Discover one of the coolest (and craziest) Japanese heroes of the past decade.
We look at Kamen Rider Gaim…
Drop everything youre doing.
Theres a show that you absolutely, positively need to watch.
It may look a lot likePower Rangers, but it has a more serious storyline.
Even the most hardcoreRiderfans admit that the show is basically just a weekly twenty minute commercial for BanDai toys.
But you know what?
Whats not to love?
The fact that they had peculiar theme songs didnt help matters, either.
If youre reading this article, theres a big chance you already knew this.
But Im going to give it a shot anyway.
How do the kids of a corporate futuristic mecca deal with all this tension?
By dancing, of course.
The youth of Zawame gets footloose by forming their own competitive dance teams with distinctive dress codes.
But the correct term is Beat Riders, just so you know.
Riders because of Kamen Riders… and Beat because of music…okay, yeah.
You got it.)
All Beat Rider groups compete with each other in awkwardly choreographed dance-offs at various stages found across the city.
When a certain team beats another in competition, they take the stage for their own.
Team Gaim features our main protagonist Kouta Kazuraba and his helpful friends Micchi and Mai.
Team Baron, however, are their rival gang, led by the cold and nihilistic Kaito Kumon.
How can one begin to describe the mad genius of Lockseeds?
Also, they talk.
(Not conversationally mind you.)
Watch the video and see for yourself.
Like: where do all these Lockseeds and Driver belts come from, anyway?
The short answer is the Yggdrasill Corporation, as part of a world-ending global conspiracy.
And where, exactly, do those zipper portals in the sky lead to?
What I like the most about this show is that its built on the power of surprise.
Plus theres all that ass kicking that happens.
The key toGaims charm lies in its characters.
Never before have I encountered such a diverse menagerie of misfit cast-offs in a superhero program.
Ive said enough already.
And then we have the other Armored Riders, some of which work for the Yggdrasil Corporation.
He has his own lemon-scented super powers up his sleeve, but thats kind of a spoiler in itself.
Then we have Oren Pierre Alfonse, Kamen Rider Bravo.
This equips the show with a much-needed higher purpose that threads itself throughout each and every scene.
It also becomes a modern day allegory for the historicalSengoku Warring States periodof Japan to boot.
How beautiful is that?
Because thats what its meant to be.
