#YOU GAVE ME VILLAIN BECOMES HERO AND AMNESIA AND PAST AND FUTURE PLOT AND ALSO SELF SACRIFICE LIKE C'MON

[aparticularbandit]

meanwhile sonic x shadow generations will probably be my birthday present to myself.

specifically i plan to preorder this because what do you mean i can get gerald robotnik's notebook on creating shadow and the ark

[buildridernews]

[Review] Kamen Rider Build (Overall thoughts)

It's that time of the year where Rider fans become emotional, potentially sad, potentially thinking about the future. Here, we’ll be talking about the setting, characters, plot, and really dig into that ending. 

But I guess first off, I’ll say one thing here: If you’ve followed the blog closely, you know that I really fell behind on the show a lot. That has nothing to do with the show, it’s just a me thing. When I watched, I was enjoying every episode, and kicking myself for letting so many episodes go by without watching it. 

With that said, let’s get into the reasons why I found it entertaining. 

Kamen Rider as a whole has all of these tropes and recurring themes going all the way back to the Showa era, and while Build has those things, it creates a unique setting around it. 

We're introduced to the world of Build after what is essentially a post-apocalyptic event, at least for Japan. The Skywall left them separated, with hints of a war in the midst due to the item that would grant any one of them absolute power.

At best, most Rider shows have a mysterious event took place in the past, more often an isolated incident that doesn't really have that much of an impact until the end of the show. This feels like a more impactful version of Kabuto's "A meteor previously destroyed one of our cities" opening premise, as it gives us a very unique setting where Japan is split into three types of nations, with robot sentries and abnormal mutations running around. 

More importantly, we aren't even halfway into the show when a status quo hits us and we're put into a proper war between the nations. It leaves us with empty cities for most of the show's run.

I know I commented on this a while back, and I kinda feel like it needs a followup now that the show is over: The show was dabbling in a lot of what I call "Real world monsters". Back when Gaim was going on, I recall thinking it was unexpected for a character to comment so realistically about how humans are always at war with each other, because it seemed like a heavy subject for a kid's show. Fast forward to Build where that's just the entire show. 

We spent the last year with a kids show dabbling in war and conspiracies, and when it became apparent that they were leaning heavily into these subjects, I wondered if maybe the show would take a much different direction in the end, causing us to go “Yeah it was weird when the show talked about war for about 1/3 of the story”. But as it turns out, that theme stuck and resonated in the characters. They go through a lot over the course of 49 episodes.

It's not uncommon for a Rider protag to be affected by a death, but Sento actually causes the death of a human and is legitimately haunted by his actions, not to mention the baggage of being the brainwashed creator of a combat system that started all of this fighting. It's also not uncommon for the protag to frequently hit an emotional rut that leads them to a newfound resolve, but I feel like this show really justifies it.

Sento frequently struggles with the idea of heroism because he keeps being challenged by these contradictions about himself, and the idea of heroism is constantly being mocked by the more cynical enemies he faces - even so, he kept fighting. He was once a member of Faust, he lost control and took a life, his father turned out to be one of his enemies for a bit... The dude went to hell and back, and I feel like his final form debut - as late as it was - felt so earned because of all he went through.

And this is to say nothing about his genius! I love Sento because he lives up to the hype. Before Build began, they talked about how Sento was the smartest of all the Heisei Rider leads, and it shows. He not only made his own Rider gear, as well as gear for other people, he also FREQUENTLY displayed his intelligence by planning ahead outside of battle. The dude would plan ahead by a couple episodes, even. He accounts for a lot of things and it's so satisfying to watch him get the upper hand, especially knowing just how much emotional baggage he has to carry. It’s beautiful catharsis. 

When it comes to the amnesia angle, followed by the Katsuragi reveal, I figured it was a nice twist. It makes more sense once you get further along in the show and learn more about who Blood Stalk was and why he had these powers. It was also interesting to have Katsuragi exist in Sento’s head after a while, giving him more staying power than I actually expected. I also must commend them for not only doing the “Katsuragi remembers who he is” subplot, and doing it for more than one episode. I’m just overall really pleased with how those things all worked out. 

It also must be said that the show did a great job sticking to this "The hero is created from evil" trope from the original Kamen Rider. They said from the start that this show would be focused on that idea, and they never strayed from it. Pretty much all the Riders (save for the villain) are kind of a different flavor of that idea. Just in general, I think it can be said that the show was consistent. 

And I can't talk about Sento without immediately talking about Ryuga. Along with the things mentioned about the main character, they also said that this show would be about “the feelings between these two men!” (context~), and once you see the first couple of episodes, you get what they mean. It's clever to have two leads who are such opposites, the classic Brain VS Brawn. The two played well off of each other til the very end.

Ryuga was also nice to have in the cast due to the (at the time) lack of background for Sento. The main character already had his origin story a while back, so most of the early episode were just about him doing his usual hero thing. Ryuga, on the other hand, gave us an on-screen origin story. We actually get to see his transition from a selfish hothead to a hero who wants to fight for the sake of others, and by the end of the show he goes out of his way to sacrifice himself like Sento would’ve.

Knowing where the plot eventually went with Evolt, it makes so much sense why Ryuga got this much focus, right down to the winter movie teaching him more about why a Kamen Rider fights for the sake of others. It just all worked out so well.

Kazumi was a character I was super interested in. I loved the actor in Kiva, and when he was introduced, it seemed like he’d be playing a charming character once more. But as we learned more about him, I think he turned out to be a character with more depth. Don’t get me wrong, Otoya is the best thing about Kiva, but I think of him as a cartoon character with some hidden depth, whereas Kazumi feels like a human being. 

I was a little uncertain on what they were gonna do with him at first - he was treated as a soldier of sorts who had amnesia like Sento, and his trio of Hard Smash bros seemed upset that he didn’t remember them. But as you kept going, you learn that he was just pretending to have amnesia for a reason, which is clever. 

Kazumi is tough, but you realize that he has heart once you see his friends get killed off one by one. He will show no mercy towards the people who caused him to lose his only friends, and that sense of heroism eventually made him a part of the team. 

The transition from antagonist to hero was natural, and I loved the character, whether he was being comical or serious. The actor knew how to play both. 

Gentoku is where things get a little more shaky. 

I’m sure I’ve said before, but Gentoku was a character I didn’t put much stake into because his role as Night Rogue was obvious, and to me, Night Rogue’s role in the story was obvious: He was the strongest villain we had as of episode 1, meaning he would be killed off by the first power-up Build obtains. That being said, the character stuck around, which makes sense in retrospect since Build’s not about killing. 

Gentoku went away for a while, then came back as an edgelord. While I found some part of him interesting and thought he rocked that look pretty well, the backstory was just a little too over-the-top edgy for my liking. It honestly felt pretentious in a way. I kinda just let him do his thing. 

Then they did something interesting with him, revealing that once he became Rogue, the nebula gas that made him so villainous was wearing off, and he was now starting to show some heroism as he rescued his father from the people he was taking orders from. Then once his father died in his arms, his transition into a hero would begin. 

And, okay. Okay. The comedy they use on him at this point is a bit out of place, as fun as it was. It’s one of those things where, if you want to you can form a headcanon to make sense of it, but it’d be nice if they addressed it themselves. When he was just being a good guy, I found him really endearing. 

Oh and since he was palling around with the gear bros, I guess I’ll just say that... I said what I needed to say about them in their last episode. They were badass but a little too cool to have any personality outside of being a duo, so they didn’t do much for me as characters. But they looked cool. 

Utsumi is a character i don’t have as much to say about, but since I’m talking about Riders I guess I’ll reiterate what I said before. 

Like Gentoku, I didn’t have much stake in Utsumi at first, but I figured since he was working with Gentoku, he probably had something to show. When he ended up getting shot and fell off a bridge, I thought it was a lil weird he came back without seemingly being hurt. Then that one episode addressed it by saying he was a cyborg now, a twist I was not expecting, but it was an interesting choice. 

I was honestly hoping that Utsumi would come back as Rogue, only because it’d be fitting if Night Rogue got killed off by Utsumi using a name stolen from him. But it made sense for Gentoku to be Rogue, of course, and Utsumi had some fun moments as the man giving him orders. 

Once he turned to Evolt, after seeing his mentor die, I thought it was a liiiittle forced, and honestly thought he just cracked. But once again, that one episode addressed it by revealing that he was still loyal to his mentor’s cause and was... kind of a secret hero all along. 

Utsumi turned out to be more interesting than expected, and it’s a bit of a shame he’s-- well I guess he’s fine now thanks to the ending, but I wouldn’t have minded him being fixed if we weren’t aiming for that kind of ending. 

Now... we talk about this guy. 

Okay, so, Isurugi is an interesting character on his own. He’s an astronaut! He makes coffee now! He has red shades! He was a super fun supporting character, and I think it was brilliant(ly heartbreaking) for him to turn out to be a villain. It makes up for how obvious Night Rogue was. 

Blood Stalk was definitely the more interesting villain to follow because he was playing a much different game than the other groups in the show, and he seemed to have a lot of power on his side that wasn’t totally explained for a while - a friend and I figured he was actually an alien just screwing with humans, and I can’t believe that was such a perfect prediction. 

I suppose once his role as Evolt is revealed, he sorta sssstops being interesting in that regard, because he’s no longer mysterious. A good way to put it, which I saw going around, is that he feels like a Dragon Ball Z villain. Not too much depth, just an uncomfortably strong guy that’s toying with people and will be destroying this planet once he’s had his fun. And I’m fine with that I suppose, I like a DBZ once in a while. 

About this point in the show, I saw some fair criticisms about the pacing of the plot that suggested it was getting dragged out, aaand I kinda see that but kinda disagree? It definitely feels like Build and Evol keep getting the upper hand on each other, but I think of that as a display of their intellect. They’re playing this big game of chess, and sure, that can elongate a plot, but I found it entertaining at least. 

Now if there’s any criticism I have about the show by this point, it’s that we never really get a true followup on Isurugi once Evolt leaves his body. Like, we know that he was chilling out in the hospital, unconscious, but the next time we see him is in the ending when everything has been fixed. 

Supporting characters next. 

Misora is a character I don’t have a whole lot to talk about, she was fun when she delivered deadpan comedy, her connection to Isurugi (and thus, the villain) was interesting, found the Mii-tan stuff a little unnecessary but it provided some fun banter with Kazumi... decent gal. It was heartwarming seeing her live a normal life in the ending. She’s been through as much emotional turmoil as the Riders. 

Sawa was interesting, because I expected her to just be a journalist, but she turned out to be a huge player in the villains as a spy. She was eventually caught, and I thought it was both surprising and impactful when she remarks that she was actually supposed to kill herself at one point and couldn’t bring herself to it because spending time with the heroes made her realize what it was like to have real friends. She was used cleverly, even if her backstory seemed pretty crazy. 

As for other characters, man there’s a lot. I think it’s enough to say that what I talked about in previous reviews is still applicable now. Namba was interesting, and the way they bring back previous victims is clever. I don’t think there’s anyone that didn’t serve a purpose. 

Hoo boy, been going for a while... I think it’s time we wrap this up and talk about the ending. Well, at least saying things I didn’t talk about in the last review. I’ll assume you know where all the characters are as of this change in their timeline. 

It was THE cathartic moment for the show, because leading up to the final episode, you really see everyone drop like flies. Kazumi knows his fate and goes in for one last rodeo, Utsumi sacrifices himself, Gentoku tries to live up to his father’s legacy as a man of the people, and Ryuga attempts to send Evolt away for good. Even Sento started to get some of that death aura in the final battle... 

A common complaint for a Rider show is the undoing of death. The best known example of this is in W, and I’d also put up Fourze. That moment when they kill off a character in a big dramatic way only to undo it in the next episode. It’s a tad cheap, and while you could say Build did that, I think it did it well - it creates a new world where all our favorite characters didn’t go through all this turmoil, while still making it a bit sad by not having them know each other. In that sense, they did die, but at the same time, they live. 

I guess the first thing I wanna bring up is... wow we did the Ryuki ending, huh? Ryuki is like 2002 so it should be okay to spoil. Unlike Ryuki, the protag(s) remembers what happened, so that makes things more interesting and opens the way for future crossovers, albeit without a huge cast. 

Zi-O is using time travel to work in Build (so they just went to a time when Build and Cross-Z were still rocking their first forms), we don’t know what the upcoming winter movie will be doing, so all we can look forward to for the moment is the Cross-Z movie. Very interested to see how that goes. 

I will also address that there’s some weird implications to this new timeline that unfortunately haven’t been addressed in the show, and I HOPE they do in the movie because this is a big burning question: Is the technology still the same, and did the Mars mission still happen? Because without Evolt’s presence, Mars would presumably still be a planet with life on it. 

Well, okay, I’ve done some thinking and can kinda address that, but not really. 

Namba was involved with Japan’s unmanned space probe. As we see in this new world... I guess Namba is a non-military company now, meaning they probably wouldn’t have contributed to the space mission? I dunno, that’s my best guess. It’d probably also explain why we don’t see Guardians. 

It’s a bit of a stretch if that’s the intent, just arbitrarily retconning Namba, but I guess it serves as an explanation. Still, unless life on Mars just ceased to exist a long time ago, someone has to have seen something when they looked into a telescope. 

With that burning question out of the way, I dunno if there’s much else to talk about with this new world. It exists, and I wanna see what they do with it. 

And that... finally, is all there is to Build. 

I enjoyed the hell out of this show. It was dark, it was emotional, it was funny when it wanted to be, and it was solid all the way through. Well, okay, like any show, it has flaws. But I think that when a show has so much positive stuff going for it, that can negate the flaws. I consistently had fun from start to finish and I don’t always get to say that. 

Whenever a Rider show ends, I come back to my little list of shows. I’ve seen all of the Heisei Kamen Riders, so I like to make a list of which ones are my most favorite to least favorite. Here’s the top 5 of that list, in descending order. 

Gaim - Solid story, solid characters, just a fun trip all around.

Build - Unique premise, strong characterization, consistent.

W - Nicely written plot with fantastic monsters and memorible characters.

Ex-Aid - Great concept, good characterization, pretty solid execution.

Den-O - Fun and funny, interesting cast, compelling story.

It’s really lucky that the shows I’ve made blogs for are ones that I enjoyed enough to put so high above the others. And as I’ve said in the past, I’ll be stepping away from doing new blogs, especially since a big crossover show would be insanity to keep up with in the style of blog I like to do. 

With Build basically over, I’ll pop in now and again to do an occasional review of the movies/bonus material. 

Thank you for following up to this point. It’s been a fun ride. 

[gameridernews]

Ex-Aid review: Overall thoughts on the show

The next LVUR review I have lined up won’t be posted soon, but in the meantime, here’s... a thing. 

With 11 months of anime eyes and blinding colors, it's time we bid farewell to our pink hero. This is a combination retrospective and review of the show as a whole, its strong points, its flaws, expectations and results.

The initial name trademark for Ex-Aid immediately brought to mind a rescue theme, and people were quick to point out how the Ex part was spelled much in the way .exe file extensions would be, so a computer-themed rescue hero sounded promising.

Once we learned a bit more about the story, things got interesting. Kamen Rider has done several things, but a hospital drama is not one of them. This could have gone many ways, especially keeping in mind it's a kids show, meaning they miiight not depict it in a realistic way.

That is largely the case here, at least in the sense that we hardly see them use a standard hospital procedure. Largely, it's about the Bugster virus and how they deal with that through combat. There are little things, like Emu going from an intern to a surgeon and a few notable surgeries that take place, so they met some kind of quota I guess. Depending on who you ask, it does however seem as though they speak hospital jargon during surgery that may or may not be gibberish.

The Cyber Rescue Center was a fun idea, a sort of singular hospital room below a hospital, though I think I preferred when it became public knowledge later on since that made it a little less hard to swallow as an idea. It's cool to have a secret base, of course, but this particular one didn't seem like it could remain hidden forever.

Here I'll give a quick talk about the characters relevant to the CR stuff. 

While he didn't get nearly as much use as I'd like, Hiro's father was a lot of fun, especially when he's reacting to all that happens when he's not around. And to just cut to the chase, people relevant to the Ministry of Health are not particularly standout but they fill their role. Genm Corp is largely about its comical number of terrible CEOs, but Tsukuru is a precious man. So glad he got to be the new CEO after all was said and done.

When it comes to Ex-Aid's plot, I guess next I'll tackle the other half of the hospital stuff: The Bugsterrrs. The Bugster virus makes this another one of those shows where we get a victim of the week in addition to monster of the week, and while I get that this format doesn't always work, but come on, it's a hospital themed Rider series - the patients are an important part of this.

In the same way that an actual virus is not actively choosing its target, the Bugsters mainly just have a goal of taking over and turning anyone into one of their own. Being data that is based on video game bosses, the motivations, at least according to Parad, come down to "We're tired of being bosses you defeat". Granted, he's also salty about losing some of his kind to the Riders, but you get the idea. Basing monsters on video game characters makes for a fun setup on the villains' side. It’s like the video game crossover you kinda want but terrifying. 

Collectively, I think the Bugsters are all fun. They have their own distinct designs, and giving them names of the game bosses was a nice added touch of worldbuilding. Not to mention little things like having Nico get excited when they run into a specific boss. I do wish that we got more info on the games aside from a single line - you don't always get even that. See Shakariki Sports.

I guess I'll also talk about the prominent Bugsters briefly? Graphite initially seemed like a nothing character, then they gave him some personality I could get behind in his final moments. Then we have Lovelyka, who is true to his name - great actor, too. The only other Bugsters I wanna talk about are Parad and Poppy Pipopapo, but we'll get to them... as we talk about each of the Riders!

So let's talk Emu Hojo, Kamen Rider Ex-Aid.

It's a standard element in Rider shows these days to have the reluctant hero, or at least someone subject to pratfall, and this is no exception. Hot off the heels of a previous show whose protagonist had a destiny to fulfill, it initially seems like Emu is gonna be more of the same, but there are two deciding factors that make Emu work for me: This isn’t a destiny so much as it is a discovery that he has a power to save everyone, and he doesn't feel like he's meant for the role initially - he has to grow into it. It felt more natural that way. 

I'd like to share a scene I liked about Emu: When he and Parad finally worked together, it was after a stern talking to where Emu is in full control. He isn't the naive young man we started out with by this point, he is a mature man who plans ahead and knows what he's talking about. By this point, when he says he'll change someone’s fate, it feels like he can live up to those words. 

If there's anything I might cite as a possible negative, it might be how the gamer aspect of him turned out to be a hoax due to Parad (we'll get to him), and I kinda felt like it was more human for him to be this pro gamer who’s not particularly good at anything else. But at the same time that turned out to be a fun little reveal. Dark, even - his path in life decided by the Bugsters and all. Really brings new meaning to changing one’s fate. 

Regardless, Emu grew, and I feel satisfied about that. I appreciate when a series gives you a character who noticeable mature - it was a selling point for Gaim when it was first revealed, and when Gaim ended, there were several things I wanted Toei to carry over to future shows. I am VERY glad that this was among them.

Speaking of character growth, let's move onto Hiro Kagami, Kamen Rider Brave.

Hiro was your standard secondary Rider from the start. He's the doubter who's opposed to the protagonist. In this case, Hiro is to Emu what the doctors were to Robin Williams in the misrepresentive Patch Adams movie - whereas Emu wants to form a connection to his patients, Hiro is a gifted surgeon who focuses only on his work. I praised this the moment Hiro was introduced because it's a nice and simple juxtaposition that makes excellent use of the hospital setting.

If that were Hiro's shtick throughout the show, however, it might get old. So I think it was wise for them to have initially described him as a tsundere! As the plot progresses, Hiro noticeably makes a subtle and solid transition from treating Emu like he's an inferior intern with the wrong opinion... to treating him as a fellow doctor who just has his own way of doing things - not right or wrong, just different.

He has some standout moments where he shows his respect, but the one I'd like to think back to is when Emu temporarily got amnesia. He's outright offended by how Emu has stopped caring about patients like he always did, and finally loses his cool when he tells Emu that he NEEDS to care because that's the Emu he knows. It's also in this episode where, in Emu's absence, Hiro actively tries to get involved with a patient in a way he never would have before meeting Emu. While the amnesia is a weird little subplot, it led to a damn good Hiro episode.

To your question of whether I'd like to talk about flaws here, I say "No thank you". But I will say, my opinion of Saki and Hiro's brief turn to the dark side are well documented in past reviews.

Then we have Taiga Hanaya, Kamen Rider Snipe.

Taiga was a character I wasn't sure how to feel about at first. They had a plan for him, a mystery that would be revealed over time (like in the blu-ray mini-series I've still not seen), and ultimately it comes down to him being a good boy that the world shunned after he got overzealous and let a patient die. He's got a certain edginess to him that can be a little cringe-y, such as his tendency to tell people that he's the only Kamen Rider we need... but I think they did an excellent job of showing what he's all about. They explain clearly what he means by that, and it's a selfless meaning.

Another scene I'd like to share with you: When Hiro becomes too injured to fight, he's rescued by none other than Taiga, who up to this point has been nothing but an enemy. When he tries to leave and continue fighting, Taiga stops him with a statement that explains why he's the only Kamen Rider we need: Hiro still has something to live for, Taiga does not. Without saying as much until later on, Taiga will keep fighting for what's right even when the world sees him as its enemy. And there's something damn heroic about that.

This has an added layer to it with Graphite, the reason for Saki's death, and the way it caused Hiro and Taiga to develop their hate. Specifically, I'm referring to how Taiga basically admitted that he forced himself into the enemy role so that Hiro had someone to focus that hate on. I'm not good at putting that subplot into words, but I think it's fascinating and a bit deeper than these kind of rivalries pan out. It truly is a testament to this show's strong characterization.

Next, Kiriya Kujo, Kamen Rider Lazer (Turbo).

I was sad that Kiriya got killed off just as he was becoming a favorite. I was into the idea of a character who lied because he thought it protected people from harsh reality. His way of exposing the identity of Genm (or, the black Ex-Aid) was cleverly handled, both in how it backfired and how it finally redeemed him. But then he got too close to the truth, and was ultimately killed by said Rider.

I've said it before, but in Gaim, there was a similar early death that happened. Likewise, it served to give the main character a new foe to focus on, but there's some key differences: The character was largely forgotten about until the finale. I was ultimately alright with how Gaim handled that, but I feel that Kiriya got the better deal, what with his legacy meaning something. Because of how deep into the truth he was, he managed to indirectly help Ex-Aid gain a new power to take down Genm.

Then he got revived! A scene I'd like to share involves when he and Emu are fighting and it seems like Emu's attempt to reprogram him had failed. He whispers something to Emu, which causes Emu to suddenly fight back. We learn later that what he says is "Just play along." It was a long con to get the upper hand on Cronus, and I love that as Kiriya's return. It’s a simple phrase that Emu understood because he knew what Kiriya was all about. 

I wasn't sure how to feel about his revival at first, but I think it turned out to be for the best. I like Kiriya as a character, and the obvious feelings he has towards Kuroto for killing him have never gone away. It leaves me looking forward to this Another Ending trilogy to see how that pans out.

Speaking of, it's time for Kuroto Dan, Kamen Rider Genm.

Man, Kuroto. I had a lot of fun watching this seemingly calm and collected businessman devolve into a mad villain. But I wouldn't really say he devolved - he just stopped hiding his true personality. The depths he goes to screw with everyone is amazing, and when people thought he would go on to become Cronus, I was a doubter. I said that they did all they needed to with him, he told the story they needed to tell and could go home. He's dead, and he doesn't need to come back.

... So he came back! And immediately, I and some others thought "Oh, redemption arc." And I was curious how they might handle that since it could be hard to watch. While Gaim also did a redemption arc that I was ultimately okay with, I would not defend it since you can only go so far with a character before they become unredeemable. Saying "They're sorry for what they did" doesn't always cut it, y'know?

But the thing that I will always be impressed by... Kuroto became a good guy but never stopped being a maniacal guy. He’s still selfish, he’s still got a huge ego, and his revival basically sealed him as a god among men in his own mind. 

The turning point is a scene I want to share: When Kuroto is about to be attacked, Poppy protects him in an embrace only a mother could give. Finally, his cold heart is shaken as he realized that his mother really does live on in this Bugster that was created from her dying body. And his reason for fighting off Parad over this? Not to show his true intentions, but to fall back on his ego, telling Parad not to harm one of his creations. That was the moment I said “Okay, if we’re doing a redemption arc, this is how it needed to be told.” 

He perhaps gets to the point of being a gag character, but I think that's my favorite part of it. Continue pipe is the best. 

Parad, Kamen Rider Para-DX. 

Parad was one of those characters I see in every Rider show. The one that makes me go "Okay, what's your deal gonna be?" - like Alain from Ghost, or DJ Sagara from Gaim. I suspected he had some connection to Emu, and it turned out to be true. Emu is patient zero, and Parad is the Bugster that's been building up inside of him. The reason he grew to love video games. The reason he could transform. Parad turned out to be extremely vital to him.

I feel that the July episodes really painted an interesting mental image for what Parad is all about. He's very childish, as someone who has never known limitation. When faced with his own mortality, in the wake of Kamen Rider Cronus' debut, he's downright spooked. I have to give credit to the actor on his performance. He’s done a good job of playing what was essentially a cartoon character brought into a harsh reality. 

A scene that really speaks to me, in that regard, is not only a scene near the end of the show but also its end result: Parad finally worked alongside Emu to beat down Cronus, and with how Kamen Rider shows usually go, that's basically the moment where everything is okay between them. They bonded and they can now work as allies. But Parad finds himself moping because he still feels like he's killed too many people to just be forgiven so easily. He WANTS his redemption arc. That ultimately leads to his sacrifice at the end, riding humanity of Gamedeus by making himself into the vaccine that will erase it for good. He became a good boy, in the end.

This is somewhat undone by his revival shortly after, but as I said in the review, I think me tearing up during that moment is a sign that it's okay to undo that one. 

Now, Poppy Pipopapo, or Kamen Rider Poppy.

Poppy is a character I was very torn on overall when the show started. I'm talking about both her identity as Poppy the Bugster, and as Asuna the nurse.

As Asuna, I felt there was too much similarity to Kiriko from Drive, basically just being the tagalong for the main character, except I felt like there was MUCH less character. She never felt like she offered much as Asuna overall, apart from being a hidden identity that really only serves its purpose in public. The only time Asuna was fun to see was ironically when she broke character and acted like Poppy.

As Poppy, I was certain people would hate her, and I felt she was too colorful and sweet for my liking. But I think I wamred up to her by the time we got to the Kamen Rider Chronicle stuff. 

Her shining moment is of course after Emu successfully removed her brainwashing, because even though she's one of the good guys again, the others (sans Emu) have decided they have no choice but to defeat her to save a patient infected by her. By the end, however, Emu proves that she doesn't want to hurt any human by forcing a weapon into her hand and aiming it into his heart. She can’t pull the trigger because she just wants to play games and make people happy - Emu knew that, and successfully cured the patient through peaceful means because not every Bugster represents a boss that needs to be beaten. It was clever, it was emotional, and it sealed her as a favorite character.

And by the time we learn that she was Kuroto's mom previously, she got some depth to her. By that point, she hardly even dresses up as Asuna, and I never found it weird because I grew to like her. 

Now we have Masamune Dan, Kamen Rider Cronus.

This was the man I was hoping would become Cronus. The moment we see him in prison, I thought "Okay, they want us to pay attention to this guy." His ominous appearances here were too specific to be throwaway scenes. And once he came back, he took the role of the main villain for the rest of the show.

I spoke a bit about Masamune's character in the review for August's episodes, but I'll say it again here: I loved Masamune up until a certain point. He talked in business metaphors, and de-humanized the Riders by referring to them as games rather than people. Even his own son! And with his powers, it was inevitable that a man like this would get too full of himself and start thinking on a global scale.

The moment that comes to mind with this guy is of course his debut. He steps into view dramatically and thanks everyone for their time, but decides for himself that the Riders aren't allowed to defeat the Bugsters since he deems Kamen Rider Chronicle a commercial success. He then transforms and shows off how overpowered he is, going so far as to deem Toki Meki Crisis a game with no further commercial value and Rider Kicks the Bugster while time is paused... which means that he cannot be revived, for he is stuck in a limbo where he no longer exists. It's a pretty epic debut, and had me hyped right away.

Mid-July is where things get a bit questionable. He's given an excellent defeat, and his Gashat is even broken... then his eyes glow and he unleashes a reset power that undoes the existence of Ex-Aid's final form, effectively keeping him in control. It was a major waste of time since this was undone in the very next episode in what I now realize was a confusing explanation. And to make matters worse, the powers that cause this reset, and the reset itself, never gets explained and never comes into play again. Mmmmakes me wonder if that pair of episodes needed that subplot because they had to make a specific number of episodes and needed to pull an idea out of their ass. 

In addition to that, he sorta went down in a similarly nonsensical and unexplained way, effectively killing himself by shoving his own Gashat into his chest. I’ve been corrected since then with the suggestion that he may have been taking away the ability to rescue victims, but it feels like it could have been explained better. Even so, his departure did not linger in the finale. 

Now that we've talked about the Riders, and by extension have talked a bit about games... let's talk more about games! And also just designs, aesthetics and everything else.

The motif of a video game Kamen Rider had me sold from the beginning. I got what I wanted, more or less, though if I were to nitpick I feel that the game-themed fights were not nearly around enough. Each Rider got a nice debut with a motif surrounding them, such as scores and racing maps, but they definitely did not stick to this for every fight - not even during special form debuts. I think it would have been nice to see them do this a lot more, but I also understand how that might be an editing nightmare to have to go through on every episode.

The designs are something else. I really like how each Rider basically represents the character on the game cover. While the bright colors on Ex-Aid in particular took some getting used to, I think I really enjoy this series' design aesthetic. It's a sort of fun I can get behind. Gaim warmed me up to bright colors. 

I really did not give enough of a listen to the music when the fights happened, but the recent soundtrack release made me realize how much awesome music was in this show. From the chiptune style Level 1 fight themes to the fact that just about every Rider gets their own set of tracks. 

It does however make me miss series like OOO and Den-O, where they would go out of their way to make vocal songs for a lot of things. Between the strong characterization and the game motif, a lot could have been done when it comes to vocal songs. But alas, that seems to be the current state of Kamen Rider. Nearly half the tracks on the vocal song collection are by Kamen Rider Girls.

Camera work is also something I wanna praise this time around, because whoever did most of the directing REALLY loves their slow-motion impacts and crazy camera pans during form debuts. The latter is certainly a thing present in the last few shows, but here it seemed especially prominent, and I love it. If you've seen my recent Ex-Aid tribute video, you can see how many times I used those.

It's hard to speak on the movies since I've only seen the first one so far, but it seems like some interesting ideas came up this time around. But when it comes to crossover storytelling and the impressive amount of returning actors, these are just compliments to Kamen Rider as a whole, and Ex-Aid just shows us that it’s a continuing trend. 

What’s certainly kinda new to Ex-Aid are the amount of spinoffs that focus on specific characters! Sure, W, Gaim, Drive and Ghost did movies after the show ended, but these occurred during the show’s run. And they even continue this with the Another Ending trilogy. This is a series where these are all very welcome because the characters are all so good - everyone has a favorite! 

I guess when it comes to the movies and bonus material, I’m just glad to see Toei is continuing to try different things. 

Then we get to this ending part where I talk about the overall show. Was it good, was it bad, could it have shined a bit more or was it rock solid from the beginning?

Well, I feel the need to be realistic first and say that perfection doesn't literally exist. Even the things you find the most fun, inevitably, will have flaws. And they're either flaws you aren't aware of until later, or you might be like me and can see the flaws but also like to make fun of them while still enjoying the good stuff. 

Ex-Aid had a lot going against it from the start. It was weird and different, so naturally most people hated it before it existed. It was focusing on a setting that a kids show likely wouldn't be able to depict in too realistic of a way. The colors are bright, the designs seem wacky, and you have subplots such as a video game company supplying gear to save lives. Which still seems weird to me by the end. 

Despite everything, I feel that Ex-Aid did pretty damn well. It had a lot to juggle and do right, and I honestly think it succeeded in delivering. While there are certainly flaws that I would nitpick... what else is new? You can't please everyone all of the time. What matters is that the flaws do not overpower the stuff I'm into.

And when I think of shows where I wish things could have turned out better, you know what the worst thing is? When a show has a cool idea for a setting or motif, and it does not explore its potential well enough. I wanted to love Wizard, I still do, but it got so damn focused on its constant toy reveals that it felt forced a lot of the time, and the really cool stuff never got a chance to shine. 

Ex-Aid, on the other hand, did just about everything I could’ve wanted from it as a hospital drama and as a video game-centric toku. I think the only thing they could do to satisfy me more... is to give me something I didn’t know I wanted. Like the Continue pipe! But in all seriousness, after more than one Rider show ended up pulling a Wizard, it is incredibly refreshing that Ex-Aid did everything it needed to. 

I like keeping a list of all of the Heisei era Kamen Rider shows, listing them from best to worst in how I perceive them. This is how the list looks right now.

Gaim - Solid story, solid characters, just a fun trip all around.

Ex-Aid - Great concept, good characterization, pretty solid execution.

W - Nicely written plot with fantastic monsters and memorible characters.

Den-O - Hilarious interactions with cast, compelling story.

Agito - Great story with memorible Riders, solid characterization, but has a slow start.

Fourze - Really fun story and cast who makes me smile, with some flaws here and there.

Hibiki - A great hero with a daringly unique premise, but weak second half.

Drive - Interesting story and good characters, takes a while to get into gear though.

Ghost - Good premise, fun characters, so-so execution.

Wizard - Great premise, fairly okay cast, so-so execution.

OOO - Fun cast of memorible characters, though the story is a bit shaky.

Ryuki - Intriguing story, great cast, monsters are an afterthought.

Kiva - Cool premise and cast, a bit too much drama for my liking.

Kabuto - Nice cast, well done Rider rivalry, decent but basic story.

Kuuga - Interesting monsters, decent setup, pace is too slow for too much of the show.

Decade - Not a solid story and most of the cast is forgettable, only good for crossover eye-candy.

Blade - Good ideas, decent characters, just barely acceptable execution.

Faiz - Some good ideas, unfavorable execution, way too much drama, really only like the protagonist.

Basically, Ex-Aid is waaay up there. There's also obvious sentimental reasons for why Gaim is still on top, but that should show you how well Ex-Aid did in my opinion. It's a solid cut above the rest.

As I said before, Build is a show I'm cautiously optimistic about, and you can follow me on THAT journey at @buildridernews - but naturally you will still be seeing activity from me here since I am all for these extra Ex-Aid stories. 

Thank you for listening to me ramble and mistranslate things over the past year - I look forward to continuing to do that with Build Rider News!