Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Episode 2- "Two Geniuses? No Thank You!" Discussion
 

A New Challenger Approaches!


Emu learns more about the strange Bugstar virus. He is shocked to find out there are others equipped to fight off the monsters...

Well that opening certainly points to Parad being GENM...

Not sure what to think of the op yet. Need to see it clearly.

Pacing in this ep felt a little off but maybe that's just me.

PMAX confirmed to have different sounds than MAX. Guess I do want it.

And Taiga appears to buy his gear from Dan? Interesting...

Hmm...interesting episode..

Graphite Bugster spread Bugster vurus by his Gashacon Breaker. Hmm.....I am felt Graphite Bugster really similar to Brain Roidmude....

So...Genm has "Prototype" word in his PMAX Gashat.....interesting

Really cool Brave's fights. His transformation also really cool.

In end of episode, Taiga already obtain Gamer Driver and BangBang Shooting Gashat from Dan, hmmm.....sometime Dan remind me to Takatora.....

This series has so many reflections of Gaim.

And I love it.

Ex-Aid = Gaim

Goofy but wants to do well

Brave = Baron

Even spins his Gashat like Baron spun lockseeds

Snipe = Ryugen

Looks like a scheming little bastard

Looks like the only rider ally he'll get is Lazer.

Honestly in the same way you could say it has many reflections of Ryuki.
Emu=Kouta=Shinji

Kagami=Kaito=Ren

Taiga=Mitsuzane=Masashi

That one's not a great comparison, honestly. If you HAD to make a comparison with Ryuki, Micchy is a like an amalgamation of several Advent Riders.

And Taiga feels more like a Kitaoka, least to me.

He's clearly something of a self-serving jackass, but he's also a main character as opposed to a throwaway like Scissors. And every time all the Riders pop up together (as in the fancy beginning of episode 1 or well, the op itself) Snipe is right alongside the others as a hero, hinting at the fact that despite being a jerk he's still going to end up being more or less on the right side. Comparisons to Kitaoka in that respect seem more apt than Mitchy, who started off all goody-goody but then went off the wrong path.

It's not a great comparison, even then, but if we're making them...

Lazer, on the other hand, doesn't resemble that many of the Rider archetypes we see in these multi Rider shows. He looks friendly and fully willing to cooperate with our main Rider. So...Mitchy if he wasn't such a bitch, I guess.

Admittedly I haven't watched Ryuki yet so I just sort of based it off brief snippets of character bio I've read.

I wouldn't count on that just yet. I mean aside from the fact that he is the literal Rider Machine of Ex aid, the way he's portrayed both in this episode and last episode makes him a little shady. Of course I wouldn't mind if he did turn out to be friendly.

I think Lazer would only be hostile at first. Can't have our bike being uncooperative after all

Of course we can! Then there can be opportunities for slapstick comedy bits! Like Ex-aid and Lazer fighting over which direction to turn and crashing, or Lazer getting fed up and running Emu over.

Ah, but comedy's a different case, I meant more of a 'Lazer turns evil' or something

Though I'm expecting a joke about Lazer feeling uncomfortable about a guy riding him

I'm more worried about how Ex aid will comfortable considering Lazer's Gamer Driver is in the middle of the seat.

So Ex-Aid's final form is the dating sim Gashat...

Remember - Ryugen and Zangetsu are shown in a group of 4 in the Gaim intro, and we only got Zangetsu for like 4 episodes, and Ryugen was a traitor by mid 10's.

The opening sequence- BEAUTIFUL. I know some people kinda find Poppi to be annoying but I find her adorable XD. The stark contrast between her human form and her game form is fun, and honestly, when Brave gets to use her game, I can't wait to see that reaction XD.

On Brave, no-nonsense powerhouse knight with loyal followers? Kaito 2.0. Only with an entourage of nurses instead of dancers. The fact that he has a sweet tooth is odd, but the joke at the end of him wanting to surgically cut the cake was kinda funny.

That doesn't mean Ex Aid is going to do that as well.

i love that Blade's nurses come out of an SUV, wearing sexier nurse outfits

dude's big pimpin while Exaid is just a gamer

where did they go when the action started?

surprised we got Dark Ex-Aid already so early in the series

https://mobile.twitter.com/EXCITEsub...2263276544?p=v
Subs are out

Well, I liked episode 2 a LOT.


I'm thinking there must be more money going into this one, or they're using a DFX house that cut them a deal because, as witnessed with Brave, the CGI isn't just arbitrary, it's integral to their powers. As in, they're not just going to be able to dump them later. This may be why the Bugster LV1 forms are so rudimentary - they're cheaper to render, perhaps?

Anyway, despite being built on a Gaim foundation (pretty hard to deny at this point), I'm looking forward to the craziness ahead; this episode hints that things are going to go pretty bat-shit once there's four / five Riders going at once.

In Conclusion: Bring on Dr. Taiga "Don't Call Me Black Jack" Hanaya! BANG-BA-BANG! BANG-BA-BANG! BANG-BANG SHOOTINGU!
As you know, I love Toku-Gunz.

Enjoyed ep.2 more than ep.1, and I really liked the first episode. Hopefully Ex-Aid keeps this up. They are blending the gaming and medical theme together very well and I love it.

I now see both Gaim and Drive vibes intermixed into this, and since I loved both those series I have high hopes for Ex-Aid.

I very much doubt this. They'll probably find some excuse later on.

This episode was just plain fun. I'm trying to find reasons not to like it and I don't know why. Maybe because I liked Gaim so much, or that I'm afraid it would unseat it as my favorite. Or that the suits aren't what I am used to. But I can't find anything wrong with how they integrate into the concept. Considering how L1 rolls, I don't see how they can cut the CG other than carefully planned shots. It could be why they're rolling out the characters so fast. But I can't find anything to dislike. I'm totally excited for this season!

Lazer is clearly based off of Date Akira.

And man, the second is so much better than the first one.

Gaim vibe was strong in this one. I think I'm opening up to the OP. The video that goes with it however, LOVE IT! The walking against a gray back ground, so Ryuki/Faiz-like. The frowning is a stark contrast from all the happy smiling from Ghost's OP and sets a early-Heisei vibe, which I love to bits. The mysterious message they're trying to give off is apparent in the scenes and lyrics, very reminiscent to Gaim and Just Live More.

I think I could talk about the OP video forever but let's move on to the episode. I like it a lot more than the last one. It ditches the silliness for story and Emu and Brave work off of each other well (and similarities to Kouta and Kaito grow strong...) and I'm excited to see how Brave grows (hopefully better than Kaito as Fish Sandwich probably agrees). I wish they could've tried a little bit better at concealing Genm's identity, but he's still really cool in the way he fights. His color scheme and design reminds me a lot of Proto-Drive, so I'm wondering if they have a similar back story or as interesting character.

Coming up next... BANG BANG SHOOTING!

Really, really liked this episode, way more than I expected to. The cast is all coming across as really engaging so far and I'm pleasantly surprised to find that I don't mind any of the humor, which feels much more subtle than the last few seasons (I especially liked the pie joke at the end). It really feels like the show has a clear story that it's telling and I look forward to seeing how it develops.

And Brave? I've seen some comparisons between him and Knight, but I think that's off-base. He may have a similar aesthetic as a Rider, but personality-wise this guy is totally Kitaoka 2.0.

Watching this episode did something for me I did not expect, it really made me like Emu even more. Like, I already liked him before, but now I think he’s a great protagonist.

And I did not expect this because going into the episode I was like “Yay, Brave! I’ll love this dude, he uses a Dragon Quest-esque Gashat after all” but I quickly realized I don’t care for Hiiro all that much. I mean this early on it’s exactly the kind of reaction his character is supposed to cause; I’m sure he’ll grow a bit softer over time and learn a few things from Emu. And of course we’ll get the tragic backstory which made young Hiiro snap and decide to seal his emotions for patients forever. But for now? He’s just a rival for Emu and it makes me like Emu even more.

Brave as a Rider is kinda lame too. I mean yeah, his LV. 2 sequence is pretty great with the door, but that’s about it. I don’t like the animations of the sword, I hate that it turns to switch elements like the toy does even though there’s no need to do that in the show, and to be honest his swordplay was lame. Ex-Aid did way more cool stuff with his sword in episode 1, the fight choreography was just better. Another thing I like more about Ex-Aid is that his fighting style is so much fun to watch. Like how he sneaks up on the Mage Bugstar and swings his hammer like a golf club.

The more I think about it, this makes sense. Emu is a gamer, fighting as a Rider is fun for him so he’s more creative. For Hiiro it’s a job, so he gets things done quickly without any nonsense. It’s kinda stupid that I only realize this now but I like it.

Anyways, I like Asuna / Poppipippawhatever, I enjoy how she switches between her serious and playful character. I don’t like that she’s a computer program, I would’ve enjoyed her being human with a special ability better, but again: We don’t know anything about her, she could very well be some kind of digital backup of an actual human and we might meet the real Asuna later.

As far as the rest goes, I really like it. I hope they can keep the videogame effects up because so far they tie the battles together very nicely, I like the chest spawns form the Taddle Quest level, and I hope they don’t forget about stuff like this later. Also, I like the LV. 1 suits a lot even though I did not think I would. I think they look good in a battle on their own; the suits look to be well built since the actors can still be very expressive through them, and they do go well with the theme. Yes they look stupid, but I already forgot about that. I think they work in the show.

I could write a bit more but we’re so early in the run I feel like I shouldn’t overcomplicate things. So far it’s a fun Rider show and that’s exactly what I needed after Ghost.

What I also needed after Ghost was a kickass opening, and Ex-Aid delivered in that department as well, I love it.

Did anybody else notice the magic circles are LITERALLY Wizard's magic circles?

I hope they wont get too far into a tragic backstory direction with Hiiros way of seeing his work. What I really like about him is that his way of seeing things is extremely realistic for a surgeon and something a lot of them tend to deal with. So I hope this gets explored more in a less melodramatic way.

I can't get over how much I'm enjoying this show! I'm excited to see so many riders already only two episodes in, and Emu has proved to be quite interesting so far. I'm really hoping they somehow keep up on the effects though, they're fantastic. I can't wait to see what happens once the plot starts to pick up, ehehehe!

Yes! Money saving measures, no doubt!

Well as per usual I enjoyed the second episode way more than the first. Random thoughts time!

- That opening is straight dope yo! It's never a bad thing when the visuals remind me of Ryuki.

- Hiiro is kind of laughably over the top in how cold he is but it makes him a nice enough foil. Props for the little hands-up "about to operate" gesture he does throughout the episode. Riders with tics like that are fun.

- Apparently Genm's appearances in Ghost were remarkably accurate to how he'd be in the actual show! :lol

- Brave's level up stock footage is nowhere near as hypnotic as Ex-Aid's. Speaking of which has anyone made a gif of that yet? :p

- Not technically a part of the show but Excite's subs were better this time around. I'm still decently sure they made a couple mistakes but they're really pedantic stuff to complain about.

I love that he has hot nurses accompany him to hand him his belt and gashat. That is so pimp.

Kamen Rider continues to push itself into more of an anime kind of aesthetic, this time I really feel it's working.

Which is pretty much the pinnacle of "laughably over the top". I get that it's a surgery thing but I don't think he should be mocking Emu for not knowing how to operate when he thinks keeping his hands sterile is important for transforming into a Kamen Rider. :p

I make fun of Brave, but I'm curious to see if his character goes anywhere interesting. In this episode he was less the focus and more just a plot device to get Emu to commit to being Ex-Aid at the end so I look forward to seeing him actually do stuff down the line. Or maybe he'll just be the next Specter and the writers will struggle to make him interesting outside of being "the foil".

Disclaimer: I actually really like Makoto (duh).

Sure, it's only two episodes in, but I gotta say I'm loving this show so far. The action is fantastic, I'm interested in the characters and the comedy has been kept to a limit (so far) as well as being genuinely funny.

Getting major Ryuki/Gaim vibes from this show with each Rider seemingly having a different approach to how they do things. And Genm is certainly reminding me of Zangetsu right now.

And Hiiro might just be the Kamen Rider equivalent of Gary Oak :lol


Ex-Aid is off to a good start.

It's probably a....
Beat me to it! :lol I think it's a brilliant idea. They save what money would've gone into that designing process for something else. Also, they get to re-use something that hasn't been seen in years. I personally enjoyed seeing them again. :lol

Okay, thoughts on this episode! World building is good, Hiiro being a twat fits his profession as getting too attached to a patient makes it worse if you screw up, Genm makes me want his toys like nothing else even though his Gashat is gonna be hard to get. Bugster designs are improving a lot too, and the humour is better than most KR attempts so far with Emu getting in trouble with Level 2 and Emu trying to have a good comeback at Hiiro. Music so far is great too, especially Genm's kickass theme. The Gashacon Sword being something found in the level was also a neat feature. Starting to hope Brave's eventual upgrade be a promotion like Fire Emblem

Yeah, I really liked the justification of the LVL 1 form, it's so goofy it's kind of needed. Seeing it get kicked around was funny after the fact because I was actually invested in the moment.