Kamen Rider Kiva episode 1 thoughts
Jan. 27th, 2008 09:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
estiriseThoughts on the Raw, which means that as usual, I'm picking up information from the raw and other sources (such as Igadevil's synopsis).
Okay, Wataru is weird. Very weird. Extremely weird. But cute weird. He goes around in a hat, safety glasses, a mask, and a protective coat. He carries around a small notebook full of expressions, because he doesn't talk when he's out in the world unless he makes a mistake.
The pre-series information indicated Wataru was half-Fangaia. (I've been spelling it Fangire, but the official site says "Fangaia", so I guess that's what I go with. TV-Nihon is using this spelling as well.) I'm guessing that the Fangaia that Wataru chases after in this episode isn't his first one- he's far too comfortable with his henshin for it to be his first time. I'm not sure on whether he knows his heritage or not, or if he's just been raised to believe he was born to fight the Fangaia, and not told why. Part of his henshin makes Fangaia-like patterns appear on his skin, mostly on his hands, neck, and face. He might require Kibat to initialize his transformation - maybe he can't call his Fangaia abilities on his own, and his Fangaia abilities are required for him to transform into Kiva. It'll be interesting to see the subs on this one. (ETA: I have to wonder if he gets patterns all over his body, we just can't see them because it's covered up. And since I have a dirty mind, I have to wonder if it extends to his... private parts.)
The series transitions between 2008 and 1986 (which, given I had reached my teenage years at that point, makes me feel a tad old). One part is Wataru and his life, and the goings-on in 2008, including Megumi's Fangaia hunt. The other is the story of Wataru's father and Megumi's mother, and things that happened in 1986. The transitions are nice, and there are subtle clues to remind you which era you're in. While not everything rings 80s-ish in the past scenes, there are some nice touches. The 80s folk tend to have large glasses, some of them have very 80s hair, and the second Fangaia (the one who appears in most of the episode) uses a very standard 1980s car phone. Also, the puppy in 1986 is now a very elderly dog in 2008.
The main Fangaia is the Horse Fangaia (Horse monsters give me flashbacks to either Kiba of Faiz, who was the Horse Orphenoch, or the Zebra Undead of Kamen Rider Blade). He's played by Kyo Nabuo, who is most familiar to my FList as either Oscar in the Jdrama Hana Kimi, or Isshu of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger. I'm embarrassed to say that it took about four viewings to say, "Hey, that's Isshu!"
Another mental flashback to Faiz, and to Kuuga, was Megumi shooting Kiva. She recognized him (Kiva, that is, not Wataru-as-Kiva), and she shot him. This reminds me of an early episode of Kuuga where the Police think Kuuga is one of the bad guys, and also Faiz, where Takumi and Kiba didn't know the others' secret identities for quite a few episodes. (Another Faiz similarity - the human faces of monsters appear on their stained-glass like bodies. This is similar to the Orphenochs speaking from their shadows, mostly, though the Kabuto Worms' trick of projecting their "human" forms is also close.)
And the opening? Very... interesting. I like it, actually.
Now to see how it goes next week, and what next week's Fangaia is based on. (It reminds me of a stained-glass version of that plant Imagin from Den-O.)
Here's a post with screencaps.
Okay, Wataru is weird. Very weird. Extremely weird. But cute weird. He goes around in a hat, safety glasses, a mask, and a protective coat. He carries around a small notebook full of expressions, because he doesn't talk when he's out in the world unless he makes a mistake.
The pre-series information indicated Wataru was half-Fangaia. (I've been spelling it Fangire, but the official site says "Fangaia", so I guess that's what I go with. TV-Nihon is using this spelling as well.) I'm guessing that the Fangaia that Wataru chases after in this episode isn't his first one- he's far too comfortable with his henshin for it to be his first time. I'm not sure on whether he knows his heritage or not, or if he's just been raised to believe he was born to fight the Fangaia, and not told why. Part of his henshin makes Fangaia-like patterns appear on his skin, mostly on his hands, neck, and face. He might require Kibat to initialize his transformation - maybe he can't call his Fangaia abilities on his own, and his Fangaia abilities are required for him to transform into Kiva. It'll be interesting to see the subs on this one. (ETA: I have to wonder if he gets patterns all over his body, we just can't see them because it's covered up. And since I have a dirty mind, I have to wonder if it extends to his... private parts.)
The series transitions between 2008 and 1986 (which, given I had reached my teenage years at that point, makes me feel a tad old). One part is Wataru and his life, and the goings-on in 2008, including Megumi's Fangaia hunt. The other is the story of Wataru's father and Megumi's mother, and things that happened in 1986. The transitions are nice, and there are subtle clues to remind you which era you're in. While not everything rings 80s-ish in the past scenes, there are some nice touches. The 80s folk tend to have large glasses, some of them have very 80s hair, and the second Fangaia (the one who appears in most of the episode) uses a very standard 1980s car phone. Also, the puppy in 1986 is now a very elderly dog in 2008.
The main Fangaia is the Horse Fangaia (Horse monsters give me flashbacks to either Kiba of Faiz, who was the Horse Orphenoch, or the Zebra Undead of Kamen Rider Blade). He's played by Kyo Nabuo, who is most familiar to my FList as either Oscar in the Jdrama Hana Kimi, or Isshu of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricanger. I'm embarrassed to say that it took about four viewings to say, "Hey, that's Isshu!"
Another mental flashback to Faiz, and to Kuuga, was Megumi shooting Kiva. She recognized him (Kiva, that is, not Wataru-as-Kiva), and she shot him. This reminds me of an early episode of Kuuga where the Police think Kuuga is one of the bad guys, and also Faiz, where Takumi and Kiba didn't know the others' secret identities for quite a few episodes. (Another Faiz similarity - the human faces of monsters appear on their stained-glass like bodies. This is similar to the Orphenochs speaking from their shadows, mostly, though the Kabuto Worms' trick of projecting their "human" forms is also close.)
And the opening? Very... interesting. I like it, actually.
Now to see how it goes next week, and what next week's Fangaia is based on. (It reminds me of a stained-glass version of that plant Imagin from Den-O.)
Here's a post with screencaps.
