My Thoughts on the Kamen Rider Franchise

I mostly started watching kamen rider in 2008 with the kiva series, this started my toku love. Kiva was a good series and if it wasnt for that I would probably not have like kamen rider that much. Imagine if I started with Decade I liked it, but some episodes were really bland if I knew nothing about kamen rider before watching that series I would probably have no interest in it. Thank goodness I had a year to know more about kamen rider because i just love it greatly. At first my thoughts did go to power rangers like many say, but i could instantly tell it was different because of the suits themselves look more complex and gave the feel of a solo hero. When I saw the first episode of Kiva I was shocked to see death happening in the first scene making me see that this was going to be more serious than I thought. The first episode got me interested in the series more because of the beginning and the character Wataru he seemed like a usual anime character lead, but I liked him a lot because when i saw Kiva fight i was hooked. The fights are not that similar to PR mostly sentai because they use their footage. I like solo heroes a lot more than a team it can give a fight more depth with it focusing on two fighters not six or more. Soon i finished Kiva and heard about Decade with the crossovers it would have with other rider series, by then i saw more riders series, not completely, but i knew about them.

Before i saw Decade i saw episodes of Kuuga, Ryuki, Blade, Kabuto, and Den-o. My fave out of those was Kuuga because of the solo hero focus it had and giving the other characters more depth and important roles even though they dont have powers like Kuuga. Kuuga was a dark series with monsters called the Grongi killing off humans for a tribal game, I learned that Kamen Rider is no oridinary kids show even though for Japan it is, if that was in America it would have a different rating.

To answer any questions, yes I did see Saban's attempt at Kamen Rider as a kid before knowing of the franchise. The only thing i remember from Masked Rider as a kid was the team up with MMPR in the Friend in Need episodes. I was interested in him when I first saw him, he looked was different than a Power Ranger and he had an awsome weapon. I looked back at the series with knowing of Kamen Rider and wow i hated it sooooooooo much. Masked Rider was campy even more than Power Rangers with a bad main lead a little furry thing and villians that I didn't care for at all. I didnt start with Black RX after that because i found that it was a sequel to Black. Black was amazing one of the best of the franchise still i loved it. Black RX is great as well, but cannot compare to the original imo.

Then on with Decade, as I said I liked it, but already I was disapointed that original cast couldnt make it at times. There were still so many riders I havent seen yet and the Decade series did get me interested in those series. Decade did have bad moments though, but I think it is a good start for new people because it gives us what other rider series are sort of like. If I started with Decade I think I would still be a total nerd over the Kamen Rider franchise.