The amount of screentime for the Legend Riders in this movie was pretty interesting. Gentarou's in it more than I remembered, but Kouta... out of costume, the dude is in two shots, both on the same bridge. It looks like they got him on set for about twelve minutes.

But, yeah, I sort of like this as maybe the last time we see Gentarou. (Fingers crossed for a 10 Years Later movie, but let's be realistic.) He's an official teacher, he's living a good life, and the Fourze Driver came back to him just like Kengo predicted. (PARTNERSHIP!) It's a great, optimistic ending for that guy, if we never get anything else.

tired

No, seriously, this has been a lot of fun. I'm sure I'll have more to say about it later in the week!

I don't hate it, but... not in my Top 10, I think.

The director just straight forgot that the Fourze driver was destroyed. But luckily this movie was made in 2017 so they just slot this movie into before Ultimatum. If this movie came out just a year later it would?ve been such a headache lol.

Maybe (god knows this movie bent over backwards to make sense of the Build appearance from the end of Ex-Aid), but I like to think that Kengo was right about the bond Gentarou and the Fourze Driver had. They're best buds!

This one is really high on my Movie War rankings. The main plot itself is nothing to write home about, but I love the use of returning characters. The main highlight is Eiji and Ankh, of course, but Gentarou and even Takeru also put in some impressive showings.

There is no higher praise I can give to this film than to say that it managed to make me legitimately laugh at an Onari scene.

Ska was never good.

The plot is... not the best! The idea that this one scientist was making a machine specifically to destroy the world, and then he's so bitter about his assistant going What If We Didn't Destroy The World that he swears vengeance against that assistant... what? It's a bit of a fun swerve, having one-half of Bikaiser be this previously-affable scientist who just wanted to destroy the world and everyone got all melodramatic about it. It's ludicrous, but it almost works?

Plus, just the totally random It's A Movie inclusion of Foundation X - a universal constant! - makes me happy. If Foundation X is ever ever ever in a movie, it means the person writing it is allowing you to ignore the plot. I will usually take them up on the offer!

Originally posted to "Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Build" on September 29th, 2019:

KAMEN RIDER BUILD MOVIE: BE THE ONE

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/betheone1.png

There's a core of this movie that works so well. A narrative thread so clear, so pure, that it manages to overcome some of the dumbest story decisions this show has made during its weakest stretch. But, man, do you have to sit through some junk to get to it.

The thing that works, to get to the positive part first this time, is the second half of the film. After avoiding the maybe 300 people still alive in Touto, Build has seen Grease and Rogue captured, the country (including Misora and Sawa) turned against him, and Cross-Z possessed by the villains. He's out of options, out of friends, out of hope. Takumi is telling him that the villain is right, that Build was only created by monsters to cause harm. He's at his lowest. He can't fight back, and he doesn't have anything to fight for. But. Banjou still needs his help. Banjou, his best friend, needs to be saved from the bad guys. That's enough. That is all the reason Sento needs to find it within himself to risk everything and face the villains. There's hope that, with Banjou on his side, maybe they can still turn this thing around. It's great. It centers the story on this friendship and sells it, telling you it's bigger than all the threats aligned against them. It's beautifully done.

It is, unfortunately, possibly the only thing the movie does well.

Imagine my joy, seeing the face of Buildad as this film opens. So great to see him back for this story! He gives a laughably prophetic set of advice to Takumi that stops short of saying, "And make sure to form change into Build Genius when you fight Evolt in a field in ten years with Cross-Z, Grease, and Rogue." The idea of Better Days Buildad as a thing in the movie, I actually liked it. If I blocked out the last five episodes of his story, Sento's dad works great in this movie, as a beacon of selfless belief in humanity and its potential. It's just, if you think about the overall plot of the series for more than one second, it rings totally hollow and makes, like negative sense. It removes sense from the surrounding story elements.

Speaking of nonsensical story elements that fall apart the second you think of the TV show this movie is based on, JESUS, why in the world you'd take one-off villains from the movie (good!), tie them to Evol(t)'s story (tough, but maybe!), and then make them the secret masterminds of everything in the series, even the stuff we watched other people do, I have no earthly idea. It is far, far too late in the story to introduce a higher layer of puppet masters, and it's bonkers to try to do it in a 60-minute summer movie. It takes a story that was already too convoluted and complex, and makes it like a non-comedic version of the end of Clue. How many people were peering over Evol(t)'s shoulder the last ten years, fifty? A hundred?

But, goddamn, the last twenty minutes nearly make it all work. The friendship of Sento and Banjou is so well-established and vibrant that, once they shake off some stupid, stupid ideas, the climax of the film works great. Their friendship is solidified in one Rider that can't be beat, in a suit that I don't love but it's a movie suit and it works thematically if not aesthetically so I'm not that mad. I just hate how much of the first half doesn't work if you think about it even briefly. Worth watching for the cast and some of the gags (and that instrumental xylophone or whatever version of the theme song), hard to get past the villains and how much you need to forget Buildad and just think of Sento's flashback dad. Complicated feelings about this one!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/betheone2.png

oh also Zi-O shows up in the end but I'm not watching that series for a long while so I'm going to pretend it wasn't in this 'cause I don't want to talk about that series yet okay thanks thanks and thanks thanks

~TIME’S ALMOST UP!~

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../betheone1.png

Real quick… is it weird to say I really liked that write-up? My memory’s terrible, and I’ve completely forgotten writing that up (watching the movie this time, I was like Remember To Mention The Xylophone Theme Song, and then I already tossed in a parenthetical about it last time), so I might as well be complimenting a completely different person. (Kamen Rider Die 2022 can’t really claim ownership of that one.) I don’t know, I think that piece turned out pretty well!

As such, I don’t really have a lot new to say about this movie. Almost the only thing in the entire story that works is Sento and Banjou’s bond. The Blood are terrible villains, powered by pointless retconning and nothing else. (Their Best Match bottles are “Redundant” and “Why Would You Write This Story”.) All of your favorite characters, except for Banjou and Sento, are sidelined for the majority of the film.

It’s still an okay movie to watch, though. There’s a really intelligent soundscape to this film, the way silence helps reenforce emotions and add nuance. I liked how Sento’s lowest ebb sees these overlapping effects, where rain flows into memory flows into self-doubt. It’s melodramatic, but in the good way.

Also, wow, did someone get the Build camera team a drone for their birthday or something? Because this was the movie where every other scene needed an aerial establishing shot. It absolutely provides scale for the many Build Vs Japan scenes, but, like, maybe don’t burn out on that one trick? There are wipes other than Star Wipes, you guys.

What else was in this film I wanted to talk about?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../betheone2.png

Oh! This guy!

This movie’s final scene introduces us to Kamen Rider Zi-O: a Rider with a slightly-alarming high-pitched voice, and the star of the next show I’m going to be watching. It’s mostly him being genial/cryptic, showing off his powers, and overseeing another Decennial Rider War. It definitely got me excited to start Zi-O in a couple weeks.

And - not to make this last movie write-up for the thread into a bummer - it’s a show I’ll be tackling solo.

I appreciate the folks who reached out to participate in the possible TokuNation Watches Kamen Rider Zi-O thread, but we just didn’t get enough volunteers to make a go of it. With how long Zi-O is, we’d’ve needed 20 people. (And even then, most folks would’ve needed to pull double-duty.) We got 10, and that’s just too far under the minimum to try and make it a group project.

Still, I’m enormously grateful to the people who reached out to take part. Much like the Decade participants, I am in each of your debts. Feel free to ask me to form one (1) combination Rider with you via the power of friendship, at a time and place of your choosing.

And… I mean, I say I’ll be tackling it “solo”, but that’s not even close to accurate. Much like Sento isn’t his best self without his Best Match at his side, these threads aren’t worth doing if you all aren’t here to talk back. I’m hopeful that everyone will have some fun stuff to say about Kamen Rider Zi-O when we get started on (probably!) March 10th.

In the meantime, I’ll be back in a couple days for the Thread Wrap-Up, with some bonus Legend Rider Projects thoughts!

For a Rider show that had the relationship between it's two Riders be so central to the narrative and what makes the show click, it's no surprise that they eventually came up with a fusion form. Truly a spiritual successor to the Two In One Kamen Rider.

One of my favorite gags - in a movie spilling over with great gags - is the beat when Banjou realizes he's about to be fused with Sento. It starts with him being confused about why Sento's Henshin build-out has him in it, and then the split-second realization of WAIT right before the form closes around him... SO GREAT.

Honestly, and I'm not trying to start anything, but does Build have the best cast of actors? Everyone in this is practically a ringer, from Kiva's co-lead as the tertiary Rider, to Gentoku's infinite malleability. Whole show is nothing but incredibly talented folks creating memorable performances.

I don't have much to say about this movie but I do love the Build cast and the chase sequence stuff is good.

Some of the comedy is real good. Like the callback to Gentoku begging in the series, here when Utsumi asks both Kazumi and Gentoku to do it, instead of resisting at first like when he first wanted to become a Kamen Rider, Gentoku just swallows his pride and does it cause he wants to get out.

Also I kind of like the Blood? Mostly on the fact that they take the piss out of Evolt and his master plan by retconning it into it being them who came up with his great ideas? Mostly cause, as the show went on, Evolt sorta dragged as a villain for me (33 to 38 was like the roughest part of the show for me and it was all because it was Ad's for the Evol Driver) and while I was alright with him at the end, I love how this movie is just dig after dig of "No he didn't actually do this, we did, but he took credit" with the BLood.

The chase sequence is something I like intermittently. There're some great shots (including a stitched-together one-shot that's beautifully kinetic), but there's definitely a sense of No We Got It as Sento continuously runs around Touto.

I don't know if this is a better version of the Overly Schematic era of Build? It's more concentrated, which is maybe better for some, but it still drove me crazy. I don't understand why this show is so addicted to dudes popping up and claiming credit for stuff? It worked literally one time (Hipster Dad's reveal as Evolt) and then every other arc is some new secret information that connects people in heretofore unknown ways. Every third lunatic has some Hidden Agenda that is part of a character's Secret History and it bores me to tears.

Like, it's hard to see the humor in this, when it just feels like the same Here's What Really Happened nonsense the show was hooked on.

I feel a little bad now. I kept thinking about volunteering for the Kiva episodes - which I love on such a deeply ironic level that it swings around to being unironic - but I kept forgetting. Zi-O as a show just isn't one that inspires a lot of passion in me, I'm afraid. I still have opinion - oh boy, do I have opinions - but it's not a show that's anywhere near and dear to me as Decade.

As far as this movie goes? Didn't watch it. I tend to skip the films unless I'm really into the parent show these days.

Please don't feel bad! I'd never want anyone to volunteer out of, like, misplaced guilt or anything. If it's not a series you feel passionately about (pro or con), it's totally cool to pass. No hard feelings!

Fair! The movies are rarely as good as the series, and if you don't even like the series...

I really only remember a few things about this movie, and I may have unconsciously tuned out the rest leading me to liking this movie fine.

-The absolute gorgeous suits that were Cross-Z Build and Blood (I don't know wh I don't have the former's SHF yet). The metallic gloss that decorated Cross-Z Build was so cool coupled with the fuuto wind effect. Only a bit disappointed that Sento went for a different "RabbitDragon" for the final episode.

-I like that little scene of Sento being rescued by Evolt after being beaten by Blood. I've no idea if that's in-character for him or not, it's just neat to see the main villain saving the main hero from the new villain. It comes off to me as some sort of pettiness that Evolt wouldn't let Sento be killed off by some rando and he has to be the one to do it.

-The final shot of Sento and Banjou walking off, with Banjou slinging the coat on his back. The best of bros, they are.

-The beverly insert song that I love.

Evol(t) is one of my favorite villains, because his actual feelings are so difficult to pin down. Like, Kuroto is dead easy to understand, because he's VERY LOUD, but Evol(t)? Hipster Dad? There's a lot going on with that dude!

Case in point, one of my favorite Hipster Dad moments:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/build/build13b.png

Ostensibly, this is Evol(t) manipulating Sento even further, taunting him into fulfilling Evol(t)'s villainous scheme. But it's also Hipster Dad, giving a frustrated young man some helpful advice after a difficult patch. It's disingenuous and insulting and sweet and productive and funny and cruel and empathetic and sociopathic. Some of it's in the writing and plotting, but a TON of it is in the actor's choices. Just a great, complex character.

Long story short, I will totally accept that Evol(t) saved Sento to piss off The Blood. (He basically says as much, after they're all killed.) But you could just as easily read it as Hipster Dad being disappointed in Sento's pessimism, when he expects so much more from his main adversary. There's a lot of levels!

One thing I recall reading was that when this movie was announced, it was mentioned that it would take place after the war ended. And since everyone assumed the war ending was the finale to the series, they assumed that Ex-Aid had started a trend of movies being the “real” finale. But no-one expected Shogo Muto to have had a DIFFERENT ending in mind for the series since the start, nor did the expect the war to end in the early 40s with Evolt murdering all three sides? leaders.

Anyway, I don?t recall much about this movie, beyond the Cross-ZBuild fusion (“No, I’m not ready at all”) and the ending scene cameo with Zi-O just blowing everyone up with the BuildArmor (Don’t worry, he?s not that OP until he get his upgrades).

And speaking of Zi-O, it’s time to begin my feature for HIS thread.

Ridewatch Playlist

Zi-O

https://youtube.com/watch?v=qTIoMDpwdM4

“Fighting with Ridewatches, the clock Rider is… Zi-O”

And the song I’m going with for this watch is Zi-O’s OP Over Quartzer, by Shouta Sueyoshi of Triple-AAA (the group that did Den-O’s OP) and Issa of DA PUMP (the guy who did Faiz’s OP)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=dhXvMa8egDk

And as for the other one in the video…

“Fighting with Ridewatches, the future Rider is… Geiz”

And the song I’m going with for him is his own image song, Future Guardian, sung by the actor who plays him.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=mlWQo1XdIW0

I do wonder what was the reception on Geiz as a whole, I know ZI-O isn't commonly looked upon positively, but I gotta wonder about the characters since I only ever hear about Woz when it comes favorite ZI-O characters.

I myself do like Geiz tho. The tsundere red secondary, he's a nice partner/straight man to Sougo and I love his suits. So much so I have more Geiz SHFs than I do ZI-O, but it's more so a case of having only base ZI-O lol. His V-cinema was pretty fun too and I'd still kinda want a SHF Geiz Majesty.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/450.jpg

It's fine you don't have to feel bad about not getting enough people to participate. You keep doing you.

Well, looks like it's a Build double feature!

Heisei Generations Final: This moive's great! It's incredibly fun, has some of the best Rider Protagonists return (Gentarou!), and some really good dynamic overall. It is pretty par-for-the-course when it comes to the usual crossover movies, but with how many returning characters and over-the-top action scenes, I can't dislike this movie, or any of the Heisei Generation movies for that matter, since they are a celebration of all things Heisei.

Be The One: I'll be honest, this movie is a little weak in some places. Like how the villains show up being all "hey, remember that thing that happened earlier in the series? That was my idea." to the old mind-control routine (well I guess it makes sense for Ryuga, foreshadowing that he's part Evol in a way), it's not bad, but maybe a little redundant.

But of course, this movie's finale makes this worth it for me, and with a sick movie form to boot, CrossZ Build. It has a great intro, where Sento and Ryuga literally become W, then getting the usual shenanigans between the two, then going wild on that final fight with Kamen Rider Blood (which is also a great suit) on a giant drill speeding towards the center of the Earth, it's just that much fun. Which is what sells this movie to me, and I can't say no to the Build cast.

The only mistake the director made was admitting that he made a "mistake". I never once questioned why Gentarou suddenly has the Fourze Driver back, cause like you, I also believed wholeheartedly in Kengo's prediction. It's a miracle and I neither need nor want any further explanation. It's just an awesome payoff for the magic of friendship! Thanks for the "mistake", director!

This is actually my third favorite Heisei Phase 2 summer movie after Surprise Future and one you'll watching in a few months. I agree that the villains aren't memorable at all, but the emotional crux of the movie with Sento overcoming his loneliness to reunite with Ryuuga was the thing that sold it to me. Well, there's that and also the awesome climax where Cross-ZBuild fight Blood in a descending pit of hell!

Yeah, I expected that this wouldn't take off, especially after you removed the counter from your sig. But I volunteered anyway, in case it encouraged anyone else. Oh well. It's still impressive that you tried something so ambitious!

Same here. What's entertaining about Evolt is how he manages to be two opposite things simultaneously. He's lovable but also despicable. He's one of the strongest villains ever but makes terrible coffee and has a fear of octopus. He's an arch enemy to both Sento and Ryuuga but often acts like he's their father. He's emotional, despite not having human emotions. He's sentimental, despite wanting to destroy the planet. He's so many things!

How has nobody mentioned the part where Build stops mid-chase to take pictures of cute dogs? :lol

Since the TN Watches project is confirmed to be not going ahead anymore, I guess I may as well reveal now that my second choice after the Shinobi arc was the Kiva arc. Nevertheless, I look forward to laughing about that with you when the time comes.

I remember that the Golden Rabbit and Silver Dragon Full Bottles were all the hype at the time. So seeing them merge with Genius to create Cross-ZBuild makes it one of my favorite Extra Final Forms for sure. It looks cool and it's symbolic of Sento's and Ryuuga's unbreakable bond. To paraphrase Sento, it's a winning formula!

As for Build RabbitDragon, which is exclusively CGI, it's definitely less cool by comparison. But it's grown on me after I started to consider what it means to Sento. After a scene where all his friends call him their hero, Sento shows that it's just as much the other way around. They're the people who made Sento who he is, who allowed him to become his own person, who made Build a real Kamen Rider. They're his heroes as well. I feel like it's only fitting that Build defeated Evolt using the power of Cross-Z, since it's a power that Evolt never had or understood.

Without mentioning any spoilers, I think Geiz got some good development in the 20s episode range. I like him more than Tsukuyomi at least, but not as much as Sougo and definitely not as much as IWAE man Woz.

Very cool! Thanks!

It was worth a shot, but I'm going to be fine. I'm still looking forward to Zi-O!

Yeah, they're fun films. Sure, the amount of characters can make the storytelling and pacing a little weird (Ghost just disappears from HGF after the first act, more or less), but they tend to balance their different objectives better than the Movie War films. Both crossover shows get meaty material, the Legend Riders are well-integrated (except for Kouta), and the action sequences are next level.

They're fantastic! Maybe the best cast!

Also, literally the last thing this movie needed was another Foundation X Rebuilt This MacGuffin reveal. Oh, the villain casts from both OOO and Fourze? Yeah, Foundation X resurrected all of them, nbd.

He's so contradictory -- at an almost atomic level -- that it's to the actor's credit that not only does Evol(t) work as a character, but he's one of the best Heisei villains? It's a real balancing act, and I don't know if I ever stopped being entertained by him. A real gift to Build's series arc, that actor.

I have a lot of thoughts about both Geiz and his tactical dickie. I’ve gone over them before and definitely will again in a few weeks.

I'm a bit fond of him, but understand why some people absolutely despise the character.

Anyway! Very excited for Die to get to Zi-O, and to rewatch it for myself! It's only been a few months or so since I finished it for the first time, but reading these threads always helps me gain some new appreciation for a show or catch something I missed on the initial watch! And I feel like that's especially needed for this one....

If Heisei Generations: GhostDoctors was a Toei deciding to step up their game with the crossover films, then Heisei Generations: Ex-BuildOOO's is on the same level, if not stronger for that sheer thematic core of Banjou trying to figure out how to be a hero, when getting shown by the way by a group of people who have rehabilitated far worse. Except maybe Kouta, I think everyone around him just got depression. I've still not seen all of OOO (Yes, I know, I'm a godless heathen), but Ankh coming back for just that moment is, just like Megamax, scripted and acted perfectly to the point where you don't need to. And while Build/ExAid/OOO are the core bunch, Gaim and Fourze are cute little additions that always remind you Riders help out other Riders.

As for the Build film, can only agree that it has some good moments severely hamstrung by wrenching the Blood tribe into the show in the clumsiest way possible. Even as movie villains go, they're pretty bland and dull, with little of Evolto's charm.

And as for Zi-O, shame to hear you didn't make it to the quota Die! Sure would be a shame if a group of toku fans were to ruin your attempts to do it solo by posting their thoughts in the same thread, huh?

If anyone is curious, here were the arcs that I applied to be a part of for "TN Watches Zi-O."

1. 7 and 8
2. 23 and 24
3. 33 and 34
4. 44, 45, and 46
5. Geiz Majesty

Having not seen Zi-O yet, I have zero idea what I'll think of these episodes, but uh, if anyone can particularly guess as to why I chose the ones that I did, well, you've certainly done your homework, haha.

Wish I could apply for the Kiva arc and/or Black Woz's debut. Unfortunately, timezone's a screwy and not in the position that I could just freely use my time.

I started Amazon on YouTube today.

Here were the sets of episodes I went to pitch for.

5th: 21 to 22
4th: 23 to 24
3rd: 37 to 38
2nd: 13 to 14
1st: 25 to 28

5 through 2 were mostly in terms of like, which Episodes I feel I could talk the most about. 1st though is like, my favorite set of episodes in the entire show.

One of the reasons I didn't pitch in was because I was too lazy to look up which episodes were which arcs.

There's a bit of trepidation about starting Zi-O (which I'll get into tomorrow), but I always end up loving watching these shows. I don't, uh... I don't always end up loving the shows, but I love watching the shows. It's a fun discovery process.

The thing that's always most exciting is seeing what some other production team (writers, producers, actors, stunt teams, caterers) thinks a Kamen Rider show should be. Some of it's in the specific themes or concepts a crew wants to explore (Teamwork or Humility or The Possibility For Change), but some of it's in the tone of the material, or the emphasis on different storytelling tricks.

It's like each team just bought the last team's house, and I get to see what they've turned the inside into. How did they decorate? What walls did they knock down? Why are there so many goddamn clocks? And etc.

The thing that always makes that scene land for me (and I've seen it probably three times now?) is how Eiji underplays his reaction, while his eyes are going OMG ANKH.

I think I talked about this, but you can't be honest, emotionally, with Ankh. Eiji can't start crying, or hug him, or say how much he missed Ankh. He just has to take it all in, and fight back tears, while Ankh tells him he looks like shit. But everything in their brief reunion tells you that this moment means the world to both of them: Eiji's watery eyes, Ankh's barely-concealed glee, the easy rapport of them being snarky with each other. It's perfect.

brb gotta ask the mods to pre-emptively lock a thread

One of the fun things about collecting people's Zi-O picks was getting to see where the most interesting episodes were going to land. Not necessarily the best (probably?), but the ones the most people wanted to talk about.

The most-requested block was 25-28, followed by 21-22, so it seems like I've got a real weird middle section to look forward to. Beyond that, 35-36 and 17-18 made a few people's lists. Oddly, no one volunteered for the first two or final episodes, so... uh, could be a rough series arc!

No spoilers in response to this info, please, but I thought it was worth sharing with the world.

That's awesome! I can't wait to hear how you're liking it. And you have to share; it's the friendly thing to do!

"Hoo boy" is right. I can't believe I didn't push back on that completely uncalled for potshot you took at ska!

You tell him, Eiji!

Anyways, yeah, much like Anything Goes, Heisei Generations Final is really dang good. Not AS good as the perfection of Anything Goes, but what is? (Okay, I'll stop.) Kamihoriuchi is still great, and like I and so many other people immediately told you at the time, Ryuuga's arc in it is both very true to what Build is about, and a very nice general tribute to the whole heroic legacy of Kamen Rider. I like the idea that someone as simpleminded as Ryuuga struggles to wrap his head about the simplest idea of all, which is that someone would ever just fight for Love & Peace without expecting to even be rewarded for it. Oh, and speaking of which...

Somewhat paradoxically, my own gripes with Build mean I completely understand where you're coming from with your criticisms of this film, and yet, I also feel like you're underestimating what a perfect encapsulation of the series it is to a level where I'd kind of hoped it would get its own "Hoo boy" from you. Or, man, I don't know, I don't exactly want to say you're not giving the film enough credit, but... well, maybe I do? This isn't my favorite summer movie, but, especially having rewatched it recently, I think on a lot of levels, it nails everything a good Rider summer movie is supposed to do. Thanks to Kamihoriuchi's amazing direction (this is top-tier work even by his standards), even those most uninspired elements of the story are delivered in a way that is, and for all its faults, the narrative gets to the core of a lot of the different ideas and themes from throughout Build all at once.

I don't know. I didn't really expect to come in here trying to make an impassioned defense of this movie, so I'm probably not doing the best job of it. The only thing I really wanted to say was how much I adore Everlasting Sky. It's a beautiful ballad to end the film on, and it's especially significant to me as the only song for Build that my beloved Shouko Fujibayashi wrote the lyrics for. As much as I love how Ready Go is literally assembled from quotes from the show, Everlasting Sky is the perfect theme for Sento in my mind. Fujibayashi, as ever, just cuts right to the bone of the narrative, and puts so perfectly into words the way Sento knows more than anyone how fragile and unrealistic his idealism is, and yet still chooses to believe, more than anyone, that it's possible to make those dreams come true anyway.

So I guess what I'm basically getting at is that I'm glad the movie came as close as it does to living up to its amazing theme song. :p

Since other people are bringing up their lists, then for the record, I totally would've done the first and last episodes, by the way. I'm pretty sure I even told Die as much when I submitted mine, but I'm basically down for whatever when it comes to Zi-O. And I still am! So, you know, obviously you'd have a harder time convincing me not to kick in my thoughts on the show when that thread starts up. So don't fret too much, Die! If anything, you probably mostly just saved yourself a lot of headaches not having to try and figure out the scheduling for 20 people.

I think I just sent a "Hey I'm around if you need me and can fill in a bunch of episodes", but if I were forced to pick a top 5:

Eps 7-8
Eps 11-12
Eps 19-20
Over Quartzer
Eps 44-46

Also Die you're planning to do the Supplementary Episodes, right? Please?

thread's just fulla folks all busted up over mighty mighty bosstones breaking up i guess

I think the most pushback I ever got -- outside of Kamen Rude Boys skanking disdainfully in my direction -- was when I waved off Banjou's plotline in HGF. I don't remember the specific feedback (so I might've come to the same conclusion that everyone else tried to tell me about two years ago), but I remember getting a lot of Are You Serious comments.

But I like it now, for how much it feels of a piece with Banjou and Sento's bond. The definitive moment isn't even really Banjou being a Kamen Rider; it's being Build's secondary. That's a cool story.

There's a point in the very beginning, where Sento's on his bike (for maybe the fifth time ever) and we get quick cuts of the whole cast, and I was like, is this movie way better than I remembered? Everything's charming and relaxed, there's fun gags, Misora and Sawa are trying to beat the heat, Gentoku insists on sleeping in... it's got that summer vibe, right from the jump.

But then The Blood show up, and everyone gets mind controlled, and Grease and Rogue get captured, and it's all way more of a slog than I'd like. It abandons that seemingly-effortless Build charm immediately, which sucks. It gets it all back by the end, but there's a little too much isolation and miserabilism in it for a spell.

Yeah, I don't know if I mentioned this, but a bunch of people volunteered to do more Zi-O stuff, which is amazingly kind. It's not that I couldn't've cobbled together total Zi-O coverage with the people who volunteered, but... it's not really the same thing? It loses the scope and scale I was hoping for, where it's a lot of unique viewpoints and backstories. That's the heart of the Decade project for me, and I don't know that the Zi-O one would've hit those same buttons, unfortunately.

(Also, uh, yeah, not gonna lie: Zi-O would've been an insane amount of work to do as a group project. It's about the same amount of time to do a co-hosted two-parter as it is to do a couple episodes by myself, but it's a much longer block of time. Instead of doing four hours over two nights, flying solo, I end up doing four or five hours in one night, and that's way harder to schedule/maintain. If we'd had a full cast, I would've jumped at the chance to do it, but my March and April is going to be a lot less exhausting now.)

I don't know what the Supplementary Episodes are, yet, but yes! I plan on doing everything that came out. I've got a little bit of scavenging to do, making sure I've got it all collected, so I'll make sure I grab those.

(Are they the .5 episodes? I've got a folder called "Kamen Rider Complementation Project"; is it those?)

Yep, those are the ones.

Oh man, there is so much Zi-O. You've got the series itself, the movies, the Rider Time specials, the x.5 episodes, the Geiz movie, the Zi-O vs. Decade and Decade vs. Zi-O web series, all the stuff I'm probably forgetting...

You're in for a heck of a long haul, is what I'm saying.

I am aware!

I'm into it, though. Nothing's going to feel more Heisei Phase 2 than a series that sprawls in every conceivable direction. I've spent the last couple years (...years?) plowing through Heisei Phase 1's relatively paltry offerings: 50 episodes, maybe a movie, maybe an HBV, maybe a small batch of Net-Movies. To get the veritable avalanche of media that a modern-day Kamen Rider series entails?

I am home.

If you want the full experience, you wouldn’t use only one sub group for Zi-O. You’d switch between at most 3. That’s what most of us did (primarily because halfway through, Over-Time decided to delay the updates as long as they could, causing most people to default to either TV-Nihon or a new group called Rider Time)

I already mentioned my first two choices for arcs, but since everybody else is sharing the Zi-O content they picked, here's mine:

1) Episode 17-18
2) Rider Time Shinobi
3) Episode 35-36
4) Episode 44-46
5) Episode 33-34

I don't remember the episodes I picked sadly. Also unfortunately I somehow, in the entire time this thread has been up, haven't even started Zi-o.

I was really considering joining the Tokunation watches Kamen Rider Zi-O thing, but unfortunately, things just weren't going to work out for me, so I decided to just sit it out, not that it would have made much of a difference.

But if I did, here are some of the episodes/content I felt I had stuff to say on:

1) Episodes 16-17
2) Episodes 23-24
3) Episodes 42-43
4) Over Quartzer
5) Episodes 48-49

I would have picked Episodes 1-2, but didn't know exactly how it would be formatted, while Episodes 39-40, I was planning to watch the show that coincides with it but have not been able to find time. Even the prospect of rewatching Zi-O would be too much, so I would have been going off memory like with Decade.

Still, I'll continue to chime in, and hope all goes well in the King of Time's domain!

“SERIES” WRAP-UP

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This is the point at which I’d usually look back on an entire series, and try and put it all into a context. Do like a This Series Is About Whatever post, try and draw together the various threads into something approximating a coherent viewpoint.

I can’t really do that here, obviously. Too many different creators. Too many different aesthetics. Too many different themes and objectives and tones. Heisei Phase 2 wasn’t, broadly speaking, About anything. (You could maybe sketch out an overall tonal shift towards Comedy or Spectacle, but I don't have the confidence in either thesis to push for them.) So all I can really talk about is what Phase 2 means to me as a fan, and what these Legend Rider projects said to me.

I love Heisei Phase 2. It is now, and probably always will be, my sweet-spot as a fan. It’s the era I came in with. It’s the style of Rider – colorful, melodramatic, high-energy, and with a cast of thousands – that I subconsciously consider Rider Done Right. With as many things as I found to love about Heisei Phase 1, it’s not as though I’d deny the quality of other styles, but Phase 2 is my Kamen Rider. It’s epic stories about tiny things: recognizing the ways our decisions impact each other; making friends with people different than you; always reaching out to people in need. The ways we can be better as people, but as gigantic superhero stories. A multitude of collectibles, sitting alongside indelible life lessons. Shows that are sugar-rush lunacy, wrapped around the biggest hearts in the world.

It was such a blast to experience all of these shows again, even in highly-concentrated movie form. Those theme songs, and Driver noises, and Henshins… god, it’s so good. Knowing that these characters are about to return in some form for Zi-O? I am incredibly excited.

So, it’s almost hard to say this: I don’t know if I like Legend Rider projects, as a concept. I sort of wish they didn’t exist?

I don’t know if those two paragraphs make any sense next to each other, so let me try and explain myself.

My favorite thing about Kamen Rider – as a superhero franchise – is its finality. Stories get to end, which is more and more of a rarity these days. Each September, a new Kamen Rider show starts. Each August, a Kamen Rider show ends. The series are built to tell one story to completion. A villain’s defeated, a lesson is learned, and a hero triumphs. That’s the in-universe reward, for the most part: the hero can stop fighting. As much as it can hurt to watch Philip and Gentarou and Shinnosuke walk away… they get to walk away. Their story has concluded, and we’re encouraged to feel good about that.

Looking over all of these projects the last couple months, it struck me that, maybe, Joe Odagiri declining to return as Yuusuke is the smartest move anyone in this franchise ever made. Kuuga’s story is that one season, and it can’t really ever be tampered with. There’s no additional villain for Kuuga to fight; no random Extra Super Secret Mastermind to battle. There was the show, and it told its story. Why draw it out?

There are Phase 2 series that seem built for further exploration. OOO, obviously. It’s a show that ends on a perfect We’ll Meet Again pseudo-cliffhanger, rendering future appearances and anniversary specials practically obligatory. Ex-Aid needed a bit more follow-up, probably, so it made sense to round out with a few specials.

But the bulk of Phase 2 was fine as it was. Shows like Fourze and Build were about a cast in a very specific environment, and that environment’s dissolution/detonation makes future stories sort of pointless; a party that looks sort of pathetic in the morning. Shows like Wizard and Drive and Gaim ended so definitively that you almost have to ignore the memorable emotional catharsis of the series finale in order to get onboard with those characters’ return appearances. (Drive specifically precludes any immediate follow-ups! But Mister Belt keeps leaving his self-imposed exile for One More Drive, like some endless encore...)

It… I get it. These movies play/prey on nostalgia, for which I am definitely not immune. Someone’s belt jingle starts, or some silhouette teases a familiar face, and I’m thrilled. It’s viscerally exciting to see old heroes show up to stem the tide of defeat. I love these characters, and I’ll never say no to seeing them again, in any form.

But I sort of wish I wasn’t given the option, I guess. I wish every series didn’t need to get an epilogue, a V-Cin, a Fan Club trilogy, a 10 Years Later Project, etc etc etc. You end a show where Ankh is gone, and Eiji vows to bring his friend back somehow? Fine, you earned that continuation. But letting some of these shows end is also fine. It’s not a failure to leave some corner of your franchise unexploited. If anything, it stands to make any return more special for its rarity. Knowing that every show has another 1-2 years of additional content to justify, or that we'll be seeing every hero again someday is… yeah, it’s not my favorite part of modern-day Rider.

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