[Locke]

This show just gets better and better!

I actually like how good this was on a technical level. Wizard really started pushing the boundaries of Kamen Rider on a technical level, and Gaim takes it even further, and I'm not talking about special effects.

I just loved the way this episode was edited, I love the way they balance Kouta's scenes with Kaito's to really show their contrast but also in many ways their similarities. Tokusatsu often defaults to dumping exposition, so it's nice that Gaim doesn't mind slowing down and trying to tell its story with its visuals.

It isn't just that, Gaim has such memorable imagery, like the tears in dimensions and the way the strange flowers blossom out from them. Flashy visuals are great, but when they're given build up and context and aren't just flash for the sake of flash then they are truly something.

Scenes are really well staged as well, they don't really have time to let them play out to their maximum effectiveness, but the scene with Mai running around the Other Forest and the way the camera panned up Baron as he stepped in, as if it was a first person shot right through Mai's eyes, just as a film buff stuff like that really pleases me. It certainly helps that I've utterly fallen in love with Baron's suit.

The depth of the characters is really fun as well, it's clichéd sure but I love how much of a total goof Kouta is, despite being the strongest of the bunch and I utterly believe that is him in the suit. Kaito looks set to be a sort of one note Vegeta archetype, but couldn't be more the opposite and is fast becoming my favourite character in the show. And Micchy is a character that grows on me a little more each time, as we see him drop into his whole Lex Luthor act.

Plus man them fight scenes! Pine Arms continues to be absolutely wicked, and how epic was Mango's introduction?