Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Episode 3- "BAN! The Guy Is Coming" Discussion"
 

FIRE IN THE HOLE!

While investigating the hostile "pallete-swap" of Ex-Aid who attacked earlier, another GamerDriver goes online.

Special guest director- Koichi Sakamoto!

Alright, time to prepare my list of Koichi Sakamoto-isms.

Man, things are really getting interesting now. As I expected, the more Riders join the fray, the better this gets. Taiga really feels like an interesting character. He's got a mysterious past, plays foil to both of the other Riders (and it looks like Hiiro has a particular bone to pick with him) and he also has a personal conflict with Graphite, who appears to have been responsible for the Incident five years ago. Good shit. My guess is that same incident may have given Graphite a chance to steal a Driver and the still in development PMAX Gashat so....hmmmm.

Emu is a damn cool guy, and a good protag. Was surprised he actually lost his Gashat though. Of course it looks like Kujo's getting it back not even an episode later, but still. Speaking of which, excited to see Kujo finally make his proper debut! Having all four Riders should really be something.

Also, holy shit. The Riders fuckin die if their health bars get to zero? That seems like a glaring design flaw. And why is Poppi only telling them this now??? That's some high risk shit. But it does certainly raise the stakes.

I enjoyed this episode a lot. By episode 3 Ghost had already sorta started losing me, but Ex-Aid is shaping up to be very very interesting already. Can't wait for next week.

Also man, I need a Snipe figuarts like yesterday. I wanted to wait until I saw the suit in motion to decide, but yeah. Definitely my favorite Rider design in this show. The colors are just too good.

Snipe's appearance here is giving me some "pouring on the speed" feelings plot-wise, which is disconcerting. Hopefully it's just for the introductory episodes and it smooths out a bit later.

Other than that I still love it so far. There seems to be some good character interaction here, I especially like Emu's firmness with his opinions, something that the last few protagonists either lacked or didn't really get a chance to show off.

Hmm....I am didn't expect Taiga know about Graphite.....

Taiga's past looks very interesting...

In his past, it seems the black Gashat is black version of BangBang Shooting Gashat....

So....they can enter to game location. Hmm...I hope this selecting location with continue in future episodes.....:D

Awesome fight especially Snipe in this episode :D

Full explosion much like in Military War PC Game!!! :D

I am also didn't expect the Snipe actually know invicible Revolve Bugster. Snipe kill the real Revolve Bugster.....

Hmm.....Taiga take Mighty Action X Gashat from M but yeah the next episode...it seems with Kujo's help M will reclaim his personal Rider Gashat.....

Shaky cam: Check
Out of suit fighting: Check
Slow motion shots: Check
Excessive use of Cgi: Check
Cgi explosions: Check
Back explosions: Check
Kalishplosions: Check

Yep, this is a Koichi Sakamoto directed episode.

Watching the high quality raw...does look like Taiga was using the Proto Bang Bang Shooting Gashat during his original stint as a Rider. Wasn't sure with the stream's quality. Kinda hope we get to see what Snipe looked like back then. And maybe it'll get released as a toy sometime...? Unless the PGR Gashat does a lot in the movie I'm probably gonna be whining about which one deserved to get a release in about two months time, let me tell you.

And...huh. Interesting. Unlike the other Riders, whose Level 1 eyes are blacked out on their back faces, Snipe's whole visor thing is actually red. I don't mind it (the way the few bits of red he has contrast with the navy and lime green is one of my favorite things about his suit) but it's an interesting break from consistency. Though then again, I'm not sure if I'm just seeing things but at least on the Level 2 suit it does kind of look like Snipe's entire "face" under the mask is red, just a really really dark shade. Who knows.

Anyway, man do I have to say. I love how much personality the suit actors are able to get across in these suits. It's great. I wasn't paying that much attention when I first watched it, but even while the focus is on Brave and Snipe butting heads, Ex-Aid is just off to the side doing his own thing. His posing, the way he just casually flips the Breaker. I think it's pretty great.

And also, I've said this before and I'll probably say it again, but I love how lean these suits are. They can really get far more movement out of them than many of the suits we've gotten for the past few years, and it makes the fights a lot more fun. Even with his little cape Snipe is doing these rolls and high kicks and shit. It's great.

And I kind of love how in finishing the Bugster both Hiiro last episode and now Taiga almost killed Emu too. Half expecting Kiriya to subject Emu to some reckless endangerment next week as well, just for consistency's sake.

Gonna wait until subs are out to watch the full episode, but man, the action looks incredible. Much better than Ghost. And unlike Ghost, it seems like they're actually going to stick with the video game theme for the fight scenes.


And yes, Snipe is probably my favorite Rider design in this series so far.

I wouldn't really call this a "design flaw" since it's pretty darn helpful to have a bar on your suit that tells you how much damage your body can take while transformed.

That's the thing though, we see both Hiiro and Emu after cancelling their Henshin, and neither looked worse for wear despite both coming to the brink of having all their health depleted. To me that sort of implies it's not a literal health bar monitoring the Riders themselves, but more like...the Rider system itself? Like if it takes too much damage it takes the Rider down with it, even if he seems fine.

I'm probably just overthinking it but...yeah.

It does change things a little though. Typically if a Rider gets beat hard enough they just de-henshin. The way they have it set up with Ex-Aid, they either win, run away, or die. Which is...kinda different?

Anyway, you can already feel the "Emu's health bar gets depleted and dies but they get him a +1 Life and he comes back stronger" twist coming. Or hopefully not, but...

If they do that, it'd better be because he earned it and not some sort of stupid Deus Ex Machina BS.

This is what, the third kid thats been able to straight up run out of the hospital and into danger?

MAAAYBE hospital security needs to be a bit tighter

We got a brief fight scene inside of the hospital, without Rider system activated. To me, Gaim's shift from "dance competition" to "holy shit the world is being run by this evil corporation" parts of the story was marked when Kaito and Kouta infiltrated Yggrassil and had to fight their way out.

All of the transformations were seemingly sped up, and the action got way more intense due to the interior camerawork. Shit got SERIOUS.

Hopefully we finish this introductory arc and there is a similar tone shift.

Let's just hope someone doesn't pull off a Urobutcher moment and start killing off some Riders first lol

Oh wait that's another thing I forgot to check off.
Interior fight scenes: check

Really enjoyed this episode, first Rider series I've decided to watch weekly. Luckily the wait isn't too bad since there's so many rider series I haven't watched yet, watching Fourze in between ex aid episodes. Wasn't a fan of the pink hair at first... but I'm sold with the costume design now.

it it bad I am NOW Just realizing that this is a multiple rider series so we're lucky if at the minimum 4 Riders make it too the end not dead

But yeah HOPING they don't take the Ghost route where they spend the first 10 months cramming toys down our throat dater than you can say Bandai and THEN Decide to get to the plot

then again Practically every show I watch these days that isn't DC Live Action LOVES TO make you think it's for The youngest first before becoming SO FRICKEN DARK Faster than you can say tone shift(Shows pictures of Yugioh Arc-V Steven Universe and Gaim if you wanna know how that works)

The riders die if they run out of health huh? We're going to be getting some rider deaths this season for sure. This are picking up very fast with this show, as always I can't wait to see how things progress.

Another solid episode. My thoughts aren't very connected so here's more bullet-points:

- Continuing the trend of fun bits of body language, Taiga holds his Gashat like a gun and presses the "trigger" with his index finger when transforming. Awesome!

- Continuing the trend of everybody else's stock footage being less cool than Ex-Aid's, Snipe's transformation is pretty *meh*. Less awesome!

- I love how the sets get random genre-specific junk scattered about. Can't wait for like 6 different Riders to get into a fight at once, and it gets so littered nobody can even move. :p

- Props to Hiiro for actually putting the patient ahead of Rider infighting. Less props for wussing out at the end but hey, somebody's gotta make Emu look good, I guess.

- On that note, what the crap they DIE if their health gets depleted?! What sense does that make? It's not even a video game thing! Ex-Aid should have extra lives, Snipe would just respawn from the last checkpoint, and Brave can just reload his save!

- Super excited for Lazer to show up, I get the feeling he'll be the first side-Rider in this show I'll actually be interested in as a character instead of just a good foil with some backstory I can't care about because they haven't elaborated on it yet.

- That's some pretty suspicious dialogue from Taiga. I guess Emu's smirk is supposed to be creepy? Time will tell, I suppose. Unless the whole payoff of that was supposed to be when Emu sorta kinda accepts Taiga's bet in the climax, because frankly it didn't really come off like he was agreeing to the challenge as much him saying generic excited stuff. It's not like he signed some legally binding contract, right? He could've just been like "f*** you dude, I need this thing to save people!" at the end, couldn't he? Did I just miss a really important line of dialogue or does this make as little sense as I think it does?

Another good introductory episode. I don't like Snipe quite as much as I do Brave (seriously, Brave's similarities to Zolda are going to make him a tough rider to top for me this season), but he feels like a good addition to the cast and I love his design (as I do all the riders this season). Some interesting twists and additions, stuff like the rider gauge adds a bit of pressure to the fights for instance. They just did such a good job implementing the game stuff into the series that I really do hope it doesn't get downplayed too much later on, ditto the medical drama aspect (which already felt a bit more toned down this time). Day Zero is something obviously going to be of some importance this season, but I think more for the first story arc rather than the endgame.

It seem Brave actually have someone he care the most but Snipe make a fatal mistake and the important person was killed. It could explain of why Brave is so cold toward his patient.

I wonder if Emu's Personality going to play a major role in later episodes. Everytime when it came to game, He become a different person! I think maybe when he was having a surgery. His Doctor did something to him that give him a split personality! Even Taiga call him out for this!

I did smile when boy says no to Poppy. Poppy was not happy by this

To be honest, Zero Day kindly remind me of Drive's Global Freeze because it was a tragic incident that took the life of innocent people. I bet one of Villains is trying to make Zero Day happens AGAIN!

I like how they explain the sudden change in scenery by having the Gamer Driver and Rider Gashat have the ability to change it. I think I might have missed that from the first two episodes, but it certainly one of the better ways to explain how the fights move from one place to another all of a sudden.

I'm really enjoying this show. I think Snipe is definitely my least favorite character although he
can still be cool at times. I noticed taht when Snipe first got his gashat and driver 5 years ago, it was the proto version of Bang Bang Shooting. I wonder if that will give him a different form? During the Level 1 henshin, the main riders appear in monochromatic image also, so I guess that's their proto form.

I am utterly loving this show. The small fight between Snipe and Brave was good. Everything else was awesome too. But that small scene stuck out the most to me. :lol

Finally watched the sub today.

I loved this episode and continue to love this series. So far, Emu ends up being a likable protagonist that you can relate with. He has a reason he's a doctor and the series reminds you of that when he makes choices the rest of us wouldn't (ie: I was a kid and saved by someone, I'm not going to let this kid waste away, even if it costs me everything!).

This episode really opened up the story.

Day Zero happened 5 years ago. Taiga(?) having been the prototype Rider only to screw up "fatally" ... and with connections to someone in Brave's life. That immediately sets up the Rider vs. Rider (at least in the side stories) while Ex-Aid will focus on the Dark Ex-Aid, and Lazer is along for the ride (BA DUM CHING).

It's like the writers were like "Hey, let's take story plot points from Gaim and Drive, make it video game themed, grab that Sakamoto guy for slow-mo fights and explosions, and see what happens".

More please. 5/5. Best thing to happen to Kamen Rider since Chaser in Kamen Rider Drive

Well, I finally watched this episode with SUB. I must say I really enjoy this episode. Really, Ex-Aid's progression in each episode keeps getting better and much better. You could say the current episode is more entertaining and interesting than the last one. On daily basis, we are introduced with another Rider yet again. For one thing, I like this episode because of less unnatural comedy than even the last episode, like Emu tripped or Hiiro's father antics. Really, those two somewhat tamer in this episode which I like in this episode. Asuna as Poppi also isn't annoying like before either.

Now for the new Rider, Taiga. Man, I also love him as much as Hiiro. You know when you watch this series, you might feel that almost every Rider isn't so bad at all. They just have their own agenda. Seeing Taiga's and Graphite's relationship, I bet Graphite was one of the very first Bugster that Taiga failed to finish off. Then again, despite maybe he made a mistake in Zero Day, I somewhat sympathize him. On other side, when Hiiro said Taiga killed someone precious to him, I think something's clicked when you consider Taiga and Graphite's relation.

On my theory, maybe Graphite was born from someone who is closed to Hiiro and because of Taiga's failure, of course they will have a grudge. Anyway, since this is Sakamoto's directed episode, of course you will see AMAZING tons of actions. The dust explosion, great CGs and superb wiring techniques, no bet that this is Sakamoto's type episode. Well, there's nothing I could say more about the action since Ex-Aid has one of the most engaging actions and since this episode was directed by Sakamoto.

And I was quite surprised to hear from Taiga that Emu has split personalities before transforming. I mean I was quite skeptical why Emu's hair always blows and he always smirks too. Despite the actor wasn't quite good to express this, I think it's a little nice detail for Emu since his character also escalated in each episode. Maybe, this thing will get a focus when Emu gets an upgrade. Also, really seeing from Dan's words, I don't know whether he is an ally or an enemy or even both. I mean he provided Proto Gashats to Taiga but if as everyone said, Graphite is Genm. Then how the PMAX Gashat got in Graphite's hands.

Anyway, as per usual, this is another amazing episode for Ex-Aid. I loved how they dig more on Emu's personality change. Taiga was as entertaining like Hiiro. It's bit disappointing that Hiiro's own existence is "no thank you" since I felt his appearance in this episode was plastered to commerce Taddle Gashat :P. Other than that, I like how Sakamoto reduced most of unnatural and forced comedy here. He also directed this episode brilliantly. I hope will direct more episodes later. One last thing, I'm relived that Kujo will get a spotlight tomorrow since he was been a stalker during the past few episodes.

Need to rewatch but, man, another great episode! A LOT of Lvl 1 action with Lil' Snipe getting right in the fray with the Chicken Dinner Bugster Marines. Pretty great work by the suit actor, all that jumping around in that thing must be exhausting - anyone know who it is?

The absurdity levels reached satisfying peaks here with the doctors getting into a massive out-of-suit melee - I mean, they're doctors, their hands are to be protected because surgery is serious business and here they are throwing loads of karate punches on the Bugsters... I fuckin'... LOVE IT.

Also really liked Snipe accessing an environmental "level" - very cool.

Love this show!

This episode was awesome. I officially love this show right now.

The way the show can juggle subplots and give you enough information to be satisfied while giving you a whole bunch of action every week is amazing.

Character-wise we not only get an interesting new character with Ryoma Jr., excuse me, Taiga, but he already works so well with the known characters and has a link to the Bugsters as well giving them some more focus too. That’s like… everything I missed during last year’s Rider show. And they do it well as early as episode three. Wow.

Even the more humor-based characters are cool. Hiiro’s dad has a funny quirk but it isn’t overplayed like the chief from Drive, and Poppi Papipopapu – eh, let’s just call her Asuna, well… I like her. I admit it; I like the silly comedic relief character! For one because she is allowed to act outside of said roll, and because her environment isn’t going crazy stupid whenever she is – I was expecting some cringy shit when she wanted to sing for the boy, but him just saying "No" with Asuna powering down immediately was actually kinda fun.

But the best thing about the episode was by far the action. Ho-ly shit. Not only are the game effects still there, they even add new ones with the point meter and the lifebar on the Riders’ chests which actually serves a purpose, but: It’s just so well done. The fighting choreography is awesome and I like how well the effects go with it. I expected to be tired of the "Hit" effects rather quickly but they fit so well I can’t help but like them.

Each Rider has his personal fighting style and it works so well. Not like the 3 dudes from last year who just kept hitting the enemies until they were allowed to Rider kick them in the face. And I like Kamen Rider Snipe's design too, even though shooters are among my least favorite gaming genres.

I could keep talking like this, but my point is clear: This is a simply fun show which does some really neat stuff and I hope it stays that way. Go Ex-Aid, go!

Taiga said 10 Gashats could there be 10 riders we already know of six(including Paradox.)

Wow, this show is already so intense. I can't wait to see where it goes.

The only thing that felt weird to me was the "obsessed with the power of games" line, which was super corny. But the rest of the episode was spot-on. Agh I need episode 4

Six of the 10 Gashats are just form changes...
Paradox and Genm aren't part of that ten.

I've been busy with exams and such for the past two weeks, and finally got to sit down and watch Ex-aid today...

I didn't know what I was expecting, but they definitely blew me out of the water.

The action has been really good so far; Ex-aid's wire-fu, Brave's typical hack-en-slash, Snipe's heavy gut-punches, and even Genm's "charge in and overwhelm the opponent", all help each rider feel distinct in battle.

The jokes were just alright, and I guess the director's thought so too, because it feels like they've been toning down on the funny faces and "slip on something" gags with each episode.

So yeah, it's been a blast so far.

Every episode is better than the last. I can't wait to see where the story is going. Also, 10 gashats made me think of the 10 eyecons... But let's not jump to conclusions.


Snipe is 3edge5me

I think I understand why you die if the gauge reaches zero. Both Emu and Hiiro showed NO signs of fatigue or pain. My theory is that the Gamer Driver absorbs the hits until it reaches a level that's just too much, and that all the damage it absorbed is given at once

Wait don't you mean the 15 Eyecons? Also if the Gashats are somehow Dragonballs too that'll be hilarious.

Well that's certainly a helpful bit of fanwank. Maybe next you can think up the reason why the Drive Driver could only be used by certain people. Or where the Newton Eyecon came from. ;)

My fanwank makes sense because Ex-Aid only flinched when getting shot at. In video games, you rarely do more than flinch and get knocked back a little
Also I have a theory for the Drive DriverShinnosuke was unaffected by Freeze's mind-wipe. Probably has something to do with that

I didn't mean to imply it didn't make sense, it'd just be nice if the show elaborates on that at some point. It doesn't need to, but still.

Also, funnily enough I made that exact same connection when Drive was airing, I figured they were going to finally get around to explaining it (especially since Gou, also a Rider, proved to have the same ability), but then... nothing. It's just a thing that happens. Oh well, I guess.

I'm really liking this show. I'm still not sure who half the random dudes are, but all the main characters are really likable - I'm even starting to like Asuna's insane alter ego (kinda loved the part where she tried to get the kid to sing, failed, and just hovered on the edge of the screen in a literal anime funk for the rest of the scene). If the show can keep up or even build on what it is so far, this really could be something special.

Suit designs still suck, though.

I absolutely love this show so far. It's giving me heavy early Heisei flashbacks, particularly with Ryuki.


It also helps that it's the one show where the clearly low-budget for the CGI isn't even really noticeable.

I feel like the three Riders we've seen so far already have more personality and character than the ones in Ghost (minus Alain <3).