Yes, I am felt Ex-Aid has similarities with Gaim. Hopely this show has better story progression.

Some of similarities between Gaim and Ex-Aid:

- Both series has first 5 Riders. Gaim, Baron, Ryugen, Zangetsu, and Gridon in Kamen Rider Gaim. Ex-Aid, Brave, Snipe, Genm, and Lazer in Kamen Rider Ex-Aid.
- Both series has knight-themed Secondary Riders (Baron and Brave)
- Both series has gun users third Riders (Ryugen and Snipe)
- Both series has samurai-themed Riders (Gaim, Zangetsu, and Lazer in Chanbara Bike Gamer)
- In both series, each Rider uses a same Driver (Sengoku Driver in Gaim and Gamer Driver in Ex-Aid).

Hmm...about Madoka...I think:

- Madoka Kaname similar with Ex-Aid because they has pink hair
- Akemi Homura similar with Genm because they has black hair
- Sayaka Miki similar with Brave because their main color is blue and their main weapon is swords
- Mami Tomoe similar with Snipe because their main weapon is guns

Don't worry about it! Ex-Aid will hopefully be 10 times Better than Ghost! Why you worry about Ex-Aid being similar to Gaim? You didn't like Gaim? You crazy! :mad: for disliking Gaim!

Again, I think there may a deliberate attempt to hybridize Den-O's slapshtick and Gaim's serious business. It makes sense when you think about it; both were very popular and their popularity has gone on well past their end dates and that's translated into a some hefty merch sales. If they can successfully mix what clicked about the two (not easy, I think, unless they embrace some sort of subtle weirdness at the margins), it could be a bank buster.

Speaking of which, anyone know how merch sales were for Ghost?

How can you not know Fish Sammy's angst regarding Gaim? It gets brought up at least once a day!

I already have like 5 shows like that though! I just want a Kamen Rider me and everybody else BOTH like from start to finish for once. It's been years, man, years!

Well, "everybody" is impossible - let's keep our fingers crossed for a 75 yea 25 nay split!

In my mind that's actually a really tough bar to clear though. :(

Among other reasons, yeah. And I don't dislike Gaim! Anymore. It's kind of complicated.

Right, the important part is being in the majority, anything over 60% is good I'd say. :p

I'm sorry, but this episode had just as much over the top comic relief as Onari did. Whether it was better implemented into the episode or not is another matter entirely, but I don't think anything was especially "toned down".

I think the fact that the gags are more situational and spread out over several characters makes them easier to digest though. It's not just "this one guy saying and doing silly things while mugging silly faces."

Which is why I said about its implementation. Emu falling in slow motion off a trolley while making silly faces was about as "Onari" as it gets.

Of course, Onari himself didn't actually start Onari-ing at full power until about episode 2 or 3 IIRC. First episodes aren't always the best at judging this sort of thing. Onari wasn't so bad in Ghost's debut.

So it could get worse, or it could stay about the same. I think I'd be fine with things as they are though. One of the main things with Onari isn't just that he was annoying comic relief, but that that was pretty much his only purpose and character for the majority of the show. Most of the main cast this time around is comprised of Riders though, so even if they act goofy they'll probably still be Actual Characters. The Director and Poppi Pipopapo are a different story, but I'm optimistic.

"Bitter," yes, but "too" is subjective. I read through your Gaim mega-post, and I understand where you're coming from. I don't feel that Gaim was a perfect show, but it's the best Kamen Rider series I've seen.

A component of what I felt worked in Gaim was structural: they put together a many-Riders series and executed it much better than Ryuki did. There was less need for filler than in a two-Rider series like Wizard. Obviously, you don't need many Riders for a quality series, but it's a promising sign. Rider series sell toys, and Ex-Aid may not need to spend as much time on swappable tires or hoodies when it's busy introducing a zillion Riders and their inevitable misunderstandings.

Gaim was also ambitious. You and I disagree to some extent on how successful it was in fulfilling those ambitions, but given the show's initial, clearly deliberate attempts to ape elements of Gaim's structure, I gather folks are feeling optimistic that it might try to copy some elements of that show's ambition. This, I think, is unknowable: Ex-Aid appears to have a fruity exterior, but we don't really know what lies beneath the peel.

(By similarities, I'm talking about the on-its-face goofy theme, the collectible gimmick, the so-far-individual weapons for the Riders, the multiple-Rider-at-the-outset structure. The only thing it's missing is directly swappable armor. I expect the similarities are deliberate, but they could be just trying to replicate the success of Gaim's toy lines, rather than its atypical tone.)

Anyway, I don't think you're wrong for feeling the way you do about Gaim, even though we disagree on its overall quality, so I can understand how Ex-Aid's surface similarities might make you a little nervous.

Also, IIRC, didn't you kinda love Gaim before certain specifics of its execution radically altered your opinion? Your concern, then, would be less about overall quality of individual episodes, and more about whether the season successfully lived up its potential as a coherent narrative, wouldn't it? If so, I don't think there's any way to guess whether you'll be similarly disappointed with Ex-Aid. (For my part, I think Kamen Rider series very rarely live up to their full potential, but I tend to enjoy the ride anyway. Like, I thought Drive ended surprisingly strongly, but I also feel it mostly wasted the story potential in its moral ambiguity. I would've been way happier if Drive had ultimately rescued/redeemed the Roidmude rather than killing them.)

I rewatched the early episodes of Gaim recently, though, and I'd forgotten how slapstick it sometimes was at the outset. (And periodically during. Bravo/Durian?)

One less superficial thing that jumps out to me is the similarity of GENM to Yggdrasil (big companies that clearly have some connection to the monsters the world at large doesn't know about). Though Emu has friends that are "in the know" about the plot, which lowers the potential of him being jerked around the way poor Kouta was.

There's no "kinda" about it! Gaim was on the fast track to becoming my favorite Rider show period for most of its run.

I think a lot of people forget that. It's overall tone may be very serious but the comic relief tried its best to "compensate". I think it may be even more over the top than Den-O in places. In my opinion, Gaim is basically the show that planted the seeds for guys like Onari.

I wouldn't call Bravo an exclusively slapstick character. Yes, he was the comic relief character, but Oren DID things, Oren got character development, Oren learned from his mistakes. If you're going to have a slapstick character, I'd say repeat Sasword, a comic relief character who got shit done but you'd sympathize for him whenever he's down. Sorry if this is a bit off topic!

Well I rewatched the episode and I am really enjoying what I am seeing. Hopefully this show can keep this up going forward. This show seems to be entertaining and after not keeping up with Ghost I hope that this show can keep my interest.

The main thing that stuck out to me this episode was how well Level 1 rubbed off on me. I really enjoyed the fights scenes that it had. I do wish though that they use it less often as the season continues.

The rest of the episode though was very fun and hopefully this show doesn't take a dip like Ninninger or Ghost did.

Hello, guys. This is my first ever post. I'm here to comment about Ex-Aid's debut episode. Unlike most of the people here, I'm one of the minority who feel the debut episode has some disappointments. Don't get me wrong, there are still some good and cool stuffs with Ex-Aid. I just....find Ex-Aid's first episode to be a little weird, mainly the comedy there. Let's see how about the thing of Emu accidentally crashed someone and terribly rode the roller or whatever that thing was. I just felt that the scene when Emu almost crashed Asuna and his shoe accidentally hit her head was quite...unnatural. I know that they used some CGs there but man..... It feels so unnatural for a bit slapstick.

Another problem that I found is Emu himself. I love him being a bit serious mode and being a person who enjoys himself as Kamen Rider. But, it feels so dumb for him to repeat "Huh?" for so many times in the end! It's not too bad since I know that he feels confused but the actor showed an expression of a dumb person there. And when he first transformed, well...... His reactions were so awkward too. Even Kota was't really that awkward in his first transformation. And..... Is it me but I felt that Director Kagami creeps me a bit with his constant expression changes and he always smiles toward Asuna? Really creeps me as much as Sage teased Akari when invisible.

But, that's all my problem there. In fact, I enjoy the action scenes there. Boy, you can't just love how cool is Ex-Aid when he jumps in those brown blocks. I really like the game elements there. Not only that, despite how clunky and chubby LVL 1 is, he was quite agile enough to dodge Bugster's attacks and even jumped on those blocks and got a speed power up. I also loves the "Hit" effects on the battle. I know that they will drop it later but it's still fun to see. The Critical Strike effect wasn't as annoying when Genm used his bike.

To be honest, I'm not saying I'm pesimistic toward Ex-Aid or it's a bit letdown for everyone. But, I feel that the premiere episode was quite weird itself. At least, Ghost wasn't actually really over the top or weird in the premiere episode. But, I love the actions here much better than Ghost, thanks to the effects. I could only judge this series during halfway. Despite, how bad the series is, I will still watch it to the very end. For those who could really enjoy the premiere, Congrats! I think I should need some time or rewatching to enjoy the premiere episode of Ex-Aid even more.

It was okay for a first episode, but honestly, I found it to be nothing special. It was pretty basic in most aspects and the plot, while interesting, didn't have me on the edge of my seat to see more or anything. The last few years drew me in much more. Then again, it wasn't boring either, just hella weird.

Still don't know what to think about all the designs and gimmicks either. They're creative and interesting to look at but I still have trouble picturing all those elements in a more serious streak of events. Let's see what they're gonna do with it.

It's just too early to really make any solid judgements beyond the aesthetics. It's surreal and that's what's drawing me in, the OTT goofery, not so much. I will say that, when I bought the Gaim box because it was cheap (used) and sat down to watch it, those early episodes were such that I literally said to myself "Well, that fifteen bucks down the drain". That's pretty much the same reaction I'd have with this but, Gaim ended up being something well beyond what those early episodes and so will Ex-Aid.

So, some open speculation: the doctor that saved Emu and introduced him to games - that was Kyotaro Hinata, perhaps?

Man, Ex-Aid might easily be the weirdest Heisei Rider series I've seen thus far. Not saying it was bad, but it's too early for me to form an opinion on this show yet.

I like the premise, but the over the top silliness not so much.

It might be a little early to make that claim.

Well it'll almost certainly get at least a little heavier as the plot moves along (pretty much every series does), but there really isn't anything in here to suggest the show will go full Gaim.

People act like Gaim getting darker was some big twist (because lol Urobuchi) but it communicated its intent very clearly from the start. Even the first scene of the show is Baron and Gaim dramatically facing off with whole armies behind them while the narrator blathers on about fate. Not to mention Kouta's fight with Zangetsu four episodes in. Or Not!Mai's nonsense speeches throughout.

I guess we'll see but Ex-Aid seems pretty much on the same level as Ghost and Drive tonally.

Thus far, there's really nothing to suggest that Ex-Aid will be like Gaim tone wise. So for now, why don't we just watch and enjoy Ex-Aid for it's own merits?

I don't know, I felt like the "see you next game" end slate was particularly sinister. Plus, it feels like right of the bat the Bugsters are a little more of a life-or-death threat to our weekly victims than Kamen Rider monsters have been presented as in the last couple years. I mean, you don't often come across a child seriously asking our hero if he's DYING in episode one.

I can understand how some people expect this series to get a lot darker as it continues.

To be fair, it's actually so rare it didn't even happen in this episode. That was Excite doing a little embellishment. He really just asked if he was really sick.

I do get what you mean, and we don't have any real way of knowing at this point one way or another, but the truth is, even if we did...we wouldn't. First episodes are not always the best to judge tone.

Because, technically, this actually is the lightest first episode of the last few series, in the sense that at least a lot of people didn't die this time around. While Kamen Rider as a whole has moved away from casual civilian deaths, first episodes have been exempt from that, as Drive had the whole Global Freeze thing and Ghost had Ganma throw around rides full of people until they exploded. Ex-Aid is the first one without any on-screen casualties we've had in quite a bit.

Ah, okay. I suppose that certainly lightens the stakes a little bit, but then again Emu (and the viewer, I guess) doesn't know how deadly the Bugsters are either. His optimism still comes off as false reassurance in a way.

Which is why I specified "victim of the week." Those massacres in Drive and Ghost were almost meaningless. I wouldn't say they were very "dark" because they were more or less just carnage for the sake of it to show how "scary" the villains are. As an audience, we didn't have any real connection to that violence. It barely reaches us on an emotional level.

Kouta unknowingly murdering his monster-turned best friend? THAT is dark.

I didn't mean to suggest that Ex-Aid was going to be Gaim 2, just that what we're getting here is most likely not what the whole series is going to be. Hell, even though it took a while, even Drive changed gears (eh? eh?) mid-race (eeeehhh?).

Mostly, I just want to be excited for the next episode via an engaging serialized story that doesn't cave in on itself due to the myriad of obstacles a half-hour toy commercial is up against!

Pft! Check this dude out. Whatever, Professor!

I do think the narrated scene with all the Riders teamed up in the dark to fight Bugsters portends a Gaim-ish tone, if only because its presentation and tone is similar to Gaim's cold opening. It's not just some backstory like the Global Freeze in Drive or mystery building like the beginning of Ghost 1, it's more of a weird hypothetical "look into the possible future" thing like in Gaim.

Plus Emu's backstory of almost dying but being saved by a mystery doctor character sounds like a Gaim-ish setup. Maybe that guy will turn out to be GENM, or pop up with some other plot-heavy connotations. The character and possibilites remind me of Takatora explaining Helheim to Kouta.

I won't lie, I chuckled a bit.

So is Shinnosuke accidentally crippling his partner by taking a risky shot, or Takeru's surprisingly "real" speech ending with him flatly saying "I don't want to die..." as he, you know, dies. And they didn't even have to play either of those moments for incongruous comedy.

I've adjusted your post to make it clear why that will never happen. Also, I'd argue even more so than anything specific in this episode, a multi-Rider show like this inherently carries an expectation of *drama!* in a way other shows don't. We already know Snipe and Brave are going to be butting heads with Emu, for example.

I maintain the second episode of pretty much every Rider show is the real "first" one. With all the setup done you get to see what a normal episode of the show actually looks like and in this particular case we get our first taste of the aforementioned Rider-on-Rider melodrama.

Not to be rude, but considering you gave the show flak for something you outright got wrong (Emu being a doctor despite the show CLEARLY saying intern), I don't think plugging your vid here would get that much attention

Shinnosuke's fluke was a bummer sure, but he was forgiven and his partner is fine in the end. And I'm sure we were all super worried that Takeru wouldn't make passed the first 10 minutes. I still don't think either scenario compares to the implications of what happened in Gaim.

That said, I do see your point. I still somehow get the impression that there's more potential for a grim turn here than I felt there was from Ghost or Drive right off the bat. I'm not sure exactly how to pinpoint what's giving me that feeling though.

I can deal with lite drama / action comedy if they just amp up the WTF factor week to week. Madan Senki Ryukendo did a good job of this and, honestly, if Ex-Aid's first episode reminds me of anything, tonally, it's Ryukendo.

Yeah, but every show with multiple Riders are like that, Gaim didn't exactly re-invent the wheel or anything.

So?

For one thing, that was my first viewing. Are you telling me you have never missed something the first time? Secondly, I've now watched the episode three times and the nurse never says he is just a student doctor.

Well I guess I can't fault you for giving it a chance.

Obviously it's not exactly on the same level but keep in mind that was only a dark moment in retrospect 16 or so episodes in. Except for people who guessed the twist right away, of course.

That's part of my point. It's such a normal thing for shows like that, including Gaim, it makes sense Ex-Aid would hew a bit closer to it than the past couple shows.

Maybe we should all just stop comparing every multi-rider show to Gaim and make incessant Ryuki comparisons instead. Both Knight and Brave are blue! Can't wait for Ex-Aid to become Ryuki II.

I think it's important to remember that, as a multi-Rider story, it is only logical to compare it primarily to the Hibiki movie.

You know you joke about that but this is the third time the second most important Rider in a show like this is an aloof knight.

And I nominate Kabuto for multi-Rider show Ex-Aid gets compared to every week.

"Level 1 is just a ripoff of Masked Form! The second guy's name is Kagami! Doesn't Toei have any original ideas anymore?!"

If you tell people to watch your review after you proved you missed something, in which multiple people corrected you, you're going to seem less reliable, like when Polygon docked points from Bayonetta 2 because "ew too sexy" (yusss got a gaming-related thing!)
I don't miss the subtitles in a show which has a language I don't understand
at 1:22 the woman dragging Emu away says "I know you're still an INTERN, but get a grip" in the subtitles. Either you're using TV Nihon and they left it out, or you missed it 3 fucking times. To which I ask, why didn't you use EXCITEsubs then as they did it first, which gave you more time to script the review?

If ripping off Kabuto results in gratuitous food porn, I'm totally okay with that.