Yuuya Gaim is a jerk :lol Seriously that dude just pounds Kouta like it's nothing and seems as if he is having fun doing it too. Kouta at least end things smoothly :lol

I thought this was overall a very well done episode if a bit slow. The torment Redue put Kouta through in the hypnotic state was awesomely painful. To see a character break down that way after experiencing such dramatic role reversals, to being the monsters he's destroyed or seen die in front of his eyes. It's powerful stuff.

Based on his own dialogue and the Mai/Sagara conversation I guess Kouta really could die. It would be dramatic, though not unheard of as the main rider of a show has died before, Ryuki. But the whole sacrifice yourself or rather your humanity to save the world angle is still straight out of Blade. Time will tell if this show can handle a plot like that better than Blade. For all the ways I faulted that show Blade did have a powerful conclusion.

Right now I'm fully expecting a Madoka ending out of this. Its certainly going that way.

Kota goes God Mode and ressurects all those who died at the hands of Helheim? Makes sense.

Eh. I found the Mai and Sagara parts to be rather dull, pointlessly restating what the audience has known.

The hypnosis part was rather nice, but it got too stilted and went on too long, since we've known Kouta long enough to know his ultimate decision and action, that having it restated again didn't accomplish much of anything.

Well Ryoma certainly pimped out his lockseed didn't he?

Anywho the episode was pretty...meh. I didn't really find anything that interesting except the fight scene with Kaito and Micchy. The episode pretty much just stated what we've known for so many episodes now and is another case of "Kouta learns of a possible consequence, doubts his path, but then gets back on it." It definitely isn't one of the better.

The revelation shocked nobody but it was good to finally see it adressed, and the illusion was really interesting, even if Kouta's choice was obvious enough.

It was good, just not spectacular.

Totally agree that this episode was good enough to wait 2 weeks for!
The best part was when Yuuya henshins into Gaim, he had those poses down!

This episode also made me think, what if Kouta was never Gaim and Yuuya was the main rider?

Sooo who wants to bet that Bandai is gonna release an S.H.Figuarts Duke Stealth mode? :lol

I wouldn't put it past them to do that. A clear plastic Duke could sell for some big bucks; moreso if it's an exclusive.

I dunno; it's hard for me to get hyped on Gaim since this was in a sense a recap episode, plus I'm bummed out over some bad news on my end.

Bandai Premium with a special DX Lemon Energy Lockseed toting Ryouma's voice.

We didn't know the part that Kouta couldn't live if he forced the forest back, just the part that he'd give up his humanity. Sagara made it seem like he'd be ousted from society AND die because he'd like a forest to live in, meaning he'd eventually starve or just poof out of existence.

What?
It was made clear weeks ago that Kouta couldn't eat anymore (I guess it's an assumption that he couldn't. But I much preferred the hinting at that Kouta couldn't eat human food, rather than just out and out telling the audience he can't).

He wouldn't poof out of existence, did you pay attention to the illusion? It blatantly told us that, regardless of how much Kouta would do, if he transformed into a monster, he'd be killed like Hase.
The point of the illusion was pretty clearly "Turn your back on them before they turn against you."

Have you ever had a hamburger?

http://builder.cheezburger.com/Build...d-3e84e9b92395

It sure has some common points with OOO, but honestly, I think Urobuchi is more on the Blade route here.

I can definitely see that. Both Kouta and Kenzaki have to turn into what they were fighting in order to save the world. Thus they cast off their humanity in order to save it.

Not sure where you're going with this, but I'm curious to find out: yes, yes I have had a hamburger. In fact, a good cheeseburger is one of my favorite meals.

Plus their final forms both involve their gimmick (fruit and cards) swirling around them before turning into Shiny Armor that bodies all the power of all the peices involved.

Absorb Queen, Evolution King! Lock Open, Dai, Dai, Dai SHOGUN!
Straight Royal Flush! Kiwami Sparking!

Great, now I want to see Blade King Arms.

I believe he is implying that an individual episode can contain both filler and plot advancement, the same way a burger contains different ingredients.

It doesn't prevent it from being an oxymoron, though.

I always knew lettuce was filler!

True, if you're talking about a single, indivisble thing. However an episode can contain both filler scenes and plot advanceing scenes. So while KyoryuBlue's original statement of 'plot-oriented filler' is in and of itself an oxymoron, an episode containing both is not out of the question.

And I kinda agree that this episode is kinda filler-y for the adult watchers. It seemed to mostly be about explicitly stating for the younger viewers and in-show characters all the implications about Kouta's transformation we already picked up on. At least for me there weren't any big reveals or suprises, just a whole bunch of "yeah, I figured as much" moments.

You and me both brother.

I know Kouta can't eat human food anymore, I'm saying the way he would run Helheim as implied by the show would end up destroying him.

Roshuo made it seem even more dire then that, making it sound like it was natural to allow the forest to grow, and that all a "king" should do is force his people to adapt to it. Sagara and the recent Gaim Movie imply that Roshuo's world is not the first to be consumed, and Takatora says it's just an organism that needs to reproduce and survive. If Kouta stops its take over of his world, and likely will do the same if it tries to open cracks into another alternate world, what starts to happen to the forest. If we're going to start assuming things, it's not that far-fetched to assume Kouta is not just going to be ousted by mankind, but will literally have a shrinking world closing in on him because he's too nice to allow Helheim to start taking over another world after failing to take his.

You can only trust the illusion's interpretation of possible events so much, because A.) Redyue crafted it to break Kouta, so there are exaggerations like Zach being that much of a douche to just turn on Kouta, and B.) Being a Byakko Invess instead of a greater Overlord one, for no other reasons than because it helps with the dark reflection imagery and it allows the Four Gods Inves to be together on screen (in case no one else got that, Seiryu, Genbu, Vermillion, and Byakko were all together this episode). Redyue is a sadist, so it wouldn't necessarily be that bad.

What I'm trying to say is prior to this episode, neither the show or Kouta himself made becoming an Overlord extremely awful, as he could technically bike over to Helheim, grab a fruit, eat, and return to Zawame if everything goes well (it's an Urobuchi work, I know, but I doubt Toei will let him go completely amok). This episode shattered the illusion that his ending would be as nice as Blade's, because Kenzaki just has to move out of Japan, at the very most (the city he inhabits at least). Kouta would have to move to an Eldritch location, of which unlike the last rulers he'd have to constantly keep it from invading other realms and would be effectively doing it alone. Kenzaki could make new friends in the next place he stopped, but unless Kouta convinces Kaito to be his friend by the end, Kouta is going to be doing this by his lonesome. The last few episode have shown him getting a bunch of his past enemies to team up with him, and this one episode shows that was just a temporary happiness. And this is all just assuming that keeping Helheim from doing what comes naturally won't stave it, and in turn, eventually starve Kouta when it can't bear anymore fruit for him to eat, either with his driver or naturally since he'd be an Overlord at that point.

That is fantastic. You would then agree, that in the hamburger, the main focus is usually the patties?

I absolutely love the fact that when Kaito walks into a room where helpless people are hooked up to an alien machine, his first and only instinct is to kick it really hard and hope something good happens.

Even more than that, I love how two different sets of people came through trying to figure out how to remove the people from the machine, and Kaito just fixes it with a kick.

All that's missing are the "Calm the F down, I got this!" memes.

Honestly that was my favorite part of this episode. Him just going "F*ck this shit!" and saving everyone. :lol

Actually for me it's the toppings that really make the burger.

I prefer fruit on my hamburger. Juicy!

Even in the future, Invess still use Windows 98. Kaito is an IT wizard.

Well, the point being. Is generally the main focus is the patty, or patties. Of course it doesn't make up the entire burger, but at the same time it is still a pretty essential part of the burger.

A Plot advancing filler, is simply that. You have a burger, it is nice and juicy covered in all your favorite toppings, and is everything you could ever want.

There is one draw back? There is an excessive amount of Sandwich.

You take a few bites, and you barely make it to the mid-way point, and think to yourself "If I never had another burger again, it would be too soon".

These last two episodes have been that burger, as it seems they are touching the same slab of beef, and ensuring the audience gets the point that things are pretty grim in all aspects.

Dont' get me wrong, I love a bit of meat. But, sometimes, a piece of meat is just a piece of meat if it doesn't have flavor.

To much food talk...

Too much talk about burgers, not enough about fruits.

How is Redue capable of fighting off Kouta using Kiwami Arms and Ryoma AT THE SAME TIME while Deemushu, Grinsha, Dyudyuonshu, and Shinmugurun couldn't do the same to Kiwami Arms one on one?

Perhaps we have a reason why she's seen as a threat and why the others were MOTWs...

Linear Warriors, Quadratic Wizards.