami and Ambassador Hell are sort of played half-jokingly, half-seriously, I liked them. Are they the originals? No, but few people can reach the heights of Amamoto and Ushio. As it is, they capture the spirit if not the full menace, though in his unveiling scene Ishibashi actually manages to come off as quite chilling. Things get pretty goofy later on (their transformation scene), but to Ishibashi and Oogi's credit, they make it work. The movie acknowledges the subtle humor in Daishocker while never undermining its threat.
Jaak Shôgun is cool, voiced by Katô Seizô himself, though other than getting a 1-on-2 fight scene, he doesn't do a whole lot. Double makes an impressive debut. And the rest of the cast is pretty much returning characters!
Okay, there's Gackt's Yuuki Jôji, who's kinda new. He's certainly a different approach to the character. I liked Gackt just fine, though I think if you hadn't seen the music video for "The Next Decade", you'd be missing out on parts of the character (like what his unnamed new arm does.) He just kinda shows up, does his scene, and then vanishes. It's not even made clear if he's the same Riderman who appears later, though he does have *a* Riderman form since we kinda-sorta-maybe last see him about to transform. I think.
I partly feel like Gackt's role (as Tsukasa's pick-me-up) could have gone to Kurata, and then Gackt got his dream role as a Rider villain (he'd make a pretty good Marshal Armor, ironically.) On the other hand, Yuuki's inclusion in the movie and his history with Daishocker does add to Tsukasa and how he changes from what he used to be, so I can't overlook that.
And Gackt puts in a nice performance. Yamaguchi's a hard act to follow (I happen to think he may very well be the best actor to ever play a Rider, though there's some strong competition.) Wisely, they go for a new angle, but one that still feels true to the character.
Technically, this is the first Rider movie in ages to not introduce a new, movie-only Rider. The closest thing is Kuuga's Rising Ultimate Form, which is alright. I didn't feel it did a whole lot more that regular old Ultimate Form couldn't do, but I guess someone wanted to finally give Kuuga a 12th Form and make it even. He looks cool though.
Instead, we've got all those Riders coming back! Budget-saving fun! Although actually, I don't think they've ever looked better. In my opinion, in resurrecting the past Riders they did it just right in bringing them back as we know & love 'em. The costumes are refurbished, use modern materials and look spectacular on the big screen.
I like the costumes in movies like THE FIRST & THE NEXT, but those are, in my eyes, different characters. In those movies, it makes sense to create new versions that are distinct from the originals, but these are implied to be the originals, so they should look like how they've looked for years. Plus, it's just so much more exciting to see the Heisei Riders on screen with their predecessors the way they're remembered.
The old guys are still as great as ever, and almost everybody gets to show off at least one signature power. Okay, Shin & ZO don't really, but at least they're in the movie! Shin can laugh at everybody who isn't now. Including G, who Toei sure swept under the rug fast.
Kurata & Kashuu only get one scene at the end, but it is great to see them back. Their participation does help out a lot, though it's a good thing Kurata was on the TV show! Since Den-O is in this, of course he's got his proper voice and there's Momotaros action. Kids love that guy, what can I say. Fortunately, I love him too, so I liked seeing him turn up.
Only a couple other Riders have any sort of dialogue, and as I've mentioned before its largely new voice actors, specifically Inada Tetsu as Rider 1, Fujimoto Takahiro as Rider 2, Suzumura Kenichi as X-Rider, and Seki Tomokazu as Amazon. Oh well. At least the Riders all pretty much feel right, and the sound effects are spot-on. The sounds in this movie are incredible; they really went the extra mile there.
Especially impressive is the Daishocker base background noise. It's actually not the classic Shocker control room sound effect, but rather the stock sound that would be used whenever some device was operating (viewscreens, computers, spy camera rising out of the ground, etc.) I wasn't expecting that, so it was a pretty neat touch.
I also have to say that I like how the movie keeps Rider 1 & 2 out of the action until the end. The others basically all get to beat the hell out of each other in the big Tournament, but neither of the first two are shown (I'm not sure if they even got invited, as their arrival later on practically makes Daishocker do a collective jaw drop.)
The movie plays off of their "legendary" status, keeping them just offscreen, but we know they're there. It keeps building up to their eventual appearance where they proceed to kick some butt. It's goooood. I'm also happy that Rider 1 features on so much of the usual movie theater goodies.
It's nice to throw in some other Riders too. Like Ouja & Kick Hopper with their original voices, though those are probably the two easiest-to-get actors in Japan for voicing their Rider selves. I like Diend's idea of using Riders tied into them to fight against them. IXA's appearance is kinda random, but fun.
And like I said, this is probably J's finest moment, his own movie notwithstanding.
The monsters are all old, with some literally being the original suits and a couple being the attraction suits from stage shows or exhibitions. This is why, once again, Shiomaneking appears. That dude has come back so many times now, he deserves a medal. El Cheapo Doras is adorable (watch for him) and I'm pretty sure the Ikadevil costume is the same one from the Masked Rider Live 2000 stage show.
Oh yes, speaking of him: I love the fact that they remembered his strangest power, which is controlling meteorites. In the original show, he uses 'em to blow up people and stuff as part of the Shocker plan-'o-the-week. He briefly uses them again here against a couple Riders, though for whatever reason they seem to fire out of a vortex appearing on his chest. I dunno, but it's cool. The audience I was with loved Shinigami/Ikadevil's antics, that was nice to see.
I love the whole idea of Daishocker, with all the Rider villains finally having enough, joining together, and coming up with the ultimate evil plan. It's great just seeing a ton of mishmashed villains together, like in one of the classic movies. All that's missing is the role call, though that might have gone on for a while. There's still some mystery left in how Tsukasa ended up being the leader, but perhaps the TV series still has something to say on that...
Shadow Moon's cool as usual, though it's kind of funny how he easily beats on both Decade & the super-duper ultimate best-ever Kuuga, but is then schooled by Double. I'm guessing the latter is now the titleholder for STRONGEST RIDER EVER!!1!™, at least until September when he'll get thrashed around on his own show by a giant walking dinosaur head.
King Dark just sort of comes out of nowhere (he's hinted at earlier, but doesn't figure into the plot beyond that) but it was cool to see him. I like that X-Rider knows who he is, and that he's got a voice! He just kinda goes "Raaaargh!", but that's enough. King Dark's a chatty giant robot.
Alright, this thing's getting to be ridiculously long, so I'll wrap it up. As mentioned, the music was okay (very dramatic) but I'll have to give the OST a listen. The sound effects though were top-notch.
The action scenes are great, dynamically shot and well-staged. The big epic final battle alone was worth the price of admission, kicking off with that slow-mo walk and culminating in the biggest Rider Kick ever... twice! The effects are what we've come to expect, with some dodgy CG, but that's CG for you. The real effects always look great.
Some mention must go to the stunt guys. There are a TON of them in this movie! Everybody's on fine form and as the making-of shows, they did put in the extra effort to try and get all the moves and poses right. Special mention must go to Tominaga Kenji, the original Kuuga himself, returning to do... what else, Kuuuga. The others are all stellar, and I'd never believe that V3 & Amazon were the same main suit actor if I hadn't read it.
And I think that's about it. Overall, my initial impression of this movie was "awesome", and that still holds. Like the Decade TV series, it does some things in a way that will take some getting used to. But if you can get behind it, then it's highly enjoyable.
I've nitpicked it to hell and back, but I really do have to admit that it's pretty great and the most fun I've had watching a Rider movie in years. It mixes some hard storytelling with explosive action, and there's a reasonably satisfying conclusion. And for good measure, loads of nostalgia. It might not be the perfect Rider movie, but it gets pretty close.
And besides, there's still 2011.
***
Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders vs. Daishocker
Here it is. Possibly the biggest Rider movie to date, and easily one of the most anticipated.
The hype for this thing has been incredible, with one of the most aggressive ad campaigns I've seen in a while. Ads up the wazoo. Kamen Rider taking over 7-11 and the Tokyo Metropolitan Subway. Net movies which I still gotta watch. Mock Shocker political rallies. More TV specials and bits than ever before (why must most of them be on early in the morning or on the version of TV-Asahi we don't get up here?) And much, much more.
And now, it's finally out. Does it live up to expectations? I'll answer that later, and cut right to the chase. Or the plot.
Synopsis
The film opens with Tsukasa in the middle of a big empty stadium. He transforms into Kamen Rider Decade, and an announcer (the voice of the DecaDriver) gives him the shout-out whilst Decade's stats are displayed up on the mega-o-vision screen thingy. A dimensional wall appears, and out steps... Kamen Rider Amazon!
Decade & Amazon jump at each other. The camera spins around them as the background changes to a foresty-looking place. The two engage in a violent, evenly-matched struggle. Amazon calls out his famous attacks as he bites, scratches, and thrashes Decade, with all the appropriate sound effects.
Our main man does a Kamen Ride to Decade Hibiki, who sets Amazon on fire with his flame breath. Amazon's takes it on the chin and counters with his own famous Dai Setsu Dan, which knocks Decade back to his normal self. You know he's got to be pretty tough to live through that.
Decade uses his Final Attack Ride, Dimension Kick, against Amazon's Amazon Kick. They make contact in midair, and there is a huge explosion that consumes everything.
And that's all before the opening title!
After that, we jump to 3 days earlier, when Tsukasa & the crew first arrived in this strange new world. Although it seems like any other, there's one key difference from all the past worlds they've been to: Tsukasa's photographs are coming out normal. I mean normal-normal, not how they normally are, which is abnormal. Well you know what I mean. Taking this as a sign, Natsumi wonders if they've finally arrived in Tsukasa's World. Eijirô also wonders about the backdrop for this world: it's just some building. Not as ominous as usual.
Kivaara, played once again by CGI, points out that it looks like a building from one of the photos hanging up in the hall. A photo showing Tsukasa's reflection in the window, wearing the exact same coat that he happens to be wearing now. As if prompted by this revelation, Tsukasa reaches into his pocket and takes out a mysterious key. He gets a strange feeling about this world, and believes that the secrets of his past lie somewhere in it.
Tsukasa, Natsumi & Yuusuke find the house out by a lake (following Tsukasa's faulty memories.) And Machine Decader & TryChaser there? Enjoy 'em while they last, because that's about all you see of them in this movie. Anyway, they get to the house, and after Tsukasa has a brief turn where he's not quite sure if he wants to find out the answers, he tries out the key, and unlocks the door.
They enter into the lavish home and hear music. The gang head upstairs to find a girl playing the piano. This is Sayo, who addresses Tsukasa as her big brother. Oh snap!
Tsukasa can't remember having a sister, so Sayo launches into a flashback to one year ago, when he left on her on a vaguely-defined journey, promising to bring back photos as souvenirs. There's some talk about Tsukasa's parents who died 10 years prior, and our hero checks out a vintage camera belonging to the 'rents. I guess photography runs in the family.
Things are interrupted by the arrival of Tsukikage Nobuhiko, who's acted as a sort-of caretaker to Sayo in Tsukasa's absence. There's some blah-blah-blahing about Tsukasa being gone when she needed him most and all that, but let's cut the BS. Anybody reading this probably already knows who this guy is. I mean his name is Nobuhiko for cryin' out loud! His reaction upon seeing Tsukasa is one of instant recognition. He knows something's up.
An awkward pause between the two (literally, the sound cuts out and I thought something was wrong with the reel) is interrupted when nearby buildings start to dissipate away. Natsumi realizes that this world is on the verge of collapse, and we get a cutaway to the CGI earths colliding and the narrator reminding us of that whole deal. When Nobuhiko starts talking like he knows all about this, Tsukasa's reaction made me laugh. It's a mix of "Oh @#$%!" and "Should I say something, or just let him keep going?"
It turns out that the key to saving the worlds lies in the strongest Kamen Rider, of which there can only be one. As Tsukasa wonders just who he is and how he ties into all this, he looks up at the moon, on which appears a huge duel-headed eagle with the letters "DCD" written on it.
He then goes into a crazy flashback where a mysterious, shadowy man in a black and pink leather jacket receives the DecaDriver and RideBooker in a dark, castle-looking place. He sees a man hanging by one arm. He sees the eagle symbol again.
Snapping out of it, Tsukasa's attitude has suddenly changed. He orders Nobuhiko to summon all the Riders together for a tournament to determine the strongest one.
...yup. Just like that! I can't begin to imagine what's going through Nobuhiko's head at the point, but needless to say the movie then jumps back to where the pre-title scene ended. The big stadium is where the Rider Tournament is being held. Natsumi, Nobuhiko & Yuusuke watch on.
Decade emerges the victor of the battle with Amazon, though the other Rider isn't destroyed, merely weakened, and disappears in another one of those dimensional walls. Decade's next opponent turns out to be Kamen Rider BLACK RX, and... hey, it's Kurata's voice! Yup, the real BLACK RX is here, fresh off of his TV appearance.
They teleport to a warehouse to do battle. RX attacks with Revolcane, which looks better here than ever before. Decade changes his weapon to gun mode, so RX becomes Roborider and shoots 'im up. Decade becomes Decade Kabuto, and Clocks Up, running circles around Roborider. But you all know what's next: Biorider! The blue guy goes into liquid mode and wraps around Kabuto. Ha! Nothing's too fast for Biorider!
...except apparently regular old Faiz, who Decade turns into next. He uses the Crimson Smash on Biorider and is deemed the winner, despite the other Rider just starting to turn to liquid after taking the hit.
Yeah, that's the thing. This Rider Tournament feels a bit rigged. Like, I bet if one of them tripped then their enemy would be declared the winner. Somebody wants to get through this scene fast...
Decade returns to the Stadium as RX vanishes back into his world ("RX, Stay in the World!" Ba-dump.) He reverts to Tsukasa and takes a time-out as Nobuhiko gestures for Yuusuke to go into action. Here comes the obligatory Oranamin C advertising (Yuusuke gut-punches Tsukasa with a bottle) and our ersatz Kuuga even does a thumb's up! Bet you've been waiting for that.
Yuusuke transforms and his opponent is Kamen Rider X, who sounds strangely like Ryuutaros (okay, it's not that bad, but it is the same voice actor.) X-Rider uses Ridol to kick butt, so Kuuga goes to Dragon Form, complete with Dragon Rod which he apparently generated out of thin air. The rod-wielding Riders are evenly matched.
Meanwhile, other Rider battles are going on at the same time. It is a tourney, after all. ZX fights with Ryuki, who jumps into the windows. So ZX blows 'em up with his bombs, forcing Ryuki out of the Mirror World, and he now attacks with his DragSaber. Good thing this isn't Spirits ZX, or this scene would have opened with Ryuki already impaled on something.
Stronger & Blade fight it out. Despite the advantage of having a sword, Blade gets zapped by the good old Electro-Fire, and makes the goofiest scream ever (even by Blade standards.)
IXA fights Skyrider and... gets thrown off a building. Ha! Okay, he lives. He returns fire with his gun, but is it enough to stop whatever variation of the Sky Kick is heading towards him? We never find out because there's an explosive transition to... later on!
(As a side note, if this is 3 days after when Tsukasa first went to meet Sayo & Nobuhiko, what have they been doing since then? I guess that's how long it takes to gather every Rider ever together for a big contest. Make mental note of that for future reference...)
It comes down to the Finals, which ends up being a 3-on-3 that will ultimately become a last man standing. The contenders are Decade (expected) Kuuga (probable) V3 (expected) BLACK (understandable) Super-1 (ditto) and... Diend!? WTF?
Daiki strolls in, carrying the GiGi Bracelet, which he apparently
The fight starts. Super-1 uses one of his many, many, many kicks to knock down the three Heisei Riders. Diend uses a new Attack Ride (Barrier) to hold back BLACK in midair, then Blast to cover himself as he uses Invisible to... run away. Gee, thanks Daiki!
This means it becomes a 3-on-2, and Kuuga goes down after taking a V3 Kick meant for Decade (he just reverts back to Yuusuke though. This is a non-fatal deathmatch!) For whatever reason Decade & the 3 senior Riders teleport to what looks like the same parking lot that he and Kuuga fought all those Grongi in back in episode #3.
When the three Riders all do a Rider Kick, Decade uses his Final Attack Ride & Illusion Attack Ride, creating 3 Decades doing 3 Dimension Kicks. They hit the other Riders and Decade wins! You know he must be pretty tough considering that he just beat like, 3 of the Riders' best kickers. I'm pretty sure the whole "Decade wins by kicking his opponent's foot" thing doesn't even work, but like I said, this feels rigged.
As Decade returns to the stadium and reverts to Tsukasa, Nobuhiko begins clapping. Everything has gone according to plan. Yuusuke and Natsumi look around, confused. Everything begins to shake. Tsukasa just stands there, looking content (he's been rather out of it ever since his flashback scene.)
And then a giant castle rises up from under the ground, smashing through the stadium! And this is where the movie really gets rolling and goes totally bananas.
Yuusuke & Natsumi find themselves in the throne room from Tsukasa's flashbacks, surrounded by tons of old Rider monsters, from Shocker, the Grongi, Orphenochs, Imagin, Worms, Undead, you name it. Standing before the throne are two familiar-looking characters; the darker, redesigned Ambassador Hell, and the regal golden Jaak Shôgun.
Hell welcomes them to Daishocker central. Yuusuke's response is a little odd, because he says "Daishocker!" either disbelievingly, or like he's never heard of them before. I'm going to go with the former, since this is tied into the TV series (it is, they confirm that in about 1 minute.)
The villains then call for Daishocker's leader to appear. And who is it but... Eijirô? He rushes in, concerned for Natsumi, but is quickly knocked aside by Hell, as he's obviously not who they were expecting. But then, in a twist which surprises everyone, he stands up, his voice now deep and menacing. He gestures for a flowing black cloak which flies into the room, circling him, and revealing his true identity: Doctor Shinigami.
Yes. Doctor. Effing. Shinigami. How about that for a twist? Natsumi & Yuusuke can't believe it. Even Hell is stunned, but quickly composes himself. Shinigami then toasts to the actual leader of Daishocker... Tsukasa!
Dressed in the leather outfit from his flashbacks, Tsukasa enters dramatically and takes a seat on his throne. Shinigami then spells it all out in the ultimate screw-you to the good guys.
The entire thing has been a sham. Tsukasa somehow lost his memories, but with Natsumi's help (when she found the DecaDriver in episode #1) he got back onto the path of saving the worlds. Saving them from destruction... so that Daishocker could then conquer them. Everything that has transpired has been part of a grand manipulation...
Okay, with a few bumps (I don't think anyone counted on the "amnesia" part) but now things are back on track. I'm not sure how the tournament fits into it, other than that the defeated Riders aren't in any condition to be stopping anything right now and it did play a role in preventing the collapse. I'm pretty sure they did cover it specifically somewhere. Must go see movie again this week!
In any case, with Tsukasa and Eijirô having turned out to actually be eeeeeeeeeeeeeevil, Yuusuke and Natsumi are on their own. After getting roughed up by Hell, they're unceremoniously dumped down a trap door into the sewers beneath the castle, where they struggle to come to grips with these shocking revelations.
"Everything was a lie..."
With no one else to turn to, our heroes go to meet with Sayo, but she just launches into an angry flashback about how 10 years ago, shortly after the deaths of her and Tsukasa's parents, he became withdrawn and just played outside all day, while she sits inside all day with some... familiar-looking jewel... uh-oh. It's the Earth Stone, with which she somehow opened up a dimensional wall-thing to another world, into which Tsukasa stepped...
That above flashback might be a little out of whack though, as the next shocking revelation is that Nobuhiko is... wait for it... Shadow Moon! He's got a nifty transformation scene, sorta like the old one, but with more CG involvement. Sayo is also in league with Daishocker, and she uses the Earth Stone to blast Yuusuke with evil energy, unlocking the deepest, darkest secret of Kuuga. He tells Natsumi to run, and she books it.
Shadow Moon returns to the castle, reverting to Nobuhiko and talking with Tsukasa, who ponders the state of the worlds (he just looks up, and sees the CGI worlds, no longer colliding.) Nobuhiko then drops the bomb: in his absence, things have changed a bit in Daishocker and... Tsukasa's yesterday's news.
Sayo appears in strange robes, and tells a shocked Tsukasa that she is now the priestess Bishum. Because he left her behind, she grew to hate Tsukasa, and joined up with Daishocker via Nobuhiko, who stepped in and became the brother that Tsukasa stopped being.
Tsukasa suddenly realizes just how screwed he is when Nobuhiko goes after him with the Satan Saber, kicking his ass good and dumping him down the same trap door that he used on Yuusuke and Natsumi. Speaking of Yuusuke, he appears before Tsukasa in the sewers, but zombie-like and emotionless. He transforms into a newer, fiercer black-eyed Kuuga.
Kamen Rider Kuuga Rising Ultimate Form, who blasts the one-time Daishocker leader with evil purple energy. Sayo also speaks through Kuuga (appearing in his eye) which is going to lead to one really awkward scene later on.
Betrayed by his organization, Tsukasa goes on the run, back to the Hikari Photo Studio in the rain, but Natsumi's locked him out. She's on her own, just as he is. He turned on his friends for the enemies that have now turned on him, and he's all alone. Tsukasa begs for her to let him in, but she can't do it. He speaks of how there is no world where he truly belongs now, except in there.
Considering it's just two people talking, this scene's awesome, and one of the best parts of the movie. It's two actors giving it their all. I really like how Natsumi comes *this* close to getting up and letting Tsukasa in, before she remembers what he just did. The only strange thing is how they can hear each other through the door when it's pouring outside. I guess it's the old Rider Logic™!!!
Some time later, Daishocker, now under the leadership of Nobuhiko, begins their grand attack. And just like that, the world goes to Hell. There's flying Shocker henchmen. Monsters stalking the street. Mass hysteria. Fleeing crowds. There's even some pretty brutal deaths. It's total chaos and Natsumi's caught in the middle of it. Who should show up to comfort her but...
Narutaki! And all he really does is the equivalent of "See? I told you this would happen! Decade really is the destroyer of worlds!" They then hoof it and get chased by Shocker goons. What happened to all-powerful Narutaki? He sees some real Rider villains and he's running for mommy. I guess I shouldn't be surprised given his tomfoolery on the show, but man. It's like he forgot that he could float and stuff.
Fortunately Daiki shows up (I can't believe I just wrote that) and saves them, taking a cue from Taki Kazuya and appearing in disguise as one of the Shocker combatants. He turns into Diend and blows everyone away. Afterward, Natsumi questions him on his knowledge of Tsukasa's true identity. He doesn't really act like it's a big deal, but adds that he got the DienDriver by stealing it from Daishocker, so at least now we know where that came from. You know, since the trip to his world neglected to tell us that detail.
At least Daiki realizes that things are actually getting heavy this time, so he offers his assistance in stopping Daishocker. Narutaki recommends gathering together the remaining Riders. Huh? The remaining Riders? I guess he wasn't paying attention during the first half of the movie!
Tsukasa has wandered alone amidst the destruction that he helped bring about. He now lies down, thinking of the friends he betrayed and the people who betrayed him. He's really in bad shape. Suddenly, he hears footsteps, and turns to see...
Special guest star Gackt! Playing Yuuki Jôji, as Tsukasa identifies him. Yuuki's been looking for Tsukasa because, back in his Daishocker Leader days, he was responsible for taking Yuuki's arm (he's the guy that's strung up in Tsukasa's flashbacks. Haha, Scientist GackT.) So naturally he wants revenge, as Yuuki would in any version.
After whacking Tsukasa in the most dramatically-delayed punch ever though, he realizes that maybe the pitiful wreck in front of him isn't the Tsukasa he knows. Maybe all that journeying around and amnesiac antics actually did rub off on him. Maybe, deep down, he really is a good guy after all.
Daishocker shows up, and then comes the scene everybody's been waiting for: Yuuki pulls off his robotic arm rather painfully, then attaches a big honkin'...something-Arm in its place, and prepares to open fire... and that's it. Huh? It's a bit strange, as that's it for Gackt. He shows up, hits the star of the movie, gives an uplifting speech, and prepares to shoot something. What is kinda neat is that as the scene transitions (into Gackt's... gun arm thing charging up) we hear the Riderman Henshin sound effect, so I guess he's meant to be transforming there? I dunno.
Natsumi & Daiki have met up with the remaining Riders, who are... Ouja and Kick Hopper. Oh yeah, this is going to end real well. Thanks Narutaki, thanks. Notice he's long gone. Yeah, that's it for him in the movie too. He buggered off first chance he got.
So our heroes lay out the deal, but naturally, being eeeeeeeeeeeeevil (or just angsty) Ouja & Kick Hopper decide to side with Daishocker, because hey, wouldn't you? As it turns out, some of the Daishocker forces are en route to wherever our heroes are (it looks like a disused classroom) so they decide to book it.
The dark Riders aren't having that, so Daiki blasts them away and becomes Diend, bringing in Raia, Gai & Punch Hopper to do battle with them while they make their escape. We don't see the outcome of the fight, but if you've seen the publicity photos than it looks like Raia and Gai sure get their revenge!
Daishocker attacks Diend and Natsumi, busting in through walls and windows. The fight spills out into the woods where Jaak Shôgun is waiting for "the DienDriver-stealing guy" with more monsters. Things look pretty bad, but then a voice calls out.
It's Tsukasa, looking more like his old self. Jaak thinks he's back to reclaim his honor and rejoin Daishocker, but Tsukasa tells him quite the opposite. He realizes what he's done, what he is, and what he could be. The lessons of his journey (or his pep talk from Yuuki) revived the spirit of justice within him. His only mission is to save the worlds, and crush Daishocker.
Tsukasa then transforms as the Decade battle theme kicks in. It's a pretty awesome moment, as the hero literally goes from being at rock bottom back up to the top. Decade joins Diend and together they defeat the monsters and the former Crisis general, blowing him away with Diend's Final Attack Ride.
Back in the castle, Hell and Shinigami are... getting drunk, apparently. One too many toasts to universal conquest, or something. Sensing that the big finale is approaching, they transform into their Kaijin forms, Garagaranda, and Ikadevil (I know, I know, I've explained it before.) I gotta say this scene is... well, not what I was expecting. If you've seen the picture of Ishibashi holding the dried squid and beer ("Ika de biiru!") well, that's now canon. Oh, it's going to get even better.
Tsukada, Daiki & Natsumi approach Castle
Well it comes all right, in the form of Rider 1, Rider 2, V3, Riderman, X-Rider, Amazon, Stronger, Skyrider, Super-1, ZX, BLACK, BLACK RX, Shin, ZO, Agito, Ryuki, Faiz, Blade, Hibiki, Kabuto, Den-O, and Kiva! The Triple Riders are on their bikes while everybody else follows on foot. The three senior Riders dismount and join their allies in the ultimate bad-ass slow-motion walk, joining Decade & Diend. Rider 1 & 2 make the call, and the final battle begins.
Trying to summarize what happens next is pretty much impossible; you've just got to see it. But to give an idea, it's all the Riders in action, running through explosions, fighting villains, posing for the camera, it's all-out. Everybody gets their moment, most notably Skyrider executing one of the 99 techniques (yes!) and Den-O attempting his famous pose again after a misfire.
RX goes nuts with Revolcane, slashing and stabbing evil. Riders throw guys down hills like it was going out of style. It's cool just seeing so many Riders mixed together, fighting each other's villains.
Kabuto & RX team up against Garagaranda, and they're then aided by the Double Riders, who destroy the snakey guy with the Rider Double Kick. He briefly flashes back to Ambassador Hell for a "Daishocker Banzai!" moment before exploding.
Decade, Diend, Den-O, Faiz, Blade & Kiva tangle with Ikadevil, who attacks them with... well I'll explain later, but it's cool. They defeat him when Decade Final Form Rides Den-O into Momotaros (ha! Did you think we'd get through this movie without one of the Imagin?) and then Final Form Rides the others into their... Final Form Rides. Using the big
Anyway, the fun ends when Rising Ultimate Kuuga shows up to knock away Diend and the others and go after Decade. Bishum is ticked off, and her rage extends through into Kuuga as he strangles Tsukasa (who gets knocked back to human form.) But Tsukasa has worked out by now what's going on.
Nobuhiko's been using Sayo all along just as a way to take down Tsukasa and further his own ambition. Through the Earth Stone, he's made her into Bishum. Well, something like that, it's kinda strange. What's also strange is that Tsukasa appeals to his sister in the same way that she speaks to him, so he's talking to Kuuga as he tries to kill him.
There's the all-essential emotional moment as Tsukasa's words cause Sayo/Bishum to realize how she's been manipulated, and despite struggling with Nobuhiko, she smashes the stone. This ticks him off, though strangely he takes it out on Tsukasa rather than her. Yeah really. I thought he'd stab her right then and there, but nope. Well, okay!
Kuuga is of course now free from the evil control, and reverts to Yuusuke. He joins Tsukasa in transforming to face Nobuhiko, who shows up as Shadow Moon. The new, red-eyed Kuuga Rising Ultimate form retains his good heart and all that stuff, and Shadow Moon now has to contend with two very powerful and very unhappy Riders.
Unfortunately, Shadow Moon whups them both good with his Satan Saber and that iconic green lightning (Shadow Beam.) But they get some help from another very special guest star, Kamen Rider Double! Or W. Whichever. I'll call him Double, that's what the movie said.
He (They?) rides in on his (their?) motorcycle, literally coming out of nowhere. Okay, maybe I need to explain this. As we all probably know, Kamen Rider Double is made up of two people, Hidari Shôtarô & the weird guy known only as Phillip. We have yet to see their (his?) show, so this is Double's first ever onscreen appearance, in all his green & black glory.
It's a cool scene. At first, Decade can only see the green half, and calls him a "Green Rider", whereas Shadow Moon sees the black half, and you can figure out what he says. Double reveals that he's two-toned with a witty little comment about being either-or. It's a nice intro.
He's suitably impressive, beating up Shadow Moon in his default Cyclone-Joker form, then changing to Heat-Joker, his green half becoming Red. He delivers some flaming punches (seriously, stop laughing) and then goes to Heat-Metal, which sports a rod weapon. He changes forms by inserting USB flash drives into his belt. Well he does! I didn't make this up.
Double impresses Decade, Kuuga and the audience as he thrashes Shadow Moon good, knocking him into the air and right into the front of Daishocker's castle. He then takes off after a brief argument with himself (it's... complicated), driving off into who knows where.
The rest of the Riders have defeated the remaining monsters, and join Decade & Kuuga in an ALL RIDER KICK on Shadow Moon and the castle, which destroys both utterly. Now how cool is that?
But just when you think it's over, King Dark comes plowing up from the rubble! Yes, King Dark. He was only alluded to earlier in the movie, but now he's here in his full, giant glory. X-Rider even namechecks him. He's Daishocker's parting gift to the Riders.
Not to be outdone, the Riders' own resident giant guy, Kamen Rider J, comes rumbling in from behind a mountain (he's Diend's doing, apparently, as the latter jumps down off of his shoulder.) J goes up against King Dark, but is pretty easily knocked down. Diend still has yet one more trick: he Final Form Rides Decade into a giant sized DecaDriver. In what must be J's finest moment ever, he puts on the buckle (complete with giant CGI card belt thing) and becomes Jumbo Decade Complete Form!
Now it's a fight they can win. Big 'ol Decade beats down King Dark, and then launches into a final attack, which is like a giant version of Decade'd Dimension Kick where all the other Riders jump into the air and become huge versions of their cards. This scene's pretty cool because we get to see what all the older Riders' cards will look like (as a number of them haven't come out yet.) As you can imagine, this attack blows King Dark up so much that the explosion reshapes itself to look like his face. Huh? I dunno what that's about, but it looks cool.
And so, with the battle over, Tsukasa, Yuusuke, Natsumi & Daiki bid farewell to the Riders. It's a touching scene because of what isn't said; the looks of mutual respect between actors and costumed stunt guy speak louder. Okay, there is some talking. As they turn to depart back into the dimensional wall, Agito & RX both briefly turn to Tsukasa, flashing to their human counterparts Shôichi and Kôtarô, offering some nice parting words.
Den-O/Momotaros also offers some slightly less nicer words, telling Tsukasa to stop bothering him all the time since he's "Chô" busy. Get it? Get it? Hahahaha. So yes, Momotaros now stands on the same level as Shôichi and Kôtarô. Read it and weep.
Oh, and Daiki proves that maybe he has actually learned something when he tosses the GiGi Bracelet back to Amazon (who didn't have it the whole time? Really?) and Amazon utters "Diend. Friend" complete with the "Amazonian sign 'o friendship" sound effect. Nice!
The Riders depart as the ending theme "The Next Decade" kicks in, and we get some more scenes while the credits role.
Tsukasa parts ways with Sayo again, but on better terms than before. They've both learned from each other, and come to an understanding... or something, to be honest I was trying to read the credits here for the voice actor names. But basically things end up happy between them.
Back at the Hikari Photo Studio, Eijirô looks over photos of Shinigami, deciding to lay off the squid and beer for a while. Huh? Wha? Bwuh? I dunno, the movie doesn't even try to explain how this works. Insert your fan theory here. Natsumi just kind of gives him a strange look, and decides not to talk about it.
Tsukasa is happy to be back with Natsumi, Yuusuke, and Eijirô (and Kivaara.) Back with his friends. Back in, as he says, "the only place he belongs". Daiki shows up, and asks Tsukasa where his next destination will be. Our heroes smile at each other, as they lower the next backdrop, which shines with light...
THE END
Following that, there's a brief announcement (text and still pictures of Decade & Double) announcing that the real journey begins in December. Cue crossover movie!
Review
Obviously, this movie had a lot riding on it, if you'll forgive the terrible pun. It's the movie of the show celebrating 10 years of Kamen Rider back on TV, it's the first movie to unite all the Riders, new and old, in one film. For many of them, this is their first time back in on-screen Kamen Rider in years. It also has to be about the titular Kamen Rider Decade, since it is his movie.
And make no mistake, it is his movie. It's a Kamen Rider Decade movie featuring all the Riders, rather than a movie about all the Riders that happens to have Decade in it. He's the star attraction, even given how significant his co-stars are to selling the film to viewers. It's his story, but they all play a part in it.
There is a helluva lot of plot going on here, though unfortunately given the current near-finished of the show, we have yet to know how much of it will actually matter in the end. The movie has been said as putting the "period" to Decade's adventure, which leads us to conclude that it comes at the end, after the TV series is over. I can see it working that way.
It certainly feels like an ending, with an epic showdown and a story that pushes the heroes to their very limit. The ending's pretty open, but I kinda figure that it's Toei giving themselves breathing room for future Decade appearances. Also, as I might have said before, I feel the best Rider endings are the ones that give some closure for the heroes, but predominantly closure for the villains and the hero's struggle with them. The actual emotional turning point of the end is the fact that their battle with their particular villains is over. X-Rider beat GOD, but he can return in Stronger. Agito & co. defeated the Unknown, but they could still return in a kickass PS2 game.
Of course, in the next few weeks we might find out that the movie comes after episode #27, or #29, or indeed, after the finale. The show might pull a fast one and negate everything in it, relegating it to AU status (in which case, I think I'll break something, because an AU movie about the show that explores AUs is just going too far.)
Either way, taken as it is, it has the feel of being "Decade's greatest adventure". It certainly does things with the characters, and the whole premise of the show, which are pretty gutsy.
But before I get into that, let's get back to the question: Does it live up to expectations? That'll depend on what your expectations are, and how you feel about the Decade TV series. The movie's certainly got enough hype and excitement around it that I think it'll be impossible to satisfy everyone. Nothing new there though.
As for the content, if you dislike some of Decade's more unpopular ideas (recasts, AUs, Final Form Rides, Riders kicking the crap out of each other for a vague, higher cause) then you might find it hard to get into this movie. Like I said, it's a Kamen Rider Decade film. It wears that name on its sleeve.
But how about me? Upon leaving the theater, I felt pretty happy with it. I will need to see it a few more times before I make a final opinion, but I would say that, based on one viewing, I'd put it up there as one of my favorite Rider movies in recent memory. It's an honest stab at trying to combine the light-hearted Shôwa action-fests with the more plot-heavy, series-affecting tone of the Heisei movies. It ended up being a little more plot-heavy and serious than I expected, but there's still tons 'o fun and some things turned out to be sillier than I thought they'd be.
For the most part, it succeeds as a Rider movie. I think I'd say it's great, but just shy of being truly incredible. It aims for the bull's eye and misses, but still hits close enough to be score high.
This leads into the dreaded nit-picks! I'll get them out of the way now. A big one is the running time, which I feel could have been longer. The entire Shinkenger/Decade double-feature runs 89 minutes according to Toho Cinemas. Given that the Shinkenger movie was at least about as long as an average episode, that leaves something like just over an hour for Decade.
As a result, the movie is pretty well-paced, though because it's packing so much in, there's a lot of big moments that don't feel as though they have enough build-up. Rather it's just a succession of events, but they feel a little two quick. The revelation of Shinigami and Yuuki's appearance come to mind.
I almost feel like, since both moments had been so heavily promoted and hinted at, the movie runs on the audience's expectations of them. It knows that we know those moments are coming, so it waits, it plays its hand, and that's that. I think that works okay now, but upon reviewing the movie a couple years from now? We'll have to see.
It'll be interesting to see how the Director's Cut turns out. This is one movie which I think could actually use just a few extra shots to flesh things out more, and build up the big moments. On the whole it succeeds at feeling epic when it needs to be, but I feel like a longer run time would improve it even more.
The other big area where the movie falls just short of achieving true masterpiece status is in how it handles the nostalgia.
Because don't get me wrong, the movie does try its damnedest. You've got all the Riders back, many making use of classic moves and powers. Loads of old foes. There's tons of classic sound effects. Fan-friendly moments abound. The movie recognizes the reverence the audience holds for the series' history, and it makes good use of it. There's some nice little cameos, voice or otherwise. I can appreciate all that and for the "All Riders" aspect alone, this movie's highly commendable. I mean, who would have thought they'd do this a few years ago?
And not to sound greedy, but I think the film could have gone one step further. The music's overall okay, but I'm dying to hear the soundtrack, because if there's any recognizable themes in there (aside from Decade's) I didn't catch them, and the ending fight would probably have gone from "very awesome" to "Holy @#$% best fight ever!" with some more recognizable tunes. I do think the music really matters.
Also, in regards to the voices: As it's probably clear by now, there's been recasting. Including Rider 1, 2 & V3, which runs contrary to what was suspected (indeed, even in Japan.)
Now I do have to say that I don't mind recasted Rider voices THAT much, if only because it's been done before. The 8 Riders movie doesn't have any of the original Rider voices aside from then-current Skyrider, and I love that one too much. Heck, there's episodes of the original series where Rider 1's dubbed by a different guy due to Fujioka's absence, and I still get a kick out of those.
The thing is though, it feels like if there was any movie where they should have just totally cut loose, this is the one. Given how Fujioka, Sasaki & Miyauchi were all involved in the movie promotion press conference, you would think Toei would have been able to get them to record a few grunts and a "You're going down, Shocker!" or two.
When it comes to recast voices, I can forgive the cheapness of the 70's and 80's a little easier than I can the modern stuff, because back then they weren't thinking of DVD releases and constant repeats. Most shows were designed to go out once, maybe twice, and that was about it. They could get away with more (and boy, did they get away with a lot sometimes.)
This isn't me being an evil old-timer fan who hates everything new, but just stating a truth. These days they know the DVD release for something almost as soon as it comes out, they know that these shows will be picked apart and analyzed more closely.
And what's more, the movie seems to feel that the versions of the Riders appearing at the end are the originals, as evidenced by the Kurata and Kashuu appearances. Or at least versions which look/sound like the originals. The guy doing Rider 1's voice makes a pretty good stab at a Fujioka impression, but I still can't help feel a little let down that they didn't just get the actual Fujioka. If Rescue Guys Force Gang Thing Show The Movie could get him to be *in* their movie, why can't Rider?
They got their money's worth out of Kurata, but even he probably could have gotten more to do. Especially give how a certain old enemy of his figures into the plot. Ditto with Kashuu, though I'll talk more about both in a bit.
Ultimately, the voices we end up with aren't that bad (Seki Tomokazu's Amazon is actually a lot of fun) but still, for a movie this big, they could have gone just a little bit further and made it something truly spectacular.
Okay, enough with the complaining. Onto the good stuff!
I'll start with the cast. For the most part, everybody really brings their A game to this movie. I'm truly impressed.
Tsukasa rules. It's as simple as that. You might hate him for what he does in this movie, but I love what he goes through. It takes some real balls to have the hero of the story also turn out to be the ultimate villain. That was something that was rumored from way back, even before Decade was Decade and instead it was ugly clock-faced guy who is a geek and/or the most popular guy in school trained by Garren and part of a secret data-collecting group of aliens.
It's a nice twist on the old "Kamen Rider created by the villains" idea. While the movie doesn't spell it all out (how did Tsukasa end up as the Leader? Where exactly does the technology for the DecaDriver come from?) I kind of like that. It still leaves some mystery and makes him interesting. I would have liked a scene where he opens his mouth and it's Naya Gorô speaking, but hey, I can live.
I like that Tsukasa really is genuinely bad at one point, the version we know and love being the result of memory loss. He shows how he's been affected by those adventures he had as a good guy, and reclaims his heroic self in the end. It's a great journey. Inoue's more than up to the task, offering up the kind of stuff he was doing back in Kuuga's World. He's visibly distressed towards the middle of the movie and it makes his triumphant return all the more sweet.
Yuusuke's good as well. For a short period he even becomes the surrogate star of the movie. Though he's out of it for a big chunk towards the end, possessed by evil, he fulfills the role of loyal friend to Tsukasa up until then, taking a hit for him during the Rider Tournament.
He's come a long way since those first episodes on the TV series. I'd say that he has ended up being kinda like his fellow Yuusuke, though more emotionally vulnerable. Godai let the violence and horror get to him, but still could usually cover it with his positive attitude. Here, Tsukasa's betrayal cuts deep and Murai makes it hurt.
Natsumi gets more to do here than she has in a while on the show. It's a lot of running around, but at one point she's practically the only non-evil or untrustworthy character left! I think the TV series will have to address the remaining questions with her, like why she saw the Rider War in the first place. She's mostly just in there for the support, but like Yuusuke, she makes the big twists feel important.
Daiki is... Daiki. I'm not really a fan of the character on the show, and his performance in the movie is largely more of the same (the character's performance, I have no problems with the actor.) He does actually get kinda cool towards the end though, when he starts to realize the full weight of things. Dressing up like a Shocker goon is always cool, and I like his little moment with Amazon. Does Diend really deserve to be there though with all those other legends? I dunno, because in the end he's still pretty much the same as ever.
Eijirô, well, what to say? I'll get back to him later.
Kivaara's the same as ever, and Narutaki's pretty much what you'd expect him to be. I sort of thought he'd have a bigger role to play- summoning Double, or something. But nope! Like Natsumi, the show will have to explain what his deal is.
That's the regulars, how about the new people?
Sayo's okay, and her turn as Bishum is clever. Considering how the last time Kamen Rider dealt with a hero's neglected little sister turning evil, it ended up being... not my favorite movie, this by contrast is pretty great. I like how it was foreshadowed back in the Kabuto World episodes. I'm a little unclear on some of the story with her, but overall it's an interesting aspect to the mythos.
As for the all-new Nobuhiko, well... it's hard to compare him to the infamously-scarce original version, so I'll just say that he's a straight-up villain, lacking that kind of tragic aspect to the original. But he makes up for it by being so oily. I'll admit I was kind of surprised by his betrayal, as up to that point he's playing the loyal retainer-type. Ooura does a good job making the character his own, even when he's Shadow Moon. I find in funny that Toei passed on a chance to use Terasoma again, but I suppose they had to let the new guy take a shot at it.
Okay, back to Eijirô. Or Doctor Shinigami. Or not? I dunno. That whole thing at the end just left me confused to be honest. I suppose that Shinigami just happened to resemble him, and used that to trick the good guys, but it seemed like a helluva strange thing to do for about 10 seconds, and... aw, who knows? It seems like the whole thing is almost a big non-sequitur.
While Shinigami and Ambassador Hell are sort of played half-jokingly, half-seriously, I liked them. Are they the originals? No, but few people can reach the heights of Amamoto and Ushio. As it is, they capture the spirit if not the full menace, though in his unveiling scene Ishibashi actually manages to come off as quite chilling. Things get pretty goofy later on (their transformation scene), but to Ishibashi and Oogi's credit, they make it work. The movie acknowledges the subtle humor in Daishocker while never undermining its threat.
Jaak Shôgun is cool, voiced by Katô Seizô himself, though other than getting a 1-on-2 fight scene, he doesn't do a whole lot. Double makes an impressive debut. And the rest of the cast is pretty much returning characters!
Okay, there's Gackt's Yuuki Jôji, who's kinda new. He's certainly a different approach to the character. I liked Gackt just fine, though I think if you hadn't seen the music video for "The Next Decade", you'd be missing out on parts of the character (like what his unnamed new arm does.) He just kinda shows up, does his scene, and then vanishes. It's not even made clear if he's the same Riderman who appears later, though he does have *a* Riderman form since we kinda-sorta-maybe last see him about to transform. I think.
I partly feel like Gackt's role (as Tsukasa's pick-me-up) could have gone to Kurata, and then Gackt got his dream role as a Rider villain (he'd make a pretty good Marshal Armor, ironically.) On the other hand, Yuuki's inclusion in the movie and his history with Daishocker does add to Tsukasa and how he changes from what he used to be, so I can't overlook that.
And Gackt puts in a nice performance. Yamaguchi's a hard act to follow (I happen to think he may very well be the best actor to ever play a Rider, though there's some strong competition.) Wisely, they go for a new angle, but one that still feels true to the character.
Technically, this is the first Rider movie in ages to not introduce a new, movie-only Rider. The closest thing is Kuuga's Rising Ultimate Form, which is alright. I didn't feel it did a whole lot more that regular old Ultimate Form couldn't do, but I guess someone wanted to finally give Kuuga a 12th Form and make it even. He looks cool though.
Instead, we've got all those Riders coming back! Budget-saving fun! Although actually, I don't think they've ever looked better. In my opinion, in resurrecting the past Riders they did it just right in bringing them back as we know & love 'em. The costumes are refurbished, use modern materials and look spectacular on the big screen.
I like the costumes in movies like THE FIRST & THE NEXT, but those are, in my eyes, different characters. In those movies, it makes sense to create new versions that are distinct from the originals, but these are implied to be the originals, so they should look like how they've looked for years. Plus, it's just so much more exciting to see the Heisei Riders on screen with their predecessors the way they're remembered.
The old guys are still as great as ever, and almost everybody gets to show off at least one signature power. Okay, Shin & ZO don't really, but at least they're in the movie! Shin can laugh at everybody who isn't now. Including G, who Toei sure swept under the rug fast.
Kurata & Kashuu only get one scene at the end, but it is great to see them back. Their participation does help out a lot, though it's a good thing Kurata was on the TV show! Since Den-O is in this, of course he's got his proper voice and there's Momotaros action. Kids love that guy, what can I say. Fortunately, I love him too, so I liked seeing him turn up.
Only a couple other Riders have any sort of dialogue, and as I've mentioned before its largely new voice actors, specifically Inada Tetsu as Rider 1, Fujimoto Takahiro as Rider 2, Suzumura Kenichi as X-Rider, and Seki Tomokazu as Amazon. Oh well. At least the Riders all pretty much feel right, and the sound effects are spot-on. The sounds in this movie are incredible; they really went the extra mile there.
Especially impressive is the Daishocker base background noise. It's actually not the classic Shocker control room sound effect, but rather the stock sound that would be used whenever some device was operating (viewscreens, computers, spy camera rising out of the ground, etc.) I wasn't expecting that, so it was a pretty neat touch.
I also have to say that I like how the movie keeps Rider 1 & 2 out of the action until the end. The others basically all get to beat the hell out of each other in the big Tournament, but neither of the first two are shown (I'm not sure if they even got invited, as their arrival later on practically makes Daishocker do a collective jaw drop.)
The movie plays off of their "legendary" status, keeping them just offscreen, but we know they're there. It keeps building up to their eventual appearance where they proceed to kick some butt. It's goooood. I'm also happy that Rider 1 features on so much of the usual movie theater goodies.
It's nice to throw in some other Riders too. Like Ouja & Kick Hopper with their original voices, though those are probably the two easiest-to-get actors in Japan for voicing their Rider selves. I like Diend's idea of using Riders tied into them to fight against them. IXA's appearance is kinda random, but fun.
And like I said, this is probably J's finest moment, his own movie notwithstanding.
The monsters are all old, with some literally being the original suits and a couple being the attraction suits from stage shows or exhibitions. This is why, once again, Shiomaneking appears. That dude has come back so many times now, he deserves a medal. El Cheapo Doras is adorable (watch for him) and I'm pretty sure the Ikadevil costume is the same one from the Masked Rider Live 2000 stage show.
Oh yes, speaking of him: I love the fact that they remembered his strangest power, which is controlling meteorites. In the original show, he uses 'em to blow up people and stuff as part of the Shocker plan-'o-the-week. He briefly uses them again here against a couple Riders, though for whatever reason they seem to fire out of a vortex appearing on his chest. I dunno, but it's cool. The audience I was with loved Shinigami/Ikadevil's antics, that was nice to see.
I love the whole idea of Daishocker, with all the Rider villains finally having enough, joining together, and coming up with the ultimate evil plan. It's great just seeing a ton of mishmashed villains together, like in one of the classic movies. All that's missing is the role call, though that might have gone on for a while. There's still some mystery left in how Tsukasa ended up being the leader, but perhaps the TV series still has something to say on that...
Shadow Moon's cool as usual, though it's kind of funny how he easily beats on both Decade & the super-duper ultimate best-ever Kuuga, but is then schooled by Double. I'm guessing the latter is now the titleholder for STRONGEST RIDER EVER!!1!™, at least until September when he'll get thrashed around on his own show by a giant walking dinosaur head.
King Dark just sort of comes out of nowhere (he's hinted at earlier, but doesn't figure into the plot beyond that) but it was cool to see him. I like that X-Rider knows who he is, and that he's got a voice! He just kinda goes "Raaaargh!", but that's enough. King Dark's a chatty giant robot.
Alright, this thing's getting to be ridiculously long, so I'll wrap it up. As mentioned, the music was okay (very dramatic) but I'll have to give the OST a listen. The sound effects though were top-notch.
The action scenes are great, dynamically shot and well-staged. The big epic final battle alone was worth the price of admission, kicking off with that slow-mo walk and culminating in the biggest Rider Kick ever... twice! The effects are what we've come to expect, with some dodgy CG, but that's CG for you. The real effects always look great.
Some mention must go to the stunt guys. There are a TON of them in this movie! Everybody's on fine form and as the making-of shows, they did put in the extra effort to try and get all the moves and poses right. Special mention must go to Tominaga Kenji, the original Kuuga himself, returning to do... what else, Kuuuga. The others are all stellar, and I'd never believe that V3 & Amazon were the same main suit actor if I hadn't read it.
And I think that's about it. Overall, my initial impression of this movie was "awesome", and that still holds. Like the Decade TV series, it does some things in a way that will take some getting used to. But if you can get behind it, then it's highly enjoyable.
I've nitpicked it to hell and back, but I really do have to admit that it's pretty great and the most fun I've had watching a Rider movie in years. It mixes some hard storytelling with explosive action, and there's a reasonably satisfying conclusion. And for good measure, loads of nostalgia. It might not be the perfect Rider movie, but it gets pretty close.
And besides, there's still 2011.
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Friday, May 01, 2009
More Decade Movie News
Yet more pics and even a short morning TV show spot of the upcoming Kamen Rider Decade The Movie: All Riders vs. DaiShocker! (Thanks again, Henshin Justice, and everyone else in Japan actually getting up in time to see this stuff.)
Looks awesome, the Decade cast are as excited as anyone.
What really has piqued my interest is the ever-essential Revived Kaijin Army™, which includes such heavy-hitters as Garagaranda, Giraffa Undead, Shiomaneking, Go Gadol Ba, Doras, Cassisworm, PsychoRogue, Arch Orphenoch (you can just see his back in the clip), Hitotsumi, plus some oddballs like the Stinkbug Orphenoch, Rat Fangire, and the Mole Imagin who just won't die. And of course, the party wouldn't be complete without Ikadevil himself, after whom this very blog is (mis)named! He's right up in front.
And of course, Shocker henchmen! It's a mix of Rider villains spanning all the series, which makes it possibly the greatest RKA on screen yet.
And the line-up, reported in the papers to be 26 Riders. J's absent from the group shot below, but most likely because he'll be showing up giant! His version of Cobra-Otoko is featured on the villains' side too.
And BLACK & RX are there together, but anyone who's seen RX's little 3D adventure will know that it isn't the first time that's happened.
Even Shin. Shin! He's gotta be in a good mood right now.
Stay tuned for more info, including just what kind of a preview for this they feature after Den-O & Decade.
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