While I wasn't surprised when Necrom appeared and had Aran's voice, I couldn't help but roll my eyes a bit, because it was just waaaay too obvious. But seeing how proud and happy his actor was about becoming a Kamen Rider, saying something along the lines "I'm so excited to become one of those heroes I really looked up to", I can't even be mad or disappointed. He's a very likeable guy, so maybe Aran might become a likeable character as well now xD

He got rid of his stupid scarf so that already an improvement in my book xD

Now! I will compare 3 Riders with Sonic Characters!

Takeru is Sonic as both of them are the only one are very heroic and too nice

Makoto is Knuckle as both of them start out as a rival to main character and was anti-hero but eventually start helping out the heroes!

Aran is Shadow as both of them are very anti-hero and considered the most ruthless character!

I'm not sure it was meant to be that much of a mystery. Maybe it seemed that way from our point of view when they didn't show Necrom's civilian form in any scans. I feel like it was really more fan speculation over complicating things than Toei explicitly going "OOOOOH! WHO'S THIS MYSTERY MAN? WHO COULD IT BE?"

No, and good one. I meant his actors name!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_F-2k_23yaA

Hayato Isomura.

Necrom's first appearance in the stage show.

He will first appear in-show at episode 16.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dzRaWoFGnQ

They made a hella big deal out of it in the movie. And for children, this might also have been an exciting question. Also, if they never wanted it to be a mystery, they could just have Alan hold the Eyecon more often and have him talk more about it... but they didn't. So yes, it was supposed to be a mystery.

No, what I'm getting at is like... NECROM is the mystery and the reveal; not who he is. I mean, think about it. They kept the Houdini Eyecon's sticker hidden for a few episodes. We never questioned that Specter was going to be the one eventually using it, but from a narrative standpoint, the mystery there was "what is this Eyecon?"
Sort of similarly, if you had ONLY watched the show and never payed any attention to promo fliers or magazines, the first glimpse or mention of Necrom is the shot of the Eyecon in the preview for this week's episode. From there, you see those are Alan's fingers and would go "Oh! Alan was planning/creating something in the Ganma world several weeks ago. That's probably what it was!" From a perspective like that, it's more of surprise to the viewer that Alan is becoming a Rider, and less that the Rider is actually Alan.

I'm not sure if what I'm saying is clear, but basically it's all about point of view. I suppose from a marketing and publicity standpoint, the Necrom situation was a little bit like a "whodunnit?" But only from there. I don't think the show itself was ever keeping Alan AS Necrom a secret. It was more keeping Necrom's existence AT ALL a secret. The problem there being Kamen Rider media and advertising doesn't play well with tight reveals like that. You can't just keep something like that hush-hush and expect to sell toys the day they're revealed.

Am I the only one that noticed that Alan's outfits are essentially the same design, just different material and coloring?

No, it isn't. The first glimpse of Necrom was in Chou Movie Taisen Genesis, which came out in december. And usually, kids who watch the show will also go watch the movie. And in that Necrom wasn't associated with Alan at all. He just appeared at some point and then disappeared again.

Did you miss the ONLY in big caps letters? Only means ONLY. I'm aware of Necrom's appearance in the Taisen, but the movies follow a different narrative from the show; often having a completely different writer and director. Now you're just being stubborn.

It's because I have SEEN the movie. Like 90% of Japanese people who watch the show. And the narrative is the same as the show's, even though it doesn't blend in flawlessly. It's canon nonetheless for both Ghost and Drive. Toei considers that when they plan a show. That's how the marketing here works. If you watch the show, you're supposed to watch the movies too.

The movies rely and attempt to stay in line with the show, for sure. But what I'm saying is that, more often than not, the shows DO NOT in fact rely on the movies and therefore the episodic plot usually isn't disrupted by the events that go on there. Exceptions happen of course, but Ghost didn't acknowledge Movie War Genesis at all within the televised storytelling.

I still think the reason Alan as Necrom wasn't established in the movie is because it just wasn't necessary. Alan AS Necrom isn't as important as simply previewing the suit. Just like the appearances in magazines and commercials, they want as many kids to see what the third Rider looks like so that they know who to search for on toy shelves before the suit is actually revealed within the show. The whole thing is supplemental advertising and basically irrelevant to the plot happening on television.

This is frustrating because it's so clear there's a misunderstanding here. We're both right in a way, because as I said earlier, it's all about perspective; point of view. It's obvious that advertising executives wanted to present Necrom's identity as a mystery. What I'm arguing is that the writer for the TV show (a different person than whoever wrote the movie, mind you) didn't intend it to be like that. I'll bet that if we had it THEIR way, we wouldn't have even seen Necrom until the preview at the end of this week's episode, and by then it's obvious who's behind the mask.

From the standpoint of the show's narrative thus far, the surprise was supposed to be: "Alan is now a Rider." From the standpoint of the advertising (including the movie) the surprise was supposed to be: "Necrom is Alan." The issue here is that the two directions conflicted, and in the end nothing is a surprise at all.

So Houdini is Specter's upgrade form. Then Specter in Necrom Damashii would be his super form. Ghost and Specter both have a new form planned for April, so I guess that'll be his final form. Although Specter doesn't have that many Eyecons, the upgrades for Ghost and Specter seem to be consistent.

Presenting...Necrom Grimm Damashii
http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/...20160123234857

I am in love.

Do we know who is providing the voice samples for the Megauloder? Because from what I could tell in this week's preview, they're fantastic. Not quite Faiz gear levels of sexy, but pretty close. "TENGAN! MEGA-RU-ODE."

It should be in the credits for next week's episode.

Very minor look at Ghosts' next Damashii- Himiko!

Love Combo 2.0? :lol

Just kidding, glad to see this one coming to the show.

The eyes/visor looks really weird, but the rest looks really cool.

It really does kind of look like that. XD

Fraid it'll end up like Beethoven?

Depends on what its abilities are.

I think it'll just have some special abilities. Himiko was a shaman queen, so maybe some magic of some sorts? It would be cool if they made a Ghost Gadget for the Sunglasseslasher that Himiko would use since Goemon uses Sword mode and Ryoma uses Blaster mode.

Or if Ghost Himiko would use both the Sunglassher and GanGanSaber! Perhaps Specter will give Ghost his Cobra Mobile for the saber.

Unlikely, but still cool. The colors would clash with the pink and blue. I think it would still kinda wok though.

I found this:
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/...20160124012450

Is this a preview of what's coming soon?

Well, if the form uses CGI magic, you can be sure it'll appear less frequently, just like Beethoven. And if Himiko had a Ghost Gadget, we probably would have seen something like that in the leaked toy catalogs by now.

Huh, yeah. What if Himiko uses the GanGun sickle? That'd be interesting. As for dual wielding the two weapons, he hasn't done it yet of course, but in the Detail of Heroes scans Ryoma is shown dual wielding the GanGun in saber mode and the Sunglasslasher in gun mode. So there's that.

Judging by the rest of the commercial, I'd say no. It's just showing off the gimmick. I think Specter Necrom Soul was rumored to have a different helmet and a moderately different parka than just being the two suits kitbashed together. But we'll see.

Obviously that's not what it's going to look like. I just considered that as a hint to the form. I'm expecting the jacket to be reused, but the helmet is going to be different for sure.

So I hadn't noticed before but Houdini actually gives Specter different horns. Only further cementing it as his upgrade equivalent. Which is fine, if still completely perplexing. That just this one heroic Eyecon is so powerful and special is really weird.

I noticed that also. They really want to establish that this is an upgrade and not another form. I guess this makes the toy kind of accurate also.

The only difference I see is that they look bigger.

They're a fairly different shapes. Sharper.

I might be hoping for too much here, but it would be cool if they explain why Houdini is so special when Ghost has to "connect" with him, like the other 14 souls. I just imagine Takeru going into the Houdini Eyecon to see that his soul is just pissed off by the whole situation. "Unbelievable. I didn't sign up for this nonsense. Ghosts? You have got to be kidding me."

Maybe his denial is empowering. :lol

As silly as that explanation would be, it'd be sort of interesting if that was the explanation. "A ghost's strength is inversely proportional to the lack of faith they had in freaking ghosts when alive" or some such thing.

Man imagine how powerful an Akari Damashii would be...

Did we just discover Ghost's final form? :lolol

New Ganma Superior Igor.
A scientist. By using Ganma Icon on his bracelet he gains new upgrades from it.
http://i.imgur.com/o7jPTjw.jpg

Unexpected. Not sure how to feel about that.

Nice to see the Superior Ganma's ability to use other Ganma's hoodies finally make its way into the show. What appears to be his base hoodie is also very cool. Kinda wish his suit was a different color to differentiate it but I understand why it isn't.

The fact that he uses a not-Megauruoda is super interesting though. Considering the use of a transformation item, the use of other Eyecons, and the hoodie changing thing that all so nicely reflects the Riders...kinda wish they'd just gone the full mile and made the Superior Ganma a Rider to begin with using the Megauruoda. A sort of almost-trooper Rider I suppose, since it looks like there may be a number of different Superior Ganmas. Oh well.

I'm guessing this means we're gonna get another exclusive Ganma Eyecon Set at some point...unless Igor just uses Jabel's Eyecon which would be kinda lame. Color is different though so it seems unlikely at least.