Americans Hate Tingle: In Japan, Hideyasu got paired with Hase even after Hideyasu abandoned him after his Sengoku Driver was destroyed. Not so much here... that is until he got Rescued from the Scrappy Heap.
Angst Aversion: While the show still has a core of idealism, it's known by many for being one of the darkest seasons of the Heisei era, from moral questions, cosmic horrors, and loss of humanity to be treated as a monster. The ending's still positive, but getting to the ending is a ride that isn't for everyone. If you managed to stay until the end though, what awaits is a totally new understanding of what it really means to be a Kamen Rider.
Yoko's awesome moments decrease in frequency as the show goes on, to the point where Kouta pretty much effortlessly steals her Lock Seed right out of her Genesis Driver (untransformed, no less), and she spends the start of the Helheim invasion standing around unarmed and doing nothing as everything goes straight to hell(heim).
Oren also qualify, as in early episode he's a huge threat to all Armored Riders with his skill and experiences of veteran soldier. Then everyone gotten their power-ups and he's getting manhandled everytime he appears.
Jounichi's a weird case. He starts out being able to cunningly fight with dirty tricks... then becomes the show's punching bag in about 2 minutes. Then he gets training from Oren and becomes a badass... then goes back to being a punching bag when facing Lord Baron's Inves and Yoko. To be fair, it's possible Kaito enhanced the Inves he sicked on him and Yoko was given a power boost from Ryoma's driver.
Base-Breaking Character: Mitsuzane is one of the most polarizing character in Gaim and most of the debate comes from whether he deserve to be redeemed?. Those who believe he does argue that he started off with good intentions and was ultimately more of a misguided kid who suffered Sanity Slippage in his quest to save his friends. Those who believe he doesn't argue that said Sanity Slippage lead to some serious Motive Decay, that he long since crossed the Moral Event Horizon at this point in the series and his multiple attempted murder of one of his best friends was actually for petty and stupid reasons. Kota and Takatota's forgiveness of Micchy and his subsequent redemption in episode 47 and the Drive crossover film deepened the divide and leaves Micchy as either an misguided person who deserves an second chance or an Easily ForgivenKarma Houdini who crossed too many lines.
Narutaki's cameo in the ToQger vs. Gaim special; he appears, introduces himself as "the ally of all Kamen Riders", gives Kouta a rainbow pass so he can board the Rainbow Line, and then disappears into a dimension wall, which leaves both Kouta and Right speechless. Adding to the weirdness, he has a monkey hand puppet like Ticket.
In Duke Gaiden, Takatora's belt makes a different sound than the usual Sengoku Driver. It's never used again and it's not commented on.
Bizarro Episode: #30, the Kikaider REBOOT crossover. #29 ended on a Cliffhanger that is only resolved in #31. The crossover itself takes place two weeks before #29, interrupting the ongoing plot. Also, Ryoma transplants his brain into Hakaider's android body, fights as him against Gaim and Kikaider, and returns his brain to his original body by the end of the episode. Unsurprisingly, Gen Urobuchi had nothing to do with this one.
And then it happens again with #37! This one is a prelude to Gaim's Non-Serial Movie...and it comes right after the Wham Episode that is #36. While they handle it a bit better this time, it's still an episode where the Special Guest soccer players launch a flaming soccer ball at a monster.
Broken Base: Ironic considering the fact that this is partially based off the Warring States.
Like usual, fans are divided on whether the Rider's suit look good or not and this years collectible trinkets being fruits. As well as the classic lack of female rider complaints (not helped by the fact we get five male riders from the start). Gen Urobuchi being introduced as the main writer didn't help, either, as some fear that he'll go back to his infamous Urobutcher phase, especially with Word of God stating things like Urobuchi having a Madoka-style, franchise status quo-shattering trap down the road, Gaim going back to the early Heisei era routes or that by the new year, kids might lose the desire to drink orange juice or even worse grow up to hate fruits altogether.
On a subbing related note, Æsir's decision to translate the Sengoku Driver as the Wärring Driver, with the umlaut, split fans into those who accepted it and those who (loudly) could not comprehend the reason for its inclusion. It happens again when they decide to take the literal route and renamed Gridon "Ornac". /m/ had 7 threads going for three days straight and also caused the creation of at least 4 new subgroups devoted to subbing Gaim!note Though all have died off save for one who used Gaim as a launching pad for his Blade subs.
The "Wärring" issue came up again when the show introduced the Drivers' inventor Ryoma Sengoku, who named the Sengoku Drivers after himself; and Æsir called him "Ryoma Wärring" in order to keep the connection.
In #14, the Urobuchi trap sprung and revealed Gaim to be a Darker and Edgier Kamen Rider series as a whole, with one of the Riders discussing how killing monsters is justice being the subject that people are split upon as they try to define what is justice and seeing if he was in the right for killing a monster who used to be Hase.
Is Mai becoming a Living MacGuffin, a natural conclusion to what all the main Riders are fighting for (namely the MacGuffin in question), or an allegory for objectification as some of the riders consider her a prize to be won?
When Kaito went to save the Living MacGuffin, was he doing it for power or for Mai? Word of God also said that he has no feelings for Mai, supporting the former.
#47 was it a suitable happy ending to the season, or did it ruin the Bittersweet Ending and invalidate everything the heroes fought for through a cheap Deus ex Machina and should it be considered canon?
It must be very satisfying for a lot of viewers to see Yoko Minato deliver an extremely well-deserved "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Micchy in #34. At that time, Micchi has stabbed Kouta behind his back so many times and has already committed so many questionable acts that seeing her telling him off like that is incredibly wonderful. He totally deserved that speech.
Likewise, Mai slapping the aformentioned Micchy in #26 is also equally satisfying and well-deserved after his actions in his growing obsessive phase. Unfortunately though, this makes Micchy even worse and cements his turn into the villainous side further.
Crazy Is Cool: Oren takes about five very weird concepts, and somehow combines them into being an awesome badass.
Designated Hero: Kaito, full stop. He does a variety of questionable to downright morally black things such as sicking Inves on defenseless people, wanting Helheim to invade killing billions of people, and this is before he knows about the forbidden fruit, to wanting to commit genocide under the guise of bringing a better world and for most of the series he's treated as, at worst, an anti-hero. Likely because of his complex character, nobody really seems to mind.
Rosyuo may be a douchebag, but fans like him due to him being one of the only sane Overlords out there and is more than willing to actually cooperate. It doesn't help that he killed the local Hate Sink in the most epic yet gruesome way possible.
Kaito Kumon also counts for having been an asshole that tried to be a reverse Social Darwinist over its head, but at the very least he's a man of his word.
Ryoma Sengoku and Zack, who won the popularity polls to receive their own Gaim Gaiden movies.
Zack even moreso, since he was originally going to die near the end of the series and was saved by his popularity.
Oren is also pretty popular, as his Large Ham tendencies, being an awesome Camp Gay, his antics to Jonouchi (Oren's "custom" Donguri Lockseed anyone?), and just being a funny goofball in general won him quite a lot of fans.
Many people scrambled to guess just what Gen Urobuchi meant when he said that Zangetsu would be the Ouja of Gaim, with many ideas being that he would be a ruthless killer like Ouja to comparing their overall strength to even the idea that Gen wasnt' referring to Takatora-as-Zangetsu but rather Mitsuzane-as-Zangetsu.
The prologue with the three armies have people grasping at straws trying to figure out just what it means. Is it a battle set in the past with the Riders being the Overlords? Is it set in the past as a previous time loop? Is it foretelling how the show will end? Or was it just a battle that got lost as the plot developed?
This has been answered: during Mai's little time-jaunt she sees it as a potential alternate reality. It's definitely supposed to be a metaphor too, though.
Esoteric Happy Ending: The finale is presented as a positive conclusion to the story, but requires the viewer to believe that Helheim's avatar is a mindless plant with no responsibility for its actions rather than a Karma Houdini of epic proportions. Given said avatar's highly intelligent nature and open favoritism towards Kouta, this can be a difficult pill to swallow. Even taking everything at face value can come across as a case of The Bad Guy Wins, as Helheim is seen spreading to the next world to be destroyed with none of the characters noticing or caring. It helps that this world is already doomed, but where it will go after that is left to the imagination.
"Kamen Rider Fruit Ninja" is a popular one. And once the series started getting darker, "Gaim of Thrones", and it's not exactly hard as to figure how/where that nickname came from.
Ryoji and Hideyasu collectively are referred to as the "Nutty Buddies". This becomes Harsher in Hindsight when Hideyasu tells Ryoji that he was just using him. Later subverted tragically when Hideyasu is proven to be a lot less callous about Ryoji, albeit by that point being far too late
There was originally a rumor going around that the mysterious girl was named "Eve" in reference to the Biblical Forbidden Fruit. After that was debunked, the fandom has settled for calling her things like "Helheim Mai", "Alt-Mai", or "Not!Mai" due to her resemblance to regular Mai. She's eventually revealed to be Future Mai, and the end of the series makes her a metaphorical Eve even if she's never named as such.
Mitsuzane is occasionally referred to as "Mitch" as an Americanized version of his in-series nickname, Micchy.
Æsir Fansubs translated the Sengoku Driver as "Wärring Driver" in order to convey the pun behind the namenote It's written with the Kanji for "War" and "Extreme", with their dubbing the Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut as appropriately extreme. When it turned out that the Driver was actually named for its creator, Ryoma Sengoku, and Æsir changed his surname as well, fans took to calling him "Warren Statesman".
Another nickname relating to translations but not involving the subs this time, Takatora is sometimes called "Hawktiger" because his given name is a homophone for the Japanese words for those animals (though it actually translates as "Noble Tiger"). Of course, Kamen Rider fans would recognize those as two of the three animals which make up Kamen Rider OOO's Tatoba Combo, leading to the creation of a humorous picture of our Overseer with grasshopper legs to complete the trio.
Alternately, some have taken to calling him "OO", since he's one Medal short of being OOO.
The "Energy Riders", for the four Yggdrasill Riders with Genesis Drivers (Zangetsu Shin, Duke, Sigurd, and Marika).
Team PopUp = "Team Sexy", thanks to the Kamen Rider Girls' portrayal.
As of the halfway mark, some have started using "Sour Grapes" as a nickname for Jerkass!Micchy since, true to the phrase's origins, he's acting this way out of jealousy over the attention and affection Kouta gets from Mai.
More derisive viewers call him Bitchy-Micchy.
Sid gets the nicknames like Cherry Juice, Crushed Cherries, Cherry Pancake, or Cherry Crush, thanks to Rosyuo squeezing him to death inside a cliff face.
The battle in #36 has been dubbed "Melonbowl 2014" because of the Riders involved Takatora as Zangetsu versus Mitsuzane as Zangetsu Shin.
Kouta and fellow Urobuchi heroes Madoka and Saber have been dubbed by some as the "Urobutcher Trinity".
Fandom Rivalry: Predictably it has one towards its spiritual predecessor Kamen Rider Ryuki due to both shows having a similar concepts of Riders fighting each other.
Fanfic Fuel: Knuckle Gaiden reveals that remnants of Yggdrasil are still giving out Sengoku Drivers and Lockseeds, opening lots of potential for post-series fanfiction with fan-made characters and forms.
Oh, Micchy, no one is going to take you seriously as a villain as long as you wear those utterly atrocious sweaters. Thank God he switched to suits.
Ryoma Sengoku and his Hawaiian shirt and shorts ensemble also counts.
Friendly Fandoms: Naturally with some of Urobuchi's other series (Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Psycho-Pass and Fate/Zero). For Urobuchi fans, Gaim is often the Gateway Series for Kamen Rider.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Gaim is likely one of the most beloved series in the Western fandom. While it's certainly not hated, Gaim's reputation in Japan is significantly more mixed, being only the 12th most popular Kamen Rider series in NHK's poll. Detractors most frequently cite the goofiness of the fruits motif, and the much darker tone of the series as reasons for their distaste.
The opening features scenes of Kouta screaming from behind a fence for seemingly no reason. Once you've seen the end of the series, it becomes clear that he's trying desperately and futilely to warn his past self of what's to come.
Kaito stealing a Sengoku Driver in #15 from Yggdrasil becomes hard to watch when Yutaka Kobayashi got caught for shoplifting in October 2021, and ultimately got fired from his agency in April 2022 when they got word of the incident.
In Sengoku Movie Battle, Ryugen uses Double Arms and borrows his catchphrase "Now, count up your crimes!" This has become darkly ironic considering the list of his own crimes that he's racked up since then. Eventually becomes Hilarious in Hindsight when he becomes The Atoner, and when Zangetsu Gaiden has his father played by the same actor as the Big Bad of that season.
The entire show is this. No really. Literally, the entire show is this. Going back to earlier "lighter" episodes with the knowledge of the shock value and emotional drainage that comes halfway through the show can be a really unsettling experience.
The entirety of #40's plot is one for Hase's fate. Given that Kouta is going through the exact same events as Hase, it might mean Hase was in the same kind of situation. Painfully aware of what's going on and what his body was doing, but completely and utterly unable to do anything about it.
Many fans begin to think of different ways of how Takatora can survive his fight with Micchy, not helped with the fact that his actor didn't receive flowers. note In Japan, an actor receives flowers when they finish their role in a show, usually through having their character killed off. This has been used to confirm many deaths in the past, including Phoenix. The cries of this hushed down when all his appearances after that fight came in the form of insanity-induced hallucinations from Mitsuzane, though there are some who haven't gotten their hopes up. And he's revealed to be alive in #46.
People point out that Zack was only knocked out in the fight against Kaito and not died like Yoko. Most of them point to the tried and true flowers method, in which the latter received some while the former did not. Much like Takatora, he turns up alive in #46.
Inverted with Yuya. Many people have correctly guessed that he was the Byakko Inves from the first episode, and the only arguments for his survival came in the form of rumored plot developments.
A brief moment in #9 when Zack and Peco get awfully close to Kouta and Micchi during the talk with Team Baron.
Quite a few fans have wondered where exactly Ryoma◊ was looking in #12...
You can be forgiven if you forget Mitsuzane has a crush on Mai given how Micchy spends almost all of his time as Kouta's Psycho Sidekick, being willing to do anything to make sure he's happy.
More Ryoma and Takatora fodder in #27.
Kouta and Takatora also seem to have something going on between them.
Kaito completely ignoring the concept of personal space in #44◊.
Oren and Jounouchi. Just Oren and Jounouchi. It's especially apparent in #25, but it's all over most of their interactions in the last third of the show.
I Am Not Shazam: Fans were often confused by the concept and relationship of LockSeeds and Helheim Fruits, inaccurately labelling them as Mature/Ripe and Immature/Unripe LockSeeds respectively, while calling their flora LockSeed Plants/Trees. Properly put, the LockSeeds are not a natural growth state of the Helheim Fruits, but a man-made product of Ryoma Sengoku's experiments to harness the Fruits' powers for safe Bio-Augmentation, whilst the Helheim Fruits usually seen are already mature fruits by themselves.
Iron Woobie: By #26, Kouta. He find out that the end of the world is coming, that the only company with the power to do so is going to go for the Well-Intentioned Extremist route, that he accidentally killed HIS MENTOR in Team Gaim. His best friend/comrade in arms have been slowly going behind his back and outright shot him, he's alone in his fight against an alien forest, and when he try to communicate with someone that can possibly stop Helhelm he got beat up for his efforts.And hestill not break. He nearly did in #40. Finding out that he's slowly becoming Overlord-like AND got a healthy dose of Mind Rape from Redyue wasn't good for his psyche. However, it actually managed to make him even more of an Iron Woobie.
Ryoji Hase. By #12, he's lost everything. He has no Sengoku Driver, Jounochi states that he was being used, his teammates disown him...damn. And to make matters worse, he is transformed into an Inves. And was then put down like a rabid dog by Sigurd. This guy could not catch a break...
Mitsuzane Kureshima. He lost everything, ranging from his crush on Mai to his total control due to him being ended up being as an Unwitting Pawn for both Redyue and Ryoma Sengoku all along. Also, the fact that he unwillingly injured Kouta to a temporary death ended up in vain. As a result, he's atoning for his misdeeds.
Takatora doesn't fare any better than Kouta does. Its revealed that he's the only one in Yggdrasil who actually cares about humanity, and is only going for the Well-Intentioned Extremist route which involves wiping out an enormous portion of the population because he thinks that he had ran out of options. When Kouta presents a new path that doesn't involve a mass genocide, he grabs it the second he realizes that he can save the world. However, he is quickly betrayed by Sid, Yoko, and Ryoma, the last of which he thought of as a close friend, and told his brother who stood by watching him to help Kouta in any way he can, not knowing that Mitsuzane had already fallen. When he comes back to Zawame City, not only is his worst fear is true, but he discovers that his brother had been trying to kill Kouta. He takes upon himself to defeat Mitsuzane in #36, but fails to deliver the finishing blow because he remembered the brother he loved and hoped was still inside Mitsuzane, who took advantage of his hesitation to smash his armor and send him underneath the waters of Zawame City. Near the end, it turns out he was hospitalized with brain damage, but Kouta had already saved the world and fixes it, giving him and his brother (as Kouta's last request) another chance with their lives.
Oren is a complete Jerkass who deserves some sort of punishment, but he's also a hilarious badass. That is before pulling his Heel–Face Turn.
Ryoma Sengoku, hands down. He's a total monster that willing to use anything and anyone to achieve his goal, had a hand in killing Mai, and destroy Kaito's hard-earned power up. But on the other hand, his hammy and memetic behaviors are hilarious. It also helps that he flat out enjoys making people utterly despise him and doesn't even try to make excuses for being a selfish, remorseless Sociopath.
DJ Sagara, the avatar of Helheim Forest, is the hidden mover behind the Helheim crisis who seeks to stoke change and evolution using Helheim's flora. Having absorbed the Femushinmu civilization in the past, Sagara comes to Earth after the Femushinmu Overlords prove lazy rulers to begin a new race for the Forbidden Fruit. Infiltrating the Yggdrasill Corporation as the host of "Beat Rider Radio", Sagara uses the Inves Games to select candidates for his game, secretly giving the Beat Riders information and powerups to make sure things stay even. When the Overlords intervene to invade Earth, Sagara persuades the Overlord King to hold back and give humanity a chance. Later, when Mai Takatsukasa becomes the host for the Golden Fruit, Sagara tricks her into going back in time and letting his past self know everything he needs to do to bring about Helheim's chosen, making his plans go even more swimmingly. In the end, Sagara gets exactly what he wanted with Kouta Kazuraba claiming the Forbidden Fruit and becoming the new Man of the Beginning of Helheim, moving Helheim to a different planet to begin the cycle anew.
Kaito Kumon/Kamen Rider Baron, leader of Team Baron, proved both a key ally and Worthy Opponent to Kouta Kazuraba. Believing strength is everything, Kaito is ruthless in combating Team Gaim's lead in the Inves Games. Growing suspect of Yggdrasill's conspiracy, Kaito joins forces with Kouta to uncover the truth. After learning of the Helheim invasion, Kaito joins Ryoma Sengoku's inner circle, obtaining a Genesis Driver in the process. When the Overlord Inves attack Zawame, Kaito quickly organizes the Armored Riders into a united defense, earning the loyalty of a disaffected Yoko Minato. Once the Overlords are destroyed, Kaito turns to seeking the Forbidden Fruit and becoming Helheim's champion, giving up his own humanity to become an Overlord. As Lord Baron, Kaito assembles an army of Inves to claim the Forbidden Fruit and remake the old world to one where the weak are not oppressed by the strong. Defeated ultimately by Kouta, with his dying breath Kaito acknowledges Kouta as a truly worthy rival. Revived by Megahex, Kaito rebels against the being and joins Kouta in fighting it, encouraging Kouta to defend the future he fought hard for.
Kaito crosses it by siccing Inves on defenseless civilians and by wanting the helheim invasion to happen despite the fact that it would cause billions of people to die.
Sid personally crosses by killing Hase, especially since he was the one who led him to his downfall by giving him the Sengoku Driver, though even Takatora knew that, hence why he let Sid do the job.
Ryoma crosses by allowing Sid to kill Kouta in #21, knowing full well that Sid despises everything about Kouta, if only to enhance his research. If he didn't cross it then, then he certainly has near the end game by manipulating Micchy to kill Kouta and while he's doing that, proceed to kill Mai by extracting the golden fruit from her.
If the two haven't crossed the line in some viewer's eyes with those moments, then the revelation in #22 will. Yggdrasill's master plan involves making as many Sengoku Drivers as they possibly can so people can survive without having to eat Helheim fruit - but they'll only be able to make a belt for one out of every seven people on Earth. The catch is that this isn't merely trying but failing to save everyone, they plan to actively kill six-sevenths of the world population to bring the numbers down to what they can save. Ryoma and Sid hit the event horizon by not only being perfectly okay with this, but by also considering it as a small step towards their overall plans; Takatora holds himself back from crossing it since he seems to know how horrible it is, even if he considers it a Necessarily Evil.
What's worse is Ryoma knew about the Overlord Inves for what seemed to be years, and didn't reveal it purely because he wanted the Forbidden Fruit and to spite Takatora for rejecting his ideals. The guy knew of another option for a long time and kept it to himself because he wanted power.
Mitsuzane crossed his in the late-20s episodes when he first set up an ambush to literally shoot Kouta in the back when he was vulnerable, then stood by and consented to the murder of his own brother and stole his Driver to impersonate Zangetsu Shin and shoot down any hopes Kouta had of finding an ally. The question about him used to be "Is he still trying to protect Kouta and Mai and just misguided, or is he too caught up in his secrets to see straight anymore?"; now it's "Did he ever genuinely care, or was he Evil All Along?"
His attempted (and possibly successful) murder of Takatora in #36 might be considered another one, if you didn't think he was already capable of it by then. It's at the very least a Sanity Event Horizon, as committing that action seems to have broken his little mind completely.
He may have crossed it earlier for some people in #17, where he almost got Kouta's sister, an innocent bystander, mixed up in the war in an attempt to get Kouta's belt, going so far as to have someone personally assault her, who probably would have went through with it had it not been for Oren's interference.
Rousho devastating America with the Macross Missile Massacre, followed by unleashing Inves all over the world to slaughter innocent people. After that, it's hard to feel any 'anti-villain' traits for that damn monster, even after how he proclaims that he'll give humanity a chance. YMMV, though, as he was just redirecting the missles that America (and other countries) fired on him, and he genuinely feels he's doing humanity a favor by giving us a Mercy Kill.
If waging war on public television wasn't enough, then Redyue certainly crossed it with betraying Rosyuo in an attempt to get the Forbidden Fruit, and when that was revealed to be a fake, she starts assaulting him into telling her the location of the actual fruit, ending with her killing her king when he dodges away from her demanding.
The Sengoku Driver has a grand total of 4 tracks... and that's only for the standby loops.
The drivers used by (Bujin) Gaim, Kamuro, Zangetsu, Kurokage and Mars/Jam play Japanese horagai music and announce "Soiya" before every transformation, particularly fitting the series Japanese samurai motif.
The drivers used by Baron, Gridon, Duke, and Idunn play European trumpet music and announce "Come On" in perfect English. Given the amount of class featured by all but Gridon, this is rather fitting.
The drivers used by Oren and Zack play American rock & roll music and emit a guitar riff sound before every transformation. Both are very flashy and bombastic and have become fan favorites very quickly, and this standby in particular fits very well with them.
The fourth track variation is used exclusively by Mitsuzane, and plays Chinese erhu & gong music and announces "Hai" before every transformation. Given Micchy's status as the Gaim cast's black sheep, it's not too inappropriate.
Whenever a crack to Helheim opens up (be it natural or due to the Riders' henshin sequence), it looks like a giant zipper opening up. This can be a little too silly to take seriously at first.
The Genesis Driver. It's cool enough at first glance, but then comes the Belt's henshin announcement: "SODA! [Fruit] Energy Arms!", which sucks some of the drama out.
Kouta running around trying to find Takatora and Mitsuzane before they kill each other loses all its impact when you remember he has access to not only a Cool Bike but also a form with Super-Speed... This is made outright comical given the episode that takes place after #36 is mostly a filler episode advertizing The Movie (which takes place immediately after the episode in question), which meant that Kouta had been running around for a solid episode and a half and a movie note Though it should be noted that the movie mostly takes place in a dreamed up universe, with little-to-no time taking place in the real world without even once considering the bike or Jimber Cherry.
As scary as Yuya transforming to kill Kouta in #40 is, his Pre Ass Kicking One Liner sounds more like what a Saturday morning cartoon superhero would say as his Catchphrase, which, in the middle of a serious, frightening scene, is more likely to inspire inappropriate laughter than anything.
Yuya: I'll turn you into fruit juice!
The Australian Yggdrasil representative in #33. Maybe it's just the whole "English-speaking character in a Japanese show" thing, but to an English-speaking viewer, his delivery sounds really weird.
Never Live It Down: Jokes were made at the expense of Kouta not finding out about Mitsuzane being Zangetsu Shin, to the point where someone suggests that even if he manages to pull the Melon Energy Lockseed out and expose Micchy, he would just assume that someone forced him to wear the Driver to attack him despite him being able to put two and two together once Micchy begins to show his true colors to him. To be fair, after he finds out, he still believes that Micchy is a good guy.
Questionable Casting: While he's not an actor, many people had this reaction when Urobutcher was announced as the writer. They end up thanking Toei for this decision afterwards, though.
Refrain from Assuming: The song for Gaim's final form isn't "Kiwami Escalation" like some have thought, but rather "Ranbu Escalation".
Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: Hideyasu Jonouchi was initially seen as The Scrappy by some fans after abandoning Ryoji once his belt was destroyed. Needless to say, Oren's harsh treatment of him made these fans very happy. So much so that the karmic payback followed by the Heel Realization in #26 helped him get better reception from the viewers.
Thanks in part to Values Dissonance, there are some who took a disliking towards Akira after her speech in #3.
Western fans also consider Mai annoying and forgettable. Some also view her as a "prize" for the male characters with little agency, who only serves to push the Love Trianglenote Some fans thought that Kaito and Mai have Ship Tease, but Word of God is that they're just friends between Kota and Michy. Despite having a lot of plot relevance, she barely does anything, and most of her screentime is dedicated to chewing out Kota, until the final arc where she's suddenly elevated to a pseudo-goddess. Users on the r/KamenRider subreddit often state that Mai is the worst part of the show.
Shocking Moments: With all the Warring States mentions, it's quite fitting that #44 would become the Honnouji of Gaim.Kaito goes postal on all his former allies except Yoko, and Zack betrays them to join him. It's hinted to be equal parts loyalty and survival.
There are multiple scenes where the Musou Saber bends and flops around while hilted on Gaim's belt.
When Gaim first transforms into Kiwami Arms in #32, amongst the Armor Parts summoned was the Melon Energy Arms. However when the Armor Parts are circling Gaim, it disappeared and was replaced with the basic Melon Arms. This error was fixed in the subsequent episodes, sticking with only the Melon Energy Arms.
They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: Bandai Asia's official release of the Lockseeds and Drivers for retail distribution are heavily-modified smaller versions of the original. All of the sounds come from the Drivers, which use a pushpin-combination systemnote Much like those of Fourze and Ghost's Drivers to recognise the Lockseed inserted. The Lockseeds on the other hand have their designs printed on them instead of being uniquely-shaped,do not have a lock/unlock functionnote The latch is instead meant to be manually pulled open, only lights up when the front panel is manually opened, and do not contain any sounds at all. A huge Hype Backlash occured from the Asian fandom who were looking forward to its release as a result due to the much larger Show Accuracy/Toy Accuracy difference compared to the original Japanese version.
For many, Yoko Minato falls under this. She was presented as a competent female Rider with her own agenda (which, in Ryoma's eyes, made her as unpredictable as Kouta of all people). By the end of the final arc, Yoko is still acting as a bodyguard, and her entire motivation is revealed to simply find a worthy “king” to serve. It does not help that she died in a rather anticlimactic way, by being bomb-blasted off a building instead of meeting her end in an actual Rider fight.
There are some who felt that Sid didn't get to show off his full potential as a villain after being killed by Rosyuo, as he could have even topped Sengoku otherwise. Not much of his past is known either, even in things like Duke Gaiden.
Some Armored Riders also got the short end of the stick:
Kamuro. That is, Lapis' Rider form (did anyone actually say the name?) He learns his lesson, is given the chance to jump into the fray as a Rider with one of the most unique designs ever, and then he... turns into an energy sphere that is kicked at the bad guy. You can't say the whole character of Lapis was wasted, but as Kamuro he didn't get to actually do anything. He turns into a Rider, the promptly into a glowy soccer ball. One spear strike in energy form is seen for a split-second, to be fair...
Ryugen Yomi. Just... Ryugen Yomi. It was awesome when it appeared, but only lasted one episode before Kouta destroyed the lockseed. Granted, it was a Deadly Upgrade, but it could have lasted for longer, or maybe for a villain. Actually, Ryugen himself is not that utilized well, because Micchy prefers to observe than fight. When he decides to fight he use the Zangetsu Shin's suit.
Zangetsu Melon Arms. For what is considered the best early suit of Gaim, this form is only used by Takatora for 10 episodes before moving on to Zangetsu Shin. To be fair, it isstill later shown to be useful for things like fighting Micchy as Zangetsu Shin or Megahex.
They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: During The Movie, Gaim has the Jimber Arms already, Zangetsu Shin is beaten and leaves behind his Melon Energy Lockseed, Kouta picks up and uses all the other Riders' Lockseeds - and we still don't get Gaim Jinber Melon. The novel for Gaim does feature Jimber Melon Arms, except it's Zangetsu who uses it instead of Koutanote One reason Kouta never gets Jimber Melon in The Movie is because he later got Black Jimber Arms when brainwashed.
Tough Act to Follow: Some Kamen Rider fans still don't want to move on from Gaim. Every series after Gaim for a long time was compared to it, and Toku forums suddenly grew a lot quieter than they were than when Gaim was airing. And although series such as Ex-Aid and Build ended up picking up steam and being highly regarded in their own rights, and Drive ended up Growing the Beard, Gaim still remains a hot topic of discussion, clearly having left an indelible mark of its own on the franchise.
Kouta's sister Akira has a little speech in #3 about the value of "real" work in contrast to mere "play" like Beat Riding which struck many western viewers as patently false and hypocritical, as it seems to devalue work in entertainment, falsely implying that only drudgery and self-sacrifice helps others. Though considering what sparked the speech, she might be trying to warn Kouta away from what is pretty much high-school thug life.
While it does look oddnote Why, you ask? Err◊... to a Western Audience, Kiwami Arms (specifically the helmet) is based off of Oba Nobunaga's armor. While he's been portrayed as both good and evil in culture, Nobunaga is considered a powerful warlord and one of Japan's greatest rulers, so with that in mind, basing Gaim, a Samurai's, ultimate form off his armor makes sense when Nobunaga's cultural significance is taken into account (something western audiences may be less aware of).note
That being said, many images of Nobunaga's armor have his helmet as round. Even in the ones that did have a pointed tip weren't that high up. So the uncomfortable resemblance (see Unfortunate Character Design) still stand.
The helmet also in some ways resembles a design commonly attributed to another Sengoku-era warlord of note: Uesugi Kenshin.
Vindicated by History: Mitsuzane was an incredibly polarizing character back when the show finished, sparking arguments if he started off with good intentions and was ultimately more of a misguided kid who suffered Sanity Slippage in his quest to save his friends, or that said Sanity Slippage lead to some serious Motive Decay, that he crossed the Moral Event Horizon several times and his multiple attempted murder of one of his best friends was actually for petty and stupid reasons, leading for him to gain similar hatedom as Kusaka for everything he has done throughout the series, and fans feeling that he didn't deserve his redemption. However, as time goes by, Micchy gets more appreciation in a Love to Hate way, as well as getting his arc and descent to madness praised for being smooth and believable, leading for more Cry for the Devil towards him and a bit appreciation to his Heel–Face Turn that got triggered by his PTSD.
To put it simply, at around the halfway point, the show is Kamen Rider meets Samurai Sentai Shinkenger meets Puella Magi Madoka Magica meets Psycho-Pass meets Fate/stay night meets PG Game of Thrones. It's just as dark and emotionally draining as it sounds. You will feel like you have nothing to live for by the end.
, Gaim going back to the early Heisei era routes or that by the new year, kids might lose the desire to drink orange juice or even worse grow up to hate fruits altogether.
