In this episode of Gaim the final battle is about to begin,
but first Zack has his own goal to achieve and thinks of a plan on his own.
Meanwhile Kouta starts to think about his future and what he could possibly do
for everyone, including Kaito.
To start the review I want to talk about Zack since he takes
the first half of the episode. It’s interesting how he was a minor character
who was simply part of Team Baron and then became its leader with the thanks of
being Knuckle. Now Zack still fought alongside with Kaito and even helped out
the other Beat Riders and now he is working on his own in many ways. Zack has
his own dreams like everyone else and he wants to achieve them and just like
Kouta and Kaito he has to make some sacrifices. Zack didn’t end up following
Kaito, but he just got close to him so that he can get a surprise attack on
him. With the help of Oren he gets a bomb that he hopes will kill Kaito. Again
this was just a good route for even a minor character like Zack since the
series did do some nice foreshadowing with his character as we start to see the
affect Kaito left onto people.
By this I clearly mean that Kaito gives people the power to
fight for what they want. I will easily get into more of Kaito’s character in
this, but first let’s just look at Zack. In the beginning he acted liked a
lackey and nothing else and when he got to be a rider if when he started to
branch out. Remember in Knuckle’s debut appearance when he fought with Kaito?
Kaito said that Zack will grow strong one day even without his support as this
was during the time when Kaito left the team. Zack became the leader of Team
Baron and he made his own decisions rather quickly and helped out Mai to
reunite the Beat Riders and the city’s thoughts on them. Zack is simply doing
what he wants for what he thinks is right and since Kaito is out to destroy the
world, Zack knows he has to be killed. Zack clearly knows Kaito and simply
talking with him will never work out. Zack had to take action since he wants to
protect something and that is worth fighting for. Kaito doesn’t have anything
to protect which is why he wants destruction and even though his follower
became someone to oppose him he still sees Zack’s strength. Kaito tells Zack
that he has gotten stronger and he defeats him like a rival and not a foe. If
Kaito saw Zack as a foe or something of that sort we know Kaito would have
killed him, but he doesn’t and lets him be, too bad someone else didn’t get it
easy.
Kamen Rider Gaim has done a lot of foreshadowing and most of
it was done correctly, but there was one thing that is well undercooked. This
has to deal with Yoko, Kamen Rider Marika. Ryouma even said that she is
stronger than one would imagine even though she gets taken down by Kouta a good
amount of times… Was that little foreshadowing moment really building up to
Yoko simply becoming Kaito’s follower? Now she did save Kaito from the
explosion which could mean something as well, but it’s just odd. It even hits a
sour note is that Yoko dies from falling off the building because of the
explosion. I do get what this may be pointing at since everyone in Yggdrasil
did try too much. Ryouma and Sid aimed for power and nothing else which became
their downfall. Takatora lived in regret and tried to fight against a power he
has no control over and tried to take people down to save just the few
survivors. Yoko did follow Ryouma and then she came with Kaito as maybe this
could be her crossing point. In the past she stayed with a scientist trying to
harbor great power for humanity and now she follows a man with god-like powers
in general. Yoko could just have been too close to the sun which leads to her
end. Only a god can change the world and one cannot follow a god so that is
Yoko’s fate. So I am indifferent with how she is used overall in the series
since she could have been done differently.
Kaito continues to be my favorite character of the series as
his character keeps expanding further. Again this is done well with the fact
that Kaito is acquiring more power, but he is not changing because of that.
Kaito never changed and even when people ask him questions if things played out
differently, he still stayed true to himself. The best example was with Yoko’s
final words. She asks Kaito if she had the Golden Fruit, would he be following
her. Kaito simply says that she and the Golden Fruit are two different things.
This means that Kaito would fight Yoko to gain the Golden Fruit. Kaito is a man
who knows sacrifices and death will lead to a better cause and this show has
many examples of that. Kaito just wants what he wants and that is something no
one else can give him or so he thinks.
The reason why Kaito fights is so that he can become strong
by gaining more power, but he also wants people to follow that same path. This
was apparent since his first appearance in the series, it’s just now he is
trying to make the whole world take a risk compared to helping a kid take a
risk. The problem is that Kaito doesn’t see that this world can carry the power
he wants the world to have which is why he is changing it and I don’t blame him
for thinking this. In his past he has seen a different side of power than
someone like Kouta has seen. His father and that man’s business was replaced by
someone clearly more powerful and that gave Kaito his ideology. Someone will
come into place and change things to acquire greatness and in many ways the
people were happy that Yggdrasil helped the city. Kaito is doing the same thing
and he trusts himself more since he stayed on his path. Yggdrasil had many
problems as Takatora, Ryouma, Sid, and Yoko all had their own ideals which
caused a split in their operations. The same happened for the Overlords as
Roshou thought his people were ready, but they just became monsters in the end.
So Kaito wants to do things by himself since he knows he will never betray
himself. The best part about Kaito is that he is fine with people overcoming him.
Kaito is all about people becoming strong a fighting for what they want so
overcoming him would be a great sign that people have become stronger. Kaito in
the end just wants a world where people can fight for what they want. This is
actually Steven Armstrong from Metal Gear Rising just taken with a more serious
tone.
Kouta in all of this is dealing with many problems. Kouta
now has to deal with a man he thought could change the world into something he
wanted. Kouta started to notice that he is his foil. Kouta and Kaito fight for
people who want to fight for what is right it’s just the two have different
ways of doing it. Agin Kaito wants to completely change the world so that people
can become stronger. Kouta on the other hand thinks that the people of this
world are strong and can do what even Kaito wants. This connects back to what
Mai said about Micchy. Mai said that she can still trust Micchy because he can
change and become a better person. Kouta is using that same ideology for the
people of this world since there were bad times, but he thinks that they can
come out stronger if they survive. Kouta still has trust in those people and
that is what he fighting for and that is what Kouta wants to protect which
could be want Zack wanted as well. There are just good character routes here
and it’s nice to see them connect in many specific areas. Kouta and Kaito just
end up being foils to each other as they want the world to be saved and have
different ways of doing that. Kaito wants to change the world completely so
that the truly strong may survive. While Kouta wants people to become stronger
and protect the world, but who will win in the end?
After a great exchange between Kouta and Kaito as they talk
about the world being changed and that Kouta will show Kaito what real power
is, the two begin to fight. This was a big fight and I can see that the series
has been building up to this for a long time. There are many callbacks with how
they start out fighting in their base forms and even have a bike fight that
reminds me of episode three. The two also go through their form changes showing
what they have been through. Kouta using the Jinba Arms going to Kachidoki
showing his struggle becoming his true power while Kaito does use Mango and his
Overlord form which shows the risks he has taken. These two are strong and they
are so strong that even fate itself keeps these two fighting each other no
matter what. I have seen rivalries before, but this has to be one of the best
in a long time. These two are similar in so many ways yet end up fighting on
two different sides, it’s a cliché, but with how the series has been playing
out this cliché becomes bigger and grander. The Inves was a nice touch to the
big fight as well seeing them group up with Kaito and Kouta and then seeing
them go all out was cool. There were still some bad CGI moments which did spoil
the middle section of the fight. Then the episode ends as Lord Baron clashes
with Kachidoki Arms meaning this fight will continue in the next episode. This
was a strong way to end the episode since in the next episode the world will
change as their fight will end. Also the song Ranbu Escalation fits perfectly
well and is a good song overall.
Overall episode forty-five continues the greatness that Gaim
has been having for a long time. The use or minor characters were much better
in this episode as Zack got to jump out again. The clashes of ideals and the
connections for what characters want really makes the story telling strong and
really emphasis on the whole there is no good and evil concept. Then the big
fight was a nice little spectacle to watch as I do hope the ending will end
stronger. This episode gets an A as I still do have some small problems here
and there with how Yoko was treated in the end and some bad use of CGI.
Next Time: The destined conclusion
PS: Listen to this song, it's Armstrong's theme from Metal Gear Rising the overall idea really fits well with Kouta's and Kaito's fight.
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