(Ugh, almost done, just two more blog post and then we get to something decent.) Any who, we have talked about the life of series after previously with Drive, while series like Den-o and W were initially the exceptions to a life beyond the crossover in the modern era, it was Gaim that opened the gates to Rider going forward giving at least two v-cinema's alongside the winter film in terms of reappearances. And you know, Gaim was a series with rather deep characters and idea's that were worth exploring further, and during 2015, fans were "gifted" with two movies split between two riders that told stories focused on them, and we will be going in chronological order here starting with Duke, than Zangetsu, then Baron and finally Knuckle.
Kamen Rider Duke
While continuing his research into the sengoku driver and its evolution, the genesis driver. Ryoma Sengoku is made aware of group of suicide attacks targeted at Yggdrasil involving brainwashed civilians and lock seeds. His and Takatora's investigation find that those responsible are of a cult known as Black Bodhi and the one responsible for these is a face from Ryoma's past in Kugai Kudo.
Now one of the issues, on the mountain of issues that these segments has is that the 30 minute time limit do them no favor, and often times they spend that time introducing new characters meant to give more to the world feel less like addition and just their, and yeah Kugai feels like he is there villain, just a standard dark savior with very little in terms of other characterization. But I do feel that Duke does have something that the other's really don't have that propels it to be the only one of these Gaiden's I consider good, while it is little we do get some insight into the new generation riders from the rift that had grown between Ryoma and Takatora, how Syd and Minato came to be, while also giving some insight into Ryoma as a character, I mean its not much, it does show him that he is a very competent threat in his manipulative skills and intellect. Again it isn't much but when compared to the latter three, actually taking time to spend with these characters before we got to know them a lot more.
The real first use of energy arms.
Also another way I feel this special works is in its usage of suits... mostly. Hey remember Kamen Rider Mars, yeah he had a pretty good looking suit in all honestly are you ready to see it in a different form... 2 more times after this, yeah I know that tokusatsu is not the most beefy of budgets and sometimes kit bashing is necessary for new suits, but if that is the case maybe try to find some way around it and get used to it, in saver's case, we get this kitbash of Bujin Gaim and Mars that you know I like the color of the blood red of things going on here, but it feels so bizarre in its creation. On the other hands we get to see Ryoma's lemon arms, the form he uses with the lemon lock seed look really good, the yellow matches well with the light blue, I think it feels like a natural progression to what we see later in his genesis form, I also like how it is the lemon energy form that is given the gravitas it deserves here rather than just being oh look sengoku lemon, considering that this was the next step and it gets a pretty good one in the form of beating a revived Saver.
Duke's Gaiden is arguably the best one of these four Gaidens, that's not much of a compliment here it does struggle with its half hour time that doesn't give enough time to develop anything new, I mean if you want more of Ryoma Sengoku, it is fine and I think the flashbacks add some to the characters, but it really feels like it needs more time to tell something of more meaning.
By the by, get use to the Mars Reus
ZANGETSU
Following his revelations to Kouta about Helheim and trying to demoralize him to stop fighting. An assailant is targeting members of Yggdrasil, and at the same time a person from the Kureshima's past shows up, a maid Touka Akatsuki returns into the two's lives and... you already know the "plot twist" I don't even need to keep writing here because you already know the twist about who the mysterious assailant is. Any who this conflict leads Takatora to some rather unsavory truth's regarding his family's history that really does nothing for him
Despite a wealth of potential exploration of Takatora's early times as a rider or the discovery of helheim. Zangetsu Gaiden is more focused on the backstory of Takatora's father and its legacy which sort of ties both this and Baron's gaiden is the dealing with both character's past being a "focus" But it just doesn't feel natural, with the special arguably being more important to of all people Ryoma as it gives a key moment about who made him. That also goes to the new character Touka, which yes does give some neat look back to the Kureshima's childhood, it really does nothing for the character's outside of just being something neat, even the hints of some kind of relationship in this situation feel forced on and severely undercooked which goes for much of the new stuff that leaves things more confusing.
Noooo... not...Touka... there was so much more I wanted to learn about her.
But let's get to the real reason that these gaiden's exist again, to move new lockseeds and "new suits." Touka gets a mars recolored which is a bit less aggravating since it is the same fruit and hey its nice to have more female riders, wish she did more and wasn't killed off while Takatora's watermelon (not Suika, because Suika offers a small mech form..) Recolors Zangetsu with a watermelon color scheme with the green rind and the pinkish red inside and gives him of all things... a shield gatling gun, I'd give credit for creativity, but the fights on display are not many and not really impressive. It's all in all very mediocre, doing nothing for anyone and in the vein of Chaser and Eternal, it's just their.
I guess this was Mar's before the gold recolor... oh this is a different rider. Yeah whatever people will by it as different.
BARON
While taking a break from his search for the Overlord's in Helheim. Kaito ends up being knocked out and trading places with a similar looking kid by the name of Shapool, the heir to a foreign southeastern country that is never named so let's go with... Burma. Any who Shapool is a big fan of the beat riders and realizing he looks similar to Kaito knocks the guy out steals his clothes and acts like him much to the other's complete confusion. At the same time Kaito is picked up by a group lead by Shapool's butler Alfred, and Kaito now finds himself embroiled in a larger conspiracy involving Shapool.
Gaim's interpretation of the prince and the pauper
Now while Gaim can be a rather dark entry in the series, but it still does a good job in balancing that darkness with nice relief here and their, generally from Oren and Hideyasu, but Baron's Gaiden is this weird anomaly of a story, I mean its starts rather promising, with this insight into Kaito's childhood (That if you don't read a previous novel feels completely contradictory.) That may be a more interesting insight into one of the more interesting characters Gaim had to offer, we instead get what is all together a perfectly fine side story. Look the idea of Kaito's actor showing off his more comedic chops with a cheerier side but Shapool feels like the kind of filler character that we get when the manga needs time to make more chapters, but in this case Gaim's story is already done and instead we have just some random story that does nothing for Baron outside of the fact that he feels the two have something similar going on with one another. I mean I do like the reactions everyone has and Oren and Hideyasu are really good here.
Well.. at least its not another version of mars, but yeah tyrants, they are associated with demons so horns.
But the question I brought up is what does this do for anyone, specifically Kaito. I mean yeah we do get stuff about his past but really the focus is on the whole Shapool and his butler Alfred conflict, which matters a whole whopping nothing, I mean Alfred gets a genesis driver from Ryoma and wants to take it back after he has dealt with Shapool, but again none of this matters what's so ever, I mean I could comment on the suits, like Baron's Ringo arms being just a recolor of Mars, I like Tyrant's kind of demonic look as it lead's to Alfred becoming an overlord, but it feels so.. hollow, nothing is gained here outside of some rather forced foreshadowing that he will become an overlord, even though I never saw a need for it, it always seemed like he was trying to grow stronger. I mean its a fine enough as a comedic story, the problem is it also wants to explore Kaito's past at the same time, a kind of situation of where they wanted the cake and eat it to.
KNUCKLE
While in America, Zack is called back to Zawame when Peko seemed join a new baron gang, turns out a friend from their past Shura has come back after being kicked out of team when Kaito took over and is now back because... he idolizes him... okay, anyway, fight club style fights as Zack tries to understand what path he is going to take in a post Kaito world.
I feel the backstory and the main plot got screwed up here
The beat rider team Baron's fate was always that of underdogs, Kaito was only suppose to have a sengoku driver but got a power up due to his popularity and I guess that popularity lead the group of bullies to get more development, with Zack getting his own driver, and while the idea of exploring the past from Baron as a team would be interesting, its sadly held back by a plot trying to be way bigger than it has any right to be and arguably one of Kamen rider's most confused and dumbest villains in the form of shura. He just feels like this weird amalgamation of idea's that make no sense in conjunction with one another, oh he's a member of the team Zack and Peko were apart of before Kaito came in and forcefully took it over and kicked him out. Oh so he's back for vengeance against his old friends who didn't leave with him. No he idolizes Kaito and wants to create his chaotic world. Wait but why would he idolize a guy who kicked him out, that feels kind of weird. I don't know but hey we explain how he got his lock seeds and stuff he got it from Black bodhi. Okay I really didn't care about that but sure fine.
Look coming from the TV show, I can tell many people had no idea exactly what truly desired the world to be, a world of survival of the fittest or one where the weak never were trampled on again. And by extension anyone knew what Kaito truly wanted to do, even the people closest to him in team Baron. It's a question both Zack and Peko grapple with throughout of what to do with the baron legacy and maybe the question here is that, there really is no answer on that because trying to understand more secrative people will often not be the right answer, and in that way it could've set up a more interesting villain, someone who believes they knew the world Kaito wanted and try to change it for his idol, and leaving out the confusion of his past.
Instead we get a black banana arms repaint with him and Zack participating in a fight club, he and Peko have a conversation about Kaito as Zack goes to fight Shura since he kidnapped Peko's sister (do you really want me to remeber a one-off from something mediocre.) and I guess in a way to show that Zack is trying to be his own person over Shura just trying to emulate him, Zack is the second rider to get a jimber form and I have to ask the question of all the riders, to get a jimber form, why Knuckle, look I know this was a popularity thing here but of all the power ups he could've gotten, a jimber form was not that, when I thought jimber I think an archer, gliding around the field as they take shots and slash at their foes, not a rough and tumble boxer, his useage of Suika felt more in line with him and the coat doesn't go with the gauntlets, both the weird nut form and then the straight gauntlet form. But hey it's more toys so go buy it be sheeple and do it.
Behold, your saint of fists that just so happen to be nuts
And the special just ends, Zack beats shura and collapses from the fight and Peko and Azami rush to him and he has a fever dream where he and Kaito dance before he leaves him alone now positive about the future, completely leaving the whole plot point regarding Black bodhi and that doomsday device completely unresolved, and since a proposed third gaiden focused on Bravo and Ryugen never happened. Meaning if you want any closure on this, go read the novel for Mitchy's third redemption because the epilogue and full throttle were not enough the end.
CONCLUSION
It's very clear that the gaim gaiden's want to be more than they are, dive further into the characters and the world around, and in longer series I think it could be. Unfortunately, they only have 30 minutes for their stories, so while their are snippets of interesting ideas, from Ryoma's past, Amagi Kureshima, and team baron before Kaito. Their let down by again that time and wasting it on characters that don't matter. And it's not like you can tell a full story in that time, both Mach and Heart told complete satisfying stories in that time but they clearly took what didn't work here, which was just adding new things that no one cared about.
If I were to rank these from worst to best, I would give Duke the award for least bad since their is some exploration of the Yggdrasil 4's past. Then Baron for having some decent if pointless fun. Then Knuckle and Zangetsu for the same reason of missed potential. Unless you really want more Gaim, your better off just moving on.
AVERAGE GRADE: D
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