Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Episode 44- "The Last Smile!" Discussion
 

A pandemic of Game Virus has infected the city, turning thousands into Bugsters. Surprisingly, Poppy is the one with a plan to win. What secret does she still hold???

Farewell Poppy...Farewell Pallad....

They has great efforts in this episode...

It looks really cool when All Five Main Rider in Level 1 against Super Gemdeus....

Yeah...despite All Level 1 Riders successfully to separate Gemdeus from Masamune, Emu lost his transformation ability because Pallad death but next week Emu can transform again.....

Yeah final villain is normal Cronus. Hopely the last fight will be very interesting....

Oh...one more thing, Build in this episode looks really cool.....:D

I can't wait to see his other actions...:D

Build casually wasting Dan's life before realizing he is not Ex-aid and walks away :D

Also, Plothole? I am pretty sure Masamune was already game over-ed when he infected himself with Gemdeus Virus, how come seperating the virus out make him alive again?

Poppy and Parad are in the True Ending, so they obviously get revived - you can even see Emu surrounded by Parad's red/blue data in the preview.

No Gamer Driver, no Game Over.

But it says Game Over when he infects himself in episode 42. So just because he doesnt have a Gamer Driver, doesnt mean he cant get a Game Over

^ What he said, and Kuroto had gotten a Game Over once even after losing his BUGLE driver and compability.

I'm still confused about how revival works in this series.

He says "Dan Masamune as a human is dead", or something to that effect, though.

He used Gamedeus to turn himself into a Bugster like Kiriya said, and I think that now - even when separated from Gamedeus - he's still not human. It seems to me that he's been fused with the virus which has been building inside himself for more than a decade.

awesome episode. All riders go level 1 and work together! When was the last time we had more than 2 riders going against the last (second to last here) boss and beat them? xD
(besides Decade...)
Also Build mistaking Genm for Ex-Aid and wasting 1 life. Poor Kuroto. He should train his endurance more, being a zombie for a while made him too easy to game over -w-

awesome-sauce.
http://i.imgur.com/ivkdKPp.png

I think what i like for ex aid is even though the plot somewhat weak on late game, they make fun team battle in the end rather than usual only main rider battles main villain, and i actually like Lv1 rider battle i thought i might hate it but this time around they actually serve the purpose.
and holy shit chronus is like cockroach, i think he the longest main villain i ever see to be alive XD

Emu's red and blue shoes :D

http://www.tokunation.com/attachment...1&d=1503244133

I want to cry. I want to be able to cry, but I never can seem to do it when it comes to emotional shows. The closest I ever came to crying I can remember was Kuuga, and that was an almost.

I really hope they can bring Poppy back, cause I can't really imagine the Ex-aid cast without he- waitaminute. THEY KILLED THE FEMALE KAMEN RIDER! OMG WHY!?!!??

Back to a more serious note, I reeeeeeeeeally loved the Level 1 fight. It was so awesomely funny and funnily awesome. Best way to kill a final boss: A chibi Rider Kick. "I'm a Kamen Rider" indeed.

It's almost over.... I'm kind of happy yet sad about that. It was a great show, but like most games, it's gotta come to an end at some point. Can't wait for the last episode!

Poppy's in True Ending, which takes place a year after the TV series.

Poppy and Parad scenes were pretty emotional, though I do expect some appearance in the final episode, the fight with Gamedeus was great as well, though im getting a little annoyed at Masamune

You won't have to worry about that ever again after the last episode.

At least until "Kamen Rider Cronus V-Cinema: Ominous Laughter; The Final Asspull!"

- So I love how Dan Masamune is STILL the main villain up until the finale, because the past few Rider series have a habit of introducing a last minute Final Boss (Ghost had....whatever the hell that thing was, Drive had Gold Drive and Sigma Circular, although to be fair, Banno was awesome. Even Gaim had Kaito, who, while present for the entire series, only went through his face-heel turn during the last 3-4 episodes).

- I'm legitimately shocked that they remembered that only the Lvl 1 forms can separate a Bugster from a patient, mostly because I myself forgot since it's been so long since that's even been necessary. And really, it could have easily been handwaved away as the later forms simply having this ability by default to allow the Riders to use their most powerful forms, but they found a way to make even the joke forms useful in the penultimate episode.

- RIP Poppy and Parado :(. Ex-Aid giveth, Ex-Aid taketh. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see Kamen Rider Poppy one final time, but I love the way that both of their arcs developed (of course, we know now they're gonna show up again in the movie, but whatever).

- Build seems awesome. I hope they don't pull a Ghost and make Build seem super cool in this appearance, but have him be an annoying shit for his own show. Was kinda weird that Dan decided to, for whatever reason, fight in his Lvl 0 form instead of X-0 (likely JUST so they could have Build confuse him for Ex-Aid), but that's a very minor nitpick.

I like to think it's because X-0 would have been overkill. Sorta like how Brave used Beat Gamer against Poppy all those episodes ago. Maybe despite the things he claimed, behind it all he didn't actually want to hurt any civilians.

They used the Level 1 Forms.....THEY USED THE LEVEL ONE FORMS....IN THE FINAL BATTLE....AND IT MADE SENSE WHY. I swear, this show will NOT give me any room to make any huge complaints on it, WOW!!! After this Episode, I gotta say I truly will miss this show once it ends next week!

Also, a very underrated part of this Episode I would say would be the scene where Poppy gives her final words to Kuroto, and when he sees her essence in front of him. The way they interacted really does a great job of "show, don't tell." With no words you can tell the amount of emotion Kuroto has for losing someone who was not only a valued product of his....but also, if people remembered, his MOTHER. I really liked that scene.

It doesn't contradict his character, he wants people to acknowledge his talents, can't do that if they're offed

His shoes are actually checkered red on the inside and checkered blue on the outside. Not like Build who has 2 different colored shoes. :)

Oh man that scene made this show for me. Kuroto is a fucked person and having a complete change of heart would not have made sense. Having him be human for a few seconds as his self made mother surrogate dies to save the day made my eyes well up. I also like the idea of his mother dying is what partially fueled his desire to create these games and cultivate the bugsters and Poppy dying motivated him to defeat Cronus.

^ Both of you are correct in how I interpreted all that. Completely down to the tears in my eyes.

Gonna have big shoes to fill there Build. Big shoes.

Oh Poppy, I would love to complain about this show offing the female Rider, but it was such a touching and heroic death I really do not mind. Even if her and Parad are probably gonna be revived, it was still very emotional. I also loved them using the Level 1 forms of all things, it was a cool callback to the beginning of the show. Build also looks like he will be fun, I liked how playful he was. How in the world did Gamedeus revive Salty though, wasn't he deleted? Next week, goodbye Ex-Aid!

Um...

...

http://i.imgur.com/AxbcB0E.jpg

... I love you too, Ex-Aid.

So, uh, wow! Great episode? Do I even need to say anything more? I mean I'll try but man, I just don't even right now:

- Apparently not even a master of structure like Yuuya Takahashi could find a way to make the obligatory next Rider cameo natural. First of all, given Build's premise, I'm not sure the timelines here could possibly match up (unless Japan is just that f***ed 24/7), but having Shin-chan awkwardly wandering around in a form he hasn't used in ages for no reason? I suppose "Somebody confuses Genm and Ex-Aid" is at least a bookend. So that's neat. It's not a big deal anyway. Especially since it seems the finale isn't going to have Build?

- Everything else was utterly fantastic though. Poppy's great. Parad's great. Chibi Ex-Aid is great (and never should've left the show dang it). Great stuff, all around!

- Speaking of bookends, "Let's end this with a finisher" was exactly what Emu said way back when he did his first Rider Kick in the premiere. It's the little things that really make all the difference.

- I find it hilarious Poppy specifically told Kiriya to lay off the lies given that, in light of some people's confusion when Emu "killed" Parad, I've realized that Emu actually plays people way more frequently than Kiriya does.

- Hey, did you guys know this show is over next week? Time flies, doesn't it?

I remember when the first shots of the suits were out and people were whining about them and saying that that was it, this show would be terrible. I commented at the time that the suits may be odd, but what little was known of the story might have potential.

Yeah, none of us had any idea what we were in for.. This show has been an absolute treat to watch and I am very sad to see it go. I both look forward to, and dread, the upcoming final episode. Especially as it will likely be awhile before I get to see the movie.

Well, that was amazing. Poppy's death was handled really well, the Level Ones showed why they existed in the first place(!) (and were useful!) and Parad earned his redemption. Build felt shoehorned in... but I'm guessing Toei will forget all about that come actual series time. Unless its like Ghost, and they screw the timeline trying ot tie it in. Eh, it doesn't matter.

And, as mentioned above, it is nice to see Dan Masamune stick around this long. Even though someone should have just thrown a rock at him while he was monologuing. :D

Can't really say what hasn't been said before, although I add that find it hilarious that Dan was the one who lost to Build.

Remember his big debut last year in Ghost was him mowing though Gamma with a bmx bike and then beating up Necrom and Specter in the epilogue...

And now he's getting blown away by Build in this episode's cameo :lol turns out what goes around comes around buddy.

I largely loved the episode, but the plot point that Poppy - and apparently only Poppy - could cure everyone of the Bugster virus by killing herself was pulled outta nowhere. Parado was standing *right there*. "Hey, I'm pretty sure I'll sacrifice myself to atone for my crimes in the next twenty minutes, so why don't I do it instead?" While I'm on the topic, it cured infected humans, but did nothing to Masamune or the other Bugsters walking around? Also, the trope of the female who nobly sacrifices herself is just ecch.

Despite the out-of-left-fieldness, I otherwise enjoyed the episode. The Build mistaken identity was surprisingly satisfying given that it nearly didn't serve the plot. (I'm assuming the one way in which it did was to establish that Genm is down to three lives that will be inevitably consumed in the finale.) Unless it does something offensively stupid in its finale, this'll go up there with Gaim, Den-O, OOO, and Kabuto among my favorite Rider series... and considering how ugly that damned driver is, that's quite a feat.

I'm not looking forward to the end of this show, which is a pretty significant compliment given that I'm looking forward to Build. It's also rare to see a Rider show about which so many folks on this board seem to be on roughly the same page. I'm hoping against hope that Build is as enjoyable, but as it is, I suspect it'll suffer the Drive problem of having to follow a generally-beloved series.

I'm really surprised no one's mentioned the kinda big plot hole in this episode. That being, how did Genm get the purple PMAX gashat back? Last we saw it was with the other proto gashats in Masamune's posession.

Not gonna lie, I really don't see the point of killing off two characters this late that, thanks to the movie, we know for sure are going to return. Why bother? And I have to agree- the Poppy thing was really out of nowhere. Props to Kuroto's actor though, for still getting up the feels with his "you can't just disappear without the Game Master's permission" line. Genm really is the best character on this show.

But let's be honest, this episode wasn't about Poppy and Parad dying, it was about the final boss being defeated by the return of Level 1! That was a great twist that fit with the series lore, and it was nice to see them again. I will be honest...that shot of the Level 1's running at Gamedeus from the back was BY FAR the worst CGI I have seen in Kamen Rider so far, but it was well worth it. Genm Level 1 actually fought! Lazer's wheel things are guns after all, like I originally thought!

And of course, Build. I love how he's got the Spiderman-esque laid back banter thing going on, I've always wanted to see a rider with that.