Browsing throughout various J-dorama, I found this, “Happy Boys.” Guess what, Seto Koji, the middle one, is Kamen Rider Kiva. Kato Keisuke, the one on the right with glasses, is Kamen Rider IXA. LOL. It’s official, the last 3 Kamen Riders are butlers! First, we have Mizushima Hiro who’s Kamen Rider Kabuto, and also an S-rank butler in Mei-chan no Shitsuji.
Then we have Takeru Sato who’s Kamen Rider Den-O, and also Rihito’s brother butler-in-training (picture in my Bloody Monday post). Then, we have Seto Koji who’s Kamen Rider Kiva, and also Segawa Kyoichi, butler in training in Happy Boys.
And, the record holder, Kato Keisuke, who’s Kamen Rider IXA. He’s a cool quite butler-in-training Kitamura Kosuke in Happy Boys, and also a butler in Mei-chan no Shitsuji.
Wow, is this a continuing pattern? It would be perfect if in the next Kamen Rider series, the main character’s real job is a butler. LOL.
Kamen Rider Kiva has ended. The previous 2 episodes before the finale were pretty grim. The final episode definitely tried to turn things around to a happier end, obviously since Kamen Rider is a kids show. Taiga actually didn’t kill Maya, he (the scene) faked it. Wataru and Taiga are friends again, and teamed up to defeat the reincarnation of the previous Fangire King. Nago-kun miraculously got his eyesight back, and married Megumi. The last episode brought more closure than previous Kamen Rider series, although there are still a lot of things unexplained (what happened to Sagarc? What’s the history of Kivat?). The final episode should’ve just ended with Nago’s wedding. Instead, they have Wataru’s son + Kivat 4th(?) and future Fangire attacking, creating an endless ending.
The series started pretty weak. Usually, I find the actors of previous Kamen Rider series to be quite believable that they were the ones under the Kamen Rider costume too (In reality, the person under the Kamen Rider suits are not the actors themselves). Wataru is the first Kamen Rider that is quite obvious that a stunt man is under the Kiva costume. I mean Kouji Seto (the actor playing Wataru), is super skinny, while Kiva is obviously quite muscular. Also, Wataru’s shy personality is a complete contrast of Fangire fighting Kiva. The only draw of the show for me in the beginning was the 80s storyline. Otoya is simply hilarious, overshadowing Wataru himself. Nago + IXA seems to be more interesting than Wataru, but of course Nago is only a supporting character, thus the character was dumbed down in the middle, becoming the slapstick humor. Kengo is an unnecessary distraction. He’s not even relevant in the last couple episodes. I definitely hated his character when he became emo and stole IXA from Nago. The show got better and more interesting when Taiga was introduced, then Mio becoming a selfish Queen. Bishop is another awesome character, and freaky too! The best and strongest episodes were definitely the 2 episodes before the finale. Overall, it’s an okay Kamen Rider series, but definitely underwhelming compared to the likes of Kuuga and Den-O. It’s less confusing then 555/Ryuuki/Kabuto, and has a few powerful and funny scenes. Kiva’s henshin belt is not as cool as Kabuto’s. I think Den-O was definitely more enjoyable since they’re simply hilarious, and didn’t pretend not to.
The next Kamen Rider Series is Decade. The first episode is already on Youtube, unsubbed. Just on the first episode, Decade already henshin into 3 major Kamen Rider, Kabuto, Faiz, and Hibiki, complete with Kabuto’s clock up. They definitely didn’t hold back as Decade is the 10th anniversary of the Heisei Kamen Rider series. Below is the henshin scenes in the first episode, and I already want the belt!
I hope they can bring previous Kamen Rider actors as it will excite the fans, especially Hiro Mizushima as Kabuto, Kento Handa as Faiz, the supporting riders like Knight from Ryuuki, Zeronos from Den-O, Blade, and maybe even Shouwa riders or Kamen Rider The First! Alas, we already know that Joe Odagiri won’t be Kuuga. Hopefully it will be an exciting show. KAMEN RIDE…. DECADE!!
2 episodes before the finale of Kamen Rider Kiva are no longer funny. No more funny scenes nor slapstick jokes.
After Mio died, the body count continues. Otoya died, then Maya died. Even more depressing, Nago is blind. In episode 47, Taiga becomes Dark Kiva, and in the end of the episode Wataru becomes King. What’s going to happen on the last episode, and how things will turn in just 1 episode?
Let’s step back and think. This show is marketed towards kindergarten kids in Japan. I guess it’s a training wheel when the kids grow up and start watching J-Dorama. LOL.
Okay, am I watching a kids show or a J-dorama? Either way, I guess the same rule applied, the main character has to go through extreme hardship, and cannot simply be happy
After Mio’s death, Wataru went back through time (!) to prevent his father, Otoya, marrying his mother, Maya. Basically preventing his own birth. Time paradox? Doesn’t matter, I guess this is the only way to see Kiva fighting Dark Kiva. Oh, Wataru is a such a weakling, beaten up by Otoya in the old IXA suit. I miss Jiro & friends, and their respective Kiva forms. They are not used much anymore ever since Emperor form is introduced.
All the guys in Go-Onger cross dressing. LOL. Hiroto blinded me with his pink dress.
Kamen Rider Kiva Ep40 brough IXA back to Nago, and he’s cool again, at least for a moment. I hate Kengo, and I’m glad Nago got IXA back. However, this episode ended with a cliffhanger. Will IXA survive Saga’s finishing attack? I hope so, I hope they don’t kill Nago.
Oh yes, things are getting more interesting. Wataru (Kiva), after being revealed to be a half Fangire, wanted humans & Fangire to live together. He confessed to the Aozora organization that he’s Kiva, now Shima ordered everybody to kill Kiva. Taiga (King), apparently Wataru’s half brother, wanted Wataru to rule over humans together with him as Fangire. Mio (Queen), Wataru’s love, now wants Wataru to kill Taiga so she can be together with Wataru. Wow, what a complicated turn of events. Kengo is still an annoying emo brat, and I can’t wait for IXA to return to Nago. The previous King/Dark Kiva is kicking ass in 1986. After Bishop turned Kiva into a bad guy, the episode ended with a cliffhanger (damn it, just like Gundam 00). Still, Kiva looks more of a bad ass this way.. 😀
I really wish they kill off Kengo’s character. He is really an annoyance, acting all emo yet contributes nothing to the story, and his henshin move is pretty lame (pushes the IXA Knuckle on his boots).
Overall, Kiva seems to take cues from Faiz (555). Wataru is Fangire, while Takumi is Orphenoch. Both has to fight their own friends (Taiga in Kiva, Kiba in Faiz). Heck, Mio is in both series (she’s Mari in Faiz). Can’t wait for the next episode.
When I first saw the promo video of Kamen Rider Kiva, I thought this is going to be one cool rider, especially after watching the OP. The show itself started kinda meh. The main rider’s character, Wataru, is not cool at all. The actor is so scrawny that the fighting scenes are hardly believable. The henshin belt looks too toy-ish. The story, however, is quite interesting, flipping back & forth between 1986 and 2008. The 1986 side is the most interesting, featuring Otoya, whose character is much more interesting and funny compared to Wataru. The 2008 side became more interesting when Nago showed up as IXA, whose character has some personality issues related to buttons and hatred towards Kiva. Things are picking up on both sides, with the introduction Maya in 1986, and Mio in 2008, both as Queen. 1986 still holds the candle for slapstick comedy and hilarity thanks to Otoya. The downturn IMO started with the introduction of Emperor form. The problem is that the Emperor form is way way overused (probably mainly to sell the toys), the other forms of Kiva seemed to be forgotten. On the recent episodes, the focus has moved to 2008, with Taiga as the new king, and also Kamen Rider Saga. At this point, there is less and less scenes from the 1986 side. The story becomes pretty much like a dorama, a love triangle between Mio, Wataru, and Taiga, and how each of them are reluctant to tell the truth of who loves who. Boring! Even worse, Kiva got a new weapon, the “masturbating” sword. The sword has a slider, supposedly to control the power of the sword that can overwhelm and control Wataru. In order to use the power of the sword, Kiva has to move the slider up and down for almost every attack, thus I refer it as the “masturbating” sword. Not impressed. Not only that, Nago lost IXA, given to Kengo, an emo character that is really annoying. The worst part is that Nago, used to be a cool and tough character, now becomes the comic relief. *sigh. I hope the story will become more interesting with the revealing of the King in 1986 as Dark Kiva. Animated GIF taken from TV-Nihon. Like I said, the “masturbating” sword.
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