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MARK REVIEWS KAMEN RIDER: DRAGON KNIGHT

I'm back... now lets move on to the Heisei era of Kamen Rider.

There is one show in particular that I wish to mention, Kamen Rider Ryuki.

Airing back in 2002, around the time of Ishinomori's death, Ryuki was vastly different than other Kamen Rider shows. Rather than it being a monster of the day, good versus evil and the Kamen Riders always using motorcycles... it was everyone vs everyone, monsters weren't a big deal enough and motorcycles played little to no importance.

During that series, a man reveal the existance of the mirror world and offers 12 people advent decks, which would turn them into Kamen Riders. They fight to the death in the Rider War and the winner would get one wish come true. Shinji, a reporter, uses his deck to and contracts with a dragon, that means the Dragon merges with his deck or something and gives him his power, and becomes Kamen Rider Ryuki. He doesn't want to win the war, but to protect the innocent from harms way. Along the way he befriends Kamen Rider Knight, who is basically like Batman in many ways. There were two endings for the show, I think. One was the original ending where Ryuki dies and Knight, upset he lost his closest friend, wins the war and uses the wish to sace his dying fiancee... then dies himself. Afterwards, Shiro, the man who started the war, did it all to save his sister from dying. Realizing that she'd have preferred death over letting so many people die in her name, he alters time so that she died and the Rider War and all those who died in it never happened. Yeah, talk about jumping the shark at the end of the series. Imagine if like in the last episode of Lost or Heroes and someone alters time so the events of the show never happened... Then there was the alternate ending where Knight dies and Shinji honors him by taking his deck and being both Ryuki and Knight.
Unlike other Kamen Rider shows, this one uses cards to summon weapons and use attack, much like the Mega Man RPGS of Battle Network and Starforce. Without a Contract Monster, the advent cards would create weak weapons. It was unique as there was no monster of the day like most shows, but it was an all Kamen Rider war.

Now there were other Kamen Rider shows at the time, but this is the one I want to mention. Why? Because from 2006-2007, this was adapted by Adness Entertainment, and became Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight. The words Dragon Knight are the english form of the word Ryuki, therefore a direct translation. As for why they didn't translate the word Kamen to Masked, my guess is they didn't want any connections to its ill-fated predecessor... oh, sorry, I mean... huhhhh, that other show .

In the world of Ventara, the world behind the mirrors, 12 Kamen Riders were the protectors until an evil alien named Xaviax convinced the original Dragon Knight to betray his friends and take over Ventara, leaving it abandoned. Only Len, Kamen Rider Wing Knight, remains. Wanting to take over Earth, Xaviax kidnaps people one at a time, tricking certain individuals with the same appearance and DNA as the Ventara Riders to be his servants, he tells one guy he'll get a million bucks and the other a chance at getting his life changed for the better. One individual however, did not get his deck from Xaviax. That person is 18 year old Kit Taylor. His father, having been kidnapped by Xaviax a year before the start of the series, gone, Kit has lived with Foster parents. He has been framed for multiple crimes, yet despite claiming innocence, no one believes him. After turning 18, Kit leaves his foster parents to live in his dad's apartment. That's something I've been curious of, how is Kit living there? I have not seen one episode where he works someplace and I doubt saving the world comes with a two week paycheck, plus his status as a "thief" would prevent any place of employment. I can only assume his dad left some money in the bank prior to vanishing. He then receives "psychic messages" from his dad, telling him to find the deck and search for the dragon. Afterwards, he hears these sounds and saves a gorgeous hispanic investigator, Maya Young, from monsters she couldn't see until they grabbed her, then Len appears and saves them both, but demands Kit give him the advent deck. Later, Kit learns about the "mirror world" and contracts with the red dragon, becoming Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. Later, he becomes friends with Maya, telling her about the mirror world and the two agree to find and save Kit's dad. Later Kit encounters another Rider, Kamen Rider Incisor, a rich kid who lost his money and is now working for Xaviax, who he thinks is his dad's lawyer, and fights to get paid. Later, Kit finally learns about everything from Len, about the Advent decks, Xaviax and even the original Dragon Knight looking like Kit. Perhaps the biggest thing he learned is about the Advent Void, similar to the Shadow Realm from Yu-Gi-Oh! When a Rider's deck is destroyed, that person and their Advent Beast are sent there and can never return. Not wanting to get vented, or to vent anybody, Kit quits but learns that by contract with the dragon, it's too late to quit. Agreeing to work with Wing Knight, Kit vows stop Xaviax and save the world.

Kamen Rider Ryuki was chosen over the other Heisei era shows because of all the Riders they could use, sort of to "make up for lost time" I guess. Dragon Knight's story telling is more like the japanese show, rather than a monster of the day, its a long connected line of episodes about the evil riders and Xaviax with Kit trying to find out how to save his dad, who gave him the deck and all that. To transform, a rider simply takes out his deck, causing a belt to show up, they say "KAMEN RIDER!" and then put the deck in the buckle, then it spins and suddenly two hoops of energy circle them and they armor up. Yeah, no Power Rangers morphing sequence, bummer, huh? Still, an improvment over... huhhhh, that other show!

Like Ryuki, they use advent cards to battle. My favorites are Dragon Knight's Sword Vent and Final Vent... the final vent is his rider kick, which actually finishes the opponent of. TAKE THAT ELECTRO SWORD! Way better in both name and usage as it actually hits the enemy, unlike the weapons and attacks from... that other show!

The characters here, aside from the young and determined Kit Taylor and the emotionless on the outside yet caring on the inside Len, along with the cold and cruel Xaviax and the eager to get to the truth Maya Young, we have other, non-ridre folks. Maya's crazy Aunt Grace who runs the bookstore she works at when she's not investigating the paranormal. She organizes the books by color and wants a parakeet named Tattoo... yeah, goofy but not Masked Rider goofy. Then there's Trent, a guy who works at the store who seems to have a thing for Maya. He, like many, believe Kit is a thief, claiming he stole his brother's mp3 player. He doesn't even bother hiding his disdain for Kit and mocks anyone who shows him sympathy. He's also a geek, being into Dungeons & Dragons, wishing to be abducted by aliens... so yeah, he's not exactly getting laid tonight or any other night. Then there's Lacey, Maya's black friend who dresses and behaves in the stereotypical "meet cute guys" attitude. She thinks Maya and Kit are couple and tries to flirt with Kit when around him. We also have Frank Grimes, a detective who was friends with Kit's dad yet doesn't even bother trying to find out if Kit is innocent. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Then again, the show DOES take place in Los Angeles... Michelle Walsh is a rival of Maya who also investigate paranormal stuff, but is too arrogant to give anyone a chance. She mocks people and cares only about her coffee. She claims she could spot the phonies a mile away... she couldn't spot a truck coming towards her two FEET away because she's too busy complaining her coffee isn't sweet enough. Finally, there's Frank Taylor, Kit's father, who is found along with the other missing people is a sleepwalker-like state. Kit somehow received psychic message from his dad that has helped him. There is way more character development and the cast is way more thought out in personality and role... unlike... ugh, that OTHER show!

Let's talk about the action, no longer goofy or cut violence, its all coordinated martial arts. Len is even acted by a martial arts champion, Matt Mullins. Unlike Ryuki, it seems all riders ride motorcycles, even in civilian form. The only one never seen riding one seems to be Kamen Rider Camo, who is vented after 2 episodes... sucks since I never saw two more of his cards used or his monster.

As for the riders... Here they are
Dragon Knight- Kit Taylor, who wants to save his dad and the world (Contract monster: red asian dragon)
Wing Knight- Len, survivor of Ventara who wants to rescue his world (Contact monster: giant bat)
Incisor- Richie Preston, a rich kid who was kicked out and wants money (Contract Monster: Gold humanoid crab)
Torque- Drew Lansing, a con man who is aware of Xavaix's plans and wants to be rich and powerful (Contract Monster: Green robot Minotaur)
Camo- Grant Stanley, an underground martial artist who cheats to win and only cares about a good fight (Contract Monster: giant chameleon)
Strike- James Trademore, also known as JTC, a wanted hacker who is Xaviax's true second in command, he is devious and manipulative like his leader. (Contract monster: Cobra)
Thrust- Brad Barrett, a motocross champion framed by Xaviax and tricked into joining a tournament called "Battle Club" which is infact a trick to defeat Wing Knight (Contract Monster: Humanoid Rhino)
Sting- Chris Ramirez, a marine who loses his place in the military and tricked into thinking Dragon Knight and Wing Knight are criminals (Contract monster: mechanical stingray)
Axe- Danny Cho, a thief who looks out for his family (Contract monster: White tiger robot)
Spear- Albert Cho, Danny's younger brother and partner (Contract monster: Gazelle robot)
Siren- Kase, the only female rider, and in Ryuki, the first female ridr ever. Supposedly a survivor like Len and might have a romantic relationship with Kit (Contract monster: Metal Swan)
Wrath- Vic Fraiser, a construction worker in a coma... yet can somehow fight (Contract monster: Metal phoenix)
Onyx- unknown, a black armor version of Dragon Knight. Might be Adam, the original Dragon Knight who betrayed Ventara. (Contract monster: black asian dragon)

I should probably point out that the most popular motif for Kamen Riders is insects. Therefore Dragon Knight is one of the few Riders who isn't based on an insect, but to keep up with the Kamen Rider theme, his helmet has bug eyes.

Finally, General Xaviax himself. No info is given where he came from or what his reasons are, but Xaviax took over Ventara and wants Earth. He has a human form, but appears under a different name and occupation to each rider he tricks. This only confuses as to why he didn't recruit Kit... how did the Dragon Deck get there? Is Xaviax planning something he needs Dragon Knight for? Did Kit's father somehow steal it from Xaviax? It may take some time before we find out...

Finally, the music is more kickass that Masked Rider. That theme song just rocks! And the music played during a battle, awesomeness. Unlike that cheesy music with the cavemen chanting, we have the lyric "Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, together we can fight the fight; Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, together we can fight the fight, so let's ride!" repeated in a more catchier song. Totally unlike... that OTHER SHOW!

My only real complaints is that most episodes end in cliffhangers and the "Previously on..." montage takes like two minutes at the very least. Its okay to look back at what happened, but we don't need to see EVERY important scene that just happened! Sometimes, the characters aren't ALWAYS there... sometimes characters like Lacey, Michelle or even Aunt Grace are... JUST there...

To sum it all up, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight is a fun show. It reminds me of all those years watching power rangers as a kid and hope Adness will do a PR adaptation in the future. I can honestly say that Kamen Rider has redeemed itself to American audiences. Now that we have this new show, we can forget about the original... Masked Rider, not Kamen Rider Ryuki.

9 out of 10.
Catch it Saturday mornings at 11:30 on the CW4KIDS, don't worry, its not made by 4kids its aired by 4kids... soon it might be on Disney XD or Cartoon Network or something.

Description
MARK REVIEWS KAMEN RIDER: DRAGON KNIGHT

I'm back... now lets move on to the Heisei era of Kamen Rider.

There is one show in particular that I wish to mention, Kamen Rider Ryuki.

Airing back in 2002, around the time of Ishinomori's death, Ryuki was vastly different than other Kamen Rider shows. Rather than it being a monster of the day, good versus evil and the Kamen Riders always using motorcycles... it was everyone vs everyone, monsters weren't a big deal enough and motorcycles played little to no importance.

During that series, a man reveal the existance of the mirror world and offers 12 people advent decks, which would turn them into Kamen Riders. They fight to the death in the Rider War and the winner would get one wish come true. Shinji, a reporter, uses his deck to and contracts with a dragon, that means the Dragon merges with his deck or something and gives him his power, and becomes Kamen Rider Ryuki. He doesn't want to win the war, but to protect the innocent from harms way. Along the way he befriends Kamen Rider Knight, who is basically like Batman in many ways. There were two endings for the show, I think. One was the original ending where Ryuki dies and Knight, upset he lost his closest friend, wins the war and uses the wish to sace his dying fiancee... then dies himself. Afterwards, Shiro, the man who started the war, did it all to save his sister from dying. Realizing that she'd have preferred death over letting so many people die in her name, he alters time so that she died and the Rider War and all those who died in it never happened. Yeah, talk about jumping the shark at the end of the series. Imagine if like in the last episode of Lost or Heroes and someone alters time so the events of the show never happened... Then there was the alternate ending where Knight dies and Shinji honors him by taking his deck and being both Ryuki and Knight.
Unlike other Kamen Rider shows, this one uses cards to summon weapons and use attack, much like the Mega Man RPGS of Battle Network and Starforce. Without a Contract Monster, the advent cards would create weak weapons. It was unique as there was no monster of the day like most shows, but it was an all Kamen Rider war.

Now there were other Kamen Rider shows at the time, but this is the one I want to mention. Why? Because from 2006-2007, this was adapted by Adness Entertainment, and became Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight. The words Dragon Knight are the english form of the word Ryuki, therefore a direct translation. As for why they didn't translate the word Kamen to Masked, my guess is they didn't want any connections to its ill-fated predecessor... oh, sorry, I mean... huhhhh, that other show .

In the world of Ventara, the world behind the mirrors, 12 Kamen Riders were the protectors until an evil alien named Xaviax convinced the original Dragon Knight to betray his friends and take over Ventara, leaving it abandoned. Only Len, Kamen Rider Wing Knight, remains. Wanting to take over Earth, Xaviax kidnaps people one at a time, tricking certain individuals with the same appearance and DNA as the Ventara Riders to be his servants, he tells one guy he'll get a million bucks and the other a chance at getting his life changed for the better. One individual however, did not get his deck from Xaviax. That person is 18 year old Kit Taylor. His father, having been kidnapped by Xaviax a year before the start of the series, gone, Kit has lived with Foster parents. He has been framed for multiple crimes, yet despite claiming innocence, no one believes him. After turning 18, Kit leaves his foster parents to live in his dad's apartment. That's something I've been curious of, how is Kit living there? I have not seen one episode where he works someplace and I doubt saving the world comes with a two week paycheck, plus his status as a "thief" would prevent any place of employment. I can only assume his dad left some money in the bank prior to vanishing. He then receives "psychic messages" from his dad, telling him to find the deck and search for the dragon. Afterwards, he hears these sounds and saves a gorgeous hispanic investigator, Maya Young, from monsters she couldn't see until they grabbed her, then Len appears and saves them both, but demands Kit give him the advent deck. Later, Kit learns about the "mirror world" and contracts with the red dragon, becoming Kamen Rider Dragon Knight. Later, he becomes friends with Maya, telling her about the mirror world and the two agree to find and save Kit's dad. Later Kit encounters another Rider, Kamen Rider Incisor, a rich kid who lost his money and is now working for Xaviax, who he thinks is his dad's lawyer, and fights to get paid. Later, Kit finally learns about everything from Len, about the Advent decks, Xaviax and even the original Dragon Knight looking like Kit. Perhaps the biggest thing he learned is about the Advent Void, similar to the Shadow Realm from Yu-Gi-Oh! When a Rider's deck is destroyed, that person and their Advent Beast are sent there and can never return. Not wanting to get vented, or to vent anybody, Kit quits but learns that by contract with the dragon, it's too late to quit. Agreeing to work with Wing Knight, Kit vows stop Xaviax and save the world.

Kamen Rider Ryuki was chosen over the other Heisei era shows because of all the Riders they could use, sort of to "make up for lost time" I guess. Dragon Knight's story telling is more like the japanese show, rather than a monster of the day, its a long connected line of episodes about the evil riders and Xaviax with Kit trying to find out how to save his dad, who gave him the deck and all that. To transform, a rider simply takes out his deck, causing a belt to show up, they say "KAMEN RIDER!" and then put the deck in the buckle, then it spins and suddenly two hoops of energy circle them and they armor up. Yeah, no Power Rangers morphing sequence, bummer, huh? Still, an improvment over... huhhhh, that other show!

Like Ryuki, they use advent cards to battle. My favorites are Dragon Knight's Sword Vent and Final Vent... the final vent is his rider kick, which actually finishes the opponent of. TAKE THAT ELECTRO SWORD! Way better in both name and usage as it actually hits the enemy, unlike the weapons and attacks from... that other show!

The characters here, aside from the young and determined Kit Taylor and the emotionless on the outside yet caring on the inside Len, along with the cold and cruel Xaviax and the eager to get to the truth Maya Young, we have other, non-ridre folks. Maya's crazy Aunt Grace who runs the bookstore she works at when she's not investigating the paranormal. She organizes the books by color and wants a parakeet named Tattoo... yeah, goofy but not Masked Rider goofy. Then there's Trent, a guy who works at the store who seems to have a thing for Maya. He, like many, believe Kit is a thief, claiming he stole his brother's mp3 player. He doesn't even bother hiding his disdain for Kit and mocks anyone who shows him sympathy. He's also a geek, being into Dungeons & Dragons, wishing to be abducted by aliens... so yeah, he's not exactly getting laid tonight or any other night. Then there's Lacey, Maya's black friend who dresses and behaves in the stereotypical "meet cute guys" attitude. She thinks Maya and Kit are couple and tries to flirt with Kit when around him. We also have Frank Grimes, a detective who was friends with Kit's dad yet doesn't even bother trying to find out if Kit is innocent. What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty? Then again, the show DOES take place in Los Angeles... Michelle Walsh is a rival of Maya who also investigate paranormal stuff, but is too arrogant to give anyone a chance. She mocks people and cares only about her coffee. She claims she could spot the phonies a mile away... she couldn't spot a truck coming towards her two FEET away because she's too busy complaining her coffee isn't sweet enough. Finally, there's Frank Taylor, Kit's father, who is found along with the other missing people is a sleepwalker-like state. Kit somehow received psychic message from his dad that has helped him. There is way more character development and the cast is way more thought out in personality and role... unlike... ugh, that OTHER show!

Let's talk about the action, no longer goofy or cut violence, its all coordinated martial arts. Len is even acted by a martial arts champion, Matt Mullins. Unlike Ryuki, it seems all riders ride motorcycles, even in civilian form. The only one never seen riding one seems to be Kamen Rider Camo, who is vented after 2 episodes... sucks since I never saw two more of his cards used or his monster.

As for the riders... Here they are
Dragon Knight- Kit Taylor, who wants to save his dad and the world (Contract monster: red asian dragon)
Wing Knight- Len, survivor of Ventara who wants to rescue his world (Contact monster: giant bat)
Incisor- Richie Preston, a rich kid who was kicked out and wants money (Contract Monster: Gold humanoid crab)
Torque- Drew Lansing, a con man who is aware of Xavaix's plans and wants to be rich and powerful (Contract Monster: Green robot Minotaur)
Camo- Grant Stanley, an underground martial artist who cheats to win and only cares about a good fight (Contract Monster: giant chameleon)
Strike- James Trademore, also known as JTC, a wanted hacker who is Xaviax's true second in command, he is devious and manipulative like his leader. (Contract monster: Cobra)
Thrust- Brad Barrett, a motocross champion framed by Xaviax and tricked into joining a tournament called "Battle Club" which is infact a trick to defeat Wing Knight (Contract Monster: Humanoid Rhino)
Sting- Chris Ramirez, a marine who loses his place in the military and tricked into thinking Dragon Knight and Wing Knight are criminals (Contract monster: mechanical stingray)
Axe- Danny Cho, a thief who looks out for his family (Contract monster: White tiger robot)
Spear- Albert Cho, Danny's younger brother and partner (Contract monster: Gazelle robot)
Siren- Kase, the only female rider, and in Ryuki, the first female ridr ever. Supposedly a survivor like Len and might have a romantic relationship with Kit (Contract monster: Metal Swan)
Wrath- Vic Fraiser, a construction worker in a coma... yet can somehow fight (Contract monster: Metal phoenix)
Onyx- unknown, a black armor version of Dragon Knight. Might be Adam, the original Dragon Knight who betrayed Ventara. (Contract monster: black asian dragon)

I should probably point out that the most popular motif for Kamen Riders is insects. Therefore Dragon Knight is one of the few Riders who isn't based on an insect, but to keep up with the Kamen Rider theme, his helmet has bug eyes.

Finally, General Xaviax himself. No info is given where he came from or what his reasons are, but Xaviax took over Ventara and wants Earth. He has a human form, but appears under a different name and occupation to each rider he tricks. This only confuses as to why he didn't recruit Kit... how did the Dragon Deck get there? Is Xaviax planning something he needs Dragon Knight for? Did Kit's father somehow steal it from Xaviax? It may take some time before we find out...

Finally, the music is more kickass that Masked Rider. That theme song just rocks! And the music played during a battle, awesomeness. Unlike that cheesy music with the cavemen chanting, we have the lyric "Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, together we can fight the fight; Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, together we can fight the fight, so let's ride!" repeated in a more catchier song. Totally unlike... that OTHER SHOW!

My only real complaints is that most episodes end in cliffhangers and the "Previously on..." montage takes like two minutes at the very least. Its okay to look back at what happened, but we don't need to see EVERY important scene that just happened! Sometimes, the characters aren't ALWAYS there... sometimes characters like Lacey, Michelle or even Aunt Grace are... JUST there...

To sum it all up, Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight is a fun show. It reminds me of all those years watching power rangers as a kid and hope Adness will do a PR adaptation in the future. I can honestly say that Kamen Rider has redeemed itself to American audiences. Now that we have this new show, we can forget about the original... Masked Rider, not Kamen Rider Ryuki.

9 out of 10.
Catch it Saturday mornings at 11:30 on the CW4KIDS, don't worry, its not made by 4kids its aired by 4kids... soon it might be on Disney XD or Cartoon Network or something.