Hi world, if you haven't seen the movie yet I 100% recommend you do, it is a great film and I would recommend going in spoiler-free. That being said, spoilers ahead.
So, for starters. I have never watched Kamen Rider prior. I never seen any of the shows nor have I seen the other work of Hideaki Anno, though I am familiar with Evangelion so I went in as blind as possible. But.
< Pic related as this was me the entire film.
This film made me a fan of Kamen Rider.
It opened my eyes. Prior to this I really had no clue what the series was about other than motorcycle power rangers.
The story was good, I felt invested and sad when the characters died or happy when they won, I would cheer them on. Hongo, Ichimonji, Ruriko, were all great characters and I genuinely loved their story.
Oh my god. The combat is just...its just so god damn good. It perfectly captures the cheesy action of the power rangers era of tv. It was fun, it was fast it was gorey. It was just so good. The finishing move of jumping up into the air and kicking the aug in the stomach is so cool too.
My favorite fights were, 100% no doubt, Butterfly-Aug, the tunnel fight with the 10 fake Kamen Riders vs Hongo & Ichimonji and Wasp-Aug. In that order.
The fight was short and sweet. Wasp and her butler sword fights Hongo, Wasp gets the Prana from him and fights Hongo.
This is one of the best fights in the movie, the fight prior to Wasp's second phase was great, Hongo struggling and using his full strength to overpower the two is great. It's a amazing fight.
The second phase is even better in my opinion, albeit it was very short. But it was really cool seeing Hongo get backed into a corner and nearly killing her but dropping out of the fight so he wouldn't upset Ruriko.
If it wasn't for Butterfly-Aug's fight this would be my favorite fight in the movie, hell it is neck for neck with Butterfly-Aug in my opinion from how good it is.
Hongo getting chased by 10 other bug men on their own cyclones while shooting at him was just perfection. And when he was just about to die, Ichimonji shows up and hits the attacker with his cyclone and team up.
Their dual efforts were magnificent. I loved it and it had me near the edge of my seat the entire time.
The last 10-20 minutes of the film were saved for one of the coolest fights I have seen. I loved every second of it.
The desperation of the fight, Hongo and Ichimonji working in tandem and barely even able to hit the guy, putting the helmet on Butterfly and showing him Ruriko. Just, god its so good.
And of course, I was devastated when Hongo died. I knew it was going to happen, but it still hit me hard. I felt sad for his death.
The soundtrack, the other characters, the ending, cyclone. They were all just amazing. I loved this film in its entirety and I did not regret watching it at all.
10/10 film, would give up my memory of watching it so I could see it again for a first time.