Hey guys. Been a while. Yes unfortunately, real life kicked in hardcore in recent months and has led me to be unable to contribute to the site very much. Don’t worry, my plans are still going. The next instalment of Franchise Comics is planned out…I just have to read the comics…then write the article…then screencap the comics…all kinda things that need time. So in the mean time I thought I’d sate you with a new easy to throw out series, discussing one of my favourite live action franchises. Welcome ladies and germs to Rider Ruminations, where I muse on all things regarding the Power Rangers’ Japanese big brother, Kamen Rider. This series is very much “on the whim” but hopefully I’ll manage to cover most of the shows.
| Today we discuss the most hands-on (comic genius folks) series, Kamen Rider OOO. SPOILERS! |  Give the finger? Talk to the hand? So many classics! |
Kamen Rider OOO is the 2010-2011 instalment of the franchise. The series head writer was Kobayashi Yasuko. In anime circles.Yasuko is known for heading the writing teams of Witchblade, Attack on Titan and Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure. In the spandex super teen fandom for heading two of the most popular yet controversial Kamen Rider shows, depressing doom-fest Kamen Rider Ryuki and comedy laden fairy tale Kamen Rider Den-O. With one series decried for being far too dark and un-heroic, and the other too light-hearted and goofy, expectations for Kobayashi’s new show were mixed. Personally I was all very new to this oddly engaging franchise and went in fairly blind. What follows was certainly one of the most unique viewing experiences I’ve ever had. Nowadays OOO is either regarded as one of the better written shows or one of the most over hyped. Where do I fall? Well let’s put it this way, the below image was me preparing to rewatch the show for this review
MY BODY IS READY!
es, OOO is not only my favourite Rider series but one of the best T.V. shows I have ever seen. Like…ever. You lot have your Game of Incests and your Breaking Backs, but this? This is my baby. So with that clear subjectivity warning let’s actually look into the show.
A story of a boy and his hand.
800 years ago, a man obsessed with desire thought that it would be a HUGELY brilliant idea to pay some dudes combine raw lust with all the best bits of every major animal in creation. Said dudes created 5 sets of medals, each themed after a different animal, called Core Medals. These cores were placed on piles of lesser desires (as you do) named Cell Medals. From this combination of Cell and Core arose 5 beings who were the physical embodiment of the word want. The guy behind their creation stole a single Core from each being, known as Greeed, and used them in a fancy belt buckle to become the triple animal themed warrior OOO. In the process the Greeed gained sentience, along with an unyielding need to be whole again. After a fierce battle OOO and the Greeed were sealed in a coffin formed from Cell Medals, and presumably had a do not disturb sign put on them.
A story of a boy and his hand.
800 years ago, a man obsessed with desire thought that it would be a HUGELY brilliant idea to pay some dudes combine raw lust with all the best bits of every major animal in creation. Said dudes created 5 sets of medals, each themed after a different animal, called Core Medals. These cores were placed on piles of lesser desires (as you do) named Cell Medals. From this combination of Cell and Core arose 5 beings who were the physical embodiment of the word want. The guy behind their creation stole a single Core from each being, known as Greeed, and used them in a fancy belt buckle to become the triple animal themed warrior OOO. In the process the Greeed gained sentience, along with an unyielding need to be whole again. After a fierce battle OOO and the Greeed were sealed in a coffin formed from Cell Medals, and presumably had a do not disturb sign put on them.
OOO circa 1210. Given what we find out about him, I’m assuming his last name was MacBeth.
Cut to the modern day and one of the bird Greeed, Ankh, partially revives as a disembodied arm and releases the seal on the others. In the process he steals a few of the other Greeeds’ Cores and the fancy belt buckle. As the other four Greeed awaken and enact what must have been the most disappointing birthday party you’re EVER going to have, Ankh encounters a young semi-nudist turned temp security guard named Eiji. In order to protect himself from the other Greeed and their minions, Ankh grants Eiji the power to become OOO. Together they battle the forces of evil, although for reasons that could not be more different. In the process Ankh possesses a wounded detective and takes control of his body. This leads to our unlikely duo shacking up with the detective’s sister and her frankly insane restaurant-owning landlord. Eiji must battle the Greeed while managing Ankh’s continuous lust for medals, all while dealing with a mysterious birthday obsessed benefactor who is literally made of HAM!
Possibly the only time this happened on someone’s birthday.
And that’s the base premise of Kamen Rider OOO. A man who keeps talking about tomorrow’s pants hands out with a hand to fight monsters made of coins and greed under the watchful eye of a man who makes cakes but never eats them.
What do you mean odd? Oh my friends, wait for Gaim.
Yes, on paper the plot for Kamen Rider OOO…is insane. I went into this show expecting madness and good-silly-fun. And I got my fair share of it. What I wasn’t expecting was to get the deconstruction of the Buddhist ideal, an in-depth look into the harsh side of altruism, debates on the nature of being and the sometimes deadly nature of the phrase “best intentions”. After 10 or so episodes gathering speed, OOO takes off into territory I don’t think anyone ever expected culminating in what is in my opinion one of the finest finales I’ve seen. So what is it I find so compelling about this frankly insane plot? It’s the characters, and the world that’s built on and the casting and the…look it’s a lot of things. We’ll start by looking at the shows concepts with some discussion of the villains, touch upon our side characters before culminating in what I am DYING to talk about.
What do you mean odd? Oh my friends, wait for Gaim.
Yes, on paper the plot for Kamen Rider OOO…is insane. I went into this show expecting madness and good-silly-fun. And I got my fair share of it. What I wasn’t expecting was to get the deconstruction of the Buddhist ideal, an in-depth look into the harsh side of altruism, debates on the nature of being and the sometimes deadly nature of the phrase “best intentions”. After 10 or so episodes gathering speed, OOO takes off into territory I don’t think anyone ever expected culminating in what is in my opinion one of the finest finales I’ve seen. So what is it I find so compelling about this frankly insane plot? It’s the characters, and the world that’s built on and the casting and the…look it’s a lot of things. We’ll start by looking at the shows concepts with some discussion of the villains, touch upon our side characters before culminating in what I am DYING to talk about.
Tom and Jerry WISH they had this kinda chemistry.
Why wanting something too much leads to bad things and also the Apocalypse.
Once you take out the character stuff, OOO is about one concept:
Desire.
What is it? When does it drive us too far? What effect does it have on those around us? The concept of “Want” is central to everything. The original OOO was known as a man with the a desire so great it killed him, turning him into the coffin the Greeed would be sealed in for the better part of a millennium. The Greeed themselves are driven solely by desire. Each lacks their tenth core and each is driven by the need to fill the void its absences has left behind. The villains of the week are born from people’s wants and needs. The show spends a lot of time analysing how excessive need ruins lives. Yet at the same time it also looks into the importance needing things is to daily life. We’re shown (vividly) what happens when you DON’T want anything, or worse still want nothing. The concept of desire fueling evolution is central too much of the side-plot. OOO looks at the wants that drive us to succeed or surpass. I don’t think it’s unfair to call this show relatively high concept. I say this with the knowledge that this series includes a kick-boxing turkey and a man whose thinks sticking guys in a net is the path to friendship. It’s a superhero show at its core but the series has no qualms about using the genre as a way of examining a pretty big concept. Tonally this is reflected in both the colours and the almost bi-piolar soundtrack.
So what is the price of greed? In this case the literal end of the world. Not of humanity, the world. The Greeed are a huge threat. Missing their 9 remaining Cores they are incomplete, and still incredibly powerful. But that’s not what’s scary. What’s scary is WHAT they actually are.
Once you take out the character stuff, OOO is about one concept:
Desire.
What is it? When does it drive us too far? What effect does it have on those around us? The concept of “Want” is central to everything. The original OOO was known as a man with the a desire so great it killed him, turning him into the coffin the Greeed would be sealed in for the better part of a millennium. The Greeed themselves are driven solely by desire. Each lacks their tenth core and each is driven by the need to fill the void its absences has left behind. The villains of the week are born from people’s wants and needs. The show spends a lot of time analysing how excessive need ruins lives. Yet at the same time it also looks into the importance needing things is to daily life. We’re shown (vividly) what happens when you DON’T want anything, or worse still want nothing. The concept of desire fueling evolution is central too much of the side-plot. OOO looks at the wants that drive us to succeed or surpass. I don’t think it’s unfair to call this show relatively high concept. I say this with the knowledge that this series includes a kick-boxing turkey and a man whose thinks sticking guys in a net is the path to friendship. It’s a superhero show at its core but the series has no qualms about using the genre as a way of examining a pretty big concept. Tonally this is reflected in both the colours and the almost bi-piolar soundtrack.
So what is the price of greed? In this case the literal end of the world. Not of humanity, the world. The Greeed are a huge threat. Missing their 9 remaining Cores they are incomplete, and still incredibly powerful. But that’s not what’s scary. What’s scary is WHAT they actually are.
The avatars of destruction, devastation, ruination and pigging out like a fatty.
Our five Greeed are Uva (insects), Mezool (aquatics), Kazari (cats), Gamel (land animals) and Ankh (birds). They are living piles of medals with elemental powers and bad attitudes. They are also not actually alive. The medals they are born of are at their heart things, items, metal and some magic. The Greeed are not truly alive. This has a duel knock on effect. Firstly they do not have a biological limit on their desire. They don’t need things, they simply WANT. They WANT to eat, they WANT to fight etc. They are the ultimate kid in a toy shop who demands their toy gun, then once they have it, they want a toy crossbow. Which leads into the second and truly scary effect. The Greeed can’t be satisfied. Ever. In anyway. They can eat and eat and eat and always be hungry. They can be loved and will always want more love. They can want to kill and NEVER be satisfied. They have all the pain of that nagging need in the pit of your stomach, amplified a thousand fold and are incapable of ever stopping it. Yet they are compelled to get more and more and more. That’s what makes the Greeed one of the best villain groups I know of. They don’t want to rule, they don’t want power. They want an end to the wanting, an end that will never come and (as we very clearly see) eventually if unchecked (which they can’t be because when complete the Greeed are pretty much unstoppable) they will literally destroy all life on Earth…before probably moving onto destroying the actual EARTH…then probably floating in the void of space desperately wanting more. That’s terrifying. Not only are the Greeed the ultimate metaphor for a man desperate for a drink in the desert, because they aren’t really alive ,so they don’t really…feel. Every emotion bar the greed is broken. Every sense dulled. Which adds a fundamental element of tragedy. They can eat forever without ever tasting, the world is a cold grey realm where none of the sounds are really…right. They touch without really understanding what it is to hold something. They are things, given form and a mind yet robbed of real life. I always felt sorry for them…even as they are capturing mothers to drain them of their love while holding them in fish balls. Now each of the Greeed have their character archetype but as individual characters the four main villains are relatively one dimensional.
There is however a villain introduced in episode 10 who is just…wonderful. And when we meet him, he has a doll riding round on his arm.
There is however a villain introduced in episode 10 who is just…wonderful. And when we meet him, he has a doll riding round on his arm.
Closest thing to a romance this show is offering.
Meet Dr. Maki. He’s introduced as semi-tech guy who makes toys for OOO (literally), working under the show’s enormous HAM! He’s cold. He’s stoic. If you touch his doll he freaks the frikk out. He’s a man who literally gives you nothing. He’s also TERRIFYING. Introduced early on, Maki eventually reveals a deep emotional void born from a childhood spent with an uncaring sister…and fire…lots and LOTS of fire. Maki joins forces with the Greeed because he wants….nothing. Which I mean literally. He wants NOTHING. Whereas his boss is a man of beginnings, Maki is obsessed with endings. What something is doesn’t matter, only that it comes to a glorious ending. Maki’s dream world is a void, a world devoid of life and energy. An empty rock spinning in the vast emptiness of space. Since he doesn’t have the option of leaving, he’s very happy to make Earth his own personal paradise and bringing it to its own beautiful ending. I won’t discuss his method for that quite yet, we’re saving that for later, but the very nature of what he’s trying to do utterly fascinates me.
Maki is awesome.
So this is getting a bit wordy. I think we’re going to have to end this one prematurely. So I’ll break this topic into a few parts. Come back next time where we will definitely talk side characters, and boy there’s a few.
Maki is awesome.
So this is getting a bit wordy. I think we’re going to have to end this one prematurely. So I’ll break this topic into a few parts. Come back next time where we will definitely talk side characters, and boy there’s a few.
HAM INCOMING!
 | Michael O'Sullivan has co-hosted the Moonbase 2 Podcast for three whole years, no small feat for the longest running continuous Transformers Podcast. He is also a Paleontologist, much like a suave, irish Sam Neil. He also has killed, many, many times. |