Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Episode 14- "We're Kamen Rider!" Discussion
 

The strange new Gashat from Pallard has unlocked a bizarre new form for Emu. Will this be the power boost they need, or is something else happening to our hero???

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhMYR46CfQs[/youtube]

Rider Kicks keep getting meaner to the receiver, don't they? And overly complicated.

So Emu's Blood type is AB, meaning he can receives blood from everyone, one of whom may have bugster virus in them...

Good ep double mighty action brothers work well together.

Next ep looks to have a lot of drama going on.

Kiriya finaly not appeared in opening scenes anymore but his Rider form (Lazer) still appeared in opening scenes. Probably we will has new Lazer user in future.

Really love this episode :D Really good :D

So Hiiro trying to operate on current patient and Emu trying to destroy Aranbura BUgster. Really nice :D

Emu finally used Kiriya's Bakusou Bike Gashat and Emu can summon Bike Gamer to help him in his fight.

Yeah.....fighting Ex-Aid Mighty Brother X against Genm and Aranbura Bugster is really fun to watch. Mighty Brother X's Rider Kicks is awesome.

Hmm....Hiiro's smile at near end of this episode looks interesting....

Hmm...can't wait to watching subbed version especially for about Taiga already has Emu's blood....

Next episode....Emu berserk? And Pallad become new Rider.

And rarer. I'm pretty this is the 3rd Rider kick we had in this entire show.

the opening reminding us that Lazer/Kiriya is gone by leaving his portion blank though it felt weird for Level 1 Lazer to be just standing there xD

The episode was awesome with Mighty Brothers working together and the complicated Rider Kick.
Next episode finally Paradox joins the fun and looks like the riders can still access their separate Hunter Gashats without a full team of 4.

Still wondering if Parad will really be a villain till the end unless someone else replaces him....since recent previous dark riders join the heroes in the end. His suit is also looks heroic.

That wasn't a Rider Kick, that was a Rider Beatdown

Even though it just a blink That is the most emotional Rider machine scene i ever seen..
And Dan's Line "Is it comfortable to ride?" not helping Lol

Man, I hope we can continue to expect that kind of fight choreography from the Mighty Brothers as time goes on. Very Mario & Luigi. It kind of makes me sad scans and stuff have implied they'll get two Keyslashers at some point, because passing the weapon between them was one of the best parts of that fight.

Also, dang, you guys weren't kidding about that being a complicated rider kick. They even recombined into Level X at one point!

The way they handled Lazer in the opening was bizarre. Kinda makes it seem like maybe someone will take over for Kiriya at some point after all.

Holy hell. I've been meaning to comment on how much I love Ex-Aid every week, but jesus. This is a whole 'nother level. Ex-Aid surprises me every week. It seems to get exponentially better.
That's how you do an upgrade form. I can't think of any other upgrade debut that's as plot relevant and, well, emotionally effective as this. It means something huge to the plot and has affected the characters in a big way, in complete spite of its literal summoned-from-nowhere origin that most Rider seasons are very lazy with. Frankly I expected Mighty Brothers XX to just be a Gashat Dan was making that just happened to be themed after Ex-Aid, which Emu ends up getting his hands on through shenanigans. Basically Grateful. So it really surprised me how it was executed.
Speaking of the characters, all of them shined in this episode. Emu broke the protagonist mold by outright proclaiming himself confident while not being a badass who's good at everything. Hiiro took action for the sake of the patient, not without some manipulation(!) from Emu. Taiga took action to get some goddamn answers, and actually got them straight-up, something that doesn't occur often in Rider. Things happen for real reasons and I love it.
Yuya Takahashi utilizes Bandai's toys as tools, rather than maneuvering around them as obstacles like most Rider shows do. Something that's easy to see how to do when you're watching, but apparently not so much when you're writing.

Ex-Aid's creating some very interesting questions that don't have straight or predictable answers. Why does Emu have the Bugster virus? Most likely he was given it during that surgery when he was young, but in what way? Is he the progenitor, just a plain old Bugster, a unique case? It seems his personality is dictated by the virus - what does this mean for his personality as a whole? Will his personality get modified throughout the show? And with how well Double Action was handled, how will Emu get his upcoming mid-season upgrade and final forms?
There's some things here and there that are threatening to be fumbled, like Dan's motivations, and there's always the question of stretching the plot out into 48-ish episodes. I think with Dan, Ex-Aid might be bold enough to make him just terrifyingly insane, and not in a nebulous kinda "insane evil!" way like Banno or somebody, but literally insane.

Here's to hoping Ex-Aid can stay this good and end with a bang.

This show really just gets better. All the characters are doing things and developing nicely. Action is great, stuff just...it's all working extremely well at the moment. Echoing the above sentiments that it can stay at leas this good consistently for the rest of the show.

It'll be especially interesting to see how Para-DX shakes things up starting next episode.

I thought it was interesting when the Emu transformed into Mighty brother Action X when he was arguing one of them said he was "Emu" while the other one said he was "M" which is Emu's game name and the fact that Taiga said that he has the game disease. That could mean the M personality could be a bugster. Can't wait to see where this goes.

Could be interesting if it's the other way round though.

What? Whenever you have a foreign personality implanted it's ALWAYS more aggressive than the original. I've yet to see a single work that uses this trope be different.

I don't expect Ex-Aid to be different, mind, but I would be intrigued by it.

It actually looks like that's what they're hinting at. Nico says that Emu didn't use to use "boku" as his personal pronoun, which is what he does in his "Emu" personality. It's possible the "ore" using "M" personality is how he was as a kid and it changed after the whole incident.

OMG, I can't wait to watch the episode! I feel kinda bad; my 8 year old niece is now a full blown, Bugster infected, Ex-Aid junkie, but the kids at school have no clue what she's going on about!

I didn't think I would like Ex-Aid at first. I mean doctors and video games as a theme just seemed a bad mix. Around episode 8 I watched 1-8 back to back to back and I loved the show. This episode was a lot of fun.

Holy shit this episode was great.


- I love Emu when he goes into cocky/badass/"M" mode. The actor pulls it off so damn well.
- Loving this new plotline with Taiga's fascination with Emu
- Hiro's smile at the end was legitimately heartwarming
- Dan is just an asshole, blatantly taunting Emu about Kiriya's death
- Zombie Genm also continues to be an awesome rider
- HOLY SHIT AT THAT FINISHER! I love how just as I was thinking "Wow, that was pretty overkill." M says the exact same thing.

...Holy crap, the show seems to actually be going along with my fan-theory...

That hasn't happened since Gaim... Ex-Aid, don't fuck this up in the home-stretch like that did.

This continues to be freaking brilliant. I love the Mighty Bros. XX form. That was kick ass and so much fun. Also loved how Emu convinced Hiiro to do the surgery and they were both saving the patient at the same time too. That was fantastic. I am intrigued with more of Snipe and Nico and what's going on with Emu too. Just further questions and intrigue.

Well, this is so much an amazing and a rather high tension episode. Also, is it me but I feel that Ex-Aid handles its VoTW's case much better than most other Rider series, much better than Wizard, Fourze and might be Drive too? This week VoTW was great too and I can't believe he could still smile so much despite all the shit that he got. It's a nice closure episode for Hiiro too and it proves that being a Rider doesn't mean that you must fight monster. And in Hiiro's case, his biggest threat was a real operation compared to a Bugster. It's nice to see Taiga to shine a lot lately after Nico appeared. I love the dynamic between Taiga and her and I can't wait for a much better development for these two.

Now concerning about Emu or M... I'm getting more confused right now. Hearing Nico's dialogue it WAS heavily implied that M was Emu's real personality unlike what we thought in reverse. So is it the operation 16 years ago actually made Emu's personality and not M? Also, if Dan was somewhat contributing toward Emu's operation 16 years ago, he should have known what actually happened to him at that time. It's confusing to see that he actually was so confused why Emu could make Mighty Brothers XX. I mean it was heavily implied that either Emu got a Bugster virus or a Bugster antibody or anything but he couldn't deduce it? Though, from Taiga's last word in this episode, it was so implied that Emu got a Bugster virus. I was also quite surprised to see how the OP's editing was a bit sloppy or what? First, they give a space in Kiriya's spot when he shows his Gashat and Emu's much complete transformation during Kiriya's transformation. Second, they didn't even bother to edit Lazer LV 1 in the four Riders meeting. Either it might give us another Lazer or they actually was just lazy in editing, I don't know.

Oh nooooo Emu has game virus... Nobody saw this coming...
Other than that, fan-fucking-tastic episode

Gotta sell those toys, boys!

I think Parad will fill that space when he becomes Para-DX

About Lazer Level 1 and Level 2 still in opening scenes, probably someone will become new Lazer user.

You, my friend, have clearly never played Layton Brothers: Mystery Room! :D

But yeah, it does seem to be going Emu is the Bugster personality and M is the original one route. I have to express my admiration for how well Emu's actor has been doing the two different personalities, and that the episode had great moments for all the characters all around. I wonder if Taiga is going to be targeted now like Kiriya since he knows something he shouldn't. REALLY enjoying this show. Something I noticed recently is the main writer has been doing all the foreseeable and past episodes. Probably explains the consistent quality.

I'm just enjoying the connection between Taiga and Nico! What bothers me is that Brave and Snipe won't have new gashats until I don't know yet, which means Ex Aid will have to be kicking ass until then

Another super duper fun episode. I really love how even though these past two episodes are nominally about Emu, they've been really great showings for Brave and Snipe, who I think quickly fell off people's radars as soon as Kiriya showed up, so they really needed it.

Taiga finally has someone to talk to now, letting him actually be in a scene where he does something other than whine about how all the other Riders suck, and he's even solving mysteries with his quirky new sidekick! Good for you, Taiga! :p

Meanwhile everything involving Hiiro these past two episodes has been amazing, aside from how frustrating it is that the show seems to have forgotten about his backstory (at least for now). What really elevates it is that most of the characterization he's getting here is indirect, coming more from his actions than his words, which is a perfect fit for the kind of character he is. And hey, he actually got to do doctor stuff! Real doctor stuff, I mean. Not "I'm gonna dress up as a cartoon knight and hit people with a sword" doctor stuff, like usual.

And of course the stuff with Emu is great too. I sort of thought the extent to which Emu instantly gets in his own way at the start was a little overkill so it was great to see him work that out within seconds of using XX again. I guess that's just how multi-Rider shows work. Even if the other guy is literally you, you're still obligated to fight at least once. :lol

I am kind of worried about this whole plotline though. If the show keeps up the quality I could see myself getting over it quickly but I maintain that outright saying Emu is two different people would be devaluing his character a ton. Like, going by that logic, Shinnosuke must be part Bugster (or whatever) too. Every time Takeru got mopey in Ghost? Obviously the Game Illness at work. :p

Like, the show seems to want me to buy that Emu speaking politely around patients, colleagues, and friends, and not to Bugsters, is some kind of foreshadowing, but it mostly just seems straightforward to me. I mean, just listen to XX L during the fight at the end. He sounds ridiculous.

Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit with that last point. As foreshadowing, it's actually pretty solid. They even make a note of reminding the viewer that Taiga instantly pegged that as something notable about Emu pretty much right away.

So yeah, great episodes. My posts have been more negative sounding these past couple weeks, but my enjoyment of Ex-Aid is as high as it's ever been. Can't wait to see Parado- uh... Para-DX next week. I'm going pretty long already, but I wanna finish off with the usual bullet point minor stuff:

- Oh man, an insert theme. I've missed those so much. And this week it was actually used right. Bonus points for also playing over Hiiro doing surgery. That's just awesome.

- Dig that direct Mario Bros. reference with Ex-Aid smashing the Bugster through the blocks. Unless I just haven't noticed it, I don't think Ex-Aid has been doing straight up video game references, so that was pretty neat.

- The way they left in Kiriya's spots in the opening (without Kiriya himself) instead of just removing them altogether is kind of suspicious. Maybe they'll just upgrade Parad to main character status and put him in, but it seems strange for them to change up the opening only to change it again after two episodes.

Man that finisher...double X aide...one could say those Young Bucks have a hell of a SUPER KICK! (sorry, wrestling joke)...
But that was visually fantastic. I would actually take a Figuarts Zero of that form in their action stance with the shoulders together

For starters, this episode went a completely different direction than I thought it would and I actually like that it did! I went into this episode under the assumption that it would be another dark one, with Emu having to accept the fact that there are some people he just can't save.

And then... He did.

I was initially put off by this because well... They were dealing with cancer, a very real disease that kills thousands of people, and yet they just say "nope, Hiiro cured him, Ex-Aid beats Aranbura. Happy ending everybody! Yaaaay!" seems really bad. But then I realized that a happy ending is exactly how the episode needed to end.

Kamen Rider Ex-Aid's main message/theme (so far) is about trying to fight fate to save peoples lives. Having the Emu accept Dr. Shirakawa's fate and not try to find a way to save him would completely go against that message.
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On the less serious side:

The Mighty Brothers finisher is insane. Seriously, the entire critical strike includes:

- A double kick.

- Spinning around while kicking.

- Another double kick.

- A flurry of kicks.

- A double upperkick (an uppercut with kicking).

- Transform back to chibi mode and uppercut the monster into the air.

- Jump up and split back into two riders again.

- And one final supercharged double kick.

If this were any other series, the director would have just picked one of those options and I would have bought that as a decent finisher, the fact that they went with all 8 is jaw-dropping.

Only thing that bugged me about this episode is that Pancreatic Cancer is nearly impossible to operate on - it's death rate is like 99%. My grandfather died of it so that brought back some feelings ... not the show's fault, but it is what it is.

Still love this show. Watch the RAW's. Haven't done that since Gaim. So take that as you will.

I think when Emu splits in Level XX, he's splitting into the real Emu and M, a bugster version of himself. M could be a bugster personality that takes over him when he plays games.

Except, judging by, admittedly only one line, Nico's description, M's most likely the original and Emu is the Bugster.

Which raises all kinds of questions, especially about how they'll be dealing with this in the long run.

Yeah, I thought of young kids with family suffering from pancreatic cancer maybe getting confused from this episode; fairly irresponsible, though the alternative might have been difficult to do and possibly worse.

But the M personality developed later in his life so wouldn't that make M the Bugster though?

My guess is that the M part was what Nico dealt with, and that she never had any discussion with Emu, the kinder one

I disagree with the first part. They just introduced the fighting fate theme so if the guy died, Hiiro would learn the thing about fighting fate. He would not be so cold to Emu's feelings about Lazer's death and maybe start sympathizing with him more. His gf's death was out of his hands, but this guy's life was. The last part was right though, that finisher is amazing.

Did it really? All we've seen of child Emu is him right after his major surgery. Not exactly a situation to show off personality.

Even then, it becomes a question of whether he's showing his true colors to the world at large or when he's investing himself in his favored hobby.

I don't about how you guys deal with the world, but my money's on the latter.

That's true. I just made the assumption that he was himself when he was young and that when he got that game after the surgery that's what created M.