I think it's been a good ride.

How many episodes does Zero One have left btw?

4 more I think? Saber starts September 6th, ONE WEEK BEFORE KAIXA DAY.

I genuinely enjoyed the series, despite some flaws. I know a lot of people will go on from now and say that the series is rushed to hell and back after episode 35, but that's not the fault of the writing or even the series itself. That's just the result of the pandemic and the problems it inflicted upon the show.

There's no way when they were writing and overly long workplace competition arc that there would be a global pandemic that robbed them of several episodes. Things got rushed, and that's what people will focus on. They'll say things like Gai's heel-face turn or the entire resurrection of the Ark are rushed. And they are. But that's not the fault of Zero-One being "poorly written" or "boring" as a certain tokutuber would say. That's just the fault of the world we live in right now. So overall? I've really enjoyed Zero-One up to now, and will continue to enjoy it.

If it weren't for the pandemic, we would never know the full extent of the show. I reckon during the Hiden Manufacturing part of the show, we'd probably see hints of Gai's good parts in him instead of being a late part of the show.
Zero One just seems to be un unfortunate casualty.

I don't think it's purely down to the pandemic. Rushed writing, inconsistent characterisation and strange developments have also been very present in the back halves/thirds of Ex-Aid, Build and Zi-O -- this is just a thing that happens with Rider these days and I imagine it's down to executive meddling. Heck, even before the pandemic hit we got confirmation that Zero-One was changed in its back half to have more emphasis on the Humagears; so I hardly think in a world without Covid it'd be without most these problems.

That maybe so, but I'm more than willing to forgive a shows late game shortcomings on how strong most of the show has been, like Build. It's a fact that a shows end time is usually a bit on the short end when the studio's more focused on the new show.

I generally agree -- I like all three of those shows, after all. Hell, Build's my second favourite! I'm just saying that I don't think it's likely that "it wouldn't have had any of these problems if Covid didn't happen" is very accurate.

And to be honest, despite the pandemic, Zero-One is still handling itself pretty well all things considered. That's a win in my book.

Enjoyed Zero One as well and it's probably in my top 5, but you can't deny it's very weak on the plot side. And that's not a covid problem.

Before it started there was kind of mystery about daybreak and MJ in the past etc. But they cleared that right away in the first arc and then it was a bunch of... nothing. Thouser company battle dragged too long and the attached subplots along the way too (Yaiba dogu), and then MJ VS protags back and forth, no real plot development or plot twist or anything. It's a bit weak by 2020 standards.

Overall loved it. Suits, atmosphere etc... but when you come close to Build in terms of plot and plot twists the comparison hurts.