"Now count up your sins"
This is mostly how episodes are done with a new case and they are not one episode cases. Each case takes two episodes of the series which doesnt make them feel rushed. Each case fits perfectly in two episodes. Every new case always has a new dopant to deal with as well as each of them and different powers. Now its time to talk about characters, first Shotaro is amazing he tires to be like his boss, but no matter what he is always him as he deals with cases is not really hardboiled all the time. He does jump into things though with great risks though which can get him in trouble. Philip can look up information on anything in the archives of Earth. It can only be acessed by him and keywords are needed to look up the info he needs. Akiko is mostly around for comic relief and she mostly picks up any case. She can easily be annoying with getting in the way of the two, but she does have funny moments and also serious moments as well. The villians are probably my favorite of the rider franchise, because the memories act like drugs as people have to keep using them for the great power. There are higher ranks though as they are the Sonzaki family who have golden memories and a driver so they dont get addicted to the powers. First is the father Ryube who is mostly a man in the shadows, but he as a very powerful memory Terror. This works perfectly because it builds up on who he is and soon we see his powers. Next is the older sister Saeko who has the Taboo memory and she acts like the general who makes the plans. She gets the most plot points of the family as she deals with love issues. The youngest sister is Wakana with the Claydoll memory and she doesn't fight much and she likes to stay peaceful with a radio talk show. She does have a mean side to her though and when she does fight she gets serious. There is also a cat that can transform into the Smilodon Dopant named Miku and he mostly does the fighting for the family as he is sent in to attack or kill targets. Finally there is newest member of the family, the man who married Saeko, Kirihiko who has the Nasca memory. He is a gaia memory salesman and he is the best which is how Saeko got interested in him as he finds being in the family is different than he thought as he is the rival of Double. There is also new villians like Isaka who owns the Weather memory and is a crazy doctor who is amazed by dopants and I mean that, its like a dopant fetish.This villian appears around when Ryu appears who is the secondary rider of the series. He is awsome and is my favorite rider so far.
Easily the creepiest character of the franchise.
Kamen Rider Accel is awsome in everyway possible. First he comes because he wants power to find the man who killed his family. Also the design for this rider is awsome I mean his motif is a motorcycle and he can transform into his own bike. Accel also fights with power as he knocks villians to the ground or away. Ryu's character also shows a character who hides in the shadows even more than Ryube which is Shroud. She is the woman who gave Ryu the Accel Memory and the driver as she acts to help the heroes.The fights in the series is also great they are mostly quick fights, but are so pleasing to watch because of that. They always get the right amount of action in and build an image for the character if it is heroes or villians. I will talk about the ending, but I will only say this I was fine with it because it fits the series well and it was only like that because of the war movies.
"Onore Decade!"
Pros- As I said before the dopants are some of the best monsters in rider, they all have different motives and different powers that can vary from animals to simple things like money. The main villians are great too and with great writing each villian had a role to play in the series. The fights are short and quick, but will easily leave you wanting more and it gives more focus for the story then. The story may sound simple mostly just two boys fighting crime in the city, but it develops greatly with very good and interesting twists in the series. The series also use old elements of the showa era series and its mixed prefectly with the new elements it has. There are even little referances like Shotaro himself and how he has the same name as the man who started kamen rider. Accel is my favoirte rider so far and the series gives him very memorable moments and even though he isnt fighting for the same cause like Double he still fights with them to help. Another thing that helps is the detective theme because I love those types of series and movies. Not todays like CSI, but like old school Noire which the series feels like at times. The forms of the series is also great because there are a lot for Double, but they have great combinations of color as so with the final form. Accel's Trial form is EPIC!!!
Cons- As I said before Akiko can get annoying, but she has her moments. Another thing is during some fights there is some bad editing and little mistakes, but I only noticed them by mutiple viewings and not my first viewing.
"Despair is wating for you at your goal."
Overall- This is my favorite because of great characters, a great plot, and great writing. It will be a while for another rider series to be like this one, an A+!!! I can always watch this series and I cant wait for more return movies.
This series done so many thing right. Good story, good plot.
ReplyDeleteWhen this series come out, what I thought is this may be another Kamen Rider Decade type of disappointment, but end up, this series do surprise me with it's good story.
The detective theme is not childish, and very mature in every way. If you pay attention, it actually deal more with the current problem of human, which make you feel much more believable on the story.
The story is very good, where... it actually explain with flash back on the motive of every villains, and provide very satisfying ending for each 2 episode arc. Well, it even surpass other Kamen Rider series, where there are recurring character for later episode, which you can relate for connected story line, and it is very well done, not overuse for every character.
As for the action scene, it is much more balance than any Kamen Rider series. It is not overly powered, and not overly ridiculous, which is good for my liking. The intelligent use of every gaia memory power is also very interesting, and it is used with very good mix and match. (Unlike OOO, Fourze, where they have much more form and power, but they end up making much more error and confusion, which let you have lot of question in mind, making the series loose focus on the story, and solely depend on the rider power, and the power of rider is overly ridiculous, some of the power are just pointless, and some power form are just underused, which is creating a waste in the series, and posed imbalance scene). And well, the secondary rider actually is so much more likable than any other secondary rider in all the kamen rider series, where the secondary rider actually is as important as the main rider, and actually add great punch to the storyline, and are much more collaborated with the main rider. The humor from the series is also the best, where it doesn't rely on cheap slap stick, and it actually much more funny, the comedies are filled with intelligent.
The theme song are also the best among all Kamen Rider series, which is not some kid songs, but some real j-pop hit songs, which are actually sing by popular singer, and is actually step into the pop song chart. The song really suit the overall detective theme. I enjoy listening to the theme song again and again, it is really very good.
All in all, Kamen Rider Double is trumping all kamen rider series. This series is so much well balanced out, and is actually feel much more believable and realistic than other kamen rider series. It is not that dark, nor light heart, it is just that balance. Well... maybe this is the first, 2 in 1 kamen rider, so each of the main protagonist are balancing on each other.