[Hope4896]

According to Episode 1, the riders never really need to shout the word: "HENSHIN" to transform. But due to Kouta, all the other riders seems to be misleaded that they had to say the word: "HENSHIN" in order to transofrm.

The same problem happens in Kabuto, the word henshin is never needed, but obviously Tendou misleaded everyone else that they had to shout the word henshin to transform........

So, any opinions on the necessity of the word: "HENSHIN!!!" ?

[XW1n5t0nX]

Because....yeah I got nothing.

[Brainchild]

I think the henshin call is just tradition at this point. If anything, Gaim actually gives the phrase "henshin" some significance since Kouta specifically talks about how he wants to change who he is, and how the Gaim Armor will help him do that. Besides, It's just part of the cool factor for a superhero to have his/her transformation call.

[Kay]

Yeah I agree, I feel like it's just part of tradition rather than Kouta making them think that they have to say "HENSHIN".

On another note, I always found it funny that saying "HENSHIN" sounds so cool in Japanese but when you say "TRANSFORM" it sounds kind of lame.

[Brainchild]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kay

On another note, I always found it funny that saying "HENSHIN" sounds so cool in Japanese but when you say "TRANSFORM" it sounds kind of lame.

I think it depends on inflection more than the word itself. "Transform and roll out" always sounded pretty cool in the Transformers series, and maybe "henshin" sounds mundane to native Japanese speakers.

[algo448]

It's a tradition, it never made much sense and probably never will, but it sounds cool.

[Sentai]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brainchild

I think the henshin call is just tradition at this point. If anything, Gaim actually gives the phrase "henshin" some significance since Kouta specifically talks about how he wants to change who he is, and how the Gaim Armor will help him do that. Besides, It's just part of the cool factor for a superhero to have his/her transformation call.

That sounds smart enough to be true. Let's go with that

[Blade Raider]

No Heisei Rider to my knowledge has to say henshin to transform. It's all tradition. Go find a video of all Heisei henshins and watch closely. Nearly all of them interact with the belt with their hands after saying the word. The word isn't doing anything, it's the hands. Only Riders I know of that don't touch the belt all transform without saying anything at least once (Kuuga, Gills, Another Agito).

In short, it's shadoobie touch to henshin, not shadoobie talk to henshin

...By Odin's beard, I hate myself for saying that, but it is correct in this case.




As for why everyone is saying it in Gaim, henshin is so commonly used in Japanese pop culture for superheroes to transform. It's the natural thing to say now even to a fictional character. The same thing happens in American fiction. Like when a character gets powers and another character makes a Superman joke.


PS Remember, Optimus Prime once said "You might want to try shouting TRANSFORM when you do that, it'll really get you psyched up."

EDIT: Looking at some videos, It looks like Delta from Faiz actually does require speaking the word henshin into the phone to start the transformation. Still, 1 out of 50+ Riders isn't much.