[Dark Mercury]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

For weeks now I've been considering if I wanted to have a compilation of all the screenshots I've taken of him getting violently beaten up over the year to send off the series (I decided I'm eating enough page space as it is)

I want to see that compilation, actually. (I love Emu, I really do! I just couldn't help laughing at how badly he was treated by almost everyone in the show.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Dan Masamune may go down as one of my favorite Rider villains. He was a great combination of utterly detestable, incredibly powerful, and amazingly resourceful. I can't remember the last time Kamen Rider gave me a villain that inspired so much legitimate hatred in me.

Agreed! I tend to root for the villains (which can be frustrating), plus I love Access - but to my surprise, Masamune was easy to hate as the aggravating, op video game villain / over-the-top crazy, evil gaming company CEO. I do wish that we had gotten more backstory on him and his weirdly distant relationship with his son, but both Dans were still incredibly fun to watch. Also, IXRollOutIX's post (among others) made me think and appreciate this show even more.

I'm not sure how Emu was able to superman punch Cronus' driver like that, but it was awesome. I loved the final fight (all of the final fights, really, these last few episodes sure were exciting), especially the way they used their earlier forms - and that Rider Kick was fantastic! Ex-Aid's video game logic has never bothered me, I've thoroughly enjoyed this fun (and surprisingly emotional) ride.

At first I was really confused by the fact that they still had the data of the game-dead people, wasn't that supposed to be Cronus' last f you to the heroes? ("Only I get to pass judgment on myself, oh and you will never be able to revive those people!") But I guess with him gone, nobody knows how to bring those people back, they can only stay optimistic that one day they will. Eh, I'm a sucker for happy endings, so that little bit of hope at the end wasn't a problem for me. (I've seen a lot of complaints that the ending was too family-friendly, so I guess many of us expected this season to be darker and edgier than it really wanted to be.)

I liked how Emu respected the victims by saying their names and we got to see reactions from their loved ones. It's always nice to see characters from previous episodes return. I liked the epilogue, too. All in all, I couldn't be much happier with the finale.

I'm not done with Ex-Aid and I'm so happy that this isn't quite the end yet. After two years, my love for Rider is back in full force!