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06-09-2021, 01:51 PM | #16621 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Yggdrasill Saga Episode 15: The Man Who Developed the Belts Written by: Gen Urobuchi, Directed by: Satoshi Morota This episode is overall the one filled with expositions, and doesn't rely on shocking reveals like some strings of previous episode except Takatora getting to know who Micchy actually is. As Kaito is being captured, he comes across Kouta who is also being captured. The scene further shows that Kouta has earned Kaito's respect as a strong rival and becomes his soft spot as he refers to him as "omae" (informal, acceptable way to refer to a friend) instead of "kisama" (disrespectful, condescending way to refer someone). I obviously catch this part for another source though, as the TV had the series dubbed. He also asks for him regarding Hase, and though Kouta didn't answer, Kaito catches his reaction that Kouta failed to save him, and just mutters that's it, without any hostility. Micchy still sneaks around and noticed both of them being captured, which aside from saving Kouta, Micchy would convieniently had a friend to back him up in his crusade to Yggdrasill. Kouta and Kaito are sent to see Ryoma Sengoku, who had his proper character introduction here. Notice that Kouta and Kaito can freely move and there's Yoko Minato standing besides Ryoma. He had a bit of a silly trait in providing the ridiculous sounds of the belts as his guilty pleasure. He also apparently talks in a polite way against both Kouta and Kaito, 'apologizing' for his subordinates' (Kurokage Troopers) behavior. As per his namesake, he reveals that he's the one that created Sengoku Drivers too. Kouta concludes that he mass produces Kurokage Troopers and upgrades Zangetsu with the data from them, explaining them to Kaito... without Micchy on his way. Kaito is enraged by this and jumps to Ryoma, but he's safe as Minato is revealed to be an expert combatant, beating up Kaito with kick-based combat, which would just be enhanced with pointy heels 'stabbing' them in those kicks. Minato's trait is that her tendency to use excessive force, and likely enjoys it by her smile, but submits to Ryoma without much thoughts, as Ryoma told her to stop being too rough on them. Ryoma claims that he only develops the belt and the data collecting is his project overseer's plan. Kouta points out about Hase's situation due to this, which Ryoma claims as unfortunate tragedy, but considering the video Micchy watched about Yuuya, it seems that it's only Ryoma pretending to feel pity in front of Kouta, as he dismisses Yuuya's death as merely the Driver's demonstration. After being beaten up Kaito's the one logical here to stop Kouta approaching Helheim, to let Ryoma talk and them gaining the new knowledge of this. It's explained here too about how Sengoku Drivers work and the intention behind it - to harness the power of Helheim fruits safely, regulating the fruits' effects while still giving the superhuman power which he considers the next step of human evolution. After this however, Kaito goes back to attacking Ryoma, by throwing a card at him, but Minato interferes by throwing her pen at it... indicating some similarity between her and Kaito, and beat up both Kouta and Kaito again, with Ryoma claiming he wants their 'assistance'. Takatora is talking with Sid regarding the captured kids, which Takatora planned to use for safety tests, while Sid had more malicious approach to think that Takatora would get rid of them. Takatora only wants to use necessary force to neutralize them if it's needed to, but doesn't want unnecessary bloodshed, like how they had their Drivers for now, showing that he has limits for his actions, compared to Sid. DJ Sagara appears again to point out that they'll be determined to keep their belts, as he thinks people who got a taste of power can't give it up. DJ Sagara seems to be more honorable one compared to other Yggdrasill members to actually respect the Beat Riders. Ryoma further explains that his work has advanced into creating mass produced Sengoku Drivers that can be used by anyone, and that they're more powerful and versatile. Ryoma also tempts both Kouta and Kaito to use the belt, claiming them as something that dwarfs the Sengoku Driver and will be attractive to them. Even for someone obsessed with power, Kaito points out that it'll be only good for Ryoma. In the face of Beat Riders blaming, Mai attempts to unite every current Beat Riders teams, though somehow there's no Red Hot here, to work together in stopping the blame that is pinned on them by giving up Inves Game. However, like what Kaito pointed out when Kouta asks for their cooperation to fight off Inves as the top team before, the curse of victory applies to this too, as the other teams make several accusations of them, like Mai "playing heroine", or pointing out that without playing Inves Game Team Gaim would forever stay at the top, or pointing out that without any leaders the meeting is invalid... and it seems that Team Raid Wild is still trying to get in touch with Hase. The other team members dismiss her warning and leave both her and Chucky not long after. DJ Sagara visits an imprisoned Kouta, thanking Kouta for making his site a hit by his performances as Armored Rider Gaim, albeit his over the top manner here gives a sense of sarcastic thanking to me (the site has been filled with haters now in contrast to his claims), despite his respect to Beat Riders before. Kouta realizes that DJ Sagara is one of the Yggdrasill's member, and helps spreading the Inves Game, with DJ Sagara pointing out that Yggdrasill is the one making Kouta shine. DJ Sagara then enters Kouta's cell and explains his philosophy of life, which seems to be YOLO type, as he knows life is short, people had to make as big impact as they can while living, which makes it seem like genuine encouragement for Kouta's performance in Beat Riders... but I don't know if he notices that Kouta doesn't shine anymore with the haters, or that he knows but is ok with temporary glory, for either Kouta or his site. DJ Sagara then asks about Kouta not being tempted by Ryoma's offerings of power, and Kouta explains about how he wants power not for the power's sake, but to protect the city from the Inves, pointing out that Yggdrasill is too caught up in its research to do the job. DJ Sagara is actually impressed by this and gives Kouta a Lemon Energy Lockseed, and even his key card to escape. Micchy comes across Kouta's cell, and frees him using DJ Sagara's key card. Kouta frees Kaito from his cell as well, but denying his questions to escape first. They went to retrieve their Drivers and Lockseeds, and for the Team Gaim's long search of Yuuya, Kouta notices a video about Yuuya, finally getting a (horrifying) answer regarding this, but Micchy, as someone who is secretive, turns off the computer to prevent Kouta from knowing it, pointing out that the Yggdrasill notices them, but conveniently doing it while Kouta watches the video to hide the information to him and drag him away to escape. Actually I was a bit pissed at this moment that the long journey of finding Yuuya is almost unraveled (other than to secretive Micchy), that though knowing about what's going on is actually better for people in the long run, but well, it's just Micchy's character to be secretive, so the drag out is intentional, and the excuse is conveniently placed yeah. Micchy got the Yggdrasill watching them right though as an employee reports to Takatora about this, and notices Micchy tagging along with them on camera. The three Beat Riders planned to escape within the crack in Yggdrasill with Lock Vehicles, but they're confronted by numerous Kurokage Troopers. Those Beat Riders are able to fend off the Kurokage troopers without even transforming... says a lot about the qualities of mass produced stuff, where Hase as Kurokage was decent opponent compared to those fodders. Those 3 had different approach, where as less of a fighter but more strategist Micchy plans to find other ways out, Kouta is concerned for Kaito to stick together, while Kaito is eager to show off his power by keep figthing without fleeing. When Kouta reaches the artificial crack, Sid confronts him and persuades Kouta to go back to his cell to avoid problems. Like to DJ Sagara, Kouta points out about how Yggdrasill failed (never intended to?) to take care of Zawame City and that he'll do it in their stead. Sid continues to ramble about adult's superiority to kids, about how things aren't so simple when you're already an adult, but shows that it's his excuse to be a dick that adults should have the nerve to do necessary dirty work, and considers kids who object him as disobedient, as he henshins into Sigurd. While fighting Gaim, Sigurd points out about how Gaim didn't have the nerve to finish off Hase before he attacks others. Though Gaim admits this might be a mistake, doesn't mean Sigurd's utter lack of empathy and claiming himself as 'hero' should be condoned, some level of sympathy, understanding and appreciation should be possessed by crime fighting heroes, as while Hase situation may be unrepairable, it'll be better for heroes having this in the long run, to not cause potential bloodshed. Sigurd shows the power of New Generation Riders by firing a homing arrow to Gaim, but Baron arrives with a Lock Vehicle, and Gaim activates his Lock Vehicle for both to escape. Here they show an impressive teamwork to make Sigurd lose balance, and then circling him around while Sigurd shoots them, before both rams him with the bike's finisher, keeping him grounded long enough for them to escape. Sigurd tries to use his Cherry Energy, but is intercepted by another shoot, coming from the pink New Generation Rider named Marika, revealed to be used by Minato, who acts on Ryoma's orders. Sid dismissing this might indicate personal agenda he had against Ryoma... Micchy is strolling at the tunnels, thinking it's the way out, but is surrounded by Kurokage troopers with Dandeliner, hovering motorcycles. Micchy henshins into Ryugen to fight them off, and Takatora notices this at the camera, that his little brother is actually one of the Armored Riders..
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06-10-2021, 08:21 AM | #16622 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Yggdrasill Saga Episode 16: The New Arms! Jimber Lemon is Born! Written by: Gen Urobuchi, Directed by: Osamu Kaneda The episode starts with continued chase between the three Beat Riders, and both use quite clever tactics to get ahead where Ryugen hijacks a Dandeliner from Kurokage Troopers, and Gaim cuts a tree to block the Kurokage Trooper's way. Gaim and Baron then had a swordplay with the Kurokage Troopers while riding before teleporting to the real world. Only that I wonder what would happen to the exploded ones, especially as Gaim vows to not cause bloodshed, but Riders would provide superhuman protection from explosions likely, as Ryugen kamikaze'd the hijacked Dandeliner. Kouta and Micchy visits the hospitalized Rat, who had a quick recovery as he had no plants growing on him, and as expected Kouta would apologize to Rat for the mishap, but although I agree that it'd be Kouta's mistake as he gave vague details, I guess Team Gaim's bond really shines through after being tested here where they got hit through difficulties, as Rat points out that they're friends and thus should minimize tension. Rica informs too about how Mai is trying to get the other teams working together to stop the blame by stopping Inves Game. Mai laments to Chucky about how no one listens and that the dancing scene has been stained by the ranks and stages, with people being more focused on taking down the oppositions, overshadowing the actual dance itself and straying from its purpose. This shows about how competitiveness can bring the worst of people, and the Beat Riders teams' competition is clearly not shown in a healthy way, where aggressiveness, hostility, and playing dirty had happened among them, and those people are only concerned about being above in rankings and beating their oppositions, or worse disabling them. This is especially apparent now as the Beat Riders now have received only scorn for the Inves attacks, and that they're still too caught up in rankings to work together silencing the blame, as right now focusing on raising your rank would be meaningless if people in general only hate you. Mai and Chucky finds an Inves robbing a jewelery store, and Mai runs after it with Chucky following suit, to discover that there is a Beat Riders team that actually attack others using Inves like what people blame, which is Red Hot. Mai calls out their behavior, but Sonomura is someone who is expected to do this, as not all people dance for the sake of dancing or altruistic purpose like Mai did, and from the beginning Sonomura did it for fame and freedom. Sonomura sics his Inves to the girls, but Team Baron interferes with their own Inves. Team Baron also informs about how other teams are like that too as jailbreaking Lockseed is now a thing, summoning fully materialized Inves like Armored Riders did, used as diversions for their crimes. So people blaming the Beat Riders do have some merits... but people like Team Gaim not doing it shows that people shouldn't lump every single part of someone doing crimes as completely similar, each individual are different, not collective. Takatora is enraged about Sid giving a Sengoku Driver to Micchy, though despite the fear of Sid giving Micchy a Driver at ep. 4 (Ryugen debut) before, Sid had some defense for himself as he points out about the missing Watermelon Lockseed, feigning ignorance with that event where he claims Micchy might just be finding a missing Sengoku Driver too (lie) alongside the Lockseed (truth), claiming that Micchy had Takatora's permission. Sid also threatens Takatora to ridicule him by pointing out about the irony that as an overseer of the project to save humanity, he didn't have his own little brother by his side, which means how would he take care of humanity if he's unable to do that to one person, and the closest one. Ryoma defuses their argument to just focus on the plan, which would have Takatora handling his little brother and Sid dealing with the other 2. Sid asks Ryoma himself about his decision to let the Beat Riders go, assuming that Micchy frees them, which is actually wrong as Ryoma points out about how he's the only one that can open the lock, but had one of his prototypes missing, leads to the conclusion that Yggdrasill had a mole for Sid, but Ryoma is interested about the Beat Riders' escape process. In Kureshima house, Takatora checks out the data that has been collected by Micchy, and as Micchy proclaims to expose what is Yggdrasill doing, including his older brother, Takatora sees through Micchy's deception, that all of his claims to fight for justice are just a front to cover up his true intention for challenging Takatora to prove his maturity, revealing his manipulative nature to sway people for agreeing with him for his own inner agendas. It's also obvious anyway for someone who is about all being secretive, to have his end goal being the opposite for his demeanor. But outside of what Micchy expects, Takatora is actually sort of proud of Micchy to gain agency, to break himself free from predetermined future from Yggdrasill, which Takatora implies to be similar to him in the past, and instructs Micchy to follow him. Later Takatora takes Micchy to the Helheim Forest, showing his little brother something, apparently it's something horrific to Micchy, not revealed to the audience, albeit there's a reflection on Micchy's eye that it shows a ruin of some kind. Another scary part is that the tree behind them had several human mouths. It's also apparently enough to convince Micchy otherwise about what is his brother doing, and Takatora invites him to join Yggdrasill. Kouta is trying the Lemon Energy Lockseed, to no avail, but Kouta's pulling himself on ep. 2 back, to practice his henshin pose again, assuming it needs 'concentration', returning the goofy scene in that episode. Mai goes to Team Gaim's place, on the verge of tears for the current Beat Riders situation, that the Beat Riders being the cause of the Inves attacks are partial truth and it's hopeless to convince people otherwise now. As Mai told Kouta, like Mai, he goes to confront Team Red Hot for their crimes, calling them out for stooping so low. Sonomura instead offers Kouta to join them in their crimes to be unstoppable. Kouta points out about how being malicious or not isn't determined by what species you are, but about their personalities; while Inves are hostile creatures by default, humans can be as malicious as monsters, like what Kouta pointed out about Team Red Hot. The opposite of how Kouta's case is that great power comes with responsibility, Sonomura's case is about how great power can also come with insanity. Sonomura talks about his deal with Sid and that they knew about Kouta coming, but this exposes how stupid they're, as this is another one of Sid's plans to perpetuate the Beat Rider's bad publicity, and they're playing right into his hands. Sonomura sics the Lion Inves from a jailbroken Mango Lockseed as Sid's next deal is taking Kouta's Sengoku Driver, and this acts horrifies even the other Team Red Hot members, but Sonomura finally pays the price for his power abuse, as the Lockseed shorts out, sending Lion Inves into rampage, including to the Team Red Hot themselves. The only upsides for humans doing this is that humans won't have monster's deadly powers and can be dealt with much less force, as like before to the Yggdrasill's scientists, Gaim still saves Sonomura and deals with Lion Inves. As Gaim struggles with Lion Inves, the Rider Indicator of his Sengoku Driver got cut by the monster, which is actually an advantage to Gaim, as Gaim can put the Genesis Core (DJ Sagara gave that as well in addition to Lemon Energy Arms) in that place, which finally allows himself to use Lemon Energy Lockseed, turning him into Jimber Lemon Arms, the way for Sengoku Driver users to catch up into New Generation Riders, with Sonic Arrow as his default weapon taking Musou Saber's place. Though I'd say the boxy suit, which is jinbao themed, is less matching look-wise when it's fitted to the Rider Suit. With heightened strength, Gaim Jimber Lemon Arms was able to beat Lion Inves, using a shooting finisher that shoots an arrow through orange and lemon slices, and Sid notices that Kouta is the one that had Ryoma's missing prototype. At Drupers, Kouta asks Bando about if power always corrupts, and other than pointing out about how power itself doesn't have alignment, just how people uses them and that strong people isn't inherently evil, he makes a good point about how not all weak people are good people. By that, just because someone is weak or weaker than existing strong one, doesn't mean that they're inherently kinder than the stronger one only because they don't cause any harm (or that they can do that only by badmouthing).... they just don't have the power to commit atrocities power can easily make them able to. This leads for Kouta to realize Bando is much wiser than he looks...oh, another one to learn from Kouta to not judge people by their looks if he wants to do good! Before Bando treats the coming Team Gaim for a meal to celebrate Rat's recovery.
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06-11-2021, 07:22 AM | #16623 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Yggdrasill Saga Episode 17: The Peach Rider, Marika, Descends! Written by: Gen Urobuchi, Directed by: Osamu Kaneda A trial occurs for Micchy that his Yggdrasill objective tasked by Takatora was to take away the Sengoku Driver from his apparent best friend Kouta. I've been wondering how's Kouta's job hunt for now, and the episode finally shows it. Being a Beat Rider is actually even harder than just receiving hate comments, but you're also denied in normal job occupations. Though this part is why I can be fixated (should be a room to improve) on what other people see in someone including myself, as Kouta's difficulty here stems from people's hate to him. Micchy approaches Kouta and asks him about condition, which as an open and honest person Kouta quickly tells that he can't get a job, and Micchy would get further explanation from a passerby refering Beat Riders as dangerous. Micchy also confirms about Kouta's suspicion that Yggdrasill prioritizes their research above protecting the city, and albeit Micchy still claims that he'll expose Yggdrasill to the world to Kouta, the previous episode already showed the audience about how Micchy's heroic claims are lip-services, courtesy of Takatora. In a discussion with Kouta talking about protecting something nonsensical to other people, Micchy talks about how he values Kouta and Mai, or his happiness with team Gaim and places them above him as he won't care how he changes to maintain that. While again this sounds noble, anything will be detrimental if taken to the extreme, even if it sounds noble at first. Oren is shown to have taken Jonouchi too to Yggdrasill, accompanied by Yoko. As Oren hears commanding sounds from a radio, the instructor claims to better not know his identity, but to the audience, it's revealed as Micchy giving commands... but with purposely deeper sound tone, which is a mindful move to play mastermind, and his voice sounds really monstrous in Oren's room. Yoko gives Oren and Jonouchi the new Sengoku Drivers, which Oren learned where the Drivers come from, but Oren's aim is to meet Zangetsu, as usual, which Micchy claims he'll give when he does good in his tasks. Yoko then visits Micchy's room, and after explaining his aims to show off his ability to command and manipulate, once again in-universe, Micchy got refered as a demon, this time by Yoko, agreeing with Sid. When interacting with co-workers (as Micchy's assistant and watcher), Yoko seems to had jovial persona, but as she's smiling upon the darkness of the Yggdrasill progress or Micchy's dark nature, the smile is not a show of benevolence, but a part of her unhinged and taunting nature. Gives me a bit of Saeko vibe from Faiz. Micchy's plan is started from now, and the workers seem to approach Akira, who is walking on her work attire, and coincidentally had similar lower part as Yoko's.... as Kouta is eating at Drupers, he got a call that claims they had Akira captured, and that they demand his Sengoku Driver. It's revealed that Micchy's the one calling him, and his voice changing works successfully enough for Kouta to not realize that it's his best friend calling. When Kouta reaches the destination, he comes across Oren holding apparently Akira hostage, with her mouth being shut. As Kouta demands Akira first, Oren gives her to him, where Kouta tries to free the binds in Akira, but suddenly Akira reacts violently to take away his Driver, and that "Akira" was actually Yoko in disguise; Yoko's outfit at lower part is already similar to Akira's, and the ones that need to be changed is only a long hair wig, coat, and a mask to cover her face. They remark about how Kouta falls too easily for this trick, claiming his naivety... which is right for this one, even if Yoko still didn't take away the belt from Kouta, albeit even the audience likely would have hard time guessing it's a disguise, other than noticing that Akira and Yoko wears similar skirt and heels. As Yoko resorts to fighting to take the Driver from Kouta, he gets a call from Micchy again, who Kouta thinks his threat is ineffective now as it's revealed Yoko disguised as Akira, but Micchy actually plans more ahead than Kouta thinks... the intelligent one in Team Gaim would be useful, but would make formidable enemy if he turns over them especially with someone with standard intelligence dealing with them. Akira is actually on Charmant, enjoying a complimentary meal (from a lottery... which is actually how those workers "kidnap" Akira), revealing that Jonouchi had been trained to bake cakes well enough, serving her foods, but as it's Oren's apprentice, he'll be given orders to attack her if Kouta didn't comply. Though Oren ruins the plan when, it's revealed that the Acorn Lockseed used by Jonouchi is sabotaged, dropping a frying pan from above in similar manner as the Arms fall to the Rider Suit, but as Jonouchi is still in human form it'll just KO him instead. Oren would prefer for his customers to enjoy his food uninterrupted, and resorts to taking Kouta's Driver by force as the other option, which is a show of redeeming quality for him to prioritize everything in his shop first, well except troublemakers. As Bravo fights Gaim, Micchy notices that Bravo ruins his plans, but Yoko uses this derail as a test for Micchy to do actual dirty work himself, taunting him as becoming an adult would require to do so, sharing Sid's ideals (as an excuse to be a dick, or for this case, for Yggdrasill to gain upper hand), as Yoko claims Bravo would lose because of how Gaim uses Class S Lockseed (brought up again after a while), which shows when Gaim Jimber Lemon Arms' finisher goes through Bravo's Duriasshe, knocking Bravo several stories down, landing on a car (this scene got censored on my TV ._.). Despite him claiming Kouta as naive, Oren is stupid as well among the villains, that he lacks other solution after his redeeming quality kicks in, to retrive the Driver other than brute forcing. Yoko henshins into Marika to fight Gaim, and it's already well-known, but props to Minami Tsukui for being not only a woman who does her own stunts as Rider, but is also part of the few actors in overall who does so. Though I think Marika getting a bow as primary weapon didn't take full advantage of Yoko's existing combat skills, which is close melee combat, albeit of course any Riders can punch/kick (kicking is Minami Tsukui's standard) in addition of their weapons (and bow can be used as melee as well), and likely it's the reason Gaim claims she's too strong, even more than Sid (who has no combat experience). Well despite that, the fight here I would say is well-choreographed, with the fighters keep moving around in a fast-pace to try dodging, hiding, and shooting each other. As Micchy is put on the test here when both fight evenly, he henshins into Ryugen and... instead shoots Marika, still valuing his friendship with Gaim at this point, which allows Gaim to use his Jimber Lemon Arms' Au Lait finisher which is a simplistic slash from his bow. Ryugen even instructs Marika (take note, she's not reverted into human form after the attack!) to tell Ryoma that he'd protect Kouta, which Marika actually complies without much question... As the Yggdrasill's plans are foiled by each of its member, despite mocking the one who foiled it, both Oren then Micchy, Akira only gets a day of her life, as far as she's concerned, she only wins a high end meal from lottery, before planning to Kouta about their dinner. For Marika to tell Ryoma, it's revealed that in his talk with Takatora, it's likely part of Ryoma plan to keep Kouta using the belt, as the data results are beyond Ryoma's expectations. Getting the vibe from Evolt here to be fascinated by the heroes' evolution and let them be, though here is to benefit from data and fulfill Takatora's expectations in their productions. Ryoma letting Micchy to keep his bond with the Beat Riders is also used to make Micchy a spy, which convinces Takatora enough to hand Micchy to his hands. I'd say Ryoma's planning is between smart enough to take advantage of every situation, or is too optimistic to do that and realizing the shortcomings too late. Micchy proves himself as well in intelligence to figure out that Ryoma wants to watch over Kouta, from the fact that Marika didn't support Oren in his fight against Kouta, which means they're deliberately keeping the Driver to Kouta... so the Yggdrasill plan isn't actually foiled then. Like to Sid, Micchy makes his own move to get out from his brother's shadow from this and his persuasion for Yggdrasill to use his talents right, which convinces Ryoma that Micchy is smarter than his older brother. The episode ends with Micchy watching a footage of their christmas dance, seemingly genuine to keep his happiness with his friends remain, and his manipulation had made him enough to be in both sides' good grace, a companion to Team Gaim and an useful asset at Yggdrasill...
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06-11-2021, 03:57 PM | #16624 |
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Kamen Rider X - Episodes 19-21
An interesting transitionary period for everyone's favourite Kaizorg, as he brings and end to the first set of villains, in what certainly feels like a satisfying conclusion for the first half of the series. Episode 19 - The Corpses at the Ghost Mansion! GOD plans to drive Tokyo into a terrified frenzy with Occultos and his power of illusions. He apparently can't create illusions of anyone without killing them, of course, but that just means we have an incredibly morbid episode - you could not get away with people hanging themselves on Western TV, even at the time. Aside from that sudden shock, it's not the worst plan they've ever had. Episode 20 - The Mysterious Snake Person Appears GOD's latest plan to mutate the people of Japan into [x] hybrids to cause chaos and destruction or whatever. This time - snakes! Highlight is probably the actor for X 'fighting' with a real snake... aka he lightly moves it around while holding it. Perhaps the most surprising part is that Chiko and Mako don't end up as snake people. Episode 21 - Apollo Geist's Last General Attack! So the reborn Apollo Geist finds out he's dying when he can't get a perfect bullseye on his morning training, and because he killed 1/2 of the pair who brought him back to life, his only chance is to get X-Rider's Perfector installed into him. He then kills the scientist who told him that, because he's got a record to keep up. He brings back a bunch of generals, and kidanaps Chiko and Mako to force Keisuke to fight him. We then get the most amazing series of events. Tachibana, sweeping up: "Damn that Apollo Geist, messing up my coffee shop to kidnap the girls again." [A pile of Yen is thrown on screen] Apollo Geist: "Here's compensation. Also, money for Jin Keisuke's funeral. I don't want my enemy thinking bad of me." Apollo Geist then kidnaps Tachibana. Keisuke, meanwhile, convinces a reborn Achilles to turn on GOD by asking him if the benefits are that great, and they sneak into the Palace of Apollyon together. Apollo Geist shoots Achilles straight away, the pair fight, Tachibana almost gets guillotined, a fitting end to a great villain. Apollo Geist was smooth, suave, and dangerous.
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06-11-2021, 04:24 PM | #16625 |
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You’d think Apollo Geist would need that guy he killed to install the Perfecter.
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06-11-2021, 04:49 PM | #16626 |
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You really would, wouldn't you? Maybe it wasn't just his trigger finger which was faulty.
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06-12-2021, 01:58 PM | #16627 |
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Now through episode 20 of Hibiki. Really digging how every Oni and their relationship with their students is really unique. Hibiki being a dad, Zanki being a trainer, and Ibuki being a friend. I also feel that the show gets its message bout idols across effectively, especially in terms of Todoroki right now, with it being stressed that him not being 1-for-1 like Zanki as a good thing.
Ontop of that, this show succeeds in something that Blassreiter failed in: Having actions scenes that, while short and not exactly elaborate, more than make up for it in terms of being really stylish and fun to watch regardless. The musical aspect of course being a big part of it, but even besides that, there's some legit cool stuff to enjoy. The most obvious one for most probably being Hibiki's' fire sword, but to give an example that stood out to me; Todoroki spearing a flying Douji, then letting his guitar fall so it guts the Hime? That was incredible. Binge Buddy's' feelings are still mixed, but he really loves Ibuki so far, atleast. Haha.
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06-12-2021, 02:46 PM | #16628 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Yggdrasill Saga Episode 18: Farewell, Beat Riders Written by: Gen Urobuchi/Nobuhiro Mouri, Directed by: Osamu Kaneda The effort to restore Beat Riders' reputation continues as Mai hosts All Teams Dance Event while the other Team Gaim members are handing proporsals to the other teams. The logic is that how the Beat Riders are known to be competing, and the Inves Game are the means to it, so that'd mean if the Beat Riders put aside their difference, then it'd mean they (or at least not all, as shown by Red Hot before), don't revolve around Inves Game. One of the team, Team Pop Up, is a cameo of Kamen Rider Girls by the way. The other teams are more listening this time, likely due to it being technically still a friendly competition (a chance to rise off the ranks), and their arguments are regarding the events outcome like how it won't magically fix everything, which Mai acknowledges as them starting over again. Other than that, the teams also open up about the problem more that, Team Baron (who isn't present at the meeting) is the one that caused the whole conflict to start wars like taking dancers, which provides a reason for other teams to keep their Inves. So it's shown that unpleasant behavior like Kaito's social darwinism (or even worse, team's cheating) can really cause a problem in social. Though the other teams still leave, at least they're one step closer to solve the problem with Team Baron being the known root. The Beat Riders gathering scene is interposed with Gaim fighting some Inves on public where after defeating them, even in front of the crowds, they'd just run away from Kouta as he went to check on them, treating him as similarly monstrous as the Inves, so Gaim's fighting scene interposed here is a good demonstraition as the proof of the Beat Riders' difficulty. Jonouchi is now paranoid about which Lockseed is the real one and left wondering about it, likely for some time as he moves along the stairs (with his previous locations still aired!), and as he henshins with one of them, it's the wrong one again, directly insulting him as NINCOMPOOP with also something that falls on top on him like Arms for Riders, but this time it's a bunch of cans... and a garbage man apologizing to him. Oren Rider Kicks Jonouchi in human form, telling him to go back to work, but notices a proporsal about All Teams Dance Event, and as someone who constantly jumps into conclusion, Oren just attacks Jonouchi again with his butt, assuming he's sneaking for that event. And as someone who hates "amateurs" or in his conclusion-jumping agenda to treat them as public troublemakers based on their reputation, Oren plans to ruin that event, with Jonouchi (covered in a trash bin) following suit. On the other side of Yggdrasill, there's a confirmation about how Yoko holds back in the previous fight with Gaim, as Ryoma thought her doing so will likely be the last time he'll collect Gaim's data, considering Yoko's combat skills. Ryoma also plans to test a Genesis Driver himself. Mai (who Kouta goes with) visits Kaito and apparently points out about the Beat Riders conflict being his fault as Kaito questions about it being his fault, and the other team supporting his statement about his denial. Mai points out about how they won't be able to dance anymore, but dancing isn't a priority of Kaito as it's only one way to show off power. As Mai storms off, Kouta reminds that not being able to dance would apply to Kaito too, but Kaito reminds how Kouta is also never concerned with dancing himself, which drags down Kouta's credibility, but Kouta still feel the need for this to be done to reveal the truth to others for the sake of helping, likely because the bad reputation impacts not only their dancing, but their daily life as well, as Kouta had experienced with his job hunt. Kouta and Mai's talk later about how Kaito messes up with them to paint what they're doing as futile also shows the impact of hurtful words Kaito throw at them, even if Kaito had tsundere traits for those 2, the harsh part of him is still terrible, his soft spot deep down aside. Micchy shows a video about Bravo (with Jonouchi repeating what he said) pushing his agenda to drive away Beat Riders further, and it effortlessly wins over many people, compared to the Team Gaim's campaign, though those 3 still approaches other teams, which from Baron's campaign, gave them doubts as the hate is becoming worse. However, there are Team Baron members who genuinely wants to dance, like Zack and Peco (despite him being the cheater that Kaito reprimands), and as Kaito quits, handing a Sengoku Driver to him, the episode fleshes out on his character more, so this is the uplifting part of Team Gaim as they approach Team Gaim's hangout location, offering themselves to dance and informing that Kaito had quit, which made Kouta approach Kaito by himself. Kaito claims to quit to focus on the real enemy, battling against Yggdrasill, still brushing off other's helps as he claims he won't be dragged down by hanger-ons. Oren expresses the underwhelming dance move disdain better to relate it to art rather than 'power' than Kaito to me, but I got an insight from others regarding this part of how the "showing off power" by dancing isn't literal for Kaito's case, his ultimate goal is to bring down Yggdrasill, and rising his ranks up in Beat Riders is his way to gain followers or obtain some influence if he obtained the top spot for others to get to know about Yggdrassil being bad, and the way he can get to the top for Beat Riders is by dancing, and later, gaining the ability to control Inves and Sengoku Driver to proceed further (hence how he doesn't seem to care about the shifting focus to Inves Game), but as for now, Beat Riders are only used as Yggdrasill's scapegoats, instead they had bad reputation that others won't follow, so Kaito won't gain anything from dancing anymore and hence he quit. It turns out that DJ Sagara is still maintaining his Beat Riders Hotline website, and before when Bravo pushes his agenda, he touches upon the Beat Riders' decline in popularity, but now he's hosting the All Teams Dance Event like he did in the Beat Riders Saga, which is attended by Team Gaim and Team Baron only, with few audiences, which got mocked over by Oren coming along to start his plan ruining the show, suggesting them to just go home. The other teams turn out to be watching the current DJ Sagara stream, and like how Sagara helped Kouta escape before, he turns out to be really enigmatic among Yggdrasill, actually encouraging for the Beat Riders to dance long after Yggdrasill's Beat Riders' stage of their plan is completed, which means he's doing it for his own volition, and is complained by Takatora for this. Mai's determination is really tested here as many more disaster comes in the event, as she proclaims to keep dancing to spread their feelings even when there's only 1 audience (or 2 teams), with Micchy, Rica, Chucky, and Zack following suit with Kouta defying Oren, but he didn't stop as Jonouchi summons Inves to wreak havoc (a comedic type by taking the Beat Riders' stage to dance for themselves lmao) with Oren reminding the audience that Beat Riders use monsters (technically true as Jonouchi did it, but there's more to the context..), as Kouta henshins to Gaim to fight them off, and directly reminding them that the stage are Beat Riders'. Oren also henshins to Bravo to fend Gaim off from the Inves, with Micchy attempting to do so, but there's also Zack's debut as another Armored Rider Knuckle, using the Kurumi Lockseed and the gifted Sengoku Driver, with Kurumi Bombers as weapons. I feel that Knuckle's performance gives off more shaking and impactful attacks, destroying the Inves without the finisher, which shows off its strength convincingly, but I feel that it can also overshadow the supposedly stronger Riders like New Generation Riders before, or the debuts of more major characters like Kaito himself before, despite Baron coming to help him and claiming he's not on that level yet, but that's also a proof of Kaito truly considering them as friends despite differing paths now, and his claim to fight Yggdrasill alone is shown in soft way here to not drag his other teammates to Yggdrasill matters. Gaim blocks Bravo's way and signals Mai to start the dance, but though Oren tried to cause disaster, him crashing the party while the other teams are watching finally convinces them to join the event. However Jonouchi still tries to sabotage the event by removing the Player Pass, but the dancers didn't budge as Micchy makes their own music and keep dancing, and the members of Team Invitto came across of Jonouchi (he leads an all-female team? what a harem king...and I get it now where his dandy traits come from), and instead drags him to their dance, with one girl putting back the Player Pass. After Gaim drags Bravo outside and no more interruptions (with Jonouchi fully joining the dance), the event was a success, with them regaining their support, and likely will have their overall life improved too, judging what Kouta has gone through with the bad rep. I will say though DJ Sagara is likely the MVP here to broadcast the event, so that the other teams notice Oren crashing the party and the audience who doesn't directly come still knows about the event as well. When the teams celebrate, in contrast to the light-hearted episode which serves as the closure of the Beat Riders (the episode title also had a twist where it seems to be about the Beat Riders disbanding, but it actually had them bouncing back, and the title more applies to Kaito who directly leaves the team, or the closure of the story as it moves to the Inves conflicts), Micchy's rotten nature is now blatant, he claims he'll betray anyone to maintain the happiness he had in that situation. After beating Bravo, Gaim comes across a new golden-colored Rider. As the closure part, I'll give my thoughts here about the dancing part. I've been giving some of the Rider fights a hard time if it doesn't come up to my expectations, but I've been mostly content to it as I follow KR more for the plot, but I can say the same regarding the dancing parts. It can tell a good story (still subjective) like how the KR series convey within its plots behind the Riders and monsters like the dancer's determination even when there are many obstacles in their way to ruin their dance, with efforts like making their own music or comedy like Inves literally taking their stage by dancing there, and how it had bigger stakes to their overall life, more than just fighting, like seen in Kouta's job hunt, but the dancing part itself is, like some of the Rider fights or ironically like Oren thinks (doesn't mean it justifies what he does), doesn't seem to be much effort is put in, either due to budget constraints, I don't know if it was due to budget constraints (unintentional) or due to the series wanting to give dance moves kids could easily emulate (intentional) or other reasons. On the other hand, this part had several dozen dancers in the scene so may be can't be too hard regarding this part with trying to choreograph the dancing, their difference of syncing (but likely not for previous dancing with fewer people).
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The most complete non-wiki encyclopedias for Kamen Rider series (currently only found Ryuki and OOO's). Last edited by DreadBringer; 06-13-2021 at 07:05 AM.. |
06-12-2021, 02:48 PM | #16629 |
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Quote:
Now through episode 20 of Hibiki. Really digging how every Oni and their relationship with their students is really unique. Hibiki being a dad, Zanki being a trainer, and Ibuki being a friend. I also feel that the show gets its message bout idols across effectively, especially in terms of Todoroki right now, with it being stressed that him not being 1-for-1 like Zanki as a good thing.
Ontop of that, this show succeeds in something that Blassreiter failed in: Having actions scenes that, while short and not exactly elaborate, more than make up for it in terms of being really stylish and fun to watch regardless. The musical aspect of course being a big part of it, but even besides tat, there's some legit cool stuff to enjoy. The most obvious one for most probably being Hibiki's' fire sword, but to give an example that stood out to me; Todoroki spearing a flying Douji, then letting his guitar fall so it guts the Hime? That was incredible. Binge Buddy's' feelings are still mixed, but he really loves Ibuki so far, atleast. Haha.
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The most complete non-wiki encyclopedias for Kamen Rider series (currently only found Ryuki and OOO's). |
06-13-2021, 07:06 AM | #16630 |
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Kamen Rider Gaim watch
The Yggdrasill Saga Episode 19: The Gifted Secret Weapon Written by: Gen Urobuchi/Nobuhiro Mouri, Directed by: Hidenori Ishida As Kouta encounters a golden Rider, he notices that he uses the Lemon Energy Lockseed too, but despite the surprise, Kouta performs well in his human form by dodging the Rider's bow slashes, jumping on a wall to get out from being cornered and dodging the Sonic Arrow bows by backflipping several times w̶h̶i̶c̶h̶ ̶m̶a̶d̶e̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶j̶e̶a̶l̶o̶u̶s̶ before he henshins into Gaim Jimber Lemon Arms. Depsite the increased strength Jimber Lemon Arms had, the golden Rider easily restrains him then throws him behind, of which Gaim counters with a shot from Sonic Arrows which he tanks without flinching, and then (in a stealthy fashion from the explosion), shoots an arrow to a wondering Gaim, knocking him out of his transformation. The Rider then 'aplogizes' that he's inexperienced, so he cannot control his power, and asks for Kouta to henshin again, but in turn this give him edge as he'll go all out in fights. Kaito is the one who comes and henshins, but is also overwhelmed, knocked down with several bow slashes. So this is when Kaito's completely in "the weak" position, his reaction is, as it's about Yggdrasill, is to infiltrate their research lab to find out more of what they're up to, and brushes off Kouta's concern, but allows him to follow. The golden Rider watches from a rooftop, de-henshins, revealing him as Ryoma, Rider name Duke. Talking to Yoko, he claims Kouta draws more power to it than he imagined, and to Yoko's surprise, he lumped Yoko together with Kouta as 2 unknown quantities wielding Drivers as she never used the full potential of the Driver, though it seems that Yoko had limits to her confidence as she claims Ryoma overestimated her. DJ Sagara continues using Beat Riders Hotline and announces about how the Beat Riders gave up the Inves Game and focuses back on dancing, which the Team Gaim with Zack and Peco watch on TV happily...including Kouta who knows DJ Sagara is a part of Yggdrasill, I didn't remember if Micchy knew too about DJ Sagara's involvement. However, as the Inves Game is put aside, there're teams that have disbanded due to focusing on playing the Inves Game. Though the Inves Game (and Kaito) did cause problems with its intense competition and later the bad rep and that there are actual jerks like Red Hot, it's a bit harsh IMO for people like Zack to declare people as jerks when they stop dancing due to that and Mai to restrict the Beat Riders only for those who truly love dancing (and that might be the root of her tension with Kouta early on). From this too, Kouta notices that the teams don't need bodyguards anymore, so he left them to focus on other matters, though for this time Mai is only saddened. Kouta and Micchy talk about how Kouta is different from him and Mai now regarding Micchy's plead for him to stay or watch over them, but Micchy's main aim isn't about dancing too, rather about being together with his friends, before Kouta departs for a job interview. It turns out to be a meeting with Kaito at Drupers, and Micchy actually follows after Kouta and claims it's a lie from Kouta to attend a meeting. Micchy is also the one to take the step forward to question Kaito, much to Kouta's dismay (with facepalm!), of which Kaito plans to assault from within using the cracks from Helheim. Micchy doubts that, but Kouta assures him, and actually tells about how his campaign against Yggdrasill is inspired by the Beat Riders campaign before, that Micchy and Mai were able to gain back the support from the city after being put into the corner, and argues their plan is something that can find out what happened to Yuuya.. without them realizing Micchy already did. Micchy finally agrees to act as a distraction for them. As Kouta and Kaito (yes they're in human forms, I know they're tough fighters but would they resist the spiraling motorcycle when they're transported to Helheim Forest?) uses their Lock Vehicles to start their plan, Micchy actually backstabs them, and he's already worse to do it right to Kouta who is his supposed friend, by reporting to Takatora about Kaito's plan. Kaito is just the opposite to Micchy, one of them is that he always speaks genuinely and never lies, while Micchy is full of lies and deception, which is used against Kaito here. Sid answers to this and when Kouta and Kaito arrive at the forest, they're confronted by Tulip Hopper Lock Vehicles, with Sid proclaiming that the forest is their meddle, to Gaim and Baron's surprise that they knew their plan. The Riders can't hit Tulip Hoppers, and they had an ability to form a crack by themselves to drive out the Riders from the Helheim Forest. Right after that they came across DJ Sagara, who Kaito is understandably skeptical about, but I guess Kouta genuinely had better stance of him now like when before watching him on Beat Riders Hotline, pointing that he helped them escape before and gave him Lemon Energy Lockseed. DJ Sagara directly proclaims his enigma as he's not really a pawn of Yggdrasill, and that what he wants is to see who the forest will choose. He gave them help again by handing Kouta a Tulip Hopper Lock Vehicle, like how he also claims he looks out for both of them (would that mean it's a direct claim for him genuinely hosting Beat Riders Hotline of his own volition?). Kaito confidently launches his attack again, based on how they're only caught off guard before, but as they've known the Tulip Hopper's abilities now, they know how to fight them now. Kaito teaches a good example here, to not be demoralized by failure, but instead learn from them to overcome the odds, it's a sign of strong mentality. Kouta also gives Kaito Watermelon Lockseed for this. When they return, Sid laments about the kids that are persistent and henshins to Sigurd. Much to the surprise of his adult superiority talk, Gaim and Baron runs away from him, unable to track them down while sending the Tulip Hoppers after them. There's also suddenly a Tulip Hopper that attacks another Tulips, which is actually Gaim riding it, destroying the Yggdrasill's Tulips with a Tulip Rider Kick after tying them down. Baron takes on Sigurd, and finally someone fights back to Sigurd's adult superiority talk that adults refuse to acknowledge children. Though Sid uses the adult talk as an excuse to be a dick, the younger one being looked down is still real. While adults tend to be more experienced than the younger ones, doesn't mean they have nothing to learn anymore, people gain experience by different ways, and if the younger one gains one that the adult hasn't thought of, it can be a valuable thing to learn from the younger ones. Sigurd again, excuses his dick behaviors by proclaiming justice as childish squawk, Sigurd faces a different type of children that Baron doesn't care about justice, where he's plotting to test Yggdrasill's strength, declaring that those who keep secrets are weak, and thus Yggdrasill can't be that strong. I'd disagree on this stance however, even with my objections to Micchy's secret keeping. Everyone has secrets, and it's ok to share them with trustworthy people or for actual good, but there are secrets people won’t share with anyone, and they have the right to do so, complying to that is a form of respect, and Baron's ideals would open a path to for example, gossipers not being hold accountable to spread details. Though that aside, this cements Kaito's status as anti-hero, like most other Secondary Riders, as he had dark trait in his social darwinism (anti), but it's used by him here to fight for good against Yggdrasill (hero), that philosophy being used to expose Yggdrasill's secrets (as "weaknesses") and take them down. Sigurd also would have harder time to break Baron's morale (not that he's successful doing that to Gaim either despite him being exactly justice figthting type) with him not being fully virtuous do-gooder, and Baron uses Suika Arms, who even overwhelms New Generation Riders. I wonder what's the drawback of Suika Arms that it's not used often, it seems to be the most powerful for now. Meanwhile Ryoma also takes interest to Kaito's obsession with power, and stops Sid from attacking Kaito after he made it to the Yggdrasill lab (I guess the defense system won't activate against humans?). Kouta comes across Zangetsu. Kouta did learn from the harsh treatment Zangetsu give to him about evil without reasons in the world, and what Zangetsu means is about Hase's fate, but albeit someone can learn from anyone no matter what alignments, doesn't mean Kouta should follow Zangetsu fully, what he learned from him can be implemented for good, like his vow here to let Yggdrasill get away by creating the evil. As Genesis Core is a way for Armored Riders to be on par with New Generation Riders, Gaim Jimber Lemon Arms stand up better to Zangetsu Shin, but there's a show of Zangetsu's skills too by creating a smokescreen with his whiffed shot to Gaim, of which Zangetsu ambushes him from the behind, downgrading Gaim to Orange Arms. But Gaim really proved that he's a changed man to stand up against Zangetsu Shin in Orange Arms, calling out Zangetsu's extremism to treat Hase's death and the use of Armored Riders as guinea pigs as a misconception, before using Orange Charge to Zangetsu, which reverts both to their human form. This is also actually a nice moment for the whole franchise to address how Rider series can prolong needless conflicts without people understanding each other. What Takatora means by Kouta's misconception is that thinking of Yggdrasill as the one who creates evil without reason, and Takatora's ideals in their previous fight was to excuse their deeds. But though Takatora wants for Kouta to give up in their previous fight, him being persistent makes Takatora realize that it was a miscommunication to shove his realist ideals to Kouta without explaining much, and thus, he agrees to explain to Kouta about his case, what he meant by evil without reason, which marks the end of Yggdrasill Saga too and a start of a new arc.
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The most complete non-wiki encyclopedias for Kamen Rider series (currently only found Ryuki and OOO's). Last edited by DreadBringer; 06-15-2021 at 04:06 PM.. |
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