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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

My Top Ten Kamen Rider Series

With Kamen Rider OOO finishing soon high chance it will be in my top ten, but before that change I want to list the rider series that I love the most. Now I barely saw any showa rider series because they are hard to find, but I did episodes of V3, Amazon, and Black RX and I will continue to watch them. Also when you are done with this list look at the most recent one http://kamensentai.blogspot.com/2012/09/my-top-fourteen-favorite-kamen-rider.html


10.Kamen Rider Decade
I can't hate this series completely, sure it had some bad writing with the parallel worlds and the fact it left as a cliff hanger. Also there are some worlds that were bad like Ryuki's, but there are great ones like Hibiki's and Black RX's. The main hero also isnt one of my favoirtes and there is the other Kuuga, but Diend helped to save the show and Decade did have great moments like Black and Black RX.


9. Kamen Rider Kiva

This was the first Rider series that I have seen and because of it I found more and more series. You think for the first series I saw it would be higher, but compared to other rider series it can fall flat. The main character is very amusing and his story works well its just some of the minor characters and the sub plots and bring it down. There is also how IXA was used by everyone in the show some I can agree, but come on Ryu (spider fangire), Rook, and Kengo?!

8. Kamen Rider Ryuki

A lot of people love this series and I do like it for being very original in the franchise, but there are issues with it as well. I love the war story with the riders fighting to the death, but some of the characters arent used the most. There are riders who dont have a lot of episodes sometimes to show something about this battle. There are even some minor characters that are enjoyable, but can be ignored and there was one who was thrown in near the 30 episode mark. Not even all 13 riders appeared in the series the last three appeared in movies which kinda ticked me off, but it makes sense because they could have been killed by mirror monsters. Also there was the ending which I wont talk about, but wow it ticked me off.

7. Kamen Rider Faiz

This was another dark series that did very well with original ideas and probably the best monsters in the franchise. I really liked the orpenocs with some being rebels or killing humans, also a lot of their desings are amazing to look at. Characters are also a big plus to the series with having minor characters that affected the series greatly and having the main characters fixing things up. There were some dull moments though and a good amount that were pointless. Also near the last episodes things were feeling rushed mostly at the final episode itself. This series also had people using the gear which again ticked me off, but this time it was more reasonable then Kiva.

6. Kabuto

I always hear so much love for this series, but I think its a little over rated IMO. Worms are sort of like orpenocs, but this time they are less deverse with most of them killing humans all the time. The fights were also really great and thats why I think people loved this series a little too much. There are good characters, but some are really ignored like Drake. Thebee also had the mutiple users, but it was only 4 and its very reasonable. Also the main story comes in a little too late for me, but still the episodes before that were very fun to watch with I will say the funniest scenes in the franchise. Also Sasword is a big personal favorite rider of mine, but again the ending was a little off it didnt feel rushed, but all I can say that the series major flaw is way too much focus on the main rider Kabuto himself.

5. Kamen Rider Hibiki

Now I am at the series I think is the most under rated in the franchise, why did people hate this series? Sure it was different, but I love original ideas and no one hated Ryuki for that. I guess its because it went with a nature tone, but Amazon had that as well and I hear love for it. Sure the first episode was odd, but after that everything was handeled very well even though the director did change during the series. I like the riders in this one because they had great development with the other characters and they also get amazing development. This series also has the best writing I have seen in the franchise. I didnt like the mutiple random riders that appeared because mostly all they did was fight and nothing else. I also liked the use of weapons, so what if there was no offical rider kick finisher, the finishers in this series were fun to watch. The creatures though were odd mostly with the big ones. The ending was also very well done because its what the series has been mentioning the whole time its about one boy becoming the man he wants to be.

4. Kamen Rider Black

Ok I did see one showa era rider series and its a big favoirte of mine. Black did a lot things that affected the franchise completely mostly with a different story other than the others with a big organization trying to take over the world. It still had that, but it changed it up when Kotaro's brother is kidnaped and he tries to save him. Reminding me of Kotaro he is easily one of the best riders of all time his character is so enjoyable and understandable. I love the fight scenes as well even though its old its some of the best old school fighting I have seen. The last episodes were also some of the best of the franchise and the rival characters were great, but the focus on kids was a little annoying at times.

3. Kamen Rider Kuuga

I mean there is no way this series couldnt have been on this list, it reborn the franchise and is easily one the best. First the dark tone is nice, but other rider series had that as well so why did it get so big? Its because of the great writing and characters that helped support this show and this rider series really brought up the form change to the franchise. I know Stronger and Black RX did do that as well, but Kuuga made it a stable in the franchise. The monsters are some of the best as well with them being brutal by killing as many humans as possible. Also how Godai deals with all these deaths is a big pluse for the show how he wants to protect everyone's smiles. Again he is one the best main riders of the franchise because of his simple view on life and how that affects his bravery a lot. Also ending was great as well and the fights are again some of the best, Without this series Kamen Rider could have been a thing of the past.

2. Kamen Rider Blade

This is another rider series that I think is under rated, but not by a lot I just dont hear a lot about it thats all. At first the series was doing good and kept my attention, but near the end of the Garren arc the show just went to awsome easily. The story was really good keeping a mystery of whats going on till near the end of the series. The characters are also some the best with all of them having amazing moments and big part of the series. This is also a rider series where I see the full skill of a rider because they mostly used cards in the battles. In some battles they use they wit and full potential to defeat an enemy. Villians are also really good with some big main ones and minors one that push a character further. Again with the fights are my favorite of all the series I saw because they really shown the full potential of the riders. I really loved the desing of the riders as well the card motif mixed with bugs worked really well. Then there is the ending which is easily the best because it just hits everywhere and it comes unexpected of what the main hero does.

1. Kamen Rider Double

Yea you say this coming if you saw my review for this series. Even though it didnt have the best ending, all the episodes were fun for me to watch because I love detective shows and even though it was easy to guess whats going to happen it did have some twists I didnt expect and the writing was really well done. I also love the fact of how fast the fights were because it really focused on the good parts and then there was a huge focus for the story. The dopants are some of my favoirte villians because all of them had something different and original like the Liar dopant. There was also a great cast of characters even thoug minors are just well minor they have great moments with helping in the case.

So thats my list and if you got opinions just be nice about them and I will say one last thing, I didnt care for Den-o that much.


34 comments:

  1. Nice list Godzilla606. :)

    Sorry, but I personally really can't stand Decade at all. To me, it had consistently bad writing almost the whole time, and was pretty much the only season where I really didn't like almost all the characters.

    I love you so much for acknowledging Kiva, Ryuki, and especially Hibiki. =D All three of those shows have split fanbases, which makes me sad since I love all three of them. And sorry to break to you, but sadly, actually a lot of fans did have issues with Ryuki being different. :( Oh, and I personally loved Ryuki's ending. hehehe

    I liked 555 when I first saw it. But sadly, I can't seem to find myself to enjoy it anymore. It just doesn't seem fun to watch at all.

    Kabuto is a strange one for me. It's this one Rider series that I'm not sure how to feel about at all. LOL. Like, I can sit through it and have fun, but man, I can spot so many glaring things wrong with the show. It's basically the same as how I feel about Hurricaneger. Confused. xD

    Tbh, I never really cared much for the Showa Riders. Mainly cause most of them are from the 70s, which is a decade that I personally always have trouble finding gems in when it comes to media of any kind. hehehe. And yes, I've seen all of them. Not every episode, but a good chunk of the shows. Honestly, the only Showa Rider that I truly love is Black. =) And yeah, Black does have some issues like those annoying kids. LOL. Ah well, still a fun show. =)

    Blade underrated? Wow, you and I both come from different worlds with this series. hahaha. I always hear instant praise towards Blade. So I kinda feel like it's overrated. hehehe. Blade has always been a tough one for me to enjoy. For me, the actors were rather difficult to watch, and the plot felt rather inconsistent. I'm still trying to understand what fans like about this show, cause it's a tough one for me to figure out.

    Awesome. W is my #1 favorite too. =D

    Aww. No Agito or Den-O. ;__;

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    1. Yup, Decade are one awful series, the only thing I like from him is the music. W are so-so, the acting are kinda awkward and the gags seems a off the track. doesn't like that female boss (her existence itself is already iffy IMO and repeating sandals joke is just bad). Kabuto are by far the best for me, I like their concept of time.

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  2. I havent seen all of Agito and Den-o was trying to be too funny and I didnt really enjoy the humor at times. I really like crossovers so that a pluse Decade had for me. Also Den-o's main story plot came a little too late and made it felt somwhat rushed and everytime a new imajin joined the team it gave away focus to the main character. Zeronos saved the show though big time. I just really liked Blade I liked the idea of the undead fighting to be the species of earth and it had good twists here and there that I didnt see coming. I just liked all the characters too. I had fun with Faiz because of characters again they were well written and were involved with the story. Also I love to see showa riders I give them respect for making shows during the time. I saw the first episode of V3 and really got into it same for the original. Hibiki was a strong series for me because of the writing it is the best I will easily say that.

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  3. Got any thoughts on Kuuga? For me its a very good series that reborn the franchise with a dark tone that is supported by great characters and writing. Also I can never forget about the final fight it was just so rememorable

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  4. Ah, I see.

    For me, Den-O's storyline started at the start of ep 1. LOL. I actually really loved the Imagin concept. It was neat and a lot of fun, so I have no complaints. And I didn't mind the comedy. It only got old for me towards the late 30s of the show, which by that time, things were wrapping up. So Den-O was overall a solid series for me.

    I love crossovers too. But only if done well and believably. Decade for me did everything wrong in a crossover. Like those Final Form Rides were horrible. Eh, I better stop before I start ranting. lol.

    I like Blade's concept too. It's just the execution that didn't seem to work.

    Faiz was addicting when I first saw it. I always wanted to know what would happen to the characters. And I loved all the characters (minus Kusaka). And the overall show felt very relatable to real life imo. That was all neat. But man, it's hard watching Faiz again for fun, due to all the constant depressing and intense drama with no room for a bit of fun. I find it difficult to sit through those scenes where Yuka is being abused at the start and to still have fun. :(

    Kuuga was amazing for me. It's just tokusatsu at it's finest. I could pretty much say so many great things for this fun series. hahaha.

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  5. For me the story in den-o somewhat started with zeronos, but it came when a main villian shown himself, but that was near the end. Also the comedy was ok and the imajin's are good characters, but I it just lost focus at times. I do agree the final form rides were dumb why not just unlock a new power for a rider like gokaiger has with their mech. Thats why I made my own crossovering rider series with my own riders and real ones, I call the rider Gatekeeper. For me Blade hit the right notes with good twists and the characters are some of my favorites. I like when shows are realistic and Faiz did good with that so even with depressing scenes I can still watch it because it just impacts me hard at times, and whats wrong with Kusaka sure he is an ass, but thats what makes him enjoyable like Asakura. Cant agree with you more on Kuuga.

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  6. I'm actually looking into Blade again. ;)

    And I'm thinking about 555 again too.

    As for Kusaka, well... there are some characters that I love to hate. But then there are some characters that I just want off the goddamn screen already. And Kusaka was this one such character. lol. Asakura was actually a far more enjoyable character imo.

    You know, with Kabuto, it did make my jaw drop more than any other show out there. LOL. Just for how WTF and weird and unexpected the whole show was. LOL.

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  7. hey you think you hated kusaka in the faiz series did you hear about a book on the faiz series. I heard its very similar, but it goes even darker than the series

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  8. Warning its very dark!

    Well first Mari is a teenage girl this time and well Kusaka actually rapes her, yea..... Now I hate this Kusaka. Also Keitaro actually hooks up with Yuka and before Yuka's death she gave birth to a human/orpenoc child. Thats all I heard from that novel it is messed up though!

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    1. and I thought I the TV version of Kusaka was an @$$hole

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  9. Yeah, that's pretty dark. hahaha

    Just finished rewatching Blade. And I must say, I found it to be a very impressive series. But I don't think it's a series meant for me. Somehow, it wasn't as fun as certain other shows. Ah well. Still happy to see it #2 on your list. ;D

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  10. Yea I guess Blade just worked with me also the ending really got me. I think Blade had the best ending of all rider series.

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  11. Kamen Rider Black is always my favorite. Hell, he's my childhood hero. Grew up watching him and how I appreciate his feats. Awesome.

    I also heard that Double has lots of Sentai guest actors. So... yeah, I might check it out later

    I wonder if you'll make Top X lists for Sentai. Like Top 10 Sentai Red Warriors, Top 10 Blue... Top 10 series, Top 10 villain group, etc etc...

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  12. I am planning to do list like that soon, but I want to start with sentai villians because they are some of the biggest reasons why I love sentai series.

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  13. Oh, you really, really, really, and I mean, REALLY need to watch Agito. While I still can't match it with most of the Rider series especially Kuuga in overall factors, one thing that really shines up the series is definitely the storyline as well as the characters; especially on how this show can give you the Marathon effect for having incredible cliffhangers on the end of every episode.

    Since it came right after Kuuga and before Ryuki, you can easily make out that the series is dark; almost every episode has at least one dude getting killed in various unusual ways by the villains. Speaking of the villains, it's also interesting that the purpose of their existence and murder spree activities has hardly anything to do with the overly used and typical "To take over the world" thing. Also the fact that you have three main Riders each with different roles, backgrounds and Rider-types adds a lot of versatility to the storytelling based on the three guys' point of view. I can say that Agito's the first one to break the tradition of requiring a person to be a Kaizo Ningen (modified human being) in order to be a Kamen Rider. If it won't end up as #1, it surely will land at least in the Top 5.

    On the other hand, I seriously still won't acknowledge Decade though, the fact that the show and Tsukasa himself made every past Riders (whom the fans followed and loved.., yes, I'm aware that they're not the same person from the original series) a bunch of (LITERALLY) tools and obviously inferior to him pretty much sums up a total of almost 0% for me to like the show, let alone the main character.

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  14. Not sure how I feel about Decade... I mean they had to make a movie just to fix all the screw-ups they did & it's the shortest KR series...

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  15. Having now finished Kuuga and OOO, seen at least the first episode of all the others since Black, and progressed a fair ways into both Agito and Ryuki...I just want to say that I am severely disappointed to see Ryuki on a "best" anything list.

    Ryuki (at least up to and including episode 22, enough to get a good feel) is not just my least favorite Rider series thus far, but a plain old BAD show in general. The fights are abysmally boring, using CGI in place of good old-fashioned hitting people more often than not. The characters are about as wooden as I can imagine...ESPECIALLY Yui. That actress CANNOT emote. The camera angles are haphazard and the card system feels like an excuse to reuse assets repeatedly for lack of budget. Ryuki's only saving grace is that the overarching mystery of the story is fairly compelling. But the individual episodes provide so little information it feels like the series could have been condensed into 2/3 the length it is...at least up to episode 22. But if 22 episodes of the series are this bad...I don't think even a spectacular ending can redeem it at this point.

    Contrasted with Agito, which at the same point in the series has three excellent Riders, double the cast of BELIEVABLE characters, not one or two but THREE compelling mysteries to unravel, and fight scenes that blow away the competition. The enemies in Agito actually *observe* and *react* to the Riders' moves. Every fight feels like an organic thing...a dance being written as we watch where each dancer is trying to out-do the other. Better than Kuuga, better than a lot of the fights in OOO if I'm forced to compare. But even better than that, much like Kuuga before it, Agito has mini-mysteries within each episode trying to figure out who the monsters will attack next, how they attack their targets, and what the best way to intercept and stop them is.

    Agito is a true successor to Kuuga. I put it on par with it (so far, at least) on every element in its predecessor. The only place I felt Kuuga was lacking was pacing. Kuuga was very slow to get going, but well worth it when you got to episode 25-30 and the story really took off. But Agito is full speed right out of the gate. I like it so much that I'm feeling sad in advance because I know I'll only have a tota 51 episodes to experience before it's gone....


    I may be jumping the gun a bit, not having finished most of the series on this list. But I've fallen so hard in love with Agito (and out of love with Ryuki) that I just had to comment now. Have you finished watching Agito yet? Will you be updating this list to include Agito, OOO, and Fourze any time soon? Or will you wait for Wizard?

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    1. Glamador it's actually kinda funny I consider both Agito and Ryuki to be underatted Ryuki because Showa scum who refuse to grow up out of the 1980s complained that is isn't Black RX or something along those lines like they always do and Agito for the same reason Sean finds Blade underrated I just don't here it talked about that much though I can see why you hate Ryuki I watched an episode and it bored the crap out of me much like Blade but it's kinda funny due too Dragon Knight Ryuki was actually talked about. My most underrated are Hibiki now I found episode 30 and onward to be just bad but go on the forums I think it's hated because again kids who grew up with Black RX refuse to grow up think it's different and god forbid it's not exactly like Black RX, Kabuto Sean I know what you said but it's actually kinda funny go on forums and for some reason there is a ton of hate for Kabuto and Den-o yeah Sean I know this probably won't be the last time we talk about this show we are on the other side of the Earth on but same reason as Kabuto that and that godawful Cho Den-o and Decade movie. Most overrated Blade has quite a few fans and while no offense said fans refuse to shut up, Black and Black RX and Kuuga mostly because Kuuga's the closest thing in Heisei to Black RX

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    2. ok now that I decided to watch the first episode of Blade again unlike last time which show's picture of a teen sleeping that was me when I first watched the 1st episode of Blade due too boredom but I watched again and now I'm mildly interested btw cum at me with spoilers I read some stuff on the wiki and I think some of its ideas are freakin awesome and I'm really excited to see where they go with Hajime and Tachibana also as far as black and Black RX go I wanna wait till later this year (go on my youtube channel then too see why not right now I hate the 3 videos like me watching me overact cue the clip from shrek what is this thing it's hideous) the closest I got to finishing a Kamen Rider Series is Den-o I'm 24 episodes in when I write this reason shows homework which I'm not proud of Double, OOO, and Gaim which I am actually watching cause their awesome I wanna watch Kuuga I can tell that Godai might just be my favorite main rider of all time

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    3. I will eventually write a top ten or whatever personal favorite Kamen Rider series things I wanna do first, review at least the first 3 I finish,watch one maybe two Showa series(for some reason I just get kinda bored watching older Kamen Rider for some reason not with Sentai I actually enjoy most of the older ones over the newer ones) The Showa ones I wanna watch include Black (read some stuff on the wiki, and I love what they're trying to do with Black when it was made, same with RX ironically RX feels like something you would see in a modern Kamen Rider minus the Collectable Gimmick forced in it's just much goofier than Black and many of the other Sentai shows of the late 80's ) and Stronger I heard a ton of good things about it.

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    4. which one should I watch first Kuuga or Agito(still have not finished Den-o and I want to finish that so I can say I have finished at least one Rider series) cause there are some nods to Kuuga

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  16. Sadly I still haven't gotten that far with Agito. I am not liking the beginning right now. The mysteries are great it's just the show had an odd slow pace that can actually bore me at times. There is no doubt that the series probably gets out of this, but I am trying to focus on Go-busters too because I am very behind on it. To answer the other question I am making a new rider series list, but with all I have fully seen. Also I am making some big changes for some spots and that list will come after the Fourze series review.

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  17. Just how far into it? Because when you have a form change with weapon in episode 2, three main riders by episode 6, a main bad guy by episode 4 (as opposed to Kuuga taking until what...episode 42?) I'm not sure how you can say it has slow pacing. There are a lot more answers to important questions per episode in Agito than Ryuki that's for sure. Episode 26 of Ryuki was the first time I felt like the series had a genuine purpose.

    Speaking of...I notice you didn't say much in response to my challenge of Ryuki's spot. I imagine that will be done in the updated list though, so I'll be patient and go ahead and watch more series while I wait.

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  18. I'm not saying the introduction of characters is slow it's just some scenes had an odd pace. Also the pace for the actual story is slow in the beginning. Just because they show characters doesn't give the story a big boost. I can't really remember which episode I'm at. It's been a while because of Fourze and Go-busters. I think I'm just going to start over again and try to watch it without big delays. Yea my thoughts on Ryuki right now are similar to yours so expect some of those complaints, but it's still not my least favorite.

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  19. Alright I saw the first 4 episodes and I think I know what bothered me about Agito. It's more of the acting. Some of the actors mostly say their lines with the same face and don't change it that much. I bet it's just the beginning since the actors needed more time to get used to the show.

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  20. Same thing that bothered me about Ryuki then. I've finished it now and while the ending certainly did make great strides, it can't make up for 35 episodes of mediocrity.

    Yui never grew into anything other than a whiny do-nothing with no solid ideas of her own and all delivered with that same "look at me I'm pouting" face she had the entire damned series. And that's all the characters too. They never really grew. Sure they tried to TELL us that they developed but their actions and the actors portraying them never once made me feel it.

    The suits looked like plastic dolls and what really bugs me is how none of the attacks seem to...well DO anything. Characters could be slashed across the chest 100 times but until the story says they need to be hurt they never show any signs of battle. Lots of sparks flying but no oomph. It made all the fights seem to lack tension. Everything was arbitrary until the last attack. And I already mentioned the overuse of CGI.

    I foresee myself getting into a lot of arguments with Ryuki fans on forums.



    (P.S. You don't use Skype too often, do you?)

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  21. I liked what Ryuki had. The Rider War concept is good and the riders in the series were good as well. It's just the story does have some bad moments and it doesn't add up well. I agree with Yui. I like the suits. So Ryuki isn't the best by far, but it still has fun qualities about it. That ending though.... UGH I hated it so much

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    1. agreed I know someone who is hellbent on telling me it's a good ending but I don't like endings where the threat of death POINTLESS sadly Yugioh Zexal is almost worse because it is like so everything that happened but it's just like so God resurected people like Shark and Kaito I get but Vector he killed a sh*tload of people yeah nope

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  22. then I'm on skype a couple of times not lately though because of classes

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  23. My favorite is wizard then decade then fourze

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  24. Wow putting Wizard at the top already. It's a little early to decide on where it is on my list, but also to make sure to check out the update list. http://kamensentai.blogspot.com/2012/09/my-top-fourteen-favorite-kamen-rider.html

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  25. In my opinion I think Kabuto is still my favourite series. The story was interesting to follow and I think most of the characters seemed to fit in, especially Kabuto himself, who shows his pure "badass-ery" as the series progresses. However, I still agree that Drake definitely needs more development as I felt that he is ignored, to the extent that he is portrayed as more of having a cameo appearance in the series overall.

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    1. I did another list for rider series and I did put Kabuto higher after watching it again. The part about Kabuto is that he seems to be that invincible main character, but he still wasn't. The show still gave moments where he got injured greatly both mentally and physically. Then there were the Hoppers who really added nothing to the show, sadly.

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