A_Fine_Egg

Real Clever, No Time to Deliver

This one has a fun concept - a movie with a looming threat that is literally counting down in real time with the movie's duration. I really like that concept! Unfortunately, it means that we don't really get much of a chance to get to know about the villain in any way that isn't uninteresting or rushed. This is also the movie where Zero Two makes its appearance, which I think is a really neat suit. Action is fine, story is a bit rushed but that's to keep it in time with its original concept so I kinda forgive it? Overall with an interesting concept it didn't really have the time to grip me or keep me thinking about it after I was done with it.

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Frustrating Series With Amazing Designs

Kamen Rider Agito is a very hard watch. It sets itself up well enough, with mystery and intrigue surrounding it, a STELLAR opening song, and overall several very well-designed suits for the main Riders. However, what ends up happening is that the series meanders for a majority of its run time. It feels like very few of the characters in the series have actual agency - they are moreso waiting for any big events to happen and then reacting to them. In the case of the main character he feels so detached that he barely seems to do anything related to the main mystery for a large portion of the story and is essentially just pulled towards every fight. Its predecessor Kuuga also has a mystery, but what makes it compelling in Kuuga is the main characters actively researching the mystery at hand and actively going to defeat the monsters of their own accord. Agito makes these characters do so seemingly out of instinct instead, being far more passive characters, whose interpersonal drama is overall pretty bland and uninteresting for a large majority of the run time. Not to mention only one of the three main characters really seem to do any research into the main mystery and their progress is quite slow and brooding. The show drags its feet quite often. It's a very mixed bag.

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A Good Entry, Despite Flaws

Geats is a clumsy story, but a fun one. With a great OP and an interesting concept, relating to winning a sort of Death Game to get a wish, it ends up being a very interesting form of Kamen Rider as they combat each other for the sake of winning. However, it doesn't stick with this concept the whole way through the story and ends up changing to focus less on the aspect of a battle royale and more like a standard Kamen Rider story. This ended up disappointing me somewhat. Characters have decent chemistry, though at times it can be somewhat flat and businesslike for a large majority of the series. Suit designs have great potential to be interesting as it begins with the concept of item pickups akin to a video game, but again it ends up being tossed aside for the sake of consistent, merchandise-worthy forms. Not bad forms, but considering what the series started out as, it ended up disappointing me a bit. Fight choreography goes really hard sometimes, especially when they use the show's gimmicks to set up specific opportunities that would not have been available in other stories. Overall, a story with a lot of potential that does unfortunately fumble the bag.

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