[Review] Kamen Rider Kiva- Not all bad

Written By: A Goofy Goober January 18, 2020

Alright, I’m getting this out of the way now. I did my favorite Kamen Rider Ghost, my second Kamen Rider Hibiki, and now my third, Kamen Rider Kiva. It's a story told from two perspectives, a tale of one’s goal and another’s desire. I thought this was done well enough, not as good to others, either because their wrong or I’m clearing looking at this show the completely wrong way, but I don't care, and you probably don’t care either reading this, so let's get on with this.

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Plot

Across the years, humanity has been menaced by the vampire-esque Fangire, one of 13 monster races that exist in this world. The organization known as the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization of hunters tries desperately to hold the line. 2008's main hope rests in Wataru Kurenai, a violinist that lives alone in the infamous "haunted house" with some very strange habits. His father has died, leaving behind his magnum opus, the Bloody Rose violin. Whenever the strings of the Bloody Rose vibrate, Wataru is called to do battle, using his partner bat Kivat to transform into Kamen Rider Kiva to fight off the Fangire. The story is told in two time periods simultaneously, with events in the past directly affecting the present. In 2008, Wataru struggles with his legacy as Kiva while contending with the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization. Of particular note are two members: Megumi Aso, a model by day and Fangire hunter by night who wishes to carry on her mother's legacy, and Bounty Hunter Keisuke Nago, the organization's top operative who wields the power to transform into Kamen Rider IXA and has a vengeful obsession with defeating Kiva and the Fangire.

MEANWHILE

In 1986, Wataru's father Otoya Kurenai waltzes through life falling for every woman he sees, trying to make them fall for him, at the same time the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization struggles to fight off the Fangire threat. He falls for Yuri Aso, the organization's top operative who seeks to avenge her mother's death, and joins her in their fight as the newest member of the organization. He soon comes into conflict with another new operative, a mysterious vagabond named Jiro, who is chosen to be the user of the Wonderful Blue Sky Organisation's newest weapon: the prototype IXA System. But when the Fangire Queen takes a deeper interest in humanity, a chance encounter between her and Otoya will change the battle lines forever. It’s a love story of two viewings.

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Theme

Break the Chain is the opening theme for Kamen Rider Kiva. It was performed by Tourbillon. That’s all I'll go into because one, the Wiki does not go into more detail. This is one of those songs you pretty much have to listen to for yourself. I have this song in my playlist, I love it so much.

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Main Guy

Wataru Kurenai is a shy young man who teams up with Kivat-bat the 3rd to fight against the Fangire Race and protect humanity as Kamen Rider Kiva, initially because the Bloody Rose told him to "fight". Left as a child, Wataru lived in a European-style manor that his father lived in. However, as the building has since said to be haunted, Wataru was referred to by his neighbors as the Ghost Boy for his strange appearance, later donning a mask and glasses as an adult to protect him from the "world's allergies" and using a notebook to express himself without talking. He only has one friend, Shizuka Nomura, who I'll go into detail later. When a female lawyer named Aya Natsukawa arrives at Wataru's home with a list of the various people that his father Otoya had victimized with his antics, Wataru is devastated to know a side of his father his mother never told him. After meeting Keisuke Nago and getting his advice, Wataru performs acts of moral obligation for his father's sins, finding the forgiveness he wanted.

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Did you Know

• Did you know, the chains used for kiva’s suit were made out of real steel chains, making Kiva’s suit one of the heaviest Kamen Rider suits. Because of this, Seiji Takaiwa, Kiva’s suit actor would have massive heat strokes while filming.

• Did you know, Toei relieved in the Kamen Rider Decade net movies that Kiva’s helmet is not based on a Bat, but rather a jack-o-lantern?

• Did you know, that in the first episode of Kiva, it gives a commemoration of what would have been Ishinomori Shotarou’s 70th birthday, creator of the Kamen Rider Series?

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Who

This next section isn’t going to really be important in this, just like the character I'm about to mention. Shizuka Nomura is a young schoolgirl who stands up for Wataru, as being a mother figure to him. She seems casually aware of Kivat's existence from the start of the series, knowing that Wataru is Kiva, although it usually shows her crush on him in reality. After a woman named Mio appears and Wataru starts falling for her, Shizuka becomes visibly jealous. She once tries playing the middleman and lying to both sides to keep them apart but sees how her charade affects Wataru and gets them back together, settling for being just a mother figure for Wataru. That’s pretty much it.

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(Editor's note - That kinda looks like me when I was a kid, and rip getting mother-zoned 😂 )

What

What movie

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I have not seen this movie but from what I heard, no.

Monsters

The Fangire Race, are a race of vampire-like monsters in the show. They are stained glass-based vampires who feed off of the Life Energy of humans to survive. By using glass shard-like Life-Sucking Fangs to drain the Life Energy to maintain their souls, members of the Fangire Race can assume human forms to hide within everyday society to feed in secret. Only revealing their forms when their skin takes a uniquely variant stained glass pattern. When a human's Life Energy is stolen by their Fangs, the victim becomes transparent like glass, and in some cases the body will shatter when touched. Each Fangire belongs to a specific class based on the animal form it takes, and each Fangire has a true name. A Fangire can at least live up to three times longer than a human, barring being killed. Upon a natural death, the monster's physical body shatters like glass and collapses in a heap.The Checkmate Four are the four most powerful members of the Fangire race, each bearing a tattoo of the chess piece they are named after. These four Fangires receive the titles of Rook, Bishop as the keeper of Fangire laws, Queen and King, the rulers of Fangires.

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Batman but not

Kivat-bat the 3rd, called Kivat for short is a character in Kiva serving as the Kivat partner and transformation device to Wataru. Kivat is a solid character with a dry wit, sometimes having a bitter attitude. Deep down though, Kivat is kind, friendly and caring. This is shown as he cares deeply about his partner Wataru, forming a partnership with him since infancy and giving tips during battle against others. That’s pretty much it except his voice actor also voices JoJo so he is already the best by default.

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Seconds

Keisuke Nago is a 22-year-old elite member of the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization and the main user of Kamen Rider Ixa, the secondary rider for Kiva. He is also a bounty hunter who after catching his “Prey’ he takes a button from them as a memento of him capturing them. He was unaware that the person he is mentoring, Wataru, is the individual he is trying to kill, Kiva. When encountering Kiva, Wataru manages to evade him, not engaging in any form of combat against the person he looks up to. However, when he was ultimately left with no choice, Wataru reluctantly transforms into Kiva and soundly defeats Ixa. Since then, Keisuke becomes mentally unstable to the point of attacking criminals without mercy while proclaiming that the Ixa System lost, not himself. Keisuke eventually got the button of the Seastar Fangire and added it to his collection, seemingly snapping back to reality.

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MEANWHILE

In 1986, Jiro is the human form of the violent and impulsive Garulu, the strongest and last surviving member of the Wolfen Race that was decimated by Rook in one of his Time Plays. He is also the first user of the IXA Belt in 1986. In the human guise of Jiro, Garulu sees the world as a place of utter corruption and usually prefers to be with Castle Doran as its lead caretaker. In 1986, Jiro is a regular at the Café mald'amour and attacked regulars in secret to feed on them. Recognizing Yuri as an "ideal wife" to revive the Wolfen Race through, Jiro joins the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization to get revenge on them and becomes the first user of the Ixa System, saving Yuri Aso from the Earwig Fangire and also alerting Otoya Kurenai to his true nature, with the two at odds with each other unless Yuri's in any danger.

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Best-o Best-o Best-o-Man

Otoya Kurenai was a violinist and the primary user of the original IXA system. He is known for being the only human to transform into Kamen Rider Dark Kiva, although the strain from doing so cost him his life. Spoiler alert but not really. Otoya Kurenai is Wataru's father who battles the Fangire menace in 1986. His ideology was that "All humans are music" and his reason for fighting Fangires was to protect that music. Otoya was a ladies man who retires from being a professional violinist for reasons unknown. It was by accident that he interferes in Yuri Aso's mission and was eventually brought into their group as a result. Though normally a casanova, Otoya was vexed on anything marriage related, things always staying the same, and others getting in his way. He was the first to learn Jiro is actually a Wolfen, although no one believes him until later when Jiro threatened Yuri and reveals himself. He then becomes the second user of the IXA System when Jiro was exposed, putting up a front of not suffering the suit's side effects. He was also capable of reasoning with Fangires, and the other Demonic Races who are not truly evil. An example is that he befriended Ōmura Fangire as he convinces him not to harm others. However, after he passes in 1986, and a strange turn of events in 2008, Otoya's spirit makes his appearance when he suddenly finds himself in Wataru's body due to a failed attempt of a fortune teller to do the ritual for Nago trying to learn Kiva's identity. During that time, he recognized Megumi and Kivat as the children of those from his time and also starts building a new violin with Wataru unaware that his father was building it through him. Although he didn't appear to be the best role model, his son also respects him greatly and wished to meet him. When they do indeed meet, and Otoya learns that Wataru is his son, Otoya in his own way acted as a father for Wataru showing how much he can care for others. He would appear to Wataru in spirit one final time, encouraging his son not to give up as he lives on through him. Even after sacrificing himself to stop the Fangire, Otoya continues to support his son in spirit and encouraged him to not give up when Wataru was fighting the revived Bat Fangire.

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Problems

The story feels like it's written by someone with an extreme case of ADHD. Wataru wanna be a man? Let's focus on his dad instead. Nago lost IXA? Turn him into a comedic character for no reason. Otoya finally gets the girl, oh wait NEVERMIND NEW GIRL TIME! Every new additional story element, therefore, feels very forced and blindsided for me. As a result, it makes it hard for me to be invested in the show. And yes, I've seen all of it. The fight scenes are a nice reflection of what I'm talking about. Fangire of the Day appears (or worse, Checkmate Four) and you think s**t's gonna get real...and we jump to another scene. By the time we jump back, Kiva has won. This is assuming Kiva is not going into Emperor form, in which case, fight scenes are even shorter due to having an ultimate form that contains no drawbacks, weaknesses, and nobody who can really stand up to him save perhaps Saiga. Kiva does have some good things going for it. I like the costume designs of heroes & monsters alike. I love the soundtrack. I like the base premise of the show (feels very Castlevania/Darkstalker-ish). I feel like the show had a lot going for it that they never really expanded. So the show has some merits for me. Plus,13 monsters? Only about 6-7 of them actually appeared. WhAt?

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Noooo

Overall 7/10

This show is a chore to get through, I remember the first time watching this it took me forever to get from episode 6 to 7, but I still enjoyed it., I wouldn’t want to watch this show for a second time. But the suits were nice, the monster designs are FANTASTIC, some of the best, but everything wrong with this show unfortunately exists. Is it still recommendable? Yeah, I would say so. I was happy with the show and how it made me love this series more.

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LOCK ON

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Fruit Jesus for life.

Bye

Im a Goofy Goober

Rejoice! The one to inherit all powers across time and space, the only king who will rule over the past and future because he had nothing else to do! His name is Im a Goofy Goober. We bear witness to the advent of a new age.