Kamen Rider Ex-Aid Episode 15: "A New Challenger Appears!" Discussion
 

While Emu still struggles with his new abilities, ANOTHER Kamen Rider joins the fight!

Well, every episode in Ex-Aid feels like a game changer so far. I'm really enjoying it.

Also, did not expect a new voice for Para-DX's gashat. It's one of the coolest sounding devices in a while (IMO). Also, Para-DX's debut was just awesome.

Is it a goal of those two to be consistent dicks? Like am I meant to be emotionally manipulated to only like Emu?

Because it's working.

Also, the continued no-girls-allowed rule seems to be in effect. Silly Nico, girls are Precures, not Riders.

Hmm..so...the current patient is Nico after Nico infected by Bugster virus when she used BangBang Shooting Gashat.

Despite Ex-Aid still cannot destroy Genm, Genm Zombie Gamer Level 10 looks more weaker than Ex-Aid Mighty Brothers. Yeah because Mighty Brothers XX stength and powers more powerful than Dangerous Zombie.

Really interesting about game dissease in Emu.

Pallad finnaly become Rider. Para-DX Puzzle Gamer henshin sounds and Para-DX Fighter Gamer henshin sounds is very cool.

Para-DX Puzzle Gamer can combine energy items powers just like Blade Riders used Rouze Cards. Para-DX used elastic and jump Energy Items.

My dream combination: Speed Up + Invisible + Giant = Overkill combination.

Para-DX Fighting gamer has fire power. Yeah this is boxing forms like Knuckle Kurumi Arms and Ghost Newton Damashii.

I am really want Pallad using Gamer Driver too for Para-DX in upgrade version. Maybe Para-DX upgrade version will combine Puzzle Gamer and Fighting Gamer.

I'm not quite sure what I think of the episode yet as a whole, but I can safely say the Gear Dual has one of the coolest voices I've ever heard in a transformation device. Hopefully this hype train will stop by the time the subs drop so I can focus on the rest of the show.

Nico's got a LOT of explaining to do to Emu on why she hates him.

Lots or revelations in this episode...and lots of thoughts apparently, I just finished posting and realized how much I actually wrote, holy shit.

So, first off, huuuuuh. Ok. Ok. So Generations is canon, at least somewhat. Zaizen did operate on Emu, just not 16 years ago which is what initially appeared to be what they were going for. Hm. He was the original Bugster patient, and things...I see.

It makes sense when I think about it, since if I remember correctly Zaizen referred to Emu as the high school student he operated on in the pvs, which wouldn't make sense for 16 years ago but would for 6. I thought I was just mishearing or something but I guess it ended up being something.

You know, maybe. Kuroto's probably not telling the truth about this. Or at least, not completely. It doesn't explain how Masamune fits into this or what contact Kiriya found Emu and Kuroto had 16 years ago, which makes his claim that Emu's part in the story started 6 years ago really suspect.

'course it makes sense that he's lying, since he's trying to obfuscate the reason he silenced Kiriya, and get Taiga off his ass.

(...kinda silly that he's trying to trick Taiga instead of just beating him up and taking his Gashats, which is what he's supposedly trying to do in this part of the story, and which he could totally do what with the 7 level advantage, but hey, whatever. Plot.)

But...Emu corroborates the story, and it appears that the Emu personality actually didn't appear until 6 years ago, not 16 as we thought. That...changes things a lot.

Don't even know what to think anymore. Mysteries upon mysteries with this show.

Was also sort of hoping Niko would have a more meaningful connection to him than what it's looking like it's gonna be, and what I was sort of expecting it to be, which is that he beat her ass at vidja. Not a big deal, but...oh well.

And, huh, based on the data Kuroto got it looks like the Double Action Gamers actually have different stats. XXL has higher Agility and Dexterity, but XXR has higher Attack, Defense and slightly higher...chance for Critical hits, I guess? Or something to do with the Critical Strikes/Finishes. Makes sense enough given their personalities.

And, as I was actually sort of expecting, they aren't actually Level 20, but since they're Level 10 and there's two of them, it "adds up" to 20. That makes way more sense. Mostly because if each of them really was Level 20, it shouldn't have taken more than one hit to beat Level 5 Aranbura. Among other things.

Also also, this wasn't a problem the last two episodes, but in this one Brave and Double Action were onscreen at the same time. Hmm. Brave and XXL have the same suit actor. I wonder who gets priority, Emu cause he's the main Rider, or Hiiro cause that's his designated suit actor? Kinda curious, though I guess it doesn't matter too much.

Anyway, I know Riders in a multi-Rider series are contractually obligated to be dicks to each other, but I am really at a loss as to what Taiga and Hiiro were actually trying to accomplish, the latter in particular since while Taiga is always on asshole mode, Hiiro isn't...quite as much. So they find out he's got the Bugster virus, ok. But...since when has the cure for that been beating up the patient...? Like, what the hell, exactly? Were they just...trying to cause him stress so the Bugster would break out or something? I'm pretty confused. The conversation at the end only makes this more unclear, since it sort of implies the only reason Hiiro didn't tell Emu he was infected was to avoid causing him stress.

Para-DX is hype though. What's with the past couple of series and the "secondary" Rider gear having way cooler sounds than the main stuff? Cause man, the Gear Dual sounds awesome. Not quite Mega Ulorder levels of sexy, but pretty great. Though I can only just barely make out the "Get the glory in the chain" in the Puzzle jingle. Really love Fighter's sounds though. They're just hot blooded enough. They're great.

I hope the Beta Gear has the same style of sounds. ...Though I'm sure it's gonna be like the Necrom Eyecon and have regular styled sounds when actually put in a Driver instead.

Also Poppi doesn't know what is numbers. lol.

I love the look of Puzzle Gamer, but I just can't get used to them having the other's dumb face stuck to the back of their heads. It's a really stupid design choice and Fighter in particular really suffers from the whole Dual design. They're rare suits in that they really do not look better in motion to me, but worse. Seriously, any angle but straight on is a bad look for their heads.

And huh, Parad uses the same form change transformation phrase as Emu. That...could be meaningful?

Anyway, confusion aside, not a bad episode at all. Pretty cool debut for the new Rider, even if I'm not all that sold on his suits. Still lots of plot going on, interesting stuff all around...

I only watched the crucial RAW fighting and I saved the rest of the episode for Subs. Anyway, I already read some comments above and other places and I can't believe Hiiro easily trusted Taiga like that. Yeah, just trust the guy who involved in failing to save your girlfriend, acting as a huge jerk, stealing your Gashats and now team-up in attacking your junior? Honestly, I understand the situation a bit but I can't believe Hiiro would be such a fool for actually trusting Taiga. Well, plot-wise, it could be a make up for Gashat Gear Dual Beta's forms later. Is it me, but I felt a bit lonely since there were only two DKHZ's players this time?

I loved Para-Dx's debut in this form. I actually don't mind with the revolving head, but yeah, his Puzzle Gamer's head isn't the best helmet and it's ironic since Puzzle Gamer should be Parad's default form. I really want to see more of Puzzle Gamer's passive abilities to control Energy Items since we only saw him bullying Brave and Snipe purely based on the Gashat's raw power. I want to see more of his abilities since for close-range actions, his Fighter Gamer is already in that field. I prefer his Fighter Gamer a bit but I can't really take that form serious enough since his boxing gloves are nothing more than a blocky gloves. Btw, yep, the GGD's voice is so deep and cool just like the Mega U Lorder. Also, who want to bet that Para-Dx might fall into the good side? Maybe, not for Parad, but the Para-Dx's power will fall into the good side.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqYPy7fvHCU[/youtube]

Subs are up on Kissasian

Okay, who's the sub-group behind this show? Because these are coming out faster than I've ever seen for a Rider show.


Will post my thoughts after watching the episode.

It's not a sub group, just one guy by the named RTA.

There's two. RTA, like Blade Raider said, is for quick dirty subs and Excite Subs is the group for the more accurate/localized subs but they take a few days to drop.

GET THE GLORY IN THE CHAIN
First off, I like where the story's going so far
Knock Out Fighter should have been the base form
Nico being a little shit and getting punished for it. Neat!
Dan being a shit again
Dan getting his ass kicked
Dan seems to know something we don't, no fucking way did he kill Kiriya simply because he was trying to get rid of the virus, Taiga isn't exactly a fan of the virus either

You guys really all like the Gashat Gear Dual's sounds? Why? The voice is alright but I'm a little disappointed it doesn't sing like the other gear, it's just some guy reading the lines. It's kinda bland. To each their own, I guess.

Para-DX himself is great, really hoping we get to see more interesting stuff with Puzzle Gamer and the energy items, Fighter Gamer was alright. I really love how Emu and Parad both turned into kids in a candy store during their first fight.

The rest of the episode though...The reveals were great and I'm sure they're building up to something, but the writing in this episode was probably the worst Ex-Aid's been. Like everyone else said, having Brave and Snipe attack Emu made no sense, Dan just told Taiga the stuff he killed Kiriya for finding out, and the writers seemed to backpedal on why he killed him in the first place (Dan claimed he did it because Kiriya wanted to eradicate the Bugster virus, not to keep him quiet). I get the plot needed to get where it was going, but it didn't make sense for the characters to do a lot of what they did in this one.

I am glad they found a way to keep Heisei Generations canon! Hopefully Dr. Pacman being in the Genm specials doesn't mess it up like Ghost's specials kinda did.

Just because Kuroto says something doesn't mean he's telling the truth when he does it. Dude is like an S rate liar. He's trying to hide the real reason he killed Kiriya. It's classic misdirection.

Reposting this from reddit:

IMO, it seems that Taiga and Hiiro are planning on taking away his gashats/stop him from transforming more than anything else. Like before the backstory reveal, Taiga assumed that transforming too much gave him the virus + it's shown this episode that Emu's symptoms flare up after every transformation (not just mighty brothers).

Besides, it's not like they want him to die, given that Hiiro decides to not tell Emu about it so he wouldn't stress him out.

The way I view it, transforming too much isn't the issue with Emu. It was using the Gashat that became MBX. It caused the virus in him to activate and react to it. Which he then forced it to become MBX. So...it was the initial usage of the double gashat that caused everything to get out of hand for Emu's system. It doesn't matter which gashat he uses now because his body is going to fight the infection regaradless.

Revol Bugster has a fear of height. Interesting, turns out Bugsters have fears too.

Yeah, i agree that the issues really began with MBX. Once they realized he likely had dormant game disease like Nico, that's when they decided to take his Gashat away.

Emu revealing that he became more serious about becoming a doctor six years ago might have cause Hiiro to think that normal persona(Emu) was the virus and the gaming one (M) was the original, and he might have told Taiga.

The reason for them being so aggressive becomes clear then. They're not seeing him as a Rider, but as a Bugster.

Another fantastic episode. I am glad we are getting more with Snipe because he needs it and he is intriguing here. Brave and Snipe teaming up was fun too I am glad we saw all of them fighting together as well. I definitely feel Parad is Emu's bugster especially with him being patient zero and the whole six years ago surgery. Para-DX was chaotic and hilariously fun. I can't wait to see what happens next with Emu and everyone else.

I think Genmn gonna got a backstab from Paradox

Could have Hiiro have confiscated his gashats again like he did for the Mighty Bros X reveal? Would have removed a pointless fight and a OOC Hiiro moment.
This episode feels incomplete in more ways than one.

Started out strong but ended up losing traction and it feels like a two parter.. Writing aside, this is is the first time I really noticed the acting. Saiba Nico writhing around like that made me uncomfortable and Hiiro not knowing what to do in the end was great.

It's only episode 15 and things are getting really intense. Since it's revealed that he wanted to be a doctor at the time of the second surgery, then the blue Ex-Aid must be a Bugster since his gamer persona was something he had before. Para-DX is pretty cool. The different voice actor for the Gashat Gear Dual has an interesting voice. I love Knock Out Fighter.

I love the fact Para-DX can actually manipulate and use the power ups. It was getting a bit onesided. I love the dual forms as well. Now the question is, with the Bugster in him....will it become it's own character?

You know i know Rider series do it every year that is super hard punches/attack that go to the rider that auto dehenshined rider is a thing but in this series at least at first arc they didn't really do that, either rider pull of gashat before fatal blow or gashat is being pull of,other than that because this series have rider gauge, but last 2 episodes they show the trend again which is ok but make Rider gauge kinda irrelevant IMO, and kinda make kirya death just for sake of story plot, that is my nitpick other wise the episode is still good

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7HTphWpdS0

But yeah, fun episode. The intrigue just keeps building! I'm not particularly concerned that not everything has been explained yet, like what Hiiro and Taiga are doing. I mean, for heaven's sake, they crammed so much into this episode we didn't even get the theme song! They have plenty of time to explain. Para-DX is pretty cool, although I'm kind of surprised that Dan trusted Parad enough to give him a gashat more powerful than his own.

I think Nico participated in that tournament to gain prize money for an operation for somebody (most likely a parent or sibling), but M beat her and she wasn't able to gain the money for that operation. Either that person still needs money for the operation (6 years later though? I doubt it) OR that person is dead.

I'm also thinking Dan told Taiga that information in order to create a rift between the Riders. Kiriya found out on his own and ended up remaining loyal to Emu in the end, but Taiga's a lot more morally flexible and plays a lot more dirty. And we already know Hiiro is obsessed with simply getting the job done, regardless of a patient's feelings.

I think this is the first time I've seen a rider series where they do the "Main rider is turning-into/actually-was a monster the whole time" arc this early in the show, usually its near the end.

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Speaking of which, I honestly don't know whether to trust Dan's explanation or not.

On one hand, it fully explains how M was first infected, with Emu supporting it when he mentions he started getting serious about becoming a doctor 6 years ago when he passed out after winning the game tournament and "dreamt" that he was being operated on.

On the other hand, this doesn't explain the why Dan had to kill Kiriya but can freely talk about it to Taiga. Especially when he says Kiriya was trying to cure M, but Kiriya's last words didn't imply that at all. If anything, Kiriya's last words actually seem supportive in this context now that we know that the Emu personality is a Bugster:

"Emu... It's up to you to save humanity now..."

"Don't forget... As long as you can smile, you will always be you!"

Either way, there's definitely more to this the story than Dan's letting on, so I'm guessing that Kiriya found the real/whole truth when he went to Dan's father to get some information, and Dan is just trying to keep the other riders busy until Kamen Rider Chronicle is completed.

Maybe they were trying to draw out the Bugster and kill it before Emu even knew it was in there.

I mean, Kiriya told his friend that he had game disease, and that friend ended up killing himself over the news. Maybe Hiiro and Taiga figured they could dispatch of it and go "Oh, by the way, you had game disease but we've taken care of it so no need to stress yourself out."

Not entirely true. He got killed as a result of panicking over the news. He ran out and got into a car crash.

Actually, I have one major question. What IS Kamen Rider Chronicle? My theory is Genm's getting another upgrade but Parad is CLEARLY going to double cross him

Great episode, although I don't know whether to be happy (they got a whole extra minute of runtime!) or sad (in episode 12 it was actually special...) about the lack of the opening. Anyway:

- Nico got Faized! :p

- I think Para-DX (I guess we're just going with that) might be my favorite design in the show? I kind of hated it for looking dumb and weird at first but now it's looped back around into me loving it for looking dumb and weird. And I mean, he looks dumb and weird by the standards of a show where everyone looks dumb and weird. I also adore the Gear Dual. Doesn't use a belt? Weird! Proper English voice? Weird! Trying to make the word "puzzle" sound menacing (with that start screen, too)? Weird!

- I like how Snipe is just kind of a total loser at this point. Gets kicked out of the good guys' club and then when he tries to play up the edgy loner angle some weird girl shows up to kill the atmosphere. Poor guy can't catch a break. And yet, his displays of intelligence, like actually having the forethought to do some research on Emu, suggest that he's actually one of the most competent people in the show. I know he's been called one-note, but ever since he got his Level 3 form I think Taiga has had some decent layers to his character, and that's only gotten more true lately.

- So the secret behind Emu this whole time was "watch the movie"? Kinda anticlimactic... :lol

- Hiiro continues to basically be an Inoue character. Not only does he have weird quirks (his love of cakes, calling anything sharp a "scapel"), but now he's even attacking his allies without explaining his reasons! I'm not complaining though. It's consistent with his characterization. I'm actually more surprised Emu and Asuna don't immediately assume he has some good reason. For all Hiiro's faults, he's not that much of a jerk.

Tekken 7 Gashat when? :lol

But seriously, good episode. I keep thinking how much I usually dislike shows that throw out new power-ups or Riders too frequently, but with Ex-Aid I kinda don't mind. Mostly because they keep the story interesting at the same time.

I kinda called Emu being the original Bugster, although he is more like the original host, but I assume he's what you would call a native Bugster, the purest form. I bet this is going the same old "What happens to my body"-route later, like Space God Kouta or Greeed Eiji, but we'll see.

Para-DX is kinda awesome. The sounds of his Gashat are really cool and the design is neat. I was surprised to see that he isn't using a Driver, but I guess a Bugster doesn't need one; Graphite was just sticking that Proto-Gashat into his chest too.

So yeah Ex-Aid keeps trucking and I'm still entertained, sweet.

I can tell Para-DX is gonna be just my type of villain. One who looks like he's enjoying villain-y way too much. And his voice works for it too. He sounds like a kid that's just enjoying himself.

Finally we might just have an episode not debuting a new Toy to sell.
Anyway This was a great episode a new mystery surrounding Emu, Bave and Snipe work together to have a bad idea an now P1 and P2 of team evil are active. Now is the point where they just need to keep pace to hold together the plot over the middle part of the season.

My money says Kamen Rider Chronicle is the next Battride War game, and Gemn plans on breaking the fourth wall to get to the players.

Kidding, but considering this shows video game theme, it would be a crime if we don't get another game specifically for this season (as in, don't skip it like Drive).

I like how Rider Club Radio (the best Kamen Rider / Super Sentai weekly podcast) terms it as "Ex-Aid Cool". Like, the designs are goofy as hell but, within the context of the show, they are cool. So, yeah, Para-DX is pretty "Ex-Aid Cool" in my book, too.



That would be incredibly bad-ass - like, they beat Dan in the end, but Kamen Rider Chronicle still gets unleashed upon the public - IN REAL LIFE! Man, that's funny and totally... "Ex-Aid Cool".

Does Kamen Rider Para-DX transform without a driver? I might have missed something but it looks as though his Gashat is completely independent.

Yup. No belt or any sort of device besides the Gear Dual.