I'll Never Forget Faiz

I won't be talking about the specials or Paradise Lost or Regained. My short review is that Paradise Lost is an entertaining movie that presents a fun "What If" that also indirectly states that the events of the story were always destined to happen. The 20th anniversary movie thinks it's canon, but if it was it would basically ruin the themes of sacrifice and trauma in Faiz and completely overturn how Orphnoch are shown to function in the original season, so I don't count it. It also tries very hard to be a Reiwa movie instead of a Heisei one and isn't particularly great on its own merits. But, it's a fine watch to get more Faiz in your bloodstream.
As always, this isn't a review but instead a recommendation for a season of my favorite TV show, as well as an attempt to help you figure out if it's your thing or you should just skip this season. So, no spoilers ahead. At least, nothing you wouldn't find on a synopsis page. You can scout out a platform for the series yourself, but I watched the TV Nihon translation.
So, I've gotten this narrative about 555 that it's an extremely divisive season that no one can agree on and Toshiki Inoue is either the king of writing or the king of pretentious garbage. Either it's peak or trash and no one is giving ground on it. I think this season is actually Sonic Adventure 2. After scouting a dozen blogs and five different discussion threads, the worst thing I heard about the show was "it's a little disappointing". Opinions were either good or right down the middle. So, I think there's just an imagined backlash against Faiz because it both takes notes from the three prior seasons but also doesn't feel anything like them. And so, fans of Faiz give it a little more gravitas and controversy than it necessarily ever received while it was current. Most people just see it for what it is, another good season of Kamen Rider. Nothing about the reception of Faiz really sticks out to me and going in with the mindset that you'll either love it or hate it won't do you any favors.
That being said, 555 is my second favorite of Heisei phase 1. Because, at every step of the way, I felt like I was watching a really well constructed J-drama. If you find yourself really disliking the first 5 episodes, the show doesn't have a lot to offer you. All the main players have been introduced and the writing maintains that exact level of quality throughout the season. If you like the Yakuza games, Faiz is a hard recommend. The soap opera vibes are strong and every hour there'll be a new twist unveiled like a JJ Abrams puzzle box, but if it was well constructed. Most reveals were telegraphed well in advance, but instead of redirecting the story they change how the characters feel about themselves and each other. Especially Takumi, whose mystery I saw coming from episode 2, but it still shakes up his character when putting it in context with everything that he says and does beforehand. I forgot to mention the general factions. On the first level, it's humans versus Orphnoc. But, under that the series manages to keep the stories main players in groups of three: the Inui crew, the three main riders (Inui "Handsome" Takumi, Kusaka "Griffith" Masato, and "Bitch" Mihara), the three main Orphnoc antagonists, and the Lost Boyz. This seems like a lot of plates to spin, but I think Faiz does it well. I never once felt the pacing problems Ryuki had or the excruciating crawl just to get to another relevant plot point like what happened with Agito. Every episode moved the story along or developed the characters, at least a bit. The final two arcs were a little messy and the character motivations don't make much sense unless you actually sit down and put yourself in their shoes, but it's perfectly understandable if Kamen Rider is a sort of "brain off" show for you and you don't want to keep track of every single character's inner dialogue and philosophy. Speaking of, this season is primarily focused on just character work. The plot plays passenger princess for the majority of Faiz. Which, that's probably why I like it so much. It's the same reason I maintain Diamond is Unbreakable is my favorite part. Johnny Joestar's saga is compelling, but I know Okuyasu's favorite food is Spaghetti alla puttanesca. Similarly, Kuuga has interesting lore about the ancient Grongi race and the war for Earth, but I know Takumi can't eat takoyaki because it's like a microwaved Hot Pocket that never cools off. So, Faiz is the clear winner. It was just exceptionally nice to see this season understand the thing that trips most corporate Japanese writers up, which is that a story is worthless without having a base made up of characters to care about. All of the protagonists of Faiz are so well written that I felt satisfied when a few met their brutal demise, or actually felt a hint of loss when some faced their untimely death. It could have been an OG Ultraman-style series with a new monster every week and minimal plot progression, and I still would have been enthralled with every new interaction. If the base of the house is good enough, it can prop up a building that has no business standing upright. I think Faiz is in a similar situation. Also, on the topic of death, I think Faiz knows how to take a theme and run with it. Some fans say this season is all about dreams, but that's not really correct. It's about grief, sacrifice, PTSD, and even the relatable feeling that your loved ones would be better off without you despite them insisting otherwise. It touches some mature subjects without becoming Amazons and spraying viscera everywhere (I like Amazons a lot, but it can feel a little behind the times in what it considers mature content). It's just a fairly dark season, and that's nice to get sometimes. Like getting a dry wine once in a while, instead of a reliable bottle of beer. Takumi never gives speeches about saving humanity or being the number one best at anything. He's just an emotional dumb kid with bad social skills. I think that's part of where the imaginary divisiveness of this season comes from. I take Takumi being like this as a positive because it's fresh, it's relatable, and it manages to avoid feeling ham-fisted or overtly edgy. Others may get the idea that he's kinda unlikable, but see that as a negative or annoying. That's fine, since there are more characters besides him and most fans seem to find someone to latch on to. Because, there are shitty evil people who do good things out of obligation as well as good people who do evil out of ignorance or fear. It's not Breaking Bad, but the fact this is a 2003 superhero show made in Japan for 13 year old boys should tell you that the pieces fitting together as well as they do is an achievement.
As for how it looks, man, Faiz is just the best suit in Heisei. Wizard, Build, and Zi-O may be my three other favorites, but I don't want to pick. So all 4 are equally spectacular designs. Red, black, and gold doin' it for me, Slime. Takumi's fighting style is the best. Instead of mysticism, they went for a gadgeteer this time. Making the rider belt into an actual utility belt is such an inspired choice, and I'm blown away that we don't see this concept come back again. He's literally wearing his full bag of tricks around his waist and it looks awesome. Also, he doesn't even really fight enemies, he just bullies them. Cowboy punches, roundhouse kicks, always shaking the pain out of his wrist just to communicate how damn hard he's punching the Orphnocs, good stuff. Seiji Takaiwa crushed it every time by communicating when Takumi was feeling cocky or actually fighting for his life. Honestly, most of the real problems I have with this show are visual. The Orphnocs have cool designs, but they're all the same color. It doesn't ruin their look, but when they're in a group they look like unpainted mini-figures rubbing against each other. Also, the cinematography was sometimes good, but usually not great for the fight scenes. You can clearly see punches whiff and characters suddenly become taller when transforming, something that later seasons fix by just shooting from a different angle. Also, the modern action movie type of quick cuts aren't great. It legitimately gets disorienting occasionally when one of the Riders goes for a kick and the camera cuts to a close-up of their body for a third of a second. These should be nitpicks, but 40% of the reason I watch Kamen Rider is for the action. So, it can get grating when the camera is shaking like crazy and I can't tell if another person joined in the fray or the voices came back.
TLDR; Really, just go watch the first 5-10 episodes of Faiz if anything I said interests you. I recommend it if you like some good pulp and drama. If not, maybe watch Kabuto instead. But, if you do, go find the TV Nihon sub and Open Your Eyes for the First Faiz.