[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by FreshToku

Imagine if contracting Dragreder, Shinji contracted Mighty and he turned into Ex-Aid Level 1.

A gigantic, roaring Mighty, a Level 1 suit as big as a building. A Sword Vent that's just, like, a ten-foot long Gashacon Breaker. A Final Vent where building-sized Mighty bounces on the monster's head, Mario-style.

Look, I am into this idea.

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Originally Posted by tomos

I started watching Kamen Rider in 2007, although that was still later than Sentai I don't remember the day but it was sometime late 2007 I'd seen a bit of Den-O but not really got into it much then I saw episode 1 of Kabuto and I was hooked. I just love 2006 in Japan in general!

Wow, Kabuto! I don't usually hear folks bring that one up as a gateway drug. I'm looking forward to seeing what got you hooked!

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Either way, Shinji would still be stuck with numerous asshole Riders that he would try and failing most of the time to redeem. And had a big deja vu with Cronus..

Oh, man, that brings up something else that I thought worked great about the end of the first episode of Ex-Aid. I thought the roll out of the other Riders was awesome and immediately in character: Snipe mimes killing Emu, Brave dismisses Emu's existence, and Lazer is just completely doing his own hero detective thing. Like, that's the dynamic for pretty much the rest of the show! And they nailed it in episode one!

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Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

God, I can remember watching the first episode of Ex-Aid all the way back in my first year of uni. Holed up in that little room, wondering if my slightly waned interest was due to 'growing out of it' (it wasn't), or because it came right after Ghost (also no, turns out I was just very stressed by the sudden change). Anyway, Ex-Aid was great and the fact I'm still here should be enough to prove it meant something.

(But if we're gonna argue best first episodes, I raise you Build, once again good on almost every level.)

I can totally see Ex-Aid being, like, a port in the storm. There's something... soothing, maybe, about how Extra everything is. It's impossible not to smile watching the back half of that episode, anyway. I think my facial expression the first time I watched it was a stupid wide grin, and I couldn't stop shouting WHAAAAAAAT IS HAPPENING for ten straight minutes.

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Well, there are plenty of good first episodes of Kamen Rider is the point. But Ex-Aid, I maintain, has ridiculously great structure, and its premiere benefits from the show's usual lack of wasted space. Like you said, it fits pretty much everything you need, and little you don't.

I'm being incredibly subjective about Rider premieres, I'll admit. Picking Ex-Aid as the best, you could for sure make a compelling counter-argument for another series. (I definitely remember OOO having a terrific debut.) But, and maybe it's from watching a few series where the fights are fewer and the drama is prioritized, I felt like this one balanced the exposition with a gigantic helping of action at the end. It's half the episode! That's... that is not how shows like Kuuga, Agito, or Ryuki pace things. Ex-Aid, in my mind, feels like a very full series. There're four hero Riders that all get complete stories, two villains that get the same, and a number of minor villains and sidekicks who get tons to do. It'd be easy for things to feel rushed, or overstuffed. Looking at this episode, nothing feels irrelevant or unnecessary, no one feels overshadowed or underutilized. It's a great unit of entertainment, and one that definitely gets you excited for more.