Recap

As multiple Riders team up to try and take down Demushu, Kouta is offered yet more power by DJ Sagara. But it may already be too late…

Aqua’s Thoughts

 I am the pit of my sword 
 Flesh is my body and juice is my blood 
 I have created over a thousand fruits 
 Unknown to Power, Nor known to Strength 
 Have withstood pain to create many toys 
 Yet, those hands will never hold anything 
 So as I pray, unlimited fruit works.

Following up on last week’s shock and horror, this week’s Gaim is a much more action-oriented affair. Save for some interesting details — most importantly, the Overlords being ‘created to evolve’ by Rosyuo, in very much the same vein as Yggdrasil’s original plan — most of the focus is on Sagara offering Kouta the Zenith/Kiwami Lockseed. Though he barely hides his ulterior motives, Sagara gives ample motivation for helping our hero out as much as he has. His hosting the Beat Riding events in service of Yggdrasil was most likely an attempt to oversee all the goings-on and pick out his ‘chosen one’, yet I still wonder whether the criterium for this was being righteous or being naive. Mai (finally) gets to be somewhat involved in the actual plot for once, but her warnings to Kouta mostly only serve as a means of making it bloody obvious conspiring with Sagara will come back to bite him in the ass. Then again, does Kouta even have a choice? I’m glad to see Mai being intelligent enough to question the DJ’s motives, though, so here’s hoping she’ll take a more proactive role in the future. Someone needs to be the voice of reason in this bunch of power-obsessed nutters. Wait… isn’t that Rosyuo we’re talking about?

Speaking of power-obsessed nutters, it’s great to see a large number of Riders teaming up against a single enemy. Not only does everyone get their moment to shine, Jonouchi’s great entrance finally gave him some of spotlight he deserved and Pierre was crazy awesome as usual. Of course, the main highlight was the arrival of Zenith Arms. I’ve already talked about the power-up’s implications last week, so it couldn’t come as a surprise that I found this one of the very best ultimate form debuts in Kamen Rider history — at least story-wise — with raised stakes and actual development for our main character*. Compare this to the lousy standalone arc in which Wizard somehow ended up with a power-up and you can see just how well Gaim is doing in comparison to its predecessor. As for Zenith Arms itself, I don’t think it lives up to the sheer awesomeness of Triumphant/Kachidoki Arms, but the sleeker look, sweet cape and elegant, jidai geki-esque fighting style make it at least interesting to watch. The combination of all the weapons from other Riders leads to a bit of a cacophony and I’m immensely disappointed the finishing move doesn’t involve all of them at the same time, but hey, this show has managed to make a guy who transforms into a giant banana a compelling character. It’s not going to be held back by a rainbow-coloured visor.

* Still, nothing beats getting killed and then being resurrected with the power of space friendship to aggressively forgive the guy who killed you. We should all aspire to be Gentaro.

Random Observations

• Ryouma legging it by means of an escape capsule was quite hilarious, yet I hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of him. The lack of Tsunenori Aoki in recent episodes is not helping, though.
• Congratulations, Mitchy, the girl you love slapped you in the face and now you’re actively assisting in a global apocalypse. Go to your room.
• The Yggdrasil tower turning into an actual tree was a beautiful addition.
• Turns out Yoko’s loyalty to Ryouma is just as flimsy as everyone else’s. Is her joining Team Kaito (Current member count: 1) actually going to be a thing?
• Speaking of Gentaro, Zenith Arms actually does look quite a lot like Fourze. Must be the pointy head.

Marlin’s Thoughts

For an episode that was mostly devoted to fighting, there was still a bit more character development to be had. Kouta’s setbacks, first with Yggdrasil and now with the Overlords, may have finally cracked his eternal optimism. He finally understands the true nature of this conflict. In grabbing for his new form, he readily admits he does it because he needs power first, and not for any of his overly idealistic aspirations. As Kouta’s strength increases, I imagine he will come to struggle with the same problems Rosyuo once had in establishing his world order.

I’m glad our perennial comic relief characters have finally been given a chance to come back into the spotlight. I’ve always enjoyed Pierre and Jounochi’s additions to the show, and this time is no different. The most subtle character development we got this episode was Kaito’s ability to organize all of the riders in forming an offensive. It’s too bad that they immediately had to explain what he just did, as leaving it implied would have been more powerful to me. Unfortunately, this jubilant atmosphere only lasts against this fight with the upper level Invess, Even with their help, our supporting characters still amount to nothing once the fight turns to Demushu. I know Kouta is the hero, but it seems like such a waste of good characters to have all of these riders with absolutely no power to fight the main antagonists.

All this time, we’ve always been talking up Gaim‘s choreography or its pacing, but I think one of the real unsung heroes of a scene like the Zenith Arms is the music. Gaim‘s soundtrack has been absolutely stellar at producing the exact mood needed for what we see. The scene of struggle between Kouta reaching for the new power and Mai warning him is a track that has been used a lot up to this point, and it always does a great job of helping illustrate the internal struggle these characters have faced in and out the entire series. The triumphant music that blares as Kouta executes his new powers really makes you feel just how much he was in charge of the fight.

Random Observations

• I’m glad they made the right decision in leaving out the energy bow in the Zenith Arm’s repertoire. I always thought the Grape Arms were the cooler looking projectile weapon, anyway.
• If the Overlord could get into earth any time he wanted, why didn’t he use the first time humanity attacked them as an excuse if he wanted on?
• This may just be because I’m so new to Rider shows, but the sheer evil genius levels of toy development for Gaim are simply amazing (Zigg’s note – this is actually pretty mild compared to what we’ve seen in recent years)

Zigg’s Thoughts

Althought this episode contains the ievtiable debut of Ultimate Form Gaim, I’m much more impressed by how we got there. The interplay between Sagara and the various cast members continues to be fascinating, and he trolls wonderfully here, tempting Kouta with unlimited power while at the same time not making any attempt to cover up the risks. The danger with mysterious characters like this is of course that the ultimate revelation can’t live up to the hype, but I do hope that isn’t the case here. They’ve done a wonderful job painting Sagara as an interesting, even handed character with a seeming agenda, and he’s a joy to watch in this mode.

Elsewhere it’s good to see Pierre and Jonouchi re-enter the fray, but I think the real interesting thing here is Kaito’s continuing move towards the side of good again. He shows himself to be a heroic and capable leader here, rallying the troops and fighting hard against Demushu’s rampage. I spoke before about he and Kouta being on parallel evolutions and it’s tough not to see that here – Kaito fought in a team for the good of humanity, while Kouta embraced power to achieve his own personal goals. Perhaps I’m reading too much in, but it’s an interesting note at least.

What with all-out invasion now on the cards, this episode obviously marked a major sea-change in Gaim’s status quo. The pragmatic part of me says that they’ll have to find someone to restore the show’s everyday setting, but I’m not entirely sure how you can do that when Invess are pouring into Zawame. We’re entering the home stretch now, so we’ll have to see if the writers back off a little, or decide to begin the climb to the finale here.

Random Observations

• Zenith Arms looks cool. It’s totally gaudy and over the top, but then that’s about par for the course. I still think I prefer Triumphant Arms overall though.
• Having said that, it’s super lame that Zenith Arms doesn’t get it’s own weapon and has to use the (admittedly awesome) blaster for its finisher.
• Ryouma bailing via escape pod was too funny.
• Nice touch – the Zenith Lock Seed’s number is infinity.