A very enjoyable episode of Gaim!
Well, looks like I'll have to take back some of the things I said about the last episode. Ryugen gets a proper debut fight and the mysterious girl does appear to him, though only in a dream.
As for Ryugen's debut fight, it was alright, especially considering this is Micchy's first real fight as a Rider against a flying opponent. I thought his Finisher was pretty spectacular though, and a lot more colorful than most gun-wielding Riders. Though I'm not sure how I feel about how they treated the first appearance of the Bat Inves... :disappoin
Becoming a Rider certainly seems to have bolstered Micchy's confidence, since he really took charge during Team Gaim's meeting. I wonder if their might be future conflict between him and Kota over who gets to lead the Team? Personally, I'm rooting for the Armored Rider with Gaim in his name :sweat:.
Speaking of, Gaim make his heroic and dynamic return, which feels weird considering we're only on episode five, after being inspired to step up and accept his responsibilities by Ryugen. It also got him to come up with a more practical definition of responsibility than what his sister gave him. His smashing that force field was also pretty darn cool in my opinion :thumbs:.
So we get our first real fight between Gaim and Baron, and our first real Rider team-up between Gaim and Ryugen, both of which were pretty awesome :castlerock:.
I thought Gaim vs. Baron was great, especially with Gaim managing to overpower Baron. Their differing ideals were also very evident during the fight, with Barons darwinistic belief of what strength means, vs. Gaim's more Rider-esque definition. The two are becoming more and more like proper rivals, and I believe Baron's "so you did have a surprise for me, Gaim" was directed at both the Team and the Armored Rider.
Strawberry Arms' debut was pretty sweet (pardon the pun), and I think it's a real step up from Pineapple Arms. I thought the Finisher was also quite spectacular :buttrock:.
Five episodes in and we already have six Riders? With a seventh on the way? Jeez, Gaim sure is moving fast. I can't wait to see what it, and by extension Urobuchi, have planned for the end of the year!
Sid is finally confirmed to work for Yggdrasill and that while the Riders getting their belts was part of the plan, Sid giving them the ability to travel into Helheim was not. It's also confirmed that not even Yggrdasill fully understands all the secrets regarding the forest and the Inves. I also loved the irony of Takatora not reading the file on the Armored Riders, though I think Sid's life expectancy is going to be extremely low when does find out about his brother...