[TF RyuShin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarsHottentot

Fish, please try not to hate the series because people are getting histrionic over it!

Personally, it's still too early in the game (eh, eh?) to really make a judgement as to whether the STORY is going to be any good or not. I'm half wondering if Ex-Aid might turn out to be a series of insane spectacle and little substance since very little actually happens per episode, it's very... decompressed. Of course if it goes DBZ batshit with the endless upgrades (which may be happening regardless), I'm fine with that, too, provided to minimal story remains sensical.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I don't hate it! It's just I'm kind of amazed people are so into it already. I feel like that doesn't happen too often.

Maybe I can't understand because I wasn't actively counting down the days until Ghost ended? I suppose I'd be pretty pumped for Ex-Aid too if I'd just spent a whole year being completely disinterested in Rider.

Honestly, to moderate this problem so it doesn't go into far stretch is simple. Actually, the reason why most people judge Ex-Aid so early is because of Ghost. Really, back in the first quarter of Ghost, many people still had a very big hope for it. IIRC, even Switchblade and Kiwami was still had some hope for Ghost despite how hammy Onari was. But now what, many people got bored and hated Ghost, even I couldn't lie if I didn't get bored with Ghost; though I'm like Fish, I was still enthusiastic enough to watch Ghost till the end. Some people might have a very big hope that Ex-Aid will surpass Ghost 10 times much better, but you can't lie if you aren't worry whether Ex-Aid will repeat the same mistake like Ghost.

Anyway, time to dive in to the episode. For once, really, this time we get a really dickish Rider! Despite some people still trust Kiriya, for once, I think he's the least good Rider despite his concerns to his patients. I mean even people like Hiiro still has some degree of honor and professionalism while Taiga still fight fair and square and he isn't your type of jerkish Rider. While Kiriya, he's the least favorable Rider for me. If Ex-Aid will follow Gaim's route, I think Kiriya would have the biggest probability to betray Emu again despite they might warm up later.

Though, once again this episode really got much better than the last episode too. I didn't see Hiiro's father or Popi's overacting; even Emu's acting and comedy was more consumable than before. It's just weird to see Emu was too concerned with the patient here. I mean I know he's super concern to his patient, but man, he could just beat the Bugster much faster if only he had listened Kiriya. But, yep, plot-wise and it's to fill the time slot. It's super awkward to see Takuya Negishi here and I still found his acting was a bit overwhelming. He is much better in happy and smiling expression but he needs to improve his expression during tense situation. But, still I was happy to see him with Runa Natsui after a long time.

As what Fish said before, I know that Genm has appeared for the course of recent episodes. But, man, I still found his over-appearance to be a bit overwhelming. I know every of his appearances have it's own worth, but it's awkward to see him continue to appear and give some beating to the Riders without a problem. Even I felt his appearance in this episode was only for toy-commercial. You can't blame it since he USED Sports Action Gamer in the last 3 minutes of the show! It seems that his appearance in the last part was a bit of slapstick and for commercial only.

I was also super disappointed that Kiriya showed his true colors too early. I'm already suspicious at him when he said his friend was Zero Day's victim 5 years ago but he found about Zero Day 3 years ago. Since, it would be bland for him to use Level 2 without a Rider in it. It would be better if they save it for the next 5-6 episodes, especially he gets Chanbara Gashat. But, despite how I antipathy toward Kiriya, I found his relaxed and joking attitude to be super enjoyable. His comedy and antics were acted very good by the actor; you could enjoy how much heart the actor put to this character, especially in his and Emu's short pact. Actions somewhat got lowered a bit than yesterday, but maybe it was because half of the action was a racing action; which surprised me since this was directed by Sakamoto. But, the bike scene was pretty enjoyable too. The stunt and the CGs here were so top notch either and it still lives up Ex-Aid's great action despite it wasn't as WOW as the previous episodes.