Friday, March 19, 2010

Thoughts on Kamen Rider Accel

Sorry this one took so long but I've had my hands full. So I thought I'd break it down into different parts, the man, the rider, etc. Enjoy.

TERUI RYUU

Usually the new rider comes in and shows off in front of the main rider, Terui is no exception. The game of pool was a nice touch to the whole film noir style btw. What I don’t grasp is, why a cop? I never really saw Kamen Riders as cops (G3 from Agito being an exception of course). My point is I just didn’t think any riders in W would be connected to the law. Maybe Terui should have been a Dopant bounty hunter instead of a cop, but then again this is all just opinion. Terui being a cop kind of took me by surprise, but it is a sharp contrast to Shoutarou’s private eye motif.

I knew from the start that Terui and Shoutarou were not going to get off on the right foot, and this is where Terui really impressed me. He IS somewhat of an asshole but since his debut he has lightened up a lot faster than I thought he would and seemed to snap out of his “I’m better then everyone” phase for now. He’s not too despicable that you want to knock his block off every time you see him as opposed to Kusaka/Kaixa from 555.

My first thought was to laugh at his outfit when I first saw him because I immediately thought of the red outfit Eddie Murphy wore in the 80’s. I mean, look at the picture I provided. Tell me I wasn’t the only one who thought of this. Thank god he won’t be wearing it all the time though as he is now wearing a black outfit instead. Good luck cosplaying as this one you guys! It won’t be cheap.



DARE TO COMPARE

I do think his whole “becoming Accel and stopping Dopants out of revenge” however was pretty cliché. I’m not being heartless but come on. The whole “A _________ (insert oni of choice in the blank) killed my family and now I hunt them”. Like this hasn’t been done to death a billion times. Hopefully near the end we will get a good twist to justify this but Terui’s “Begins Night” as Shoutarou/Phillip put it Begins Sucks. I hope it does involve the mystery lady Shroud. This chick has got me interested, hook line and sinker.


WEAPONS/KAMEN RIDER ACCEL

I LOVE the Accel driver, it’s so bad. It was also cool how Terui puts emphasis on the –shin part of his Henshin. Hen-SHIN!! It’s almost a throwback to the riders of the Showa-Era. I think only Tendou did it once in God Speed Love but it wasn’t as mind blowing as Accel.

The overly heavy sword was a nice touch. Kinda reminded me of Auron from FFX when I saw it, but thank god he won’t be dragging it around all the time. I have to admit when I first saw Accel’s form in toy lines and magazine clips I was not impressed. He looked like a bulky red Stormtrooper at first, but when I saw him transform I finally got the A symbol on his helmet, which was pretty damn clever and unexpected.


"I WAS FROZEN TODAY!"


I’m kind of on the fence about the whole turning into a bike ability. Sure it looks cool and everything but think about it, how often do you need that. Besides, if I wanted to see riders turn into ludicrous overpowered objects, I’d go watch Decade again, which I can’t stand. BTW, I loved Cheetah from #TV-Nihon’s reaction to W riding Accel in Episode 24. I had the exact same look on my face when I saw it.

He also has probably the coolest rider kick I have seen in a LONG time. Don’t get me wrong, W’s kick is pretty cool too but I think Accel has it beat by a mile, or kilometer in Japan.

Well, that’s all I got on this cool new rider for now. Check back for my End of Shinkenger review which I will get around to when I have the time. Later.