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gameridernews · 8 years ago

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Ex-Aid review: Month 5 (Episodes 17-20)

Another month of episodes passes us by as we check off a couple of big things from the 3rd(?) quarter toy catalog. That's how I look at it, anyway!

For starters, we can't ignore the elephant in the room. No, no one with a fatal illness this time, instead we have the epitome of silly as Ex-Aid obtains... a burger form. I've been into Kamen Rider for 7 years and I've seen it all~

Really though, for an episode you expect to be a fun and silly filler episode (and in some ways it KIND of feels like filler), this episode has a lot of meat to it, pun VERY intended. We learn that Gashats can in fact continue to be made by Genm Corp via one of the developers, we get another Bugster who's friendly like Poppy, we get a message about how not all video game villains need to be evil...

... And most interesting, the sad death of the Bugster leads to some hostility between Kuroto and Parado, because he kinda mercilessly killed one of Parado's bros for no reason other than it came from a game he didn't personally make. Quite an ego. For once, we see Parado stop smiling, and it is as chilling as I'd hoped. Plus some freakout from Emu that is noteworthy but didn't do so much for me compared to what happens later.

All in all, episode 17 was a surprisingly fun episode with substance. It's good to have that sometimes. Just to have a breather from the onslaught of dramatic developments.

And speaking of, a nice followup to the burger episode (yes, we're calling it that now) where aforementioned developer has a followup with a new CEO and new game in the works. I really hope this comes up again. But mainly, our episode deals with Kuroto being a dick, as he outright infects the poor guy with a Bugster Virus out of spite. Bring us the Bakusou Bike in his leveled up form - I made a joke about how that totally wasn't gonna happen so that's the only reason it gets brought up here.

And after Kuroto threatens to kill Parado's precious Emu, we get kind of an awesome fight where Para-DX provides catharsis by beating the HELL out of Genm! That was a fun scene solely for the over-the-top action, and how Level 50 so heavily outranks Level X... or does it?

Oh and this happened. It was during the credits so it probably isn't important.

Okay, no, not ignoring this one. This was a real head-scratcher when I saw it in the episode preview - after Emu is told by a continuously spiteful Kuroto that he's infected with the Bugster Virus, Emu has a bit of a... personality reset? He loses all his doctor-ness and basically acts like a careless teen gamer, only wanting to play games and is like "Help people? Pfft that's your guys' job." The actor does a good job of playing the character differently, a real distinct way of speaking. He tossed some Ore around instead of Boku - the Double Action Gamer debut alerted me to how his personalities differ.

I wasn't sure how to feel about it once it was over. On the one hand, I think it's a real interesting step to take after the revelation that Emu has acted differently after his surgery that resulted in him being patient zero of the Bugster Virus. But something in the execution (namely his recovery) feels off to me. They suggest that Emu's acting this way because he's being possessed by the Bugster now that the virus has broken out, but that's kind of... odd? As is, we don't exactly know why it happened and why he seemed to return to normal.

On a positive note, we got new Bugsters! Technically. And they share a theme of going back into the victim to recharge, adding some tension. Design-wise, I like what they're doing - the Collaboss Bugsters, which had Gashats lodged into their heads, had torso parts that resembled the general theme of the Gashat, and now they've basically made full body versions of those parts. This month we got Gekitotsu Robots and Jet Combat. I like that. They added the idea of them being Level 30, which is kind of an odd number but hey it means they're stronger than most of the Riders' gear. But not for looong.

Can I take a detour before the new forms and just say... Hiro was wonderful in episode 19. Perhaps his biggest moment is when he's trying to tell the slightly-amnesic Emu who he SHOULD be, "The Emu that I knew" and all that. To say something like that, straight to his face, means that even though he disagrees with his methods at every turn... he's beginning to respect that they just do things differently, and that Emu isn't wrong just because he disagrees. That, to me, is a huge development.

In addition to that, he actually tries to get involved with a patient for once, albeit in the best way he can. He even sees the patient afterwards and when she thanks him for his efforts, he attempts to tell her he doesn't like to get involved. The interesting thing is... at this point, he's probably trying to hide the fact that he's started to care. As you can tell, I'm really enjoying how far he's come.

Also hey, quite a tease showing him with Mighty Action X. I saw a photo (presumably from Toei's blog) of him holding it followed by a photo of Ex-Aid fighting, so I was especially fooled into thinking it was happening. And before y'all get upset at the idea of that actually happening, the Riders' designs/colors ARE just based on what's on the Gashat~

That being said, Brave doesn't turn pink this episode - he turns burgundy! Using our new Gashat Gear Dual B, Brave gains the power of Taddle Fantasy, giving us an attachable armor that other Riders can theoretically use but calling it a full form rather than a subform. It's a lil inconsistent in that regard but I like the way they make this different.

Brave has magic now, and Bugster Virus minions who appear to do his bidding, which is pretty wild. Ain't nobody can say only the main Rider gets all the power-ups when THIS is happening with one of the secondary Riders. He gives Genm a beating not unlike Para-DX's, making me realize Genm is starting to get outnumbered... or is he?

I wish I had known that Taiga was afraid of ghosts when I wrote my Legend Rider fanfics. But yes, we get into an episode focusing mainly on Taiga, which - like the last episode did with Hiro - gives him some good development. Niko is there too! Kinda.

The stuff with the patient and Emu trying to overcome his fear of being a Bugster... that stuff is good, but the crux of the episode - to me - is the scene where Taiga convinces a beaten Hiro to give him the Gashat Gear Dual B. While Hiro will never forgive him for letting his girlfriend die, Taiga recognizes that being reckless will make Hiro turn out like him. And he knows Hiro wouldn't want to turn out like him.

That's why, in his words, he's the only Kamen Rider they need - he's got nothing left to lose. That, to me, is a real powerful moment for his character. It makes me realize there's a good reason to lump Snipe in with the other heroic Riders - in his own twisted and cynical way, Taiga could be considered... one of the good guys. An antihero, I guess.

So that's why Snipe gets a power-up with Bang Bang Simulations. It's a nice followup (perhaps even a major upgrade) to his previous Gashats. Going from a guy with a gun, to a dogfighter, to the captain of a fleet. I like the design, especially once seeing it in the show makes me realize those little guns all over his body can move around and fire in all directions - provided the CGI is available for it at any given time. It's an explosive debut.

I also like how the Jet Combat based Bugster sends out a bunch of little Combat Gamers that use grey colors. I betcha that's gonna be the Proto color scheme for them if/when we get that Gashat. Now that I know the ones we've seen from Bandai are little candy toys, I'm doubting it right now.

As Parado and Kuroto interact more, it seems like their relationship has been soured and Kuroto couldn't care less, as you'd expect. With two Riders now at Level 50, that Level X Gashat can't keep him around for long... or can it?

Okay, the reason I keep making that joke here is because of the weird line at the end. He basically hints that it's Level 10 AND Level X because X is an unknown variable. I'm not a math guy, but I THINK that's meant to imply that the depths of Dangerous Zombie's power are unknown - which I guess is a good way to keep him going for the next month or two until Kamen Rider Chronicle comes to fruition.

It's been a fun month of episodes with dark developments, and characters with really good depth. Prepare for mech suits and Sentai crossover action in March! Oh and I'll also bring this up: Back at the end of December, I made a few predictions about where the show was going, and I think next month's review will return to those and we'll see if I can come up with more.

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