It was cool. It did a lot within it's limitations and changed a formula that had become way too fucking stale.

Gaim does have its flaws, I agree. Particularly with the Yggdrasil arc, where's it just a circle of backstabbings with no real forward movement of the plot for a few episodes. I haven't rewatched the show so I can't say if it's overhyped or not.

But like everyone else said, Gaim is hyped up because it was more serialized. Especally looking back now after stuff like Drive and Ghost, Gaim stands out even more oddly in the pantheon of Rider shows from the past 5 years. Considering all the other shows have more formulaic two parters and plot reveals seen a mile away.

Why do you staunchly believe people are unable to change their opinions?
I used to want to break the jaws of people who mentioned ponies around me.
Now...
Clarity on a subject can alter one's perception on something. Not everyone is looking to counter every reason brought up.

As for Gaim, it shook things up. It broke a formula that basically everyone was tired of.
However, place me in the group that says it's overhyped. I was having issues with the series around the late 30's. From Kouta's mentality to Kaito's...Well, you know, things just stopped making sense after a certain point.
Also, Marika is the worst female rider ever. Like, my god. We finally get one who's relevant to the series, and she merely exists to suck the dick of whoever has the most power around her? Dammit...

What I love about Gaim is the strong story and characters. I love how things change over time and how great the drama was. You also had a great memorable cast of characters too. Gaim was the Kamen Rider show that I would watch every week. Unlike Wizard, where I drop the show early on and finish it on the last minute. I really want another strong show like Gaim because it was able to show that a kids show can be enjoy for people for all ages with good writing.

The only thing I didn't like about Gaim was that some of the lockseeds are pointless. Gaim would use them like twice and are never used again.

I can't get into it at all. I managed to barely to get to episode 14 before I shelved it and moved onto Drive. I wouldn't say it's bad, it just bored me and the I found the characters uninteresting.

^Funny since I'm total opposite. I could not get into Drive at all. I found the humor in Drive to be weak and I didn't like any of the characters. It was the first Rider show that I drop since Kiva.

I think the whole fruit motif still doesn't make sense to me, so I have a feeling that played a role in my aversion as well. (the SHFAs are nice though, I own two of'em believe it or not)

Whereas Drive had the whole vehicle angle, which hit me right in the Transformers nerd spot.

I'll finish Gaim, along with W. Someday.

Gaim is popular because Toei hired a critically acclaimed and award-winning writer rather than choosing a name from its usual pool of six writers who take it in turns to do Kamen Rider. This led to a series that broke away from the tired old format that the franchise was running into the ground, filled with a wide variety of characters to maximise appeal. Then it went and had a great toy line on top of that. It was win all around.

Also, replying to OP's post from the Ghost thread:

It's repetitive because it means you can see all his twists coming a mile away, but I don't know if cliche is the right word for it. It's no more cliche than Ghost's quest to get a wish from the seven dragon balls or Decade being an all-powerful amnesiac.

If Urobuchi wants to write stories about human morality, that's his decision. Nobody criticises Miyazaki for harping on about environmentalism in most of his films.

Only they wouldn't have killed him because they couldn't.

Why he was backing Kouta so much I have no idea. The guy could clearly see into the future so maybe he obviously saw the most potential in him? I dunno, I'm making assumptions and yes the series wasn't especially clear on this.

This isn't bad writing, this is you projecting your own interpretation of Kaito onto him.

Who did he work with for any other reason than to benefit his own cause? He didn't bat an eyelid at Yggdrasil's proposal of letting the bulk of humanity die and was quite happy to ally himself with Ryouma, because all he was after was the fruit and the power it would give him. He didn't really become a "leader" to anyone - Marika followed him around like a lovesick puppy and although he took Zack under his wing, he made it very clear to him not to get in his way.

Kaito has a code of honour, but he isn't remotely heroic.

"Villain" by its very definition means evil, so yes you kinda are.

Sagara is undoubtedly questionable in his methods and morally ambigious, but all he presents is the opportunity to evolve. It's what the fruit bearer does with that brings the trouble. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

And I'm going to be perfectly honest, if people criticising a show you like works you up then you need to take a step back. Not everyone likes the same thing, and unfortunately Ghost's fans seem to be in the minority. More power to you for liking it, because it means at least some people are getting enjoyment out of it. But not everyone is going to like the same thing, and eventually you'll find yourself enjoying something that everyone else hates.

Magiranger is one of my favourite Sentai series, but when this site did a Let's Watch Wednesday of it those threads were nothing but dislike for the show on a weekly basis. You've just got to ignore it and take solace in the fact that YOU like it.

Well Gaim was my first weekly Kamen Rider show so it was a really fun adventure to watch every single week. For a toku show it had a good story. The four different arcs in the show were great and told their own great stories. The suits looked really cool to me and the comedy made sense in my opinion.

Now there are negatives, like when the suits start to do actions and fight the choreography is not the best. So the action was not that great to me at all. The development of some characters was not great. Kaito and Kouta the two main characters looking back were not that interesting. Kaito's development towards the end felt rushed and Kouta just felt gullible to Sagara.

Its really Micchy and Takatora that carried the show later on for me. Their story was one of the high lights as well as the interactions with other characters. The other side characters were entertaining to see and there are some that I would love to see Gaim Gaidens of some day.

So overall it is not at all a perfect show by any means but it holds its own and manages to tell a complete story. To me the real ending is not the last episode. That title would come down to episode 46. 47 while it was all cool and stuff felt very low budget. Like extremely small.

Funny that you mention that, I'm more of a casual Transformers fan because I only like Beast Wars really, but Gaim hit me really hard in terms of what I like about Transformers because of how the armor unfolds when it comes down.

The gimmick toys do that too and I think it’s awesome.

I never had that vibe with Drive since the forms are based on cars and not transform in a "changing shapes" kinda sense, but I do see where you're coming from. Type Technic for example looks really Transformers-esque.