So Ex Aid follows our lead known as Emu Hojo who’s not only a genius gamer but is also an intern at the local hospital after being inspired to become a doctor in his younger years. There is also a virus going around known as the “Game Disease” which manifests itself in humans and becomes your typical villain known as Bugsters for that episode once they break out of the patient. Armed with this knowledge, a game company of all things known as Gemn Corp design the Gashats (pronounced Ga-Shat) and Gamer Belts with the gashats are games and allow them to turn into a rider based on that game via the belts. Using this, Emu can become Kamen Rider Ex Aid as he begins working in the special Cyber Rescue department who deals with the bugster menace. That’s my very basic synopsis of the first arc because despite being a kid’s show, the plots of the later Kamen Rider series are usually very complex which according to my friend who knows more on Kamen Rider and says it gets worse with Wizard so I guess we got lucky with this one. Nevertheless, I find the plot to be serviceable at the beginning since it just introduces the other riders such as Snipe, Lazer and Brave who have their own little gimmicks based on what gashat they use. If anything, the pacing is a little bit off because for a forty-five episode long series, it does feel rushed in places. Like, Ex Aid gets his first level three upgrade by episode six and then they track down a level five gashat by episode nine. It just feels like the plot is moving a little too fast in terms of progression but this is a kids show so I guess it’s somewhat acceptable. What’s not so acceptable is the flatness of all the characters in terms of personality.
This is a kids show so of course the characters will be very generic stereotypes. Ex Aid (yes, I will be referring to them with their rider names since it’s easier) is your good guy doctor who wants to save everyone, Brave is your cold hearted professional and Snipe is the anti hero. They are all very basic which makes story beats very predictable because you know what character is going to do next in the context of the story. It’s like watching a bunch of paper cut outs acting out a very predictable story but nevertheless, it’s still entertaining because the action distracts you from the badly written plot and characters. If you want some form of interesting characters, we have Gemn and he is just the god complex stereotype and Pallad who I think has the best character arc within the series but that isn’t saying much. He spends the first fifteen episodes just being an ass and then we spends the rest of the season being the actual main baddie with Gemn until Chronos shows up where he turns good because he is sick of Chronus’ crap. It’s all flat and that sums up my thoughts on the whole aspect. Keep in mind, the plot and the characters is only bad if you actually pay attention to it and nitpick because this is a kids show aimed at slightly older children so the action is what’s worth talking about so with that said, let’s talk about the production values.
I am going to say it now, I love the production values and that’s just Kamen Rider in general. Of what I seen in Ex Aid and clips of other series, Kamen Rider has incredible production values for not only a TV show but for a kids show. I usually expect crap from these kids show but Kamen Rider’s high production value and standards is probably what makes it popular with more mature audiences. The fights are not only well choreographed and keep you hyped but the music they use is just the cherry on the top. The music used in the series is just brilliant and I still listen to it in my daily life. While there is a lot of good songs in just the Ex Aid run, my personal recommendations are “Crazy Paradox” which is Pallad’s main song and “Wish In The Dark” which is Gemn’s main song. They are both amazing, especially Wish In The Dark and are great for self hyping. Back on the topic of the production values, I think the special effects are also well done. While it’s a little jarring at times, I think the CGI holds up most of the time especially during the first episode because that’s just an amazing fight scene for the pilot. With that all said though, I think Ex Aid has one of the weaker transformation sequences in the series.
You see, when a rider transform, it’s normally this amazing and over the top sequence which pretty much defies how good that rider is outside of their costume design and finishing move. For me, there is only three sequences I like which is Gemn’s Dangerous Zombie, Pallad’s Perfect Knockout and Chronus’s Kamen Rider Chronicle and while they aren’t as cool as Zi-O’s, I find them amazing and always find myself getting hyped but those are for the bad guys. For me, the supposed good guys are all very boring when it comes their transformation and this counts towards their costumes. Brave’s design is just a very generic knight design and Snipe has that stupid ass cape that looks weird on him and their level 3 forms are ehh but not mentionable but level 50 forms is where it gets effy. While Brave gets this cool demon king looking form with Taddle Fantasy, they just strapped parts of a battleship for Snipe’s Bang Bang Simulation and don’t get me even started on Ex Aid’s form. Shakari Sports is just a bike strapped to him, Geoshiki Robots is just a red metal arm and his Mighty Max form is just clunky and ugly like the rider’s level 1 forms and I am not going to bring up his god form. If I was to give any props to Emu’s Rider outfits, Mighty Brothers XX is cool with the inverted colour pallets for the brothers and I do kind of like Juju Burger even if it’s a one off form and don’t worry, the costume designs for the remaining riders aren’t too bad. I mean, Gemn before Dangerous Zombie is just Dark Ex Aid, Graphite is a little weird, Pallad’s switching between Perfect Puzzle and Knockout Fighter was cool in the ways he changes forms but gets much better when the gashats become one and Chronus will always be a badass with his trench coat look. While I haven’t seen not much of the other series outside of the first episode of Zi-O and an AMV of OOO (pronounced Oz for some reason), I feel like the custom design is lacking for both riders and the bugsters but I will return to that thought at a later date once I have experienced more of the series.
For me, Ex Aid is serviceable at worst and a great addition to the series at best. While what I seen in the first episode of Zi-O outshines the entire Ex Aid series (especially the transformation sequence. That was just so satisfying), Ex Aid is still fun in its own rights. I am going to give this the 6/10 with a solid recommendation from me. As for what newcomers to the franchise should watch, my friend recommends Build since it’s the latest completed series and the new series of Zi-O is just full of references that only long term rider fans would know. What I personally recommend is Ex Aid because I think it has a very simple plot to follow and the production quality is better than whatever Power Rangers make these days. Next time we visit Kamen Rider, I will be tackling Amazons (not Amazon) because my friend says it’s non canon and it has gore so I am excited for it. As for the next review, definitely a manga review because I have things to say about a very popular manga series and no, it’s not One Piece. I am not reading all +900 chapters for the 10th time just for reference. As per usual, if you want to see my other content, check out the side bar for my YouTube channel where I make badly edited videos and my steam profile if you want to donate something for me to review.
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