Yeah, I’m not really sure I’d want to see more of this. Especially since I can’t see a continuation that isn’t just a Wizard knock-off with a lot more horny-ness.

Anyway, next time, we can get back to the main series, and I’ll ask that question again, for people who’ve forgotten it.

True or false: It is against the law to sell ice cream on Sundays in Oregon, USA?

It's a shame you didn't enjoy this so much, Die. :( Rider Time Shinobi is revered by a lot of people for its unusual form of comedy and character drama. However, I've noticed that Kaneko's works can be pretty divisive, as she's also written some interesting episodes of Lupinranger VS Patranger and Kiramager.

I'd say this would be more of a Kiva tribute, since Rentarou and Icchy teaming up to save Iroha who they both care about is similar to that time Yuri and Maya teamed up to save Otoya from Castle Doran. Furthermore, they're fighting to protect her from Nijinohebi who wants her all to himself, so they do have some honorable motivations other than their personal obsessions with her. The fight scene was cool as well, with Shinobi and Hattari combining their elemental ninpou to escape the trap.

Real life ninjas rely a lot on science to create their special effects like stage magic, so Iroha experimenting with science is a good way to master the basics of ninpou. Of course, the "straightforward ninja spellcasting" depicted here is an exaggeration of ninjas' abilities, since they're not actually able to use literal magic IRL, contrary to common belief at the time when they weren't understood.

If a sequel does happen, I think they'd need to have a new main villain, since nobody can really take Nijinohebi seriously anymore.

And no one even eats a single donut! Total failure!

I still think the 2nd episode has some funny gags, but the first and third... not so much? It's light, which isn't really the same as funny, and too much of it is in service to a plot I find repellant.

Even the character drama stuff is a little boilerplate. Some of that can be funny -- there's a feeling like this is almost Satirical Kamen Rider, where it's commenting on series tropes -- but it doesn't add enough to the experience for me.

I was kinda playing along too with mocking the Heisei Phase 2 as fake. B̶u̶t̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶e̶x̶p̶l̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶w̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶j̶o̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶I̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶v̶i̶b̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶r̶i̶o̶u̶s̶n̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶d̶u̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶f̶e̶e̶l̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶S̶h̶o̶w̶a̶ ̶s̶t̶u̶f̶f̶ ̶i̶n̶c̶l̶u̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶t̶s̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶l̶e̶m̶e̶n̶t̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶H̶e̶i̶s̶e̶i̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶K̶a̶b̶u̶t̶o̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶t̶u̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶m̶o̶t̶i̶f̶.̶ ̶O̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶l̶a̶t̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶s̶e̶ ̶b̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶t̶u̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶B̶l̶a̶d̶e̶.̶

For what I'd talk likely gag aside was that, Rentarou was lenient guy regarding Icchy's treachery, he just calmly asked him the trouble and let Icchy explain, that it'd be related to him making a move to Iroha ofc, wanting to prevent Iroha to win so they can still date as Iroha works as his secretary, not someone on his equal position as the policy is no dating. But as Rentarou said too, it's still scummy thing to do (still calmly stating), as it'd be prioritizing Icchy's own benefit as well as screwing up others to some extent (Iroha's position/standings, Kagura family's winnings) for that. But again, Icchy's not a completely horrible person in his scale of schemes and also him admitting and explaining it to Rentarou without glee. Otherwise, though others' affection for Iroha is undeniable, this one further shows that Rentarou isn't stringing Iroha along or enjoying in it, he actually got weirded out by his sister's affection for him due to hidden identity, he avoids Iroha's moves on him for obvious reasons.

Reminder that Faiz was something that had Mari being 16 year old (overall Faiz's cast is really younger than they sound) and it also had parts of everyone being horny for her. I guess it's creepy, but Yaminin is created as the evil version of Icchy that, Yaminin goes into that creepy lengths you mentioned here to get Iroha's affection, while Icchy does sabotage her performance, the other thing he did is just inelegantly revealing his crush to Iroha. Yaminin also abuses his power to win over Iroha with only darkness elemental to Rentarou's straightforward using powers for good and protecting others (as well as the stock lecture of using power) with varied elementals, a trait that has always existed in Zi-O as Another Shinobi. Unfortunately battle-wise Yaminin is the stronger one compared to Shinobi though.

Iroha freed his brother from Yaminin's bind, but I guess, her as a normal human there would have her shine only shortly (though it may prove her toughness to be merely unconscious from the attack).... l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶T̶s̶u̶k̶u̶y̶o̶m̶i̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶m̶a̶i̶n̶l̶i̶n̶e̶ ̶Z̶i̶-̶O̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶A̶s̶o̶ ̶f̶a̶m̶i̶l̶y̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶K̶i̶v̶a̶. But otherwise I agree on this, as well as Shinobi and Hattari's solution to free themselves from the barrier, and I must also say that, everyone being horny over Iroha shouldn't be her fault, but the other's fault (well, Yaminin is evil so...) or the series. Other than that, I thought sometimes making a series short is necessary to complete them without unnecessary extending.... but this one had no reveal of why Rentarou hides his Shinobi identity (of which he claims he'd do until Iroha's 18), which inadvertently stringing Iroha in the love triangle, or Icchy (who's still friends with Rentarou) learning that Rentarou is Shinobi, or Gamano (the frog) being implied manipulator.

Fish Sandwich also watched Rider Time: Shinobi!

...But I definitely never wrote up any particular thing for it. For real this time. (I think!) It's not the kind of thing that gets me super motivated to write any sort of analysis of, because, well, it's like, it almost feels as though that's missing the point? It's a cute novelty that exists, I had a laugh or two watching it, and I mostly haven't thought about it all too much since. I don't know, I guess there's always the possibility one day I'll come back and start revering it as some Kamen Rider Brain level secret masterwork, but I'm reasonably sure Shinobi isn't that deep. It is fun though, and we got IZANAGI out of it, which was a nice bonus.

First off, great April Fools review, nothing I can add to that, so I decided to wait for the full review of Shinobi.

While I can see a lot of people's criticisms, I can't help but look back on it fondly, possibly even loving it? I pretty much went into this knowing it was going to be a parody series, heck wouldn't surprise me if it was going to be an April Fools joke in the first place. The main factors were evident in the trailer, narrated by White French Woz (who also thirsts for Iroha) and some of the things like the Frog. But boy, did I enjoy the narrator shouting POW! in every sentence of the Episode Previews more than I should, and still crack up every time I listen to them, one of the reasons I love the sounds for the Driver.

First off, I actually love the kitbashes for Shinobi and Hattari (though I agree it seems like a waste for Dark Drive who has an absolutely fantastic suit...), even the villains, overall, just great designs, despite being remodels. And IZANAGI is an amazing Opening, maybe even too good for this show, but I'm not complaining.

Maybe it's also because I'm old-fashioned, but the Love Triangle shenanigans are honestly entertaining, mainly since I usually find love triangles annoying, so seeing it in a comical fashion is more often than not more enjoyable than serious ones. And quite frankly, I also think Iroha being 17 is better than being, I don't know 12 or something, so it doesn't bother me that much (I've seen worse). Also, they're not wrong about her being a looker, not that I'd fight Shinobi or anything (here's your April Fools, son).

For it's greater whole, I don't know if I'd want a full series in this vein, but than again, it's not something I'd mind. There's intrigue, some interesting ideas, potential for cool Ninja Riders, but I don't think it's something I can't live without. This special is fun, but it's no masterpiece, but neither is it something I wish didn't exist. It's most likely just a joke since Shinobi will most likely never become an official Rider, and takes it time making an absurd "what if" scenario poking fun at a bunch of stupid tropes and quirks, though honestly it feels more like a Sentai than a Rider, comedy hijinks aside.

And you know what? I don't mind this special's existence whatsoever.

I want to say that Faiz always had Mari's suitors be people of similar age? That she grew up with? (Which were sooooort of her siblings, so it was gross in a totally different way.) Like, Kusaka was supposed to be just a few years older than her. Icchy comes off like a grown adult, and it's weird. The old guy is literally old enough to be her grandfather!

It's definitely the fault of the series!

Yeah, I don't think it's that deep. It could've been -- there are HBVs that landed harder emotional punches than this thing -- but it just doesn't seem like where anyone wanted to go with it.

Man, I love the Frog Art giving advice and commands to Rentarou. That's such a great gimmick.

The theme song is, without a doubt, the best part of this series.

I think them doing a three-part Shinobi thing as though we're just in the middle of Shinobi's season is a super-fun idea. I think the world they built was clever and worthy of exploration. I think the suits are fun, maybe Shinobi more than Hattari. I think the cliffhanger ending is bonkers. I think the cast has great comedic chops. I think the theme song is a banger.

I wish they hadn't put all their chips in on Wacky Love Triangle. I wish it so much.

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 19 - “THE QUIZ SHOCK 2040”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio19a.png

I really liked how this episode used the Kamen Rider Quiz character to talk about binary conflicts, and how mutually destructive they are.

There’s a lot in Quiz’z whole thing about binaries. Winning/Losing. Right/Wrong. True/False. Red/Blue. X/O. It’s a strong motif, and that’s before I get to rave about the Ghost’s Head On Ex-Aid’s Body suit design. (I am all for the subtle indication that both Ghost and Ex-Aid’s suit philosophies will continue on into the future! I feel a little vindicated!) After the shadowy approach of Shinobi, here’s Quiz to usher in a strict, clearly-delineated bifurcation.

That newfound zero-sum reality is what Hat Woz has been leading us towards for the last couple episodes. For Geiz to win, Sougo has to lose. It’s an interesting level of threat, since it runs counter to Sougo’s view of the world. Sougo wants everyone to win; he wants a world where everyone can live their dream. He’s been fighting against monsters that steal what’s special in people, hoarding it for themselves, enforcing a rule that only one person can be powerful. Sougo’s built to find solutions where no one has to lose. So to have a conflict that’s testing that hope, that’s a fun place for this show to be right now. It’s like One Winner versus No Losers, as worldviews.

And some of that is just this show seemingly trying to grapple with Geiz’z whole Grim Executioner thing, and how badly he lives up to his adorably consistent death threats. We’ve seen Geiz get talked out of killing Sougo, but Hat Woz is pushing Geiz to gather power and become the savior the future requires. It’s one thing to beg off from executing Kamen Rider Puppy Dog, but another for Geiz to ignore the chance to gain enough power to be able to defeat Oma Zi-O, even if it’s just as a safety net. What, exactly, is Geiz’z limit in what he’ll do to achieve his goals?

There’s a bit in this episode that felt illuminative, where Hat Woz is telling Geiz to steal Quiz’z power and step onto the path to victory. The thing is, I don’t think Geiz has really thought about winning. Ever. Going back in time was a desperate move that almost immediately – hilariously – failed. Hat Woz’z whole pitch about Glory and Being A Savior and Victory all feel aimed at a version of Geiz that never existed. This one’s constructed out of a brutal pessimism. He doesn’t have a clue how to win at anything, but he’s lived his life throwing himself into hopeless situations anyway. Crushing an innocent person to gain power, even for the right reasons, doesn’t feel like a Geiz move. Dying for a cause, that feels more his speed.

This was a fun episode for ratcheting up the tension. There’s so much fun stuff to unpack along the lines of Binary Struggles versus Holistic Solutions (Quiz’z whole speech about a need for understanding instead of a need to change outcomes feels pretty instructive here), and how much the Quiz aesthetic is looped into the Woz/Hat Woz storyline. Just… boy, a very smart episode that is super fun to think about.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio19b.png

I'm a little behind but I can't wait to talk about the Quiz arc when I get too it but for now here my (very late!) thoughts on Episode 17

So I love the Future Riders they're one of my favorite concepts to come out of ZI-O just giving "tribute" to season from the future was honestly a stroke of genius on the writer's part because to me feels this feels like it allows ZI-O to tell its own stories for once unrestrained by the past and this also felt like when the writers started to take time to see the feedback and adjust things back when we inevitably go back to Legend Rider tributes. Plus I really dig the vibes we got for this second arc; now onto Shinobi himself, I'm pretty sure I fell instantly in love with him as soon as I laid eyes on that suit and seeing him in action was the best way to kick things off for ZI-O. With the reveal of Ohma Day it gives the show a more concrete goal imo as before it was just Sougo becomes Ohma ZI-O in the future but now having it be set within somewhere in 2019 gives a bit more of a sense of urgency and greater grasp of what the cast is doing. And finally let's talk about our other big thing this episode White Woz and boy oh boy I have got to give props to Woz's actor Keisuke Watanabe for being able to play the types of subtle evil with the similar but different characters, I love all the different mannerism's that both is very Woz like but also somehow wrong. And the BeyondDriver standby loop is an absolute banger, and it was even my ringtone for an entire year, so I have to mention this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhOadaLjXhg

Absolutely! Sougo wandering into a Kamen Rider Shinobi action scene was an awesome way to start this run of Future Riders, and the best way to introduce Shinobi himself. Dude comes off like an upstanding hero who uses darkness to fight evil, and that's undeniable Kamen Rider energy.

Episode 19!

-Quiz is so wild. Seems more like a concept for a Sentai MOTW than a Rider, but isn't that what makes these Future Riders fun? Doing Rider concepts that couldn't be possible in a normal season? I dont really think anything of Mondo, but I think his goal is interesting. It's really funny to walk into a show where everyone's going back to past to change the future, and go "Changing the future by "fixing" the past has no point!"

-I know this crux of this episode's emotional dillemma is to defeat Mondo, but why does he still exist, as Quiz, when Another Quiz is running around...? Does being from an alternate timeline protect him from Time Nonsense?

-Speaking of this episode's dillemma....This is a super minor nitpick, but kinda wish this episode didn't immediately start in media res? I think a glimpse of Quiz in future doing Rider stuff like we did with Shinobi wouldve been nice, to get an idea what kind of loss the future not having Quiz around would be like. But this is just a nitpick, and I think Quiz still works without it.

-Anyway! I totally do love the difference between each Woz and the person theyre advising shown here. Woz will make moves behind-the-scenes in an attempt to steer Sougo on the path of Oma-Zi-O, but is inevitably pulled along into whatever act of good Sougo's trying to do this week. White Woz seems a lot more aggressive and overt/impatient with his "guidance" for Geiz. Like, both Wozes sort of treat the future they want as somewhat inevitable, but White Woz's nature make him feel a lot more sinsiter, even though he's on the side of "good".

Quiz and Shinobi's designs are interesting to me. Someone decided to swap the helmets of Ghost transient and Ride Player and instantly thought they had something in their hands. Pretty smart how they made use of it too.

I for sure thought we were getting a Quiz mini-series too, something related to how he got the belt. Alas, I was disappointed.

I wish I could find it, but I remember there being fanart conceptualization for what if Quiz had his own show. Him getting his own bike that could also transform to a giant robot was pretty cool.

https://www.kamen-rider-official.com...1/main_image/1

I love it, though? As a thought? I mean, a lot of it is just Mondo having daddy issues (a Heisei celebration, in any era), but it's getting at some of what this story is about; how both Wozez are struggling to create a Correct timeline, and the real struggle is an emotional battle to better understand an absent father. There's a scale the Wozez are working at that doesn't fit with Sougo's more humane view of temporal shenanigans.

I feel like the show will have an answer for this? Woz brought it up as This Is Against The Rules, so it's not like it's being ignored.

Yeah, Hat Woz is a guy who wants to be the star of the story, rather than a witness to it. (The Time Geiz And I Saved History, rather than The Time Geiz Saved History, By Woz.) He wants to make Geiz into a savior, regardless of Geiz'z view on the topic.

Quiz looks for all the world like a Paradox form from an unreleased V-Cinema, and I love it so much.

So, I mostly remember this as where the big “subbing race” that lasted throughout Zi-O, before continuing into 01 and finally stopping during Saber began. By which I mean OT decided to slow down progress on releasing Zi-O episodes (even going as far as subbing Pretty Cure, something they had never done before or after), meaning that a lot of subs from other groups came out earlier.

Anyway, enough about one of the most annoying things about being an “as it airs” watcher, let’s get on with…

Miridewatch Playlist: Hands on Buzzers Mix

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

“Save the world (sekai), answer correctly (seikai). Kamen Rider Quiz”

And since there is neither a Quiz show, nor a similar Tokusatsu series, I went with the theme song for Skatoony, a British-produced Cartoon Network show that Canadian network Teletoon gave the Carl Macek treatment so they could use it as a shill for two of their biggest cash cows, Total Drama and Jimmy Two-Shoes. https://youtube.com/watch?v=5BLJaLot3o8

And as for the answer to that question I asked at the end of my reply to episode 18, it is… True.

And for the compare and contrast, Mondo Douan is a prideful genius who is very good in solving riddles as Kamen Rider Quiz. While his dad, being a scientist, is desperately obsessed in trying to further his research to solve his own questions, and became Another Quiz to take the knowledge of other researchers besides him. Design wise, since Quiz doesn’t have any monsters of his own (I’m guessing his enemies are… giant brains?), Another Quiz is based on Hats, the mascot for Nippon TV quiz show UltraQuiz.

And to close off, true or false: Basketball was invented by a Canadian P.E teacher?

Ah Quiz, I really enjoyed him from just an active level compared to Shinobi. Dude gets heavily involved in the plot this time like he's a Legend Rider the group are trying to help out. So there's this familiar territory but it's also still vastly different because of the whole Future Rider concept. But yeah, also just seeing Quiz's theme and design, already liked him way more than Shinobi tbh.

That being said man... Another Quiz is literally the most pathetic Another Rider we've seen thus far and it's funny but sad. Like... Another Quiz literally has nothing aside from the "Brain Drain" thing. Then there's just the way he acts in fights as well, dude barely gets any good hits in and has like no real combat oriented abilities.

Anyway, this is a fun arc I feel and continuing with that fun we're back to BGM Swaps. Because well, Quiz's actor is from Go-Busters, that explains the music choice the uploader did. And now there's context for the extra song that's been playing in the BGM Swaps since the start of the new arc, it being Geiz's insert song that the actor sings himself. Of course there's a third song put inbetween both of the BGM Swaps this time, one that's only put in because of the relevant form suddenly appearing in the episode preview

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 20 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPhuIHgWKzk

(opens Oma Advent Calendar and gestures dramatically again)

IWAE! Today is April 7th 2022, which marks the 3rd anniversary of the Day of Oma. On that day, the future of Kamen Rider was decided. Would it be the future of Oma Zi-O, or Geiz Revive? In the end, there can only be one absolute truth!

Now a question for Die (others are still welcome to answer):

White Woz or Mondo.... Who has the best hat?

I also really like that message, but I'll save my thoughts on that for another time.

The Another Miriders generally follow different rules to the Another Riders created in the present or past. This conflict between the two timelines exists in a space where two futures are simultaneously true and false. So theoretically, Quiz can continue to exist in the future even if he's erased in the present, similar to a singularity point, for as long as the paradox is maintained.

A Quiz mini-series could've been awesome and I'd expect it to be a little darker than Shinobi. But I guess Mondo was lucky to have a bigger role in his own arc so maybe they decided he didn't need one.

Was this the fanart you were referring to?

https://i.redd.it/1t12wx3711j21.jpg

A bike that combines with a sphinx is a pretty genius idea!

X

Correct! As all Miriders are portrayed by Sentai actors, Douan Mondo's actor is Suzuki Katsuhiro, who was Sakurada Hiromu/Redbuster. Suzuki has also appeared in J-dramas.

Ha ha ha, ridiculous! Thanks!

Yeah, this story is About Quiz way more than the previous story was About Shinobi. The last one was all about Hat Woz, to an extent that left Shinobi feeling underdeveloped. This story pushes Hat Woz into the space normally occupied by the Time Jackers: hovering around our heroes, but ready to strike in the finale.

Oh, Hat Woz, no contest. I found Mondo's hat to be the worst part of his design. It's just sort of dull and dumpy?

Hmm, so now this explains it and it clears things up, it's about the age of others too (Takumi was 18 for reference). I guess for the fault of the series didn't talk only about Iroha here but about other case of dude magnets like this s̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶A̶i̶r̶i̶.

Mondo now quite challenges practically everyone in Zi-O, that he thinks those who try to change the past are obsessed with it. Though he'd also travel to the past but to ask the truth from the father, to move mother's time forward.

I think the level of threat here is the usual 'Ohma Zi-O will ruin the world in the future, gotta go back in time to stop it, the problem is current Sougo is a sweet boy', like what Time Jackers and previously Geiz pulled, of which White Woz does that too, but by grooming up Geiz, while the Time Jackers use various subjects, the Another Riders or Tsukasa. And as Geiz previously was hell-bent on seeking vengeance to Sougo, Geiz and Sougo clash has been done before and thus White Woz would try to reignite the old hostility.

Not to mention, it's unsure if White Woz would create an actually better future. On paper, it sounds like an objectively good thing, to have a world free from Ohma Zi-O. But it's supposed to involve Geiz killing Sougo on the Day of Ohma, his future might not be as bright and shiny as he claims it is. And that's just for now regarding White Woz, there's even more regarding White Woz pushing Geiz to gather power. For now, while the Time Jackers are evil, White Woz brutalized Ora too here. Going back in time now had Geiz staying to keep an eye on Sougo, not to kill him the first chance he gets, still he along with Tsukuyomi planned to go back to 2068. Geiz'd only potentially crush an innocent person when he perceives them as evil, at least previously, like when someone is an Another Rider and hasn't caught commiting crimes yet.

Finally you acknowledge it here, about Rentarou's sense of justice. Another Rider brainwashed the users, though Rentarou did have flaws on his doubts on himself (still not toxic flaw).

Yeah, I mean, I'm not sure I want to live in a world where Geiz is the moral arbiter and absolute ruler (or whatever) of the whole of civilization. That kid's got a ton of weird psychological and emotional issues! If someone as sweet as Sougo could eventually become a genocidal despot, I can't imagine how bad things could get with a starting point of Geiz.

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP19)

Kamen Rider Quiz was one of those things in these shows that I'd swear was done specifically to appeal solely to me, and me alone. I mean, it's the actor who played one of my favorite toku heroes ever, only now he's a Kamen Rider with that unbeatable red/blue hero color scheme, a hilariously awesome gimmick, and a suit made with Dark Ghost's helmet. He's representing Go-Busters AND Ghost at the same time!!! And then, so as not to waste the brilliance of this character, they wrote the plot for this two-parter to put a huge focus ON his character, placing the spotlight more on his personality and his relationship to his family without bothering to try and flesh out what a Quiz world would actually look like. And those writing priorities are also totally my speed! I really enjoy how Mondo interacts with the main cast throughout this one.

There's a lot I love about these episodes, is the short of it. And that goes beyond Quiz, too. Just as a random tiny thing, that bit with Sougo teasing Woz by pretending to not know which Woz he is makes me grin like... well, exactly like Sougo does, after teasing Woz about which Woz he is.

Oh, and there was also a new insert theme in there, huh!

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

Future Guardian is just as great a theme for Geiz as Zi-O's is for him, and for very similar reasons. The overall sound matches Geiz's character perfectly in its own way, with a much more intense and traditionally heroic flavor, and once again, Fujibayashi's lyrics are on point. I love that both of the main Riders got insert themes. They really do feel like two parts of a set in my mind, and I love that both of them turned out so well.

The way the show used Future Guardian here is unfortunately nowhere near as good as the treatment Sougo got, however. It's rather haphazardly played during the fight at the end of this episode, which is not at all a climactic moment, and it gets cut off before it even hits the chorus. Back after the episode aired, I basically totally forgot what it even sounded like until the full song was released way later, because its use here was just that unmemorable to me. Like, the song is great! You'd basically have to be trying to get me not to remember it! In that sense, I guess it sort of loops back around into being impressive?

I Traveled Through Time To Resolve My Daddy Issues is arguably more of a time travel-oriented tribute to Heisei Kamen Rider than Zi-O's entire show to date, maybe.

It's certainly a bold choice to construct a suit that's so obviously reused parts (even if they're reused from suits I really like!) and then never bother to fill in the details of 2040's world/threats/premise. It's for sure keeping things centered on the non-Rider parts of Mondo's character, but it almost seems like you could do this entire story without making Mondo a Rider at all.

I absolutely love Quiz, though his Driver voice was not at all what I was expecting.

I enjoyed this arc, it was fun to see one of the Future Riders interact with the cast, even directly opposing them, and Quiz's arc and character are interesting to boot. The fight at the start where Quiz actually quizzes Zi-O and Geiz is both hilarious and genius, made even better by how in any context, it still remains that way.

Not much else to say, but I really liked Quiz, who like Shinobi, whether he got any special or not, I'd be okay with it. Though if I had a preference, I'd kind of like Quiz to remain exclusive to Zi-O the series, since while I'd most certainly be curious as to what his world and enemies would be like, I honestly feel what we got in Zi-O is good enough for me.

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 20 - “FINAL ANSWER 2040”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio20a.png

Weirdly didn’t connect with this one?

There’s stuff in it I liked. The idea of abandoning the conflicting ideologies of Geiz Vs Sougo for something that synthesizes the two into a form of, like, Aggressive Caring is a pretty great repudiation of the ways Wozez are trying to dictate the terms of success. I liked that Mondo never has a tearful I Forgive You Dad moment, since his dad (doing some terrific Hideaki Anno cosplay) never once earns it. That guy was screwed up before Mondo came along, and their lack of a relationship doesn’t need to be a drag on Mondo’s happiness. It’s a refreshingly mature attempt at catharsis, where you can’t change the past, but you can make sure your future isn’t anchored to it.

But everything with Sougo and Geiz and Woz and Hat Woz still feels too nebulous to care about: a philosophical struggle that no one can directly articulate, and a physical struggle that’s stamped Not This Episode. (It doesn’t help that Tsukuyomi is given basically nothing to do in this story, playing Time Mom to two teenagers who can’t seem to get along. She acts as a sounding board in two identical scenes! And that’s it!) The tone of everything is rich and foreboding, but the details never quite cohere into an addressable menace.

It’s hard to maintain a feeling of inevitability over the long term, and we’re four episodes into Hat Woz’z machinations with very little to show for it, narratively. It seems bad, but everything else about this story is a pretty standard Team Zi-O adventure. No one on Team Zi-O’s side is doing much to solve or eliminate the threat of Hat Woz, or even confirm that he is a threat. He’s more forceful in this story, as far as openly manipulating Geiz to get what he wants, but no one’s like He Has To Be Stopped. Even his villainous move at the end of creating the Quiz Miridewatch, thereby going against Geiz and Sougo's wishes, doesn’t really cause any problems?

Which… what? We’re told a number of times in this episode that robbing Quiz of his powers would also rob him of his memories, including the catharsis he came to 2018 to obtain. But then none of that happens? Woz creates the Quiz Miridewatch, and Mondo’s like I’m Just Going Back To The Future Now To Tell My Mom The Good News. Isn’t– isn’t that exactly what we were told couldn’t happen? And hasn’t ever happened before? I genuinely don’t understand how this episode could end in the way it did. Even setting aside the continuity of it all, it gives this story zero stakes at the end. What in the hell were they all fighting over for the last 20-odd minutes?

This one, yeah, it mostly didn’t work for me. I still liked how the story pushed back on binary conflicts, but I just can’t seem to care about Hat Woz and his vague sense of machiavellian menace. He’s like his stupid book: anything can happen at any time, for any reason, so nothing he does matters.

Good episode for Sougo and Geiz, though!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio20b.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio20c.png

This two-parter makes HeiGen Forever canon and I refuse to hear otherwise.

So, despite really liking Quiz... he still isn't my favorite Future Rider tbh. I think it comes from a lack of really anything regarding 2040 other than Mondo's personal life. And while I praised the fact that this focuses on his character and not background details... Quiz doesn't feel like fully fleshed out for me?

Shinobi felt like a checkbox (Ninja Rider) and Quiz was just lacking in regards to more background details, even a little nugget would have been nice. Funnily enough Futurering Quiz is probably my least favorite of the Future Times with Shinobi's Future Time being my favorite.

Anyway next time uh... time for something a bit different. We've got three songs to pick from this time for the BGM Swap. Personally the first one is the one I'd go with, second one's alright but eh... and then we've got Toki no Ouja making a reappearance in the BGM Swaps, but I'll be honest the Insert Song BGM Swaps are always the weakest for me. I'd only ever pick them if I had no choice.

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 21 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m_zOLQwXyw

Okay!

Yeah, Mondo being a Rider feels sort of incidental to his story? His origin (that I can recall) isn't bound up in his dad's absence, and no one seems that busted up about 2040 not having a Rider to defend it. It's a weird drawback to this episode.

Wh-- WHY WAS IT NOT "OVER QUARTZER" BACKWARDS?!?!

okay i am glad i'm not the only one who thought this!

Episode 20!

-Geiz and Sougo asking Tsukuyomi what the other would do, it's a nice bit. I think it shows how far they've gotten in their dynamic.

-Quiz seemingly being fine after the Ridewatch is created....That's why I called attention to Quiz's weird analomy last time, because one of the things I remember from my inital watch is that Quiz's arc is around that moment where Time Rules Start Getting A Little Weird! Times like this require a healthy dose of Rule #3, I suppose.

-I don't really think much of this arc. It's not bad or anything, just didn't particularly interest me.

-Since I don't really have much to say about this episode, can I just say? Really don't like how Tsukuyomi's been kinda sliding into the background. I know she's more or less always been the voice of reason, but it feels like that's all she's been doing these days? I like Woz and all, but man I'd easily denotate a random Woz to give her more to do.

I honestly wouldn't care about it (it's just Time Nonsense; whatever) if the show didn't spend several scenes laying it out as THE STAKES OF THE EPISODE. Like, this is what Geiz and Sougo have been fighting about! This is what Geiz'z strategy was specifically trying to circumvent! And then it just didn't matter for some reason?!

I'm getting angry again just remembering it! It sort of poisoned a very smart climax for me!

It's a bummer, for sure. She's in full-on Time Mom mode in this story, where the only parts of her that're valuable to the narrative are her shoulders, so a given Rider can rest their head and worry about the other Rider. She's just there to let the boys vent, and that's so dull.

I felt a little bad when I saw your reply about episode 19 saying that since they brought up how the rules have been broken, that must mean they're gonna address it. Reason I felt bad is because I laughed since I already knew the answer is 'they dont lol'.

That aside, I remember basically enjoying this episode alright even if I had all the same problems with it as you did. I also had an additional problem with the completely throwaway use of Future Guardian in the first part. (Music and songs are an important tool in these shows too, just like visuals, so it bugs me when they're done badly too!) I want to say this is the first 'normal episode' in this new Future Rider arc so maybe they're working out some kinks, but next episode they're already shaking things up!

On a surface level enjoyment of things though, Futurng Quiz is a really funny power and the way Woz uses it, making Another Quiz confront really cruel questions about his life, is pretty memorable to me! He's sooo overtly sinister and cruel and it's all in service to saving the world, which he is so clearly only doing because it serves him as well. (It makes up for how absolutely Nothing the 'fight' between Zi-O and Woz was. Like wow, couldn't even exchange a few fisticuffs?)

It's so disappointing because I know the show is better than this.

It was incredibly funny to me that, after Hat Woz has been all You Need These New Roleplay Items To Defeat Zi-O, and after Sougo has easily shut down Geiz in the past (the OOO episode!)... here, Geiz just beats Zi-O with an Episode 2 power-up item? Why is Hat Woz pushing Geiz so hard to get specific trinket's when apparently any old Ridewatch can take Sougo apart?

So, the answer to my question from last time was… true.

Anyway, while I don’t remember much about the episode in particular (other than Geiz getting Quiz to explode his dad to avoid the need for a Ridewatch… only for Ora to just turn Another Quiz back on), but I did take note of the fact that Quiz’s belt has a female voice, to which I was like “Have they done that before?” (I then looked it up, and it turned out they’d half done it with Poppy’s Gashat. The two-female voiced items since then have also been half-efforts).

Next time: The one that came to America and got a (mostly. The coding is reused from Climax Fighters) brand new video game.

Quiz is such a silly concept for a Rider, I love it. The idea that, in 20 years time, the series gimmick will have moved beyond "Samurai" and "Dinosaurs" to "Oh yeah it's all about quiz questions and also the collectible items are punctuation marks" gives me an unreasonabe amount of joy.

Watching it the first time, yeah, I agree. Hearing it all again, it's actually clever writing. I wish I could say more, but you should have it figured out in another 10 episodes or so. Let just say the established rules of how this worked meant that the characters had every reason to act the way they did and no idea it would work any differently. That fact that it did, it's just plot convenience, it's setting something else up.

Much like Geiz and Sougo's entire conflict, what Hat Woz claims to be the inevitable outcome may just turn out to be a pointless conflict.

Mondo's mother is dead though, so his future hasn't really changed much. Even if he loses his powers in his past 2019, they'll probably return to him in his present 2040, as the timeline problem gets resolved (unless it's Oma Zi-O in which case Quiz ceases to exist entirely). That's the perk of being from the future, since most of Mondo's history hasn't happened yet and you can't really negate something that doesn't exist.

So yeah, I agree that the stakes here are kind of irrelevant, since a lot of it is probably being made bigger than it is in Geiz's mind. There's the paradox that Geiz is supposed to be this savior of Kamen Riders, but apparently he has to usurp the power of future Kamen Riders to accomplish that and it's not so different from how Oma Zi-O rose to sovereignty. I think Geiz's problem with that is on principle that taking Quiz's power for the sake of obtaining more power is just a morally ambiguous thing to do, even if the effects of that are merely temporary. And of course, he doesn't want to destroy Sougo if he doesn't have to. White Woz is the one who wishes for Sougo's death the most.

Goddammit, 2 misses in a row. I suck at this!

Still, pretty neat to have a differently gendered transformation item. Thanks for the info!

I really wish Mondo had spent more time on irrelevant trivia. He does that one party game thing at 9-To-5, but that's basically it for his entire story. All of his Kamen Rider Quiz questions are about how the fight's going to go, and he's too somber the rest of the time to demand answers in the form of a question, or whatever.

Interesting! I'll be sure to keep my eyes open.

I think it's just Geiz realizing that he's not the type of guy to hurt innocent people, even if it's for a good cause. He's built up this persona of an at-any-cost Grim Executioner, but he's just some teenager who's figuring himself out.

W̶o̶u̶l̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶l̶d̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶q̶u̶i̶r̶k̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶c̶r̶a̶z̶y̶,̶ ̶f̶i̶l̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶e̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶r̶o̶u̶b̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶p̶e̶o̶p̶l̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶u̶s̶ ̶c̶a̶n̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶e̶s̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶l̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶?̶. Otherwise, this seems to be a good idea for Geiz to take a look at the future where he wins tbh, to take a look of his mirror regarding his animosity towards Sougo, albeit now they're comrades or just really closer than before. But further talk about this would be spoiler, other than Geiz Revive now being teased more.

I guess I'd agree too that the resolution doesn't put the father on the pedestal, just because he's the parent. It was about Tamotsu making up a bit, not by absolving him from his mistakes that he had done in the past, but about slightly improving the strained relationship by having him reminded about why he left his family for his research. It's a second chance for him (not Mondo) as in Geiz Revive's timeline he died without achieving anything, but now Mondo's watch moving had him changing his family fate. He had some comparison to said Geiz as well, both were fated to die having accomplished nothing worth noting with their lives, but offered a chance to get the future they were obsessed with through a costly deal, Ora for Another Quiz and White Woz for Geiz.

Actually this displays that Tsukuyomi had better judgment of the main duo than they themselves at each other (though it'd be Mom-ish for the part of how both of them value her opinion). Geiz hesitates between taking Mondo's power to defeat Another Quiz and letting him reunite with his father (I guess this also highlights Geiz's development himself that he grows out of his black and white mentality not only to Sougo but also to Another Riders), thus he asks her what'd Sougo do in his position of which he got her answer of Sougo prioritizing Mondo's feelings, thus he got a thoughtful expression for a moment. Though he covers up agreeing with her answer by telling her that they need to fight (so still some tsundere aspect, not admitting Sougo is right), this is then used as Geiz and Sougo's plan later with Geiz giving Mondo time to confront his father and prevent Ora from interfering by rushing straight at them to punch Zi-O instead, allowing Quiz to have his chance to escape.

Sougo asking Tsukuyomi which gets him the answer of blindly rushing at Mondo as someone too straightforward also lets him figure that out when Geiz punched him that it's their plan to solve the Mondos' problem, instead of the miscommunication of Sougo being confused why he attacked him, he's usually too straightforward to make that simple mistake. Then Sougo furthers buy them time by stalling White Woz while beating Another Quiz to draw out answers for Mondo's questions.

White Woz has some defiance in his plan that Geiz now won't stop Mondo as for above, so while he'd change history, now the chance of him becoming Geiz Revive is thinner, as what White Woz wants him to be. The fight between Zi-O and White Woz, it also makes use of W Watch which'd mean the Heisei Generations event is canon.

Quiz is one of those cases where I hear the premise for a show and think "you know, that sounds like an interesting gimmick but I have no idea how you would sustain it for an entire series."

Yeah, it nicely leaves it up to the audience to decide what might happen next. The main thing it does is provide Mondo with the closure he and his mom needed, but there's also the possibility that his dad might turn things around. It's a good resolution!

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP20)

I was pretty hard on this two-parter at the time, by my standards at least, and for pretty similar reasons to why Die has for not connecting with it that much. The story never ~quite~ makes it to the point where it feels like it's really saying some new meaningful thing about the overall show in a way that feels particularly concrete.

Looking back though, I mean, I kinda don't care? I've actually rewatched this arc pretty recently on a complete whim, and divorced from the expectation of seeing it advance Zi-O as a whole, I found myself able to focus much more on what a solid pair of episodes it is on its own merits. It's not reframing and redefining our understanding of any of the principle characters, sure, but it does a great job letting the viewer just sorta soak in the current status quo now that White Woz is here. My outlook on them also improved yet more a bit back, when Die was talking about the previous two-parter, which further put things into perspective. Using the Quiz episodes to focus in on how Geiz feels about everything that's happening lately seems even more justified to me when you consider that Shinobi was ultimately a character used to comment on Sougo more than anything.

So yeah, as I've said, a lot to love about these episodes. More than their place in the grander narrative of the series, though, I really do appreciate them on that Wizard wavelength of being a very strong and emotional self-contained story about nicely developed guest characters whose own arcs also bring something interesting out of the regular cast. Satoshi Morota's direction especially helps to sell the intimate and sentimental tone of the episodes, and there's so much visually in here that gives everything a huge sense of weight. When I say these episodes let you soak them in, I mean it -- the atmosphere throughout is fantastic. I've always especially loved Mondo's reaction when his father gives his answer to the most important question of all at the end, for example, and I literally just noticed watching the scene back the way the focus of the camera shifts between the two of them at like, the exact moment for it to have the maximum emotional impact. That acoustic version of Over Quartzer doesn't hurt either:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1ihEG6L4ro