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Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: FUUTO PI
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AQuin1904
Posts: 270 |
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Really excited for this one, although I can't give anything resembling an unbiased opinion on it. I watched Kamen Rider W on TV when I was in Japan on a study abroad program, so I'm really enjoying revisiting it and seeing what some of these things look like animated.
I agree that seeing the fights drawn instead of CGI was a relief. |
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MFrontier
Posts: 13704 |
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The two-in-one Kamen Rider returns! Now in anime form!
I have to say, as an anime fan all my life and who got into Kamen Rider around middle school and watched Kamen Rider W when it was airing concurrently at that time...it's so amazing for me to finally see one of my most favorite shows in anime form and depicted so faithfully and effectively. Like, they adapt Begin's Night! Anime Sokichi! Saeko/Taboo Dopant! Masquerade Dopants! And yes, it's a godsend that the Rider action is actually traditionally animated and not CG, because I was really worried about that going into it. (Even the episode title convention is the same as the original show!) It's weird hearing some of my favorite anime VA's voicing characters I associate so much with their live-action actors, but having already had experience with the Memory of HeroeZ game, the cast in this do a great job of embodying the characters and making them act and sound like themselves. Seeing the supporting cast again and in anime form was so surreal. Lily is a redhead now (I wonder how much of that is "manga" or "anime" or because they couldn't use the actors' likeness). Tokime is the latest femme fatale criminal who has caught Shotaro's eye, and she represents how this is definitely an anime and that Rider ain't just for kids and moms anymore with all her overt sexiness and fanservice. I mean, her Gaia Memory was in her panties! Panties that might not even be hers! I think something is definitely up with the Katsuyuki Konishi character and the fact that the client is so insistent on getting the suitcase back instead of the money. Can't wait for the first proper Henshin scene next week. |
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Joe Mello
 Posts: 2305 Location: Online Terminal |
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It is worth pointing out to anyone who finds this as an infection vendor that Bandai did put the first two episode of live-action W legally on YouTube, so you see some of the parallels for yourself.
I fully agree that this is a reimagining of the original's premiere, but it fully demonstrates that that this creative team "get" W. I feel like, as a fellow toku fan who is hype for this show in particular, it's worth mention how unusual it is for Kamen Rider (or toku in general) to start with a character(s) whose skills and role in the world are this well-ensconced, and I actually can't imagine this franchise being successful without knocking that out straight away. There are still a few set pieces that we have yet to see; one will definitely be happening next episode, but I am eagerly anticipating them. Also, real talk, I didn't know I needed this, but Shotaro's instagram game needs to be A Thing early and often. 
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Yttrbio
 Posts: 3670 |
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I've got basically zero Kamen Rider experience, and the first episode worked perfectly fine for me, so I think they've definitely met that goal.
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11588 |
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Had no idea what this was even about going in, to the point that I didn't realize "PI" was initials and not "pee." It seemed as likely to me that the title stood for "F'd Up Uto-pi(a)". But I mostly felt like I got what was going on and had a good time with it, and I'll stick around just to hear Hosoya voicing a half-boiled detective and a hard-boiled yakuza in the same season.
But if I can't figure out soon what other show these character designs look like they're from (esp. that stupid side-slash in all the irises) it's going to drive me nuts. It really distracted me because I couldn't place it. |
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ANN_Lynzee
ANN Executive Editor
 Posts: 3029 Location: Email for assistance only |
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Personally I thought the designs looked like Tiger & Bunny-ish. This is my first Kamen Rider anything and I thought it was fun!
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MFrontier
Posts: 13704 |
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Tiger and Bunny is very Kamen Rider-esque in terms of design in some regards, so I'm not surprised. |
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#sukkar
Posts: 120 |
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It's literally the same creative team, so that makes sense. (the manga is written by the show's original head writer and supervised by its producer) |
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dreamEnd
Posts: 53 |
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It's pretty surprising that of all Kamen Riders, W is the one that got an anime adaptation. Den-O is the series thats closest to an anime with all the anime tropes and the familiar voice actors playing the characters there, they even got a mini series with chibi characters. Even the Isekai of Kamen Rider, Decade, got his own one-shot manga.. But W? Honestly I'm pretty intrigued. I might binge this when they finished airing.
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Oby
Posts: 108 |
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I have one complaint though: Shotaro is not supposed to be that handsome
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UkiyaSeed
Posts: 117 |
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Because they got a manga to get material from. Will not be surprised that if Kamen Rider Den-O will get a manga, it will be adapted once it is popular and has enough material. |
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AmuroNT1
Posts: 107 |
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Man, when they first announced Fuuto PI was getting animated I was so happy. Double is still one of my favorite Kamen Rider shows, and absolutely what I would suggest as a "beginner" show for someone who wanted to see what KR is all about.
Honestly, my opinion of the first episode is pretty well in line with Chris's review, that it does a good job of introducing newcomers to the World of Double without feeling like it's just a rehash of the original show's first episode or overwhelming the audience with the fact that this is a sequel to a 49-episode show that they probably never saw. The little nods to the original show work both as world-building for newbies and loving nods to veterans; I'm such a nerd that I actually marked out over the scene at Lily and Frank Shirogane's coffee shop, which also appeared in the recent "Kamen Rider Revice: The Mystery" miniseries. I think my two biggest critiques are quite minor. Firstly, the soundtrack feels a little off. Fuuto PI has the same composers as the original TV series, but at the moment the music lacks the jazzy punch that they made Double's OST just as memorable as its theme songs. If anything, it feels like the "similar but legally distinct" versions of iconic songs like the Terminator or Jaws themes that get used in parodies. Hopefully it'll pick up a little in future episodes. The second, and a much more minor issue, is that I feel like the fight scene at the beginning of the episode lacked the "oomph" I'm used to from Double. Of course, I fully recognize that there's a giant gulf between a staged live-action fight scene and an animated one, plus you could argue that it's supposed to be frenetic given the context, but again I hope this improves in future episodes where we get to see more of Double. (And like Chris said, I'm super glad that he's rendered in traditional animation instead of just being a 3D model.) Other than those minor quibbles, it was a great first episode and I really hope it inspires more people to join the cult of the karate bugmen. Heck, maybe if we're lucky, Toei will strike a deal to get the original Double subtitled and streaming so everyone can see what weirdos like me have been talking about since our first trip to Fuuto back in 2009. |
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-Matthew-
Posts: 1537 |
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It is an amazing detective series! I recommend to watch it to all who like mysteries!
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HyperGatack
 Posts: 216 Location: MA |
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Naw, they F’d up Utopia in the penultimate episode of the live action |
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MFrontier
Posts: 13704 |
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They dragged out the Henshin as long as they possibly could but dang it if it wasn't the most beautiful and well-animated thing about the episode. And ending on the "Count Up Your Sins" line...perfect.
The new Opening isn't W-B-X, but it's pretty solid, and watching W and Accel fighting Dopants together in animation is great. The new villains look like they'll be an interesting contrast to the Sonozaki's (whose Dopant forms all make cameos!). They can really go all out with the Dopant designs now that it's all animated, Road looked really cool. Oh hey, it's Akira from the last episode of W! And he's getting more game as a middle-schooler than Shotaro is. Then again, Tokime is joining the cast officially it seems and it appears she's falling for him too... I wonder if Tokime isn't some kind of Cat Dopant given the way she acts some times. But if her Gaia Memory is broken, how does she have powers? Have they fused into her somehow? Something seems up with that bag when Chuta is so determined to get it and the Yakuza thug made it a point that he wanted it as well. I see Ultraman isn't the only tokusatsu anime that can do an Ending theme of everyone dancing, but it was surprisingly well-animated/choreographed! |
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