My Top Fourteen Favorite Kamen Rider Series

It's been almost a year since I did my previous rider list and I am very surprised on how much things changed. Thanks to finding out my T.V. has a USB Drive all I need is the right file and I can watch Toku on a bigger screen. So I went back to some series and still watching some, but I think I got more and better criticisms for the series I have watched. The total is fourteen and I won't count the three showa era movies since they're only movies. So let us begin on another countdown on the Kamen Rider Series I have seen so far (quick note I have been watching more Showa, but a lot of those series are not finished with subtitles).

14. Kamen Rider Decade

Last time the traveling rider was at the number ten spot. My reasons were that there are good parts of Decade and I still like some parts, but when things got ugly they are very ugly. First is the main character himself he isn't really that special. All he has is all the past Hesiei rider powers. The character is very boring though as I really hate the superficial heroes as he can act very cocky. There is also Natsumi who barely does anything and the AU Kuuga and we don't need to talk about him. The only main character I enjoyed was Daito, Kamen Rider Diend because he was just awesome in everything he does. His back story was pretty good as well while Decade's back story isn't much. I think Decade could have done better if they didn't do a cliff hanger and just have the series tell the story and not let a movie finish it. Even though the movie makes more questions! I still want to know where did the Decade powers come from and why is Tsukasa given it? All I can say this series inspired me to make my own crossover rider called Gatekeeper and I will make sure to have an actual story with him. So I probably would give Decade a C+ back then, but today it's a D+

13. Kamen Rider Dragon Knight

"Whoa the American series is on this list!" Is probably what you are thinking, but it does feel like a Kamen Rider series. First I liked that this series did it's own story and didn't rely that much on Ryuki. Sometimes they used their own fight scenes and did many things different. Still the story is a little bland and not all characters are great. The series also holds the usual bad acting from an American Toku. There is light though in this series as they do make some good connections with the story and characters. I remember back then I was just hating this series, but that was just because it was in the beginning of my Kamen Rider obsession and I was just mad that it got adapted again. One more thing I am not putting Masked Rider on this list because I haven't seen it in a long time and it will be a while before I torture myself watching that. So Dragon Knight is still a pretty good series to watch as they do pull some shocking things in the story and some characters are great. I give it a C it's average, but that's a step up compared to the last time a rider series got adapted.

12. Kamen Rider Ryuki

How fitting that the original comes right after the adaption. Ryuki was in the number eight spot back then since I liked the Rider War and seeing a good amount of death in the series. Some characters still stand out as popular favorites like Ouja, but looking back there wasn't that much to the series. The fights are okay with some great suit action in only limited amounts. This series used a lot of CGI compared to the last two rider series before it and I know it was made in 2002-2003 and it's low budget, but it's still a flaw. They just use it too much so soon you will get used to some good effects. Some effects are just not that good at times too and it doesn't fit Kamen Rider. The story is better than Dragon Knight it's just the pay off is not worth it. When everything is found out it doesn't feel that well and it follows a big cliche. If the villain has a sibling the sibling is somehow involved. I mean Kenzaki who I like still don't like why he's doing it. He is very smart, but finding out why he's doing it disappoints me. Also as I said before Ryuki's characters can be great, but there are more good and bad. The minor characters are just good between bad as I don't care about them and some of the acting is ehh. Then the ending....... it just sucks. So I would give Ryuki a B- back then so now it's a C+

11. Kamen Rider Den-o

Remember when I said I didn't care for Den-o that much back then? Well it's been a while since I last saw it and some of the hate is just because of the movies that are made for this series. Going back to the story there are nice things that put it in the number eleven spot and topping past series I ranked above it before. First the story still doesn't fully reflect, but there are tons of hints and nods to it in the dialogue. The Imajins are nice villains and the hero Imajin are very good characters. The series does hold some nice comedy here and there. It's just there are some bad designs in the series that mostly prevented it getting on the top ten back then along with many other things. The designs were great like Zeronoes, to good like Rod Form and Wing Form, to bad like Gun Form and Climax Form. Also they used some of the same Imajin designs a couple of times. Then the hero Imajins acted like jerks in the beginning and weren't heroes expect for Kintaros. Then they do most of the fight which is something I don't like, but Ryotaro does fight on his own so there's that. Also I didn't like how they saved things for the finale. Things were still unraveling even when we got closer and closer to the finale which is something I am not a big fan of. I like everything to be revealed and then have the final episodes be the finale as they try to defeat the villains. So Den-o hits a personal bug of mine, but it can be funny at times and the story is nice. Still though Den-o did hit a rut and Zeronoes saved the series. Yuuto was my favorite character in that series because he had most of the funny scenes for me and he had a good part of the story. So I give Den-o a C+ mostly because it did get stuck in some spots here and there.

10. Kamen Rider Faiz

Faiz was number seven on the list back then because of a good dark story. It's the same problem with Ryuki though as looking back it's not as great as I remembered. I did like the Orpenoc who I should have put on my favorite rider villain group list because how they are humans still. They keep their memories and some try to live a normal life. I have to say the series did have good twists and the series did make some nods at them so seeing those again were nice. Sadly somethings are not worth it. There are some deaths in the series and it doesn't really affect the series at times. I really think they just wanted to put so much death in so it could look edgier and darker, but no. There has been death in Kamen Rider and done better. There are a lot of characters, but it's not worth paying attention to some as they are killed off in the first episode they appear in. The ending of Faiz is bad because it was really rushed and even though things seem over it ends at a sort of cliffhanger. I do really love Kaixa, but then there was Delta. Not saying Delta is bad, but he has nothing special. Some random characters become Delta here and there and when the permanent user is found he still isn't shown that much and he only came in the series a little while ago. So yea Faiz is still a dark series, but it's darkness just feels forced. So I give it a B- since there are really good characters and plot points. Even the action is nice and there are nice effects that still look good even now.

9. Kamen Rider Fourze

Call me lazy if you want, but this is going to be quick since my previous post is a review for this series. Fourze was good it had a nice friendship motif along with partners. The designs were mostly great for the monsters of this series and Meteor. Fourze looks good, but his character is amazing. The other side characters are nice as well. The series does soon push a little too much at the viewers when it gets closer to the end, but it's a fun series and a good one so it has B.

 8. Kamen Rider Kiva

Yea Kiva, the series I said I should put in the number six spot. I'm sorry if I seem I am changing my mind too much, but Kiva's flaws do take a major toll on this series. I did like the story being in different time lines and their characters had a good balance. Nago was great as IXA and he should have stayed as IXA even though it was nice to see Miu be IXA. Wataru is a good character, but he's Ryotaro. The shy personality and then changing into a dynamic hero it's exactly like Den-o. Still Wataru did it better since he had to decide on some really big things like siding with his the Fangire or still fight for the humans. There are annoying characters like Kengo and Mio. The designs were very good though and each and every suit had something nice to look at. So yea Kiva's flaws do take it down, but the main story is still a blast and the characters help as well. As it still earns it's B

7. Kamen Rider Hibiki

Hibiki is still the most under-rated Kamen Rider series. It may have fallen two ranks, but it still deserves more love than other rider series. Even though Hibiki isn't that much story driven there are very good character plot points. There is a change of a director and yes it's sad that we couldn't see how the series was supposed to be, but I say critic on what you get. When people complain on what they didn't get makes them look like a child crying because he didn't get a certain toy. People should shut up and deal with what they got. I'm sorry if I am rude about this, but this topic gets me mad. Even with the change it's not that big of a change. The nature motif is still around and the characters still mostly remain the same. Then the most important part is that the message is still around! Hibiki really explored into something different than the usual rider series and I respect it for that. There are great arcs like the Zanki arc and amazing suit designs. Also the monsters of the series are still good. So it keeps it's B+

6. Kamen Rider OOO

OOO was another good series. It did use the partner motif like Double did, but it took a lot of different routes from Double. I failed to mention this in my review for the series and I noticed this thanks to TJ Omega. Eiji doesn't learn how to use his powers. This really bugged me when I started to notice it because he actually does learn some medals at times. At one point Ankh is not with him and he trains with medals and then he starts to stumble around and is completely useless in battle. This was the biggest thorn in my side as even though Eiji is still a good character his fighting experience was lacking. The Greeed as awesome as they were they weren't used to their full potential. Their spotlight got robbed from a really great villain who I talked about as he is my favorite villain in the franchise. Also how they used their secondary rider Birth was sad. The characters Date and Gotou were a very good combination it's just the series treated them as weaklings. OOO also shares a flaw that Fourze had which was with some of the action scenes. I was sad to see how little on different medal combinations there were. The series mostly uses the main combos, but that's what made the fights OOO great at times when they do different forms. So OOO is good, it did waste it's fighting and villain potential, but the story is nice and there aren't any characters that I hate, a B+

5. Kamen Rider Black

Black is still the only showa era Kamen Rider I have finished and it's still in the top five for great reasons. First is the action it was very good even if it was the 80's. There was a lot of attention to the detail of the fights and good direction. Black also took a step into something different which was more story driven. The villains were interesting with the three bishops being supportive of each other at times, Birugenia being a good rival character for a while, and then Shadowmoon who still lives on in the memories of rider fans as the first pure evil rider. Kotaro is another great feature as his personality completely glows in the series as he faces hard decisions and that affects the drama of the show greatly. It does focus on children like other Showa series and kids can affect an episode positively or negatively. The ending was also really strong and still holds a strong impact. So Black stays on the list with an A-

4. Kamen Rider Kabuto

Last time I said Kabuto is the most over-rated rider series and that is still somewhat true, but going back to it I negate some of my previous sayings. First I would have to say Den-o is now the most over-rated and I think I should have said that in the first place. Kabuto was very good when I saw it again. I have mentioned how I hate cocky superheroes and Tendou can be like that. He does show more emotion though and he does get thrown around a couple of times. He is given amazing powers, but the series still gives him challenges to overcome. I have then talked about Sasword as he is one of my favorite riders of the whole franchise probably number two or three. Kagami is also another big and memorable character for the series and there are really good characters. The only thing that keeps this series from being third are the Hoppers and I won't say anymore about them. I have to say though the story did come in play earlier than I remembered and somethings I got confused did get cleared up when watching it again. So it's mostly my fault that I missed somethings in the story. The series still holds the best action thanks to a higher budget as the clock up fights were amazing. Debris was slowly falling in the background and there was a fight in the rain where the rain drops were slower. Kabuto is even my favorite comedy rider series as it had great moments like Tsurigi and his famous sword, Discailbur. Even though Thebee and the Drake were wasted the series still holds a fierce torch thanks to a strong story, action, comedy, and characters.

3. Kamen Rider Kuuga

Warning, my top three still haven't changed so you can just stop if you want to. Back to the list then, what hasn't been said about Kuuga. It revived the franchise, took it in a new direction, and it's still one of the best. Kuuga held a great mystery thanks to the Grongi and their scenes. The series had nice dark elements that are similar to the Showa era. It was a single hero series and heck Kuuga had allies. There was the police officer, Ichijou who helped him in battle. Sawatri who gave him new information about Kuuga, and many others who kept his secret to help him improve. It's funny that Kuuga had all these partners and the recent three Kamen Rider series are called the partner era. Kuuga had that element and also gave us the many forms which got very popular. Kuuga IMO used the forms in the best way since he grew with his power making the progression of the series feel strong. Again there are some odd scenes, but are still nice to watch since there are strong messages and have good direction. Overall Kuuga will never be forgotten for what it has done for the franchise as it keeps it's A.

2. Kamen Rider Blade

Blade remains number two with an A because of how great the story progressed. At first things were at a good pace and then things went boom in an instance. Things are becoming clearer and everything gets more and more intense. We even find things out about the main characters and yet things are still a mystery. I love it when the riders learn something, but are still skeptical to believe or not. This is personally my favorite story in the franchise since there was always a good twist here and there. Also the ending of the series still remains my favorite. The characters were great as we saw them go through a lot with themselves. They faced tough enemies and fought them with all of their fighting potential. I said this before, but these riders really fought with their true strength as they took down big enemies without flashy finishers every time. So overall Blade as one intense of a story and I will always remember it for that.

1. Kamen Rider Double

What haven't I said about Kamen Rider Double? It set a very high bar for the next Kamen Rider series, it has some of my favorite characters, the action is short and sweet, the story was amazing, the acting was top notch, and everything works perfectly. The best thing about Double is that there was always something going on which made the story easy to follow and helped the progression. The series still isn't one hundred percent perfect because of the ending. Still that ending is still good and the only reason it was around was because Toei wanted the Double X OOO movie. There was Kamen Rider Accel who is still my favorite rider of the whole franchise as he had the perfect look and even when his story was done he still had a lot to do with the overall story. The twists were very good and some were unexpected, the forms for Double were well balanced even when Xtreme was shown. There are really only little things that can hurt this series, but for me I can ignore them. This series perfectly uses past Showa and Hesiei elements along with brand new elements. Kamen Rider Double will easily stay as my favorite for a long time as it stays at number one with an A+ I thank you for reading through the new list and yes I will keep my old list still since it's fun to compare and contrast. Also I am watching Agito right now it's just hard for me to watch more episodes in a row since I got classes and work. I am hopefully going to finish Agito before the next year.