Riding Blind (Or, The Great Kamen Rider Experiment of 2009)

Today I watched the first episode of The Guild‘s third season. I hadn’t seen any trailers or read anything prior to it. In fact, I was almost ready to ignore the hype before just getting the first episode on a whim. The episode was fun and it set up a lot of things….until all of a sudden, this guy shows up.

I’m sure you might consider this a spoiler but not when it’s clearly in the trailer. Anyway, I started thinking about the past year with Kamen Rider Decade….

….Because for some reason, everything goes back to Tokusatsu somehow in my mind-The point is that with that show, we had spoiler information on not only the entire Final Form Ride series but that of Complete Form, months before its debut. Maybe I’d have enjoyed Tetsuo Kurata’s return as BLACK and BLACK RX had I not read up on anything? Maybe the movie might be more enjoyable not having seen anything going into it, spoiler clips or otherwise?

So…..I had an idea.

I, Mike Dent, will attempt the impossible: I will ignore any and all spoiler photos, discussion threads, anything that could possibly reveal any more information about Kamen Rider Double than what has already been revealed. I’ll then watch the show from start to finish to see if I can truly enjoy it more for not having known about power-ups, new villains, etc. This had been suggested to me before but on in the capacity of not watching a Sentai series to enjoy its Ranger adaptation. I didn’t really see the point as I’m not really that much a Ranger fan but now, it seems like an interesting idea.

In an age where information is overflowing through the cracks, it may seem futile but I’ll let you guys know about how this one turns out. Feel free to try it out too if you want! I’m interested to hear what your responses are while flying blind.

Double, Hard Boiled!

From Henshin Justice comes our first look at Kamen Rider Double:

Time for a quick first impression!

Stuff I like….
-The detective concept: It’s a fresh idea, something this franchise needs. Yes we’ve had Riders as police officers but nothing on par with private detectives. They also get points for the slight nod to Tantei Monogatari with Shotaro’s look.

I’m seriously getting a Yusaku Matsuda vibe from the guy. Anyway, As long as the Shotaro/Phillip dynamic doesn’t wear out its welcome, this could be awesome.

-The theme song: Sure we’ve only got an instrumental to go off of but imagine it with the voice of Aya Kamiki….

If they’re really going for the jazzy sound that I think they are, she’s going to make this song rock. Even if the show falls apart, at least we’ll have this song to make the show worth the trouble.

-Suit Design: I was a bit wary at first but as expected, after seeing it in action, I’m really digging it. I already know we’re getting a Trinity Form-ish power up that’s going to look like a clusterfsck but here’s hoping they don’t blow the final upgrade like they did with Complete Form. Whoever greenlit that suit concept needs to be forcefully tackle snogged by Shocker minions ala Sentai AV style.

-The catch phrase: “Saa….Omae no tsumi wo kazaero!” Going by my rough translation (and given the setting of the series), it’s means “Now then, let’s air out your crimes!” Feel free to call me out on this one but otherwise, I think it’s kinda cool.

Now, there are two things that could break this for me…
-Writing: This announcement hasn’t been made yet and I’m hoping for the best here. If it’s Inoue, from what we’ve seen, it could be the return of Cutie Honey THE LIVE/Changerion Inoue and we won’t have anything to worry about. If it’s Kobayashi again, I wouldn’t mind it; I’m willing to trust her with anything with how well Shinkenger’s turned out. Really, as long the marketing doesn’t take over the story and/or we are angst-free for once, this show might be good.

EDIT: Ryotarou from HJU pointed out that the writer HAS been announced for this series and it’s none other than Riku Sanjou, best known for his work on the manga Beet The Vandel Buster. The other thing he’s known for? Writing the screenplay for MD Geist. SOLD.

-Phillip: We haven’t heard/seen much from him yet. Thankfully, he’s not the main focus but I hope to god that he isn’t a total goofball. Make his role important but don’t chuck him under the bus.

Lastly, 10th Anniversary Project: Wait what? Wasn’t DECADE your tenth anniversary project? If not then why the hell did you even both putting us through that fanfic of a TV show? [Multiple Expletives Deleted]

So wow, unless I get totally disillusioned by All Riders VS DaiShocker, I’m actually looking forward to seeing this show. Kamen Rider Double will be making its premiere September 6th on TV Asahi. To quote the promo, “THIS IS IT!”

Ikemen Amazon is Ikemen

So these pictures recently surfaced on the 101fwy boards regarding the future of Decade. Guess who’s showing up.

That’s right. Pretty Boy Amazon, along with a revamped Jumenki (Ten-Faced Demon) are showing up in the homestretch. Look, I understand you want to lead into the movie but goddammit, stop going back and give some love to Shin, ZO, and J for crissake! I mean technically THEY are the first Heisei Riders and they haven’t even shown up once!

This isn’t a post about me being a purist fan and bitching about the recasts or anything like that; this is more me hoping Toei doesn’t screw this all up in the end. Guess I can only hope….

…And I haven’t even SEEN it yet!

So new scans have made themselves apparent regarding the forthcoming Kamen Rider Decade: All Riders VS DaiShocker. Instead of ranting, I figure I would share with you the following dialogue….

Journey Through The Shinken?

I would have added this to Friday ACE but this is just too awesome to pass up: SHINKENGER/DECADE CROSSOVER EVENT!

Sponichi and Yahoo News broke the news earlier today. The two-part event will take place during episodes of Kamen Rider Decade on July 12th and 19th. Not much else has been revealed in terms of story details but it seems like they’re really going all out here.

One other thing though, fans are calling this the first of its kind. In actuality this HAS happened before….

Fast-forward to 4:37. Yep. Showa Era Mega-Crossover. All the same, I can’t wait for this to take place. Even if Complete Mode is a design trainwreck….