[Kiwami]

Watched it today and I enjoyed it a lot. This Gaiden is definitely much better than the first. While Gaiden Baron was completely irrelevant and uninteresting and Gaiden Zangetsu was just not good both Duke and Knuckle Gaiden are fantastic.

They both tell stories worth telling and they make sense independently and together. Duke’s half was very interesting as it gave me what I was always craving for while watching Gaim – more back story for the New Generation Riders. I mean yeah, we only get two short flashbacks for Yoko and Sid, but they work. And Ryoma gets a lot of focus (as he should) and I like that we see him in the phase we’re he hasn’t betrayed Takatora yet but knows he has to do it eventually.

The action was generally good, they got around the crappy looking Zakuro-suit by exclusively using it in a dark and moody setting which made it work. You could still see the individual components bashed together without sense, but it looked good because of the setting and the nice shine they gave to the armor.

I also wasn’t really excepting to see Lemon Energy being used so I was really satisfied when Ryoma did use it in the end, and the cinematic shot at the end with all the New Generation Riders was drop dead gorgeous. Simply amazing.

Knuckle’s story was nice as it gave the character a fitting epilogue. Yes Shura is kind of stupid, especially after he played the James Bond-villain with his city destroying machine, but he was there so that Zack could get more development and I enjoyed that. The story makes sense for him, and the flashbacks were really interesting and well done. The action was good again, especially in the rain. Nothing breathtaking but still nice.

What I loved most about this part however was that we still saw the old gang even though I didn’t expect them. I physically applauded when Oren got into the action and when we saw Micchy again. Only to deliver the ex-machina Driver, but hey.

And the end was again perfect. Zack having his imaginative dialog with Kaito and dancing to the music of the end-credits. Pretty cool.

So if anyone’s asking me I’m fine with more if it’s on this level or even better. Honestly, I really need a Bravo Gaiden before they stop. Oren as a character and Metal Yoshida as an actor deserve their very own story.