[VoidinToku]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura

IIRC, Ex-Aid has exactly the same number of actual Riders as Kabuto, when accounting for the fact that TheBee was used by multiple users who all went on to become different Riders (outside of Mishima). Outside of the Riders, I can't think of anybody else that'd you consider a part of Kabuto's core cast outside of Hiyori, who fails to be a character so much as a plot device (as female supporting characters in Rider tend to be most of the time, unfortunately).

Even still though, more isn't always better. I absolutely love Gaim, but some characters got completely sidelined as the plot decided they were no longer relevant. Oren and Jonouchi would often disappear for chunks of the show, Yoko and Sid pretty much existed solely to be punching bags for the middle portion of the show before Yoko essentially became the Kamen Rider equivalent of a golddigger (her best moments as a character IMO were in the Gorider mini-series).


With Kabuto, I'd have to disagree with Kiwami as I felt some characters were, once again, sidelined. Pretty much every Rider outside of Gatack was established as some sort of rival to Tendou, but then once that didn't pan out so well for them, they were either demoted to comedy relief (Tsurugi), disappeared from the show entirely (Daisuke) or went off and had some weird emo phase (both of the Hopper brothers).

Ex-Aid has done a pretty damn good job of keeping ALL characters relevant to the plot, even when they aren't physically present. The only character I can think of who isn't important is Hiiro's dad, and it's arguable if he can even be considered a part of the main cast anymore.

Kabuto started out strong in the first ten episodes especially with thebee arc. It becomes fillers shortly after Drake and Sasword made their introduction. It became good again after Yaguruma returns, but too much plot device was introduced and they ran out if budget at the end. I think Kabuto fail to be a good anniversary series because it's written by half a dozen writers and they all have different plans. It's still one of my favorite series because of the suits, actions, and actors. Kabuto and Den-o were like the last ones to become super successful outside of filming toku and highshcool drama.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scorpius

I feel that Ex-Aid does a great job of combining the two-episode format with ongoing plot developments. Nothing really feels like filler in it IMO - even the Burgermon episode was essential .

If there is one advantage Gaim has over it is that it has more universal themes. Kouta, Baron and Micchy were characters to whose struggles I could relate to an extent; I guess you can relate to Ex-Aid's characters if you are a doctor and/or an avid gamer?

I have no problem with burgermon, but his creator made it weird when he make those "friendly" gesture. Also, I felt the dancing theme in Gaim works better than the doctor theme in ExAid even though is more of a metaphorical subtheme. The idea of only skill doctor can extract and defeat bugsters is still a bit farfetch for a rider show. Hiro only did one non-bugster major operation so far.