Kamen Rider Sol Negro

If you grew up on the original Kamen Rider Black as I did...then probably better to think of this as a completely different series, or you will likely be disappointed as I kind of unfortunately am. I really wanted to like it more, but it's hard to get past some things.

Character names are the same, but the main back story and everything else is very different (and more complicated). Definitely more dark & gory so more for adults than children where as the first one was more family-friendly. Don't get me wrong though - it has some really cool moments! And he does look pretty awesome once he's henshin-ed :) (eventually)

But it feels like the fight scenes and the actual characters were much much better & stronger in the original series...even if it was 30-35 years ago!

Nothing like the original. Everything is different. The only thing that's the same is the names. It had so much potential being adult themed but they messed it up. You would expect it to be different with at least the story line the same. NOPE! If you want to watch it, don't expect it to be ANYTHING like the original. Just pretent you're a kid that's watching a new kamen rider that just came out.

Also the fighting? Trash! Nowadays you'd expect fight scenes to have adapted. Not this one. Im TELLING YOU. The old kamen rider was a million times better than this. But like I said, if you watch it, watch it like it's its own Kamen Rider series.

Great at start, i love the approach that its for adult, (would love to watch more kamen riders if its made this way) but story progression towards the end kind of slowly kills the joy. Ending is a bit of a letdown. Felt very underwhelming.

Pros:

• Episode 10 opening is awesome.

• Overall design is undeniably cool, just wished that the eyes are permanently red (not glow)
• Love the adult approach, just wish that theres nudity also instead of gore only. C'mon Japan, this is where you're good at.

• Lots of fanservice to the old Black series.

• Cool fights.

Cons:

• Story.... isn't as good as i hoped for.

• Character's ideals switching sometimes doesn't made sense.

• There's a line equal of "with great power, comes with great responsibility" in terms of weight, but almost 10 times longer, and they made sure you're hearing this repeatedly until you remembered all of it. It's unnecessary and kind of cringe when hearing the 10th time.

• Editing is kind of crap. I mean they can't even make the bike scenes look faster. They're like moving around 30 kmh.

But still happy they made this, despite all the cons.

Idk if theres going to be season 2 or not because it looks final enough for me, but if it somehow is, i'll still watch it.

7/10.

This reboot is great in it's own regards! Very grounded in reality, like Watchmen.

It is gory. Definitely not for kids. I have been told the Kamen Rider mangas are gory and the Kamen Rider is more organic and bug-like, kind of like the kaijin monsters he fight. In that case, this series is probably very close to the original creator's vision.

Also, I live in the US. On the release date of Kamen Rider Black Sun, I searched for it on the Prime Video app and Amazon. I wasn't able to find it. I searched again on the day after. I used the English and Japanese name, still couldn't find it. I have to go on here and click on the "Watch On Prime Video" link to be brought to the page. I wonder did anyone else had the same problem.

The direction could have been more polished, fight choreography is just passable, vfx could have been better. Good thing the story carried it. The atmosphere and theme of the darker showa and hessei kamen rider story line was well captured. How they reinvent black's story was also well respective of the original. Costume designs and creature designs also shines here. I love the suits, specially on the two riders. I also love how they handled the cryptic lore of the kaijins and the eventual explanation on the symbol of Black Sun. I do hope they manage to find a way to make an RX in the future, hopefully, with a better direction, fight choreography, and vfx. Still a solid watch, and highly recomended, even if you are not familiar with Kamen Riders.