Kamen Rider Gaim Episode 31 Review: So Much Red! (Major Spoiler Alert!!!!)

For those who are wondering I decided to skip on episode thirty because it's just a movie tie in episode. There is a reason why it took me a while to review the Gaim and Toqger crossover and that was because I had to catch up with Toqger. I needed to know what the other show was about and how the characters were portrayed. This is the problem I have with episode thirty, it's a tie in with the new Kikader movie and sadly I don't know all that much about Kikader. I have seen little bits of Kikader like the live action show and the animated series, but not to a full extent yet. Also episode thirty is a bit bare to do a fully fledged review on so for now I will skip it, sorry for anyone who wanted my full thoughts on it. I will say I did enjoy the episode though. Going on though, episode thirty one continues the story where the Red Overlord appears in the city as Kouta, Kaito, and Yggdrasil try their best to prevent him from destroying the city. Meanwhile Micchy and Sid meet up with the Green Overlord who will lead them to the forbidden fruit.

The first thing I want to talk about is the depth they put into both Kouta and Kaito for this episode. Kouta was still thinking of keeping the Overlord alive because of how they could help with the forest even though the red one just wants destruction. He fights because it's fun for him as he loves to test his might. Kaito kept telling Kouta about how this monster could even help out. Kaito even sees he's just a power hungry fool who just aimlessly swings his blade. Something funny to note is that Kaito does share something with the Overlord which is something I will get to later. So when the Overlord tells Kouta about how much fun he has with destroying and fighting Kouta realizes what Takatora has just learned recently. Kouta sees what really took down the Overlord's past civilization based on how the Overlord talked. I love the parallels we are getting here as looking at this in a writing viewpoint really makes the show seem grander. It's an easy observation to have, but the thought of planning things out for the whole series is an amazing task. I am highly impressed on where the show keeps going and now Kouta himself is taking a stand against the Overlords now as he sees one of them is nothing, but a barbarian.

Kaito in this episode was my favorite part as his character got a lot of great moments. First is how he was talking with the Overlord as he talks like he already knew the Overlord. What Kaito said was right, he was learning things through fighting and his ideology seems to be fitting more than Kouta's ideas at least for this moment. Also Kouta ends up fighting in the end so in a way Kaito was right. What was really interesting was how he reacted to the other events. When Yggdrasil shows up they try to take Kouta down and in the process, the Overlord knocks him out. When Kaito got his chance he transformed and saved Kaito from the chaos. He talked back saying that Yggdrasil could have gotten Kouta on their side since they came out to fight the Overlord which is what he was doing. Kaito is actually more observant than I thought he was. Kaito is really in the middle of the opposing forces in the series. Sure he is working for Yggdrasil, but at the same time he helps Kouta and even protects the man. Kaito has taken information from both sides and I bet he knows how to find common ground which I have a feeling could be happening soon.

Later on there was a scene where Kaito drops off Kouta so that he can heal up, but before he leaves Kouta asks him something. Kouta asks him if he has the same viewpoint as the Overlord. This viewpoint being about power and the meaning of fighting, for the Overlord he sees that the crushing the weak is right for the victor and Kaito even responds with a yes to the question. Kouta gets mad, but he can barely even stay awake to do anything. What's amazing is that Kaito tells Kouta that he needs to get stronger and soon him and Zack head out to fight the Overlord. Even though Kaito does believe in the strong conquering the weak it's because he has learned that from experience and it's more like he wants to prevent people from being defeated and most importantly himself. Kaito wants to be strong so that he can never be crushed and I think he wants others to be like that as well. He wants people to be strong so that they can continue on and the discussions he had with Mai easily show that. Kaito takes in consideration that Mai's strength could be stronger than what it seems as he waits to see if she is right. Kaito is not like the Overlord as he wants to help a person become strong which is something that was apparent since his first reveal and it's amazing how he is used in the series. Many characters have changed their thoughts many times and yet Kaito remained the same. He still develops and moves along with the series, but he keeps his views. Kaito is still heavily enjoyable ever since the series started and this is why he's my favorite character.

Going about other people who tried to fight the Overlord, Yggdrasil took an interesting stance on how to do things. First of all, there was way more destruction compared to previous Inves attacks as the mayor of the city calls Yggdrasil. How he was talking really made me think that he knew about their operations. The mayor literally says that the causalities would be low and easy to cover up. So does he know about Project Ark then? With the mayor in flames though, Ryouma takes control of the city, literally! He shuts off any communications in the city so that the news wouldn't spread out and sends his men to take the Overlord down. Marika and Kurokages appear and surprisingly their tactics were smart. The Kurokages are easily out matched so they had to set smoke bombs and get some aerial coverage on the Overlord. Sadly, they couldn't stay strong the whole time as they are all taken down as Marika pretty much as to fight alone. Ryouma doesn't even care for these deaths as it seems Yoko is having some second thoughts on everything as she talks to Ryouma in a different tone. Luckily, Kaito and Zack show up to help as the episode ends around there.

Alright that's the end of the review then, nah just kidding there is much more to cover here. First off there is the fact that both Micchy and Sid have their part in the episode. The Green Overlord appears as she does fight the two and is almost outmatched by them. She thinks of a plan though as she tells the two where the forbidden fruit is. Now Sid just follows the path and Micchy does as well, but he catches on what the Overlord is thinking. When she takes the two to the place Sid heads off as Micchy gets a chance to talk with the Overlord. Micchy sees what she wants and that is the forbidden fruit. What's funny is that this Overlord is pretty much Micchy. The Overlord is trying to keep it's hands clean and tries to use both Sid and Micchy to get it for them. How many of Micchy's plans had him out of the conflict? Or whenever there was a plan Micchy was usually in the background so these two have some interesting common ground. When Micchy yells at the Overlord she takes an interest in him. These two are going to have more with each other I bet as this was an interesting pairing as both these two are masterminds or I should say one is trying to be. The Overlords have shown before that they're not that smart and this only makes Sid look a bit dumber in comparison then.

Now before I get to Sid I think it's time to talk about the forbidden fruit. It has been discussed about in the previous episode where Takatora talks with the leader. This time however the leader tells Takatora that the fruit won't be used for humanity. This is when Sagara comes in as Takatora wants to know the Overlord's reason. As he appears he talks to the Overlord in a casual sense even speaking his name out, Roshou. Sagara says that Roshou has already intended for the fruit to be for humanity. Sagara gives him some news though, that having one species fight for two forbidden fruit is against the rules. Roshou tells him otherwise though and says he will use the fruit for a better purpose. What Roshou wants is to save one life that is precious to him and he will let seven billion lives die for this cause. We then see a flashback of probably when Roshou was given the fruit of knowledge and I have a feeling I know who gave it to him. What's cool is that in the flashback we clearly see a shadow of Roshou before he transformed into the Overlord we know today. It such a little touch to have, but again this is world building! There is back story to learn from this series as it creates a sense of wondering. Gaim clearly knows how to use that element and it's mostly thanks to the Overlords right now.

After that scene Sagara tries to bargain with Roshou as he is trying to even the playing field once more. Sagara even thinks there is still hope for humanity, as he could be talking about Kouta. Roshou wonders if Sagara is trying to help the humans a bit too much, but Sagara again is just here to balance things out. Seeing Sagara again just makes me wonder of who he is. He has said before he is an observer and is simply trying to make things interesting, but why? Also he clearly has connections with people including Roshou the leader of the Overlords! Sagara easily has something about him as the series is constantly teasing this at us. It's a good tease though as we get more ideas of what Sagara could be while the show continues on. So Roshou agrees with Sagara and gives him an item straight from the fruit itself. It's a new Lock Seed, but it's far different than the others as it's a key for some reason. All I can say is that I know who Sagara is going to give this to.

Now for Sid, oh now I get to Sid. He was truly an evil character as he kept fighting for what he wanted. It didn't matter if there was any sense of wrong, for Sid everything is right as long as he is happy. When Sid comes for the forbidden fruit he decides to fight Roshou as things don't go well for him. Sid is outmatched as Roshou clearly as more power than him. Sid only gets one chance of attack as it's blocked with ease and then Roshou holds him down with some force like energy. Roshou gives him once chance to leave, but Sid yells out that no one is giving him orders anymore. This is actually something interesting about Sid as he took orders for a long time, he's been probably waiting for a moment to break free for a long time. Sid even wanted to be more than human as his lust for power mostly had with him wanting to be in the lead to be the powerful one so that no one can boss him around. In the end, Sid keeps fighting for the fruit as Roshou gives him the gift of death. He breaks opens a cliff and sticks Sid between the crack as he crushes the man in the cliff. This last moment of Sid gave him some more character bits to analyze and it's makes me wonder why he had this lust for power. Sid did take things too far though as he does deserve his death as he didn't even try to save Hase from before, he just killed him with no problems. I have mixed feelings on his death since he was one of the closest things we had to evil in the series, but at the same time he just felt like a person who wanted more in his life and knew the price he would have to take for that. Finally, Sid's death shows that the show is getting on a more serious path as we have our second rider death in the series as this could soon happen to other riders.

This was just another powerful episode in the series as the last moments really surprised me. I can't really recall a death like Sid's in the franchise in such a long time. The closest I can think of was Ryuki since those deaths were brutal. Gaim clearly is taking notes from the history of the franchise and is using them to their best potential. Along with that, the use of characters are great and the action in this episode was a bit lower so that there could be more drama, but there were still strong moments like when Kouta takes a stand against the Overlord. It's just another perfect episode for me, I can't really think of any flaws other than little nit picks, A+

Next Time: Dai Dai Dai Shogun!

Also for a quick update, I did a further analyse on the recent Smash Bros news. (http://herotaku.com/blog/1/entry-13207-further-analysis-of-lucina-and-robin-in-super-smash-bros-wii-u3ds/)