Maybe Kuroto's mind and memories transferred into PMAX Origin Gashat just like Mr. Belt (Drive Driver) from Kamen Rider Drive.

Not really, they just added the "Shin Dan Kuroto" alias to Kuroto's bio.

I don't even see him as a bugster, I see him more as a fucking looney tune character. Just damn I never knew I could love a comedic character in Kamen Rider so much. He even beats the silly Oren by a fucking landslide.

I think it helps he's more than comic relief like Tsurugi was in Kabuto

Yeah, but at very least, they could have put the Level 0 undersuit on it, since it's technically Zombie Action Gamer now, and DZ already technically did double duty for two forms with no visual changes (Level 10 and Level X). I mean, with as much as they're using that undersuit for, how is this the one form that doesn't use it?

While we're complaining about Genm design, unless it's supposed to be borrowed from Ex-Aid, I wish they'd recolored Genm's Gashacon Breaker with Bugvisor colors, like the one used by Proto Mighty in the downloadable Mighty Action X game.

Beside that though, this episode was great. The connection between the gaming and medical themes finally becomes clear- it's about saving lives, and the 'continues' medicine provides. Nice.

The way Dan's return has been handled is nice too- he wasn't gone for long, but long enough that the situation has changed to the point where's not the same threat he was, and his psycho eccentricities are more of an annoyance than frightening, he's become comic relief, but not in a way that seems annoying or untrue to the character.

And yeah, the fight scene was really nice, energy items are one of the best parts of the fights in this series.

Finally, looks like Cronus is probably Masamune after all, since he's seen in the office at the same time as Ren, and it's definitely not looking to be Kuroto. Nonetheless, looks like he's really gonna shake up the status quo next episode.

Okay, something that I've realized upon further reflection of this episode, they basically just said that none of the deaths throughout the show (aside from maybe Kiriya) were legit. I mean unless they pull some big twist later on, they seem to be building up to the fact that everyone who lost their lives from the Bugster virus and from playing Kamen Rider Chronicle will be revived. This.......... kinda seems like a bit of a copout to me, since it would basically negate 2/3 of the deaths in the show.

I disagree. If the revivals work the same way Genm's did, that would mean everyone would be revived as Bugsters, rather than humans, which could both be life altering, and technically still fulfill the Bugster's goal of eliminating humans.

Also, forgot to mention, Genm Level 0 still doesn't use the mysterious greyed-out Ex-Aid icon in the character select- it uses a new, greyed-out Genm one right next to it. Jeez, that's just gonna be a weird, unused anomaly forever, isn't it?

I'm pretty sure that Genm's method of revival is completely unrelated to how they will revive but we'll see.

So, if someone throws Dan into the sun, will the "continue pipe" pop out on Earth or will it pop out on the Sun's surface and make him die rapidly there?

To me its like this all the MC is doctor which we know their purpose is to save life and for some reason there is a certain people(Dan) that said hey "i can bring people life just a video game where there is life point". At this point a doctor will question themself about such thing.
To me its still relevant because while dan is happy being bugster, i wonder the other people, its like if there is people ressurect you but you no longer human, i wonder that will acceptable, and we kinda don't know wether that bugster can gain age or not and to me that somewaht a problem itself.

There is literally no reason to assume this. Beings of data are Bugsters. They exist only as that data now. It was literally spelled out this episode that Dan infected his dying mother so that she could never be sick - IE as a Bugster, and Dan even stated he'd devised a system that allowed humans to use continues.

Short of Emu pulling a Kouta or Shinji on us in the finale, anyone who actually is revived will be a Bugster.

Which is, to me, much different than actually saving KRC victims. It's almost like a consolation prize. Bugsters are bizarre imitations of life, not actually alive as humans experience it. Like, hey, you get you wife back - but be prepared for spontaneous screaming, pratfalls, mugging and acts that defy the laws of physics.

Um...that's called being married.

The moment Kuroto came out of a warp pipe I snort laughed so loud I woke up the kids. This show has no end to it's level of awesome.

Bugsters are supposed to be a computer virus, not just data. The two aren't neccesarily the same thing. I'm pretty sure Dan deliberately programmed himself to revive as a Bugster so that he could use the Proto Mighty Action X Origin Gashat safely.

While the semantics there are true, there still isn't anyway - that we've been made aware of, so far - that data can be made into flesh and blood.
Dan stated I've invented a medicine you doctors couldn't. Regardless of whether or not Saki, Kiriya and the like will revive as true Bugsters or not, they won't be human, either - that was the whole point of infecting his mother with DoReMiFa Beat - so that he would be able to make it so that she wouldn't die.

This was such a good one! I love how Dan is now basically an annoying roguelike enemy that isn't strong but keeps sapping your levels, haha. His transition from major villain to a more comic one somehow works perfectly too. Dan and Poppy basically being each other's parent is exactly the kind of mind-melting nonsense I expected, but eh. Provided that Cronus/Chronos really is Masamune, I really have to admire this show's restraint. Several times a plot point has been introduced but not immediately explained in full, like the role of Dan's father, Emu's Bugster infection, and who Poppy was. I rather like that they don't just exposition dump all the time, but kind of let it play out naturally (and keep us guessing!). In addition, we now have the whole "revival" aspect in play, and I would bet anything that it is going to have some negative effects and characters in conflict over whether it is the right thing to do or not. I can't even imagine what the next arc is going to be like, looking forward to it.

Man, Ex-Aid is like Kamen Rider Kingdom Hearts.

Poppy Pipapipo was born from Dan Kuroto's mother, is Dan Kuroto's mother and was born because of Dan Kuroto. That technically makes her his mother, sister and daughter all at once.

Parad is similarly both Emu's split personality, twin brother and son.

What does that mean for the relationship between Graphite and Hiiro? I don't even want to know.

In other news, Kamen Rider Chronos hype!

http://i.imgur.com/mFoYEFK.jpg

This show is so unbelievably, spectacularly dumb, it genuinely floors me. Ex-Aid is such an insane, avant-garde... thing, I honestly don't even know why I bother typing crap about it at this point. I mean, I'm going to anyway, because it's what I do, but like, forgive me if I can't add anything of value to one of the most beautifully bizarre television programs I've ever seen:

- So just up front I should probably mention I think this was a pretty stellar episode and really enjoyed it.

- Emu was great this week and it's nice to see that he's truly back on track as far as actually being cool goes.

- And on a related note, Maximum Mighty X has quickly become one of my favorite Rider power ups now that the show is using it to give Ex-Aid an excuse to just appear in his default form regularly (with a different thing jammed in the belt, mind you). Still miss the Level 1 suits, though. They were so cute~

- The action scenes in this show are something special. I guess it just comes down to Kamen Rider wanting to be an anime now but Ex-Aid gets really experimental and dynamic for a weekly TV series that basically never takes a break.

- Okay, when Dan died at the start of the show, it was fun to joke about how this keeps happening for Rider protagonists, and when he got Toucon Boost it was a little frustrating, but now this is just getting ridiculous. You couldn't think of ANY other way for him to get Mugen? SERIOUSLY? Dan is just such a Mary Sue at this point it's stupid. Nothing ever goes wrong for this guy. What consequences are there in a show where anybody who dies just keeps coming back to life?

- (obligatory reminder that Parad is a way better villain than Kuroto "I found the Warp Zone guys!" Dan ever was.)

- Facetiousness aside (I'm totally not bitter), I'm actually pretty dang happy with what they're doing with our old pal the Game Master, despite not being able to make heads or tails of his newfound comedic talents. The whole reason I fell off the Genm hype-train was that I felt his shtick got super repetitive and boring during his zombie phase, and this is basically the exact opposite of stagnation. And he's almost certainly not Chronus! That's a massive bullet dodged right there!

- Also if I start mockingly calling Dan "Shin-chan" from now on is that not self-explanatory enough to avoid confusing people? Because I really wanna start calling him Shin-chan. After all, he said himself his old name is behind him now.

- Next week looks super hype, so I can't wait for that.

- And hey, Dan took his spot in the OP back! Now to just wait for Kiriya!

Fish I will fucking eat you if you don't call Dan the Man Shin-chan now that you suggested it

*hands tartar sauce* Just in case he slips up. :lolol

All this talk of Shin-chan reminded me of the terrible Den-O x Crayon Shin-chan thing and also made me imagine Dan as some bizarro pre-schooler. THANKS EVERYONE.

Oh jeez, you know its a big episode when the thread already has 60 comments by Tuesday.
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Anyway onto the episode it self. Once again, this episode is filled to the brim with little details that I absolutely adore.

-The Charlie Bugster attempting to escape the E.T. way by slowly flying off on a bicycle.

-Dan reviving via notMario pipes.

I don't know who at Toei keeps adding all these things in, but they definitely deserve a raise.

On the serious side:

I like how the CR and Taiga still don't completely trust him, but recognize his abilities and new role as the comedic relief.

From the subs I've been seeing. Dan basically pulled a Dr. Banno and managed to transfer the consciousness of himself and anyone who died from the Bugster Virus into digital beings. But instead of imprisoning people in a digital hell until they obey his wishes, Dan just has them play a video game for all eternity.
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As for the next-episode preview, someone on Reddit pointed out a rather interesting thing about how it was shot: https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...24/unknown.png

Just had a thought, isn't this the first season where all of the main cast can transform? That wasn't a movie special thingy. *looks at Wizard in Magic Land* But even there Koyomi didn't, so it still doesn't count. XD

Oh crap I just remember Hiro has a father.

If you discount hiro's father, the burgermon guy and minestery of health then yes.
To me its first time the main heroine is KR in the main series.

By main cast I mean people that are in almost every single episode. Hiro's father and Tsuguru are more like side/support characters.

Hiiro's dad is going to be a Ride Player in one of the upcoming episodes anyway, according to summaries.

RIP Hiro's dad, director of CR.

Fantastic episode. I really enjoyed how they tackled Dan and Emu's problems here. Also, comedy was once again on point. First of all the E.T. - reference and then, of course, Dan himself. I love how silly they can make this character yet he never becomes painfully goofy.

Action-scenes were also pretty good, seeing Ex-Aid and Genm side-by-side like this was great.

I'm not a huge fan of the "We can bring people" - back thing, even though this means that Kiriya could come back too I would rather have it be limited to the people that participated in Kamen Rider Chronicle.

So next week is Cronos, huh? Or rather he will appear in the last 2 minutes and we'll figure out who he is later. But I saw something else in the preview that made me happy: Genm Level X is back! Yes! I wonder if he will use the Buggle Driver or if he transforms with his Gamer Driver.

He uses the Gamer Driver. If you look close/hard/fast enough you can see it.

They showed the Gamer Driver in the preview and some promotional pics on the website
Plus the suit actor got a stiffy in one of the pics teehee. Dan has a hate boner for Parad~

Say wha? I need to see this. :lol

I don't think the site will let me post the image.
It happened on Gekitotsu Robots' debut too

Oh yeah, it's really obvious in the lineup shot, but to be honest, I didn't even see Genm there, I only realized it's the Zombie Gamer form once I saw the closeup of his noggin at the end.

Zombie man looks surprisingly decent with the Gamer Driver. I still prefer him with the Buggle Driver though.

I realise it's because Ren still has it but I can't help imagine it went down like this
"MOOOOOOM GIMME MY CHAINSAWWWWWW"
"Have you cleaned your room?"
"THE GAME MASTER DOES NOT NEED TO CLEAN A ROOM"
"Then no"

This is an ongoing Toku problem throughout the years.

I mean, I get it; you're tired on set, you fall asleep and get a bit o' morning wood then it's "Akiyama-san!! You're on!" then you run out there, punching and kicking with your blood banana flopping all over in that lycra suit. It happens.

But, see, there's this device called a "jock strap" and it helps keep everything in place. Baseball players have used this nifty garment for decades - how do stunt guys not know about this??

Because Japan doesn't care

Dan reviving out of a pipe may be my favorite bizarre moment in the entire series.