Kamen Rider Gaim - Lock 07 "Wrecking Ball Watermelon, Big Bang!"

[NeonZ]

Well, Episode 8 introduces some kind of actual threat, even if it's not the actual main plot yet.

Spoiler

There are portals to the Hellhein forest appearing through the city, and some Invess are getting out and killing people.

 

[Painted_Outlaw]

There is no Kiwi dude. Yet.

I think he meant Zangetsu
(Also, I dunno if you want to mention y'know-who's arms outside the rumor section. :V).

 

[Hell Kaiser Andy]

I think he meant Zangetsu
(Also, I dunno if you want to mention y'know-who's arms outside the rumor section. :V).

Well it have been in a few of the Movie Wars trailers so, even before this episode.

 

[Lynxara]

Someone higher up in the production really wants Gaim to be funny and campy, and the only way they could do that so far has been the fight scenes, since you know, the script had been straight-faced and is telling the story instead of messing around trying to be funny:redface2:.

What gets me is that there is a fair amount of comic relief in the drama portion of the show, but it's very noticeably a different kind of comedy than the physical stuff added to the fights. Almost all of the humor in the drama portion of the show is character-driven or situational and meant to also help reveal who the characters are, like Kota's misadventures in episode 2. A lot of the physical humor added into fights adds literally nothing to the story and sometimes makes absolutely no sense for the character or the fight's pacing.

These past three years had me laughing out loud while watching, then when I think back on it, that's when the other thoughts come in, not all of them being pleasant.

The issue I'm seeing in this thread is people who are having those thoughts while they're watching the episode, so they're not even getting a basically enjoyable experience the first time through. Gaim can be slow-paced, and an unoccupied audience is more likely to question the story in ways that pokes holes in it. So I think it's fair to call Gaim out for this. If someone is noticing, "Wait, this makes no sense," chances are they weren't laughing, and in fact were feeling pretty bored by the story even if they wanted to engage.

I'm not saying it's fine. I'm saying that I really am surprised that a lot of long-time fans have not found a way to deal with it by now.

What part of, "I'll keep watching but I'm gonna talk about how I don't like this to other people online" isn't dealing with it? You can deal with something without accepting it, and complain without expecting the world to conform to your personal desires magically.

I feel like he hasn't even gotten into the proper story yet though.

I really agree with this. Events in Gaim happen at a snail's pace, as they always do when Rider does soap opera, and the real question is how long it'll be before Urobuchi begins really telling his story. Waiting seven episodes to reveal something screamingly obvious like "hey, DJ Sagara is in on Yggdrasill's schemes" reeks of padding.

I would say an issue with Gaim right now is that it's not clear if Urobuchi is carefully going about establishing things we'll need for later payoffs, or is just marking time until all of Bandai's toy requirements are out of the way. I really kind of suspect it's the latter, and if so, then Gaim's probably going to keep treading water the same way for most of the rest of this year.

In any case, there's no excuse for the show being in any way dull or uninteresting even if Urobuchi is marking time to carefully setting up his exposition. Gaim is not a serious work and never will be, so its first obligation is to entertain. If any part of any episode's runtime is boring, it has to some extent failed.

 

[kuroihikari]

What part of, "I'll keep watching but I'm gonna talk about how I don't like this to other people online" isn't dealing with it? You can deal with something without accepting it, and complain without expecting the world to conform to your personal desires magically.

Well, the trend over the past years immediately implies that there's quite a reasonable expectation that it's going to happen. My remarks weren't a "Don't do that!", but more on "You didn't know it was going to happen?"

For me, it's like reading an action shounen and complaining about the hero winning too much. It's a reasonable critique, but you know it comes with the genre.

EDIT: Also, I can mostly appreciate why they're doing it, and that's basically my idea of "dealing with it". Like how I can appreciate that they have to shill the toys.

 

[Burkion]

It might come with it, but it doesn't HAVE to.

 

[lazycoconut]

From what I'm seeing on different sites, a lot of people are watching Gaim mostly because they expect full-on "Urobutcher" and for the show to be as grim as Madoka or even to copy storylines from Madoka. If that doesn't happen, I think at worst Gaim runs the risk of being another Decade or Gokaiger ie. the fandom loved it when it was airing but then viciously turned against it because it did not live up to their expectations

 

[Burkion]

Don't worry Lazy!

I will not be in that group.

*Picks up GrumpSign*

 

[waterballoon]

You're either a troll or you are completely incapable of perceiving the numerous elements that make this show absolutely incredible. Either way this is quite possibly the most insubstantial comment I've read on this forum in years.

*raises hands* hahaha okay wait Baron is truly hot :buttrock:

I haven't really gotten the series yet... as in I have not really understood what they were going for. To me so far Gaim feels like a really kiddish "struggle" among the riders to see who's gonna win (in a dance platform no less, so that gets me really weirded out).

I appreciate the designs, and Kouta's character is one of my favorite protagonists in KR yet. I can't say much of Miccy because I quite detest him. Baron is hot but his character is also very boring (although the new Mango arms episode could prove otherwise, but I'll wait for subs).

I was tired and lazy so I said what's on my mind lol. I'll stick around for Gaim... it's at least more interesting than Kyouruger at this point of time imo

 

[Amon]

I hope the Watermelon form is used again and don't totally ditch it like Kiva's DoGaBaKi Form.