Knowing and seeing all that makes the threat of the grongi feel so much more real than just seeing the grongi attack someone. Kuuga presents a bunch of these unrelated people showing their worries, fears, and how they have to live in this grongi society. I don’t mean the people being targeted by the grongi, but the people not directly affected and who have nothing to do with the main grongi plots. A lot of this is due to the actual people in Kuuga and their reaction to the grongi attacks. That’s not a slight on the rest but the threat level always feels contained to the people focused directly being targeted. No other tokusatsu show I’ve seen has made their villain group feel so much of an actual threat to the world at large. No other tokusatsu i’ve seen has come close to having their villain group feel as threatening as Kuuga. But what makes them really effective as a group is how threatening they feel. At the same time they can be absolutely terrifying when killing. The grongi have an incredible aesthetic and atmosphere to them that really captivates you. But they can also transform into super powered monsters that aren’t easily stopped.
Put simply, the grongi are basically serial killers. They’re a mysterious race who speak an unknown language and are indiscriminately killing humans left and right. The first is the grongi, the monsters/villains of Kuuga. I feel there are two main things that really make Kuuga work more than anything else. Because while you could argue it was little in story for both serialised and episodic it was filled with these character moments and tangential plotlines that sold the show for me. It’s something I don’t think everyone can get into, but I personally didn’t mind it. The episodes themselves felt a bit slow, if that makes sense. It was a slowness to it, and I don’t just mean in the serialised story. But I can still understand anyone who was bored with Kuuga, especially the middle section. But near the end of 2016 I gave it another go and you can bet I was hooked this time. I just didn’t get into it at all to be honest. My first experience with Kuuga was watching the first 12 episodes in the summer of 2015.
Then on the 30th of January, 2000 Kamen Rider makes its triumphant return with one of the franchise’s greatest entries, Kamen Rider Kuuga. One of Japan’s most iconic characters is off the screens for over 10 years with only a sprinkling of new content during.