[Enchilada645]

Back from my hiatus real quick to play catch-up with Bima since Dreamsword decided to go on break. And also because I told him I'd probably follow along as well so here we are. I watched 19 Episodes over the past 6 days and I have thoughts on Bima. It won't be anything too big, especially since I'll only be doing light thoughts episode by episode.

But for broad thoughts, uh... the Bima suit is fire, I was not expecting to have Seperti Bintang on loop constantly in my life, and it's rather refreshing to see Toku related activities take place in a new locale. Also I don't think I'll ever get over the gut punch that is Episode 10 and 11 being intro'd by Rasputin and Iron Mask respectively, with Azazel later getting in on the fun for a 3 episode streak starting with 13.

Note that these Episode bits were also written partially while watching the episodes themselves so they might end up slightly reactionary.

Episode 1: The sound design, lol! It's hilarious at points in how bad it is. You can definitely tell this is a first time job for people but there?s still a lot of effort put into it. It's a good establishing episode though, also I dig our grunts, as they're pretty nice and distinct.

Episode 2: Okay so Mikhail and Ray's talks in the bright shiny dimension give me Ultraman Vibes if I'm being honest. The action is pretty cool too, though this really is just more of a continuation of Episode 1 so I don't have much to say. I can't believe we also have the Indonesian Quarry for our fights too. Also Seven Power Stones huh? Wonder if when Bima gets all 7 he'll glow gold and have rock songs blasting out as he fights.

Episode 3: I think my favorite scene of this episode were the grunts suddenly appearing behind the crowd that was watching the musicians play and no one even noticed. Next time we cut back, panic! Not much to say on this episode, but I am enjoying the suits a lot.

Episode 4: All hail the hypnotoad! There's something hysterical about Iron Mask asking Rasputin how the monster this time will cause trouble only for Rasputin to laugh. Ten minutes later when we get the real plan by redoing that scene via a flashback, I end up being horrified. It's a very messed up way to go, just hypnotizing someone into committing suicide.

Episode 5: We've got a conclusion to the hypnosis episode, also holy shit, I was not expecting there to be like a numbered set of casualties. It was interesting to see this all wrap up, though I do wonder if we'll ever see reporter dude again. That being said, Episode 4 and 5 mark where I think the sound design gets better which is honestly great. We've got a bit more mystery in the overarching plot piling up... very interested to see how this all goes.

Episode 6: Oh hey reporter dude is back, glad to see he's reoccurring. Also holy shit, we're just going for full economic crisis? These villainous plots are going surprisingly big for standard monster of the week affair! Also the transforming blowing out the lights was sick.

Episode 7: Yo Garuda Strike is pretty sick, and the guest story this week was honestly rather nice to see with the father and son, their issues, reconciliation and understanding of one another. There's also something funny about Ray watching the news and just doing the fist pump while shaking his head like "Yeah, yeah" at the end there.

Episode 8: Okay I really dig that reporter dude, George, is just here to stay, it's great. Also if Rasputin gets all 7 Power Stones he's totally turning into Super Rasputin, clearly. That being said, holy inflation Bima, we've got attacks on the food market now! This show does amuse me in various ways though, purely because our big cliffhanger this time is Bima getting crate doors closed on him.

Episode 9: Okay that opening narration bit of "people are relying on the monster" came out of nowhere for me because there wasn't even that implication in the last episode. That being said we conclude our cliffhanger... by having the crate doors just open wide as Bima stands there. This show makes me laugh when it probably shouldn?t but also I just find Bima very endearing as a show at the moment. "What power is this?!" That my dear octopus monster friend was a Rider Kick.

Episode 10: A scorpion monster who stings people with electricity and causes them to hallucinate that people are it... that's wow. I was not expecting the traffic cone beatdown, holy shit! You know, I've got to say I enjoy Iron Mask purely because while the monster is apologizing he dramatically runs over and spin kicks it. I was also not expecting this to be a turning point episode with Mikhail suddenly getting involved more than usual but hey I'm here for it!

Episode 11: We continue Mikhael getting more involved by doing a blood transfusion? Like I had my suspicions of him way before... but this is definitely starting to confirm them. Also can I just say, it's been a while since I've seen a Toku Hero so grievously hurt they need an actual operation to save them? Did... did the scorpion monster kill George? Oh god, George actually died?! Holy hell! Another surprise this episode was Mikhael getting captured due to him being out in the open for too long, I wasn't sure if it'd happen or not. Things are definitely picking up.

Episode 12: Okay so with both Scorpion and now Snake doing this... did they finally figure out that they should add notable changes to the monsters when they absorb humans? Because I'm pretty sure the other monsters did not do this. Randy has a theory that lines up with mine... that Reza and Mikhail are one in the same. Looks like Sisil is taking up George's line of work. That being said we've got a Rival Recolor confronting Bima now, very exciting!

Episode 13: Okay no wait I need to address this, the name Azazel, him being a dark color swap of Bima? OH NO HE'S HOT! Aside from the shakeup with Azazel and Iron Mask now deciding to have one of my favorite pastimes of villain infighting, there's not much to say for this episode aside from Vudo continuing their tactic of supply stealing which I do enjoy for our monster of the week plots. I did like Bima pulling a Batman though on the Oil CEO guy, it was a fun scene to watch! Curious to see how Azazel takes things going forward now that we've got our new power dynamic introduced.

Episode 14: I suppose this is our 'beach' episode, I say that but it's mostly set dressing. Beautiful set dressing though as I once again have to compliment the locations here, big breath of fresh air. I will admit I was not expecting a slightly more absurd plot this week of science advancing so hard that laser blasts can drill holes into mountains and its main usage is for tunneling. Definitely helps Azazel's schemes come off as different, also Iron Mask is putting a lot more work in now which is nice.

Episode 15: Azazel is so cool, I mean seriously. Like, dark recolor, that glorious name, black and gold recolor of Helios, he reverse grips with it, and he does that standing on the sword bit against Bima? I must say, "OH NO HE'S HOT!" once more. Also this is the set of episodes where Rena finally finds out Ray's identity as Bima, it was a nice moment I'll be honest. It was also really cool to see Ray get so fired up, there was a good intensity to everything. Was not expecting Iron Mask to say "screw it, we ball" and just explode his ship to kill Azazel. That?s definitely a way to end the episode.

Episode 16: Oh huh, was not expecting Sisil to show back up given the last we saw of her was like a good several episodes back. So we get full confirmation on Mikhail/Azazel being Reza from Rasputin himself, curious to see when that'll come out to the rest of the cast. Also this plane field fight between Iron Mask and Bima is cool. Yet again, Indonesia has some real good locations to film at.

Episode 17: You know I was hoping for some kind of double Rider action inevitably on the off chance Azazel decides to defect... was not expecting Bima to just take matters into his own hands and do it himself tbh. Also wow I was not expecting Iron Mask to just get offed straight in the cold opening. But hey Bima's got a cool new hand guard! This episode also gave me whiplash in how fast it flew by with certain things. Definitely feels like a growing pains episode given the whole new writer thing I heard about. Also is this a pseudo-clipshow episode? What?! And is it just me or is Bima's voice pitched lower now?

Episode 18: I?m always a fan of a show that gets its own Four Saint Beasts, so getting Shadow Crisis as we kick into endgame is pretty great. Zacros has a pretty cool energy to him, in that he fights via countering his opponent and pulls off some rather fun choreography while sitting too. The climax being him just basically not taking the fight with Bima seriously on the bus was a highlight. I also like how we get like the lead in to our intro song becoming an insert song only for Bima to just be nope'd out of the bus.

Episode 19: We continue where we left off and get some fun stuff like Randy just deciding to leap in to help Rena while making no sense in the process and he gets to wield Helios for a bit. Like Randy my man, I'm glad you've gotten more involved, but you could have just been straightforward and not go on a ramble about what Rena was cooking for dinner. Then we get the climax which is an insanely trippy sequence involving the Zacros Monster. Admittedly not a total loss for Rasputin because apparently the Power Stone just insta-returns to him and is apparently imbued with Zacros' hatred for Bima. And we've got our next general lined up for next time, Karax.

Overall:

It's interesting to watch this show improve upon itself in the small technical aspects as time goes on. Very much interested to see if it manages to stick the landing, but it's a rather fun show regardless at the moment.