One of the Best Reboot Ever!
As a fan of original KR Black series, I'm so excited to watch Black Sun because of behind the scenes team. I loved Kazuya Shiraishi's works and Shinij Higuchi, and let me just say that Black Sun has the BEST production quality in Rider franchise ever, so far at least. The visuals are breathtaking, the acting/performances was phenomenal, the story/characters were great, and yoo the SCORE/SOUNDTRACK was mesmerizing.I'm always a big fan of the story/plot that doesn't hold back and boy...Black Sun really went DEEP in the social commentary aspect and I was shocked on how real it got. I was like damn how they can get away with this stuff, its madness but I LOVED it! The chemistry between Aoi and Kotaro were definitely one of the HIGHLIGHTS for me, probably the best pair I've seen in a while, its just so good. There's one character that I absolutely HATED in the beginning because on how extreme his actions were, but at the end, he's the one that got me emotional the most (HINT: ep 9, the last man standing on the battlefield), SO GOOD!
I also loved how cohesive the switch back between the flashback and present. Its so hard and very complicated to make it flow smoothly but Black Sun managed to made it beautifully connected with each other, especially ep6 and 7 were PERFECTION. Then...the BEST FAN SERVICE in the opening of ep10...just chef kiss! If I have nitpicks, its that one scene/moment when the mantis kaijin in cgi mode and some foreign extras were just unintentionally funny lol but still it doesn't really took me out of the series. Finally, I'm very glad and so SATISFIED that I got to witness this 50th anniversary project from Ishinomori's legacy and I hope Toei keep up this standard and quality for their upcoming big, high budget project like Black Sun. Its crazy that we just got Fuuto PI anime which is I also LOVED, then Black Sun and now I can't wait for SHIN KAMEN RIDER next year! So good to be a long time KR fan.
Was this review helpful to you?
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.Was this review helpful to you?
WASTED POTENTIAL!
I’m gonna be honest, I’ve given Yuya Takahashi way more chances than he deserved, but surprisingly, he still can’t seem to get any better. In fact, it keeps getting worse.Zeztz is definitely a style over substance series. The technical aspects really did a lot of heavy lifting to cover for the writer’s weaknesses. A lot of the pros come from the designs, score and soundtrack, and especially the direction in some episodes, like those directed by Sugihara and Kamihoriuchi.
This series fumbled hard after the first arc, and in my personal opinion, it has some of the laziest and cheapest writing I’ve seen. Even the big twist itself wasn’t executed well.
Most of the actors did a good job, but the main heroine, Nemu, played by Horiguchi, could sometimes be pretty bland in her acting. The side characters and villains were also a major letdown. And then I see some fans saying Zeztz needed more episodes. Like...what do you mean, more episodes?!! lol
It needed less and a much faster pace. The first arc dragged on for way too long, and it took almost half the season to execute that whole “thing.” The finale also felt really forced, as if we were expected to watch other supplementary content just to fully understand the epilogue. That’s just bad writing overall.
In conclusion, this series could’ve been an all-timer if it had been written by someone who actually understood how to execute a sci-fi, high-concept storyline. Toei relies way too much on Takahashi when, frankly, he just doesn’t seem capable of handling this particular concept.
I really don’t want Takahashi to touch another Rider series anymore. I also think Zeztz is by far one of the most divisive series he’s ever written, and honestly, I hope Toei takes the reception to this series as a serious wake-up call.
Was this review helpful to you?
