After seeing Madoka for the first time a couple of weeks ago,this was the episode I was dreading/anticipating.

Seeing Hase taking a bite of the fruit almost made me do a slow motion "noooooooooo".To break up the Kurokage/Guridon team was sad enough,but this took it one step further.I sadly don't see a way for Hase to come out of this okay without feeling like a copout.Urobuchi is definitely living up to his nickname.

This show is focusing on something I feel has been missing from Rider shows for a while and it's the reaction of the ordinary folk to everything that's happening.Seeing the Zawamites being angry and violent towards everyone involved with the Invess Game really makes me take what's happening seriously.It's logical that they would put the blame on the Armored Riders since they started showing up around the same time the bigger Invess started attacking people.Seeing the victims of the attacks still suffering after the fact really builds up the drama and if people start dying or becoming Invess from it,this could bring the danger level of Rider monsters back up to how it was in the early Heisei days.We haven't seen any body counts from MOTW's since W,maybe.Not that I haven't been enjoying Kamen Rider the last couple of years,but Gaim is really raising the bar for Rider shows.

Oh my damn. That was a great episode, we got Gaim Banana, Shin Zangetsu bein a badass, more Durian, oh and Hasse! :lol

ok THAT was cool...I liked how the Mango and Banana basically were double ranged styles that countered the close combat of Bravo...plus showed off the arms gimmick. Was like that one time in Ryuki when he used Zolda's cards...

This is taking a nice dark road, I've said KR has needed this. The fruits and themes, they are just window dressing. I haven't been this drawn into a series since W to be honest.

Kouta's sis is smoking HAWT.

Trivia time! Rika Izumi, the woman who portrays Akira Kazuraba, also portrayed Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon

Thanks!! Googled her and...DAT PRETTY FACE.

And that's a bad thing ? I think it fit pretty well in this story, because it's coherent. It's less annoying than some of Inoue worst works that set characters with illogical behaviour and reactions.
It's a classic trope after all, Madoka was not the first fiction to use this trick and Gaim won't be the last. Psychopass (excellent anime by the way) from Urobuchi also use a form of this contagion/transformation theme, but not as a twist, rather as a fatality.

If you read the gaim threads regularly it was unevitable to not see it coming since weeks ago people already speculate about the Hellheim fruits.

That was awesome. Shin Zangetsu was badass. It was good to see Gaim and Baron get over on Bravo, which I hope leads to him joining the energy riders. It would have been a good slight to have Hase join Zangetsu, but he did what most of us suspected. Now we just need the other shoe to drop and Kouta realizes that he has probably been killing humans when destroys the Invess.

Wow, shit's getting real. I did not expect Gaim to have a person, let alone Hase, turn into an Invess on screen. I also like the darker tone of these past 2 episodes, from the Invess disease, Micchy wanting to give up on the driver, to Hase's lust for power, this is a welcome change. I have a feeling next episode won't be the last we see of Hase.

Man this show really doesn't waste a single second does it? So so good.

Between Bravo "playing the hero", Banana Gaim, Shin Zangetsu and DAT ending, I was glued to the screen from beginning to end.

What I'm very interested in seeing though is what the next role DJ Sagara has to play in this will be.

This was a damn good ep.

Well I must say this is a mighty fine episode we got goin. Seeing DJ being a hologram was cool, seeing the villains plots advancing more, more suspense. The Hase thing was suspected for a while now. Seeing the people in the hospital was pretty cool, seeing them with the vines, I mean its good to see the civilian side of things. The fight was good, seeing Shin Zangetsu in action was nice. Now when watching this I thought, hmmmm maybe, Sigurd could be the DJ I mean he was a hologram, but he has a body in his box right so.

That was an interesting episode. I like that the introduction of the Energy Riders is at a real turning point in the story, and not just because toys. It's a shame about Hase, but Team Jonouchi for life so it's not like Hase really matters. In seriousness, it looks like he's getting written off well, if he does indeed get written off here.
Bravo, on the other hand, doesn't seem to be making much sense. Why did Takatora even recruit his help when he could easily take out both Gaim and Baron on his own, especially with Melon Energy? It's not like taking both out and then Bravo would be much of an issue for him, seeing as he took out practically everyone in Helheim. At any rate, I can't wait for more.

I'd think that the reason is so Takatora could openly investigate on his own without interference. Plus, he could do it in private by having the populace focus on Oren Pierre Alfonso as their "hero" in this crisis while also denouncing the Beat Riders without having to get himself directly involved.

It's obvious in the episode. Takatora wants to focus on the invess and Helheim. He doesn't want to be bothered with the beat riders.

This as well.

Bravo will make an excellent "transition" for when the Energy riders take center stage, verses having the public worry about more riders and having to distinguish the two types. Having Bravo, an established rider, be the hero means moving that onto the Energy Riders will be easy.

Fair enough. I was going off of the assumption that Takatora was planning to have the Energy Riders to come in and start publicly hunting down the Beat Riders after everyone's opinion of them drops really low, but that would just kind of leave Bravo hanging there. I suppose it could happen in lots of different ways, so I'll just hold out for more episodes.

I sense Bravo's downfall.....

I loved this episode. Bravo is my favorite Character overall and this episode just proves why is a complete and utter badass. Gaim banana arms is freaking amazing and that should be used more often. One final note, Hase turning into an invess seems out of place here slightly... but lock seeds may have an addicting quality like gaia memories did if you didnt use a belt .

They've been building up to this since the first episode, though?

Adding to that this episode he had a mad desperation for power. It was warping his mind to be left behind, hence the delusions. The entire episode built to that moment of him seizing this otherwise deadly power for his own.

Weird how DJ Sagara has to appear as a hologram. I wonder where he's stationed, exactly.

The Riders having to deal with the fallout from the Invess infections was pretty great. I like how everything's been set up now with the Beat Riders taking the blame while Bravo acts as the face of the "good" Riders, maybe so the energy riders go about their business in secret?

Oh and Hase slowly starting to lose it was pretty awesome. I wonder if him going nuts at the beginning was the result of some sort of lockseed addiction or him just being bugging out at the prospect of losing everyone's respect and the power he once had.

Either way it should be interesting next episode since it seems he'll have a partially successful attempt to revert back?

Hah!

I can't believe I didn't catch that...

I don't think Hase's behavior is indicative of a lockseed addiction, merely the fact that he's a young, emotional person who took the game VERY seriously and lost everything important to him.

I think the warehouse was right next to the place they were fighting Bravo.

And Takatora hired Bravo to teach the Beat Riders a lesson -- it'd be only natural that he'd be observing from the shadows in case things went tits up.

Totally. Man, that Invess infection is terrifying. The infected look like they were in a whole other world of pain.

I saw Hase's breakdown as a PTSD episode. He mentions how scared of everyone/everything he is when he's having his flashbacks, and he went through severe trauma at the hands of Zangetsu. Urobuchi's work is drenched in the exploration of psychological disorders, isn't it?

I think his thirst for power is motivated by self-preservation and fear of note being able to protect himself from Invess as much as it is by his addiction to glory, strength and Lock Seed power.

Kouta and Hase are pretty much the only ones that were there because of plot convenience.

Oren was there because he was hunting Kouta,Kaito was hunting Oren an Takatora was there to investigate the crack.

What a fantastic episode. These last 2 eps are really developing into a fun show!

Once again I'm amazed by the symbolism & forethought that goes into Gaim.

Bravo's armor is modeled after Roman gladiators. Oren's encouraging the citizens to cheer for him so he can keep fighting. Zawamee City is Bravo's Colosseum. :D

Another great episode and I feel like we are finally getting to some plot movement, which is nice. I just hope I don't feel burnt out from the show by the late 30s as I have with Wizard and Kyoryu.

>O Vamola muuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuchhhhhhhhhhhoo

I absolutely loved this episode, Kaito and Kouta working together is so much fun, and I'm pretty sure Bravo is the Deadpool of the Kamen Rider universe so much. Shin Zangetsu vs that dragon inves was totally badass. I hope Micchi has a plan next episode to see what to do. Yggdrasil is totally evil with the ability to spin what's going on against the Beat Riders. I feel so bad for Hase, I love the hell out of him and feel so bad for what happened to him.

Man, Yggdrasil is a bunch of bastards. Using the Lock Seeds they distributed during the Invess game as a scapegoat for the increasing cracks and Invess invading is a brillant magnificent bastard move. And then having Bravo become a "hero" to stand up against the Beat Riders, just a brillant plan. The Banana and Mango arms tag team was really good. It showed that while Oren is a professional soldier, relying on those skills limits him while Kouta and Kaito have grown since their last fights with him. Shin Zangetsu continues to impress. And yeah, Den-O was right about the fruit.