Kamen Rider Gaim Series Review

Kamen Rider Gaim easily brought something new to the Kamen Rider franchise as fans were quick to give this series praise… Then when the series was done the fans changed their minds so quickly… Either way I can say that Gaim was a big breath of fresh air as Kamen Rider still keeps me interested in current Toku. My episode reviews for this series was an interesting little trip I had. I felt like I improved on noticing things for themes and writing. It reminds me of when I was reviewing Kyoryuger, but I ended up loving Gaim and not having a battle with it. Anyways, let us take a bite of fruit and get some soda to chug it down with, it’s time to change fate!

Kamen Rider Gaim is about the tale of Kouta as he is growing up and decides to leave his little dance group. During that time he tries to find a new job, but doesn’t get any luck. Meanwhile, his little dance group, Team Gaim is having some trouble staying on top because of the new hip thing the Inves Games. There is a team called Baron that is dominating the scene with a strong leader and with some little cheaters. The leader of Gaim, Yuuya finds a way to get back on top, but before he gets a chance to make his scene, he vanishes. A close friend of Yuuya and Kouta, Mai asks Kouta to help her to find Yuuya and there they find a rift. In the rift is a mystical forest with many unique fruits and while they found the item that Yuuya was holding to, there was no Yuuya. There was a monster though and it’s out for blood! Kouta takes the belt and finds out that the fruit he was holding onto became Lock Seeds, the item that the dance groups are using in the Inves Games. Kouta decides to take a chance to use the belt and the seed as he transforms into Armored Rider Gaim a name which is given to him later. During his first fight, Mai appears, but with a whole different look. There she asks him if he is ready for what is about to come, during the time Kouta doesn’t realize what is happening and just wants to protect Mai. Ever since that day, Kouta started to use his powers to help the dance team and put them back on top and then there are many developments in the background happening.

Now here is the thing about Kamen Rider Gaim, the plot changes and I will easily go through those changes as well until the very late changes. The thing with Gaim though even in this first part of the series there are many hints to what is going to happening. There was the odd looking Mai, the many character hints with how Micchy and Kaito were acting, and the whole idea of fate being intertwined. Now one many think they can see what is coming up, but personally I know many people who couldn’t see what was going to happen. Now this is not a bad thing because the series has its hints and there are many of them. I really felt dumb for not seeing them at times because when you know what happens, you see the hints everywhere in the early episodes! Then there are even hints in those episodes as the series goes through four major arcs. The first one would be the Inves Games, second would be Yggdrasil, third would be the Helheim arc, and finally we got the finale. I easily could give them different titles, but I am trying to keep things a secret.

So I am going to talk about the second arc of the series for those who are wondering this is the last plot description I will have because it’s the biggest change to the overall tone of the series. This is a warning for anyone, but there will be some major spoilers and again this is only the second arc of the series. So during the time the Beat Riders have been fighting each other with Inves and Armored Riders, there has been a company in the background gathering information. This is Yggdrasil the company that ended up saving the town as they are using kids to be test experiments. Yggdrasil kept things enclosed very well and thanks to Armored Riders as well things were kept under control. Even if things got hairy for this company, they have do have optional plans. The Beat Riders will take the fall for the Inves invasions because they have been using them for games and the people take the bait and blame them in the end. It also doesn’t help that Beat Riders have found ways to use their Inves for other purposes like theft! Yggdrasil even uses another rider, Bravo to take out Beat Riders. Kouta after learning what has been happening wants to put an end to Yggdrasil and Micchy a close friend wants the same. The bad news is that Micchy is the younger brother of the president of Yggdrasil, Takatora. Now many would think Yggdrasil is being evil, but they are doing this for a greater good. They want to know what the Lock Seeds can do along with the Drivers because the world is in danger. The forest which is called Helheim and it already destroyed on civilization and it’s out to invade Earth and takeover! This is when the split starts to happen as Kouta finds a greater resolve, Micchy a boy who has been helping Kouta starts to disagree with him when he finds out the truth, Kaito goes on his own, and Takatora doubts his own plans. To further the stress, Takatora and three other members of Yggdrasil are given improve Drivers as these were called the Genesis Riders. Kouta does find new strength though with the Jinba Arms and later getting Kachidoki Arms and he finds a new truth about the forest. A scientist named Ryouma has been investigating the Inves in the Helheim forest and there is a special type of them as these become more apparent in the series and starting off the third arc of the series. 

There are many characters in Gaim as I did mention some of them in the plot descriptions, but many of them are minor. I will just talk about the main four riders and could mention anyone who is connected to them. First there is Kouta the main character of the series. This is a kid who wants to grow up and find a new job and he finds a chance to change his life and many other lives in general. Kouta goes through a strong progression of understanding of what is truly fighting for oneself and how that is not a horrible thing. Kouta also learns that to make his dreams a reality he may have to force things and he may regret some of his decisions as he continues to move on. Kaito, the rival character and my favorite Kamen Rider since Accel is simply an amazing character. His development is the most interesting since he doesn’t change as a character, except for some powers. The series does give him a back story and those events made him the person he is now. His ideal of power may seem wrong to many, but he is the same as Kouta in many ways. Both of these riders wants change to happen and who is to say which of them is right or wrong since the series doesn’t do things like that. Kaito wants people to become stronger and with the people he is with he can see that with Zack a fellow Armored Rider, Mai, and Yoko a Genesis Rider. Micchy is another big character as he is Kouta’s close friend and he is the most complex character of the main four. He is young, goes to a rich school, has a legacy to live up to, acts innocent around his friends, but acts sinister to anyone who wants to use him. The sad thing is that all of this makes the poor boy confused and he does things that can be unforgivable. People have different opinions about Micchy and just seem him as a villain, but again Gaim is not about that at all! Finally, there is Takatora the leader of many movements in Yggdrasil. Takatora lives in regret as he does want to save the world, but with his plans they do cause people to die. Takatora still does move forward though and Kouta learns that from him. Sadly many of his allies, Sid, Ryouma, Yoko, and even Micchy see things differently and act behind his back. Ryouma wants to advance his technology and become stronger that way while Sid just wants power and Yoko follows the ones who are truly strong. There are still many characters that I haven’t mentioned, but we will be here forever so I am moving on.

A major thing in this series is that it tears down the concept of good versus evil as there is good, but evil is not there. It’s even debatable what is good and what it means to be a hero in this show. Even people like Sid who just wants power isn’t evil, he’s just greedy. There are many people who do things for themselves and I wouldn’t call them evil. These would be people ran be desires and there are even other characters who do just kill and want to enslave humans, but again they are diabolical and yet I wouldn’t say evil. The characters I talk about are too dumb to even be considered evil and there is one who has many great plans and yet all she wants is a toy to play with. The leader of these guys is then not even a villain since he was a past hero in many ways who regrets what he did. Things even get more intense as the human characters get in heated battles with themselves as I will say this takes the concept of riders fighting each other that series like Ryuki and Faiz tried to do and actually makes it work for every scene. These are people fighting for what they believe in and at times it could be just desires. As I said before in my final episode review the series is about progressing in life and it’s a simple message as the shows goes to major extremes to show this. The story of the show is well written, the dialogue is smart, and all of that just excites you to see the confrontations and yet that build up is better than the actual fights.

Gaim wasn’t perfect as the show did suffer from the current rider sins, mostly the use of CGI. There are many moments where CGI will be used and it’s disgusting at times. There were some fights I do like from the series, but my goodness the CGI fights are all terrible. The series can use special effects well at times when it simply adds something to a slash or even some scenery use. The overall look of the Helheim Forest is beautiful, there is an actual set and the whole background is an effect. It easily felt like a whole different world which was the point. Still things like the bikes both in air and on ground can be ruined because of CGI and don’t get me started on Sukia Arms! Even some big fights that should be amazing ended up being bogged down by CGI like the final fight was disappointing in many points because I would rather see the small armies of Inves fight each other with the riders fighting each other. What ends up happening is that special effects are just thrown around everywhere as the final part of the fight was way more entertaining. What really saves the show was the overall story, but for an action show and having some fights being lackluster does affect the overall feeling.

The best fights would have to go to Jinba Arms

The show also has way too many characters and while some can get some cool moments, it’s very little compared to the major characters. I do like characters like Zack and Jonouchi, but their overall screen time is too little. Now this is good as well since the show can make good characters in little time, but then you do want more things for them at the same time. Also many characters ended up being for comedic use while I feel Jonouchi was the best example for comedy. Even though he has a huge progression of a fighter and he also becomes more comfortable with himself as he acts like Oren in future scenes. Now Oren was a different story as there was way too much put into him as his dialogue alone was funny and then the use of altering his voice or throwing effects around made it annoying. The overall comedy is most for Oren as well since he is a rider and gets more screen time than other characters. I do like Oren and yet his comedy can get annoying at points. There are other minor characters that do have some nice moments though like Badou the owner of a café.

Overall, Kamen Rider Gaim easily focused more on the story than anything else and for how much I loved the story, the dialogue, and the characters there are problems still. Some episodes were movie tie-ins and the beginning arc can be hard to get through at first even though I do have more positive thoughts for them compared to my initial viewings of those episodes. There is a ton of content regarding story and character development as we got broken characters, tragic characters, foils, and greedy characters and yet none of them are evil. Gen Urobuchi did a great amount of this show and I do love how his story broke free from the Bandai curse of constant toys being presented because soon the overall product placements gets lowered. There are new things to see, but later on things like that are heavily story driven. I still do like Kamen Rider Wizard, but Gaim is easily the superior show and the same can be said to Fourze and definitely OOO! Gaim was very much its own thing and yet it also felt like it worked with concepts from past Hesiei series that failed. Kamen Rider Gaim gets an A-

Kamen Rider Gaim Episode 43 Review: Lord Baron! (Major Spoiler Alert!!!)

The Golden Fruit continues to move the plot of the show as Micchy's and Kouta's fight comes to an end, but the results will surprise many. Another surprise is how Mai reacts to all of this.

The episode begins with a big bomb that is for sure, Micchy actually defeats Kouta. Kouta lets his guard down on purpose so when he takes a lethal blow he can get rid of the Hell Fruit Lock Seed. Micchy was in complete shock when this happens since he was in the heat of the moment. Micchy was saying things on how he would die for Mai as he didn’t care for his own life anymore. The whole Hell Fruit Lock Seed didn’t last long which does disappoint me in a childish way and by that I mean I can’t see this form anymore. In an actual story purpose, it’s great that this Lock Seed is gone because it gave Micchy a complete wake-up call though. Still having Kouta die at that moment is a big shock on its own right, especially when it first happened. Many fans were in disarray because of this since many of those fans just hate Micchy without understanding his character.

Micchy again is a character that is lost and this episode really proves all of that. When Kouta is talking to Micchy he says on how they used to be friends not so long ago and even he wonders how that got lost so quickly. Kouta even tells Micchy that he has his whole future and that a few mistakes won’t be ruining his life. Micchy has been confused for a long time in the series and Kouta is telling him that it’s fine to be confused. There is a long road ahead and a few mistakes won’t be destroying it. Kouta is telling Micchy to forgive himself and sadly Micchy is going to have a hard time doing that now because of Kouta’s death. At the least though, Micchy will try to keep Mai alive for Kouta’s sake. So Micchy who would die for Mai has now changed his path to stay alive and keep someone else alive for Kouta, sadly this couldn’t happen.

A huge scene that happens is that Micchy finally gets the biggest knife in his back. There have been other knives in his back mostly from Reduye and the other Overlords, but Ryouma simply put him out of commission. He ends up taking the Golden Fruit for himself and that means the operation was a success, but only for him. He killed Mai just to get the Golden Fruit since as he said before the fruit was infused with her heart. I will easily get to how delightfully evil Ryouma was in this episode later as he really turned the tables. Well with Mai dead in front of Micchy’s eyes he breaks down and Ryouma soon starts to take that to his advantage. First he kills Takatora’s belt, preventing Micchy from transforming into the strongest form. Ryouma then starts to tell Micchy that Takatora tried to prevent Micchy from growing up too fast since the real adults will easily punish those who were not ready. That moment clearly shows that the confused Micchy was not prepared for what was going to happen and major consequences are happening because of him. He was more collected, he could have had a chance to prevent or at least change things, but Mai will try to do that.

Mai is dead there is no doubt about that, but her spirit lives on within the Golden Fruit. With this she obtains a new form and some new powers since she is literally the Golden Fruit. With unimaginable powers she decides to change the future by traveling between time itself and try warning everyone to back away. What’s really interesting is that we do learn that she did succeed at one point, but it was thanks to Sagara that put things back into line. It was also interesting to see that Sagara was traveling around with Mai meaning he is a being that could already do this. He decides to be an observer and when something got out of line he simply put it back into place so he can continue to watch what he wanted. What I didn’t get was that the things Mai were saying was not what she wanted to say. This is shown with her telling the heroes of their fates cryptically and not straight to the point while the real Mai wanted to tell them right off the bat they will die. Maybe it is due to the fact that not even the Golden Fruit can do that much or maybe Sagara was affecting her words since he was following with her in time. Either way her words got changed and ended up not helping the situation; it clearly did change certain things though.

With this episode flashing back to the previous episodes were Mai tried to warn the heroes of their fate, there were other callbacks to the series. First there was seeing Sagara announcing during the time of the Inves Games and even dressing up like the deejay again. The whole time his role was apparent since the beginning of the series as he observed things and announced them to others. There were even callbacks with Kaito since he had to make a choice the Helheim Fruit. He holds it in his hand as this is reminder of the time he was going to work for Ryouma and the others when first investigating the Overlords as he crushes the fruit in his hands. This time however he takes a bite out of the fruit and even talks about Hase. His transformation then even reminds me of Demushu since Kaito gained Overlord powers and used one of them during a fight. It’s amazing when the series starts doing these callbacks as they that shows how much the show has been playing the audience with foreshadowing. This is great for watching the show again and it’s just great writing in general.

I really feel that Ryouma has been at his finest during these recent episodes because he was constantly keeping up with how things have been changing. The many events of this show would clearly scare many away or even break them, but Ryouma not only stays he still becomes a major player and stays on his road. He wanted the fruit and he stayed true to that as he killed someone for that with no doubt whatsoever. He even tricked Micchy to kill Kouta for him and with his kill switch that destroys the other Genesis Drivers, he has nothing to worry about or so he thought. With all of that, Ryouma was letting his true self go as he was strangling Micchy and brutally beating up Kaito. Things really got out of pace even for Ryouma though as he started to lose it when the Golden Fruit vanishes and when Kaito got his new powers. The thing with Ryouma is that he kept with science and could never predict the impossible. I mean who would know that the Golden Fruit could become sentient pretty much and that humans could actually become Inves and maintain their minds? Sadly, these were then Ryouma’s final moments in the series and that is probably why they made him this big player during the recent episodes. Still the series even noted that he would be a big foe with that one fight he had with Kouta in the middle of the series.

Kaito took a huge leap in today’s episode as things were looking bad for him as he could die from the Helheim’s poison in his body. During the fight with Ryouma he loses because he is just using the standard driver and Ryouma is more of a cheater than a strong fighter. The poison starts to hurt him again and then things get interesting at that point. I did love how Kaito was losing it since this was a do it or die moment and he was saying some lines like starting an experiment. So he takes a bite into the fruit and becomes Lord Baron! Well that is what I’ve been hearing what it’s called and I would like to consider this a new form for Baron. First of all I love the design; it’s easily my favorite of the Overlord designs right next to Roshou. First it clearly works with Baron’s mold as he still has the horns like in his base form and he still has some form of shoulder pads. The color palette is similar, but the amount of silver is replaced with red and black. There are still touches of yellow which clearly reminds me of Banana Arms. Kaito just took down Ryouma with no problems then which lead to a rather silly moment. Ryouma starts telling Kaito that he will soon die because of this new form since Ryouma is a man of science and rejects that humans can evolve without it. Then he just falls off a building… there was even the odd moment with all of the feathers around Micchy and Kouta…

The action was quite low since Kouta was killed off early in the episode which should feel more overwhelming than I thought, but I know he is coming back even when I saw this for the first time. Still there was Lord Baron completely dominating Ryouma in a fight which was still rather fast. Again I bet the series had to save up money for a really big fight since the finale is coming close, but this is why they had this big reveal or turning moments. Gaim is clearly more about the story which is great since good drama can easily replace action. Still seeing Lord Baron like that was awesome since he was using the many powers that were soon dominating him. The effects were used well which is probably why is a quick fight since they can’t have too many effects used.

Episode forty-three is just another stellar episode, what really made this episode stand out the most was the use of callbacks. Then how they tried to show that Kouta died was a way to pull at the audience’s strings again. Micchy’s whole character starts breaking down as he killed Kouta and couldn’t save Mai as Ryouma soon gives him a complete scare of his life. Ryouma was amazingly evil again and on top of things until Lord Baron came. As I said there were some strange moments like Ryouma’s death and even with something like Sagara exploring with Mai in time, I was laughing when I think I shouldn’t have. With that though this episode gets an A-

Next Time: Hail to the king, baby!

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?!

Kamen Rider Gaim Episode 41 Review: Roshou The King Of the Overlords (Major Spoiler Alert!!!!)

The time has come for the riders, they finally meet the king of the Overlords, Roshou. Kouta and Kaito head to him to save Mai, but what is in store for them? Can these two actually stand up to Roshou and what of the Golden Fruit?

This was an intense episode that really packed way more action than a usual episode. This is clearly where the series has been building up to in the previous episodes. Micchy starting to fight with no doubt, Kaito already in the game and still staying strong, and now even Kouta has found his resolve. Is it really possible for Kouta and Kaito to actually defeat Roshou and gain the Golden Fruit, no they couldn't. These two were defeated with barely any effort from Roshou clearly showing the powers of the Golden Fruit. What's even more shocking is that Roshou didn't even have the fruit in his hands during the time of the fight which I will cover later. I was confused on the fact of how he could be able to use the Golden Fruit without even having it, but I guess once someone takes a bite out of it, the powers will stay with whoever took that bite. This is one powerful fruit for sure since Roshou really shown what the fruit can do like even creating new life!

As I said before Roshou doesn't have the Golden Fruit anymore, but that doesn't mean the riders got it. Mai is the one who has gained the fruit thanks to her words giving a clearer insight to Roshou. Roshou was talking about how lonely he was since he lost everything and he won't help anyone because of that. Roshou saved many of his people for naught and even the one he loves is lost. Roshou thinks she lives in regret for giving the fruit to him, but Mai says something that gives him some insight. Mai tells Roshou that his lover trusted his words since he was doing an overall good deed and Roshou remember that she did give him the fruit for that purpose. Roshou had a strong idea, but his resolve wasn't the strongest. Roshou knows now that he can at least give the humans a chance by planting the fruit into Mai and sending her back to Earth. Roshou has now done the task his race can only do now and that was to give the humans a chance to survive and prevent a future just like theirs. Again Roshou clearly shared traits that Takatora had, but he also resembles Kouta in many ways since he was also a hero trying to do good for the world. He even attained the Golden Fruit to do so just like how Kouta is trying to get it.

It's amazing that Roshou only had this fight in the entire series unless you count him killing Sid as a fight. Roshou didn't pull a single punch when facing the two riders and my goodness it was amazing to watch. In many series I have watched the heroes always have a comeback, but that didn't happen at all for this fight. Roshou stayed in the lead because of the power he has gained. I loved all the effects being used as I can tell the budget was waiting for this moment. Thanks to this being in the Helheim the effects come out better and my goodness there were a lot. Roshou had lightning attacks and his force powers as well had this lovely blue tint to them and I loved seeing the blue tint shining onto Roshou's white body. So many things looked natural for Roshou to have which really helps with special effects, when they actually look realistic for the show's world. Even the effects from the riders were top notch like the simple yellow laser arrow that Roshou grabs and uses against the riders. Even the orange flames looked amazing as they completely covered the rider's bodies, this is also thanks to good lighting works while the effects are being used, making them actually look like they are there. There were even simple touches from Roshou's blade getting a bright blue on them just worked perfectly for this fight.

Even when Kaito is taken out of the fight things still continue well with Kouta still standing up. First of all, Roshou is really not holding back this is a fight for the Golden Fruit and he will kill anyone who is not worthy. Kouta stayed up longer than one would think considering since Kaito was defeated quickly. Roshou could even create new life and use Inves to attack Kouta and he still fought his way through. In the end though Roshou was far too powerful and even with Kwimai Arms, Kouta lost and even his Lock Seed was destroyed in battle. Roshou does die and by Reduye's hands as she sneaks an attack on Roshou and even pulls the fruit from his body. Sadly the fruit Roshou was holding wasn't the real one and causes Reduye to completely kill Roshou while demanding to know where the fruit is. Kouta is beyond furious with Reduye as she has been going too far for too long and he is going to put an end to that.

Before getting to the next and final fight for Reduye I want to mention how much the acting was near perfect. Micchy and Reduye got the crazy part hands down with Micchy completely breaking down. Even good visual signs with his hair in a mess and his eyes red in many shots really shows the state Micchy is in right now. Reduye even had these happy moments when she thought she had the fruit in her hand and then quickly transitioning to manically killing Roshou with an angry voice was perfect. Roshou kept his stoic yet harsh voice in check which I always loved. Kaito and Kouta were really experiencing pain and they sounded and looked liked it. Many people were really dead on with their performances, even Jonouchi and Oren were!

The final fight for Reduye was another good one thanks to the strong use of effects in this episode. Kouta has achieved Overlord powers from the last episode, but now he has full control of them. His eyes glowed red and he even restored his Kachidoki Lock Seed from when Roshou destroyed it. The song, Kiwami Escalation was playing during this song and it's a good song and I will easily get more into that when it's played for a longer amount of time. Still seeing Kouta using the powers of the Overlords were amazing as he defeats Reduye with ease. I mostly love the part when he uses Roshou's sword thanks to the vegetation grabbing it for him. There was more of a simple effect with speeding up moments which were quick and shown with a little blur, but still quite effective. I will say though having the same finisher done on Reduye did make the fight feel a bit anti-climatic though. 

Other things that happened in this episode were the end of Micchy fighting Kaito as the two ends up just punching each other in the face while yelling at each other. I do love the fact that Kaito was telling Micchy's problems and then those words are put into Micchy's subconscious as his brother's ghosts comes back. Takatora tells that Micchy is the only one is not worth anything which comes from Kaito telling that Micchy is only lying to himself about how he thinks about Mai saying Micchy just wants her as a doll. Again Micchy had these bloodshot eyes and it really worked into how crazy Micchy has become. Later on he does fight Jonouchi and Oren and props to them for surviving, I knew they would, but still give them some credit. The two had some trouble with Micchy, but they had a funny moment when Jonouchi literally becomes an acorn missile and launches himself at Micchy, it even knocks him out. I do like though how Jonouchi is picking up Oren's confidence as it's creating a more likable personality for him.

Overall this was a strong episode that ends most of the payoff, but yet there is even more build up put into this episode. Mai has the Golden Fruit now and Micchy is freaking out and even Ryouma is worried about this. Then there is the fact that Kouta is getting up those steps for his goal while Kaito for once stands back and is left in shock. The show is really going to get stronger even with the end of the Overlords and their race. I do have to say though this episode had a strong ending with seeing Roshou's lover at the end seeing him to the end as they both rest eternally. The episode gains abother A because there was that one anti-climatic episode and some hiccups with the effects even when the majority of them was good.

Next Time: The Final Lock Seed

Kamen Rider Gaim Episode 40 Review: Destruction Or Salvation? (Spoiler Alert!!!!)

In episode forty of Gaim, Kouta and Ryouma find the hostages, but Reduye has something in mind for Kouta as he shows him his fate. Will Kouta accept whatever his fate is, or will he break free and finish his mission?

There is no doubt that Reduye is the real mastermind anymore, she has been on the ball with her plans and in this episode she almost got Kouta in her grasps. She tries to show Kouta that he is becoming an Overlord which is something that Kouta does want, but he never realized that being an Overlord would mean becoming an Inves. The Inves and even the Overlords were what Kouta has been fighting for the whole time and just saw them as the enemy. Kouta himself is becoming what he has been fighting and even what he has been searching for since he did try to convince the Overlords to help the world. For once Kouta is put into someone else's shoes for a change and Reduye finds the best way for this role reversal. Kouta becomes the first Inves he had to fight which was Yuuya and now Yuuya has become Gaim. I do have to wonder how Reduye knew about this, but I bet it's because she dived straight into his mind so she saw his memories or maybe Micchy has been telling her? Either way this was a devious plan thought up by Reduye and it really gets Kouta to start questioning himself.

So with Kouta in the role of the Inves he starts to see that having power will have consequences. While Mai is with Roshou, Sagara appears and starts to tell Mai of Kouta's fate. Since he could gain the power of the forbidden fruit, Kouta only has two choices. Those would be to save the world and leave himself out of it or save himself and change the world in his view. Reduye even shows Kouta this by having the Inves attack civilians and telling him that this can be his own world. This whole concept of showing Kouta this point of view was great since it really went back and forth. There were times that Kouta tried to stay his real self in this new world and then being seen as a monster and actually going along with it. The reason why people would fight Kouta is because he has too much power and that would break the balance of the world. Kouta already having a small sample of the forbidden fruit is breaking that law and thus he is changing already. There were signs of him not being able to eat normally and by the end of the episode we see that Kouta has control of the forest's vegetation. People are already afraid of monsters to begin with and just knowing that is easier to understand than actually understanding the situation.

This really dives into the idea I have brought up before in my previous review with the ideas of how heroes are portrayed. Many people would say the means justify the ends, but in the real world the ends stay true the most. Kouta would have saved the world with the power he gained, but the people would only see him as a monster in the end. Kouta has to understand that people will be afraid of him because of that power and there have been heroes who faced this struggle before. This really reminds me of how No More Heroes shown Destroyman, a superhero who just loves to kill and that just shows the end results of some of the so called heroic deeds of heroes. How Gaim works with it is similar, but they completely throw out the hero idea out of it. When Kouta breaks free and fights the Inves in the illusion he simply says that he is on a mission. Kouta is not sacrificing himself for the people as he is doing this for himself. Kouta wants to save the world and he will not ignore that part of his mission. I bet he does understand now that people will be afraid of him no matter what. In the end though Kouta wants to save the people and the entire world which is what he wants the most no matter what.

In the previous episodes people have been asking of him of how far he will go to save the people. This is the moment that really shows that Kouta will keep on going now. He had to fight his former friend in an illusion and he still accepts the fact that he is no longer of this world. Even if Kouta saves the world those he has died will not come back. He gets a better understanding of how much he needs to do and this actually starts building a parallel between him and Kaito. I have mentioned before that Kaito already has this mindset and he really takes that to an extreme level. Kaito will change the world in his vision and will have people follow him. Kouta in the previous episodes even wanted Kaito to be the one to change the world and yet he doesn't know if Kaito really wants the same world that he wants. Kouta just knows that Kaito can change the world and now Kouta is starting to understand that he needs to be the one to save the world and not just simply change it. I bet Kouta won't be as aggressive as Kaito and yet he will start to do things with only himself in mind. Again Kouta is on a mission and he won't let anyone stop that mission.

Reminding me of Kaito he did get some moments in this episode. First I would love to mention how he frees the hostages by simply breaking the machine with his foot! Everyone tried to release everyone at first and then Kaito just gives the machine his boot! Again this really shows how different Kaito is, he knows the end results and will aim for those. Then there was him fighting Micchy which I have to say there was a cool camera moment for this episode. To avoid showing the two transforming with all of the effects they simply had a pan out shot of them running while starting up their transformation. As the camera goes off of them then, the two appear in their armor in the middle of a clash. Again this was for budget reasons and yet this was a cool way of getting around that as we could imagine what happened ourselves which is always a good sign for camera work. The shot was straight and simple and when it goes away from the scene we can still tell what is happening, again the world of the camera is large and many things can happen even if we can't see it. Going along Kaito straight up tells Micchy he is being used and yet the boy thinks he is using them. I really do love how Gaim gives the audience a chance to learn what is going on and then the show itself will tell the answer at a longer point of time just in case for those who didn't get it and can then look back and realize when things started.

Episode forty really focused on one thing this time and it deserved all of its screen time. Kouta learning that power causes fear is something he needed to know of. With how Kouta fights back in the end was fantastic and he is clearly staying on track of his mission. Again the show is really working the concept of heroes and villains and is trying to break that down. One can easily been seen as a hero or a villain, but that doesn't matter. The end result is what really matters and as Kaito said before those who have power and use it will change how things play out. They are the people who change the world even if they have bad intentions or not the world will simply change for them. Then there is Kaito who is trying to break down the idea of destroying the rules of the world and most importantly the rule of destruction itself. This episode gets an A for giving Kouta another strong moment in the series and really making him one of the best main characters in the franchise.

Next Time: The battle for the forbidden fruit!