http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5B9eMjjiw4
It looks goofy as heck but the Kamen Rider concept managed to last in Japanese media since it's birth in 1971. I've ended up watching the three recent series and out of the three, I can probably best recommend the latest one, Kamen Rider W (or Double) for anyone who wants to give this stuff a try. The series is set in Futo, a city set 'somewhere' in Japan much like Angel Grove was set 'somewhere' in the US. The city's is known for two things: a love of wind (to the point the top monument's a tower-sized wind turbine) and a serious addiction problem among the citizens. The latter's not due to liquor or hardcore drugs though but due to these.
Called Gaia Memories, they look like fancy but otherwise innocent-looking USB flash-drives. That is until the owner uses the connector port implanted somewhere on their body to jack it in, turning them into a (usually rubber-suited) monster called a Dopant. The rush of power as well as the toxins the Gaia Memory release while in a person's body drives the user eventually insane and can even kill them with prolonged use. The only one who can save both the crackhead inside of the monster as well as the city from serious property damage is Kamen Rider. However, this time it's not just one guy inside of the bug-eyed suit.
The one with the hat is Shotaro Hidari, self-proclaimed hardboiled (or 'half-boiled' in the opinion of others) private detective of the Narumi Detective Agency and walking billboard of the fictional Windscale fashion brand. The one with the hairclips is Philip, Shotaro's partner who happens to be a living search engine for the Gaia Library (picture the gunrack-room from the first Matrix movie but with a crapload more bookshelves instead). The two usually handle cases that end up involving Dopants. When it's time to fight, the pair break out their own collection of Gaia Memories (used safely via their Double Dealer transformation belt) and turn into this guy below.
A walking rainbow of beatdown, Double is Shotaro's body (focused on the black/grey/blue side of Double) with Philip's mind added to the mix (focused on the green/red/yellow half). Battles usually have the pair telling Dopants to 'count their crimes' before they work together to knock the Gaia Memory out of the monster, swapping the two they're using at the moment with the rest of the six they own in mid-fight to adapt to any problems.
In Japan, Luna's power of 'illusion' apparently means 'stretchy limbs'
If you want to understand what they're saying, Youtube's got subs from two translation groups: TV-Nihon (they use more flashy subtitles and keep Japanese honorifics in) and Order Of Zeronos (they translate the honorifics into something more understandable but has been noted not to be proofread too well). Episode 36 came out today which means the series is past the two-thirds mark if they end it around episode 48 or so like they usually do with Kamen Rider series.
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apparently, beetleborgs had like four different guys they didn't carry over
http://www.tokucentral.com/database/b-fighters_kabuto/bfk-hr-mac.htm
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
What spring does with the cherry trees.
Which ones in particular are you talking about?
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
The one in the hat's pretty cute.
What spring does with the cherry trees.
is "Alpha, Rita's escaped, recruit a team of teenagers with attitude!" more your speed? :P
yes
as well it should be
comic books are similar
Oh Shotaro. I suppose he is pretty good-looking. I tend to pay more attention to his hardboiled-poser personality and facial (over?)reactions.
Boooossssss!!
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
and sometimes you can just throw out over-elaborate and save everyone a lot of trouble
I ain't into Super Sentai, I'm into motherfucking Power Rangers
where do you stand on Lightspeed Rescue? I love it because SUPERTRAIN MEGAZORD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1At1wpFdtKA
I like Wild Force for some reason.
What spring does with the cherry trees.
honestly I tend to blank out after zeo
I watched a little dino thunder, but you can't beat the classics
Showing the same dogfight clip flipped and mirrored twelve times in a row per episode!
There's nothing really over-elaborate about KR-Double. If you want complicated, look to the series before, Kamen Rider Decade. The whole series was Kamen Rider + Sliders with a pinch of Quantum Leap.
Hi5, Anti. MUCH love for the Supertrain Megazord.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
I think it's his DSL.
What spring does with the cherry trees.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
What spring does with the cherry trees.
Ah. Well, if you say so.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
What spring does with the cherry trees.
He's got a nice bike though
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
What spring does with the cherry trees.
I liked how the bad guy was a corporate businessman, secretly living a double live as a supervillain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYHcJhrMjS4&feature=related
KR-Double's villain, Ryubee Sonozaki, is pretty much that. In public he's one of Futo's top benefactors. However, he and his family secretly run the underground organization known as Museum to sell Gaia Memories to some of the city's desperate residents. Usually to see how well and far the addicted user can go with it. Oh, and the extra cash it brings in.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
One correction, it's the Double Driver, not Dealer. And, I usually go with the W-Time/Rgreg subs, they're online the day after the episode originally airs. They also subbed the movie, which is great.
Have you seen the trailer for the new summer movie? Looks pretty awesome.
Thanks for the correction and not yet on the trailer. Does the movie come off as needed viewing like Decade's movies?
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
The new movie? Doesn't seem like it. Seems more like a standalone extra adventure for after the season ends.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBl_I7sPEoA&playnext_from=TL&videos=BdOTsELTIvU
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
You mean this?
He looks pretty stylish. Too bad he's a film-only Kamen Rider so far. I heard though he's going to be making an appearance in the final film of a movie trilogy spun off from the time-traveling-based Kamen Rider Den-O series.
Let's Play Final Fantasy 'II' (Ch10 - 5/17/10)
I've only seen a few episodes of Den-O, but I know me awesome action figures when I sees 'em.
My next Kamen Rider purchase will probably be SH Figuarts Cyclone/Joker. That guy is just fantastic-looking.
Rock Band DLC | GW:OttW - arrcd | WLD - Thortar
All of them.
What spring does with the cherry trees.