Kamen Rider Kiva: Difference between revisions

 

 

 

Across the years humanity has been menaced by the [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampire-esque]] Fangire. As a organization of hunters tries desperately to hold the line, 2008's main hope rests in Wataru Kurenai, a violinist with some very strange habits. His father [[Disappeared Dad|has disappeared]], leaving behind his magnum opus, the Bloody Rose violin. Whenever the strings of the Bloody Rose vibrate, Wataru is called to do battle using his {{spoiler|[[Half Vampire|half-Fangire heritage]] and his}} [[Transformation Trinket|partner bat Kivat]] to transform into Kamen Rider Kiva.

 

 

Meanwhile [[The Eighties|in 1986]], Wataru's father Otoya Kurenai waltzes through life while the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization struggles to fight off the Fangire threat. He falls for Yuri Aso, the organization's top operative who seeks [[You Killed My Father|to avenge her mother's death]], and joins her in their fight. He soon comes into conflict with another new operative, a [[The Drifter|mysterious vagabond]] named Jiro, who is chosen to be the user of the Wonderful Blue Sky Organisation's newest weapon: the prototype IXA System.

 

* [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]] - Jiro in Garuru form, when consuming human souls, starts by ''cleaving their souls from their bodies with one swipe of his claws.''

* [[Abusive Precursors]] - The role of the Fangire King is to stem human progress by targeting its scientific advances.

** Mermaid: A [[One-Gender Race]] resembling traditional mermaids, they have a symbiotic relationship with the Mermen in order to reproduce. They escaped the Fangires' purge, but were hunted extensively by humans in the 19th century, and with the near-extinction of the Mermen their numbers continue to dwindle.

** Ghost: A race of beings who, due to their lack of corporeal form, can't interact with physical matter. They absorb Life Energy by inhaling it.

** Hobbit: The polar opposite of the Gigant, a race of 10-centimeter, dwarfen beings. Hobbits are pacifistic farmers who live in the woods and escaped extinction by [[The Quisling|surrendering and subordinating themselves to the Fangire]].

** Goblin: A race of cruel creatures who eat the flesh of other intelligent beings and had nasty habits like collecting bones. In-fighting all but eliminated their race, a job completed by an army of Fangire lead by the Checkmate Four and the first King, who wielded the Saga Armor in battle.

** There's also ''Emperor'' DoGaBaKi Form in the Hyper Battle Video. Unfortunately, due to budget constraits, it looks a bit shit (it's VERY clearly just the original DoGaBaKi with Emperor Form's helmet, bracers, greaves, and cape).

*** Which is a little odd and redundant, seeing as Emperor Form can already use all three Arms Monster weapons thanks to Tatsulot's Fever ability.

** Which makes Wataru's rather brutal methods of bringing justice somewhat disturbing if you think about it, and the fact he is portrayed as the hero.

* [[Amnesiac Dissonance]] - Wataru and Shizuka befriend a large, cheerful man who [[Does Not Know His Own Strength]], nicknaming him "Dai-chan" ("Mr. Big", essentially). When he recovers his memories, it turns out that {{spoiler|he's Rook, [[The Brute]] of the Checkmate Four, who spends most of his time engaging in random acts of murder for fun.}}

* [[And Knowing Is Half the Battle]] - invoked at the beginning of every ep, thanks to Kivat.

* [[Ape Shall Never Kill Ape]] - Subverted to hell and back by Queen, whose purpose is to kill any Fangire who falls in love with a human; King, who is not above killing any Fangire who seeks to help human progress; and any Fangire attempting to kill Maya, past and present.

* [[Arbitrary Skepticism]] - Nago scoffing the idea of spiritual mediums. Sadly, he's the one character who never witnessed {{spoiler|Otoya possessing Wataru.}}

* [[Arranged Marriage]] - Because Mio is {{spoiler|the 2008 incarnation of the Fangire Queen}}, she is expected to marry Taiga {{spoiler|who is the Fangire King}}. She almost goes through with it too, but instead she {{spoiler|tries to kill him}} as she's not really in love with him.

* [[The Artifact]] - Bloody Rose and Wataru's original goal to build a violin equal or surpassing it.

** Ep. 41 combines this with [[Zerg Rush]]. {{spoiler|The thing is, they're ''all'' copies of Sagarc.}}

* [[Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other]] - Otoya and Yuri get such a moment in episode 24.

* [[Book Ends]] - There's a Fangire attack occurring in a church in both the premiere, middle, and finale of the show.

* [[Bounty Hunter]] - Nago's "real" job when he's not hunting Fangire.

* [[Bunny Ears Lawyer]] - Wataru may be a competent violin player and craftsman, but the materials he uses...

* [[Cassandra Truth]] - Yuri Aso is always being told these, such as "I'm actually 105 years old" and "Your boyfriend is actually a [[Wolf Man]] who wants to use you to [[Adam and Eve Plot|repopulate his race]]."

** Possibly averted with Otoya, who doesn't seem to ''care'' that Maya claims to have known people from ''hundreds of years ago''.

* [[Clear My Name]] - all '08 Blue Sky agents in ep. 27 (Nago narrowly escapes though, kickstarting the plot).

* [[Conspicuous CGI]] - Kiva's ride, the Machine Kiva, once the Bron Booster attachments go on - or get added on in postproduction, apparently. Especially conspicuous in a series with CGI dragon castles battling giant chandeliers smoothly every time.

* [[Curb Stomp Battle]] - Done rather epically in {{spoiler|the final fight against the revived King.}}

* [[Cutlass Between the Teeth]] - Garulu Form's speciality.

** It is fatal for humans to become Dark Kiva, as {{spoiler|Otoya}} proves.

* [[Deadpan Snarker]] - Kivat

* [[Demonic Possession]] - Not quite demonic, but there's a two-episode arc where Otoya's spirit takes over Wataru's body. It doesn't seem to happen for any particular reason, other than to generate a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]] as Kouji Seto pulls a credible impression of Kouhei Takeda and the normally sullen Wataru acts...well, like Otoya.

** [[Hilarious in Hindsight]] - the whole incident parallels a similar incident in the first [[Pirates of the Caribbean]], with Orlando Bloom's [[Throw It In|deliberate]] impression of Captain Jack Sparrow.

* [[Disney Death]] - {{spoiler|Shima, Maya}}

* [[Distant Finale]] - {{spoiler|The '86 flashbacks in te latter half of #46 act as this ''for the 1986 era'', which is never revisited from that point on.}}

* [[Dojikko]] - Mio

* [[Dracula]] - Kiva or Dark Kiva?

* [[Dramatic Irony]] - sometimes used to connect '86 and '08 events. And played straight when Taiga learns that Wataru's girlfriend is leaving him for someone without knowing that ''it's him''.

* [[Dreadful Musician]]: episode 9. Yuri's violin playing ''[[Brown Note|can kill a whole pool of fish.]]''

* [[Elemental Powers]]: Kiva's forms using the Arms Monsters each have one.

** [[Making a Splash]]: {{color|green|Basshaa}} Form

** [[Shock and Awe]]: {{color|purple|Dogga}} Form

** Wataru as Nago's bounty-hunting understudy in ep. 32 goes as well as you'd expect it to.

* [[Mr. Fanservice]]: EVERY SINGLE MALE CAST MEMBER. Seriously. Even the 1986 KING has his fans.

** Considering that [[Kamen Rider]] has cast attractive male cast members since at least ''[[Kamen Rider Blade]]'' in order to appeal to housewives, this should come as no surprise.

* [[Evil Counterpart]] - Dark Kiva

** Could technically be considered an inversion, as Dark Kiva comes first chronologically.

* [[Expy]] - A very rare case of the Expy as a leading character. Otoya is clearly modelled on Ozaki of ''Den-O'', from the outfit to the hairdo ''to the [[Leisure Suit Larry]] schtick''{{spoiler|and perhaps [[Austin Powers]]}}.

* [[Extreme Omnivore]] - Rook, when still amnesiac, downs a whole pot of mushrooms and whatever Wataru was planning to use ''for his violin varnish.''

* [[Fake Band]] - The Ikemens, featuring Kengo and Wataru. Though they did produce a cover of Wataru's battle theme ("Destiny's Play") for the ''Kiva'' soundtrack.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: In #19-20, where Otoya [[Demonic Possession|"borrows" Wataru's body from beyond the grave]], he mentions {{spoiler|Kivat the 2nd}}, a character who shows up 18 episodes later. There's also the {{spoiler|Kivat-like silhouette ''in the '86 period''}} appearing at the end of #20.

** Nago admits that {{spoiler|he does like Megumi ''as early as #4''. By the last episode, they're married.}}

** #32. Taiga can make someone back down with ''just a staredown.'' {{spoiler|Wataru starts spamming this when he takes the Fangire King rank for himself.}}

*** This is also the reason we see Kiva adopting a [[Slouch of Villainy]] in the OP.

* [[From Nobody to Nightmare]]: in [[The Movie]]. An escaped convict, found sleeping in a dump early on, becomes ''Kamen Rider Arc.''

* [[Funetik Aksent]] - IXA. Or in its case "Fa-Ne-Ti-Ku A-Ku-Se-N-To."

* [[Genius Loci]] - Castle Dran

* [[Good Is Not Nice]] - Nago, {{spoiler|at least until he starts mellowing out in the second half of the series.}}

* [[Half-Human Hybrid]] - {{spoiler|Wataru, although the hint is rather obvious whenever he begins his transformation sequence.}}

* [[Hammerspace]] - ''Where does the IXA belt go?'' To complete the transformation, the IXA Knuckle must dock onto the belt, but many times, the Knuckle is stolen and the new user will be able to activate it - when he reaches down to complete the transformation, the belt is just ''there.'' The first few times IXA is used, we see the belt must be attached manually, so it's not one of the "Driver creates belt" cases (like Kiva himself, for example.)

* [[Heroic BSOD]]

* [[He's Back]]: There are tons of moments late in the show, given how much [[Heroic BSOD|of the trouble]] the heroes had to go through. One that springs to mind is {{spoiler|Nago returning as IXA in #40, complete with the episode title fitting that exact moment.}}

* [[Hopeless Suitor]] - Kengo.

** Although no real purpose has been cited, he did seem to (mostly) wipe out the Wolfen at the very least (Possibly the Franken & Mermen too). It is possible that eliminating competing monster races was his job, and it's been accomplished.

* [[Hulk Speak]] - Dogga

* [[Idiot Ball]] - {{spoiler|Bishop: "Hey Taiga, I thought that Mio was a crappy Queen and that she was making you act dumb, so I killed her and made it look like Kiva did it. Isn't that great?" * PUNCH TO THE FACE* }}

* [[The Idiot From Osaka]] - Kengo. [[Obfuscating Stupidity|At first.]]

* [[IKEA Weaponry]] - Blue Sky agents are always issued with these, whether it's Yuri's two-part knife (which even becomes a [[Whip Sword]]!) or Megumi's odd winged pistol (which somehow doubles as an [[Epic Flail]]).

* [[Inspector Javert]] - Nago's shtick before he starts to mellow out.

* [[Instant Runes]] - Dark Kiva's [[Finishing Move]]

* [[Interspecies Romance]] - Otoya Kurenai and Maya.

* [[Ironic Echo]] - between certain '86 and '08 events.

* [[Life Energy]] - All humans have this, and the other races generally eat human life energy for sustenance, but it's not really clear on whether said other races have life energy of their own or not.

* [[Lighthearted Rematch]] - {{spoiler|In the finale, Wataru and Taiga, who have been trying to have a fight to the death that Bishop kept interrupting for several episodes, have already made up and become loving half-brothers again. But they still want to fight, if only to fully get rid of their stress and bring them a bit closer together.}} Of course, how "close" they become is anyone's guess.

* [[Love Hurts]] Boy, does it ever in this series, especially when you take into consideration what happens to {{spoiler|Mio, Maya and Yuri}}. It SUCKS to love a Kurenai...

* [[Love Triangle]] (about three or four: Otoya/Yuri/Jiro, Taiga/Mio/Wataru, Otoya/Yuri/Maya and Otoya/Maya/King)

** Also, as Otoya himself points out early on, the first kanji in his name means "sound". Given that he's a musician, it fits.

** The real names of the Arms Monsters are all onomatopoeia for sounds related to their forms: Garulu is the sould of a wolf howling, Basshaa is the sound of splashing, Dogga is the pounding of a hammer.

* [[Medium Awareness]]: Once Tatsulot joins Kivat in the episode intros.

* [[Monster Mash]] - This season's particular motif.

* [[Mood Whiplash]] - #33. Going from {{spoiler|Yuri catching Otoya with Maya}} to Megumi complaining that she's gaining weight? Not cool.

*** [[Jack of All Stats]]: Burst Mode

*** [[Super Mode]]: Rising IXA

* [[Mysterious Parent]]

* [[Mythology Gag]] - Kiva's four standard forms correspond to each of [[Kamen Rider Kuuga]]'s forms:

** Emperor Form - Ultimate Form (gold armored [[Super Mode]] with the power to use all past forms' weapons (for Kuuga it's [[All There in the Manual]]) {{spoiler|and a dark counterpart (Dark Kiva and N-Daguba-Zeba respectively)}}.)

** Kiva also contains some nods to [[Kamen Rider Agito]] - Garulu and Basshaa Form are asymmetrical, just like Agito's Flame and Storm Forms, Garulu and Storm have their own set of similarities (blue, left-handed, melee fighter), and of course DoGaBaKi Form corresponds to Trinity Form, both being mish-mashes of their respective Riders' alternate forms and using [[All Your Powers Combined]]-empowered Rider Kicks as their finishers.

*** Lampshaded in [[Kamen Rider Decade|Decade]] when Tsukasa gets into a fight with an [[Alternate Universe]] Wataru, using each of Kuuga's forms to match up with their respective Kiva forms.

** Also, the spider-monster in the first episode, who's an [[Ascended Extra]] of sorts this season.

* [[Name's the Same]] - There was another Shima back in ''[[Kamen Rider Blade]]'', also a mentor-type role {{spoiler|who turns out to be one of the monsters of the year.}}

** [[Kamen Rider Ryuki]] had an escaped convict Rider named Takeshi. Kiva had another escaped convict Rider in [[The Movie]] named Takashi. Close enough.

* [[Never Live It Down]]: In-universe. Kiva's been branded by the Blue Sky group as an enemy of humanity, but we don't learn till much later that this was all because of Dark Kiva's actions in the past.

* [[Noblewoman's Laugh]] - Shizuka does it during her [[Yandere]] attempts to break up Wataru and Mio...and then again during her attempts to patch them up.

* [[Non-Human Sidekick]] (Kivat the Second, Third and Tatsulot)

* [[No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup]] - Sort of averted with IXA (the prototype exists in 1986), but the fact is that there is only one IXA System in existance.

* [[Not So Invincible After All]] - In 1986, Rook is a wrecking machine, powerful enough to curbstomp Otoya, Jiro, Riki, and Ramon effortlessly. But all of that comes to an end when he's tricked into using the IXA Knuckle himself, going through a world of hurt when the suit starts acting up on him and [[Who's Laughing Now?|leaving him at the mercy of the guys he'd previously kicked the crap out of.]]

* [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] - Otoya Kurenai

* [[Ominous Latin Chanting]] - Queen/Maya gets her own backing choir.

** Don't forget Taiga.

* [[One-Hour Work Week]] - Taiga and D&P.

** The Bear Fangire in ep. 24 is recolored into a polar bear for ep. 44.

* [[Parental Abandonment]]: Wataru's mother {{spoiler|left him alone to raise himself}}; we're left to assume that Kivat III and the Arms Monsters played a major part here.

* [[Plug N Play Technology]] - Fuestles, played straighter with IXA than with the other riders

* [[Poor Communication Kills]] - Uses a formula similar to ''[[Kamen Rider Agito|Agito]]'', with similar results. Nago hates Kiva, thinking that he's an even greater threat than the Fangire. He likes Wataru because of the young man's honesty and innocence. Wataru is aware that Nago is IXA, but the same isn't true in reverse. One episode ends with a [[Cliff Hanger]] where Nago witnesses Kiva de-transforming into Wataru, with a feeling of "[[Oh Crap]]" hanging in the air...in the next episode, however, they have a calm discussion, and Nago says he's glad that the power of Kiva is in good hands. It doesn't go so well for ''other'' parties, but that's another trope entirely.

** Arc is a pun on "aku"(evil)

** Rey is a pun on "rei"(cold)

* [[Really Seven Hundred Years Old]] - Ramon/Basshaa is 105 years old (127 in '08), yet looks like a 13-year old boy when he's not in Rubber Suit form.

** Although, it should be noted that the actor they hired to play him was 13-14 at the time...

** It's only implied for the more powerful Fangires, but Maya actually brings up things that she did ''hundreds of years ago.''

* [[Real Men Wear Pink]]: Rook has a pronounced [[Sweet Tooth]].

* [[Rearrange the Song]] - IXA's battle theme, "Individual-System", has two remixes sung by Nago's actor: "Fight for Justice" reflecting his [[Knight Templar]] attitude, and "Don't Lose Yourself" after he mellows out.

** The Re-Union album, released in 2009, includes more remixes, including Wataru's version of his father's "This Love Never Ends", Otoya's version of his son's "Supernova", and an acoustic version of "Roots of the King" sung by both Wataru and Taiga.

* [[The Reveal]] - {{spoiler|Wataru finds out his mother's a Fangire, Taiga is his half-brother, and that he is a half-Fangire.}}

** {{spoiler|Also, Bishop reveals that he was the one who killed Mio in order to protect Taiga. Too bad Taiga didn't agree with his method of thinking.}}

* [[The Rival]] - Keisuke Nago

* [[Romantic False Lead]] - Taiga is a combination of a False Lead and a [[Hopeless Suitor]].

* [[Screw Destiny]] - {{spoiler|Mio}} rejects her destiny as 2008's Queen. {{spoiler|[[You Can't Fight Fate|At first]]}}.

** Not now it's not! I can't believe that didn't get updated.

** On the other hand, {{spoiler|Wataru's destiny, Maya's end status, and Taiga's overall plan for the Fangire race}} all seem to pull this off.

** Played straight with Kamen Rider Arc, whose spirit was sealed away long ago by a past Kiva before being released.

** The Arms Monsters in '08.

* [[Sibling Triangle]]: Wataru, Taiga and Mio.

** IXA going into his [[Super Mode]] Rising IXA looks suspiciously like [[Kamen Rider Kabuto|the Cast Off sequence.]]

** Megumi and Yuri Aso share a last name with [[Kamen Rider ZO]].

** The Warthog Fangire shows up in a [[Nice Hat]] and poncho... [[Dollars Trilogy|but does he have no name?]]

** Shirtless demonic-looking Wataru from the ''King of Hells' Castle'' promotional material ([[Trailers Always Lie|and only in the promotional material]]) may well be a tip of the hat to the [[Trope Codifier]] for half-human demonic heroes, ''[[Devilman]]''.

** [[Troubled but Cute]] hero with [[Parental Abandonment]] in the present while his more easygoing dad had adventures in the past? [[Final Fantasy VIII|Seen it.]]

* [[Star-Crossed Lovers]] (Shinji/Ryouko, Mio/Wataru, Maya/Otoya. Most Fangire/human relationships end up like this due to the role of the Fangire Queen.)

* [[Stealth Pun]] - A rather clever one in the form of the Rhinoceros Fangire. His human disguise was a talent scout. Sai is Japanese for both Rhinoceros and Talent.

* [[Super Mode]] - Emperor form, Rising IXA (and to a lesser extent DoGaBaKi form).

** There's also a Hyper Mode (a Super Mode of a Super Mode!) in the form of Flight Style.

* [[Time Passes Montage]]

* [[Time Travel]] - A door in Castle Dran allows travel between 1986 and 2008.

* [[Token Evil Teammate]] - Jiro, Riki, and Ramon in 1986. They're no allies to the Fangires, but they still eat humans to survive and Jiro [[Murder the Hypotenuse|occasionally attempts to kill Otoya]].

*** In the end, though {{spoiler|he apologizes to them for being such a jerk}}

*** Also, at the end of the events in 47, {{spoiler|Wataru overthrows Taiga and takes the throne of King and looks incredibly badass doing it all}}.

* [[Tragic Monster]]: Quite a few, like Frog Fangire from #9-10. The Arms Monsters could count, except they're taking being the [[Last of Their Kind]] quite well.

** Dark Kiva - [[Instant Runes]] {{spoiler|and Saga's [[Whip Sword]] when used by Taiga}}.

** Rey - [[Wolverine Claws]]

* [[Wedding Smashers]] - Unlike [[Mahou Sentai Magiranger|Hikaru and Urara]], the happy couple actually gets to kiss, but a battle breaks out nonetheless.

** And earlier, {{spoiler|Mio}} crashes her own wedding by {{spoiler|stabbing Taiga in the gut.}}

* [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?]] - Maya wishes to know why so many Fangire fall in love with humans.

** {{spoiler|Which leads to her and Otoya faling in love and making a violin together.}}

* [[The Worf Effect]] - Invoked. [[The Brute|Riki]] gets the idea to expose Maya as a Fangire by attacking her - and gets curbstomped for his troubles.

* [[Yandere]] - [[Out-of-Character Moment|Briefly]], Shizuka, in her attempts to mess up Mio and Wataru's relationship.

** {{spoiler|As does Bishop with Taiga.}}

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Kamen Rider]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Series]]

[[Category:Vampire Fiction]]

[[Category:Japanese Series]]