Yeah, considering I was just mocking Genm's whole shtick so far, I'm really happy the show is doing the obvious thing with his identity. Being predictable isn't a bad thing when it's predictable because it makes perfect sense.

If its true Kuroto Dan is Genm, then I'll be happy to see who will win between him & Emu/Ex-Aid?

The player vs the creator!

Mighty Action X!
Emu: Henshin!
Dan: Henshin!
Gashat! I'm a Kamen Rider

Dan: Kinda like looking into a mirror huh?
Emu: Dai-Henshin!
Dan: Dai-Henshin!
Gacha! Level Up!

On their way to level 2, they jump and change while they fight.

Imagine this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eonj_s9EBq8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe6b4i2rGOA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kcistkb8irE

Wow, they even managed to make the toy demo parts interesting this time around.

Dan is one creepy son of a bitch.

Kiriya sure loves kicking things.

Well I guess Dan wanted to show Kiriya the pecking order.

New Trailer Ex-Aid vs Ghost Movie War:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yI4uvWI_I28

So, given what we see from this trailer, we actually have the actors for Wizard, Gaim, and Drive appear. Or maybe that's all that we actually see of them. Either way, I'm hyped as fuck!!!

Heeeey. That cool looking Bugster is using the Bugvisor. Neato.

Also, Ghost Gamer:

https://i.gyazo.com/651fb94158fc66de...4b2a6bdd46.png

So basically an Action Gamer repaint, but with a helmet based on Ghost's. Makes sense I guess. Doesn't look bad.

Anyway, still holding on to my hope that the Legend Rider actors will return. Don't know if those teases there should lead me to think one way or the other. At the least I pray for voices.

Anyway, the movie looks cool.

I always enjoy it when a movie highlights that we'll be seeing other forms. Like I wasn't expecting Wizard Land Style or Gaim Jinba Lemon of all things to pop up in the trailer.

The Ghost Gamer form looks really cool. It's weird to have something that looks like Ghost though without a jacket. I love how Ex-Aid Damashii and Ghost Gamer look like the other's primary forms. I thought that was neat.

We're also getting to see Infinity, Type Tridoron, Kiwami, and Mugen in this movie!!!!

Wait. So, using the Dragon Hunter Gashat Ex-Aid get's a big 'ol chest plate and headdress... but the rest just get some extra plating on their arms?

http://67.media.tumblr.com/7ecb45f78...foio1_1280.jpg

Yeah that's pretty much how it works.

Technically Lazer also gets different arms and legs with it but.

Yeah.

I actually don't mind this because it doesn't change their appearance that much, and since I like their Level 2's, that's fine by me. The level 3's are fine but I like this a little more. Ex-Aid with it I don't like much but since he's gonna get Double Action right afterwards I don't care too much.

...Unless someone wishes to pipe up with information about orange and cream being a common plane color palette, I think Jet Combat's colors are a Macross reference, specifically to the Valkyrie that Hikaru pilots in the first few episodes.

...Otherwise, I just wish it was steel grey/silver everywhere it was cream and maybe a different bright color than orange, because I like the overall design, I just have some nitpicks that are more personal taste than real criticism, like wishing the guns were strapped to his forearm instead of just holding them underslung so loosely. I do like his "emo" hair getting flipped upside down, it's a neat touch.

Chanbara I dig, although I'm confused as to why a form that literally has "Sword Clash" in its name doesn't actually have swords. I dig the weapons he DOES have, but... oddly, my first thought is something like Harvest Moon of all things when I'm trying to guess his genre based on appearance alone. That or mecha, but that's been taken already.

DoReMi Beat is just... weird. It's weird in concept, as combining RPGs and rhythm is probably the single weirdest combination. The other I can kind of come up with reasons for, but... nope, doesn't make sense... unless Brave has some personal connection to Poppi that we don't know about. Anyway, it's overall aesthetic is... weird. I'm sorry, but I just can't think of any other way to describe it. I kind of dig the helmet, but the rest of it... yeah, and that green does not play nice with his super bright blue.

@barn, Lazer also gets essentially a new head, as his Lvl 3 has a new head design along with the new limbs.

To me, RPG and Beat Music kind of go together. Brave as a fighter is very hands on. He has great hand-eye coordination. Of course this comes with him being a surgeon as well. And I believe in one of the previews it shows him doing something with his hands. Like he's waving them and hitting something in the air in a pattern? So that just goes to further his hand-eye coordination. Now, personally, too me a good swordsman (like Brave is) should've gotten a dancing game like DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) to help with his foot work. Because a good swordsmen needsgood footwork like any other type of skilled fighter.

Isn't the Level 3 head just his head with the new Chambara headgear on top of it? Just like the other Level 3's except his covers most of his face. With Hunter it just comes off.

Wait, how does Ex-Aid switch between Drago Knight LV4 and Drago Knight LV5? In the first scans of DKHZ, Ex-Aid's version has all of the different armor parts!

Both Ex-Aid and Snipe's level 3s seem like they've got something do to with their already established genre. Maybe that's coincidence, but it makes Brave and Lazer's discontinuity feel a bit weird.

Let's see:
Ex-Aid: Action platformer > Robot themed action beat 'em up
GENM: Action platformer > Sportsbike tricks? something like Tony Hawk but with bikes maybe. Action is kind of a vague genre, so I guess that works.
Snipe: First person shooter > Airplane cockpit shooter
The other two could have been something like:
Brave: Fantasy RPG > Tactical strategy?
Lazer: Motorbike racing > Gran Turismo-like car racing? (too soon to have another car themed Rider?)

What kind of game even is Giri Giri Chambara, you think?

I think Lvl 4 summons the Dragon. While Lvl 5 breaks it down into the separate armor pieces? I could be completely wrong, but it makes the most logical sense to me.

I'd bet you Giri Giri Chanbara is similar to either Bushido Blade, a samurai-themed spectacle fighter or a Dynasty Warriors-esque game.

Okay, can I just say, regardless of whether they screw it up later, I like that the video-game theme seems well understood or at least researched? This is a theme that's been poorly understood by more traditional media, so seeing, if not a personal love, an honest attempt to portray gaming well on a thematic level is really neat to this gamer nut.

And, obviously, Brave should of upgraded to Dark Souls. :p

Well, DKHZ is a unique Gashat. I expect it'll be something like leveling up with it for the first time gives the Rider using it all the armor, and then flipping the lever again breaks it up among the different Riders.

Although...that's what I've been assuming, but I don't even really know. It would almost make sense--Ex-Aid keeps the chest armor, Brave and Snipe get the shoulder armor, Lazer gets the legs...but then Lazer also has the shoulder armor. Would that mean they can only use it if it's Ex-Aid, Snipe and Brave or Ex-Aid and Lazer? Maybe the Hunter Gamer has a second pair of pauldrons hidden somewhere we just can't see? Though then I wonder where the hell Lazer's arms are coming from. because I also don't see any yellow on the dragon outside of the patterns on some of the armor.

Anyway, I don't really think there's gonna be a Level 4 to 5 distinction though. The second quarter scan just has the label "Hunter Gamer Level 5" on all four of them.

I got more of an impression that Gekitotsu Robots was a fighting game. A beat 'em up also would make sense I suppose, but the description of a game where robots beat each other up, plus the image of the palette swapped Robots facing each other, makes me think more fighting game than anything.

I would have thought fighting game if I didn't think Robots was cornering that market already. Maybe hack and slash?

...Ex-Aid Lvl 3 is literally Smash Bros. Think about it for a second...

... I DOUBT that Brave Lvl 3 is referencing Crypt of the Necrodancer, that is way too indie for something like this... DUH, there are a ton of RPGs with a timing element, ala a Rhythm game, like Squall's Gunblade or the timed hits of the Mario RPGs.

Still can't quite explain Lazer, the only thing coming to mind is something about horses and motorcycles being interchangeable in some media.

My God, it's like Gaim all over again with all these interesting possible design elements, but even harder to recognize for an outsider... With Gaim, if you're a martial history nut like me, it's pretty easy to see the references. I'm pretty sure I was one of the few to instantly recognize, say, Ryugen's armor design as a Ming Dynasty warrior, one of the first in the world to make use of gunpowder as a weapon, but I digress into bragging down that trail.

Anyway, I'm hoping this continues, because, much like my eternal hunt for the origin of Pokémon, I love this kind of thing.

Well I'd say that Gekitotsu Robots is clearly based on Custom Robo, which is more of an arena fighter than the classic Street Fighter/Mortal Kombat style fighting game.

The thing is, one of Paradox's forms is very explicitly called "Fighter Gamer" which leads me to believe THAT form's genre is supposed to be the side-view button masher fighting games. Keep in mind GiriGiri Chambara is sort of Samurai/Chinese warrior themed, so maybe you're right. Maybe they're going for Dynasty Warriors with that one.

Actually, that's a good point. Paradox had slipped my mind somehow. Could certainly see Knock Out Fighter being the fighting game. Though I could also see it being a more specific reference to things like Punch-Out! which are a slightly different beast. I don't even know.

Giri Chambara makes me think it's a hack-n-slash

Drago Knight Hunter looks to be an MMORPG to me, with all the Riders using it at once - perhaps if they all use it, it's Level 4, but if just one uses all the pieces, it's Level 5?

The way I've been thinking of them is...

Mighty Action X - Action Platformer
Taddle Quest - Eastern RPG
Bang Bang Shooting - First-Person Shooter
Bakusou Bike - First-Person Racer
Gekitotsu Robots - Arena-style Beat-'em-Up
DoReMiFa Beat - Rhythm Game
GiriGiri Chanbara - Historical Hack 'n Slash
Jet Combat - Tactical Shoot 'em 'Up
Shakariki Sports - Sports Simulator
Drago Knight Hunter Z (Drago Knight Hunterz?) - Fantasy MMORPG
Dangerous Zombies - Survival Horror
Knock-Out Fighter - Traditional Fighting Game
Perfect Puzzle - Puzzle Game
Mighty Brothers XX - Mechanics-Expanded Sequel (A la Mega Man X4 allowing play as Zero, or Sonic and Knuckles with Knuckles; doubling as a reference to Super Mario Brothers)

Chanbara/chambara is mostly used to describe those fancy sword fighting samurai/ninja movies so a hack&slash in the vein of Dynasty Warriors seems most likely.

aw yus i got it right without knowing chambara's meaning!

Drago Knight Hunters is basically Monster Hunter. You know, the franchise that is HUGE in Japan. Multiplayer, armor is made of monster parts and hunter is in the title.

'Unfortunately, there's a cost to all of this- the director has revealed that he plans to blow the entire budget on the first portion of the series's run. Given how some of the criticisms towards Kamen Rider Ghost was the seemingly lack of a budget (as the repeated monster suits and even recolored suits could show us) and we might have a case of history repeating itself.'Oh no... This is going to hurt a loooot

What are you even talking about? Where is this from?

Looked around. That comes from TVTropes so....obviously, unsourced. I wouldn't even take it with a grain of salt.

Yeah, if I had to guess, this was probably a joke taken way the heck out of context, if it's even anything at all. Probably just making a tongue in cheek boast like "we're making the effects so good the budget will run out in the first quarter wwww" or something.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM7i...ature=youtu.be

Well, the fifth Virtual Operations is out!

I wonder what they're hinting at with Dan and Graphite. Pretty nifty all the same and we also get to see that Dan henshins on-screen next episode.

In fairness, Ex-Aid also has a very good reason to reuse suits, if what I understood about the promotional materials - that a Rider needs to conquer ten types of games - is true. This means it wouldn't be inappropriate for us to see, for instance, some of the suits and effects from Mighty Action X or Taddle Quest again.

Huh. That clip from episode 6 shows that GENM was in fact one of the mystery spots in the character select. But, one remains. Starting to think it may be Paradox after all. But...who knows. We still don't really know what's up with the other 4 grayed out versions of the other Riders. I thought it may have something to do with the Level 3's but that doesn't seem to be the case. Then I thought maybe it had something to do with the Prot Gashats, but GENM/PMAX gets its own spot separate from the gray Ex-Aid. Weeeeird.

Watch them just end up being filler so the character roster looks bigger.

GENM doesn't appear to have a level-up phrase, which is unfortunate, but makes sense, I guess.

Not really sure what is up with the little confrontation between Dan and Graphite. Not sure it makes sense given how they acted in episode 5, but eh. The dude is a bit of a psychopath.

The odd part to me is that the Ganbarizing character select still shows (with Genm as an option) three mystery spots. Besides Paradox, I can only imagine that those are movie characters/special characters, but I can't imagine why it would be different than the show at this point.

Perhaps the greyed out versions are placeholders for riders they don't even want the silhouettes to be seen of yet...

To be fair, I don't think we've seen all the riders forms yet, since we're getting the Lvl 3's already and all 10 of the gashat's have been unveiled already, which will likely all be used at least once in 3 or 4 episodes for Lvl 3 with Drago Knight Hunter to follow shortly thereafter.

Even Lvl XX seems to be at most a Kachidoki level upgrade, so I'm betting there's still more stuff to be unveiled, just from a marketing POV.

Speaking of upgrades and the like...I really hope they skip the mid-season upgrade this season. I don't expect them to, because ca$h, but I really want them to. Double Action looks great and interesting as is, so I would prefer if that was the last form Emu got before the final one. I'm hoping they instead give the other three Riders something, and I sort of doubt they'd be able to do both. Probably a futile hope since the main Rider is the primary merchandise driver and they're unlikely to buck the trend they've followed for the past several years, but I can hope. After all, (even if it was just in the first quarter) all the Riders actually got equal focus form and toy-wise, which I'm pretty sure has never happened before. I just really don't want them to end up like Necrom or Mach.

...Mostly Mach, though.

Also speaking of upgrades though, I'm totally expecting Paradox to get an "upgrade" at some point, which will just be using the Gear Dual with a Gamer Driver, allowing both his Gamer forms to operate independently. Wizard style. I could really see that being a thing.