Tokusatsu Review: Top 16 Main Kamen Rider Final Forms Introduction.

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Yep it's that time of the year again where the current Kamen Rider gets his Final Form and attains their defining stats, powers and in some cases a huge step in their character development. But the most important reason for this part of the franchise is of course that classic and essential part of mass entertainment no matter where you are in the world.

Yeah let's not kid ourselves here these shows relay on merchandising to keep the machine going and that's okay; money makes the world go round, people need to pay for food, homes, clothing, cocaine, to prevent Lord Xenu from conquering earth and whatever else they need it for. Now I know that it isn't all about the money but hey come on here people need to get paid for their hard work and provide for their families if they have one you know? I know that focusing too much on merchandising can kill a show in a snap but here's the trick, if the show's writing is compelling enough and people get invested enough with the show, then they'll buy the toys and whatnot of their favorite show to not only show their support but to keep a little piece of what they love in their homes to either show their kids or sell on eBay when the toy line ends. I kind of got off track there but the point is a Final Form more often then not helps to sell that years Rider to the fans, to help them decide how they stack up in the franchise. So this is my own personal list of the top 16 Final Forms of Kamen Rider as of 2015.

Now before we begin I will be laying down the criteria as to how I'll be ranking these forms. First is obviously aesthetics, first impressions are everything when it comes to judging something for the first time especially a Kamen Riders form, some might look really cool and badass, others however, might just look so nightmare inducing in it's heinousness that many would assume that the design was ripped right out of the Necronomicon. But yeah if it don't look good, you aren't going to be drawing in the casual passer by. Unless the intention is for them to watch out of shear hilarity by what they just saw, in which case; congratulations Joel Schumacher gives you his pity!

Yeah, the dude who gave this the seal of approval feels sorry for you, bra-vo!

Second, the powers that the form has. Final forms aren't much good if it can't help you take down the bad guys easier. I mean application beats out aesthetics any day of the week and a cool power can make up for a bad design most of the time. But for some of these, man that power better be worth it!

Third, its introduction and implementation in the series. One of the big WOW factors for the final form is in how the thing is introduced. The Rider is pushed to his absolute limit, the villain is about to kill him and make those that the Rider has been trying so desperately to protect suffer before begging for the sweet release of death. Then out of that desperation a new power emerges, symbolizing not only the Rider's resolve to protect those he cares for but also the culmination of their struggle against the threat the villain represents. But sometimes power like that can come at a cost, and the Rider will eventually have to pay the piper, and when that time comes, what will be lost?

Maybe just an arm and a leg. No biggie.

Fourth, my familiarity and feelings towards the Rider himself. Now keep in mind that I haven't seen every single Rider series so I don't know everything about the Riders or their series. I mean I've seen most of them and the four that I haven't I've seen reviews of their series so I at least have a general idea of what I'm working with. So if your favorite Final form isn't as high as you'd want it on the list, too bad, make your own and quit whining. Oh wait I forgot what internet I'm on.

Time to cover my house in bacon, again. Maybe this time I won't get brought to the nuthouse.

Finally, only final forms used in the Rider's respective series are going to be included in the countdown; so no Super Tatoba, no Meteor Nadeshiko Fusion States, and no Infinity Dragon Gold or anything like that. From the first episode to the last those are the parameters I'm going to be judging by and that is that. Now before we get to the list itself I might as well give my thoughts on the honorable mention; Kamen Rider Drive: Type Tridoron.

Why is this only the honorable mention? Obviously it's too new at the time of writing this post. The episode where it's introduced hasn't even been subbed so I can't comment on it without giving spoilers on its powers that I found on a Kamen Rider Wiki. So I just have the aesthetics to work with here; and oh lord this form.

I get what they were trying to do by incorporating Tridoron into the design but it just makes Drive look like if Ronald McDonald became a NASCAR driver. What kills it for me are the headlights on top of the eyes on the helmet, yeah obscure the field of vision even more then the extra plastic or whatever on the sides of the helmet that's practical costume design right there. Also the wheels on the feet don't help matters here. They just look like they'd hinder Drives maneuverability rather then help.

And you thought the big honking wheels on these things looked stupid!

Now for the cherry on top; the symmetry the suit could have had is ruined by the black left arm coming out from the Tire Shoulder-pad, but because the designers went the route they did with the tire they botched what could have been an at least passable design. In short a less then stellar looking Final form for a "meh" Rider for a unbalanced average series. Now again I would give more praise to Type Tridoron if I were allowed to talk about the buildup and powers but as of right now I can't. But wait! If Drive is the honorable mention why am I still calling this countdown the top 16? Well be sure to come back next time for the answer.

Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.
Spaceballs is owned by  Mel Brooks, Brooksfilms and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc.
Batman and Robin is owned by Warner Bros, DC Comics and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment.
Fullmetal Alchemist is owned by Studio Bones, Square-Enix, Funimation, Viz Media and Hiromu Arakawa.
Troll 2 is owned by Claudio Fragasso, Filmirage and Epic Productions.

Video Game Review: Persona Retrospective: Persona (PSP) Part 9: They're eating her, and then they're gonna eat me.

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So the group finally and I do mean finally make it all the way up to Kandori's lair where he's not exactly feeling all that good. Even when Aki offers to kill the group right then and there he just tells her to piss off and she does. Essentially the reason why he stopped acting like a bad Final Fantasy villain (at least for right now) is because even after he gained the power of a god he doesn't feel like he actually accomplished anything, so he asks the group what it is they're living for. He says that goals are what gives people the strength to carry on living, so after every single goal you have is achieved, what's the damn point? Mark says that they live to make the most out of every second of life.

 Reiji says its to wipe Kandori's bloodline off the face of the earth; question; does that include yourself? Kandori asks Naoya who replies that his purpose is to find his purpose. Well my solution, find something new, trust me if anyone has true desire, then nothing will ever be enough. You're essentially a god now right so take the route Dr Manhattan did and create new life in another part of the universe, come on this isn't all that difficult dude; you have all the time in the world.

Or you would if you really were a god, because guess what Kandori? Unless you truly are this all powerful entity that you claim to be you would have come across this solution already, but the truth is, you aren't a god; just a sad, miserable, egotistical schmuck with Crazy Steve level delusions of grandeur. Nanjo pretty much says that adding that seeing Kandori like this is just painful to watch him acting this pathetic. He knows that Kandori admits that he did absolutely nothing on his own and that's why he's sunken to this level. He says that Kandori and Maki's desire to destroy everything comes from their anxiety of the future; that if everyone feels as miserable and scared as they are that would somehow make them better.

Kandori snaps at this and attacks. After he's beaten; guess what you're still not done. Kandori's Persona Nyarlathotep turns out to not actually be his Persona and forcibly gives Kandori more power, transforming him into a monster called God Kandori. God Kandori is going to kick your teeth in. Not only does this transformation occur right after the fight with Kandori but it's still the same battle, so all the damage you took in the first battle is carried over into this fight, joy. Also God Kandori's weaknesses have almost completely reversed from his first form; he's stronger, has new attacks and has more HP. Yeah, have fun with that.

So once Kandori and Nyarlathotep are down for the count Nanjo asks him where the real Maki is. Where the alternate reality is revealed to be the real Maki's world in her heart; everything she knows as perfect and idealistic as she intended where everything is perfectly fitting with her world view from before her hospitalization, born from her despair of being trapped in the hospital, with little chance of getting better, cursing the world for her frailty, and her isolation from her friends and workaholic mother. The world was created when Maki's mind became linked to the Deva system before the first successful test run was finished one month ago. Her mind supposedly synchronized with the system creating a link between the worlds where Kandori entered and came into contact with Mai and well we know the rest.

Hey um, remember that X-Men reference back in Part 4? Yeah let me see if I've got this straight, a woman who is under extreme psychological stress, cursing the world for its unfairness and cruelty uses an unnatural power to create an alternate, ideal reality? OH MY GOD, PERSONA 1 REALLY IS HOUSE OF M!

Though thankfully this is nowhere near as stupid as House of M. It turns out that the Maki in the group, Aki and Mai were also parts of the real Maki's heart, Maki's ideal self, and her dark and light parts of her inner child respectively. Maki of course freaks out about this and runs off to the real Maki who Kandori has been keeping in the castle. Kandori asks the group to save Maki from becoming like him with his last breath.

So he dies and I'm sure he and Nyarlathotep will never trouble the world again. The group manages to find the Maki's with the real one hooked up to the Deva System like a life support machine. Aki is of course furious over Kandori's death and says that there's no one left who can save them now that they've killed the only person the real Maki could count on. Ideal Maki is not exactly stable at this point and is freaking out, even with everyone trying to calm her down she knows that everything that's happened, the town getting wrecked, the demons, Kandori nearly killing humanity is because of her. Aki and Ideal Maki run off with the Mirror of Chaos showing the Deva System overloading shattering the core and the Mirror of Chaos shatters as well leaving the group little chance of getting back inside the world of Maki's heart.

However the Ideal Maki left behind her compact and find another compact mirror on the real Maki. The real Maki's compact is complete while the Ideal Maki's is empty so the group fill in the empty compact with shard of the Mirror of Chaos and use its power to go back inside Maki's heart. One trip later and the group wakes up in the entrance of the Lost Forest with Setsuko waiting for them. Nanjo explains everything to Setsuko and take her with her to meet with Mai who's crying in the forest. They find her in her gingerbread house again and Setsuko apologizes to her for everything that's happened.

After she calms down Mai says that Aki has gone off the deep end and has gone to awaken the darkest, most evil part of Maki's heart, a monster called Pandora. Aki was then swallowed by Pandora who is now trying to completely destroy the world of Maki's heart which would end up killing the real Maki. The group asks where Pandora is and theorize that she could be behind the door in the Library that they couldn't open before. Mai says they're right but they'll need the power of the three compacts and the help of the Ideal Maki. They already have the green and red ones but they still need the last one and the Ideal Maki. Mai says that Ideal takes priority and that she's deeper in the forest. So the group finds Idea where's she's not exactly in a talkative mood.

Nor a very distinguishable mood right now.

She tells everyone to go away and that's she's going through her "I'm a monster" phase right now and with everything we've learned so far realizing that she's ultimately the cause of all this BS I can't exactly refute her claims.

See Shouichi, this is someone who's fears about being a monster are justified you self-absorbed butt-plug.

Mark and the others basically tell her that it's perfectly human to be jealous in someway or another and that no matter what happens, she's their friend. But she still insists that everything is her fault and that she's the worst person alive, until Naoya tells her to stop hiding behind her misplaced guilt. With some more words of encouragement from the rest of the group Maki comes to her senses and joins up with the rest of the group to stop Pandora. Back at the Gingerbread house Mai explains that to get to the last compact they have to find the true Maki Sonomura.

The one that they got from the real world doesn't have the power they require, Mai says that the real Maki's consciousness is hiding in the Alaya Cavern behind the shrine. Setsuko agrees to stay behind with Mai while the team goes to the cavern to find the real Maki. Mai gives them one more instruction. That when they have all three compacts, chant the spell Erusaer Tsymmom (Mommy's Treasure backwards) at the door and they'll finally have access to Pandora. Now to prepare for next time where we enter the cavern, find the real Maki and stop Pandora once and for all.

Shin Megami Tensai Persona is owned by Atlus and Sega.
Troll 2 is owned by Claudio Fragasso, Filmirage and Epic Productions.
Sam and Max: The Devil's Playhouse Episode 2: The Tomb of Sammun-mak is owned by Telltale Games and Chuck Jordan.
Monty Python' life of Brian is owned by Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Python (Monty) Pictures and Orion Pictures and Warner Bros. 
Kamen Rider is owned by Ishinomori Productions, Toei Productions, and Bandai.