Derailing things a little bit: I'm sure I missed this but what exactly was Mai crying about after they were saved by Peco and Zack?

Also, am I the only one who find Malika creepy as hell?

Basically the Beat Riders have assumed, that as people have labelled them as scum before they've even actually done anything, they may as well just do what their rumours say any way.

I've kinda warmed up to Jinba Lemon now, though it seems kind of lame that Kouta figures out he can slap that bit of the Genesis Driver on by having a monster just up and knock off his faceplate. Like, that's some Faiz level belt durability there.

Also, I didn't really think Gaim was the kind of show that would prolong a reveal unnecessarily like that, but I'll be damned if I'm not excited to find out what Michhy saw anyway.

I saw smoke and a rounded-looking cliff, so I'm gonna guess it's some kind of big crater. The question is what made the crater. Aliens? Decade? Something even more unexpected? No clue, but man does Gaim know how to make me wish every day was Sunday/Monday-ish.

I like to think he saw the live action version of Smurf Village. It's the only thing I can think of that would warrant that reaction :p

Man, I just about lost it when I saw Kouta using the detaching orange during form change in an actual strategic attack to take out the Kurokage :lol

Mai was crying because the other beat riders are 'jailbreaking' their locks,allowing them to summon full Inves and commit crimes for them."They see us as monster summoners,so why not?"

I did enjoy how Kouta figured out the transformation.Still shows he doesn't know everything about his powers.

Okay that bike battle was freaking awesome. Very Return of the Jediish.

:lol at Kouta trying to get the lemon seed to work.

Another great episode. Mai is still annoying, Sid is getting more snakeish, and Jinba Lemon is freaking bad ass. I'm curious as hell though to know what Micchy saw.

Man, this show is so great. So many elements blended together and well done:

Big picture advancement - More questions about Lockseeds, Helheim, inner workings of Yggdrasil (DJ Sagara/Sid/Ryouma)

Small picture advancement - Invess being used as tools for crime, changing dynamics between Beat Rider teams

Character advancement - Kouta a couple episodes ago saw a Hase change, literally, into a physical monster. Now he's watching other humans choose to act like monsters. Plus, the struggle over using newfound power

Action - Dandeliner chase + Jimba Lemon Arms. Will we see Strawberry/Watermelon/Pineapple + Lemon mix? What would those look like? Also, using Orange Sparking as an anti-air device, brilliant.


Aesthetic touch I liked: In earlier episodes, each henshin was treated as an EVENT - bigass fruit flies out of an unzipped portal, drops onto a Rider's head, and with a flash, we get Armored Riders. Music, Roll call, the whole schebang. Big deal. I don't think it was a coincidence that all of those Henshins took place outdoors. Now, with the action picking up, we've gotten two weeks of indoor henshins that seem more subdued. Whereas before, the Henshin was an event onto an event (Look! Armored Rider!), now it's Kouta or Kaito transforming to fight, and the focus on the context of each fight, rather than the flashy transformation sequence. I think they also sped up the actual fruit drop and lowered the volume of the roll call, not by much but it made a huge difference in the tone of those moments. Truly, masterful directing.

observation:

Kouta straightup refused to kill Hase, and would definitely have refused to kill Yuuya if he knew.

But he had no problems blasting all of those Kuroukage Dandelion Riders. I mean, those bikes straight up EXPLODED, those guys were all human soldiers that are dead!

Did he just not realize it, or is he gonna go all Punisher on anyone not his friend?

Maybe his logic is that unless he knows them and sees them turn into a monster they're fair game?