Kamen Rider Gaim

is the twenty-fifth entry of the Kamen Rider Series.
The series, written by Gen Urobuchi, directed by Ryuta Tasaki and produced by Naomi Takebe, began airing on TV Asahi from October 6, 2013, replacing Kamen Rider Wizard in its initial timeslot and joining then in the Super Hero Time programming block.
==Production==
Trademarks on Kamen Rider Gaim were requested in May 2013, and the show was officially announced on July 25, 2013. The series producer, Naomi Takebe, wanted Gaim to return to the style of early Heisei era series, in which multiple Riders are featured. Drawing inspiration from the Sengoku period, Bandai presented the idea of using fruits as a core theme to Takebe, which led to the creation of the Arms Change.
Takebe approached Gen Urobuchi, known for Puella Magi Madoka Magica and Fate/Zero, to serve as the series main writer, and Ryuta Tasaki, who had previously worked on Kamen Rider Agito and Kamen Rider Ryuki, to direct. In an interview, Urobuchi states that Takebe requested that the series not follow the two-episode structure of recent series, as well as saying that he hopes to create the same kind of excitement he felt from Kamen Rider Black to a new generation. Urobuchi's company Nitroplus also assisted with designs.Hyper Hobby, October 2013 (released August 31, 2013)
The show's lead role went to 2011 Junon Super Boy Contest Grand Prix winner Gaku Sano, portraying Kouta Kazuraba. Sano said that he grew up wishing he could be the character from Kamen Rider Kuuga, and now that he will portray Kamen Rider Gaim he hopes that he will inspire a new generation of boys. Rounding out the main cast are Yutaka Kobayashi as Kaito Kumon/Kamen Rider Baron, Mahiro Takasugi as Mitsuzane Kureshima/Kamen Rider Ryugen, Yuumi Shida from idol group Yumemiru Adolescence as the heroine Mai Takatsukasa, and Yuki Kubota as Takatora Kureshima/Kamen Rider Zangetsu.
==Plot==
In , a large company known as the Yggdrasill Corporation transformed the once bustling suburban city into a . To escape the resulting feeling of oppression, many of the youth in Zawame formed dance crews called Beat Riders to bring joy back into peoples' lives. Also rising in popularity is the Inves Game, a simulator that uses strange devices known as Lockseeds to summon monsters known as Inves.
Kouta Kazuraba, a member of the dance group Team Gaim, tries to find his place in the world while torn between his loyalty to his teammates and his sister Akira's insistence that he starts acting like an adult and find a proper job. When Team Gaim's captain disappears after informing Kouta of a strange belt he found, Kouta discovers that the Lockseeds and Inves are from an alternate dimension known as Helheim Forest. Encountering a mysterious girl resembling his Team Gaim teammate and close friend Mai Takatsukasa, Kouta uses a Sengoku Driver belt and the Orange Lockseed to become a samurai-armored warrior that is later named Armored Rider Gaim.
In time, including Team Baron's leader Kaito Kumon as Armored Rider Baron and Kouta's Team Gaim teammate Mitsuzane Kureshima as Ryugen, other Armored Riders appear to amass social power throughout Zawame: Team Raid Wild's Ryoji Hase as Kurokage, Team Invitto's Hideyasu Jonouchi as Gridon, and the perfectionist ex-soldier Oren Pierre Alfonzo as Bravo. Unbeknownst to the Armored Riders, the Yggdrasill Corporation monitors them and the Inves Games while the head of its R&D division, Mitsuzane's older brother Takatora, is the enigmatic white Armored Rider Zangetsu who is protecting a dark secret hidden within Helheim Forest.
Eventually, when Kouta confronts Takatora as he becomes a New Generation Armored Rider alongside the Armored Rider development scientist Ryoma Sengoku as Duke, his aide Yoko Minato as Marika, and the Lockseed Dealer Sid as Sigurd, he learns the horrible truth of Helheim Forest: that it was home to a once prosperous civilization that was eradicated by the strange plants growing throughout it, as anyone who consumed the fruit of these plants is turned into an Inves.
Finding an ally in DJ Sagara, a pirate radio DJ who knows more than he is letting on such as the intelligent Over Lord Inves, Kouta finds himself in the middle of a Sengoku period-like brawl among various factions for the right to possess the power of Helheim Forest–the proverbial forbidden fruit itself–and the fate of life on Earth as he knows it. But while adamant to obtain the Golden Fruit to save the world, Kouta's goal involves him having a predestined confrontation with Kaito who desires the fruit's power to shatter the status quo of the world.
==Characters==
===Kamen Riders===
Kamen Rider Gaim 	Kouta Kazuraba
Kamen Rider Baron 	Kaito Kumon
Kamen Rider Ryugen 	Mitsuzane Kureshima
Kamen Rider Ryugen Yomi	Mitsuzane Kureshima
Kamen Rider Zangetsu 	Takatora Kureshima
Kamen Rider Gridon 	Hideyasu Jonouchi
Kamen Rider Kurokage 	Ryoji Hase ► Hideyasu Jonouchi
Kamen Rider Bravo 	Oren Pierre Alfonzo
Kamen Rider Knuckle 	Zack
Kamen Rider Fifteen 	Ren Aoi
Kamen Rider Mars 	Kougane
Kamen Rider Jam 	Kougane
Kamen Rider Kamuro 	Lapis
Kamen Rider Gaim Yami 	Kouta Yami ► Maja
Kamen Rider Idunn 	Touka Akatsuki
Kamen Rider Savior 	Kugai Kudo
Kamen Rider Black Baron	Shura
Kamen Rider Maja 	Maja
===New Generation Riders===
Kamen Rider Zangetsu Shin	Takatora Kureshima ►◄ Mitsuzane Kureshima
Kamen Rider Duke 	Ryoma Sengoku
Kamen Rider Sigurd 	Lock Dealer Sid
Kamen Rider Marika 	Yoko Minato
Kamen Rider Kurokage Shin	Peko
Kamen Rider Tyrant 	Alfred
===Rider Troops===
Kurokage Troopers	Yggdrasill Henchmen ► Mecha Kurokages
===Beat Riders===
*Team Gaim
**Yuya Sumii
**Mai Takatsukasa
**Chucky
**Rica
**Rat
*Team Baron
*Team Invitto
*Team Raid Wild
*Team Red Hot
**Sonomura
*Team Soten
*Team Pop Up
*Team Spingere
*Team Boost
*Team Mouryou
===Yggdrasill Corporation===
*DJ Sagara
===Bujin Riders===
Bujin Rider Gaim 	Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim 	
Bujin Rider Wizard	Kamen Rider Bujin Wizard	
Bujin Rider Fourze	Kamen Rider Bujin Fourze	
Bujin Rider OOO 	Kamen Rider Bujin OOO 	
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"	Bujin Rid 	er Double
===Allies===
*Akira Kazuraba
*Iyo
*Kiyojiro Bando
*Over Lord Queen
*Woman of the Beginning
*Aoi Family
**Shu Aoi
**Saki Aoi
*Amagi Kureshima
*Shapool
*Kamen Riders
Kamen Rider 1 	Takeshi Hongo 	
Kamen Rider 2 	Hayato Ichimonji	
Kamen Rider V3 	Shiro Kazami 	
Riderman 	Joji Yuki 	
Kamen Rider X 	Keisuke Jin 	
Kamen Rider Amazon 	Daisuke Yamamoto	
Kamen Rider Stronger 	Shigeru Jo 	
Skyrider 	Hiroshi Tsukuba 	
Kamen Rider Super-1 	Kazuya Oki 	
Kamen Rider ZX 	Ryo Murasame 	
Kamen Rider Black 	Kotaro Minami 	
Kamen Rider Black RX	Kotaro Minami 	
Kamen Rider Shin 	Shin Kazamatsuri	
Kamen Rider ZO 	Masaru Aso 	
Kamen Rider J 	Kouji Segawa 	
Kamen Rider Kuuga 	Yusuke Godai 	
Kamen Rider Agito 	Shouichi Tsugami	
Kamen Rider Ryuki 	Shinji Kido 	
Kamen Rider Faiz 	Takumi Inui 	
Kamen Rider Blade 	Kazuma Kenzaki 	
Kamen Rider Hibiki 	Hitoshi Hidaka 	
Kamen Rider Kabuto 	Souji Tendou 	
Kamen Rider Den‑O 	Momotaros 	
Kamen Rider Kiva 	Wataru Kurenai 	
Kamen Rider Decade 	Tsukasa Kadoya 	
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"	Kamen Rid 	er Double
====Other Allies====
{| border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"	Kika	ider
*
Kyoryu Red	
*
ToQ 1gou	
ToQ 2gou	
ToQ 3gou	
ToQ 4gou	
ToQ 5gou	
===Villains===
====Inves====
*Major Over Lord Inves
Demushu 	Demushu
Redyue 	Redyue
Rosyuo 	Rosyuo
Lord Baron	Kaito Kumon
*Minor Over Lord Inves
**Dyudyuonshu
**Grinsha
**Shinmugurun
Tyrant	Alfred
*Elementary Inves
**Advanced Inves
***Byakko Inves
***Shika Inves
***Komori Inves
****Komori Inves (Mutant)
***Inoshishi Inves
***Seiryu Inves
***Kamikiri Inves
***Hekija Inves
***Lion Inves
***Yagi Inves
====Other Villains====
*Nepenthes Inhumanoid
*Badan Empire
**Mogura-Roid
Kamen Rider Kaixa	Masato Kusaka
*DARK
Hakaider	Hakaider
*Mechanical Life Form
Megahex 	Megahex
ZZZ Megahex	Megahex
*Roidmudes
Heart Roidmude	Heart
Brain Roidmude	Brain
Mashin Chaser 	Chase
==Episodes==
==Cast==
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*: MIINA
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*: http://blog.watanabepro.co.jp/shiramataatsushi/archives/2013/09/post_681.html
*: http://ameblo.jp/matsuda-ryo/entry-11605841376.html
*: http://ameblo.jp/yoshida-metal/entry-11662481019.html
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===Recurring/guest cast===
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===Suit actors===
*Kamen Rider Gaim: Hobby Japan, November 2013
*Kamen Rider Baron, Lord Baron, Hakaider: 
*Kamen Rider Ryugen, Kamen Rider Knuckle, Demushu, Byakko Inves: 
*Kamen Rider Zangetsu, Kamen Rider Zangetsu Shin, Kamen Rider Bravo: Uchusen, Vol. 142Uchusen, Vol. 143
*Kamen Rider Gridon, Inves: Hobby Japan, December 2013
*Kamen Rider Bravo, Kamen Rider Kurokage, Rosyuo, Kamen Rider Mars: 
*Kamen Rider Duke: 
*Kamen Rider Sigurd: 
*Kamen Rider Marika: 
*Kamen Rider Marika, Kamen Rider Jam: 
*Kikaider: 
==Songs==
;Opening theme
*"JUST LIVE MORE"
**Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
**Composition & Arrangement: Shuhei Naruse
**Artist: 
;Ending theme
*"E-X-A (Exciting×Attitude)"
**Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
**Composition & Arrangement: tatsuo (of everset)
**Artist: Kamen Rider Girls
**Episodes: 3, 5, 11
*"Never surrender"
**Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
**Composition & Arrangement: Junichi "IGAO" Igarashi
**Artist: Team Baron (Kaito Kumon, Zack, & Peco) (Yutaka Kobayashi, Gaku Matsuda, & Saku Momose)
**Episodes: 8, 26, 37
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**Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
**Composition: Naoki Maeda
**Arrangement: Shuhei Naruse
**Artist: Kamen Rider Girls
**Episodes: 17, 21, 29
*"Raise Up Your Flag"
**Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
**Composition & Arrangement: tatsuo (of everset)
**Artist: Kouta Kazuraba (Gaku Sano)
**Episodes: "Spring Break Combined Special", 24, 28, 30, 37
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**Lyrics: Shoko Fujibayashi
**Composition & Arrangement: Shuhei Naruse
**Artist: Kouta Kazuraba & Kaito Kumon (Gaku Sano & Yutaka Kobayashi)
**Episodes: 36, 37, 39, 41, 45
==Notes==
*This is the first Kamen Rider series to fully utilize the "A Rider can use other Riders' powers" more freely than Kamen Rider Decade. While Decade has to be acknowledged by the Riders themselves to use their powers, Gaim Riders need the lockseed and appropriate driver, if not already in their possession.
*This installment celebrates the 15th anniversary of the Heisei Rider Series.
*This is the first Kamen Rider series since Kamen Rider Kiva whose title is not an English word nor based on an English word.
*While the Gaim Riders' motif is fruit, it is not the first series to have a Rider with a fruit motif. The first one is Kamen Rider Den-O, with the peach-themed Sword Form.
*This Kamen Rider series does not intend to strictly follow the two-episode story arc structure that has been part of the Kamen Rider franchise since Den-O.
*Most of the Riders' Transformation segments are similar to the Riders from Den-O.
**Coincidentally, the voice for one of the Drivers and the Narrator are former Imagin voice actors from Den-O.
*With a total of 20 Riders plus the Kurokage Troopers, Gaim not only has more Riders than any Neo-Heisei series, but has beat Ryuki (which had a total of 13 Riders, along with the 2 Alternatives), Kabuto(which had 11 Riders, not counting ZECTroopers), and Hibiki (which had 19 Riders, however it had more if you count the novel and S.I.C. saga) which makes Gaim the series with the most Riders seen on screen with 21 Riders.
**Interestingly before episode 32, this series is more focused on Kamen Riders battling each other than Kamen Rider Ryuki.
***Later since episode 32, the series' story becomes something similar to Kamen Rider Hibiki, and Ryuki's USA adaption Kamen Rider Dragon Knight, where most of All Riders are gathered in form of an alliance, with one/another Rider(s) on a villain sides.
==References==
==External links==
* at 
*Kamen Rider Gaim at Japanese Wikipedia
*Official website at TV Asahi
*Official website at Toei Company
Category:Kamen Rider Series
Category:Heisei Era