I think you are clearly buying too much into the OP. It's very clear the person who made the OP for Gaim were not privy to most of Urobuchi's plans and made it reflecting what was already known in the first 15 or so episodes. The Ryugen and Zangetsu Shin appearing after Baron and Gaim even after Micchy has taken his brother's belt really shows that the OP isn't a reflection of the circumstances that is occuring in Gaim. It's like in Fourze's OP how Gaimu was shown above the twelve horoscopes in the OP, but it later turns out he is ONE of them.
You mean Gamou? I don't think that's exactly a fair comparison. He was still in charge of them, and doing anything else would kind of be giving away a pretty big plot point.
And what you're suggesting is certainly possible too, but it doesn't disprove what I'm suggesting either. You say it's clear that the OP was made based on the early episodes - what if, rather than the person wasn't privy to the later plans, that's just simply what the plans were at that time?
He wants the Golden Fruit. Like Kaito he wants power, but discards friendship in his quest for it.
Well, I get that much, but it's the plan he has to get it that I'm referring to.
NeonZ said:
Personally, like I've mentioned in previous posts, I think Lemon Energy arms pretty much doesn't exist in Urobuchi's script, aside from its own debut. Banana Baron could easily defeat Grape Ryugen, and yet Lemon Baron could only draw with Micchy as Zangetsu Shin (when he attacked Kouta in an empty warehouse, in his first battle as Zangetsu). Wouldn't that make much more sense if Micchy had a superior belt?
Then a few episodes later, when Kaito loses his Genesis Driver, he acts like he couldn't transform again without picking it up, ignoring the Sengoku Driver. Aside from that, in the overlord battles, he has mostly acted in support roles. The one victory that seems like he'd need the Genesis Driver (when he teamed up with Knuckle and actually forced Demushu's retreat) kind of loses some of the impact when Knuckle was just there doing just as good as Baron, and with a weaker lockseed than even Banana.
Even Lemon's own debut is kind of odd - Ryoma analyses and is disappointed by Kaito's potential, after he is trashed by Demushu, and yet giving him Kaito a stronger belt somehow makes Ryoma reevaluate him (something that hasn't been mentioned at all after that episode too...)?
From my point of view, nothing Kaito has done in Urobuchi's episodes, aside from Lemon's own debut, would really require an Energy lockseed and almost all scenes could work just as well with Banana, or Banana -> Mango when he does the "belt switch".
I don't know - there have been a few times, I think, when it's clear to me Kaito's got a leg up on the other Riders for having that belt rather than a Sengoku one.
I'm not saying the Lemon Energy Arms changed everything - your examples could very well be things left over from the original plan, but there have been quite a few times where Kaito himself makes a point of saying the Genesis Driver has improved his abilities and how he couldn't have done such and such without it, as I recall.
As for the forgetting his other belt thing, well the way I see that is more how writers have Riders just... do that for the sake of a scene. I mean, look at how often Kouta still starts in Orange Arms despite having so many "higher" forms than it.
Certainly, scenes could work just as well if written that way, but they weren't - but maybe I'm wrong. It's possible. As I said, it's just an idea. Even so, it's still an undeniable fact that because Kaito was popular, the story was altered to introduce this new form for him. If nothing else, that shows that
some changes have occurred, and lends to the possibility of others, which is ultimately my main point. You're right, the extent of those changes may be much less than I suspect, but on the other hand, we've all seen how a show can change over its run. Plus, the fact Jounouchi's yet to live up to his "favorite" thing (however it was said) might mean something too.
