Kamen Rider Kiva Series Review

 

So another year has gone by and every year I try to write a detailed review to share with you all. For more reviews and other Tokusatsu related stuff stop by at OSSIA: www.adrienzo.wordpress.com

2008 began as an exciting year for a lot of Rider fans. After a three year slump the news of an incredibly designed Vampire Rider being the star of a series penned by one the greatest Tokusatsu writer, Inoue Toshiki, had me anticipating from day one. Inoue, for the uninformed wrote three of my favorite shows, Kamen Rider Agito, Kamen Rider Faiz and Chojin Sentai Jetman. Although he has been criticized recently for his medicore works such as Kamen Rider THE FIRST and THE NEXT in addition to writing dozens of wacky episodes for Blade and Kabuto, I always defended him. Inoue always shine when he is given a series to write on his own. He’s also the few writers who manages to write almost all the episodes in a series.

Being the 9th installment in the Heisei Kamen Rider era, I am finding it increasingly hard to compare and rank each series. Although during the series run I was considering placing Kiva as my second favorite Heisei Kamen Rider series after Agito but after the ending and a deep look back, I believe I cannot rank shows anymore. Kiva has some pros and cons; some parts of the show are extremely well done while some do drag the series down. This is perhaps my greatest problem with Kiva, the things it does well in, it manages to excel at but the little flaws are also full blown and has affected my enjoyment of the show.

So to begin let’s start this rather long review I have in store for you all!

I will be giving letter grades for each aspect of the show. There will be 7 factors that I will mark, Plot, Characters/Acting, Action, Presentation, Design, Music and Finale.

Plot: A-

The strongest part of Kiva was also the one with some really major flaws. However the story is still one of the best I have ever seen. No doubt the thing that interested me the most of this show was the incorporation of the two timelines, one in 1986 and 2008. This thrilled me because it was a plot device that was not motivated by a Toy Gimmick. Having two timelines doesn’t allow BANDAI to sell more toys and I knew it was done by Inoue to tell a fascinating story. And he did manage to do so.

I will be honest, I was expecting a lot, and I mean A LOT from the two timelines. I was hoping it to be similar to the two Star Wars trilogy and have everything slowly weave together into one large story. The mysteries of Otoya slowly being revealed and the events of ’86 to come as a twist in the end. Perhaps also in ’08 we get to see a date when Yuri dies and have the ’86 storyline slowly draw to that fateful day. Also with Master and Shima working as the mediator of the past and the present. This was some of my hopes as the series progressed. No, it didn’t do any of these but it did do somethings along that line. I was disappointed but atleast the two timelines wasn’t completely useless.

They of course went with a more episodic approach to deal with the parallel timelines. The monster of the week 22 years ago came in the same order 22 years later. I understand why this was done. It was easier to make and it was easier for audience to keep track. These beginning episodes were really good still. I’ve always loved how Wataru gets indirectly inspired by his father. There’s a lot of nice themes of parent and child and are done extremely well throughout the series. In the beginning the show as Koji Seto (who played Wataru) said this show is about the bond between parent and child, and usually these themes are done half ass but its not true for this Kiva.

The show actually had a plethora of excellent ideas, some that were used well some weren’t. I will get to those later. But that’s one of the biggest flaws of the series, not using some well planned out ideas. Many characters were also tossed aside which I believe hurt the show but still the plot was great. Exciting from beginning to end.

Now to my biggest rant: Time Travel. Kiva was never meant to be a time travelling show. Kabuto and Den-o were the time-travelling shows. Actually Kabuto didn’t have much time-travelling in the series, and that was the show that really needed it. Kiva was a more realistic show. Instead of having the timelines meshed, it was a series that show how history repeats itself and how we must learn from history so we aren’t doom to repeat it. Hence the show’s motto: Break the Chains of Destiny! There’s a part of that idea embodied in the show but the inclusion of time travel defeats that idea. Yet the show was not significantly ruined by time travel. Many series before it has, I won’t name any to avoid spoilers. Kiva did hurt itself with the time travel but it did have good intentions.

Characters and Acting: A

Kurenai Wataru: The best main Rider ever? Surprisingly, Yes! Well not exactly but Wataru has to be the best written character in Heisei History. I don’t think even some of my favorites, like Tsugami Shoichi (Agito), can rival the conflict ridden life of Wataru. There are those who say Wataru is like Ryotaro but that to me is as ridiculous as saying Den-o is as good as Kamen Rider Black. I won’t start my argument here but all I can say is that Ryotaro is my least favorite Rider of all time, and his development was minimal at least. Takeru Sato’s portrayal of him is Razzie-worthy at best.

Wataru on the other hand (and I can’t emphasize that enough) is really the heart and soul of the story. It’s funny because there’s been many series were the main character has been overshadow by the supporting cast, like Kamen Rider Blade. Nevertheless Kiva or Inoue, for that matter, exceptionally delivers the true nature of what a Rider back in the Ishinomori days were meant to have felt: A division within oneself, almost like a double-consciousness, a man torn between good and evil, humanity and inhumanity. Wataru goes through every possible conflict he a character can; from the sins left by his father, the lies from his mother, the horrors of his brother, the melancholy of his lover to the acceptance from his partners. Everytime he fails he goes through what some people will say as Emo or Angsty reclusion but every time he does it, for the most part, made perfect sense for me. How his character grows from Episode 1 to 48 was  journey, an inspirational one atleast. In the final end, no longer was he afraid, he has learned more than to coward away but to help others from the bottom of his heart. Just his story on its own made Kiva a terrific show.

Seto’s performance was not amazing but done well. He would not be the actor I would’ve cast but nonetheless had enough ability to drive the show forward.

Kurenai Otoya: A fan favorite and I would agree his portrayal of a eccentric playboy and a music virtuoso was flawless. I had my doubts about this character at first and wasn’t too fond of him. You can tell Kouhei Takeda improves drastically as the show progresses. And just like Yuri, I began to fall in love with Otoya…well not in that way. He was a fun character, some of the funniest movements of Kiva and the most inspirational ones as well were delivered by him. Otoya is a lovable character and pretty much symbolize both the seriousness and the comedic aspects of the show. He doesn’t go through much development. He might have become a bit more heroic towards the end but all of this was rather baseless. Despite his one dimensional development he was still a three dimensional character.

Nago Keisuke:I was expecting a lot from this fearless, bad ass, chivalrous bounty hunter but Nago Keisuke became the most erratic character in Rider history. He got a rare early start. Most second Riders appear when their Rider form appears but not Nago. He was kicking ass in human form since episode 3. The original story with Nago being a father figure for Wataru was different from all the other relationship other Riders had with each other. Too bad this was disposed of rather early. He then became obsessed with defeating Kiva almost like a Kusaka Masato maniac character. Later he delve even deeper in the trenches of psychological instability with those”Button” episodes. Luckily for us that lasted not too long. So what came after? Well he got promoted to Time Traveller and got a bit aroused in his little ’86 adventure, falling in love with Maya. That’s not all, then he found out Wataru was Kiva and decided to be a prestigious mentor. But wait, then Kengo became IXA and he decided to be a bit more funny and comedic to lighten things up. Yeah and to come full circle he went back to his original self when he got his IXA’s power back and decided to be like Hikawa (G3-X from Agito) and go blind for a few episodes just to create some suspense that he might die. And to end this schizophrenic journey he marries a girl he hasn’t even really shown interest for at all.

Yes, that’s how I would sum up Nago. Still in the very end he wasn’t a bad character. The acting by Kato Keisuke was average at best.

Aso Megumi: A character with lots of potential, up there with Nago. Once again her rather good start fell short. She was shoved off for most of the show, brought back for those Rook Episodes and then shoved away again. There’s a lot Megumi could’ve done and a lot the writers could’ve done with her. For example, her father. Fans have debated that Jiro was going to be her father. That would’ve made some crazy stories with a Half Wolfen Megumi. But that had to be done really well for it to have worked.And seeing how Megumi ended up with Nago, they should have atleast added some sexual tension or chemistry for the two during the series. There’s only been 2 two lines, that I can remember that would relate to that. Nago saying he likes Megumi very much in the early episodes and Megumi describing her dream man which was almost like describing Nago.

Yuri could’ve contributed by leaving a lot more than just that Rook vendetta for her to resolve. But atleast they did give that a 3-parter, and has to be one of my favorite arcs of the series. Another thing they didn’t bother to do was a Kiva x Megumi relationship. Megumi didn’t really do much with Kiva and when Megumi found out Wataru was Kiva, that has to be the tamest way a Super Hero show has ever done with an alter ego revelation. I mean, come on, during Brunch?

Nana Yanagisawa is a wonderful actress. She caught my eye as one of the many Souta Girls in Boukenger. Her acting has improved since then and she has to be the most natural actor out of them all. The way she portrays Megumi feels like that’s how Nana would be like in real life.

Aso Yuri: The superior one of the Aso girls. Yuri started of as a weak character but I enjoyed her more and more during the show’s run. She’s one of the few supporting characters who did what she was expected to. She began hating Otoya only to fall in love with him. There’s many good moments between the two, either comedic or touching but that last scene with the two was the best. Yuri and Otoya’s relationship is one of the best romantic relationship in Tokusastsu however there’s so much in Kiva that I can’t even say that this is the best in the show.

Yu Takahashi was a good choice for the show. She’s beautiful but not feminine to the point where her fighting a Fangire was ridiculous. And she’s the only character in ’86 that looked like she was from that era. Thanks to some of the hair styles she sported in the first part of the series. Unlike Otoya who looked a bit too modern for me.

Eritate Kengo: I thought the writers were planning something big for Kengo. Either what they ended up with was what they planned or they decided they had no idea what to do with him so they added that in, I don’t know. But his character like the other’s had many things going on for them. I will keep this short and say even though Kengo didn’t get a huge role in the end, his last speech with Wataru was indeed touching.

Kohei Kumai’s acting was avearage.

Nomura Shizuka: Sailor Luna! What else do you want me to say? …Okay keep it short, she had her moments. She was never meant to be an important character but the writers made use of her when they needed to.

Jiro: Ah, good old Zanki-san. I am one of many who adored Kenji Matsuda’s superb role as Kamen Rider Zanki, my favorite character in Kamen Rider Hibiki (tied with Hibiki). I always thought they gave him this role because they wanted to compensate the lack of Zanki screen time. Jiro did get a lot of screen time in the beginning, a nice rivalry with Otoya as well. These were great arcs in the series but didn’t turn out to be of much importance.  I thought Jiro wanting to seduce Yuri into reproducing Wolfens was a devlish plan. Something that really could’ve been excuted. Jiro did get sidelined the most out of everyone. One episode he was the star of ’86 the next he was just sitting around Castle Dran and getting knocked around by the Checkmate Fours.

Jiro and Otoya had a great relationship as well. I would have liked to see more but they had a lot of funny moments, my favorite being the one where they have a group date and they start fighting each other.

Kenji Matsuda = Best actor in the show. You can tell he was really into his role.

Ramon and Riki: I was really hoping Riki did something instead of the 12 lines he had in 48 episodes. He did a few things in the show, like falling in love with Yuri in one episode, and killing his date during lunch. But that was all. Ramon, nah I don’t like this kid. But still both character got nothing!

Maya: Maya is one of my favorite characters from this series. What I liked most about her was her growth. She got more development than most of the other secondary characters. She wasn’t a victim of circumstance. She gradually began to love Otoya. It was not a one moment thing that changed her views about humans. It was realistic, to say the least, how she betrayed the Fangire race and decided to get it on with a human.

Saki Kagami does an excellent job as well playing this intriguing character.

Suzuki Mio: Oh Mari, the Lady MacBeth of Kiva. I thought Yuri Haga was getting a two parter guest appearance but to everyone surprise she was added to the cast. And then she turned out to be Queen. The most tragic character of all even though I think the show needed a bit more deaths, but hey, atleast they didn’t revive her. She is the female Wataru in more than one way. Her personality was like him but her story as well. She unwillingly became the Queen but unlike Wataru she slowly accepted her fate and became power hungry. Her relationship with Wataru rivals that of Yuri and Otoya. Because unlike Yuri and Otoya, who had a generic Soap Opera relationship where the guy pursues and the girl rejects only to one day falls for him, Wataru and Mio got together on day one. Wataru saw himself in Mio, he saw his weakness in her and decided he needs to become stronger to make her stronger as well. I really enjoyed that. And with Wataru playing a part in her ultimate death, that has to be the darkest thing to happen on this show.

Yuri Haga did well, way better than Mari from Faiz. Mio provided some of the best conflicts to this show.

Bishop: Where was he in ’86. That bothered me because he should have been around at that time but really only appeared twice. Anyway, Bishop as we all concluded in the beginning that he was going to be a backstabbing mastermind. Which he became but never had intentions to. I think they should’ve gone with what the fans were thinking because he never really seem too loyal, more like he was feigning it to undermine the King’s plan. I actually didn’t like what he became in the end after his meltdown. His character was so much better working under the shadows. Nevertheless he was still a villain and really there hasn’t been that many big boss villains since Blade.

Mitsu Murata another Hibiki alumni comes back to the franchise. I think like the many actors who came back they actually did a better job in Kiva than in their previous show.

Rook: Rook was okay, I guess. I did enjoy his violent killing sprees. I think he would’ve been a bit better if he did more instead of disappearing for a while and then coming back. There was a bit too many people hogging for Rook’s head. Jiro, Yuri and Megumi. His introduction episode was pretty darn dark with her killing a little girl and her family. I did like how the Aso Girls got rid of him however it was a bit forced that he somehow got defeated in ’86 but didn’t die. Oh well, Rook was fine, he did what he was suppose to do.

Tomohide Takahara, the actor for Rook, was a superb choice. Not that I care too much of his acting but that guy was ripped.

King: King really should’ve have came onto the scene a bit earlier. Why he wasn’t around I don’t know but that wasn’t my only problem with him. King was suppose to be this meancing character. Come on, he was the Dark Kiva that everyone was talking about in 2008, how he tried to destroy the world and stuff and how he is more threatening than any Fangire. King for the most part got constantly dominated by Otoya. I don’t even think he killed anyone. All he did was beat Jiro around but that’s not too hard to do. If Bishop can control a whole army of Fangires I am sure King can too. He was strolling around his cozy home of Castle Dran only to find out Otoya has broken in. Not to mention the guy who broke in had an affair with his wife, and he tried more than once to kill him only to fail time and time again….you know what, maybe he should’ve appeared even later. Just so he wouldn’t fail so many times.

The actor Shinya Niiro was not bad. He got the look, too bad the character failed to deliver

Nobori Taiga: Why does he have a last name anyways? He was a strange little guy. He was a Fangire Supremacist yet he adores Wataru when he first re-encounters him. He is Power Hungry yet he belives in true love. There’s some weird moments like Taiga shaking hands with Wataru after finding out he was in love with Mio. But his eventual breakdown made him to a character that made him a bit more realistic, instead of that happy-go-lucky villain in love with his traitor brother. Even though I would’ve preferred a darker ending for the series, but since they went with a happy ending I think Taiga turning good still made sense. He wasn’t 100% evil, and if he saved Shima there’s no way he would’ve killed his mother.

Shouma Yamamoto was great as Hayami in Cutie Honey and he is pretty good here as well. He’s a huge Rider fan and he got lucky playing three Riders here, Rey, Saga and Dark Kiva.

Master: I thought he might have been a mediator for past and present seeing how in the synopsis released before the show aired it said “The only two people to know of these events are Master and Shima”. I remember one episode when he found out Wataru was Otoya’s son and he got that concerned look in his face but in retrospect, now, we realize he doesn’t know much of Otoya and what he has done. Unless Yuri filled him in. And is he gay?

Shima Mamoru: Didn’t really like his character all that much. His death was cool but whenever they bring characters back alive it ruins it for me. Why Maya gave Taiga to Shima is still a mystey. Seeing how the two never met. Made more sense if she gave it to Yuri.

Itoya Ryo/Spider Fangire: One of the long lines of long term Spider villains who appear in episode 1 and gets an extended apperance. Ryo is interesting to say the least. A creepy sex predator. I wasn’t expecting much from him but the perfomance by Sohto was entertaining.

Kivat: He was cool for the most part.

Tasulot: Not so much.

Buruman: Do dogs live that long?

 

Action: C

Weak! Weak!! Weak!!! I thought maybe years of watching Rider made me bored of the action so I decided to watch a few episodes of Agito until I realize how great those fight scenes were. They were choreographed yet they were raw. There wasn’t as many sparks and it was just like a nice spar that got really violent and brutal. Characters actually looked like they were going down. Some reason these past few shows feel like the Riders aren’t even getting hurt. I can’t really pinpoint what the major difference is but the fighting is just weak nowadays. Maybe its the abundance of weapons and that a slash from a gun and a sword does the same damage as a punch.

I will mention three other things everyone else has been complaining about:

1) Lack of Bike Action: Yeah it was expected but that still a demerit.

2) No night battles! Even Den-o had some

3)The four other forms were not used after episode 23

Presentation: C-

All of the Action factors above are related to the horrible directioning of Kiva. It has to be the worst directed show in all of Heisei. Everything was shot during the day. It really destroys the horror atmosphere they tried to go for. But the biggest problem is how ridculous people met up in Kiva. There’s way too many bumping into each other and just unsual ways of story telling. The way the show is film is poorly done for some reason. The most basic things seem to have been neglected.

One thing I need to rant about is the lack of blood. I think characters with some blood or gashes on their face makes them look a bit more in pain. Nothing bothers me more is when they un-henshin, looking in mint condition only to fall down like they are going to die. I was hoping Mio atleast looked like she was dying but she looked untouched!

On the other hand, they did try to ’86 as real as possible for some episode. There also has been many great looking scenes, mostly the ones in Castle Dran with Kiva sitting on his throne with rose petals falling. Also the graphics have been better than ever.

As a Classical Music enthusiast, I really liked that element being applied to the show such as the naming of the episodes. I also really liked the Stained Glass artwork in the episode previews as well. Those Kivat Trivia had some interesting facts too.

Design: A+

Some of the best Designs ever. Kiva and all his forms. IXA as well as Rising. Saga is not bad and Dark Kiva, which I think is cooler than Emperor. I can’t wait for these to become SICs. Bikes were cool looking too. Fangires were creative in terms of design but I do perfer scary monsters instead of cool looking ones.

Music: A+

The best soundtrack since, dare I say it, Kamen Rider Black RX!

Let’s start with the OSTs: Like I said I am a huge Classical Music fan and with Chopin being my favorite composer. Though other composers such as Paganini and Vivaldi were mentioned by Kivat and some of the characters on the show, it was actually Chopin music that was featured the most. It’s funny because Chopin is a piano composer and this series deals more with violins.

Here’s a little Kivat Trivia for all of you:

Garuru’s Theme: Chopin’s Etude Op. 10 no. 4 “Torrent”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXAbtsy_lgk 

Bassher’s Theme: Chopin’s Ballade Op. 23 no. 1 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR7eUSFsn28 the Bassher version is actually pretty different. It’s a faster version of the theme which begins around :40 seconds into the video.

Dogga’s Theme: Chopin’s Piano Sonata Op.35 Movement 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1F59CesiJ8E

Wataru and Shizuka’s Theme: Chopin’s Prelude Op.28 no.15 “Raindrops” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gV9gUeFHIw (also used in that Halo 3 commercial for you Xbox fans)

There’s actually a couple more, but that’s enough for now. Chopin music has appear pretty frequently in Tokusatsu like Sailor Moon Live Action but in Inoue written shows as well such as the episodes he written for Kuuga, Kabuto, Cutie Honey and now Kiva.

As for the other OST pieces the spotlight is definitely on the Violin solos by the Kurenai boys. I think the piece Otoya plays for Maya has to be my favorite.

Okay, back to the actual songs. Though I don’t think Koji Seto is that great of a singer he did pull some of them off. You can tell he improved a lot after Destiny’s Play which isn’t too great. Break the Chain by Tourbillon really grew on me. Baku baku beating heart, is weird but I love it now, more so than the chant in Den-o.

Fight for Justice, Inheirted Systems, Feel the Same, Supernova, Roots of the King, and, my personal favorite, Circle of Life sung by Aikawa Nanase pretty much makes this the top contender for the best Kamen Rider soundtrack since the 80’s.

Out of all the actors singing, Yu Takahashi (Yuri) has to be the best. She’s got that nice deep voice, she could be a singer.

I mean Den-o was good, but there’s like 50 versions of Double Action. Atleast Kiva had the balls to make new songs instead of keep rewriting old ones.

Finale: B-

It’s actually rather difficult for me right now to rate the ending. It certainly up there with Blade in terms of you either “love it or hate it”. I would say I don’t hate it but there are parts of it that I didn’t enjoy. The beginning was action packed. The scene where Taiga and Wataru facing each other in Castle Dran and then transported into the battlefield was reminscient of good old Kamen Rider Black vs. Shadow Moon. Especially since both Riders looked alike and Dark Kiva having Green Eyes and all.

Like I mentioned prior, I would prefer the show to end at a somewhat tragic note maybe like Kamen Rider Black but it decided to end happily ever after, which is totally understandable. The loads of Deus Ex Machina were a bit distracting. But if Taiga couldn’t kill Shima then no way could he killed his mother. Bishop vs. IXA was okay. I kinda knew Nago wasn’t going to die. Usually when they try to make you think the Rider dies in the previous episode’s preview, they usually don’t. All deaths are kept a secret pretty much.

The final team up with Dark Kiva and Kiva felt almost old school Rider 1 and 2. With their team work. But rewind a bit earlier, with the scene where Wataru falls off a cliff, ouch that’s gotta hurt. It actually looks like a stuntman rolled down a quite violently. But when he grabs on to IXA’s arm, that was a great moment for the show. How that body of water became a freaking cliff in 22 years, I don’t know but it was done well. I was wonder why they emphasize IXA’s arm falling into the water.

The wedding in the end was a bit contrived. But weddings during a last episode are usually a no-brainer for most shows so it wasn’t too surprsing. Megumi and Yuri together finally again was another good scene. Then of course, we get, what will eventually be the last infamous scene of Kiva with Wataru’s son, who looks exactly like Otoya coming from the future. There’s nice old school reference with use of “Neo-Fangires” and homage to Neo-Shocker. But this ending really didn’t fit in with the tone of the series.

It did in fact fit in with the theme of the series which was the idea of past and present and father and son. When Masao (Wataru’s son) appears dressed in whatever he was wearing, its suppose to mock fashion popular fashion trends. I liked that touch. The last part, I am still not sure about. I was in a “WTF “state for a while but when I thought about it I do get what they were trying to get at. I predicted the ending, almost halfway during the series, to show a new generation fighting Fangires and I was right but this wasn’t how I thought it would turn out. I thought since the series was really about ’86 and ’08, they should have stucked with that. Perhaps spirits of Otoya and Yuri looking at their children etc.

However this ending is indeed an interesting one. I give credits for it being different. But to be honest this ending seem to fit more with a Den-o type series. Or it actually would’ve been perfect for Den-o. It doesn’t fit with Kiva’s tone since it has been for 47 episode a serious and sentimental series. Time travelling already seemed forced in the end, but with Masao time travelling it shows that time travelling is a part of how different generation intract with each other, which isn’t really a heartwarming message. If you look back at this series this ending is highly unpredicatable. It hadgood intentions but it does break what the show was trying to be and what it was meant to be. This finale will take some time for me to accept. It might have worked well for a beginning of a Special Movie but as the series ending…not really.

And maybe just for the sake of it, they should’ve have gotten Yuri as Nago’s and Megumi’s daughter and King as Taiga’s son who tranforms into Saga just because I want everyone to Rider Kick the sky.

Overall: B+/A-

2008 has been a good Rider year. It has returned into some of its basic elements that has made so many series great. Kiva will rank up there as one of my favorite shows but like all shows there are flaws. If you manage to look beyond it, most of the messages and even just the overall story that is presented will redeem those flaws. It’s a great show for newcomers to the franchise and a great show for fans who were disappointed with Hibiki, Kabuto and Den-o. Overall I think this show will remain a classic and fans will still be talking about this for years to come, I know I will. Kiva has set some high standards in terms of character development and a larger emphasizes on romantic relatioships as well as creative ways of telling a story à la parallel timelines.

With Decade starting next week Kiva has marked an end of an Era as we know it. 2009 will take a break from the more story driven shows we have seen for the past nine years. For Kiva fans, we can rejoice because Wataru does appear. But for people like me, who has fallen in loven with the whole cast, I would speak on your behalf and say if Den-o got two extra movies, than Kiva deserves three!

Well thanks for reading, that’s all for me, see you in 2010 when I review Kamen Rider Decade!

By: Adrienzo