Oh, screw it. Watch the video and see for yourself.

That clip happens to be the very first time Kouta transforms into the eponymous Kamen Rider Gaim in the premiere episode. As he learns how to use his strange new orange powers to protect his gang of break dancers, Kouta soon discovers that other teams are starting to use the magic belts to transform into Armored Riders, including Team Baron. Before he knows it, he’s got a full-scale battle royale on his hands and a million different questions on his mind.

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? A deep, dark forest dimension called Helheim, the power of which the shadowy organization has only just begun to harness for its own sinister plans.

What I like the most about this show is that it’s built on the power of surprise. Every single episode is dead set on astonishing you at least once or twice, whether it be through the new info that expands its world, or a plot twist, or a double-cross, or brand new weapon, or even something as simple a new transformation montage. Each episode bombards us with new characters and more over-the-top power-ups and weapons than we can shake a fruit roll-up at. Plus there’s all that ass kicking that happens. And, yes, when people get hit, inexplicable sparks fly from their bodies, just like in Power Rangers. Deal with it.

The key to Gaim’s charm lies in its characters. Never before have I encountered such a diverse menagerie of misfit cast-offs in a superhero program. Despite coming from different backgrounds and different phases of life, each Armored Rider is the same on a fundamental level – they’re all outsiders, disenfranchised by the chilly corporatocracy that strangles their everyday lives.