[Enchilada645]

Yeah these were an odd bunch of episodes I'll admit that.

I think the concept of "Oh our heroes were defeated by a powered up villain, it's time for them to try and train and better themselves and maybe find a way to win"

And instead we just get a really odd lesson of "You all weren't protecting anyone, you were just thinking of fighting" which like... okay if the climax was the two managing to smartly give their enemies the slip so they could get to the Power Spot and calm it down? That would make sense.

But no it's just two standard battles before Ray and Dimas finally get the idea to strike fast and hard in one spot enough times.

Other than that I think the best part of the episodes for me was seeing that Iron Mask will just wear his cloak while as Evil Torga which is sick. And also Draconer as a zombie now is horrifying but I couldn't stop laughing at how he didn't have the capacity to kneel and basically just hunched over while twitching slightly the entire time Black Lord was in the room.

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Episode 20: The Terrifying Phantom Weapon

Episode 21: The New Satria Named Torga!

You've got one of the Death Phantoms gaining final boss status, a repeat move of the finale of BIMA with the townsfolk giving the Satrias their energy, the stakes being higher than ever, and one of the best theme tune powerups!

For some reason, Bima had the major antagonists not shown to be really strong, at least in their early appearences, with Topeng Besi being slain by OG Bima's Helios, as well as how the Death Phantoms fare to current Bima-X's forms such as Earth Mode in its debut. Topeng Besi was even seen as a failure by Rasputin, and in his infighting with Azazel, Azazel just (literally) curbstomps him without problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

I actually wasn't expecting Draconer to be the super boss here, given his rivalry with Iron Mask. I was actually expecting Mossa to be the first of the Phantoms to go. Let alone that he'd subject the Garuda Strias to 12 hours of torture via giant drills of light through their chests. And it's in Draconer becoming the first to fall that we're introduced to his replacement in the news: Tom Malkis.

This is an even better way for how the people managed to know the Satrias' fate and pray for them, rather than them just viewing the destruction and the heroes being on the verge of losing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Adding to that, despite what the title of the second part might suggest, Torga isn't actually the big hero in all of this. Oh sure, he shows up, and he's super cool, but he's there as support to our heroes, not to overshadow them. He gets his own time to shine via styling on some mooks and offering a piece of his power to Bima-X and Azazel. The only complaint I have in his arrival is how his suit is primarily Yellow, which calls into question why exactly his main Power Stone was made Orange.

Guess this is something that doesn't commonly happen in Kamen Rider regardless of the KR series' quality. And yeah, with how the previous thing has said Power Stone being referred as Power Stone Yellow.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Episode 33: Rexor's Secret Manuver

Episode 34: Iron Mask's Identity

Although while I don't think Black Lord fully thought out this plan of his, it does bring back an aspect of the Power Stones that we haven't seen in a long time: That being how they can absorb emotions. Remember, that was a whole part of Rasputin's' plan in building Grand Gator. But more than just thematic symbolism, there's also a very direct reason as to why Iron Mask is a Satria; And that's because he was one. Infact, he's the original Torga. And in ages past he decided he was beyond the very people he'd been chosen to protect, and had to be put down by Bima Legend. Which in turns helps explain his beef with Bima.

This adds an interesting new angle to Topeng Besi's undying hatred of the Satrias. Even when he was revived as a cyborg without his memories, that hatred was the only thing driving him. Now he lives only to get revenge on the Satrias, for denying him the power to change something that wasn't his place to change, the exact details of the event that got him excommunicated being yet another mystery saved for later. There's so much lore with this guy, it's crazy!

Just like Thunder and Ice Mode, Evil Torga is another cool variant of the Torga suit! Black Lord is kind of a genius for figuring out from Rasputin's old plan that he could make a synthetic Power Stone as strong as a real Power Stone simply by imbuing it with strong emotions, the undying hatred of Topeng Besi being easily enough for the job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

But no, it is still the Thunder Stone, which works alot less smoothly.

And the suit is dark. Poor Azazel.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Episode 35: The Strange Master

Episode 36: The True Power of the Master's Training

Unfortunately, the actual dialogue of the entire scenario instead makes the claim that somehow, the fight against Evil Torga made our heroes lose sight of the reason they fight in the first place. Which is frankly very stupid given that their struggle against their new found foe isn't treated any differently than any other threat to Earth that they've fought so far.

I guess the moral is that a Satria shouldn't seek power for the sake of destroying the enemy, which is what separates Ray, Reza and Dimas from Topeng Besi who lost his way a long time ago.

Anyway, I thought it was humorous how Dimas performed especially poorly at training, since he was literally introduced in training scenes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Now, the episodes aren't a total wash: There's some decently interesting stuff done with the villains here. Such as Rexor reviving Draconer as zombie, Iron Mask making an alliance with the Vudo Empire, and Mossa's' powers working how they logically should.

Zombie Draconer sure did happen.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

Yes, the Iron Mask/Evil Torga biography is truly insane. He connects with the main characters on so many levels.

For sure, that's what makes him such a memorable and iconic villain!

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Satria is one of the models of Suzuki bikes.

Okay but like, it still wasn't a sponsorship deal like how it very much is in BIMA-X.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

And instead we just get a really odd lesson of "You all weren't protecting anyone, you were just thinking of fighting" which like... okay if the climax was the two managing to smartly give their enemies the slip so they could get to the Power Spot and calm it down? That would make sense.

That would've been a way smarter play to make. Heck, they still could've tied it to the water thing too via "fixing a leak."

Quote:

Other than that I think the best part of the episodes for me was seeing that Iron Mask will just wear his cloak while as Evil Torga which is sick. And also Draconer as a zombie now is horrifying but I couldn't stop laughing at how he didn't have the capacity to kneel and basically just hunched over while twitching slightly the entire time Black Lord was in the room.

It's like how Shadow Moon was never allowed to sit down in Kamen Rider Black. Funny stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Guess this is something that doesn't commonly happen in Kamen Rider regardless of the KR series' quality. And yeah, with how the previous thing has said Power Stone being referred as Power Stone Yellow.

Yeah, more often than not a new hero showing up means it's all about them, for better or worse. It was nice to see this show subvert things in that regard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Anyway, I thought it was humorous how Dimas performed especially poorly at training, since he was literally introduced in training scenes.

I mean, he's also a spoiled rich guy, so of course he has no idea how to properly mop a floor!

[DreamSword]

Episode 37: Iron Mask's New Strategy

Our third recap episode.

What? You're expecting more out of me? Well unfortunately, this is the most basic of them all, and thus there's not much to talk about.

This episode is written and directed by Ahmad Nurudin, another of the directors who works on BIMA-X. And I guess the staff just decided that directors should handle the recap episodes.

And as a recap episode not handled by Hideki Oka, this one is much less insane than the previous two. It's all about Iron Mask and his army having flashbacks as they discuss what their new plan of attack should be after everything that's happened across both BIMA and BIMA-X.

As a result, the episode is just shy of being a straight up clip show, to the point that you can tell this was a budget episode due to how the editing is handled during the original scenes. But hey, I can definitely say that the bit at the end, where Karax kicks a dude into re-entry? A really fun(ny) reward for sitting through a bunch of old scenes. I appreciated that.

Anyway, yeah, it is what it is. Nothing crazy, nothing bad, it just serves its purpose of catching the audience up some while very slightly advancing the plot. It works.

[Enchilada645]

Yeah, this is pretty much a Bottle Episode + Recap all wrapped in one package.

As a result I really don't have much to say but it's probably just my least favorite episode of the show? Mostly because out of all the recaps this definitely is the least interesting of them. It's not bad, but it's definitely the weakest episode we've had I feel.

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Episode 22: Torga's Identity!

Episode 23: The Protector and the Protected

And right off the bat, this presents a really interesting angle: Back in the original BIMA, whenever the monsters would take on human hosts, Bima had his Blue Storm attack, which would separate the monster from their host. Bima-X, however, doesn't have anything like that. So how does this get handled now?

Well apparently the answer is simply "Just take the monster out like you normally do" because Torga just rushes in without a care in the world and it purges the Crab monster no problem. And at first, I felt this would get a proper follow-up, as Ray does go to call Dimas out for his recklessness, but it all gets quickly swept to the side. And then part 2 doubles back on the solution anyway.

Forgot about this part but it seems disappointing yeah to have a dilemma with more stakes being solved normally as if the stakes wasn't there. Can be just a tactic for the monsters to just psyche out the heroes and have them more hesitant in their actions so they fight worse or let the monsters wreak havoc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

Which brings us to the character angle in all of this. I get the general idea: Randy and Dimas come from totally different worlds, so of course their relationship is gonna be rocky at first. It's totally ruined though by the two never really coming to a proper understanding. In fact, the crucial advice that Randy imparts onto Dimas is never actually shown on screen, simply recalled in hindsight mid-fight by Torga. Which robs it of any sort of emotional sway it might've had.

Was only Ray that tells Dimas about Randy, with Dimas actually explaining what he meant by what he said and Ray understanding him better. Should be a new info as well for Ray to be conveyed to Randy. Ray was the one that acted as the middleman between them, guess it's better handled by the one that has clearer head and isn't clouded by anger in their judgment.

[DreamSword]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

As a result I really don't have much to say but it's probably just my least favorite episode of the show? Mostly because out of all the recaps this definitely is the least interesting of them. It's not bad, but it's definitely the weakest episode we've had I feel.

In terms of recaps specifically, sure. But across the whole show? Can't agree. Other episodes have annoyed me more. And this one had that amazing re-entry scene.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Forgot about this part but it seems disappointing yeah to have a dilemma with more stakes being solved normally as if the stakes wasn't there. Can be just a tactic for the monsters to just psyche out the heroes and have them more hesitant in their actions so they fight worse or let the monsters wreak havoc.

That is a way to look at it, yeah. But at the very least it should've lead to a bit more character drama, I feel.

[DreamSword]

Episode 38: The Decisive Battle in Satria World

I'm gonna miss you, Gackt.

Honestly, the title of this one straight up tells you what's what: Evil Torga throws down with our heroes in the Satria World.

And it's a really cool fight with alot of emotional highs! As always though, Bima Legend is the show stealer. The staff behind BIMA had to have known that he was gonna be a fan favorite, because they do him alot of good here.

It's to the point that the credits of the episode are a tribute to him and his actor. Although in that regard, it does point out one minor flaw in all of this: If anyone's tuning in to BIMA-X without having seen BIMA first, the effect isn't going to be anywhere near as strong.

That's about the short of it really. The fight is big, cinematic, and comes as a great loss. Bima-X dual wielding both versions of Helios is awesome, the three Satrias doing their own version of the Father-Sons Kamehameha is even better, and Evil Torga with the cloak on is just cool. Much like this episode. And thus I have no real complaints. It's a fun time.

[Enchilada645]

Yeah this was a pretty exciting episode to witness.

We get an epic and grand final showing for Bima Legend, a really cool team-up between him and the younger Satrias against Iron Mask. And all around a pretty intense and action-packed episode.

I will say I did enjoy what comedy we did get in this episode though. The bit with Ricca and Dimas at the factory and even Dimas pointing towards his toy with a smile when asked "How did you even move this potential doomsday device to our front yard?" were great.