KR Ex-Aid 09 released

[takenoko]

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Alt title - Fus Ro Dah

Last week's poll rating: 3.96 / 5 (24 votes)

[Go-On Macaroni]

I'll say the ending wasn't what I expected but ehh...., the game of hot potato Gashat kinda lost me a few minutes in.

[takenoko]

God damn is the drama in this series bad. I don't get it. Morota Satoshi isn't a new director. What is happening?

Whenever they fight, I can't help but feel like I'm watching a performance by weird aliens pretending to be humans. On the surface, it seems to pass for being human, but then there's glaring details that make you go, "Oh no, you don't get how humans act or behave at all."

And it's so heavy handed. How many times did they say the words "alone" in this episode? We get it, don't do things alone.

But what's the moral of the episode? Emu acts like a petulant brat the whole episode, and he's the one who does the cool thing that defeats the dragon. ALONE. Yeah, he can't handle the power by himself, but it's not consistent with everything else said or hinted in this series. It really feels like a bag of mixed messages.

And I get it. I'm playing Monster Hunter Generations, so I know how tough the game is as a lonely hunter. So it's really bizarre for Emu to beat the dragon without any help, when the game is designed to be beaten through co-op help.

And the awkward tonal shifts aren't helping. We go from Emu worrying about his old mentor to the director doing some physical comedy slapstick. It's frustrating because this show could be a decent watch, but something lacking in the execution really is bringing down my ability to enjoy it. This episode could have easily been a 4 or 5 star if done right, but as a whole I feel like it's a 2 out of 5 stars experience.

[Arigomi]

It seems like Toei has been pushing for more time devoted to the action scenes to sell toys. Character development suffers from being squeezed into a much smaller time frame. It can be done but it requires a director that knows how to do condensed storytelling.

Kiriya seems to be the most fully formed of all the characters. He has personality, motivations, and obstacles to overcome.

[Draccy]

This episode continues to show me that the director is my favorite secondary character. Kiriya and Dan being the favorite primaries.
Graphite is infected with Heart Syndrome. "I need more comrades!", "How dare you do that to my comrade!", etc.
Parad goes doki doki when he sees Emu be all badass for a few seconds, which hey, that was a fun scene.
Emu never had the compatibility surgery (i.e. vaccine), but his life was saved 16 years ago; or was it?!

"Personal feelings again?" "Aren't you the same?" *instantly in Emu's face*
I think Poppy is a representation of the viewers? "Stop squabbling, guys.", "Aaaah, another squabble ;_;", etc.

I give it a 3.
With Level 5/Dragon out of the way, maybe we can have a few episodes not toy related.
And by a few I mean like 2, probably.

[Catastrophe]

So I'm guessing that they are implying with the gashat that all the riders are needed to use it, so forcing teamwork?

At least we get some implication that the doctor Emu wants to save was responsible for his ability to transform.

[njb]

No post in front page yet.

[takenoko]

Thanks. I was busy at work, so I haven't had a chance to do the Jyuohger or Ex-Aid release posts.

[kevinlafriday]

I really wanted this series to be good. Really. But these 9 episodes told me otherwise.

I just realized that somehow the riders in this series get their power-ups way too often.
(I cried a little looking at the Drago Lvl5's color)
And as others had said before, the series would've been sooo much better if the writer focuses on character development (it's as if the actors never see a doctor in real life).

[chcoman123]

Aaaaaaand we're right back to garbage. After a string of two or three good episodes, this series says "Oh wait, are we getting good now? WHOOPS! Better fix that!" This episode just feels like a combination of EVERYTHING in the Neo Heisei Era. We have an (potentially) undead protagonist like in Ghost

Spoiler

and Double

, a game of hot potato with the transformation trinkets and an uncontrollable power-up like in OOO, the slapstick of Fourze, the horrible forced drama of Wizard, Rider v Rider battles like in Gaim, and toy pushing and an unclear vision on the same levels that drive Drive had! God forbid this show be original.

I feel like the drama of Emu having to save this Doctor who saved his life would work better if there was better foreshadowing to it, or if we knew more about Emu's backstory. I feel zero connection to this guy who saved Emu's life, because the show hasn't given us a reason to care. Not to mention Emu is way out of character in this episode (with what little character he had). If anything, he's the one who's been trying to get the Riders to work together this season. He's always wants them to set aside their differences so that they can just save the patient, but here, he's actively fighting the other Riders and even stealing their shit JUST so that he can be the one to save him. Also Level 5? Isn't this way too early for what we would consider a mid-season upgrade? Geez guys slow down with the toys! I get that KR is essentially one big toy commercial, but come on! Previous series have made it work, and THIS can't?

Speaking of things being too early, I think it's way too early to have such an earth-shatteringly huge reveal that our main protagonist might be dead all along! Previous KR series would have a twist like this in the last third of the show like with Gaim

Spoiler

with how Kouta was becoming an Overlord

or Double

Spoiler

where Phillip was dead all along

. There better be some other amazing reveals down the line, because it seems like they're playing their trump card WAY too early. Also, they bring up the fact that Emu is that "Genius Gamer M" again. Is...that...actually impacting anything in the show at all? I think the last time we heard him called that was in the first episode, and it wasn't brought up again. And Emu gets his ass kicked all the time! Gee, it's almost like playing video games DOESN'T help you fight against the forces of evil after all!

And can we PLEASE have the director not just be slapstick all the time? Every time I think he's about to be serious or do something important, NOPE! He just goes right back to being the funny guy. It's obnoxious, and representative of the show as a whole. You can tell that the writers want us to believe in this world, and that they're crafting this huge, epic story with amazing characters...but it just isn't true. There IS a good story here, waiting to break out and shine and tell us why we're all watching it, and wants to be amazing...but as it is, it's just really bad. I'll give this until episode 12, and if it can't pick up in three episodes, I'm skipping this show...again. *sigh*

[fenrir]

the drama & plot + speed of Ex-Aid indeed seems forced into many fighting scene so that it would lok cool for selling toys.
i do believe the series have a HUGE potential but if they forced it to GO FAST like this, it's a blunder.

i give the episode a 3. seems so so. like that they show some mystery in the series, but yeah, too many alocated times for fighting scene, but the story creating/ development, especially character development are being way too fast / unclear. make people didnt really feeel the emotion.

Amazons did the drama & chara development in a GREAT way i guess. and for GAIM, WOW, its very great. please ex aid foolow them as example in making a character development pace so that the series woud be more enoyable

[Mxylv]

This episode didn't leave a good impression to me. While it tried to justify Emu's insistence on more power by having someone close to him in danger, his insistence goes past anything having to do with concern or honor. No one's perfect, but I really would've liked it if Emu's rashness came after some buildup so it wouldn't come out of nowhere, or if he'd ended up jeopardizing the operation. As it is, his urge to be the one to save the assistant really comes off as conceited, as though returning a favor to the patient was suddenly more important than having the patient be saved in the first place. I think that leaves Kiriya as the sole likable recurring character (although perhaps "three-dimensional" would also apply); I'd previously disliked Emu as a character, but his worst quality had merely been being optimistic and cheery at the wrong times.

On to the rest of the episode. I'm honestly curious how the director ended up in charge of CR, because I'm not seeing how he could run the system. Kiriya's research is interesting, though; from the look of it, Emu was intended to stumble upon CR. I think this is the most interesting bit about the episode: Emu's operation early on implies that he underwent compatibility surgery there, yet his getting the Gamer Driver and encountering CR seems like a coincidence. It'll be interesting to see how that happened.

In other news, I'm hoping his final form doesn't have 15 "dai"'s.

[Go-On Macaroni]

Aaaaaaand we're right back to garbage. After a string of two or three good episodes, this series says "Oh wait, are we getting good now? WHOOPS! Better fix that!" This episode just feels like a combination of EVERYTHING in the Neo Heisei Era. We have an (potentially) undead protagonist like in Ghost

Spoiler

and Double

, a game of hot potato with the transformation trinkets and an uncontrollable power-up like in OOO, the slapstick of Fourze, the horrible forced drama of Wizard, Rider v Rider battles like in Gaim, and toy pushing and an unclear vision on the same levels that drive Drive had! God forbid this show be original.

Not that I don't agree but, when's Rider ever original? 90% of Rider runs on Hongo's "Forced to become inhuman by enemy organization" plot, almost all of Heisei runs on Kuuga's form-changer motif, etc. Sure, they could work to make it more engaging or hide their usage of the tropes better but, the tropes are going to happen. Welcome to toku, enjoy your stay?
Btw, "hot potato with the trinkets" tended to happen way before Heisei Phase 2; it's one of the reasons people riff on Faiz.

[chcoman123]

Aaaaaaand we're right back to garbage. After a string of two or three good episodes, this series says "Oh wait, are we getting good now? WHOOPS! Better fix that!" This episode just feels like a combination of EVERYTHING in the Neo Heisei Era. We have an (potentially) undead protagonist like in Ghost

Spoiler

and Double

, a game of hot potato with the transformation trinkets and an uncontrollable power-up like in OOO, the slapstick of Fourze, the horrible forced drama of Wizard, Rider v Rider battles like in Gaim, and toy pushing and an unclear vision on the same levels that drive Drive had! God forbid this show be original.

Not that I don't agree but, when's Rider ever original? 90% of Rider runs on Hongo's "Forced to become inhuman by enemy organization" plot, almost all of Heisei runs on Kuuga's form-changer motif, etc. Sure, they could work to make it more engaging or hide their usage of the tropes better but, the tropes are going to happen. Welcome to toku, enjoy your stay?
Btw, "hot potato with the trinkets" tended to happen way before Heisei Phase 2; it's one of the reasons people riff on Faiz.

Having the Rider's powers be created from the villains is more of a thematic motif in Kamen Rider, as nearly every series is based around that idea. It's not being unoriginal, it's more of a reoccurring theme. Same goes for Kuuga's form changing motif. And it's not that I mind these elements/tropes, they're part of the reason why I love KR, but this season seems to be over-reliant on said tropes, and is failing to develop an identity of it's own. As proof, just look at the sheer number of fight scenes. It's ridiculous how many forms, and how much battling and Rider V. Rider fights that goes on.

[Jehal]

I didn't really find this episode as bad as some of you guys, but I still give it a 3/5. This episode made me feel like there's an advancing story; even if it's a rushed/poorly planned one. I agree that Emu came on a little strong with the whole "it has to be ME" thing. He straight-up lied to Taiga, too, pretending that he was going to give up the Gashat. I feel like that's the most out of character thing he's done. Another thing that bothers me is that I don't think he should've been able to use Hiiro's sword without the Taddle Quest Gashat. Just my thought on that. Kiriya really did have the best moments in this episode, and he had less than 2 minutes of screen time. Emu's behavior when using Level 5 reminds me of KyouryuRed when he tried using Carnival for the first time and went feral. I give it a 3/5, but I also agree with anyone giving it a 2.