Kamen Rider x Kamen Rider Decade & Double: Movie War 2010
Note: For the sake of my own sanity, I'm posting this here. I kept searching for this entry only to realize that I had posted it on blogger instead *headdesk* Meant to have dated this July 16th. This is the movie that finally made me like Decade, lol
Ok, seriously, Kamen Rider movies need to stop having such long titles. Anyways, Kamen Rider Decade and Double shared a movie together; Decade cliffhangs near the middle, allowing Double's story to start up, and then, as it is about to cliffhang, it actually transitions right back into Decade's storyline, which works, because Decade knows all Riders XD
My main motivation to watching this movie was Double's "Begins Night" storyline, though I'd like to complete the Decade movies even if the show sucked. I was delightfully surprised by the story-telling in this movie, especially for Decade. It justified (or helped me understand, at least) why Decade did all the things he did during the show. I think the movie did a great job of making me actually like or relate to Tsukasa, because I'm a sucker for team players, and it seems like he took on his role as a destroyer because deep down, he knew he'd be the one to bring them all back to life. It also goes to show you that memories do count for something. I loved the scene where the 3 who remembered Tsukasa got together and vowed to bring him back somehow; it was a lovely moment after all that angst.
I also liked the symbolic weight the Decade storyline carried, seeing as Decade commemorated the 10th anniversary of Heisei Riders. Decade may be considered the destroyer of worlds, but in keeping the cards of each Rider he 'captured,' and memorizing them, never forgetting, he gave them new life. This played perfectly into the entire series, where he traveled to each of the past Riders' worlds and we saw them again for a brief hour. We, as viewers, got to revitalize the Heisei Riders :D
Now isn't that spiffy?! If only they could have conveyed this through the series itself XD
Maybe I'm being over critical. Honestly, when I watched the first 15 episodes of Decade, I didn't know left from right. For viewers who are just tuning in, who have no idea who Kuuga or Hibiki is or what their enemies were like, you get really confused as to who Decade is really fighting. If they had clearly defined which creatures he was fighting in the other Riders' timeline versus the mysterious Narutaki-crap, I would've been a happy camper. Sure, I know they can't always bring back the same actors to play the past Riders, but gosh, Wataru was right there! And who do they use? Arashi-kun. Don't get me wrong, he's a budding young actor, but that confused the heck out of me! XD
My overall conclusions became this:
You go, Wataru. You tell them who's better. Kiva, that's right :P
But, I have to say, now that I have a better grasp on the whole thing, I might give it another shot. Usually, Kamen Rider doesn't disappoint.
Besides, Totani Kimito is gorgeous. If I decide to finish the series, he will be my saving grace (even if DiEnd gets on my nerves occasionally) :P
Another screencap of Seto for good measure :P Seto looks so good in white, and Wataru's always wearing some kind of scarf.
The battle scenes were exactly the same as the ones from the Daishocker movie, with exactly the same maneuver to have Double come in near the end, and all the riders from the worlds 'drop in' to help. I don't blame them for using this technique though; it'd probably take a lot of money to get those many suit actors to work at once, plus the visual effects are expensive like whoa. Tokusatsu by nature requires lots of special effects and explosives XD
As for the Double portion of the film, I can say I enjoyed it :)
It felt like a super long episode, that answered a lot of questions. "Begins Night," when everything...began, is about Philip-kun and Shotarou's meeting. How Philip was actually a genius used to make Gaia memories; he had no conscience of what was right and wrong at that time, he made Gaia memories to experiment and observe. I found it fascinating that Philip was originally this kind of character and that he found amusement from testing Gaia memories, not caring about the consequences. There was a quote I didn't cap, but he said that the problem of corruption lay within human's hands and not the memory itself. While this is true, the fact that you make these temptations available to people only worsen their humanity...
I was also intrigued by the fact that Boss actually spoke with Philip while he was in a digital state, how Philip was meant to 'count up his sins' too. I suppose we could interpret those sins as being a part of the Gaia-making process, but the movie stated that his sin was not being able to make any of his choices.
This segued perfectly into the whole mystery of how Philip and Shotarou are now bound to each other. Not only are they bound because they used the Henshin device the first time around, but they are bound because Philip's sin cancels out Shotarou's. Philip explains that Shotarou's sin is that he makes too many decisions (not knowing how it would affect things), just the opposite of Philip. Typical, "you are my ying and I'm your yang" conversation, but it works, because we've seen their comraderie ♥
相棒 You're stuck with me, buddy ;)
I thought it was a nice touch to have a new version of the Boss from another timeline show up at the end to compliment Shotarou on his hat and how well he wore it. It's a nice send-off, because he really was struggling with the guilt of killing his mentor.
Overall, both parts of the movie were solid and definitely served its purpose of expanding the characters and their backgrounds from both series :Db
Ok, seriously, Kamen Rider movies need to stop having such long titles. Anyways, Kamen Rider Decade and Double shared a movie together; Decade cliffhangs near the middle, allowing Double's story to start up, and then, as it is about to cliffhang, it actually transitions right back into Decade's storyline, which works, because Decade knows all Riders XD
My main motivation to watching this movie was Double's "Begins Night" storyline, though I'd like to complete the Decade movies even if the show sucked. I was delightfully surprised by the story-telling in this movie, especially for Decade. It justified (or helped me understand, at least) why Decade did all the things he did during the show. I think the movie did a great job of making me actually like or relate to Tsukasa, because I'm a sucker for team players, and it seems like he took on his role as a destroyer because deep down, he knew he'd be the one to bring them all back to life. It also goes to show you that memories do count for something. I loved the scene where the 3 who remembered Tsukasa got together and vowed to bring him back somehow; it was a lovely moment after all that angst.
I also liked the symbolic weight the Decade storyline carried, seeing as Decade commemorated the 10th anniversary of Heisei Riders. Decade may be considered the destroyer of worlds, but in keeping the cards of each Rider he 'captured,' and memorizing them, never forgetting, he gave them new life. This played perfectly into the entire series, where he traveled to each of the past Riders' worlds and we saw them again for a brief hour. We, as viewers, got to revitalize the Heisei Riders :D
Now isn't that spiffy?! If only they could have conveyed this through the series itself XD
Maybe I'm being over critical. Honestly, when I watched the first 15 episodes of Decade, I didn't know left from right. For viewers who are just tuning in, who have no idea who Kuuga or Hibiki is or what their enemies were like, you get really confused as to who Decade is really fighting. If they had clearly defined which creatures he was fighting in the other Riders' timeline versus the mysterious Narutaki-crap, I would've been a happy camper. Sure, I know they can't always bring back the same actors to play the past Riders, but gosh, Wataru was right there! And who do they use? Arashi-kun. Don't get me wrong, he's a budding young actor, but that confused the heck out of me! XD
My overall conclusions became this:
You go, Wataru. You tell them who's better. Kiva, that's right :P
But, I have to say, now that I have a better grasp on the whole thing, I might give it another shot. Usually, Kamen Rider doesn't disappoint.
Besides, Totani Kimito is gorgeous. If I decide to finish the series, he will be my saving grace (even if DiEnd gets on my nerves occasionally) :P
Another screencap of Seto for good measure :P Seto looks so good in white, and Wataru's always wearing some kind of scarf.
The battle scenes were exactly the same as the ones from the Daishocker movie, with exactly the same maneuver to have Double come in near the end, and all the riders from the worlds 'drop in' to help. I don't blame them for using this technique though; it'd probably take a lot of money to get those many suit actors to work at once, plus the visual effects are expensive like whoa. Tokusatsu by nature requires lots of special effects and explosives XD
As for the Double portion of the film, I can say I enjoyed it :)
It felt like a super long episode, that answered a lot of questions. "Begins Night," when everything...began, is about Philip-kun and Shotarou's meeting. How Philip was actually a genius used to make Gaia memories; he had no conscience of what was right and wrong at that time, he made Gaia memories to experiment and observe. I found it fascinating that Philip was originally this kind of character and that he found amusement from testing Gaia memories, not caring about the consequences. There was a quote I didn't cap, but he said that the problem of corruption lay within human's hands and not the memory itself. While this is true, the fact that you make these temptations available to people only worsen their humanity...
I was also intrigued by the fact that Boss actually spoke with Philip while he was in a digital state, how Philip was meant to 'count up his sins' too. I suppose we could interpret those sins as being a part of the Gaia-making process, but the movie stated that his sin was not being able to make any of his choices.
This segued perfectly into the whole mystery of how Philip and Shotarou are now bound to each other. Not only are they bound because they used the Henshin device the first time around, but they are bound because Philip's sin cancels out Shotarou's. Philip explains that Shotarou's sin is that he makes too many decisions (not knowing how it would affect things), just the opposite of Philip. Typical, "you are my ying and I'm your yang" conversation, but it works, because we've seen their comraderie ♥
相棒 You're stuck with me, buddy ;)
I thought it was a nice touch to have a new version of the Boss from another timeline show up at the end to compliment Shotarou on his hat and how well he wore it. It's a nice send-off, because he really was struggling with the guilt of killing his mentor.
Overall, both parts of the movie were solid and definitely served its purpose of expanding the characters and their backgrounds from both series :Db