There's no Holy Stone either, only a Dark Stone. It's kind of interesting how Satria has its own concept of elemental magic, with electromagnetism being considered above water.

Yep, it's Gackt, who Decade fans (and critics) will remember as AU Yuki Joji. But his character as Noir/Bima Legend is a lot more memorable to me. I was totally surprised when I first saw his appearance in this episode and even more that he can actually speak a lot of languages, including Japanese, English and Indonesian. Bima Legend is also a good way of repurposing the original Bima suit for future use, since Ray's inevitably going to upgrade to Bima-X in the sequel. But yeah, I think maybe if more people were aware that Gackt of all people was in this show, it wouldn't be so obscure.

Seiko? I'd wish that actually treating non-family or other beloved ones as garbage is more acknowledged as something terrible, rather than being glorified as you can get free pass to be biased on family only, others be damned. Series like Ryuki has the big bad willing to murder anyone for the sake of family (who doesn't even want it). Some of the common criminal cases happen due to this though, those who doesn't know the context or the direct victim will want worst outcomes to the culprit (not right but still...).

But even then, it's also unfair to talk down civilians for not being able to pull their own weight in battles (and, often got dismissed as useless and irrelevant, even though being superheroic is about protecting people). Their demise also can be just dismissed as numbers and statistics. Not everyone is made for fighting or can fight, it's not a cavemen era. Society works because people are split into different works. Leave the dangerous work to capable people, others can support in their own different way.

While they shouldn't give up if they can help it, folding 'em is still something good to think for a while and ensure that they're at their best. Because recklessness is not bravery. But it seems that the lesson to be given for someone idolizing and putting hope on someone is that the idols aren't perfect and they have to tamper their expectations...

Yeah, the upgrade for Bima is finally here, the weapon now turning into full suit, giving both offensive and defensive capabilities.

On the flipside, more people being aware of it would totally ruin the surprise!

Apologies for me not wording things more clearly. When I talk of battle and other such similar phrases, in this context it simply means overcoming adversity, whether it be physical or mental. Dion gaining the courage to go through with the surgery is still him fighting for the chance to continue living, even if he's not throwing punches. Meanwhile, if he let his fears win out and he does nothing, then he's dead for sure. That's both what I and the episode is getting at.

Gackt is every bit as confusing as he is cool.

Like, I get the general idea(I think). As a former Satria, he appears to impart wisdom onto Ray to help make Ray a better Satria.

The problem is that he doesn't exactly tell Ray anything that Ray doesn't already know(which funnily enough is noted by Ray himself). So was the whole idea for Gackt to just show up and bully Bima?

The coolness factor does help with me turning my brain off during the whole thing atleast. And there's also the nice character stuff with Randy still being the bravest of the family and Rena making friends with the runaway girl from Vudo. So it's not as if this two-parter was entirely shallow.

That said, one thing I was hoping this episode would elaborate on, given Gackt's' status as the former Bima, was answering the question of where exactly the Bima suit even comes from, given that we've seen many times before that the Power Stones can be used without any sort of armor manifestation thanks to the monsters.

Does it ultimately matter? No, but it was still a plot detail that I felt could've been cool, and I even thought it might happen given Gackt's' whole speech on how Bima is the summation of many things. But alas, it was not to be.

If you're not a fan of Gackt, I really can't see you getting much out of these two episodes. But if you are, then there's alot of fun to be had with this very unexpected cameo, and sometimes that's all that's needed.

(We also got to see the Grand Gator and I swear they used the Godzilla Roar for it but that's for another time I guess.)

That's true. I'm glad you were able to enjoy the surprise like I did.

Oh yeah, the origin of Satria is something hasn't really been brought up until now, so it's intriguing how Noir hints that there's a whole culture and lore surrounding them that we don't know about yet, which Ray and Mikhail have now become part of. While we've seen that Topeng Besi and Shadow Crisis are capable of using the Power Stones, it seems that only the Satria can master them, something that Rasputin might've known when he abducted Mikhail.

Or maybe Rasputin just got a kick out of seeing the two brothers kill eachother.

Or both. Could very much be both.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN7bCme0G2E

The most emotionally powerful episode so far, which is only fitting given who's involved.

It's a clash between brothers, and not just Ray and Mikhail, but Ray and Randy too. Randy's' lesson being that even if brothers fight, they can still come together in the end.

Faith restored, Ray is more determined than ever to get Mikhail to remember his past as Reza. And what a fight to remember, as it's one of the most emotionally driven and best choreographed bouts in the show.

I'm an absolute sucker for when battles between arch-rivals devolve into just throwing hands while weakened(s-CRY-ed, Kamen Rider Kuuga), so seeing BIMA pull it off here was a great treat. And that ending, with Ray protecting Reza... so good.

But man, what a friggen cliffhanger at the end! It seriously tempts me to just jump right into the next episode, which is a good sign, really. Those poor kids in 2013, having to wait a whole week before getting proper closure to this whole thing, haha.

Very excited for tomorrow's' episode. This was a blast from start to finish.

As great as 23 was, 24 is even better, and I think is an easy pick for my favorite.

An episode focused entirely on Mikhail and Uncle is something I didn't even realize this show needed until it happened, and I'm so happy it did.

Everything just came together so perfectly. The character development of both characters involved, the well directed action scenes, and the absolutely on point musical score really brought the emotional core to the forefront.

I'm not even really sure what I can say outside of that, given what a great ride the episode is from start to finish. I guess the only thing I can really say that's a bit of a shame is that Azazel didn't get the Yellow Power Stone to obtain God Taranis, but whatever, it's not a big deal.

The family is all back together now, and unless the final two episodes end up being Faiz tier for me, I get the feeling I'll come out of BIMA looking at the whole thing rather fondly, even with the rough transition between writers. This show really does make for an oddly fitting double feature with Revice. Don't expect a VS Review or anything, as both shows give me more to celebrate than complain about.

It's the big climactic final battle between Bima and Azazel to herald the start of the final arc! Bima using his power to summon that magic barrier to protect Reza was such an emotional moment and I love how it flipped their dynamic, with Ray being the one giving his former mentor advice and acting like a real big brother. He's so much more confident now.

Successfully tempted, it would seem....

Their interaction was a nice respite between action, allowing Mikhail to gather his thoughts and determine what he should do next. Always good to see Uncle playing an important role as well by helping out his nephew, even if he's not actually aware of his identity, which probably makes it even better that he'd do that for a stranger.

I can see why you would think that, since Taranis is half thunder elemental and Power Stone Kuning should be able to amplify that. But nope, looks like Azazel is only compatible with Hitam. Azazel God Taranis is a missed opportunity for sure.

Nevertheless, Azazel was awesome here, with how he dramatically destroyed his VUDO belt and did his new roll call as Satria Garuda Azazel, before finishing the last member of Shadow Crisis!

It's not only a change for Azazel, but for Mikhail as well. Since he's not a celebrity like Levi Weston, he doesn't actually have any reason to keep using that name. So now he goes back to calling himself Reza Bramasakti.

For me, I have way more to complain than celebrate about Revice, so I could totally declare Bima the victor of that fight.

His name would be Bima Legend. I'd think actually regarding how there's Maya, the runaway girl in Parallel World, there seems to be lacking of how that world is established, about how the people there can live if it drives VUDO to invade Earth's resources, if it's completely uninhabitable or actually not, CMIIW.

And here, Gackt speaks in both Japanese and English. Maya is also played by Haruka Nakagawa, a member of AKB48.