Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Kamen Rider Gaim Episode 42 Review: Hell Fruit (Major Spoiler Alert!!!!)


With Roshou and the rest of the Overlords gone, it seems like this is the time for victory, but the Overlords were simply giving the forest less time to devour the Earth. Helheim is still spreading and in this episode we start to find the reason why it's around as the characters start to express more of their views.
So let us get straight to the elephant in the room, we find out who Sagara is and the whole reason of why the Helheim forest is around. The answer was right in front of us the whole time, Sagara was the forest itself. I would say this is a bit on the crazy side, but it does make sense since Sagara can clearly change forms and him knowing of the Overlords and their whole history makes sense. Then how he can make the fruit even makes more sense since he is the forest itself. Then him being a snake is odd, but that is just an Adam and Eve thing right there, I mean there is a golden apple as well so that's just obvious. Now I am just going to look back on the previous episodes knowing that DJ Sagara was the forest the whole time, my goodness that's just weird. Overall I do like this resolution since why Sagara is doing this dives into a concept that Kamen Rider did try before.
Sagara, or by this point I should say Helheim appears because he wants to see things evolve. Again he is simply an observer and being around ends up testing the people who find the forest. This even fits with how Sagara affected the other characters by tempting them with more power like how he gave Kouta new powers. Helheim then chooses this approach since if a race fails it simply means they are done for and don't deserve to live on. The race was simply too weak enough to endure the trial of Helheim and because of that they died off just like the Overlords' race. Many times he has said that destruction brings anew and he clearly means that for the world itself. Now the concept of evolving has been done before, but Faiz didn't really do it that well or I should say it barely focused on it. Gaim is literally a show about progress and with heroes growing with new powers and the main hero himself becoming an Overlord easily shows how evolution is being done correctly. So with Helheim revealing itself and it's plan there is actually someone else who would agree with those views.
Kaito is suffering through his wounded that was given to him by Reduye, but Kaito still stays true to himself. With the Overlords gone now, Kaito reveals that he was simply stopping the Overlords reign since they were clearly stronger than humans. This was easily Kaito trying to show that humans can stand up and sadly he wasn't the one who did it, that was thanks to Kouta taking down Reduye. When Kouta realizes though that the forest will continue to spread, Kaito speaks out saying it is not a bad idea for the forest to devour the world. Kaito is simply seeing that the powerful will survive in the new world since they deserved it. Kaito even sees that the past Overlords and their race were simply too weak to take on the forest and adapt to it. If Kaito knows that humans can survive through this that is fine enough for him since a new and stronger race will come out of it. This was a great scene to have in the beginning of the episode since we find out about Sagara being Helheim as well. This was a clever way of hinting the point of the forest.
There was another scene with Kaito that soon reveals where these thoughts came from and it's something we knew for a long time in the series. Previous, Kaito's home was taken away by Yggdrasil and since then Kaito tried to find his place in the city. Kaito was showing his strength through the Inves Battles back then and even before that he was a dominating man. Again Kaito stayed the same throughout the whole series as his views have not changed ever since the beginning of the series. Things simply changed and Kaito adapted through that with those ideals of his. When Yoko finds out about Kaito's wound, even he starts to consider that he could fall in the end. Yoko asks him though about why he thinks that having Helheim spread out would be good, but Kaito simply says why not. Kaito has nothing left in this world that he even wants to save. Kaito has always been my favorite character in the series and that still continues because of his views and what continues to strive him forward even in a world with nothing of value to him. Kaito lives because he is strong and that strength alone will keep pushing him and for him the strong ones are those who are rewarded.
Mai is then becoming a central role of the plot thanks to the golden fruit being planted inside of her. The fruit is having a strange reaction on her body and will be changing her into an Overlord. Mai is given a new role though, she has become the bearer of the fruit and she will decide who will have it in the end. This is when Sagara reveals himself by telling both Ryouma and Micchy that the fruit was given to her by him in a technical standard. Helheim appears before Mai in her subconscious telling about how it's not her role to see things till the end. Mai was one of the people who didn't want to see the world end, but now she cannot stop it. Again Helheim tells her that the future is coming and nothing will stop it and for something to begin anew something must be destroyed, wow Gaim is even doing Decade's story better. So I have a feeling that the Mai we have been seeing was trying to stop the events from happening as she could be from a different timeline since fate does have its way of grabbing people.
Micchy starts to have even more issues now since everything is crumbling before him. Ryouma even finds a way to use the poor boy to his. Ryouma gives Micchy a new Lock Seed, the Hell Fruit which will drain one's life for great power. If Micchy uses this he can stop Kouta since he will clearly have Mai offer herself to save the world. Micchy simply wants Mai to be around him and with that resolve in him he takes the risk. Before heading off to fight Kouta though he has another interesting psychological moment. Micchy is starting to see that he was doing nothing in the grand scheme of things, he was just in the way. Micchy even starts to wonder what he was fighting for and can't even remember Mai's smile clearly noting that he has lost his way and cannot find a way to turn back. Takatora's ghost then appears and tells Micchy that he has been betraying people and nothing else. Again Takatora's ghost is simple Micchy's guilt manifesting in Micchy's imagination. Micchy will die for Mai though as he decides to use the Lock Seed even if the idea of his death leading to nothing as of a result in the back of his head.
Micchy finds Kouta and uses the new Lock Seed as it changes Ryugen's look. First the green coloring is replaced with red and the new form looks like a combination of Grape and Kiwi Arms. The new looks really shows a dark form nicely with the use of red, green, gold, and black. Red clearly takes the whole color scheme, but with the other colors filling in the eyes and other design pieces, it really feels like a hellish form. Also I do love how this gives Micchy a new way of fighting and to make him actually be more of a threat since we already saw what he could do with a strong resolve before. Again Micchy has lost his mind and yet he still has a resolve thanks to that as all he wants is for Mai to live on. The fight then with Kouta and Micchy was good with showing how strong the Hell Fruit is. Micchy doesn't hold back and uses its powers multiple times. The form even gives Kachidoki a run for its money, but the fight ends when Kiwami comes into play to be a cliffhanger.
Episode forty-two simply works with the buildup of Mai having the Golden Fruit and now things keep building up. There is Kaito who wants the forest to devour the world and Marika is even joining him with that ideal. Micchy has gained a new power and with his resolve to save Mai he will die for her. Then there is Kouta who has to deal with all of these events going on. Just how will he save Micchy or could he have to deal the final blows to his former friend. The drama in this episode was nicely done except for Kaito's scene with Yoko since the rain was a little too loud and got distracting at points. My favorite part would probably have to be with Micchy because there was nice use of camera focusing and Micchy's actor showing the character breaking down was well done. Overall this episode gets an A- as the next episode will probably end of this payoff, but just gives us even more and I can't wait for that.
Next Time: A new Overlord?!

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