Kamen Rider Kiva: King of Hell's Castle

I finally understand... Father, you are a man with a large heart.

Japanese Tokusatsu Film

Like a huge Kamen Rider fan, I've been impatiently waiting for the Kiva movie to hit the torrents. Kiva, in all fairness, was a decent series unlike Kabuto and Hibiki (IMHO). However, what I got was a disappointment. Ok, not so much, but yeah, it didn't quite hit the bar.

I think the problem with me is that I keep forgetting that a Kamen Rider movie will always be that: Kamen Rider still - loose plots, bad acting, and a whole lot of other antics meant for children. I guess I was just hoping for something more - which now seems to be misdirected.

Kamen Rider movies are usuallya confusion of sorts: most of the times it does not know if it should stay faihful to the series' story or not. I've actually seen most of these movies recreate another world for the convicted Kamen Rider to run around with. I guess we can't really blame them for such movies are released in an awkward time: right in the middle of the series.

Basically what happened here was that I raised my expectations too high. Maybe it'dbe long before another Kamen Rider The Next would come along.

Verdict: If you watched Kamen Rider Kiva, then by all means watch it. If not, stay away.

Info

Leeched from and Fansubs by #tvnihon

Kamen Rider The Next

"If you hear Chiharu's song, 'Platinum Smile,' you die."

Movie

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before but I'm actually a huge fan of the Kamen Rider franchise. This is not really surprising since I was part of the generation that grew up on Kamen Rider Black show on Sundays on IBC 13. Anyway, this post is not about my fandom but about this great movie.

What sets apart Kamen Rider The Next from other tokusatsu movies is that they've become experimental this time: they added a horror dimension. Think of "The Ring" meets "Bioman." Amazing right? And what's so amazing was that they pulled it off. And with other subthemes on the side like friendship, respect, etc.

The look and feel of this KR movie is very different from the other ones that are released on a yearly basis as a spinoff of the current KR TV series (like Kamen Raidā Den'ō Ore, Tanjō! for Den-O or Kamen Rider Kabuto: God Speed Love for KR Kabuto). This was definitely aiming for a different market other than kids and kid-likes.

In the previous movie (The First), they kept the 80's feel in the production which was obviously fanservice to really really die hard (not me) Kamen Rider fans which they've been deprived of since the dawn of the next generation riders (Agito,Kuuga, Ryuki, etc.). That in itself, at the same time making it so contemporary, without falling into the pit of fantasy is just amazing. It was bordering on sci-fi actually.

And I loved "The Next" punchline.

I would have to say that The Next deserves attention because of it's peculiar combination of recipes: horror + tokusatsu. This is again onr of the movies I couldn't help but clap by the time the credits roll.

And what's more amazing is how they threaded the thre frist Kamen Riders, and make a pseudo-remake of the three series. (Kamen Rider 1, 2, V3). Fanservice, I'm sure.

But then again, as I said, Kamen Rider is my fandom.

Verdict: Watch it even though you're not a Kamen Rider fan. Definitely made a mark in cinema for being experimental in form and structure yet successful.

Info
Leeched from: #tv-nihon, torrent