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Every Sentai series (with a few exceptions) uses the same set, over and over again, usually with lots of people running around screaming, while being hit in the head by some goofy looking foot soldiers, and a MOTW with bad dialgoue.

In Gaim, you see a WHOLE CITY. Not just one set. You actually see different locations.
And instead of people running around, you have deserted streets overgrown with a deadly flora, and brainless monsters are walking around. The people that are left are forced into hiding, either in their homes or in the schools, shopping centers etc.

Also, this is happening many episodes before the finale, which allows you to absorb the atmosphere, and feel the fear and loneliness that our main heroes are feeling.

And last but not least, you have the news updates, which shows the audience that this is not just a random attack in a japanese city, where 9 people are running around screaming, while monsters throw garden chairs at them.
 
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Every Sentai series (with a few exceptions) uses the same set, over and over again, usually with lots of people running around screaming, while being hit in the head by some goofy looking foot soldiers, and a MOTW with bad dialgoue.

In Gaim, you see a WHOLE CITY. Not just one set. You actually see different locations.
And instead of people running around, you have deserted streets overgrown with a deadly flora, and brainless monsters are walking around. The people that are left are forced into hiding, either in their homes or in the schools, shopping centers etc.

Also, this is happening many episodes before the finale, which allows you to absorb the atmosphere, and feel the fear and loneliness that our main heroes are feeling.

And last but not least, you have the news updates, which shows the audience that this is not just a random attack in a japanese city, where 9 people are running around screaming, while monsters throw garden chairs at them.

In this episode, you definitely don't see a whole city. Multiple locations, yes, but the only notably "apocalyptic" one of which is one single street corner. They're still getting their food off one strangely untouched fruit bar, and the fact that there's TV (and power) actually takes away from it. They're doing really well for a supposedly isolated city.

We experience worse things here every a couple of years or so when a huge typhoon manages to shutdown our infrastructure. Where the streets are actually littered with knocked down trees and power lines.

You guys are exaggerating. Next you're gonna say that that one time the TV stuttered is a deathly omen of bad things to come. My cable TV provider must be a harbinger of doom.
 
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In this episode, you definitely don't see a whole city. Multiple locations, yes, but the only notably "apocalyptic" one of which is one single street corner. They're still getting their food off one strangely untouched fruit bar, and the fact that there's TV (and power) actually takes away from it. They're doing really well for a supposedly isolated city.

We experience worse things here every a couple of years or so when a huge typhoon manages to shutdown our infrastructure. Where the streets are actually littered with knocked down trees and power lines.

You guys are exaggerating. Next you're gonna say that that one time the TV stuttered is a deathly omen of bad things to come. My cable TV provider must be a harbinger of doom.

I agree that a lot of people are exaggerating but you should keep in mind that we haven't gotten a setting like this in a Kamen Rider series in a really long time. For Kamen Rider fans(or at least to me) it is honestly breathtaking compared to Wizard and Fourze.

It may not be the most realistic apocalyptic setting, but for a kids' show they definitely put in some work.
 
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In this episode, you definitely don't see a whole city. Multiple locations, yes, but the only notably "apocalyptic" one of which is one single street corner. They're still getting their food off one strangely untouched fruit bar, and the fact that there's TV (and power) actually takes away from it. They're doing really well for a supposedly isolated city.

We experience worse things here every a couple of years or so when a huge typhoon manages to shutdown our infrastructure. Where the streets are actually littered with knocked down trees and power lines.

You guys are exaggerating. Next you're gonna say that that one time the TV stuttered is a deathly omen of bad things to come. My cable TV provider must be a harbinger of doom.

Oh come on just enjoy things like this while you can. It doesn't happen often, as some people have said. And no, it's nothing like the goofy sentai equivalents. This was done well, you can't deny that. Even if you don't like Gaim.
 
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Oh come on just enjoy things like this while you can. It doesn't happen often, as some people have said. And no, it's nothing like the goofy sentai equivalents. This was done well, you can't deny that. Even if you don't like Gaim.

If there were no fruit bar, TV/power, then it would've been "done well" yes. Being how prominent those are, then I just can't agree.

Kyoryuger's ending (bar the skipping Candelilla scene) did the "totally destroyed city" better than this.
 
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well, even the locations of it is indeed not that large or many, the apocalypse atmosphere really felt realistic..at least to me

the point is that, gaim's already done "apocalypse" thing this early while almost other series done it in nearly the end of their respective series..
in gaim, there's even a higher possibillity that this apocalypse scene is just a smaller scale/beginning that may come at the end of this series, and that's what make the atmosphere felt really grounded..
this is the current earth..people left to die, doomed, until someone takes a step to save it, this will eternally be the most ugly condition humanity will face
visuals and build-up really helps the entire thing.
 
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If there were no fruit bar, TV/power, then it would've been "done well" yes. Being how prominent those are, then I just can't agree.

Kyoryuger's ending (bar the skipping Candelilla scene) did the "totally destroyed city" better than this.

Here's where you're wrong. What makes you think that in an apocalypse there won't be any power? Most probably all the American shows. Well, let me tell you something... Most of those shows are pretty inaccurate, or just show things depending on the show itself. In Gaim, there's no reason for the power supplies to collapse, yet. The Invess don't care about the electricity since they barely know any of the humans' advancement. Also, you can easily see how Redyue has an interest on the computers, so I doubt she would order to destroy the power supplies, since they could get in handy for her, maybe for reviving Rosyuo's wife. Cables and those columns that have those other cables could get destroyed indeed, but as we can see, no invess cares about destroying them. Then it's the flora. It doesn't destroy anything. It "captures" things. The only thing it could do is block cables, but that would be hard if the Overlords didn't actually want that to happen. After all, if they wanted to actually destroy things, like Deemushu, they would have already done it. So there's no point in making the show showing that there's no power, since there is. Of course it will end some time if there is nobody that works on the power suppliers, but there are amounts of left energy.

As about the fruits. We already know that Invess don't want to eat anything but their world's fruits, so why would they both to take them? No point at all. Not is there a point of taking them and then throwing them all over. Their job is to secure the town and bring humans. Then, of course, is the fact that people would take any food they could find. True, really true. But do remember that nothing is impossible. People won't care about fruits because they are usually too greedy and insecure. They would get into supermarkets in order to get meat, and not fruits or vegetables. Every show shows that too, since it's a fact. What are you going to find first? Bananas, apples, watermelons? Or some chicken and pig meat? Of course you would choose the meat, since that's what "gives energy" and "can make you strong".

Lastly, like all of the other guys said, this is a kids' show with a limited budget, yet they did a really good job on using that budget throughout the series and this episode easily shows it. And I'll agree that they didn't show a whole town, but they showed a large part of it, and most of it was unedited. In modern shows, nobody's on an empty town, but in a room with green walls and some extra building parts. With other words, they did the same job as a high-budget movie without using tremendous money on CGI, and that's a win since they actually did a smooth work.

[TL;DR] They didn't try to show a destroyed city, but an empty one. The Invess don't want to destroy, but they just obey Redyue's orders in order to gather humans. Redyue doesn't want a destroyed world, but a world he can control and rule over, hence there is no damage in the power suppliers and the cables that transfer electricity. Fruits and vegetables were intact because people prefer meat over anything else, so they can survive longer, hence why they most probably went in a supermarket instead of a fruit/vegetable shop. Lastly, they did a pretty realistic job without the need of massive CGI and saved a whole loads of budget for the end.
 
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At the risk of sounding like a hater, which I am not, I'll write down the reasons why I don't think the show is portraying the apocalyptic setting well. In fact, I think it's trying it's best to NOT portray the apocalypse and instead veer away from it.

This show portrays despair very well. That's one thing I'm not gonna argue against. However, the despair in an apocalyptic setting is one where ordinary people lose everything that civilization provides, particularly shelter, a sense of security, and most importantly a sense of dignity.

These past couple of episodes we've seen Takatora despairing at him losing his mission and his dream. We've seen Kouta losing his friendship. We've seen Micchi snapping at the impossibility of getting his life back.

Aside from that, there's basically nothing else. Kouta saw his sister and a few civilians kidnapped, but aside from a couple of lines, it seemed like just like any other day in being an Armored Rider. We see Kouta and Kaito awestruck at the power of an Overlord, but that was more a sigh of relief than an inkling of despair.

All of that basically boils down to a bunch of warriors losing their own battles. So really, the last couple of episodes, to me, have added nothing to the idea that this is supposed to be a world on the edge of apocalypse.

Where's the ordinary people having to scrounge up for food? Where's the lack of shelter? The lack of any basic needs? Whenever it shows us people needing something, they seem to always find it. In fact, what the show has done is show that there are little to no people at all. It specifically avoids showing that aspect of an apocalypse that is familiar to us: The despair of the masses, the dissolution of a civilization's dignity.

And I think it's intentional. It does not want to portray to us what happens when an apocalypse occurs, but the damage war does to the warriors who participate in them, and the people who are close to them.


Here's where you're wrong. What makes you think that in an apocalypse there won't be any power? Most probably all the American shows.

<snip>

No. More like real life. Where when you still have power you really have nothing to worry about. And where something bad occurs you know it's only going to get worse where the power is out.

Power means food is plenty, shelter is plenty, everything you have when you don't have an apocalypse is plenty. And thus no apocalypse.

Also, they're supposedly sealed off from the rest of the world. That supposedly means no food supplies (especially with no people to gather the food), and there's no hint of a shortage yet. Still just a bunch of kids casually walking up to the food bar to ask for their favorites.
 
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At the risk of sounding like a hater, which I am not, I'll write down the reasons why I don't think the show is portraying the apocalyptic setting well. In fact, I think it's trying it's best to NOT portray the apocalypse and instead veer away from it.
[...]
[TL;DQA]

Well, you are right about the show veering away from it but for the wrong reasons. This is still a KR show where the focus goes mainly to the Riders, action and the characters we care about. All other things will have minor roles/representations if they don't contribute very much to the main focus.

It specifically avoids showing that aspect of an apocalypse that is familiar to us: The despair of the masses, the dissolution of a civilization's dignity.

That does happen because of the limited budget to film those scenes with extras. Also, if the show makes that effort then we will have probably another person saying that the show doesn't have focus and showed all those details for no purpose at all i.e. it doesn't contribute to the development ongoing plot.

So, for those reasons, Gaim doesn't focus too much in the apocalyptic setting, It conforms with just giving us the vague idea, with giving an illusion of that for the viewers to fill in with their imaginations (and it should work if you are immersed in the show or you are enjoying it a lot)

P.S.:

I forgot the name of a japanese film that showed a disaster striking japan (an earthquake I think) and was criticized because people thought it wasn't a realistic representation of the disaster. It lacked the despair of the masses, the dissolution of a civilization's dignity and instead showed people being filled with hope, working together to survive.

The funny thing is, when a natural disaster strikes japan, what showed the film about the people is what indeed happened in reality. So, it can be that the portray of the apocalyptic setting isn't what you expect because of cultural differences, I guess :p

Edit:
Where's the ordinary people having to scrounge up for food? Where's the lack of shelter? The lack of any basic needs? Whenever it shows us people needing something, they seem to always find it. In fact, what the show has done is show that there are little to no people at all. It specifically avoids showing that aspect of an apocalypse that is familiar to us: The despair of the masses, the dissolution of a civilization's dignity.

Well, this statement is interesting. It shows what you expect from an apocalyptic setting, but also the show didn't distract you for those details. Another person who was distracted won't notice any of this and will fill the blanks. I'll show a detailed example of filling up the blanks below this paragraph if anyone is interesting in reading it.

[HIDE]Where's the ordinary people having to scrounge up for food? Two answers: they have been captured by Redyue, or they already scrounged up for food as we see Mai going to a shop that doesn't have much in it. (And it happens that in this very scene, happens that Mai needs something and find it)

Where's the lack of shelter? Well, The city was almost destroyed by nukes the previous episode, plus the shelter was already raided (off-camera) by the invess and there's almost no protection against them unless you're a Rider. (And keep in mind, the last one isn't explained in the show itself, the viewer fill in the blanks with the little information provided)

Where's the lack of any basic needs? We know there's a shortage of supplies, as we saw with Mai going to an almost empty shop. The riders doesn't have to worry much about food because of the functions of their belts and the only reason there's still power is because Redyue needs it for her toys. And so far, the forest hasn't destroyed any structure.

So, there you have it. The viewer can fill the blanks and that's what the producers/writers expect to happen in this or any show, movie, book, etc. That's one of the main reason, if not the main reason, of why the show veers from the details of the apocalyptic setting.[/HIDE]
 
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Maybe it's more that I don't like the idea of apocalyptic settings a lot (they're too close to home), and I'm glad that the show is going away from it.
 
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