Let’s Watch Wednesdays Week 3 Kamen Rider Den-O 7-9

I still don't understand how Kintaros is a bear. The closest I see is the "claw" knuckle dusters and the fur vest, but his head looks like a rhino.

Trivia time: the girl that Urataros seduces in these first two episodes previously played Shimada on Ryuki and Smart Lady on Faiz.

I want to say it has something to do with the tale of Kintaro, but it's been awhile so my memory is hazy.

Coffee-tachi 7&8

One of the neat things about rewatching these shows is getting to see early episodes again while knowing where the plot goes. It may not seem like it, but these were actually two really important episodes - not for Yumi and her fiance themselves, but for what their story represents. We also got the first reference to Ryotaro feeling "heavier,' which is also foreshadowing an upcoming development, albeit one with a much quicker payoff.

On the flipside, though, if you're one of the viewers who hates Ryotaro, man is episode 8 hard to sit through. That extended sequence with the limping and the ball-to-the-head jokes is really annoying, even if you like the guy. He does get better, I promise.

And get used to guys like the fiance - Den-O is full of overacting and not all of it is just Ozaki (although he contributes a lot, to be fair).

Indeed. It's the legend of Kintaro that he's based on. He may not overtly look like a bear, but he is based on one. In fact none of the Den-Liner Imagin are intentionally meant to be the animals they share designs with. They merely represent the heroes of Japanese legend who interacted with such animals, as combined homages to both.

Just as Momotaros has a minor Peach motif like the legendary ogre slayer Momtaro, he also resembles an ogre. And Urataros is based on the legendary fisherman Urashimataro, who rescued a turtle.

The Kintaro of legend is said to have from birth carried a hatchet and been associated with the color gold. He's said to have lived and played with wild animals and even spoken their language. But the largest part of the bear motif comes from the fact that he is well known for having super strength and that he used it to sumo wrestle wild bears. He may not overtly look like a bear, but the bears of nature recognized him as one of their own.

i know i'm getting ahead of myself but i'm now going into the last 20 episodes of den-o and i just realised something:
there isnt even a single female imagin is there?

I think there is one in Episode Blue, but that's it. Hm, never realized how sexist the Imagin were .

I know the point is to watch three at a time. But I can't stop binge watching, so I'm just going to comment on how much I like the series so far. The one thing that occurred to me, and you'll have to forgive me for not seeing it until now is that each Kamen Rider in every series has a power with the buckler that mirrors the enemy that they are fighting. With Ryuataro, it's that he's bonded with the Imagin but he fights the rogue ones. I guess I just overlooked that each enemy is what created the Kamen Rider to begin with.