I’ve just handed in my last essay (yay~) so I’m still in a huge writing mood and because I have so many Thoughts about Kamen Rider Geats, I wanted to actually write them down in a way that’s somewhat comprehensive. So! here is some guy on the internet’s thoughts on Geats (spoiler: I think it’s absolute peak (with a few nitpicks))
To be honest, I found out about Geats a while back (I think Roomie and I were watching either OOO or Shinkenger so it was quite early on in our toku journey lol). They showed Stars of The Stars of The Stars to me (idk how they found it!!! They just did and my life changed) and after reading the lyrics, I knew I would absolutely love Ukiyo Ace. I have a soft spot for characters who are chronic liars, you see (cough cough Kiriya-san cough cough), and Ukiyo Ace is just so smug (and he has every right to be, because he knows he’s the Guy ever). After watching some random Geats clips, I was 100% sure that even if I didn’t like the series, I would at least really like Ukiyo Ace lol.
(Side note: I adore Kamen Rider character songs, they always encapsulate the characters really well, especially the OOO songs, and honestly are a really good way of finding out if I’ll like a character. Okay back to GEATS!!!)
One thing about Geats is it’s just constant hype moments, the action scenes are really fun and flashy and I love the henshin/transformation poses each character does. It says a lot about each character (and they’re really fun to do irl~). Geats himself specifically reminded me of Wizard early on because both characters are really cool (I really liked how Wizard spins and kicks a lot in his fight scenes lol). I’m not saying Geats is like Wizard, their fighting styles are really different actually (Ukiyo Ace is more of a showoff than Souma Haruto imo) but man they’re so cool.
I also really like the gimmick with the desire driver, like how each rider can use any buckle but their core IDs are really only compatible with a few. It gave us some cool stuff (like Geats with the zombie buckle, huh wasn’t that fun!) and some unexpected stuff (I still can’t believe Ukiyo Ace didn’t get the magnum buckle immediately in Keiwa’s first DGP, what the hell Ziin).
Forms!! I like the form upgrades!!! They’re a bit more spoiler territory so I’ll probably talk more about them later but man they’re cool. My favourite Geats form is Laser Boost! It’s just so clean and futuristic-looking~ I wish Nago had gotten an actual full form though, not just a buckle but her final(?) form in the show was so cool!
Entry form is basic but I think it’s really effective design? The simplicity feels like they’re waving a huge flag in front of you saying “hey they’re going to get some upgrades soon, just give them a moment to get used to the DGP” and the ‘base’ buckles (like armed hammer and propeller) makes entry form look more fun but clearly something’s still missing.
Let’s talk about the rider designs themselves lol. I absolutely adore all of their designs. Geats boost+magnum himself is so clean??? Tycoon?? I love him?? Nago?? Absolutely cute?? Buffa?? So cool?? I don’t know much about designing stuff myself (the most I’d do is design outfits based on my Pinterest boards lol) but the rider designs are so cohesive and you can tell they’re from the same show. They’re not very bug-like but hey, neither is Ex-aid so I don’t think that’s a ‘must’ criteria for Kamen Rider designs these days lol. (Imo Blade has the most ‘Kamen Rider’ designs to ever Kamen Rider) I really like the animal heads and the fact that their names are mostly linked to those animals, makes them really easy to remember.
I’m going to start talking about characters and plot now. Spoilers will no longer be vague (but I mean if you’re here, I’m assuming you’ve already watched Geats because how else would you have found this otherwise? Anyways! You’ve been warned and I’ll just be talking randomly so everything’s fair game) I haven’t watched the movie at this moment so it’ll just be my thoughts about the series though.
First thing, the setting itself??? Battle royales are not a new concept to Kamen Rider obviously (see Ryuki and Blade) but the way Geats did it felt very influenced by Squid Game? The fact that the earlier games are usually pretty simple games (like capture the flag) draws that comparison BUT I’ve never actually watched Squid Game so it’s a pretty superficial comparison lol. It also reminded me of The Hunger Games but I’m sure that’s just the sci-fi looking interface and not much else. The concept of a battle Royale isn’t anything new so y’know, not surprised that it brings up comparisons. The DGP is so interesting, like the concept of possibly sacrificing your life (or your memories of said desire) just to get your desire/wish granted. Is it really worth it? Clearly the characters in the show think so lol. I like Geats’ format of showing a few DGPs before basically ripping the curtains and going “yeah so it’s really shady, Ace do you want to pick up the puzzle pieces and actually figure out what’s up with the DGP?” R.I.P to Ukiyo Ace’s win streak btw; I mean Girori cheated but still he lost his win streak :(
Honestly, my first reaction to seeing the Jyamatos was “oh they’re like ex-aid’s bugsters”. I mean they’re kinda different but also the same? They’re just basic bad guys though so honestly there’s nothing wrong with that. Anyways, using dead players as the “fertiliser” to grow Jyamatos is so cool??? When Rook turned into the firefighter guy (whose name I cannot remember sorry) I was like woah that’s cool, that’ll definitely torment Sakurai Keiwa. The Jyamatos’ designs themselves are also really nice, they’re somewhat plant-like which really fits the garden theme going on with them.
Nothing much to say about DGP upper management and the audience tbh, they’re other dimensional beings so they view the riders/DGP players as characters/toys to play with (kinda like us normal Kamen Rider enjoyers watching the show, ey?) so it’s pretty understandable why they don’t particularly care about the riders’ wellbeing, except Ziin. I hope he gets to live out his Ukiyo Ace yumedan dreams in the future (this train of thought has been brought to you by the Live for The Moment MV). Even then, he’s still somewhat projecting his ideal Ukiyo Ace onto ‘real’ Ukiyo Ace, y’know? Parasocial stuff. Anyways, I don’t like Kekera, good thing he suffers, I hope he burns for what he put Sakurai Keiwa through. Beroba: I support women’s wrongs. I’m kidding (I mean I do but I have more thoughts), I like how she doesn’t actually understand Azuma Michinaga’s reasoning for his desire so she misunderstood it as a desire to destroy everything when in fact he just wants to prevent more people from getting hurt. Something about how your perception of things warps reality or something (I’m not that deep).
I like all the side riders. I really enjoyed Daichi’s arc. He’s like W’s Philip if he never met Shotaro lol. Hareruya Win (whose name is super easy to remember because, obviously) is a nepo baby punk and y’know what he’s not that bad a guy after all. Sae!! I like her!! Big sis!!
Okay now to the main riders, I’ll start with Neon. I like that her desire is simple, “real love.” Honestly my initial thought was that she wanted romantic love but I’m so glad to have been proven wrong. There’s something beautiful in her desire for familial/platonic love and she got to experience it so many times in the series. Just like how Sakurai Sara is everyone’s big sister, Kurama Neon is everyone’s little sister and I think that’s really cute. The Fantasy buckle is so cool and the fact that she got it after she’s obtained her desire is so peak. I just wished it was a new “ultimate” form and not just a new buckle but still it’s really cool. Neon’s cute.
Azuma Michinaga, I really liked Buffa honestly. He’s just a guy filled with rage, and then as the show goes on you learn that his thirst for revenge was actually a desire to protect?? Peak. I also thought his interactions with Ukiyo Ace are funny, I’m a sucker for a good enemies to lovers thing lmao (this is me being delusional by the way). Full zombie is so cool, and the purple they chose is such a nice colour. I liked that at the final arc he basically switched positions with Keiwa and was Ace’s ally lol. I feel like the half-Jyamato thing was a cop-out? But it’s also easily explained by “oh he’s a zombie so he can’t actually die but we’re going to treat him as fertiliser anyways!!!” so I’m not too bothered by it. Buffa’s cool!
So Mr. World Peace himself, Sakurai Keiwa, oh man. He’s a traditional protagonist, as in all he wants to do is save the world and protect people, super kind and trusting almost to a fault. I knew about Bujin Sword before we watched Geats though so I kinda knew that Sara was going to die or something horrible was going to happen to her, because she’s the only family member he has left y’know? The Bujin Sword arc was great!!! It shows that even the most altruistic-seeming wishes are inherently selfish (why did he wish for world peace? So he can live happily with his big sister, of course. There’s no point to wishing for world peace if big sis is gone!!! (bujin sword in a nutshell)) I was a bit worried because why was Bujin Sword introduced 9 episodes before the final episode??? Is that enough time to resolve his emo arc??? Well it was, but honestly it felt like something that should’ve happened mid-season (I think it was resolved pretty well, there was no way in hell that Sakurai Keiwa would end up staying enemies with the other main riders lol) Can you tell I really like all the riders in Geats? Lol.
SO UKIYO ACE. I can’t believe he actually became God at the end, I thought the Kamen Rider wiki was playing a joke on me or something. I got a bit too ahead of myself oops. You can tell from episode one that he thinks he’s the coolest guy around and he kinda is so you can’t really knock him down a peg but you still lowkey want to fight the man. These are my thoughts when I watched the first episode, and I would still like to fight him (I will lose, I have no stamina or power). I really like how they slowly revealed his motivations, like why does he keep joining the DGP even though he’s won so many times? It’s because they can’t grant his actual desire and so he wanted to dig deeper into the DGP and what their deal was. The mystery around his mum and the reincarnation thing was such a cool reveal? And the fact that he wasn’t lying about having joined the DGP since 1 AD? Ukiyo Ace’s life story is so unbelievable that the truth sounds like a lie. I love those types of characters. One thing I really like is him trying to befriend (or at least find out more about) the other riders. He wants friends :(( He makes friends, he is happy. AND THEN THEY FORGOT HIM AT THE END???? If I had a nickel for every time that happened, I’d have two nickels, and you know the rest. (Wait maybe three? Idk I’ve yet to watch Gaim)
Though, I wasn’t really bothered by Geats not getting upgrades early on, because the DGP stuff was normal enough so he didn’t need any upgrades, but I felt like he got too many of them at once? It feels like we’ve only seen Boost Mark II in a couple episodes and then he immediately got Laser Boost, which I know is an upgrade that only works if he has Ziin’s Raise Riser but still it felt too sudden. (This is heavily biased as, again, Boost Mark II is my favourite Geats form) Geats Mark IX is peak though, the nine-tailed fox buckle is so cool.
His reunion with mom :(( I’m glad they reunited for a bit even if it was short. He got his desire without winning the DGP!!! Everyone did actually!!! And that’s neat.
That’s all I have to say about the Geats series in itself. I absolutely despise rating things out of 10 so I’ll just say that, Geats is really fun. It has great music and well-written characters. (AND NO ONE IS SIMPLY THERE TO GET FRIDGED!!! IM FREE) I have some nitpicks but hey am I really a fan if I consume things blindly? I think you can enjoy a series while acknowledging that there are things that could be better haha. Anyways, I will be buying a Geats nui, and he will be accompaniying me on my trips to the outside world :)
If you’re still reading this, thank you for listening to a madman’s ramblings. I hope you have a nice day/night and may your desires come true~
