Another week has come and gone and so has an episode of Kamen Rider Gaim.  So let's get right down to business with episode 8 entitled "Baron's New Mango Power"

               We start off with a recap by Sagara of last week's events.  With this recap we find out Team Baron is down to 4th and Kaito doesn't look pleased as Sagara question what has happened to Team Baron.  Through a conversation between Bando and Kaito we find out that Yggdrasill redeveloped the city some time ago into what we have seen today.  Kaito simply leaves as Bando talks about this and just leaves money for his drink and seemingly not wanting to be a part of this conversation.  We then see Kaito in front of the weird looking tower that is the HQ of Yggdrasill and the centerpiece of the city saying he needs more power and clinching his fist in dramatic fashion.  This paralleled by Kouta in comedic fashion with him clinching his fist in dramatic fashion as  he heads in to try to get a part time job from some random restaurant as we cut to the opening.

               This week the first half of the opening is replaced by clips from the upcoming movie The Faithful Sengoku Movie Battle.  This is a crossover film with the previous rider show Wizard that we are covering over on TGSR.  If you are following Wizard through TGSR I would highly suggest that you steer clear of the openings for the next few weeks as this will be the case until a couple of weeks after the movie is released.  This movie takes place after Wizard and has MAJOR spoilers for Wizard especially the last quarter of the show.  If you want my thoughts on the movie I will put them in a separate article once the film comes out and we get a summary of the movie from folks overseas.  Until then all I will say is this movie looks good and I hope it continues the trend of its predecessors Megamax and Ultimatum. 

               We come back from the opening to find Micchy trying to open the Watermelon Lockseed from last week although it seems to not want to open and has lost its color and changed to a black color.  Micchy wonders about this and guesses they won't be able to use it until the color comes back, or until the crew has the budget to do another Watermelon arms scene again. We cut to Takatora as he watches footage of said Lockseed in action from last week.  He questions Sid on how this happened and Sid says he has no idea but suggests that his brother was the one who has it.  Takatora says that is foolish and dismisses the idea, wow the older brother is the one who is a bit foolish this time around.  Sid as he is leaving comments on this vary fact by saying he can't see the forest for the trees. 

               We cut to Mai as she does some practice while walking down a street.  She finds some of the weird plants from the Helheim forest and finds another open portal to the forest.  Being a well written character she immediately tries to contact Kouta but he is busy trying to get a job.  Since she wants to search for Yuuya and again being a well written character text's the location of the portal to I assume Kouta and Micchy.  She heads in as we see the portal close behind her and Mai is none the wiser to this.  She is soon attacked by an Inves and we cut to the guys arriving on the scene.  Kouta asks if Micchy has seen Mai and Micchy says he hasn't.  Kouta notices the odd flora from the forest and figures out she went in.  Kouta heshins and hopes on his bike to go and get her out of there.  Micchy says he shouldn't go alone which causes Kouta to flashback to the ass whopping Zangetsu gave him but Kouta is resolved to push forward and do what he needs to do.  Micchy watches as Kouta rides off, he gets a call from one of Team Gaim's members telling him Sid is at the HQ. 

               We catch up with Mai surrounded by Inves as she tries to stay one step ahead and attempts to fight them off with the biggest twig she can find.  All of this is about useless and Mai is backed up to a tree and is about to be dinner before Kaito arrives to make the save.  He is surprised to see her and attempts fight off the Inves.  He is still hurt from last week and has to defeat the Inves with one arm.  After the fight Mai questions him on why he is here and Kaito only says he is here for Lockseeds. Mai questions him further by asking why he puts himself in such danger and he replies that it is none of her business.  She says this is partially true and asks if he has seen Yuuya.  Kaito says he hasn't, I wouldn't be surprised if he will be confirmed dead at some point in the series or he is Japanese Tarzan.  Mai continues with her question by asking if he came in through the same portal.  Kaito doesn't seem to  know what she is talking about and after a quick note about them from her he says it is interesting.  He tells her to stop following him which she says that she is just going back the way she came and after being confronted with the same question Kaito says there are more Lockseeds in the same direction which leads to a dramatic stare down. 

               We cut to Team Gaim HQ as Sid eats some free popcorn.  He calls him the Kureshima kid but corrects himself to call him Micchy.  Another Team Gaim member says he is here over the Watermelon Lockseed.  Micchy says he will talk to him privately and the rest of the team leaves.  After the team leaves Micchy admits to taking it and says he would apologies to his brother later about it.  Sid ask how he found it and Micchy says it was coincidence and continues to say his brother wouldn't believe that and says that if Sid cornered him into it that Takatora would believe that more.  Micchy uses this "friendship" he has with Sid to get him to do a favor for him.

               We cut back to the forest with Mai and Kaito arriving where the portal was.  Mai finds out it isn't there and Kaito comments that he isn't quite surprised that it wasn't open for long.  As Kaito sits down Mai notices he is injured and goes to give him some first aid, Kaito refuses at first but Mai will not take no for a answer and finds out that Kaito is a lot more hurt than he lets on. We cut to Kouta face down and ass up in the forest as he drove off a cliff when he entered the forest and fell Looney Toons style in the position he is in face down and ass up.  After that moment he races off to find Mai.  We cut back to the duo as Mai treat Kaito's wounds.  We then get some back story on not just the city but each of the two as well.  We find out that Zawame used to be a normal suburb before Yggdrasill came in and rebuilt the city and made the HQ on top of where Kaito's father's work.  He says he not the weak person he was before and he will no longer yield to anyone.  We find out Mai is the same way as she was from Zawame before it was rebuilt and went through the same thing as Kaito did.  She hates Yggdrasill because of this and she wants to become stronger too.  Kaito says it is ridiculous that she can become stronger with Team Gaim.  She says they have different ideas of what strength means.  She believes true strength is when someone goes through sad events and is able to grin and bear it and she wants to able to make those people smile.  Kaito says that true strength is earned through winning and simply taking it.  Kaito heads off and says Mai can tag along while they pick Lockseeds and maybe they will come across another portal. 

               We catch up to Kouta as he attempts to fight off the multiple Inves that are overwhelming him.  Micchy arrives for the save riding his own Rose Attacker.  The two together manage to destroy all the Inves there.  Kouta informs Micchy about the Lockseeds that can be picked and Micchy gets the Kiwi Lockseed.  We catch back up with Kaito and Mai as they find a portal out to that one warehouse you always see in Toei Toku shows.  They are confronted by a Green Dragon Inves and Kaito goes to take it on while telling Mai to stay back.  Kaito can't put a dent in this guy and is quickly overwhelmed.  Kouta and Micchy arrive to give Kaito some backup.  Kouta thanks Kaito for looking after Mai and asks why he is here.  Kaito only tells him to shut up and goes after the dragon once again.  Kouta tells Micchy to get her out of here and goes to give Kaito a hand.  The five make it out and the fight continues in the warehouse.  Gaim goes Pine arms in order to fight the dragon after having a funny moment.  Kaito realizes that Banana Arms aren't going to be enough for this and decides to use his new Lockseed form episode four mango.  Baron goes Mango Arms and the two together take the Inves down with a combination Mango Au Lait and Pine Squash.  The three part ways with Kaito after Mai thanks him for what he did.  The episode ends with the revelation that another Inves came through the portal that Mai went through and it is out and about.

               This week continues the momentum that the show has and gives some much needed back story to both Mai and Kaito.  It is interesting to see Kaito is a bit sympathetic in why he is doing what he does and maybe he can change since Mai has had the same experience and is trying things a different way.  Kouta is just hilarious in this episode as he gets to let loose and shows he is growing bit by bit throughout the show.  Micchy continues to play the manipulator to his advantage and I have to wonder how long Sid wants to have this "friendship" with Micchy before he decides he has had enough of being used.  Great action this week gives us another strong episode and continues to build upon what has been a great show so far.  Next week Zangetsu takes center stage from the looks of things and Kouta and Micchy might just end up in over their heads with what they discover.  If you want to see the show for yourself check out Aesir Subs and TV-Nihon for subbed episodes of this and many other Toku shows.