... So... Takatora's sleeping with the fishes... literally... I anticipate that he'll wake up.

I mean, he was shown to be a participant in the future shown in the first episode.

Anyone else remember the future? I mean, I would think it still plays a role in the series.

It was nice seeing Kachidoki again. And Melon Arms, of course.

Personally, I liked this episode. In my opinion, it's the best episode that we've gotten so far. Was the flashback a bit out of left field? No, not really. Takatora was fighting his younger brother. No matter how much he'll say about Micchy being the enemy, the fact that his opponent is someone who he went through his life loving and caring for is going to have an impact on him.

Speaking of which, what is the Duke of Lemons doing right now, anyway?

This got me right in the feelings

Just watched subs. And oh my word. What a series this has been.

I realise that the adulthood theme in the show also touches on consequences of our actions and ideologies. Takatora's own beliefs had ramifications on his loved ones, no matter how much they would change in the future.

The use of and interaction with power has consequences. Kouta, Kaito, Mitchy, and Takatora are all experiencing that in one way or another.

This episode was brilliant, along with the last one made me feel Kouta definitely develop stronger. I'm worried about what's happening to Kaito from Redyue's slash. It was great to see everyone react to Micchy too. I hope Jonouchi, Zack, and Oren get to transform again soon. Gaim vs Redyue was totally fucking great, Kiwami arms I'm starting like more and more. I loved Takatora in this and his fight vs Micchy was amazing, and it made sense that he couldn't strike his brother down. I love how the plot and everyone has developed more. Damn this movie tie-in episode! I cannot wait for two weeks! I love this show more.

This episode? Brilliant. The next episode. Fucking pointless.

The flashbacks were perfectly placed. The fight with Redyue was necessary for the continued background of Kouta changing from an Armored Rider in to whatever he's going to be. And Micchy and Takatora ... wow.

This is the greatest episode of the series thus far in my opinion. I know everyone is mad about next week's episode, but we need a break man, my heart can't take much more string pulling!

Well then, this was quite the episode wasn't it? Saying it was an emotional episode wouldn't even begin to do justice to how much feels and emotion it had. Everything from how Micchy and Takatora's story unfolded to Kouta's parts of the episode just sucker punched you right in the heart.

I think this is the first time I actually could understand and even accept Kouta's hesitation. Micchy is through it all his friend and even though he knows fully well that Micchy is trying to kill him, he stills considers him his friend and wants to get to the reasoning for his actions. Thrown onto this that Micchy is most definitely be played like a fiddle and Kouta now has the added goal of wanting to try and save his friend and not see it all come to an end. It makes sense that through all of this he'd be hesitant in wanting to fight Micchy. So for once not only do I understand why, but I actually can accept it.

As for the rest, I can't do it justice. See it for yourself and take my word when I say it's some of the best drama and one of the best moments I've ever seen in tokusatsu and Japanese television as a whole.

Urobutcher sure knows how to escalate a plot! This episode contained a few elements that boost the tension of the plot even further. I'm also quite sure that the rumours where Oren rescues Takatora , as well as the fact that Zangetsu's sengoku driver lands into the bushes have significance in the overall scheme of things.

That was pretty damn awesome. I'm very curious to see what happens next, as this episode set up a lot of stuff.

I don't believe for one second that Takatora(batta) is really dead. This is exactly like what happened when Sid and Ryouma betrayed him, right down to the plummeting to his supposed demise part.

Kaito's wound has a green glow. An aftereffect of whatever that cloud was Redue used? A side effect of using the Genesis Driver? Something is up with that and I'm interested to see what it is.

Micchy has definitively passed the moral event horizon now. Everything up to this point was him trying, in a really selfish and increasingly deluded way, to just be happy with his friends. Striking a killing blow against his brother? Nothing about that is going to get him in Mai's dance pants - that is just pure selfishness and evil right there. At this point I think the only redemption Micchy might get could be a "man, did I fuck up" death scene.

Also, fuck soccer, fuck AU movies, and re-fuck Kikaider on principle.

Yeah, this certainly is odd coming from you Locke :lol

But yes, I would have to agree with what you said about Micchy. Certainly valid given that the show is basically about kids who were forced to grow up too fast; Micchy probably serves as the extreme case of this. He was too immature to fully understand the power that was given to him and the weight of his actions. Kouta suffered with that at the beginning as well, but like Takatora mentioned, Kouta ended up fine because of good guidance from his sister. Micchy, on the other hand, had Takatora, who always pushed him too hard and basically helped mold him into a twisted version of himself.