Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Episode 34- "The Fulfilled Rebirth!" Discussion
 

Hiro has betrayed his team and now stands with Cronus, desperate to recover the Proto Gashat said to contain his beloveds' data. Is this the end of the CR Team?!

Great episode overall, we get to see the power of Gemdeus, one small dose of his data can deal great damage to Graphite.

Lazer is not only back with the rain that took him away, but also in the same place the incident happened. Ironic.

Even though this episode is super serious and depressing, it is hard not to laugh at Gutton making silly noise in the background.

Saki is revived but she not have personality like when Kuroto revived (before Poppy insert PMAX Origin Gashat).

Hmmm......Kiriya also revived but why he has yellow Bakusou Bike Gashat? I think yellow Bakusou Bike Gashat is in Emu's possession. Maybe two yellow Bakusou Bike Gashat?

I pretty sure both Saki and Kiriya become Bugsters after they revived.

Seeing saki's bug revival kinda cement my thought about this so called "revival" i think this kinda mean shin dan kuroto is not really kuroto that we know in the past rather just a bunch of relevant data that is why this shin dan kuroto is crazy with comedic effect not as crazy person in the past :D

So.. Hiiro betrayed because of his "guilty"...
Emu got back his own gamer driver
kinda like this ep because no nakama powa in here, Emu accepted the reality and fight back.

No, it's definitely the real Dan. He's not been painted as an imitation at all.
I suppose it all depends on how each individual views that specific kind of revival - like Kayaba in SAO, or *Hyun-Ae in Analogue.

Who would have thought that Graphite was a filthy cake thief?

Kiriya has the Turbo edition of the game

I thought that was very funny:D

Nah, Shin-chan was already insane. Not to mention that just like Saki, he kept repeating his last words before Poppy gave him the PMAXO Gashat

Oddly enough, the thing that got to me this episode is how useful the Proto-Gashats are.

For some reason, I had only mentally associated them as plot devices for how the Riders were going to revive everyone, but Evil-Kiriya actually using them to transform and fight, kind of blows my mind a little.

It's like in Ghost if the Ore/Specter/Necrom Eyecons never existed and the riders had to use whatever form change they had to fight.
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Well Graphite already took Saki's life away, so taking over Hiiro's quirk of eating sweets is really just... Icing on the cake.

This reminds me long ago in another episode thread that I technically threatened you with me smashing your door down with a hammer. Now with what you just said I better keep my word. So I will be seeing you real soon. ;)

AHHHHH!!!!! *swings Dogga Hammer around and runs through my wall*

Well, this episode was intense. Masamune is too intense, Kuroto is two tacos short of a combination plate, and Emu is way too focused on upholding everyone's smiles. I do applaud him for not changing his character and having him join the Parad Parade.

I think I'd feel a little more saddened than I already am for Hiiro, except they've managed to turn him into a Mary Sue. And maybe it's wrong but I had more feeling for Graphites' sacrifice.

Hiiros actor is really great, he has become my favorite part of the show. Saki revival was pretty creepy with her repeating the same line over and over again. The little glimpse of Gemdeus was pretty cool as well. He looks awesome.

I'm not sure how Hiiro's a Mary Sue. This episode emphasized what a flawed person he is.

Was about to say, he not only can't beat Emu is Emu is being serious, but is seen only as sympathetic, but still needing to be taken down.

If he was portrayed as a Gary Sue, Emu and co. would be shamed for disagreeing with his position, he'd be able to beat Emu even when he's being serious, and he'd have guilted Cronus into giving him Saki back fully.

What's actually presented is just a sad, guilt-ridden man making a mistake that keeps his love interest safe for the moment.

Great episode, shit's really about to go down soon.

Had a bit of a location DéjÃ*-vu again - I've seen the underground caverns where Emu and Hiiro fight in the Kamen Rider 3 movie and I think it's also a part of Helheim in Gaim- specifically the cavern where Gaim meets the Overlords and Kaito transform into Baron Lemon Energy.

I think I've seen it in other stuff to but I don't remember more.

Yes, but his character has been portrayed, even in the specials as this perfect doctor who is the pinnacle of all. It's only been now that his underlying motive has become a hurdle for Emu. You're right, he isn't being chastised for his desire, but they're also being a little too accommodating. AgileSiamang, I like that last part of your statement.

The Game World also appears in Chou Super Hero Taisen, and the Gorider special. http://kamenrider.wikia.com/wiki/Game_World

The Game World presented here is cleary different from the one presented in those specifically the fact that Bugster are apparently the only ones able to enter it.

He's the most skilled doctor, not the perfect doctor. Caring about the patient has always been a point of contention between him and Emu, landing Hiiro in an antagonistic light in the past (antagonist being the antithesis of Mary Sue).
Hiiro's character arc has always been about the way he tries not to care but cares a lot in reality - too much, perhaps. That's the harsh irony of his betrayal. The fact that he's good enough to surgically remove pancreatic cancer doesn't mean he's not flawed.

So gooooooood!
*This was another episode where the entire cast had great moments. We get to see the Bugsters working on a plan of their own, Taiga reveal that having Hiiro hate him was his own way of making up for his guilt, Dan is starting to work on the Muteki Gashat, Hiiro revealing just how flawed and guilt-ridden he is, and Emu continues to be faced repeatedly with traumatizing situations. *Cronus using Pause in the rain gave such awesome Kabuto vibes.
*Kiriya is back! I'm really wondering just HOW Cronus managed to brainwash him though. I assume we will find out soon.
*Interesting that Taddle Legacy seems to be provided by Masamune. I am having increasing doubts that Hiiro is going to escape this situation unscathed.
*Hiiro and Ren are painfully similar. I actually like Hiiro unlike Ren though, so they must be doing something right.

Great episode. Hiiro's still more or less my favorite Rider in the show (though Emu's worked his way back up there and with Kiriya coming back he's liable to steal my heart all over again), so it's nice seeing him get all this attention.

It turns out his betrayal was indeed a legit betrayal, but his reasons make a ton of sense for his character. He's clearly in an extremely unstable place emotionally right now, and while he seemed to start to make some peace with the situation after Graphite "died", his angst over Saki was always portrayed as the one thing that could distract him from his usual principles, so, especially since they've been heavily building it up for a while, it's totally reasonable he'd come to the conclusion he did. He always was kind of a hypocrite about this. You know, basically the exact opposite of a Mary Sue?

As for complaining I can actually get behind though, the "Game World"? Ex-Aid, how many times do I have to tell you can't just throw these concepts out there and then not actually explain them? When you abruptly cut to Parad and Graphite going on a wacky VR adventure and saying they've found Gemdeus' data I'm just left sitting there going "oooooooookay then". It's not the smoothest storytelling. Like I'm not saying it's doesn't make sense, it just doesn't make sense to me, the viewer. Basically the point I'm trying to make here is WHAT THE HECK EVEN IS THE STAGE SELECT I MEAN SERIOUSLY?!

Whatever, can't wait for somebody to try justifying this stuff as some brilliantly thought out, topical tribute to the early days of video gaming where most of the background information was in the instruction manual. :p

Anyways, I'm getting so sarcastic I'm not even sure which parts of this post are meant to taken seriously so before I go too crazy I should probably get to the minor stuff:

- One last bit of nitpicking first though. Why are they asking to borrow Shin-chan's Driver? Is that even an option? I assumed, with how big a deal the show has made about there being five Gamer Drivers and that's it, that his new one was just some kind of like, virtual construct tied directly to him now that he's a Bugster. Can he just take it off? I mean it's a non-issue now but dang it why does this show always have to raise these questions?

- Speaking of Shin-chan, I must admit it's a cute twist having the hero's nemesis be the guy to make his last power-up.

- Also I've been meaning to mention this for a few weeks now but I don't know how I feel about the numbers spelling out his name in his "room". That's Nago-san's shtick, man, get your own!

- Hey, I thought Chronus controlled time, not weather? Is he the guy who made it rain back when Kiriya "died", too?!

- On that note, it's a tribute to how great Kabuto's visuals are that its take on a battle in the rain from over a decade ago is still cooler than this.

Actually, I'm pretty sure Dan's Driver is an actual Gamer Driver. Poppy found it along with the Proto-Proto Mighty Action X in a treasure chest in the Dan's abandoned hideout.

Oh, right. Forgot about that. Now I feel stupid. I'm still never letting Ex-Aid off the hook for the Stage Select though. :lol

I'm pretty sure he literally just made enough time pass until it happened to rain. A rather unique use of time powers to be sure.

The Game World to me was always one of those sort of self-explanatory things.

It's the world that's contained within the Gashats and the world that Bugsters inhabit.

Since Dan came back as a Bugster, it can be assumed that humans that die as a result of the Bugster virus (or from being killed by another Rider, as seen with Kiriya) become the data used to create a Bugster version of the person.

It can also be assumed that each Gashat has its own self-contained Game World since Parad and Graphite specifically use Kamen Rider Chronicle to get to Gemdeus.

And how Poppy found Dan in MAX.

I didn't get a really good look at him, but was this week's victim the same guy who played the science dweeb on Ultraman Orb?

A quick check between the Ultraman wiki and Kamen Rider Wiki says no, but that was the first thing I thought when I heard the guy's voice

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C36zc0spmxk Lots of good discussion out of this episode. Never a dull moment with Ex-aid.

Ex-Aid continues to gut punch every week with body blows

seeing the return of Lazer . . . man

i LOVED that he entered with Kiriya's trade mark flashy, whirling, kick-based offense

Masamune is toying with brave in a way. Brave was sad about what happen to saki. I feel Masamune is just using brave to do his dirty work for him. Masamune will trick everyone in someway and he might even destroy all of the proto gashats knowing that how main rider villains are.