Oh, I doubt Bravo's going anywhere anytime soon. He may be silly, but he's still formidable. The show has never wavered in that regard.

I don't know where people are getting that he's more silly/less serious than he was before. He's had a pretty even balance of those qualities in my opinion. He's always been kind of slapstick with a hint of badass.

I see Oren as a comic relief/threat. He can be silly but you know he's deadly already. Just the only reason he's being beaten so easily is because of the Jinba upgrade for Gaim. But he and Gaim are even when he doesn't have the upgrade on, so the fight can go either way.

I'm not sure where you're getting "filler" from. We had a new Rider introduced and resolution to the dance team subplot. I don't think there's been an episode of Gaim yet with absolutely no plot or character advancement.

Candi!?
https://31.media.tumblr.com/58dfb80c...pumpo1_500.png

I was almost sure that when Junouchi pulled the switch on their music, the Rider Girls would start singing for the teams.

I would not have minded that. :D Or more Kamen Rider Girls/Team Pop-Up in general, though I know they aren't to everyone's taste.

Missed this post:

1.) He clearly does, just subtley. You cna quite plainly see a slight movement that causes the reflection to move. Hold your face up to an oblong, reflective subject, and see how much the reflection changes with subtle movements. Then remember he's in a full suit of armour, on top of a bike, and the camera is panning.

2.) Did you not notice the locks get replaced with lock seeds? They re-shot the scene so they could show off all the lock seeds, verses the holdover shot from back in the first ep when there wasn't many and they didn't want to "spoil" us to future seeds.

And all this is not even to say the main point stands: there was never any new helmet.

I love Gaim, but if the Rider Girls show up I'm out.

Too late for that, considering they play one of the dance teams...

This man speaks the truth.

I guess we'll find out soon enough. Until then, I'll stick to my hypothesis.

What hypothesis?

There's nothing going on, man. A bunch of people thought it was forshadowing, I and a few others clearly saw it wasn't, and now that it's clear there was nothing going on, what are you trying to say?

I'm supporting that belief that the sponsor-credit reflection thing means something. I will continue to support this until I am proven wrong by the show, at which point I will admit that you were right.

As for what it means: I believe that the change experienced by the reflection is indicative of the future approaching. The changes that the crest appears to undergo have it resemble Orange Arms helmet closer than it previously did. Eventually, the reflection will reverse. We'll know for sure that I'm wrong when it doesn't happen. Until then... I have a 50/50 shot.

Dude, it's not. It changed because they redid the shot for the lock seeds, and it was an accident that his helmet was distorted in such a way in the first place.

I love Gaim, but you're giving the show too much credit. What you're describing doesn't even make sense. Why would they make it resemble a helmet unlike his own, then have it turn back at this point? Nothing in the show has any relation to this.

What you have is not a "hypothesis." It is a random guess. A hypothesis has consistent evidence that makes sense. Sort of like a theory.

This discussion in a nutshell:

http://memecrunch.com/meme/2BZZN/ripples/image.png
http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instanc...x/46196634.jpg

:lolol

KRX isn't saying Gaim's an alien.

But he's an alien.

How did you find out‽

... You're talking about Kouta, aren't you?

But, in all seriousness, I will be ready to admit that I am wrong when the next episode airs.

Is that an interobang? Did someone really use one of those in a sentence? It brings a tear to my jap's eye.

I've been using interrobangs ever since a friend of mine introduced me to that wonderful punctuation mark.

...

Crap.

Well, it was fun while it lasted. :(

But they've been around for an episode or two. Why care now? They were in the movie as well. Hell that's where they were introduced. It's not like they detract from anything.

Exactly, plus the show seems to be phasing out the whole street dancing thing anyway.

I'm joking.

Honestly, I don't mind them when they aren't singing.

oh :lol

I actually don't mind their singing. They aren't amazingly great, but they aren't terrible.

I think a fight scene with dancing in the background is one of the most badass things this show has done.

I don't think this was a filler, it's just that the tone was lighter than the "oh crap" escalation from the previous episodes, and the shows needs it for pace sake. There's a new character, great comedy and a cliffhanger, so it's not really out of the place.

I'm reluctant about breakdancing being such a serious matter since the begining of the show, but it's clear now it WILL be important. At some point Mai dancing will bring a major resolution to the plot. Don't forget she's the daughter of the priestess of the mystic Tree of magic warp zone, who used to dance in some ritual/festival. So, expect more dancing to come.

If the dancing was better I'd agree.

At this point them still trying to include the Beat Rider stuff, admittedly a silly and pointless activity, while we have monsters invading a city and killing/infecting people, really diminishes it's importance further. It's the one part of the show I think could be totally dropped and the series wouldn't suffer.

The dancing bits really just don't jive with all the dark stuff happening on the main stage of the show. It's a weird back drop to the actual riders. It was fine in the beginning when we were discovering what this world was like because it was more of a framing device. But now that we've seen some truly bad things happen, the Beat Riders and dancing don't have a place in the story anymore. They can't contribute to the battle. They can only be affected by it, and mostly negatively.

I agree. Plus, considering what's happening to people and the attacks and the like, it really makes Mai look selfish. I understand that dancing is important to her, but the people of the city are terrified and all she seems to care about is dancing/how people think about the beat riders. Clearly she has some insecurity issues and her appeal as a character is diminishing rapidly.

Well, put it this way. The focus on dancing makes perfect sense in a story telling way. No only is this what they care about, not only does it have hints of the theme of "the people standing up for themselves in the face of adversity", its the perfect joyous moment to make the bad shit seem all the worse when it inevitably start hitting the fan in the next few episodes.

And if anyone thinks they aren't setting Mai and the Beat Riders up for a fall then I disagree. It's the Butcher, you just know with all those episodes to go that this is a high point to make the lows seem extra low.

It's a stark contrast to the rest of the story, yes, but that really doesn't diminish anything in my opinion. Only highlights certain important things like... I don't know... Micchi saying he'll betray anyone or anything if it means he can stay happy?!

Ignoring everything else going on under the surface (like Jounouchi's flat out attacking the very people who are supposed to be his peeps), That's some dark stuff right there. It's just more hidden than usual is all.

Now, I will say this was a weaker episode than most, but only because the writers set themselves up for a fall by going all out so damn soon.

I foresee bad things happening to Mai if she keeps holding on to the sad dream of dancing saving everyone. With the Energy Riders, Invess and the constant threat of death or infection she's starting to stick out rather badly in Gaim's fleshed out world.

While I understand wanting to hold onto better memories at one point she's going to have to face reality. Didn't anything Red Eye tell her get though her head or is she so in love with Bravo that the suffering of the people she claims to love not really registering anymore?

It's as if all common sense has been drained from her character once poop hit the fan.

Nothing yet has shown me this is a failing in the writing though. It's definitely a part of her character. After all she always has a sour face on. It's not like she doesn't realise whats going on around her. It's like Bravo said. The Beat Riders and Gaim are being pretty naive.

Of course, anything that cheers the public up is probably a good thing right now.

Let's not be too cynical about this ;) haha

It doesn't make any sense that the Beat Riders dancing would cheer up the public, though. For the last handful of episodes they've become an object of fear, even terror to the masses. Look at how the citizens flee from Gaim at the beginning of the same episode. Now, suddenly, the public is changing their minds because the dancers put on a show? The sudden turnaround on the part of the city's populace strains credulity. That abrupt change is a failure on the part of the writing. If it had been stretched out a bit, it wouldn't be such a glaring problem.

Given how fickle the opinions of the Internet populace are, I don't see this as unlikely. A decisive smear campaign could easily drop them back into the bottom spot in the next episode.

Plus, these are only the opinions of people who watch the Beat Riders on the Internet. Basically YouTube commenters. They do not accurately reflect the opinions of the citizens of Zawame city, the majority of whom have been shown to not bother about the Riders until they are seen as a threat. Would all those people be watching Sagara's livestream in the first place, let alone comment?

Now that I can agree with.

The only explanation I could possibly give for that is the Butcher is going for a "society is fickle so only an elite few have the ability to protect them" message... but yeah, little bit of a disappointment there.

Still you can see what was intended.

I'm going to say it now, next few episodes we find out that not everyone is won over to the Beat Riders still. Mai did say we'll have to start from the beginning. Then again there is Sagara and his hype machine, they'll probably focus more on than if the preview is anything to go by.

It'll hopefully make perfect sense as a whole rather than in isolation like it is now. Hopefully.

It's possible, but it still seems like they spent too long building up the 'Beat Riders are bad' for how quickly the resolution seems to have been. In my opinion, it's been the first real misstep from the writing so far. But, as I said, it's just the way I feel.

I hope this ends up being the case as it all looks to have been handled too easily as of now.

Ah, but the question is, is this the resolution? Characters like Mai and Micchy hinge almost entirely on their Beat Rider lifestyle, I don't think the series will resolve this so happily and so soon.

One thing I will say that I like a lot, is how Kouta and now Kaito are distancing themselves from their Beat Rider days. Kouta hasn't been wearing his Beat Rider outfit for a few episodes now, and Kaito himself has quit. It gives them a sense of gravity and respectability, I feel.

I did say as the resolution seems to have been. But I don't think Micchy is into the dancing for the same reason Mai is. It's just something uncomplicated for him at this point, a link to a time before his loyalties became so clouded. Mai, honestly, feels like she is almost doing her best to hold the story back. Beat Riding was a good introduction to the tale but seems to only be a distraction these days. Of the major characters in the story so far, Mai seems to be the only one incapable of showing character growth. She's like a child that won't let go. I know I'm in the minority here as a lot of people around here seem to love her, but I find Mai is just getting more obnoxious/selfish/whiny as the series progresses.

I think we are all spoiled by Gaim's breakneck speed of storytelling and no fillers until now. Not saying this ep is a filler but it definitely feel slower than the past eps. Kaito leaving was a bit of a surprise but fit his character perfectly, since he's never cared for the dancing.

As for me, I like the dancing aspect because let's face it, this show can't possibly be just about the forest and Yggdrasil corp. Dancing helps break up the constant fighting some, and while I wouldn't be sad if this is the last we see of the dancers, I am ok if they continue this storyline in the background so Mai can have something to do.

Knockles looks great and I hope he'll be the new regular of the show.