Kamen Rider Den-o is without a doubt, one of most popular entries in the season. If the fact that following the series end they still starred, or were prominently featured in a movie each year until 2013. The show was good, I wouldn't say it is the greatest, I feel that Kobayashi would perfect this formula for OOO's and many of the heisei phase 2 seasons I like more, but its like a nice cozy cup of coffee that is good... as long as you don't go past the main show... maybe stop with Saraba and don't go any further that'll just ruin everything. But like most good things, it all had to end at some point, which meant a new rider had to come in and take the place of the season as a new year dawned. Which you know the trailers, showed something interesting.
A gothic season focused around basically vampires, you got my interest. Helmed by Toshiki Inoue... okay for me that is a bit less of a positive, look my relationship with Inoue is weird, I think his sentai work is really solid, as stated Jetman is easily one of the bests and Donbrothers was a wild ride that... hot take, Zenkaiger was better, it was still good, still good and it will be a while before I explain what it was, know maybe when I go back to watch it I could change my opinion. His rider work on the other hand, well Agito was okay, kind of spread thin honestly, and Faiz... was not my cup of tea, didn't like it if you did, more power to you for finding something good in it. But hey you know what they say third times the charm (Okay technically it isn't since I have watched both Donbrothers and Jetman at this point, but for rider it is.) Maybe this will be the one I get, right?
SYNOPSIS
In the year 2008, Wataru Kurenai is that weird neighbor that spends time collecting weird materials in hopes of matching his father's magnum opus, the bloody rose. His only friends are his caretaker Shizuka Nomura and Kivat the third, whom Wataru uses to transform into Kiva, fighting against the threat of the Fangire, vampire like creatures who feed on humanity. But he also has to contend with the Wonderful Blue Sky foundation, a group of fangire hunters who also think of Kiva as a threat. As Wataru slowly comes out of his shell and makes friends with numerous people, he will have to come face-to-face with his heritage and the drama unfolding around it.
Meanwhile 22 years ago, his father Otoya Kurenai is very much his son's opposite, a womanizing, confidant playboy who becomes involved with the WBS because he wants to get in the pants of Yuri Aso, contending with the mysterious Jiro who also has a thing for her but soon becomes infatuated with another women and the consequences that come from that.
Inoue's Rider work has always divided its attention between two storylines that converge after a while and nothing has changed here with Kiva, splitting focus between Wataru in 2008 and Otoya in 1986 is something interesting. Either paralleling events between both timelines. It is a story with a lot of potential that never truly lives up to what it sets up. So many interesting ideas and concepts only have their surface scratched, which after watching this season and Donbrothers (Which is good, it is a very good show.) I have realized my biggest pet peeve regarding Inoue and his works, in that he sets up plenty of interesting plot threads, but often they are often forgotten of down the road or given a weak payoff.
CHARACTERS
Wataru is... a weird protagonist, initally a shy, awkward and quirky teenager so focused on created his own masterpiece Violin, with plenty of quirks to show how much a weirdo he is, between dressing in a get-up to avoid his non-existent allergies to writing out what he wants to say. Ultimately these don't last long as he expands his social circle and hangs out with others. And rather than treating the anxieties as some interesting developments as he grows more confident, it is rather a source of comedy most of the time. I don't like to say the word studios notes since toku production is often fairly secretive, never getting to know much, but I get the feeling considering how popular Den-o is I feel that Inoue was told to do things to try and recapture that magic. Making Wataru a similarly meek teen to Ryotaro, though in Ryotaro's case it wasn't him doing the fighting but the Taro's fighting until near the end as a sign of his growth as a person, Wataru, starts as a really good fighter.
That is sort of an issue I have with the character early on, in that he does the Shouichi thing when he is facing the monster he becomes a more serious person, but in that case Shouichi had amnesia initially and later it just became him fighting nomrally. But in the case of Wataru, we see that he is an anxious, anti-social teenager who looks like he couldn't hurt a fly and later is not good with weaponry. Yes, we don't see his first time as Kiva and he gets plenty of help from Kivat and his friends. But for the entire season I never felt that it was Wataru in the suit, rather someone else was in it, doesn't help he never really speaks. Now as a character and not just Kiva, I didn't hate him initially, in fact I sort of relate to him early on, more so my issue is the obvious jumps his character takes. Its not just the suit stuff but also stuff like him jumping through numerous points for drama and reverting, despite the relationship he has built and are willing to help him. It makes him come off as less relatable and more the worst part of you that wallows in self pity and it is bloody annoying when he chooses to do that.
Otoya is not a good person when we first meet him, a womanizing, obnoxious, arrogant playboy who you really, really want to punch for all his perverted and possessive tendencies towards Yuri. Kind of like a rider version of Gai if you take the multiple times of genuine heroism and actual coolness out of him. As the show has many characters just starts to look past his numerous faults as he was just infallable and gets the girl from his rival.
But where as I was getting annoyed with his son in the future, his charm started to work on me, especially in regards that I think he has much better chemistry with Maya than Yuri. It helps that he gets actually cool moments and his worst traits are slowly wittled down to be less annoying and actually cool in moments. Don't get me wrong he still has moments of aggravation but upon his death, I felt I would miss him.
So going back to my statement that Inoue probably got a list of stuff to try and replicate from Den-o and no place is that more obvious than the arm monsters. a trio of monsters with varied personalities that assist Wataru when called by his fuestles, the collectible item of the show, to change his form like the taro's. And only really Jiro matters, being Otoya's love rival in the initial half of the 1986 story before he becomes sort of his aloof bro from time to time and later a sort of big brother figure to Wataru, he was decent all things considered. Ramon and Riki, exist. They are barely part of the story and is a part of the hey, here is a cool thing about monster races that exist besides the fangire, but its only the werewolves, the mermen and Frankenstein's monsters.
Continuing on the trend of characters that are not utilized to their fullest potential, we have the Megumi and Yuri, the most faux action girl's I think this franchise has ever seen. The show tries to portray them as badass fangire hunters who... never have a moment to shine, u-until their shining moment fighting against the lion fangire and deal the blow to weaken it and then kill him in the present. But really aside from that one moment against their arch enemy, they sort of fall by, Megumi gets it worse since she really has... nothing, kind of just exists alongside Keisuke, Yuri at least has the whole love triangle and accepting that Otoya has moved on, it does feel like he came to love him, even if it feels more like a jump when it happens than natural which is just the issue with so many, nothing feels natural in how characters progress often jumping.
But since we brought up Ixa, let's talk about the main user from 08 Keisuke, a fangire hunter who takes his job very seriously with a black and white take on justice and wants to take down Kiva to prove his superiority. Keisuke's connection to the overall plot is... minimal, his backstory being just I revealed my father's mistakes that made his father take his own life. He is the super-serious almost comically serious in how he takes everything, like his big thing about taking the buttons of his bounties. For a bit he does have a butt monkey phase when he loses his position as Ixa, and it just him getting taken down a peg. But I don't really hate him, he does a fine job all things considered, even if he ends in a weird place, his last fight is this retread of one of the final fights in Agito where he is blinded and the relationship... I never saw that coming, another example of the show making characters jump at the end.
Though fine can be better than completely wasted, like with Shizuka, one of the more notable examples of that proposed list of things to be included, a young girl who is hyper competent and serves as one of the few friends that Wataru has at the beginning and once he gets more friends, I don't think Inoue knew what to do with her after a point, they for some reason turn her into a clingy jealous girl for Wataru when Mio starts to show interest, but aside from that... nothing, she's just there alongside the others like a tagalong kid that is their.
The same can also be said the chief of the blue sky group Mamoru Shima who just kind of exists in a gymnasium most of the time working out, and that is his character, he seems to be stern but we don't get much in either timeline. They do try unlike Shizuka, giving him connection to Taiga as something of a caretaker and him being turned into a fangire and seeing how it feels, but its too little too late.
And finishing a trinity of characters that don't really do much besides their purpose, Kengo is sorta this show's Keitaro, the human friend initally locked out of the whole main plot and serves this comedic, throws himself into it, but it really isn't much, he gets severely injured during one of his first instances as an agent, dissapears after blowing up learning he can't play guitar, and comes back basically an entire different character for a few episodes for added drama. Having a character come back different would be interesting, but he is back to being normal only after a few episodes.
That being said one of the better aspects of the last third of the season is Taiga, Wataru's childhood friend, and half-brother who leads the fangires in the present. We had seen fangires in the show who didn't want to follow the laws and just lie normal lives, but Taiga does show more of the Fangire society and how they act and deal with supposed traitors to them, that is something I think that makes the fangires better compare to the Orphenochs, we see more than just the few who are antagonistic that helps to make them. It's something that I think seasons that make the monsters an entirely different race and try to make them a bit more sympathetic is that we don't see enough anti-villainous or at least anti-hero members.
Taiga also does have some solid chemistry with Wataru, seeing them reconnect feels like meeting up with old friends, of course in this season things have to go south, between both being in love with the same girl and standing on different sides of the conflict. Though I don't mind this one in comparison. Mostly since Mio makes clear who she likes and its more tragic since Taiga does show actual affection, just that the women he likes cares for someone else. Making his descent and redemption as Dark kiva feel a bit more earned. I'll admit, I really did like Taiga as a character.
As we move more into the villain faction, let's move back to the heroes to just barely talk about Kivat the 3rd, sort of Wataru's mentor and his henshin device, offering sagely advice during bath's or advice in combat. And then their is Tatsulot... he exists, we will get to it but it is part of Toshiki Inoue's hatred of treating his show like a toy commercial.
As we talk about the main Faingire generals, Leo is a fine first boss for the series after the more comical spider fangire, initially we believe he may turn a leaf after losing his memory and have a girl, sort of like this frankenstein's monster story, but goes back to being the mass-murdering monster he was. Like with the Crocodile Orphnoch, he doesn't have much characterization and I think its fine for the point in the series he comes in.
Bishop meanwhile serves as a solid evil right-hand man, mostly serving to the fangire Hierarchy and all of that. What I really like is just how his way of trying to keep the old way's going ends up being his and by extension his old bosses downfall, as the new guard in Taiga doesn't take it quite well upon learning he did indeed kill Mio, proceeds to get his ass kick. Even if he does make plenty of good points from a villainous point of view, having been around for a while, but in the face of youth, fails as love and hot headedness gets the better of the new king. It is an actually solid look at a villain who knows what's best but ultimately just isn't in the power for it.
The queen duo may be what I think is the best of the contrasting characters of the two timelines, Both Mio and Maya feel like two sides of a coin. One cold, stoic, doing her job, the other is shy, clumsy, and initially unwilling to do the job of the queen of the fangires. Seeing the two different queens. But where as Wataru starts to feel more annoying compared. Both feel like they have one of the few natural transformation. As we see Maya's interactions with Otoya makes her a more caring person, giving Otoya a chance to explore his passions which Yuri didn't really do much of. To the point she tries to save him by cutting him out of her life to protect him from King's wrath. And when we see her in the present, now one eye less and much more stoic, acts as a good mentor to her children and trying to keep them from fighting, it doesn't work but she does come off as a good mother figure.
Mio meanwhile goes down the opposite direction, starting off as a shy, clumsy, almost perfect match for a slightly grown Wataru. With a case of star-crossed lovers because of their status as Kiva and the Queen Fangire and by extension Taiga's fiancée. Leading her down a path that makes her confident and trying to get Wataru to kill Taiga so they could be together. It does feel a bit like a jump like some of the characters, but i did feel something for her death when she is killed, I did come to like her, even if I wasn't fond of some of the relationship.
King himself is fine as far as final villain, treated with plenty of threat from people who know about him and treated as a serious threat. Which helps to bring the often clashing groups together to deal with him when he becomes a problem, when we see him in the present he has no personality since he was revived as a corpse, but when compared to the orphenoch king which just kind of exists, makes him a bit better as a final villain.
AESTHETICS
While Kiva the show may be hit or miss, if their is something a season can often fall back on is its looks and boy does Kiva look incredible, just look at that suit, its striking, the red, the black, the chains, it befits the regality often associated with Vampires, The additional monster versions I don't think look as good, maybe its just the additional red on the eyes, wish it was fully turned a different color. But it is such a good, good suit, probably one of the best of the era, I don't think anyone can hate this suit... except maybe the suit actor.
Yeah lets get to it, yes the suit is beautiful, stunning and has plenty of good fight scenes. But it was a complete pain in the butt to work in, it may not be the heaviest suit of Seiji Takaiwa's career, but it was the worst weight distribution thanks to those chains made of actual iron and steel on the shoulders and knee's made it so unbearable that Takaiwa actually collapsed while filming, which if you see some of the things he did, its honestly surprising to do. So we have a suit that is actively harmful to the actor, so what now.
Well we simply introduce the final form a bit early, and it looks just as good as the main suit, fitting its title as the Emperor, its regal mix of gold and red, the cape. It has the Inoue style of it just shows up out of the blue with little to know explaination as this new character that just exists. One the one hand this was necesary to ensure Takaiwa didn't die in the suit but it does exasperate other problems, for starters, even if it was something they had to introduce on the fly, they could've given more explaination, but Tatsulot is barely a character, he's a mascot at best with little to nothing to do besides accessing Emperor form, Kivat at least gets the mentor role but that is barely a thing.
The other is the fight scene choreography, pre-emperor Kiva had this kind of monsterous energy, doing stunts that felt fresh for rider, hanging from bars and it does carry over how each form feels different, since those suits weren't the best it resulted in Emperor being the only form, which feels more traditional, especially when he gets the blade and it feels less special, its such a weird dichotomy, the first half has things the second half wants and vice-versa.
Ixa also looks good too, the almost pure white look fits with a organization fighting against vampires and contrast with the mythical nature of Kiva, mostly doesn't change between forms, mostly the face, changing from closed, to open to being anubis in its final form. Though it doesn't compared to Saga's form, easily beating Kiva base form, ugh the glass look, the black underbody, it just looks so good and its a shame that Taiga trades it in for dark kiva, which is basically just emperor form and its a shame that we lose it.
And even the fangires look so incredible too with the glass look too, easily being some of the best looking monsters amongst them, if you couldn't tell I really, really like how this season look, it just has this majestic look to it that makes ever monster, ever new suit so incredible to stare at. Even if the quality of the show can be not often great.
And that also carries over into the music, being that Wataru and Otoya are musicians, while the classical doesn't mix with the others, all of the tracks are so incredible, perfect amount of heart pumping rock that just is incredible, every track is honestly great with not a single dud amongst them.
EPISODES
Episode 21-22: I really did like Mio's introduction, the chemistry between her and Wataru is actually nice and the clumsinenss is charming, it has a decent villain and builds to a mystery about who Mio truly is, it is hampered a bit by the 1980 stroryline a bit but not too bad.
Episode 23-24: meanwhile the arc that follows afterwards ending the initally love triangle of Jiro, Otoya and Yuri just isn't as interesting, like it feels like Inoue wants to move on to the new triangles the second have, just Yuri saying that she loves Otoya despite it never feeling like it is well built up to, with Otoya just coming off as kind of a creep. Meanwhile the main plot of the present is not terrible, dealing with another fangire who doesn't want to follow the laws and the relationship he has, it is a bit undercut in regards to tension with Emperor just showing up, I get the reason but Tatsu just kind of shows up.
Episdoe 27-28: The season doesn't often have both plots intersect, this being one of the few, being that the rising powerup gets a bit more of a buildup I feel does work as a way of helping Keisuke's character, even if we get the set up of Kengo's bad boy arc, You noticing how so many of these episodes have some kind of thing that holds it back.
Really this is not a single episode, but just the love triangle subplots, it makes up a good chunk of drama in the early parts of 1986 and the later half of 08, I don't hate the Mio/Maya/Otoya one as much since I do like what they do with it as they realize it won't work out and it gives Otoya one hell of a dying moment of awesome, but the other too feel like they go on for too long, and in the case of Wataru/Taiga/Mio it feels like it goes nowhere mostly for the fact Wataru gets too passive about, like yes these are people who are still young and dealing with emotions but after a bit, it gets old and feels like it goes nowhere after a while.
CONCLUSION
Frustrating is the best way to describe Kamen Rider Kiva. For ever thing it does good or even great, it always has this attachment of some kind of bad thing or bizarre creative decision. For how good the season looks, some decent characters and actions. It is also filled with too much missed potential and an excessive amount of love triangles to make the drama continue. It's by no accounts a bad season, again there are flashes, but its buried under too much baggage to be a definitive recommendation.
FINAL GRADE: D
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