Kamen Rider Gaim Ep 30 - "The Red and Blue Kikaider"

[Tendou Soujiro]

I hope he keeps his head bandages on to start episode 31.

No way that's happening because this episode took place 2 weeks before the last episode.

 

[Undrave]

Not much to talk about with this one is there? it was totally stand alone with very few of the regulars making an appearance and even there...

It was good but not spectacular. I did like that 'Switch on' scene. Pretty badass. I love the new Hakaider suit, it's so frickin' cool! I wish the SHFiguarts didn't look so much like the old TV show's costume though.

 

[ClimaxHeroDen-O]

I've gotta admit, for a scientist of his caliber, Ryoma did something really stupid this episode. while Hakaider does need a brain to function, there was no good reason to put his own brain on the line, especially since it took control of him instead of the other way around. while the fact that this episode takes place 2 weeks before the current story gave him plot immunity, if Gaim and/or Kikaider had broken through the casing on Hakaider's head, it could've given him mild to severe brain damage. if anything, the smarter idea would've been to create an artificial brain with a remote link so that he could control Hakaider without putting himself in danger

also, as expressed by others, the servo-motor sounds every time Jiro moved got annoying very fast, and it could've been indicated that he was a robot without them

 

[NeonZ]

The writers missed the key point of the old Kikaider was that he's a flawed creation who must struggle to keep himself from becoming a soulless killing machine, like Hakkaider, who are essentially soulless even though it has a human brain.

I thought the humor in the beginning of the episode was cringe worthy, but that part was there. He didn't want to remember his mission and fight, even though he was a combat robot. It's not really elaborated why, since he had amnesia during most of his episode, but the concept itself of not wanting to become just a combat machine was there.

Ryouma as Hakkaider was great though. Enough has been said above. I hope he keeps his head bandages on to start episode 31.

This episode was in the past, so he should have had those bandages in the previous episodes when he set up the trap on Takatora.

Really, the only acknowledgment this episode is going to have in the future likely is that Invess suit getting reused in group scenes.

 

[Scissors]

I've gotta admit, for a scientist of his caliber, Ryoma did something really stupid this episode. while Hakaider does need a brain to function, there was no good reason to put his own brain on the line, especially since it took control of him instead of the other way around.

We know that Ryoma is supposed to be the strongest fighter in the show, and we saw that he was not satisfied with the Drivers until their powers had been pushed to the limit.
I think it was the same deal with Hakaider. He wanted to make sure that it's abilities were fully tested, so he decided to test it himself.

 

[ooo5]

I confess to not really having that much knowledge about Kikaider, but overall I enjoyed the episode and now I'm actually a little more interested in the character and his movie. So in that regard, I think Toei managed to succeed. At least for me :sweat:.

Still, it's a shame that Gaim has to keep getting interrupted by crossovers, even when I do find them enjoyable. The ToQger one wasn't as bad, but the cliffhanger of the last episode makes this episodes placement pretty annoying :redface2:.

But some nice scenes between Kouta and Jiro, great action scenes/choreography, the surprise of Ryoma becoming Hakaider and becoming crazier than usual, and the Gaim and Kikaider team-up at least pretty much made up for it in my mind .

I do find it funny that Kouta potentially has more Rider Kicks out of suit than in-suit .

Nice to see Zack getting to do more, even if Knuckle is still unfortunately the weakest of the heroic Riders. At least he gets more screentime and action than Gridon :thumbs:.

That double-punch with Kachidoki and Kikaider cemented my opinion that Kachidoki should have a proper Rider Punch Finisher. I feel like it's been a really long time since we've had one.

 

[Murphy]

Is anybody really surprised that Ryouma would casually take out his brain and put it in a robot? It's Ryouma. He's so much a mad scientist that he probably has a tesla coil just for generating dramatic lightning flashes while he laughs.

 

[Artisan]

While Ryoma certainly gets turned on by pioneering scientific research done by his own hands, he doesn't strike me as the sort of guy who willingly makes himself chief test subject. Otherwise he would have happily slapped on the first prototype Sengoku Driver and not Takatora.

Ryoma never came across to me as THAT much of a mad scientist, just a guy enthusiastically trying to see how far he can push the boundaries, while getting others to submit the live data feed to him. Consider the fact that he's been the least active out of all the Genesis riders thus far.

 

[Yoona]

While Ryoma certainly gets turned on by pioneering scientific research done by his own hands, he doesn't strike me as the sort of guy who willingly makes himself chief test subject. Otherwise he would have happily slapped on the first prototype Sengoku Driver and not Takatora.

I always saw Ryouma as wanting to work with Takatora, building Takatora up to be as powerful as he could make him rather than using him as a guinea pig. He seemed genuinely hurt when Takatora was interested in the quantity rather than quality of drivers they could produce, as if he'd thought that he and Takatora were some sort of brains-and-brawn pair working together and Takatora had just, for lack of a better term, dumped him. He doesn't really have anyone who fits the role he wanted Takatora to play (Micchy and Kaito are too weak, and Kouta won't play along), so he's decided to do it himself instead.

 

[Black Fang]

Gaim 30:

- Kouta Rider Kick!

- What is the song Jiro plays on his guitar?

- Is there a significance to the Pinocchio tickets shown at the end, beyond simply the "imitation-wants-to-be-a-real-man"?

I like this episode, but is this supposed to be a tie-in to the movie? If so I presume it takers place before or within the movie. Or is it completely unrelated? And why air this episode in the middle of an arc instead of after it? It would fit better that way.