First off I never said I dislike the episode. Second I'm just saying after so long of not being given any explanation on Poppi, we're finally being given one, one that answers some question and raise others, and the characters just treat it like it's nothing.

I understand that was the point and it does show that how ruthless Kurota is. I also understand that a lot of people like Kiriya, heck I also like Kiriya. I just think at this point, Kiriya has a lot of things about his chracter that can be developed and if they were developed, his death would not only have a lot more impact to not just us the viewers, but to the characters as well. Cause like I said, the only one that seemed to be affected by his death emotionally is Emu. Imagine if the other characters had formed attachments to Kiriya.

Yeah. "Karino Asuna" is just 仮のナース/kari no naasu (i.e. a fake nurse) with a syllable switched around (and written in kanji, of course), apparently.

You know, maybe that's my problem too, now that I think about it. I should've been crying but instead it was just sort of "yup, that sounds about right, looking forward to next episode". :lol

I honestly doubt Taiga and Hiiro would have developed attachments to him. Sometimes characters just don't click, just like real people. Emu being affected was enough. He's the only one that mattered.

Taiga and Hiiro are both emotionally detached assholes, too, so it makes sense that neither would respond very actively.

I... really strongly disagree with this idea. That's not how death works. Unless you're an old man who's accomplished every single goal you have, no one dies with "nothing left to do." Death cuts things short, it's its very nature.

If you feel like he was killed off too soon, good, that's the point. Admittedly, the death itself was a little overdone, with that damn way too many last words cliché, but it still gets that point across.

If Kiriya was smart:

Dan: "take this gashat but keep your mouth shut"
*Kiriya takes the gashat and runs*
Dan: "I f*cked up"
*Kiriya comes back with all the riders*
Dan: "f*ck"
*all henshin to lvl 5 Drago Hunter*
Dan: "f*ck"
*runs but doesnt get very far*

SEE YOU NEXT GAME

I suppose I'm just looking at it a different way then you are. It makes perfect sense for death to be sudden, naturally, but the realism isn't really what I'm concerned with. It's not that Kiriya still had things to do, it's that I feel the show still had things to do with Kiriya. Real life is cool and all, but it doesn't always make for a good story.

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. For now. Give it a month or so and Ex-Aid could easily shut me up.


:lolol

It actually bothered me a fair bit that a street smart guy like Kiriya didn't figure something was sketchy about the Gashat that Dan outright gave him. I mean come on, you're just gonna stick it in your Driver right away? How else was that going to end?

This is how I feel. Annoying characters are fine so long as they are balanced out by other characters being just as annoyed as the audience.

Onari did not have that in Ghost, but here, Poppy is okay because the other characters at least acknowledge her bizarre behavior.

I felt the same way about Akiko in W. She's an annoying character, but what makes her funny is the fact that Shotaro and gang actually acknowledge how annoying she is.

If I may play devil's advocate here (as someone who likes Onari and is fine with Poppy), I believe the standard rebuttal here would be "just because the characters in the show think she's annoying too doesn't change the fact that she's annoying".

Why does part of me want to see a hyper off between Poppi and Smart Lady?

Very true. But it does make it a lot easier to tolerate when the show itself appropriately acknowledges it as bizarre behavior and not something that's normal.

I'd argue that the fact we don't see Poppy a lot but more so Asuna also helps

Fair enough. Onari did get that occasionally (Takeru even says he's kind of a pain in the butt in the second episode, and Takeru is a saint), but it definitely isn't to the extent they've been doing with Poppy so far. I'm pretty sure the show is now actively making it a point that little kids hate her. :lol

Poppy is definitely the butt monkey of the show so far and it's pretty funny :lol




Also, you know what I just realized is cruelly ironic? Not only was the coroner the first main character to die in the series, but he was also killed by a guy with a zombie motif lol

OBJECTION! Just because he was brought back by the Gashat somehow doesn't mean Dan's alive. His HP bar is permanently 0 if you look closely

This episode ending was so dark, I actually tried to rewatch the first half to cheer myself up.

Anyway onto the analysis, like this episode I'll start with the good first and the shocking second.
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Zombie Genm's transformation was flat out amazing.

The creepy music, the posing, the design itself, everything just worked together so well. Even after seeing it in the magazine scans, my initial reaction to seeing it in motion was still "Holy s#$t, what the f%&k is that?!"

What's more, it seems Dan or possibly "Dan" is now a bugster.

- He has a human form and uses the Gashacon Bugvisor to transform like Graphite did.

- He can summon minions based on the game he's from.

- Even with his physical body dead, he can comeback with his mind fully intact.
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Kiriya's Death.

I'm very conflicted about this.

On one hand, they kinda resolved/ended the whole "nobody trusts him" dynamic he had with the others last episode. Meaning now would be the perfect time to write him off, rather than later when there could be things left completely unresolved if he died.

And with the information he acquired, he could potentially unite all the other riders against Dan, like he almost did this episode. So it sorta makes sense for Dan to get rid of him first and as quickly as possible.

On the other hand, he still could have provided an interesting dynamic with the other riders even now that they all trust him.

And with him gone, the plot now has to move along by having the heroes just react to the villains actions, unless one of them tries to investigate the bugsters on their own.

I just hope this ends up making more sense in terms of the big picture when the series ends.
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Lastly the brief introduction of Saiba Nico, I not really sure what to think of her right now. but she does seem like she'll be a interesting character opposition to Emu with the Mighty Action X, Bakusou Bike, Bang Bang Shooting, Taddle Quest, Giri Giri Chambara pins all over her backpack.

Oh, have I forgotten to mention how much I like Zombie Genm yet? Because Zombie Genm is sweet. Judging by some of the avatars around the site already I don't even need to say that though. :lol

You know, that's sort of the assumption I'm running on (especially because it would give a reason why he's not using the Gamer Driver anymore), but I really wish Ex-Aid would find some room to get just a little exposition somewhere in there every now and then. I don't consider it another Gaim-esque warning sign for the show, since the details haven't been important (hence why they don't get brought up), but it really would be nice to get some elaboration on some of this stuff. The Stage Select still hurts my brain. :p

Basically my thoughts.

You know, I honestly think that scene was mostly in there just to give Taiga a bit more screentime this week, since nothing really happened in it besides basically just announcing her presence. That's not a complaint mind you. Obviously this episode was doing a sort of "end of Act 1" switching up the status quo thing, so it does make sense to introduce her here.

Ugh, yeah, Dangerous Zombie Genm looks amazing. It could end up as my new favorite suit design. It's kinda like a grimdark, inverted FangJoker.

After we has Dangerous Zombie Gashat, it will be interesting too if Bandai create Rider Gashat based from other horror creatures like vampire, werewolf, mummy, and frankenstein.

It's so strange that Genm gets one of the best designs in the show after getting one of the worst.

Are you talking about Shikariki? Because I like GENM's basic suit better than Ex-Aid's.

That'd be redundant, though. The Gashats are based on genres of games, not specific things, like robots or zombies - and the horror genre Gashat is Dangerous Zombie, so there isn't any need for any others.

Speaking of, this layout look accurate to you guys?

Mighty Action X - 2D Action Platformer
Taddle Quest - Eastern-style RPG
BangBang Shooting - First-Person Shooter
Bakusou Bike - Demolition-style Racing Game
Gekitotsu Robots - Colosseum-style Beat-em-up
DoReMiFa Beat - Traditional Rhythm Game
GiriGiri Chanbara - Story-based Hack'n'Slash
Jet Combat - Air Combat-based Shoot-em-up
Shakariki Sports - Sports Simulator
Drago Knight Hunter Z - Online Multiplayer RPG
Dangerous Zombie - Classic Survival Horror
Mighty Brothers XX - Co-op-Focused Action Platformer
Knockout Fighter - One-on-One Arena-based Fighting Game
Perfect Puzzle - Traditional Puzzle Game
Taddle Fantasy - Fantasy-based Eastern-style RPG
BangBang Simulation - Naval Warfare Simulator
Maximum Mighty X - 2.5D Action Platformer?
Kamen Rider Chronicle - MMORPG

Also, am I the only one thinking that whatever Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Maximum Gamer Level 99 levels up into will be Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Chronicle Gamer Level [Insert Level Here]

Yes I'm talkimg sbout Shakakiri.

My thoughts on the list are bolded inside the list.

Also, that would probably make the most the sense, unless it's just advertising a video game... Of course, it could be both, considering the theme.

I always thought that Shakariki would get into Emu's hands eventually. The bike colors matched with Ex-Aid more than Genm anyway.

I was thinking how many Dai Dai Dai Henshins would Emu be saying when he levels up to 99...lol.

Kiriya :(

Toei is just being mean now

I'll definitely miss Kiriya, he'd quickly grown to be one of my favorite riders this series. I wonder what the big secret about M is and what happened all those years ago.

I only started watching Ex-Aid a couple of weeks ago, I'm watching em in batches of 12 eps, I've just finished this episode a couple of days ago and by god such an incredible episode, does the heart warming christmas stuff which was enjoyable especially how out of place Christmas Brave was haha

But that second half was incredible, it was a mood whiplash I sort of saw Kiriya's death coming, it sort of cemented it in my mind when the fodder got in the way of the other three, Dangerous Zombie is such a stunning suit bring on the figuart for that one, from the point he said it was level 10, it was just a desperate attempt at surviving at level 3.

There are plenty of toku episodes what I will remember fondly and this will be one of them, Kiriya was one of my favourites, I liked the dynamic between the four riders and I was gutted when he died, it cemented just how the stakes really are and makes me interested just how it affects the characters from now on.

I shall be finding that out when episode 24 or 25 have aired and I am genuinely looking forward for that point, if this show is as good as it has been for the first 12 episodes then I'll be incredibly happy since as much as I have enjoyed rider shows lately, W was the lastest one which I have a strong affection for I'm hoping to add Ex-aid to that list.