My first impressions of (raw) Kamen Rider Gaim 33 under the cut. Spoilers, obviously.

• I am back to shipping Mai/Kaito so hard it’s not even funny. There really need to be more scenes with the two of them having *~meaningful conversations~*
• We get out of of suit Ryouma again! …for a bit
• Is there only one English speaking actor in Japan? I feel we’ve seen this dude chew scenery enough for the year in Garo.
• Youko hanging out with the Beat Riders Resistance Movement = A++
• For a second there I thought, Kouta has to find out about Micchi posing as Shin Zangetsu now, right? Right? But no. Apparently we have not dragged out this storyline enough
• Hurray for Oren recognizing that that is not Takatora’s fine ass in the Zangetsu Shin suit either way, though, because that’s progress at least.
• I will say this: if Micchi is going off the deep end, as his maniacal laughter in previews promises, I am more than okay with that… I think unhinged!Micchi could be a great antagonist. I am just so over Kouta (and Mai) not knowing the truth about him. Expiration date is way past on that one, Urobuchi.
• Speaking of Micchi (and I do hope this doesn’t open any can of worms in the fandom, this is just my opinion, everyone is free to disagree, etc etc), when he and Redyue were cementing their alliance, I was reminded of Kageyama teaming up with Rena and helping the Worm fight Zect because of very convulted reasons that had everything to do with desperation. This is superficially similar in that Micchi is teaming up with invading alien life forms against his former allies, but obviously, it’s not out of desperation, so the similarities end there. I also don’t necessarily think it will immediately go south for Micchi the way it did for Kageyama. Eventually I’m sure it will, because come on, and even though he does have a blood-related “aniki”, somehow I’m not sure Takatora will be there to bail his ass out the way Yaguruma did for Kageyama when the time comes. Obviously these are very different storylines and characters (I personally much prefer Kageyama, even at the height of his awfulness), but this one specific touch point made me think about it.
• Growing up I was a huge fan of V (child of the 80s here), so I have a soft spot for human guerilla resistance against invaders stories. In other words, I love the whole Beat Riders Resistance™ thing. And yes, I will be calling it that. :D

Thoughts? Feel free to leave a comment!