Kamen Rider Geats (2022)

Pretty enjoyable but could've been better

For me this is the most consistent Takahashi's show which is good but he still used the same trope that he already used before in his previous shows. Most of the characters are good but some of them are just absolutely wasted. What make me rate this more than a mid show is because the directing and the amazing action set pieces. Out of all reiwa main series, Geats is definitely the best in term of action, Satoshi Fujita did an amazing job as a debut action director. Even though I think this is not one of the great series, I think this one is possibly the most easiest/safest choice for a newcomer to watch a rider show. Overall, its a fun series.

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My first impression of the show was that Geat was a combination of the elements of Kamen Rider Blade, Ryuki as well as Garo: Versus Road. A Rider Battle game in which the final victor gets their wish granted. But unlike the Mirror World in Ryuki, the DGP was set in the real world, in which, depends on the game... can be set in the any time periods as the Game Master decide. The survival game elements in this show really reminds me a lot about Versus Road, tho the execution of it was slightly different.

I really like the writing of the show. Takahashi Yuya really impressed me on how the series treated the plot by making the Kamen Rider's mission to protect the world into a 'game show'. And the more one delve into the series, one can't help noticing some parallels to some of the well remembered scenes from past kamen rider series... which was fun to see.

I really love the cast. And Kan Hideyoshi was especially very adorable. He really carried Ukiyo Ace's character very well in showing the fox's cunningness as well as the mystery behind Ace. And I also love his dynamics with Sakurai Keiwa aka Tycoon, as both of them keep on growing into being a true Kamen Rider whose mission was to protect the world.

As much as Geats wasn't really perfect and had its share of flaws like any other series, it's still a very fond series for me that I'd keep going back to whenever I missed seeing the cast. The OSTs were great and it's been a very long while since I've enjoyed a great number of good insert song by the cast and for the characters. And the series do have great fight choreographies as well as camera works that made it such a joy to watch.

And I love how a lot of Geats lore incorporate a lot of Japanese mythological elements in the story since I'm quite a fan of those kinds of tales.

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Definitely a highlight

Geats is a show which aims to do a lot but sadly doesn't follow through with everything it promises. Nontheless Geats is an engaging show with a fun premise and really enjoyable characters. The driver gimmick makes every new episode exciting as Geats or another rider can find a new power at any time so it keeps the fights interesting. Geat's action is often over loaded with explosions and effects that make it difficult to trace everyone's movements but the gimmicks keep them conceptually interesting. The story is aims to do a lot and while it doesn't hit every note it needs to, it still ends in a satisfying way.
Overall, an exciting show that keeps your attention even through some of the more meandering arcs. Defenitely worth the highlight.

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Mild spoilers ahead:

Everything the show did well:
-Really likeable cast overall.
-Consistently amazing action and battle choreography, arguably the franchise's best.
-Great jazzy soundtrack.
-Really interesting twists and plot developments.
-Most the side Riders that only last one arc manage to be memorable and likeable.
-Aside from the main antagonist, while not really impressive the villains in the show all manage to be pretty memorable and likeable.
-Great final episode.
-The show has a lot of style to its direction.
-The gimmick of having the Riders participate in games makes every two-parter and battle really memorable and different from other tokusatsu.
-Extremely good use of form changes.

Everything the show did bad:
-Girori and Ace's characters and acting feel kind of inconsistent at times.
-The show's writing quality drops in the second half. In the third quarter Keiwa barely gets to do anything and Neon does some really dumb decisions. In the last quarter the conclusion to both characters' arcs start and finish there, while their arcs make sense and were properly set up and foreshadowed in the first half, they happen so fast which makes their emotional weight lacking. The second half is also lacking due to the show having one of the most generic and forgettable main antagonist in the franchise.
-Despite the rest of the villains being individually likeable, there's too many of them around simultaneously to be properly developed.
-While Michinaga is a likeable character overall, the show tries to paint him as an anti-hero which doesn't really work since there was no way for him to know the truth behind his actions.
-The cast barely critizes Neon for her actions in the second quarter which makes a lot of the aspects of said arc feel like filler.
-The show feels overly critical of Keiwa's way of thinking. While he's extreme and naive, due to the nature of the deaths of the people he wants to revive it feels like there's hardly anything wrong with his goal, it's just his actions in the second half that's a problem. Yet even prior Keiwa's wrongdoings the show treats him like a punching bag and as if his goal is too naive despite making sense which makes Ace feels like an hypocrite at times.
-Hallelujah Win feels heavily sidelined.
-The world of the supporters/sponsors doesn't get explored enough and it's mostly just left to the 4 Aces movie.
-While not strictly necessary for the plot, a considerable amount of Hallelujah Win's and Niram's character development and world-building is left to the Kamen Rider PunkJack special.
-Tsumuri feels underdeveloped.
-The Riders motif feel pretty boring and basic compared to other seasons.
-The show has artificial humans as a plot point, which isn't a bad thing but since the 3 Takahashi Rider shows aired so close to each other it makes this plot point feel repetitive if you're watching the seasons in order.

Reasons for the show strenghts:
Main writer Yuya Takahashi learned from his past mistakes and actually did think the secondary rider character arc and gave the characters downtime for them to interact while still keeping his fast-paced style of writing. He made a really interesting setting.

Reasons for the show flaws:
Takahashi wanted to make too many villains simultaneously which made it so the villain cast isn't properly developed.
The staff didn't properly tell Ace and Girori's actors how their characters were supposed to be because they were afraid they would spoils plot points, so their characters are kind of inconsistent.
The show's toy manufacturer Bandai changed the show's second half for the worse due to delaying the cast upgrades. This resulted in Keiwa and Neon not getting much to do in the third quarter and their arcs concluding really fast without having proper weight. This also resulted in Hallelujah Win not being able to transform into Punkjack since they repainted his suit for Neon's arc but said repaint ultimately ended up being used in the final quarter rather than the third, making it so they weren't able to repaint it back on time. This rewrite also force them to change who the main antagonist was supposed to be, which resulted in the impromptu boring antagonist Suel.

Overall:
The show is the most 7/10 show in the franchise which makes it an excellent show for a beginner to Kamen Rider I guess. It's just great and interesting enough to get you watching but it has enough flaws to keep it from being a really great show so it will get you excited for other shows in the franchise. Overall pretty great show but not really a stand-out one.

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A Good Entry, Despite Flaws

Geats is a clumsy story, but a fun one. With a great OP and an interesting concept, relating to winning a sort of Death Game to get a wish, it ends up being a very interesting form of Kamen Rider as they combat each other for the sake of winning. However, it doesn't stick with this concept the whole way through the story and ends up changing to focus less on the aspect of a battle royale and more like a standard Kamen Rider story. This ended up disappointing me somewhat. Characters have decent chemistry, though at times it can be somewhat flat and businesslike for a large majority of the series. Suit designs have great potential to be interesting as it begins with the concept of item pickups akin to a video game, but again it ends up being tossed aside for the sake of consistent, merchandise-worthy forms. Not bad forms, but considering what the series started out as, it ended up disappointing me a bit. Fight choreography goes really hard sometimes, especially when they use the show's gimmicks to set up specific opportunities that would not have been available in other stories. Overall, a story with a lot of potential that does unfortunately fumble the bag.

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