So, even if you might not follow any people this applies to, you’ve probably been made aware of the drama going on with Tumblr’s policy update.
To make it short: As of December 17th, Tumblr has decided to remove any and all content it deems to be explicit. The site was designed to allow for adult content, but the higher-ups have decided they wanted to reinvent Tumblr to make it “family-friendly”. This means many people - good people, too - have basically been kicked from their digital home because the site decided it didn’t like naughty art or photography anymore.
It’s a decision that is bound to have repercussions for this site, and has already been seen as a bridge-burner for a lot of its users - myself included. Even though I don’t post content that would put me under the radar, I can’t allow for Tumblr’s decision to be seen as acceptable after seeing the impact of friends and artists I admire. My trust has been broken.
Reviews - on my own blog and on these Rider news blogs - have been on hold since then, as I look for a new place to blog. I’m already considering options, and will have settled on something by January.
Where does that leave my blogs, @fruitridernews @gameridernews and @buildridernews ? As of now, I’ve decided what the fate of the blogs will be.
There’s unfinished content, sure - I like to provide a wiki-style format for these blogs - but I can’t see myself finishing it with the other things I’ve got going on. Maybe one day, but not for the foreseeable future.
Consider these blogs tentatively closed. They’ll still be made available to the public to read, because these blogs mean something to me. A year ago, they got me a job with the Tokusatsu Network, and I’ll be continuing to do toku news coverage there.
If you’re interested in keeping up with me and my reviews, I’m on Twitter. Thank you for your support over the years.
So… this is an unexpected thing to add to the list of Legend Rider content on my various blogs. Kamen Rider Decade makes a return in Kamen Rider Zi-O, featuring the Neo DecaDriver! Decade has fulfilled the fanfic dream and has an updated card arsenal, all the way up to Zi-O. So now, Gaim, Ex-Aid and Build have official KamenRide cards!
For those who are gonna “Actually,” me on one of those: The Complete Selection Modification release of the DecaDriver certainly did have sounds for Double-to-Drive. It also did not have cards for them, they just inexplicably added hidden sounds, so… this is indeed a new thing!
If you want details on the DX release, here you go.
The December reveals for Zi-O are making their rounds, and it focuses on his first power-up form: DecadeArmor. Being that it’s the first turn-into-other-Riders guy, the RideWatch has a slot for sliding in other RideWatches, which triggers sub-forms for DecadeArmor.
While redundant in concept, they actually allow him to transform into power-ups used by those Riders! Which, from a design standpoint, is just the head/chest armor added onto those original suits. The most recent heroes they show this off with are…
DecadeArmor (Ghost Form) based on Grateful Damashii,
DecadeArmor (Ex-Aid Form) based on Double Action Gamer Lv.XX
And DecadeArmor (Build Form) based on RabbitTank Sparkling Form
2/3 of which are relevant to my Rider blogs, so that’s why it’s here.
The Genm RideWatch in action! If you listen closely, the transformation’s music seems to be based on a piece of background music from the show (Genm’s Level 2 theme). Very nice reference there.
Ex-Aid review: Another Ending trilogy (Snipe & Brave)
If I don't watch it, that means the Game is Forever, right? Ehehe... okay, let's begin the end.
The Another Ending trilogy is an interesting set of specials. In an age where Rider movies now typically have a post-finale V-Cinema special, you'd wonder where that leaves Ex-Aid, seeing as it was the show full of spinoff material all throughout.
As it turns out, fuck it, let's just give everyone a final story. And the first of these is Snipe & Brave.
It's established in this special that it's been 2 years since... well, specifically, 2 years since Taiga transformed. 2 years after the show's finale? Since the summer movie? Since the winter movie? I guess it doesn't matter when it's 2 whole years.
In a nice little tie-in to the Para-DX Hyper Battle DVD spinoff, Kuroto Dan has disappeared from his little prison in the Bugvisor II, along with the Proto Gashats. They're pretty sure that there was someone who helped to make it happen, but who?
This story puts an emphasis on a particular aspect of Ex-Aid's finale: The deaths caused by the Bugsters, and Kamen Rider Chronicle, have a chance of being reversible, and the doctors are doing their best to make it happen, in particular Hiro is hoping to revive his girlfriend Saki.
We have a new character, Dr. Yaotome Saiko, who immediately seems flirty and a bit suspicious. She believes that since Bugsters can have access to a human's memories when they take over, that means there is some connectivity between humans and Bugsters that they can abuse in order to bring people back to life.
However, this is when things get weird. Hiro starts seeing Saki mysteriously appear and disappear once in a while, and it seems like she's come back to life - along with good ol' Ren Amagasaki, the Lovlica Bugster, and he's takin' yo girls! Yes, Lovlica seems to have Saki under his spell, and is spitefully teasing Hiro with this.
As he transforms and fights, we're reminded that Lovlica comes from a dating game, and is thus unable to be defeated by violence, which sucks for Hiro since he's proven to be incapable of romance. I'll get to that.
Meanwhile, Taiga takes in a new patient named Luke Kidman, an American who seems to have an obsession with Nico. He's a gamer who kept losing to Nico and decided to declare her his rival, someone he wants to beat.
However, right now he's infected with the Lovlica virus, and this is where they actually kindly address something: Lovlica was kinda put in this state of limbo by Cronus' Rider Kick, yeah? But since Cronus has been defeated, he's basically just been revivable all this time! The question is, who brought him back?
Well, we kinda have an idea. Kuroto Dan is up and about, and he's rambling about wanting to "revolutionize the history of this world" and whatnot. He seems to require 3 games to make it all possible, and Lovlica was revived to get the ball rolling.
He also lets Lovlica know that Saki will be broken from her "love spell" by midnight and be erased for good, and if Lovlica doesn't reach his complete form, he'll be erased to. So Kuroto is up to his old dirty deeds like always.
Some interesting things are said about Nico in this special. Luke, still infected, really wants to be able to challenge Nico again, and goes so far as to say that the way she's acting here isn't the real Nico. Even Taiga, when she repeats the claim to him, can't seem to comment on whether or not she's the same old Nico.
Kinda wonder if that's a fan response thing, since she has become significantly toned down since becoming less of an antagonistic character... It's interesting for someone to just come out and say it.
After Nico runs off, Lovlica butts in briefly to mock Taiga, and showing that he ships Taiga and Nico, which I'm still not sure how to feel about since he seems much older.
Since it's relevant here and I have no real comment on it later, Taiga also fires Nico from his hospital, so she's no longer allowed to work here.
We also get some more info on Saki, which I never really thought about - what IS her story?
Well, apparently she was going to the same medical school as Hiro, and was impressed by how brainy he was, and... it's here I'm still pretty unconvinced by their relationship.
They pretty much establish how Hiro is so focused on his studies he frequently forgets who Saki is, even though she seems to care about him being well fed while he works. I think they're trying to imply that DESPITE him being this way, he warms up to her.
Still, it may be one of those elements of Ex-Aid that I can never be fully satisfied with, because it always feels one-sided, and even with the content from this special, it feels like there’s not enough there to convince me they were a good couple. Maybe it's intentional, as we'll get to in the final battle.
Kiriya is Kiriya, so he manages to find out where Lovlica is often seen and gives the info to Hiro, hoping this will lead them to Kuroto.
Meanwhile, Taiga damages his body by using an old Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat, that he's had stored away all this time, to try and give himself some more power and Bugster immunity. It seems that he really wants to help save Saki, because she was the one patient he failed to save and he owes Hiro for actually saving his life during the course of the show.
Oh, it's here we get another clean continuity thing! Back when Cronus got the random ability to reset time, undoing the creation of the Hyper Muteki Gashat, there was some debate of whether Saki could be revived since Masamune erased her AFTER the Hyper Muteki Gashat existed.
The answer is yes, that was absolutely doable. Kind of a moot point now that Saki's been revived before our eyes, but it’s always good to know when the writers remember their own lore.
Hiro and Taiga both wanna stop Lovlica, and are too stubborn to let each other do it.
So, Snipe acts like classic Snipe and declares he'll just have to take Brave's Gashats, and a nice little fight ensues. Both of them leave it pretty damaged, so maybe it wasn't for the best.
At some point, Taiga also meets up with Asuna to take the Bugvisor II, apparently by force, then heads out to do battle. Bit rushed there, but it leads to good stuff.
Now, it's almost midnight, and Saki will soon be disappearing. On a beautiful moonlit night, Lovlica takes her out, and is interrupted before he can get in a kiss and ruin the show's favorite couple.
Taiga uses the Bugvisor II and Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat, almost unable to stand out, but surprises us all by transforming into the new Kamen Rider Cronus! Before Lovlica can attack, we're reminded that Kamen Rider Cronus can literally stop time, so he walks right past the monster and undoes Saki's mind control - which apparently also puts her in some pain.
An enraged Lovlica takes on Cronus, and I kinda like how they balanced him out for the fight. Sure, he's got some of the strongest powers in the show, but Taiga has also REALLY messed up his body to get to this point, so he eventually has to tap out.
Luckily, Hiro shows up, apologizing for how he acted around Saki, going as far as to proclaim he's the worst person. Which isn't true - Kaixa exists. But it's an interesting little twist to his relationship with Saki because it kind of makes me realize that maybe they've been intentionally rolling with this idea that he was always a bad boyfriend.
Anyway, the final fight begins, and while it seems that Brave still can't do much damage, his speech seemed to win Saki over, allowing Lovlica to become vulnerable. This fight is all sorts of stylish, with Legacy Gamer's angelic wings and flower petals everywhere - it's good stuff.
With one final blow, we see the last of Lovlica. Goodnight, sweet prince.
With only minutes before she disappears forever, we finally get a book end for Hiro and Saki.
It seems that, when Saki turned against Hiro, part of her maybe didn't believe he was actually going to be a good doctor. But after what she witnessed, she believes in him now, and wants him to become the world's greatest doctor.
And with that, midnight strikes, and Saki is gone - presumably for good, even if they figure out how to bring back the victims of the Bugsters. But at last, Hiro has some closure.
Meanwhile, Taiga is scrambling to find the Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat he lost during the fight. As it turns out, Kuroto Dan snatched it up...!
With Luke Kidman healed up, it seems he’ll be going back to America, and Nico’s going with him. After being fired, it seems like she’s back to her usual self, gamer gear and all. But as a result, her relationship with Taiga is back to a proper level of sarcasm.
It was charming seeing their exchange.
Finally, we end on a couple bombshell reveals.
Saiko, the new doctor who specializes in regenerative medicine, is actually part of Next Genome - the villains from Heisei Generations. She's secretly working with Kuroto on his master plan, and part of it involves reverse-engineering the master Kamen Rider Chronicle Gashat, so that he can retrieve the data of "the one being" kept inside it...
And finally, the reveal that Masamune Dan is right here, in the flesh, passed out on an operating table!
So that was fun.
Gonna be honest, when they first revealed the titles for these specials, the one that sounded the least interesting was Brave & Snipe, only because we got a lot of story for them already - what else could you do with them?
Well, I hadn’t considered how much closure you could get with Saki. It was clever, making a story where the two of them are stubborn to save her for the sake of each other, and they made good use of that idea.
I had a lot of fun coming back to Ex-Aid here. If you haven’t seen my review for Kamen Rider Zi-O, it’s a show that has a lot of rules for its setting that it seems to barely follow, so it felt like a breath of fresh air to come back to Ex-Aid and experience a story that felt consistent with the show’s lore, right down to addressing things you wondered about regarding Saki’s circumstances.
Definitely looking forward to checking out the rest of these. I KINDA know some stuff happening in the next one but not a whole lot.
Forgot to mention this! In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Heisei Riders, Bandai is reissuing a bunch of belts. The first they’ve revealed are from Decade, which is relevant right now, and W, which is always relevant...
And of course, the Gamer Buggle Driver from Ex-Aid. I hear this is good for fans looking for that thing, because it apparently skyrocketed in price.
From the looks of it, these are straight up identical to their very first releases, no Complete Selection stuff here. It is as much of a reissue as you can get.
Bit of fun news from Zi-O’s latest toy catalog update! In 2019 (fittingly, the end of the Heisei era), there will be a bunch of RideWatches released based on final forms from W to Build, so there’s an Ex-Aid Muteki Gamer RideWatch!
On the action figure side, they’re really going all out for the two most recent series. Ex-Aid will be seeing new action figures of Genm’s Zombie Gamer (Level X) and God Maximum Gamer, Ex-Aid’s Maximum Gamer and Muteki Gamer, and a figure of Cronus!
