More people are finding Naste sus and that's a good thing. Because I'm pretty sure she has a part in all of this. The current prevailing theory about Ryo being Ramaga (whom I will call Ryomaga henceforth) is probably connected as well. Episode 5 tells us that the original troopers went to seal the youja gate and are now trapped there with no way to be contacted. That makes it easier to believe Ramaga could've gotten hold of Ryo's body and is now using him as a host. In Episode 2, we see a little of the real person underneath Ramaga's armor: blue eyes with a red flower pattern on the pupil. Ryo has blue eyes, so the red flower could be a mark of possession. What I'll share next is my own personal theory about the situation. This is assuming the OVAs are canon. Here's how I think it went down:
LONG TEXT AHEAD FOR MY THEORY
5 years ago, the youja gate opened and the 1st generation troopers + Naste (maybe Jun too) went to seal it back. They get there, but are met by Ramaga and the Ten Braves. They then fight but are defeated due to having grown weaker with age, as well as being overpowered. Just as the youja are about to kill everyone, Naste begs them to stop and proposes a deal: spare their lives and don't invade the human world yet in exchange for whatever Ramaga wants— she will get it for him within 5 years. Ramaga considers and agrees: he'll let them live if Naste helps him achieve his goal of obtaining the last of the 3 treasures (he has the Jewel of Conquest & Sword of Domination already), and that's the "ultimate" armor (similar to Kikoutei, but not the same since it was destroyed).
To achieve this, Ramaga gives Naste the Hasha no Magatama & Seiha no Tsurugi to aid in her search for potential bearers of the 5 virtues, in order to awaken new armors so he can combine them to become the ultimate armor. Naste says ok, and is about to get the others to leave until Ramaga reveals one caveat: he will use Ryo's body and keep the other troopers hostage until she can give him what he wants. Once 5 years pass, Ramaga will return to take back what is his. Naste sadly has no choice but to agree and starts putting her plan into motion.
She establishes the DST and gets government funding, keeping her deal with Ramaga a secret (otherwise they would never allow it), and recruiting troopers for Ramaga's plan using the magatama. In the meantime, Naste tries other ways to contact Ryo and co.; if successful, she may not have to go through with her promise. Unfortunately, the last expedition to youjakai under Ryusei & Shion went badly, and time passes by quickly to the present day. It is now 5 years later and Ramaga has returned to remind Naste of her promise. While he was planning to possess Gai once he turns 15, he also had another idea to gain more power which was part of his deal with Naste.
Ramaga will send Gai out to the human world to be the bearer of the fire armor (which is now Shakunetsu). He had previously informed Naste of this which is why she so easily accepted him into the DST. Once Gai is human and becomes a Samurai Trooper, he can wear Shakunetsu and later the ultimate armor once all 5 are assembled. When Gai defeats the Ten Braves, he will also absorb them, gaining their abilities, and become an extremely powerful host. Ramaga can then possess him and establish himself as the greatest youja emperor, challenging anyone standing in his way.
*Whew* Ok, that was a lot of speculating. Does it cover all the plot holes and possibilities comprehensively? No, I'm sure I missed out a lot of things to come up with this theory. This is also assuming the OVAs are canon. If they aren't, well... maybe some of it could fit. Moreover, I don't know how Gai is connected to Ramaga & Ryo, or where the Ten braves come from. For now tho, it's a rough idea of my theory given what we currently know of the story.
Thoughts on 鎧真伝サムライトルーパー | Yoroi Shinden Samurai Troopers, Episode 5: Sadness (what a wild episode alkjdlaj):
It's very interesting to reframe the scene where Gai is shot by Saizo while fighting Ryusei as a flashback moment for Ryusei where he was stabbed with Ramaga's poison dagger. Poor Ryusei. This time he wasn't the target, anyway. But only barely.
AND RYOOOO XD (more on that later) :D And Samurai Heart makes its appearance lol For all the flaws in how Gai is being acclimated to human life by admittedly very young people who have no experience or training in this kind of thing, his relationship with Ryusei continues to be cute.
The OP is so good.
This made me laugh aldjkalj
I am not above saying that after they hit Saizo's shield I said, "Boom" aloud and then "hmm" and then Yamato said this alkdjalj
So now we know there are more youja who can do hypnosis and illusions. But interestingly, whatever Ramaga did didn't make the Troopers' eyes look like Shion's in that flashback:
This might just mean it's a different spell, a different caster, or something about Shion himself made his eyes look like this (e.g., that he has special heritage, either youja or from Kaos). But still, curious. Especially because the eye color is identical to Ryusei being taken over by the poison:
But so far as we know, Shion wasn't infected. So was Ramaga the one who did whatever to Shion, regardless of what it was? Or was Shion just less infected but not enough to be a permanent problem?
Ryusei dispelling the hypnosis reminds me of Seiji fixing Ryo's eyesight with sunlight.
AND WE GET FULL UNCOVERED ADULT RYO!!!
Lookit him. Cutie (though the beard doesn't do him any favors alkdjalj). Looks kind of like Keith from Voltron: Legendary Defender honestly lol But the generic 20th century shounen male lead look is kind of generic for a reason lol I love him :3 And his having a teacherly relationship with Ryusei is sweet. Ryo really trying to help everyone :3 And Ryusei idolizing him T-T Ryo T-T Where's Byakuen????
Also the -presses hard to create symbol- thing is fascinating. They can just... do that to Weapon-Gear/Armor-Gear alkdjlaj What magic is Ryo and later Ryusei doing and how did Shion let it do that alkdjlaj
Ryusei's students trotting quickly to him while Shion slowly walks over alkdjlaj I like the little details.
I admit I don't know Japanese architecture, so this may just be another location they used, but it is quite interesting that they have this vaguely Atlas carrying the world image in the background while talking about what Ryusei is doing on behalf of the world and the other Troopers:
(It actually looks more like Sisyphus with his boulder, and perhaps the double messaging is intended, given what Ryusei is fighting against and ultimately dies to)
Gai and Kaito's relationship continues to be intriguing:
Also highlighting because I wish. They would just. Use 2D. All the time. Instead of the ugly 3D. THIS LOOKS REALLY GOOD! WHY NOT KEEP IT??? It's in so much of the episode too! Along with the bleh 3D. Why T-T
I need to stop shipping characters with death flags. This happened with To Be Hero X, it's HABIT-FORMING alkdjalj
I honestly wasn't planning to ship them in my last fic of these two after Episode 3, but it just happened in that fic and I'm glad the series keeps supplying food for this ship alkdjlaj I think Ryusei is actually talking about how he knows he's dying(?) and he knows Shion is going to be able to stick around/maybe it's meant as a platonic thing but I choose to believe aalkdjalj
The full version of this at last is really adorable lol And the team dynamic continues to be fun:
I know a lot of tokusatsu have a lot of the very anti-climactic posing and stuff (and Yoroiden Samurai Troopers had plenty as well) like "omg you guys... can move????" But this is all very aldkjlaj It's not overly cheesy in a way that's bad, it works, just like YST's generally did.
And oh no, will Shion actually die first and all the promo material with him in the green armor was a scam after all???? alkdjalj
The sword being a fake is neat. Of course a super genius wouldn't just go up to the Youjakai fully half-cocked.
And there it be at last! The Shiroi Kikotei/Armor of the Supreme Emperor!
Still a thing in this story universe (and generally looks the same, plus the cape anyway). And Nasti is very twigged into the fact that Ramaga wants to summon it (and hiding it from Mirei for some reason still). Which begs the question: if Ryo is Ramaga/being controlled by him, and allegedly Ramaga had the other four Troopers, why couldn't Ryo summon the armor like he could before? What stopped him from summoning it to stop himself from getting captured/save everyone else?
Is that where Byakuen went? He escaped with the sword(s) back to the human world?
Presumably if Ryo is just being possessed, and although Ramaga seemingly can use non-demonic abilities maybe through Ryo (or some other person he absorbed/controls, like oh... Kayura maybe), perhaps Ramaga can't channel righteousness like Ryo can and that's why he can't summon the armor. Although this begs the question of what value possessing Gai would have since that would presumably present the same problem. Unless Ryo's body is being used up (as Gai explained) and that's why Ramaga can't summon the armor. And he needs Gai because Gai is a younger meat puppet and so could handle bearing the armor. But how long as Ramaga been unable to use the armor? He wasn't using it in the flashback with Shion and Ryusei's group, though maybe he just didn't need to given how outclassed Shion and Ryusei's group was.
I take back some of the super-cheese comments: Ramaga's reveal, "It was me!" is kind of hilarious alkdjlaj
So this is interesting because we seemingly have an answer to how a human can become "demonic" in this story universe. They get infected with this poison and Ramaga sort of mind controls them into it. And it can be removed without killing the caster, seemingly, assuming Ramaga was the one who did something like this to Gai, as Ramaga was not dead when Saizo removed Gai's demonic powers. Conversely, the Braves were told a false story about how Gai was born/joined them or something. Or, for whatever reason, Saizo was the one who gave Gai his demon powers originally, and so Saizo was the one who could deactivate, I guess? By shooting Gai? Given Ryusei's demon form kind of resembles Gai's, there at least seems to be some connection there.
I still love how much the Troopers love Ryusei. They really do care for him. And we get slightly more than the usual clip show for their memories of him, which is sweet. He really bonded with them in a monthish time. And we do get someone singing Samurai Heart, even if it's not the whole team.
It feels like a callback to Episode 1 when Gai was singing without any backing music, but haunting in a different way.
Having Gai be the one to essentially kill Ryusei is so cruel T-T The plan was nice, though. Gai really does care and can plan things, and all the Troopers got together to help. And Gai was already regretting some of his actions and coming around.
I realized after the fact that I didn't have room in this post to really be sad about Ryusei's death (outside doomed ship stuff and how it affects other characters) but the man's been death-flagged since before the show started, folks T-T We didn't even know Ryusei existed until relatively right before the show started airing: Shion was in all the promotional material as the fifth Trooper prior to and after that, outside the OP. I think we first knew for sure about Ryusei's existence on December 2nd, when his character profile and a preview with him more prominently was shared, and then we had no idea what he was doing other than he appeared briefly in a couple previews, never in armor. You can actually see him in this preview from November 11, 2025:
He's there on the right, out of armor. There are some other shots of episodes that have already released where we (now) know it's Ryusei in the armor, and one where there's someone in green armor on-screen while Shion is standing elsewhere, in a scene from Episode 5 (I use the episode version later in this post). But we didn't know it was the guy in this^ shot in that armor when this preview aired, or even on December 2nd. Even if anyone noticed Shion was not the one in the green armor in that shot before December 2nd, I doubt they made the connection it was "that mysterious brunette with a green t-shirt in one scene of the preview". On December 2nd, we got his character profile and a preview video with him more prominently shown (but still in not much of the video). Even in that preview, he's not in the armor, and Shion transforms with the Weapon-Gear multiple times. And by that point, we'd already seen Shion in a lot of things, in and out of armor. The OP with just Ryusei and no Shion aired at midnight on New Year's Day. And that still had a death flag for Ryusei because, unlike the other five Troopers, he's walking away from the camera with his back to the audience, and his face hidden in the window where his armor is, clearly signalling he's leaving the story and potentially being replaced (as we knew, because Shion is in the vast majority of the promotional material as the one wearing the green armor). There were tons of theories at that point: Was Ryusei evil? Does Shion replace him? Does Ryusei replace Shion? Who knew! And then the ED was premiered before Episode 2 dropped and Ryusei had EVEN MORE DEATH FLAGS alkdjalj Even when I did my very non-academic survey of Japanese fans on twitter after Episode 2, folks were guessing Ryusei might die because by that point we'd all see the ED, if nothing else.
Am I sad, yes (I like Ryusei, he's a great character, it's why I've written 2 and soon to be 3 fics about him). Am I surprised? No. The only "surprise" of any kind was whether or not he'd actually die or just be out of the action in some other way (e.g., too injured, comatose, kidnapped). I even guessed Gai might be the one to "kill" him ages ago, given all the Gai crying previews and the OP (and it makes sense as something typical of the genre to galvanize him on his journey of understanding murdering people is bad). So, given I've assumed Ryusei would potentially die for over a month, I guess my sadness is a bit... less intense because I was preparing for this for over a month.
I will go down with this ship again.
And so the folks who insisted Ryo is Ramaga/his bodysuit were on to something. Though it remains to be seen what precisely is going on. Back during YST, there were a lot of attempts to basically absorb/brainwash/use Ryo in his armor, all of which ultimately failed. Presumably this is not Ryo gone mad with demonic power, potentially after being stuck in the Youjakai for a couple years. The marks on his face and the odd symbols in his eyes likely indicate possession of some kind. So was Ramaga stronger than Arago and the others who tried to take Ryo over? Is this an evolved form of what happened when Badamon tried to overwhelm Ryo for possession? Did Ryo make a deal of some kind to save his fellow Troopers, who are also notably absent, or were they absorbed like Gai did with Nezu?
The alternative theory I still am uncomfortable with is Ramaga was going through all of them until they burned out or something and Ryo was the last one. During YST season 1, Ryo was the last to be absorbed. It'd mirror that. But more likely it's a Gai and Nezu situation, hence where Ramaga got the idea to have Gai absorb the Braves (or at least some of them). My assumption is Ramaga would target Ryo (like Gai later) because he was the Emissary of Fire and thus the one who can wield the Shiroi Kikotei. Which would hopefully mean the other four aren't dead (after all, if the goal is that armor, he still needs the other four to summon it). They're just, you know... sleeping. Or something.
It still leaves open the question of who Gai's father is. Is he actually Ryo's son or Ramaga's son or some other third thing? He still might be some random child that one or both of them got ahold of and took into the Youjakai and indoctrinated. We just don't know. Again, Kayura was kidnapped, too, and Kayura was neither Kaos' child nor Arago's, nor anyone else's.
And what have the Masho and Kayura been up to? Ryo's been running around as either a new dark lord or a meatsuit for one and they're just... busy? With what? Hope this doesn't mean they're dead... Maybe the other Troopers are forming some resistance with them in the Youjakai or something. I kind of feel like this weird poison power is something Ramaga absorbed from Kayura, given how he explains it, and aligning with the Sword of Domination leaves it 50/50 either a Ryo or Kayura thing.
And this also raises the question of if Ramaga targeted Ryusei intentionally because of Ryo's memories of him. Obviously Ryusei was kind of in the way of getting to Shion and they were the only two alive, but we do know Ryo and Ryusei had that connection. Or if it's a demonic Ryo, did he want to kill the last part of him that cared?
I hope this doesn't mean they have to kill Ryo. Obviously death for Troopers is on the table (it was before, even outside Musashi's former team and Ryusei and Shion's former team, as Shutendoji did actually die, much as we dislike remembering it). This is part of why Next Generation stories are so not my bag most of the time. Passing the baton is one thing (which for various reasons can be sad enough), but literally killing off the previous generation is really not great (and we already have Ryusei's "kill me to solve the problem" declaration, don't want Ryo doing that too, or I don't know, dissolving because his body has been through too much once he's freed of Ramaga). Not great at all. We already have 5-8 dead Troopers in this show. I do not want more.
Anywho. ...Episode 6: Restart? Woo? (Which is funny because it's more likely Episode 7 would have a change in OP/ED and more of a restart, but I guess we'll see if that happens alklaj)
Fanfics if you'd like them: Turnabout (set after Episode 1), One Little Did (set after Episode 2), Came this far (set after Episode 3), a Ryusei/Shion Valentine's Day fluff fic, and another Ryusei/Shion university AU inspired by Macross Frontier.
I didn't expect them to actually use the term "Surname group" (名字組) within the show itself. I thought it was just something the fans and staff could refer to the characters by. It feels so meta lol, like the show just looked you in the eye and said "Yeah, these guys with the last names? They know they're fodder and so do you," So now we know they're called the Surname Group in-universe, does that mean all of the Juyushi have both first and last names? If the answer is yes, then I assume they will be revealed to be the same ones as the real Sanada Ten Braves'.
Btw, it seems like a lot of fans in the West still haven't realized that our Ten Braves are based on actual folk figures called the Sanada Ten Braves (真田十勇士), who themselves are fictional characters inspired by real people. To keep it simple, the Sanada Ten Braves are characters typically depicted as a group of ninja who assist Sanada Yukimura [I'll use the (*surname*) (*given name*) order in this post] during the Sengoku Jidai. They are pretty much part of not just Japanese folklore, but also pop culture, and have been portrayed numerous times in various media, for e.g. Samurai Warriors, Sengoku Basara, Nioh, Brave 10 (manga), etc. The YSST Braves, however, are only referred to as Juyushi (十勇士), without the Sanada name, because the reference isn't supposed to be so direct.
Circling back to our Ten Braves, they are now officially split into 2 groups: surname (名字組) and given name (名前組). Judging by how the former only goes by surnames, which are less personal, and are sacrificial pawns in Ramaga's plan, they probably won't get much attention even in the 2nd cour (I hope I'm proven wrong tho). As for the naming convention of the members and how they relate to the real Sanada Ten Braves, below is an easy way to understand it. I put the names of the irl ones, while highlighting the names of the YSST ones.
Ok, so. I'm very worried about the pacing of this series. Everything happens at breakneck speed and a lot of things that might confuse the audience is just glossed over. We are casually told about a major plot point in Ramaga wanting to use Gai as his next vessel and that's why he wants to rebel against his father. Why then, would he participate in the invasion and kill civilians when he didn't have to? Is he aware of Saizo's plan with Ramaga to turn him human? Does he know armor gear only works on humans? Ramaga also just reveals that he knows Gai wants to use the power of the armor to defeat him. I thought there would be more suspense over that. If Ramaga's plan was to get Saizo to sneak Gai some humanity (presumably so Gai can wear Shakunetsu & become the perfect vessel), why is he trying to get him back now? He even told Nezu to bring him back dead or alive. And Saizo appears again with the rest of the Braves just like that when they made a big deal out of him disappearing before. At this rate, Ramaga will be defeated by Episode 12 and the next cour will be new villains just like the original, which I don't want.
Honestly, a lot of problems I had with this episode involve Gai. My biggest gripe right now (other than the pacing) is everyone's reaction to him and his actions. Why are they all so nonchalant about the death & destruction he caused? He even tried to kill Musashi. Nobody calls him out for the shit he did and he shows no remorse for it either. I thought Kaito's grudge would last longer, but as soon as Nezu conveniently says he killed Yoshie, Kaito isn't allowed to hate Gai any more. It doesn't matter who killed his grandma imo, Kaito should still be cautious of him since he saw Gai kill innocent people. I hate that the show made it seem like Kaito was wrong to want revenge simply because Gai wasn't the exact person who caused Yoshie's death. Like, no bitch, you can't absolve Gai of his wrongdoings just like that.
So far, Gai's character isn't written well. Not just from a moral standpoint, but from a narrative one too. He's able to activate undergear and the Shakunetsu armor so quickly just by hearing Mirei's instructions, without the virtue of righteousness. He doesn't even need to train or go through a situation that pushes his limits like Kaito (and for him it's only for his bow & arrow). Musashi has been a trooper for far longer and still can't summon Suiren. Sorry, but it doesn't feel earned. Shonen training arcs are essential in building character, especially for MCs. So without Gai going through the same, it's like he just used cheat codes to game the system because he's just that OP. He immediately defeats Nezu (who is his TEACHER, and should be very familiar with his fighting style) in 3 seconds, when Ryusei couldn't dodge Nezu's kunai despite being far superior to Gai in speed.
As for Nezu, I, and many others think he left too soon. He didn't even last a whole episode; only a few minutes. I understand Kenichi Suzumura is a veteran seiyuu who commands a higher than average fee, but they could've at least made his short appearance memorable. Idk if he's actually dead or just went on to live inside Gai (which would be awkward as hell), but I hope Nezu is still referenced in the future. I mean, he's Gai's trainer/mentor ffs! He literally taught the kid everything about combat & yojutsu. Surely something important to the plot could come from that? Gai also has no feelings towards offing someone he's known his whole life. Even if his values began to slowly change, he should be a bit more conflicted at harming his own kind. Otherwise, it just makes him look like a psychopath who doesn't give af about anyone, human or youja. Anyway, it's a shame that a character with such a great design was wasted and shown to be so weak. Tbh, I expected Nezu to be the first to go down, but I didn't expect him to die in just one slash. He should've put up more of a fight. #Justice4Nezu
I've ranted a lot already about the negatives. Don't worry, I don't hate the episode. And like I said, most of my problems are specifically with Gai and the way he interacts with the people around him. Let me talk about what I did like. Hilariously enough, all the good things I can say are to do with Kaito. He's the best part, and his relationship with his grandma is so wholesome and sweet. His resolve to find the one responsible for her murder, leading him to steal the busou gear bracelet, and go trooper mode just to defend civilians was the highlight for me. Then he has to come to terms with killing his grandma who turned into a kairai monster, earning him his weapon. That is what a well-written character arc in a short period should be like. Kaito is an emotional character, despite embodying a rather stoic virtue.
And it's this character flaw that makes him and Musashi (with his insecurities) much more endearing to me. The only thing I would've preferred is if Kaito figured out Nezu was controlling the kairai and helped Ryusei & Gai devise a plan to beat him. Try to lean into the "wisdom" aspect y'know. Maybe something like that will happen later, who knows.
The ending with Kaito and Yoshie was bittersweet, but he knows now that she will pass on peacefully and watch over him. The words of wisdom about love and kindness being what rock truly is about shows that Kaito was raised well by his grandmother, and deserves to be a Samurai Trooper. Seriously, that scene of them with baby Kaito is too cute. What I really want to know now is, what was Yoshie about to tell Kaito before their phonecall got cut? And why did she say it was her fault he couldn't become a trooper? Why did the DST reject him the first time even though he had the correct virtues? I hope all this is answered before the anime officially ends.
So those are my thoughts on the 2nd episode. I know it sounds like a rant (I guess it is a little), but it's only because I want more (everything happens too fast aahhh!) and to see this series do well. These are just my personal opinions at the end of the day, so don't let it change your minds if you agree or disagree either way. I'm always looking forward to the next episode, so I expect my impressions to become more positive over time.
Alright, I know quite a few fans have noticed the amulets that Kamanosuke and Sasuke are wearing in their casual get-up. They look like the one Arago made Kayura wear to brainwash her into serving him. I believe in the original JP for YST, it's referred to as a "breastplate", which doesn't seem like the right term either, but nonetheless, it's undeniably the same object. The only difference is that Kamanosuke & Sasuke's don't have the tomoe engravings that Kayura's did.
Now this has made fans wonder if the Braves are being brainwashed/controlled by Ramaga into doing his bidding. I can't say I have an opinion on this since it's possible. However, these 2 are the only ones wearing it; the others aren't. They don't wear their amulets in armor either while Kayura wore hers at all times, which was why Arago's control was so strong. This could just be another red herring as it would be too obvious. Tsukasa Kotobuki may have just included them as part of the characters' designs as a callback (or part of youja culture), without them having any impact on the plot. Again, not saying it's 100% a false alarm, but I feel it could go either way.
I hope the show addresses the fact that Ramaga specifically asked Naste to recruit Kaito, Yamato, Musashi, and Shion as Gai's teammates. Because aside from the ridiculous logistics of it all, why did the DST reject 2 of them before and allow the first one on this team to leave on his own terms 3 years ago?
Did Naste turn Kaito away when she remembered how displeased Yoshie looked bringing the jewel to her? Did she tell Ramaga "I can't get Kaito yet because of his grandmother"? This could've prompted Ramaga to instruct Nezu to seek Yoshie and eliminate her so Kaito could finally join Gai as a trooper. I mean, why would Nezu bother remembering some random civilian since he already killed hundreds that day?
I was curious what Japanese fans were thinking of Yoroi Shinden Samurai Troopers, so I browsed Japanese twitter after Episode 2 (it's the most active for what I have access to) (this is spoilery for episode 2). [Also, for folks looking for fanart, at least from what I've seen, twitter is still unfortunately the most active for that. Pixiv is probably second. There's a small handful of folks posting fanart on Blue Sky Social, and the tag still hasn't been wrangled on Archive of Our Own, and currently I can see five fics using three different tags for it.]
The comments:
A lot of folks are returning fans who loved or at least watched the original series. Most generally enjoy the sequel, with a number of comments saying it's a good homage essentially to the first series. There were a couple comments about how, rather than an actual sequel, this is some alternate timeline that starts after the end of YST season 1? Folks looking for an explanation for the opening backstory and where it ends. And a lot of folks excited about the different merch runs happening, for both the old and new series.
There's a lot more violence, which some find surprising, and some find a bit off-putting. Most people don't seem to care or just suggest not watching it with young children. Given a large chunk of commenters self-identify as adults in their 40s and 50s, it sounds like this isn't a problem.
Most folks are very curious about Gai and what his journey will be like. Some folks (a very small number from what I've seen) find his murderous side off-putting. A funny comment I saw a couple times was people assuming maybe Gai didn't kill Musashi's former team, he just cut their arms off lol I agree, they're definitely recovering somewhere we can't see on the Fortress Train lol A number of people loved the re-use of the old transformation sequences, particularly when Gai transformed, and particularly the cherry blossoms.
A lot of people are excited for more with Kaito, especially folks who really love Touma.
A lot of folks are worried about Ryusei's fate. Between folks who know Shion is in most of the promotional materials in the green armor, and folks who just know about the ED, folks are curious and worried about when and how Shion takes over the armor role. There was a bit of Ryusei love, and folks don't want him to die.
Very few people mention Nezu at all. A couple commented he died quickly, a few noted (as I assumed as well) this is just going to be formulaic for the story, with the Braves being sent after Gai to die/be sacrificed to him to absorb. Folks are curious about what'll happen with that.
There was a lot of excitement over stuff with Uesugi Yoshie, who's voiced by Katsuki Masako, who voiced Kayura in the Yoroiden Samurai Troopers Japanese dub. One person pointed out that the name for the character possibly comes from Kawahara Yoshie, who wrote the YST novelization, which would be neat if true. A number of folks commented about how Yoshie's death is similar to Yagyu Nasti's grandfather's end in YST.
There's a lot of focus on the Showa music being used throughout the show, like TOKIO by Sawada Kenji, which is Yoshie's CD, and what the music means.
There's a recurring theory that the music being used somehow means the characters will sing Samurai Heart in the show's climax/some important battle down the line. (The vast majority of comments were about the music, including Gai's singing, with the second-most comments being Yoshie-related things, like Masako's presence and what that potentially means for future episodes).
A couple folks commented on the art quality, some positive, some negatively calling it stiff or something.
There was this neat thread pointing out the real-life locations used thus far for the series, in the show and at least for now in promotional material.
At least one fan thinks Ramaga took over Ryo's body, which is what he's using now and maybe where the Sanada Braves thing comes from. The assumption is Gai is Ryo's son adopted by Ramaga and demonized I guess, but then turned human again for Ramaga's goals.
The consensus is that folks are enjoying it or at least intrigued by where it's going. There's a lot of love for the new cast, as well as Nasti's return, the homages to the original series, and a lot of the art choices. Even folks who aren't into certain aspects of the series generally plan to continue watching.
