Recap

Kouta has to make a choice about how he’ll use the power he’s seeking.

Aqua’s thoughts

When Mitchy only gets to show up to be an infuriating asswipe for a few seconds, you know Kamen Rider Gaim is being unusually focused. Redyue gets her clutches on Kouta and seeks to break him with an uncomfortable truth — that he won’t become an Overlord, because he already is one. However, this doesn’t mean he’ll be running around in a monster suit from here on out. The Overlord he has already become is a literal one, a ruler who, as per Roshuo’s definition, has defied the predetermined destiny of his entire species. The inevitable truth the Overlord king confronts Mai with defines the human race as predestined to go extinct and the one who seeks to breach this order as its ruler, who, as they are exempt from the one thing that unites all humans — predestination — can no longer be considered ‘human’. Overlords are more than just the gruesome transformations of the species that once dwelled Helheim, they are positively Nietzschean supermen, who — as heroically blurted out by Kouta when he obtained Triumphant Arms — disregard the existing morality and craft a new one, “motivated by a love of this world and of life”. A similar concept of a superman (or Overlord) was coined several centuries before, by Plato, who stated that the ‘philosophers’ who had seen the real world of which ours is only a reflection would be the leaders of mankind. As Gaim’s Helheim is nothing more than a horrible caricature of our world, a ruined dystopia brought about by humanity’s innate worst sins (greed, violence and egoism), Kouta’s discovery of it might as well have sealed his fate. Anyone who’s seen Psycho-Pass knows Urobuchi loves his classic philosophers, and Gaim is another, yet thankfully not as bloated, example.

Furthermore, Nietzsche anticipates the rise of the superman as a result of the infamous ‘death of God’, which he defines as a loss of values, or meaning to life. The faulty response to this event, rather than to create new values as a superman, is to challenge any kind of value — nihilism, in other words. Following the disillusion created by losing his carefree everyday life and his trust in his former idol, Mitchy perfectly encapsulates this nihilism, evidenced by his constant backstabbing and gleeful trampling of any and all morals or values, no matter who they belong to. The superman is the solution to nihilism — but the question remains, who will be this superman to Mitchy’s nihilist? He and Kouta are not the only Nietzschean archetypes in Kamen Rider Gaim, as Kaito has been aiming to break free from the shackles of human morality since day one. He values his own code above anything else — beyond good and evil, if you will — which is why I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up the one seizing the Forbidden Fruit and consequently, biting the dust. As this episode was all about Kouta struggling with his perceived ‘task’ as an Overlord, and losing his humanity as a result, he might as well finally have overtaken Kaito. The latter’s goal (strength) is the former’s means, and now Kouta has the strength, and the willingness to sacrifice himself for mankind’s sake, it remains to be seen whether he can even be stopped. To Nietzsche, Kouta would probably be too good-hearted or idealistic to become a true-blue übermensch, but given the rather unfortunate results of his philosophies, Urobuchi might as well be trying to put the ‘man’ back in ‘superman’. I wouldn’t blame a children’s show for favouring the idealistic goody-two-shoes over the pragmatic jerk, but no matter which one of the two emerges victorious, the results will definitely be interesting.

Random observations

• Having Yuuya as Gaim in Kouta’s dream was a stroke of genius. Not only does Yuuya personify all of Kouta’s failings — both at saving him and at keeping the dancing crew together — he was also the one to first find the Wärring Driver Kouta still uses to this day. If Yuuya hadn’t eaten the Helheim fruit, he would have been Gaim.
• I don’t know whether Kaito taking out Redyue’s doom machine with one swift kick was genius or terrible.
• What certainly was terrible, was Kouta’s monster suit in that dream sequence. And Kouta’s acting in that dream sequence.
• “I’ll turn you into fruit juice” is one terrible catch phrase, Yuuya.
• Special effects failure of the week: Ryouma’s bizarro green-screen invisibility powers. It’s like they had to add that scene at the very last moment.

Zigg’s thoughts

Kamen Rider Gaim has already shown it can handle character, plot and motivation incredibly well, and this episode it’s the turn of metaphor. While “battle inside the mind” type episodes are pretty much a staple of anime and tokusatsu, there’s an unusual amount of care given to this one that ensures the allegory is not quite as blunt as it first appears.

To begin with, there’s the unusual nature of the choice presented to Kouta. All along Gaim has been pretty explicit about the ‘power corrupts’ idea, and it’s been strongly hinted that there was no way Kouta could save the world without paying a price of some sort. What’s done well here though is to drive home the intensely personal nature of the sacrifice. After all, what’s the point in saving the world when you won’t be able to reap the benefits? What’s equally clever is that the show doesn’t present this as an explicit condition but an implied one. Kouta isn’t going to die or be trapped in another dimension, but instead it’s the people he saved who’ll make him a pariah. I don’t know about you, but to me that’s a much sadder, more scary fate to have to face.

The other thing that I feel makes this plotline work as well as it does is that even from the beginning Kouta is aware on some level that this isn’t a legitimate reality. The show doesn’t present this as an attempt to trap him inside some sort of perfect world, especially since he’s attacked almost immediately. Rather, it’s pure visual storytelling, a metaphor made explicit. If he embraces the power of the Fruit he’ll never be able to hide his true monstrous nature from anyone. The falseness of the illusion is made even more explicit when Redyue shows up and basically starts speaking directly to Kouta. The ‘fake’ world is merely the backdrop to the much more important decision taking place, and that’s refreshing smart of the show. Using Yuuya as Gaim is a clever move to heighten the emotion of the situation too, since he’s basically a proxy for all of Kouta’s mistakes on his current path.

In the end, Kouta makes the truly heroic move — he pledges to save the world even if there’s no place for him in it. That’s what real heroism is — choosing to do the right thing even at great personal cost to yourself. It means that his triumph at the end of this episode is that much more earned and cathartic, but it also makes us increasingly worried about what’s going to happen to him. Given the hints dropped here, I doubt it’s going to be anything good.

Random Observations

• This episode is also helped by frequent cuts back to the various other plotlines taking place, which help keep the action varied and interesting.
• The montage of Redyue talking to the frozen Zenith Arms Gaim goes on way too long and only draws attention to how heroically over the top Gaku Sano’s acting is.
• The entire episode would have been more effective if Kouta’s monster suit wasn’t so fantastically rubbish.