[DreamSword]

Episode 3

It's not often you get to see three transformations in one episode.

Anyway, this episode, while certainly action heavy, is all about Ray coming into his own as a hero.

Despite his protests last episode, it quickly becomes clear that he doesn't have it in him to just stand back and watch as innocent people get hurt. And I really liked the touches of realism that came with that.

Things such as him having cuts and bruises from the fights he gets in. And while none of the content is especially graphic, the implications brought on by the various scenes of the Kombatmen attacking(they totally beheaded a few people in that crowd) really help sell the threat of the Vudo Empire.

We get our first monster of the week here too, known as the Lizarion Monster. This thing was just plain gross in terms of design(like the way it slurped up the basketball player), but I felt that the fights it had with Bima were really well choreographed. And of course the sass that it gave Iron Mask made for a really fun character moment.

Oh, and since we got to see more of it in action here, Bima has a sword+bow combo weapon known as Helios. And I kinda don't get why one of its wings is blue? Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for the Kikaider aesthetic, but wouldn't like, gold and silver, or black and white make alot more sense in terms of color coordinating with Bima's' palette? Well whatever, it's not that big of a deal. I do like how each blade has a very different purpose atleast.

Overall, this episode was pretty nice. It established more of the sort of relationship that Ray has with Randy, Rena, and Bima as an identity, and the fights were fun. Can't really complain.