Episode 1 was fun. The CGI usage was a bit heavy but they used it well. I liked all the video game effects but we’ll probably never see them used again after episode 5.

Suit acting was pretty good too; they did some cool stuff with the LV1 suit as well as the LV2 one. Loved the little scene with the mook trying to protect his head, that was cute.

I like the characters so far.

…

That’s all I can say really. Oh, another thing: If any of you might wonder, I’ll try not to write too much in the weekly Rider episode threads this year, and I won’t read other comments in them. I’m trying to figure out if I really like the show for myself.

Loved it. Absolutely loved it. Haven't been this excited for a show since Gaim. Bring it on.

anyone know where I can watch it without downloading or God Knows how much ads because my main source got Copyrighted and I don't know if they will be uploading Ex-Aid

TBH I am ok with the series as long is it A Doesn't take itself TOOO Seriously one minute then decides too throw Comic Relief in the next AGIAN this Western animated series called Steven Universe is the only show I've seen that did it right IMO

With the font thing: There was a slight mix-up in that they muxed two italic variants of LT Finnegan (the font they're using), instead of one regular, one italic.
As for clunky-ness: Like I said earlier, they're first-timers. They'll probably be less clunky in future episodes.

It started off better than I expected, despite the near-infantile "comedy" bits. Sadly, it came crashing down once the unfortunate looking "rock" monster appeared. The need to stay in the game motif really hurt the fight scenes, I thought. They slowed it all down with the jumping and game-looking whatnots and the suit, Level 1 and 2, are both still like taking an icepick in the eye. I'm not much of a fan of the graphic overlays, either. I did like the initial Driver activation with the level generation though. And, despite the abrupt shifts in his mood, I kind of got an Owner vibe from the Director. Overall, I started out thinking I might have to eat my words since it wasn't as horrible as it looked, then it got pretty close to my worst estimate. Still, I'll check out a few more episodes and see where it goes. But since the action sequences and the suits are my least favorite parts of the show, I'm not sure it if the show will be able to climb out of the hole it ended up in.

Edit: There is no need to try to talk me around. If you liked it, great, more power to you, I'm not trying to say don't talk about that (that would be ridiculous). But I'm not going to convince you to come round to my way of thinking and vice versa. Neither position is wrong and differences in opinion are just the way things settle out.

I can dig it. The belt has a W type of interface, and the concept of gaining power through level up and the icon choice makes it work. The suit is not my favorite. Not because of the colors, but because its more progressive for the helmet and padding, almost too much over the top.

I'm kind of the same opinion to wait it out and then watch a bunch. We'll see. They really did try to smash Drive with W. Should be interesting.

Dealbreaker.

Looking forward to seeing where this series goes.

Not much more to say after only one episode...other than I am glad ghost finally ended and we can start soemthing else fresh

Forget what I said about kissasian, I saw the sub when introducing my friend to tokusatsu and it was amazing ever since I saw Megaranger I always wondered what a video game themed rider looked like and now I know, and it rocks! My friend especially liked it because of the videogames and because he likes pink. Anyways ik for sure Ex aid will be awesome in the future

Fun episode. Characters seem good and the whole aesthetic is charming. Not getting super excited yet because I've learned in the last few years first episodes aren't always a great indicator, but I am eager to see more.

No amount of retro charm can justify that level 1 Bugster though. That thing was hideous and I'm not looking forward to more of that. Honestly I'm not a big fan of the whole level 1 thing in general but I don't think it'll last the whole series anyway.

I want to see a Level 1 free-for-all battle. Because that would just make my life. :lol

Seriously though, the Level 1 form doesn't bother me. I get it. It's supposed to be like an 8-Bit fighter, and Level 2 is more like your 16/32-bit type of hero.

Blowing in to the cartridge was perfect though.

I know I'm probably the only one, but I didn't like this episode and if Ex-Aid is going to be like this all season I'm not going to like it, but I doubt that. The writers seem capable of another Gaim and that's my favorite season and I hated the first episode of that too. I'll hold judgement until episode 20 (yeah, I don't do 10). Also, PLEASE GET RID OF THE CGI POOP MEATBALL MONSTERS! They are worse than Kuuga (yeah, I went there) Thank you. Anyway, blowing into the cartridge was a cool touch and shows that they're paying attention to detail (can there be an episode where the Gashat doesn't work because of the blowing? :p) and I really like Ex-Aid's suit (save the driver), especially when it's in action and looks beautiful with the bright magenta in the lighting, and the driver makes a lot of cool, catchy sounds like always. Despite the driver looking terrible, I think the gashats are really cool and I'll probably get the driver just for them and I don't hate Lvl 1 as much as I thought I would. I don't think I really like EXCITE yet, sounds more pop.

Tl;dr, Ex-Aid, please don't be like Mighty No. 9. Be like Megaman X (my favorite video game BTW)!

You mean like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K783SDTBKmg

I'd say that's an inevitability. Given the budget involved in such things it'll probably be like the train fights in Den-O or, if you're really lucky, the CGI poop monsters in Gaim. This was just one of those first episode showoffy things, most likely.

Not bad. I like how it all flowed together. Love the added touch of Henshin becomes Transform.

This is going to be my first time watching a Kamen Rider season as it airs! I enjoyed this episode, it had style and I get the impression the plot could get very interesting. Of course I'll have to give it a while yet to really figure out what kind of season this is, but color me intrigued.

Rewatched the episode with Excite's subs. I forgot to mention this last night, but I'm really enjoying the action so far. I always felt that Ghost had really lackluster action scenes, so I'm hoping Ex-Aid can keep up this level of quality moving forward. I still have no idea why the mooks were all dressed as chefs, though.

One thing I can tell is going to bug me, though: it really annoys me how this show - and most shows, honestly - seems to think that video games still operate the way they did in the late 80s/early 90s. I know we only saw a quick glimpse of it, but the in-show game, Mighty, looks really damn basic for 2016. And what's up with the handheld system that only has an analog stick and two buttons? I know they aren't going to use official products, this ain't OOO and its omnipresent iPad, but at least make the system look modern for fuck's sake.

But yeah, that aside I'm still enjoying this episode a lot. It really feels like the show has a clear idea of where it's going and a lot of potential to be great.

It's hard to judge a show from the first episode, but I found this one pretty dang charming! I like this array of characters, the world feels sufficiently populated (a huge criticism I have with Ghost, and a number of sub-par Rider shows, is that it often seemed like the 6 main characters were the only people who existed in that world), I love the aesthetics (suits, attack graphics, and sounds are all great!), that action is GREAT, I'm into the tone, and the actors seem capable.

Level 1 was the aspect I was most worried about going in, but it's the one I came out of the first episode most impressed by! I feel like kicking myself for not realizing this sooner, but the Level 1 form is like regular Mario and the Level 2 form is like Super Mario. I thought the way Level 1 moved was fresh and interesting and justified the super-deformed, cartoony look. I know budget limitations will mean that cool Level 1 scenes will be limited after the first few episodes -- but for now, they add to the texture of the show, as opposed to detracting from it like I feared they would.

I'm probably gonna wait until there are a few more episodes out in the world before I go any further, but so far so good!

Because IP infringement. Realistically the game looks like an 8-bit platformer in the old Double Dragon engine, that most would just run as an app on phone. I think the prop used is just because they can't actually advertise a version of a phone or I device without getting beat over the head.

Personally, I liked the side by side, it made it a little more relevant to the action going on.

I mean, if you look at a lot of the most popular iPhone games, they're all pretty basic. I could easily see something like Mighty doing well on a mobile platform (and Toei would be foolish not to release it for iOS/Android).

It's funny you mention that cause I noticed like 4 iPads this episode. :lol

A downloadable version of Mighty Action X has been teased, actually.

Honestly my expectations of the whole video game aspect of it were so low I'm amazed it's as not as "we can be hip too, kids!" as I was expecting. Mighty Action X actually looks like a decent little 3DS game or something. No clue how it took five years to develop though.

Also it's not really feasible to have a proper big-budget modern game show up onscreen without A. licensing, or B. having the money to throw away rendering CG better than the show's actual CG.

Don't forget Emu's Wonderswan! They don't have to license that one because Bandai made those in the distant past of 1998.

That explains why that footage in the show looked like an actual game and not just CG animation pretending to be a game (it's a subtle difference but if you play games I think you'll understand. "Games" in movies and TV just don't move right).

An EXTREMELY promising start.


Our hero is... kind of an idiot. But in a loveable way.


There's a lot of stuff that goes by fast but they're setting up a very interesting world.

It is so INCREDIBLY refreshing to have decent action scenes again.

Also, some impressive restraint with things as well. Ghost & Drive both crammed in extra toys during the first fight, but instead Ex-Aid uses only his main weapon.

I'm probably going to be waiting a few episodes before giving my overall opinion, mostly since I want to wait for my overwhelming hype to die down a bit. Especially since my hype went so high that now my cynicism is out. I reeeeally hope that Ex-Aid doesn't fall into "poor execution" territory down the line.

I can say that I enjoyed the fight scene. I'd like to think that Takaiwa had some fun filming the Lvl2 bit, especially those little shimmies at the beginning and during the finisher. It makes Emu look like he's a kid in a candy buffet.

I also thought that the bit with Asuna joining Emu in his clumsiness was kinda cute, in a fluffy kittens kinda way. The way she's set up, she looks like she'll be a cool character, and I hope they keep that up through more than just the "Poppy tongue-twister" bits.

Not a bad episode. Not a fan of the humor and it feels like most Raider shows are still rehashing the same slapstick humor from Den-O. Den-O is almost a decade old, can we move away from that style of humor. I know it's a kids show, but that does not mean the humor can't be bad.

Besides the boring humor, I do like the action and the world so far. It was a pretty enjoyable episode and I hope the rest of the show will be good. I hated that brown CG monster. It looks so ugly looking and I wish they used a normal suit instead.

Does anyone know where I can find a link to this to watch online instead of downloading it?

It was probably crowdfunded. ;)

Am I the only one who didn't?

It didn't bother me. Most Rider series like to bust out a crappy CGI monster in the first couple episodes since they tend to have a higher budget. We're not going to be seeing a lot of them.

Compared to giant Phantom from Kamen Rider Wizard, the giant brown Bugster has more simple design. I am actually love giant brown Bugster design because their design looks like molecules chain so fits with virus theme....

I wonder if they'll do a crossover with Zyuohger. It has a slight game theme as well.

Anyways, I liked most of that. I didn't really care for the whole lv 1 sequence and I really hope they don't make that a thing that happens often. The rest was pretty cool. It seems fun but I get the feeling it'll take a couple of episodes to really....figure itself out.

I am liking everything so far except for the hospital director. He seems to be the most likely candidate for "Old Man Comic Relief" like Chief Honganji and Sage Edith.

The action scenes were awesome. They were dynamic and funny, definitely a huge step up compared to Ghost. I like a Rider who has a good grasp on what do and Emu seems to be having fun while dishing it out.

On a similar note, the level generation system of the Gamerdriver is something I found particularly nice. Kinda sorta like procedurally generated levels of older videogames. This driver even sounds better than the Ghostdriver, although that's not a high bar to clear.

On the cons, there's the protag himself. To be honest, there's nothing specific to dislike about him. His back-story nicely explains both his profession and his hobby and his babyface looks symbolize his greenhorn status in the medical world. The problem I see is that the actor himself isn't particularly good at emoting. But I'm willing to overlook this since this is the first episode.

Another thing that I would like to comment is Asuna being a physical avatar of a virtual being. This is not a bad thing considering that the Bugsters themselves are virtual viruses infecting the physical world. I'm just curious as to where the story would go with her.

Overall, nice episode, can't wait to see more.

He feels more subtle, though. The ridiculous slapstick at the beginning aside, the show feels like it's really dialing back on the comedy relief. There's far less screaming and goofy faces compared to Ghost and Drive.

Hospital director I love. He's obviously gaga over Asuna, and that to me makes me think it'll be AWESOME and HILARIOUS to watch his interactions going forward, especially if he doesn't know the truth about Asuna.

Wow. Where do I even start. I think Ex-Aid is the series we've all been looking for. There is so much potential for this series. I just hope that after the Drago Hunter gashat is collected, they keep making more because it just seems like it's only going to be ten gashats.

It's worth noting the Director is also Kamen Rider Brave's dad. It's rare that parents of Riders are main cast members, so this should bring an interesting dynamic to the show even if he himself is kind of goofy. Heck...Hiiro himself is described as a tsundere and seems to be going for a comically serious angle, so it'll be interesting to see how the two interact and how much he actually takes after his dad.

There's a lot they could do with him. I don't mind it. If they can just make him more of an Uncle Mario and less of an Edith, I'll be cool with it.

True that. Maybe the character will grow on me yet but for now i am still a bit guarded against him. I don't want to be burnt again by a character that seems to start out good but then becomes bad. I was a fan of Onari in the first few episodes of Ghost after all.

Okay, now I'm definitely interested. Most parents in Kamen Rider are usually dead so this will prove to be a delightful change of pace.

I hope.

I liked it! By the final fight, my eyes were bleeding from the 90's eXtreeeme ACACAC-ACTION! and neon blitz flashes and man, I was feelin' it.

It was pretty surreal overall. I'm a huge fan of weird shit so, yeah, hard not to like it; the baked chicken-headed cannon fodder must be a nod to the whack-a-doo randomness of so many platform games. Seriously, what other explanation could there be?

FIVE YEARS: Okay, so Mighty Action X has been in development for five years.
Also, we learn that, five years ago, some tragedy occurred regarding the Bugster virus. Certainly, these are connected. Perhaps the game itself created the virus? Despite the main plot goofery, they jump in the serious business water pretty fast on that simmering sub. I'm thinking they're aiming for a Den-O // Gaim hybrid since those seemed to be their greatest successes in recent years.

Pretty interesting that Asuna / Poppy Pipopapo potentially sketches out the arc structure of the series:
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800...924/k7pBqr.png
So, fifty episodes, five per arc for a ten arc series, maybe?

An aside: I like how terribly acted Poppy Pipopapo is.

An Aside #2: Graphite - terrible costume, killer Game Gear Gauntlet.

An Aside #3: I like the retro-to-death view on video games EX-Aid has. You can tell it's designed by curmudgeonly Gen Xers who haven't touched a console in at least a decade.

"Back in my day, we didn't need no fancy-shmancy drop down menus! There wasn't any problem that could be solved with a frantic A or B button mash! Now git!!".

Man it's kind of creepy seeing everybody ELSE happy with a new episode of Kamen Rider too for a change.

I really think it's more a result of simplifying for the sake of the motif than Toei being out of touch. Ghost reduced historical figures to coats and one word powers ("music!", "electricity!", "swords!"), for comparison. The retro flair makes the games very clearly GAMES! in a way being too modern and accurate wouldn't allow. Games today are complicated multi-genre adventures whereas for Ex-Aid they needed something as simple as "platformer!" (which barely even exist anymore but it was a logical choice for the protagonist) or "racer!" (though it would be hilarious if we see Emu have to buy a season pass to unlock Lazer :p) for the different Riders.