Kamen Rider Geats: Opinions At The Half Way Point- The Toku Source (2024)

Kamen Rider Geats is a flashy stylistic showcase with substance – but is that substance any good? As the show reaches its midpoint, let’s take a look back at everything that’s come so far.

Hello there reader, I’m Danno, and today I’m going to be reviewing Kamen Rider Geats as we’re about halfway into the season. Why is this point- episode 24- the “halfway point” you may be asking? Well, other Yuya Takahashi seasons have only run up to episode 45. So unless he’s getting more time, I’m calling it here. This is the halfway point.

Before I get into this, I’d like to say my opinions are my own and I reserve the right to both hold them and shout them out to the internet. If you’re clicking on this and getting mad at my opinions, that’s your fault. In short, don’t be a prick.

Also, beyond this point THERE WILL BE SPOILERS (some a bit out of context albeit still spoilers) FOR KAMEN RIDER GEATS UP TO EPISODE 24!

If you’re planning of watching Geats, go do that before reading this article and if you know anything for any stuff happening after episode 24, don’t spoil that stuff in the comments.

Now, let’s get into

The Stuff I Like

I like a lot about this show, but lets start with the most important part of any story,

The Characters

I believe this show is doing something really great by not having every Rider be a saint. Yes, multiple seasons before it have done stuff like evil Riders, but not like Geats, where Riders that aren’t necessarily good people are forced to be good guys. That makes Keiwa (Kamen Rider Tycoon) stand out significantly above the others as my favourite character in the show. While I have some reservations calling him the “Main Rider,” he’s a great protagonist and serves as a great window into the world of the DGP. Our main Rider, Ace (Kamen Rider Geats), is also a character I really like but I have some reservations with him that I’ll discuss later. His no-nonsense to a little-nonsense attitude is great. I love dubious characters in general and our main Rider being one is so refreshing after a few years of Riders more in line with Keiwa, for example. Michinaga (Kamen Rider Buffa), as stated before, isn’t a good person but one of those very flawed Riders. I’m loving his story of how he’s getting his wish granted by joining the Jyamato, essentially, without him realizing it yet. Neon (Kamen Rider Nago) is a weird character. I’d like for more stuff to be done with her. The reveal of her father being a DGP sponsor was great but I’d like more of a follow through with that. I like her dad becoming her sponsor instead of some rando. Generally speaking, I like her personality, I’m just worried for the trajectory her story is going right now.

Now no toku would be complete without…

The Visuals

This is probably one of my favourite seasons in terms of visuals. I could go on and on about them… and I will, actually.

The CGI animation team, for the most part, are hitting it out of the park this season. There are only there exceptions to this. I’ll get to them. The suits for this season are actually amazing, some of the best suits in recent Kamen Rider history. Costume design outside of Rider suits are also pretty cool too. The DGP outfits and style of the DGP staff/sponsors really add just a tiny bit to the world building that’s really appreciated. The fight choreography and camera work, as well, is pretty fantastic this season. While I could do with less frozen shots, or at least moving on from said shots faster, they’re all really cool.

However, like any show, there are some elements that I don’t like more than others. So let’s get to

The Stuff I Don’t Like As Much

The Sponsors and The Twist of the Century

These are really only some nitpicks. The Sponsors are fine characters but there’s an issue they add to the show for me. Their twist. It’s a fine twist. It was built up to throughout the early show and it was executed well enough but, honestly, I feel like the twist was added in just to be a twist. Our characters are affected and I can tell it will have important plot importance later on. That’s great for a twist. It’s just that… I kinda feel the story doesn’t need the twist.

Let’s cast our minds back to one of the first seasons that had more than a few Riders showing up at once: Kamen Rider Ryuki. Ryuki was great because, while there was a plot going on, it was the characters driving the plot of the show. I wish it were the same with Kamen Rider Geats. Instead of plot inspiring the characters, I wish it was the characters inspiring the plot. These people don’t need to be from the future, they can just be rich people using modern day technology (for this story’s world at least) and magic to do as they please. I think that’d be more impactful than what they’re doing right now. These characters are fine by themselves. In fact, they’re a little charming (save for Neon’s sponsor, Kyuun). I just wish that instead of putting more effort into setting up the twist, Yuya Takahashi instead focused more on these sponsors as characters.

I’ll also be honest, I don’t like the CGI for Kyuun, Kekera and Beroba’s “Rider” designs. They’re bordering on just not being Riders, for me at least. I really hope they get physicals suits and fast.

That leads into my next point, which is

The Emotional Significance of Pacing.

I really wish this show was paced a little bit better. There are some episodes that I think would be more impactful as two parters and others that I think could’ve been just one part. I’m mainly thinking of episodes 15 and 16. 15 is fine but I think they should’ve made the emotional significance of Michinaga’s death stand out more by slowing the episode down a little bit. As for 16, it just should’ve been a two parter; end the first part with Win’s explosion and part two can show the significance of that event. Maybe show how Ace is shook up by the deaths of two people around him and how that influences his character going forward.

And on that note

What are my thoughts halfway through?

Yeah, I still like this show. It has some problems with the pacing and characterisation problems with the sponsors to address, I’ll be entirely honest. Even then, I still would like to believe this show has a lot of good in store for us in the second half. Kamen Rider Geats has a lot going for it. Good characters, a fun concept, and amazing visuals. I really hope it addresses the issues I have with it soon. It’s been good for one half, now it just needs to bring it back home in the second half.

How are you feeling about Kamen Rider Geats at the midpoint? Do you agree with my assessment of the show so far? Reach out to The Toku Source on social media or in the comment section below.

Related