[ZeoRangerV]

If you've been able to use this website without noticing how much I don't like the first Gaim Gaiden I applaud you. So as you can expect I went into this with the lowest of expectations, expecting to watch the same painful cash grab as the first was. However I am genuinely surprised at what I got out of this!

The Duke half is actually genuinely good, and by a country mile the best of the four Gaidens. Unlike the Zangetsu one it managed to cover some of the untold backstory without raising further questions that will never be answered. Though the villain had a rubbish kit bash of suits, the backstory made a reasonable amount of sense and felt like a good tie in with how Ryouma works. The Sid and Minato flashbacks were well done, and Lemon Arms looked great. Very happy with how this turned out.

Knuckle on the other hand is ridiculous, but the kind of ridiculous you can sit down and laugh at how genuinely absurd it all is. Shura gets kicked off Team Baron by Kaito, then turns up a year later practically idolising him, starts a fight club and then pulls out plans to build a giant laser?! It's super dumb, but the whole thing is shot in a way thats meant to make it feel all dark and super meaningful. The link between this and the Duke Gaiden was nice, but was only there so they could pull a really weak "here's some more Drivers" explanation out of thin air. Micchy suddenly pulling out a driver with some fancy new Lockseeds was just as weak. Black Baron was pretty uninspired, and Jimber Marron is easily the ugliest concoction Gaim has ever produced. Its a hideous suit.

Kaito makes me laugh so much though. Him just joining the team and going "mine now" is priceless

So yeah, better than the first two but still not enough to make me want more of these. At this point the only Gaiden I want to see made is a Kougane one because he's the only character that I think has any sort of interesting story to tell. Well, the others do too but not ones that can have new toys shoehorned into them.