Kamen raidâ Ryûki

Rewatched the series during lockdown and nostalgia flooded me.

The story is amazing, and the actors are pretty good. In fact, none of the Kamen Rider series are as good as Ryuki, in my opinion. There are other good ones like Kuuga, Agito and Kabuto - basically the earlier Heisei era riders are awesome.

If you are looking for a more "mature" type of Kamen Rider series, this is it. Don't confuse this with the American version of Dragon Knight which doesn't hold as much complicated storyline as Ryuki does. Basically, I'm satisfied with how the series end, and how Toei made several spin-offs for the series.

Sure, the CGI effects (not sure if you could even call it that back then) in the show are clunky and most of the time did not look surreal at all. But you have to remember this show was shot in the early 2000s. And some of the dialogues in the show were pretty corny and lacked context in certain scenes, but you have to remember the Kamen Rider series mainly targets children and young teens.

The atmosphere and settings of the show was superb in my opinion. All the riders in Ryuki are awesome, and each individual rider highlights their personality and goal. I also like the idea of the Mirror World, which adds 'flavour' to the show and enhances the plot.

Overall, this is one of the, if not, the best Kamen Rider series I've watched. And trust me, the newer Kamen Riders will make you cringe. You just can't compare the current riders and early heisei era riders.