[DreamSword]

The Beginning

This felt like a wonderful return home.

"The Beginning" serves as the transition between the original BIMA and BIMA-X, and I was very impressed by it all around.

There's alot of reasons why, but the main one is just how natural the whole thing felt. It made me wonder just how long this sequel had been in the planning stages, because this really did feel like such a perfect follow up.

Sure, I could see some people calling it a retcon that Rasputin was only a small piece of the Vudo Empire, but not only am I used to other shows having similar hooks(Voltron, for example), but given the sequel hook at the end of the first show I really didn't feel like it at all came out of nowhere.

And that's not even getting into how all of the original cast is back, and quickly remind me of how endearing they all were. And while Ray is of course the main character, I felt like Reza had the best showing here, as the film shows how he's starting to feel inferior to his brother, and how that mentality is starting to drive his actions. It's such a great character hook and I hope to see more of it.

The movie shows a great bit of growth on a part of not just Reza, but the production staff too. The team behind BIMA has really started to hone their craft, as while it's not perfect, the film itself is rather well put together in terms of technicals. The CGI stages and green screening look great even when compared to more modern tokusatsu(like Geats), with scenes like Ray in Hell actually impressing me with how they were pulled off.

The action and stunt work is as fluid as it's ever been, and the music is great at carrying the mood of any given scene. I especially like the track that plays during the fight at the movie's' climax, and don't even get me started on how great the credits theme("Let Tomorrow Be" by Flumpool) is. Combine all this with all of the actors really nailing their characters by this point and the overall mood and tone of the film never once misses a beat. I really was surprised at just hooked I was by all of this.

If I had to give one notable gripe, and it's not even a major one, I'm sad to say that it's the Bima-X suit itself. Now, it and of itself, it's not a bad suit. But when compared to what came before it? It doesn't even hold a candle. And I get it, it's really tough competition, because the Bima and Azazel suits are basically perfect suits all around, but even so, this is a direct sequel, and as such the comparison must be made. And as such, it falls short. Thankfully though it's made up for by having a way better transformation sequence. Wings of fire might be considered a cliche at this point, but it's one I'll never not love.

But at the end of the day? Yeah, I had a great time watching this thing, and it makes me very excited to see what BIMA-X has in store going forward.