Kamen Rider News

[akinoame]

Yoko Minato, eh? Any relation, perhaps, to Miharu Minato?


Showa VS Heisei. Sounds like they're desperately trying to redo the original SHT after they learned how to write it much better with SHTZ. Although, I'll be sorely disappointed if this doesn't heavily feature Fourze--he more than anyone else is the bridge between the two generations.

Comments

[gourdcaptain]

Man, you are the biggest fan of Miharu I've ever seen.

Out of curiosity, why do you consider Fourze the link between Showa and Heisei?

[akinoame]

He's an interesting character concept. Admittedly, quite a bit is a retread of Ryotaro, but the idea of a Rider who's afraid of his own power can honestly go somewhere, especially playing off of Eiji, who should have been much more afraid of his power (i.e., the Purple Medals) than he really was. Having someone who's literally become a monster advise a new Rider who's been possessed by one of his powers--yeah. It's a shame that there just wasn't enough time for more.

And I find it odd that for all my talk about Ren or Eiji, the part of my Rider fan-nerdishness that stands out the most is liking Miharu.

Gentaro wasn't originally a Kamen Rider. He was just "Fourze," the name assigned to the belt and suit. He saw the information on the previous Riders, and he decided to name himself a Rider in honor of them. It's kind of like how Stronger called himself a Kamen Rider just because, apparently not even knowing the history behind the name (at least so I've heard from Igadevil--I'm trying to find the post, but since he revamped his site, I can't find shit). Gentaro stands for the same things the originals stood for, and he's trying to be just as much of a hero as they are. But he's doing it in the Heisei Era--a more cynical era of Riders with personal agendas who fight first and ask questions later (I'm looking at you, Ryusei). The Heisei Era is a more cynical time, and Gentaro is an idealist. His views are challenged more than, say, Yusuke in Kuuga, but less than (insert Kobayashi lead Rider here). Ultimately, his idealism breaks through. He's the promise, the legacy of the original heroes embodied. He's a hero. He never has to compromise his beliefs. He's going to befriend EVERYBODY. He's everything that, really, the originals were fighting to create.

[gourdcaptain]

The reason the Miharu thing stands out so much is that he's basically almost a minor bit character in the very movie he was introduced in - I've honestly never heard him discussed except right after MEGAMAX was subbed... and those comments mostly consisted of "so, he was a guy." Ren and Eiji are much more major characters, so being a huge fan of them didn't stand out as much in my mind.

Mind you, one of my favorite Riders is Sonoe (Imperer) a guy who shows up for four episodes near the end of Ryuki and is insanely irrelevant to the overall plot, so...

Okay, that's an interesting analysis on Gentaro. I still haven't finished Fourze after I quit around episode 25 due to being extremely bored and frustrated by the series. All I know about it is that the friend of mine I watch a lot of Rider with has basically told me I'd not get any more into the series as it goes on. Also, he's of the opinion that it seems fairly evident that Gentaro should have stayed dead and Kengo should have taken over as Fourze, and the way the show was being written was clearly leading to that until it was probably denied by the executives which is... an odd opinion. Then again, I'm almost entirely convinced the entire character of Keisuke Nago (2000's IXA in Kiva) and his utterly loathsome and failtastic behavior is Inoue just venting over Megumi Aso not being allowed to be IXA full time, so I can't really differentiate myself there.