That's a good point! The Sougo story is about a guy in the present worried about the power he's received, and the Geiz story is about a guy from the future who travels to the past to either fix it or burn it all down. Nice catch!

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 21 - “MIRROR WORLD 2019”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio21a.png

No one said TATAKAE, 0/10.

Beyond that, I thought this was a pleasant-if-unexceptional episode of Kamen Rider Zi-O. We’re still exploring the various outcomes for a future event, which is a little tiresome. There’s a scene that basically just reiterates the many breadcrumbs of Oma Day info we’ve gotten over the last twenty episodes, but we don’t really get a lot of new information on what this all means to our characters.

And some of that’s the point! Sougo asks the Time Orphans what should be a fairly simple question: If they don’t want a future where Oma Zi-O obliterates humanity (but in a nice way), then what do they want the future to look like? They can’t just be fighting against the Misery Fields of 2068; they should have some positive goal they can articulate. Right?

But they don’t, and while that’s sweet and sad, it’s nothing this episode really explores. True to the themes of Ryuki, it’s all questions, but not much in the way of answers. What this whole Oma Day build-up is missing is more direct dialogue from Team Zi-O about what exactly the best outcome looks like for each of them. Both Wozez have been very clear about what they’re working towards. Even the Time Jackers, as dumb as their schemes are, have a clearly delineated goal. Team Zi-O’s weirdly aimless in this part of the show, preventing little tragedies but only making Serious Faces about the larger tragedies barrelling down on them. There's something poignant to that aimlessness - that the future is something you have to make happen, and if you don't, someone else will - but it still robs this episode of a sense of urgency.

(Real quick: I find the Time Jackers’ fortnightly schemes to be hilarious. I don’t at all understand how some random rampaging monster is supposed to be the unquestioned King of Time, no matter how undefeatable the monster is. Last episode’s attempt with Quiz was comically inept, just some grunting monster shambling down hallways and settling dumb scores. The idea that any of these Monsters of the Week are destined for godhood is pretty pretty funny to me.)

While the steadily mounting nervousness over Oma Day didn’t really do it for me, I did really enjoy how this show reoriented itself towards Ryuki’s investigative/horror framework. It’s nothing too special – a montage of Team Zi-O pounding the pavement and/or doing a Google search, plus one Legend Non-Rider appearance in Okubo from ORE Journal – but it felt a little more detailed than the usual strategy of running around Tokyo until they met a monster or a Rider. Like, they went to the old ORE Journal HQ! They interviewed people connected to the victims! Minimal mystery ingredients, but it’s still there, and I appreciated it.

All of the Ryuki stuff landed real well for me, give or take no one in a tan overcoat saying The Word. There’s a terror to Shinji that’s interesting to experience, considering how eternally upbeat and impetuous he was before. Seeing his apartment done up in the same reflection-blocking newspapers as the apartment where he found his Advent Deck in Ryuki’s premiere is nicely chilling. He’s haunted, literally and figuratively, which is very interesting to me.

I don’t know if it’s four episodes of Future Riders or what, but the Legend Rider parts of this episode really delivered for me. I like the show finally interrogating what the Time Orphans want if they win (RYUKI THEMES!), but not enough of this episode was about that for me to love it. Hopefully soon!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio21c.png

Ore Journal going out of business is bull and I don't like it.

Blame Social Media.

This is such an interesting way to make a Ryuki Tribute, because for all intents and purposes, it's very non-standard as we've got Another Ryuga instead. Not much to say about this first part but I found it interesting enough in regards to how they used the Legend Rider stuff.

Also old places/establishments not being there hits hard, and I haven't even seen Ryuki. It makes for a very believable passage of time kind of thing.

As for the BGM Preview stuff, it's the same as last time and I still prefer the standard Ryuki BGM Swap.

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 22 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gF1fl6dPbo

Given all the fuss about its subscription numbers back in the day, the idea of it making it to 2005, much less 2017, was already pretty unlikely.

Apparently ORE Journal's shutdown date was a reference to the original tie-in website made by TV-Asahi being taken offline.

This is one of the things that I think is so brilliant about how this tribute two-parter works. Massive Ryuki spoils follow:

Ryuki's final episode (not to be confused with Episode Final) ends with the timeline getting reset so that the Rider War and its subsequent casualties never happen. Zi-O actually runs with this: there is no Ryuki here because there is no Kamen Rider Ryuki. There never was a Kamen Rider Ryuki. All that we have left is Shinji's asshole reflection hanging around in Mirror World as this one remaining artifact of a timeline that was already erased before the Time Jackers had a chance to get around to it themselves.

I love that Zi-O did this, especially when every other Legend Rider crossover has Ryuki just hanging around in the background like it's no big deal.

But then this begs the question: How in the world could there even be knowledge of a Ryuga, let alone there be Another Ryuga, if the Rider War never happened?

Like, I get that at this point Zi-O is going full on Time Shenanigans and we aren't meant to think about it too hard, but like, Ryuki's' statue is right there in the future.

This Shinobi arc feels like the early arcs of ZI-O which I think was intentional to ease the audience into our new status quo. I loved Sougo confrontation with Rentaro him using what happend in Episode 16 as personal experience of his own life to help motivete Rentaro to be the man he wants to be rather than just be handed his powers. I also love how Geiz dosen't immidtatly trust white Woz and how he grown from the early episodes cause I feel like the Geiz from episode 1 would've just taken the Shinobi watch.

Because Tsukasa told Heure about the Mirror World and about Ryuga as we saw in the beginning of the episode. And well Oma ZI-O does have a Ryuki Ridewatch so he knows about Ryuki so when his statue where made he had one for Ryuki as well.

I genuinely hope Rider Time Ryuki is all about ORE Journal's frantic and ill-advised pivot to video, as demanded by their new VC-backed ownership.

The flashback stuff in this episode (I always like it when Zi-O episodes can incorporate some original footage from their guest-starring Legend Riders) does a great job of laying out the details of the absolutely bonkers Ryuki finale, and that's more of a gift to Ryuki fans than the Zi-O audience, maybe!

Maybe it was always Ryuga? Hard to tell the difference on a giant stone statue!

Also, the movie can be read as a discarded timeline, which is how Ryuga can still be hanging around in the Mirror World. Seems like that's where Zi-O ended up?

Yeah, Hat Woz showing up at this point in the story is to counteract Sougo's positive influence. This isn't the same Geiz who'd ignore cries for help or attack someone without provocation. These are the things Hat Woz is trying to correct!

Well, here we are, and I have a new theme going. Since Zi-O no longer has the budget to realise Armour Times for every Rider outside of box art and So-Do, I’m showing off the So-Do for an idea of what they look like.

Armour Time! Advent! Ryuki!

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...yukiArmor.webp

And while I’m holding off on the Ryuki watches until the Rider Time, I do still have this…

Ridewatch Playlist: Tatakae Mix

So this two-parter is unique in both a personal way (it was the first I watched while it was airing, or at least part 2 was), but it was also special enough to warrant its own special P-Bandai watch set (Which is on my bucket list)

First up, is Mirror Zi-O (O-I5?)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=k-X1lQ2n9Yw

“The Zi-O who resides in the world of mirrors is… me.”

And while I don’t have a song for him, I do have one for the sets other inclusion, Another Ryuga

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4IHUCrWw5MA

Since I made it clear many moons ago I found Ryuga more cooler and interesting than Ryuki, I’m going with a version of Alive a Life I found more cooler and more interesting than the original (Not a fan of that theme either), Go Now - Alive a Life Neo, a remix released for the 20th Anniversary CD (along with a re-recording of Kamen Rider Kuuga, Shitari and Phillip doing Finger on the Trigger, an update of Time Judged All to reflect Heisei Generations Final and a cover of Warera Omou Yueni, Warera Ari that sounds strangely like a Love Live song)

https://youtube.com/watch?v=ehTiqg4-1tw

As for the compare and contrast, Dark Shinji being the opposite of Shinji should be obvious, even if you haven’t seen Episode Final, from the name alone. As for how he’s an opposite to HIMSELF… well, tune in next time. Design wise, him pulling weapons out of his body mimics how the Mirror Monsters were basically walking armouries for their Riders (which is most obvious with the Strike Vents)

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP21)

I did a dumb thing with the picture for my post about this one where it's flipped horizontally, even though I'd be shocked if anyone ever noticed, and I'm honestly still kinda proud of that joke.

I guess Ryuki just gets me extra pumped that way. This was a very exciting set of episodes for me, for a lot of reasons, and this first part drew me in immediately. We've got Tasaki directing again, ensuring an authentic Ryuki flavor to the style, and also guaranteeing direction that's just plain good, and as usual, I think Zi-O knocked it out of the park when it came to coming up with fun and interesting plot concepts. Another Ryuga?! Mirror Zi-O?! There's a lot of grounded human drama in here, too, which I don't want to downplay (I really really like the idea that ORE Journal just bit the dust at some point), but even now, it amazes me how good Zi-O was about throwing in these wild ideas that always had me eager to see where everything was going next.

This is one of the only Armor Time designs I like, too! The shoulders aren't super obtrusive, the Ryuki crest on the helmet works with the watch hands, all the silver's real fun... this was a good design. Sucks that it's only a toy.

It's definitely getting back to a Phase 1 Heisei mode of storytelling, where monsters exist behind every place of refuge, and even survivors are hollowed out and haunted. It's this story that's sort of making our world extra-bleak (Okubo bemoaning a world where everyone keeps to themselves, Sougo's only hope being a terrified shut-in) specifically to make sure that the Mirror World is somehow more horrific. You think this world's bad? Here's the EVIL version of it, then!

At first, I thought this episode was fine, but after watching Ryuki, I've developed more of an appreciation for this arc.

Seeing Shinji holed up in an apartment in the very same circumstances he encountered at the start of his own show was a great callback, and the detail in which they attempted to recreate the whole scene as faithfully as possible is something I look back fondly on. ORE Journal hitting rock bottom is such a bleak tone considering how much the world has changed since 2002 as everything becomes digital and media constantly changing, it adds to the almost grim atmosphere of Zi-O's story and some of Phase 1's environment.

I see Sougo and Geiz in a similar vein to Shinji and Ren, which while not at all that similar, I look back on this episode thinking that, though that might just be me. But I also love how they confront the question of "after all's said and done, what next?" which a lot of other stories do a lot, but usually end up not sticking to what their answer is, or just leave it unanswered, like many stories about revenge. And asking it here this early in the show in a setting where what happens next is something only Shinji really thinks about in the context of his series, as the only person not willing to kill others who are willing to die for their wish.

Also, the use of Ryuga as the Another Rider is genius! Instead of going the obvious route with Ryuki, they chose Ryuga who kind of does fit into the category of Another Riders so well, and adds an extra layer to this enemy making him a formidable opponent for Team Zi-O. And reverse Zi-O is a pretty funny idea for a villain, like how distorted his Driver's jingle is.

My only critique is that there were no frogs with hair or golden crabs...

In general due to nature of Phase 1 having more simplistic gimmicks that also translated to Ride Armors too so yeah it still a shame a majority of them were unused in ZI-O

Anyways onto Rider Time Shinobi

Shinobi was such a fan favorite so quickly it just made sense that he would get a spin off made for the guy. And boy was there alot of hype to me the special has a fake tv show feeling. Like a show within a show y'know something I can see Sougo tuning in to watch every Sunday morning the entire premise of combating global warming with Ninjitsu is such a silly yet at the same time big concept I see why people where clamoring for more. Rentaro here is facisncating to me because actually highly skilled as a ninja but has to play the fool. I've know we have had past Rider secret identities but never one where the alter ego is radically percieved from their everyday lives like this and I really dig further more I don't think we've seen the type dynamic with Hattari where the lead is more experienced then the secondary it refreshin gchange of pace I think adds to the comedy there trying to go for.

As for Hattari sadly his suits is the one future rider I don't like. It not really clever just the Dark Drive suit with some orange bands kinda lame. The future riders all had used black repaints of the Ziku-Driver but with a different piece ontop to try to cover that fact up but unfortunately Hatari Driver was never made nor was programmed into the toy leaving it to be an unreleased toy for the season.
https://www.kamen-rider-official.com...2/main_image/2

Get and go! Episode 21!

-Truly, the best reference to Ryuki is that Mirror Sougo makes me laugh than actually being threatening. It's like, the actor is trying so hard to look threathening that it loops back into being oddly adorable.

In our ongoing "actor comes back with a slightly different haircut" tierlist, Shinji is......Um. How do I put this one? It's fine for this tired, older Shinji, but like I keep thinking back to this one image of Takamasa Suga around this time and ponder about what couldve been. Oh well!

-Don't really have much to say about this episode! But! I was checking the wiki and it seems like there are a good few references to Ryuki that I didn't get while watching.(Room 401, for example.) The one most notable to me however, is that this episode is roughly a month and two years after the real-life counterpart of ORE Journal shut down. Such a shame, I hope someone managed to make an archive of it somewhere.

It definitely makes this story feel more special, since we're dealing with a pre-existing villain. It's on the same level of threat as having Decade show up -- a guy with a verifiable record as a bad-ass -- which is a fun escalation after the last couple monsters.

Ha ha ha, I love the idea of Rider Time:Shinobi being a dream Sougo's having, like the start of Episode 17. I'm not sure there's a ton of parallels to really sell the idea, but the tone is exactly the sort of high-energy, big-hearted nonsense Sougo would dig. Thanks for putting this in my brain!

But then he'd look too much like Quiz'z dad, which would be needlessly confusing!

I'm okay with 40-year old Shinji having a dull haircut. He's not the maverick journalist he once was. He's a guy hiding out, so a haircut that doesn't call attention to itself is perfect. (I also think adults shouldn't try too hard to look like kids, but that's my own biases.)

Can we talk about that awesome coat, though? I love that plaid design!

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 22 - “STRONGEST ZI-O! 2019”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio22a.png

My favorite version of this show is when it pushes Team Zi-O through another show’s themes and morals and lessons. Not the whole Legend Rider Gives Advice part, as nice as that is, but when the production team tries to move Sougo and the Time Orphans through a whole different set of emotional or philosophical problems, drawn from another show’s obsessions and interests. When Zi-O treats all of Heisei as a road map for becoming a better person, that’s when I’m at my happiest.

So, yeah, I loved this episode.

And not for the Zi-O II stuff, although I imagine that’s what most people are going to want to talk about. I think it’s a neat costume, the designers just doubling everything up: two sets of watch-hand antennae, two sets of watchbands forming a tabard, all of it. I like how it feels like a step towards Oma Zi-O’s design, this slightly more regal appearance of Sougo’s. I mostly like how it’s Sougo himself becoming more powerful, since this isn’t some other Rider’s power he’s stacking onto his own. It’s just him, getting more unstoppable.

But all of that was a distant second to me, after how this episode worked the Ryuki themes around its recurring cast.

Ryuki was a show about how difficult it can be to truly know other people, but how necessary it was to try anyway. We become better versions of ourselves by seeing things from other perspectives, and trying to understand other people. Learning why someone else values something can have us examining our own value system. Discovering someone’s hidden traumas can help us to understand our own unresolved issues. Asking questions is more important than getting answers, because there are always more questions to ask. It was a show that never wanted people to settle for certainty, because there’s no such thing as being absolutely certain.

So we get this wonderful story about how the Time Orphans have grown as people thanks to Sougo, but still manage to get blindsided when he’s more complicated than they thought. They’ve seen his outward actions – his generosity, his enthusiasm – and put him up on a pedestal. Sougo’s always good. Sougo always does the right thing. Sougo’d never consider harming someone for the greater good. Geiz and Tsukuyomi can put all of their faith in Sougo, because he’s the best of them.

Which is exactly the sort of thinking that gets us, y’know, genocidal despots. When we stop seeing people as people, and start seeing them as paragons of justice, we lose perspective. We stop asking questions of their motivations, of their goals, of their limits. We stop acting as barriers to their darker impulses. The Time Orphans saw one side of Sougo, and didn’t think he could be hiding anything.

But we all hide things. Sougo’s confusion at Geiz being down on himself for contemplating killing Shinji is reasonable, you know? Defeating Ryuga seems impossible, and here’s a possible solution. Both Sougo and Geiz immediately discard it, because it’s evil, but they’re not evil for considering it. Sougo’s a three-dimensional character in this story, even if he isn’t always portrayed that way in others. He always does the right thing, but that means discarding the wrong thing first. He won’t let Geiz sacrifice himself, but he knows what stopping Geiz means as far as defeating Ryuga goes. He can be good, because he’s overcoming his own capacity for evil.

That’s a universal thing, even if it isn’t much of a Ryuki theme. (Maybe the movie? There aren't a lot of Mirror Selves in the TV show, unfortunately.) Our reflections aren’t some alternate version of ourselves; they’re just us. We’re complicated, and it’s okay to be complicated. You’re allowed to think bad thoughts, or doubt yourself, or feel like you can’t be the version of yourself that you imagine. But the point of all that is to confront it, and then choose the better outcome. Give up on grudges like Shinji does, because they’re poisonous. Be okay with how messy you are, like Sougo, because there’s value in the messiness. Take everything that’s in you, and let it help you be better tomorrow than you were today.

This was a good Ryuki episode, and a great Zi-O episode.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio22b.png

I dont think that's how I'd describe what Ryuki was about, and I'm fairly confidant that on the writers side of things they only thought as far as 'ryuki? mirrors!' as far as parallels go, but I like that reading. The whole idea of the next power-up coming from Sougo confronting his darker aspects is a really solid one, and necessary for a show about him possibly becoming an overlord!

It does feel a bit of a Tell, Don't Show to me though, since all the stuff mirror Sougo says about Sougo's vices, it's like... its not that I don't or can't believe any of it, but I think they coule have done with the previous episode more actively and explicitly showing Sougo express this supposed dark side of his. Unless the very existence of his edgy mirror self alone is supposed to convince me of that : P

Probably best not to think too hard about anything else that happens in this episode, like where the Zi-O II ridewatch came from, Geiz killing himself and then getting rewinded, and how any of this relates to the next special.

So this particular Arc is in my top 5 Episode Arcs for Zi-O. I think I put it at #5 as what I wanted to talk about if we had done the whole collaborative thing. But yeah, I really... really like Zi-O II's debut and them utilizing a weird variation (which I loved) on a Ryuki Arc to build up to it was pretty well done.

Also another good usage of Toki no Ouja when it comes to bringing in the Insert Songs. Definitely a better usage than Future Guardian in the Quiz Arc I feel.

Next time... well, let's go old school with the BGM's. Sadly we still have Future Guardian as a BGM Swap, which means this particular one they use is the best of the two. It's got a good beat and the old school (because it is) nature of it is really great. Discounting every usage of Decade's Preview BGM the Youtuber uses, this is probably my favorite BGM Swap out of all the episodes.


Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 23 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUxpgQf5NpI

I knew you were going to love this one the moment that I saw it.

So it's probably of no surprise to anyone that I most certainly did not. What is it with Ryuki tributes and falling short with me, a guy who loves Ryuki?

The message in and of itself is fine. Certainly, we should all be willing to acknowledge that our dark sides are a part of us and learn to either work with or improve upon them. Running from it only makes it worse.

However. As a Ryuki tribute, as a character analysis of Sogo, and heck, as episodes of Zi-O? This two-parter to me just really feels as though it was blatantly written solely to appease those who didn't really like Ryuki and weren't jiving with Sogo and/or Zi-O, rather than being of its own merits.

Ore Journal going out of business? Felt like giving credence to those who called Ore Journal the worst part of Ryuki. The Ride Watch and Another Rider being totally different to how they worked in almost every other tribute? Felt like they were added to appease the people who kept complaining about the logistics of the previous arcs.

And finally, the darker aspects of Sogo discussed by his mirror self? Outside of the OOO tribute, felt very much like it was just thrown in to validate the viewers who decided to read into Sogo's' words and actions in as negative a light as possible. Can I believe that Sogo has a dark side? Absolutely; Oma Zi-O and Woz wouldn't exist otherwise. Do I believe that up to now it was properly given any sort of highlight? Absolutely not.

As such, to me, both of these episodes feel ultimately hollow. Know what doesn't feel hollow to me though? My favorite character from Ryuki.


Miyuki Tezuka, or as Die likes to call him, Kamen Rider Quarters!

And just like with Diend, I don't have to type anything new, because I already summed up my feelings on Raia during Die's' Decade thread:

Alright! It's Episode 22!

-The reverse kick is real fun, I like that.

-One of the things I distinctly remember from my inital watch is that Mirror Sougo's little rant near the beginning...fell completely flat for me? And it still does, on my rewatch? Like it's such a shame that a plot like "Sougo embraces his darker emotions/potenial for bad, and heads for the future" didn't work at all for me.
(Perhaps if said topic wasn't tackled "ooooo im the mirror version of you who thinks you suckkkkk!")

-Zi-O II is here! Kinda ugly, but its powerset is so cool (and terrifying!) I've always thought the sword strikes creating clocks was always neat.

-Tsukuyomi being the one to go "Oh shit, maybe letting Sougo do that was a bad idea, we might have to actually kill him?" I remember being slightly miffed at this during my inital watch. (Tsuku's been willing to hear Sougo out since Episode 1! And we've already been toying with people lives, remember we brought Another Ghost's host back to life?! etc etc etc......) But like. I *kinda* get it now? Not 100% "oh yeah that makes sense", but I get it. Seeing Zi-O II breaking the established rules through sheer power is kinda terrifying, after all, it would def scare me into considering nipping the bud early before it blooms.

-The scene between Ookubo and Shinji is really sweet! Really made me smile.

-As a side tangent vaguely related to the episode, Rider Time Ryuki sure is a thing, hm.....While the rest of the Zi-O content I haven't seen is due to various factors (too busy/didn't know it was subbed/etc, etc, etc), RTR is something I chose to purposefully skip over. As for why...we'll save it for when we get there, when I'm hopefully proven wrong for avoiding it?

While it's definitely something the writers could've done a bit more to telegraph... like, I think that would've made it feel more like a recent development than the point this episode's trying to make. If we'd had a couple episodes of Darker Sougo, than the end of this episode would've felt more like he was just in some weird funk, but he's over it now. The point is that this was all in him, and the audience/the Time Orphans never knew it. It kind of needs to be a revelation for it to land?

Zi-O II's debut feels pretty earned! We've had a bunch of episodes all about Geiz inching closer to Geiz Revive, so here's the counter-balance arrival of Zi-O's upgrade form, but as a consequence of Sougo making peace with the parts of him that might become Oma Zi-O. Worked out well, I thought.

I mean, boy, I don't know that I viewed it that way? It's more about time moving on (some Geocities-ass website is going to get turned into mulch by Facebook and Google, that's just the world) than a knock against a part of Ryuki's series. Hell, they brought back Okubo! He's here specifically to restart ORE Journal with a happy and outgoing Shinji! That feels like Zi-O honoring a major element of Ryuki to me.

Maybe? I saw it more as the show not letting specifics (that it was already fairly lax about) get in the way of a Ryuki VS Ryuga conflict, and how that conflict could talk about how Sougo feared his growing power.

I mean, see above: I think that's sort of the point? Sougo had these thoughts and feelings inside him, but viewed them as Bad and Wrong and Not Him, just like Shinji did. (Shinji, who was famously a Big Happy Puppy Dog guy!) This wasn't supposed to be a story about Sougo's encroaching darkness or how he's turning into Oma Zi-O, it's about how we need to accept and process our darker impulses instead of ignoring them.

I didn't really touch on this, since I'm not totally sure how the show's going to justify this stance from her, but I'm mostly just glad it gives Tsukuyomi something to do other than be a worried Time Mom in every episode. Is it surprisingly brutal and bloodthirsty? Maybe! But I just want her to feel more integral than Uncle, which is not always how this show treats her.

They don't care about opinions of western audiences the tribute is about reflection of changing times of journalism media.

For better or worse, many news outlets have turned to social media as a source of information. No reason Ore Journal couldn't do the same.

Know what would've helped with that? Actually showing him have some darker impulses but choosing to ignore that they're very much something he has to deal with, rather than just pulling this out of nowhere. The closest we even get to that is Woz tempting him a couple times, of which Sogo just totally blows off anyway. Saying "Sogo totally was like this and you just didn't know it" isn't some surprising shock or added dimension to me; It's just there for the sake of the arc.

Definitely for the worse! I'm not sure it'd feel like a better tribute to Ryuki if ORE Journal was a hollowed-out newsroom run by Venture Capital jerks who are outsourcing all of their investigations to aggregation sites and making everything a slideshow! Feels like it'd be more of a bummer!

Beyond that, a chunk of this story is about dealing with emotional setbacks and trying to find a way forward. I'm not sure that works for Shinji if ORE Journal is a thriving enterprise? It needs to be imperiled in order to be saved, you know?

Well, things are heightened for the sake of this episode's story. I don't think we're supposed to believe that Sougo is constantly racked with homicidal whims or suicidal ideation, but won't let it show. It's that Sougo isn't an all-the-time happy good guy like the Time Orphans assume, because no one ever is. It's a story that's partially about them making assumptions about Sougo, not about them missing clues or anything. If he'd been Nearly Evil a bunch of times but overcame it, I'm not sure the Time Orphans could make a great case for trusting Sougo implicitly.

Huh. You know, I completely forgot that Zi-O II was a thing.

Part of me thinks that calling Zi-O's second form "Zi-O II" is hilariously underwhelming, but the other part of me is like Oh It's "Zi-O The Second" Like A Royal Lineage and I sort of appreciate it.

Oh, no one's made the joke

Zi-O was so good, there's a Zi-O II!

Not really what I was getting at, but sure. This is all hinging on this being Shinji's' story anyway when it so isn't by comparison. Even then though, getting rid of a major part of Ryuki isn't exactly a necessity to pull a tale with this theme off.

I'm not even asking for it be some constant thing he had to deal with in a ton of episodes. Just show it off like, once or twice. Then atleast there's some foundation for Mirror Shinji to stand on, rather than it being some informed thing that the audience is meant to accept and/or to appease the people who don't like Sogo.

And if the story is really meant to be about "assumptions" towards Sogo, not only has that already been done much better(see: almost the entire rest of the show), but it also feels like a backhand to the audience who was jiving with him: "Oh what, you thought Sogo was an all around decent person because he showed you words and actions that made you think he was? Ha HA GOTCHA!" Heck, even in-universe it falls flat. Geiz and Tsukuyomi should be the last ones at all surprised about Sogo acknowledging he has a dark side, considering Oma Zi-O is the entire reason they're time traveling to begin with.

It rubs me the wrong way.

Yes, there are sides to people we can never truly know. But when we're talking about characters in a story, it's atleast nice to have something to point towards what you're getting at, rather than just pulling an idea out of left field for the sake of it. A line, an action, a dream sequence, a facial expression... something!

That's just my feelings on the matter anyway.

I think this right here is where we differ, because I think a lot of the point of this story is that the standard Geiz is holding himself to -- that Sougo would NEVER think of sacrificing someone, even for a second -- isn't real. Sougo doesn't need to be a permanent saint to be a good guy, or to be a Good Guy. He doesn't need to see his darker side as Not Him; that's what's causing problems over this story!

He's no less decent for acknowledging his shortcomings. If anything, he's more decent?

And as far as telegraphing Sougo's darker impulses more explicitly... I can't believe I didn't think to point this out earlier, but Oma Zi-O. Like, a ton of this episode is the Time Orphans saying Sougo Could Never Be Oma Zi-O, and then the show saying We Have Told You For Twenty-Two Episodes That Sougo Is Oma Zi-O Did You Think We Were Kidding. The calculating and manipulative parts of Sougo are definitely there, because he met the future version of himself that's all of those things.

Anyway, I get that this development is not going to work for everyone! I'm probably in the minority here! But I thought the show took a more nuanced and realistic approach towards sketching out Sougo's darker side than I'd've expected.

Amazingly, I managed to make it through this two-parter without mentioning Ryuki beyond the compare and contrast, which I’m continuing here.

Back in Episode Final, Dark Shinji hated his real self purely because he was alive, and wanted to hijack his life so he could be alive. Yet here, he’s fighting on behalf of his other self, misguidedly punishing those who “abandoned” ORE Journal.

And while this two parter may be the only TV appearance of Mirror Zi-O, he does show up again in the novel (where in one timeline, the Grey Woz I mentioned a while back arranges for him to take full control of Sougo so he can use him as a puppet king of what he terms “The Third History”. I’ll reveal more details in the future, since most of them are kind of spoilers)

Anyway, now onto my main feature.

Ridewatch Playlist: Bill Withers Song Mix

https://youtube.com/watch?v=PqG0liHX1AM

“Power up with the Ridewatch II. Aiming to be King, Kamen Rider Zi-O, II”

And the song I went with is one everyone has been talking about, Zi-O, Toki no Ouja (Monarch of Time). And as I promised a while ago, it has lyrics. (Beware of minor spoilers) https://youtube.com/watch?v=xI7eZsYpCuw

Join me tomorrow when we’ll be switching on, and next week, on my birthday, when I will actually be talking about Ryuki. (Provided my math is correct)

Originally, when I saw ZI-O II back in the magazine scans, I wasn't a big fan! I thought it looked dumb! Two watches running across his body? Twice the watches on his head? Eugh! But then I saw the suit in action and I immediately fell in love. The way his silhouette becomes closer to Ohma ZI-O with the watch straps on his waist as wells as the presence of gold and making the shoulders larger, it finally clicked to me! The combination of Zikan Girade and the Saikyo Girade makes for a really cool looking greatsword. Too bad it's expensive to recreate in S.H. Figuarts form. Speaking of, I wanna buy the SHF of ZI-O II for a long time now, but the twin horns, small as they are, is scaring the hell outta me!

This, I feel, was also the start where I went from just liking ZI-O to loving it! This is what I was waiting for Sougo to do or say, and it being in the Ryuki arc makes this better by using his mirror counterpart to portray it. It was like waiting for this one important box to be checked in my list to solidify my stance on ZI-O :lol

Also best scene in the episode. Period. The fact that he says "Mirai o keiki yaku!" at the end reawakened the Gundam 00 fan in me!

https://i.imgur.com/benFoR3.jpg

I mean, other than the Time Orphans, all the time changers here are evil, as well as White Woz (of which the Japanese for "white" is "shiro"), both the straightforward and high level type too of that, no redeeming traits from them yet, albeit Heure is the least bad of them. The answer would be obvious that they're selfishly changing the future to create a new one they see fit, they aren't the well-intentioned type of making the future better or such, especially Swartz. So the ones that can be talked out with are only the Sougo and the Time Orphans (previously only Tsukuyomi can rein down Geiz, but now both of them can). But the main problem and dilemma was that White Woz's future sounds good on paper and thus it's the main one they're discussing with, better to have Geiz Revive or keeping Sougo around at the risk of Ohma Zi-O rising (as seen in ep. 16, when Sougo fights as Rider again, Ohma Zi-O returns to existence). Now I guess I understand better about your previous complaint about White Woz being handwaved, they here didn't come into the conclusion that White Woz may be untrustworthy one thus don't fuel his schemes. There's already more feud between Black Woz and the Time Orphans each before!

King of Time? Is it necessary that the Time Jackers' scheme is creating a new King of Time? IIRC it's about creating another King, not King of Time, just a new King that fits into their vision of the world. Godhood isn't necessarily time-related. But the scheme also was about preventing Sougo from gaining all Rider's power btw, if they create Another Rider which erases the original Rider in the timeline, that'd make Sougo gaining all the Rider's power harder, because gaining all Rider power is what created the birth of Ohma Zi-O. And if for now Zi-O (or Geiz Revive) shows nowhere near of capabilities as Another Ryuga.... let alone Ohma Zi-O, why can't the Another Riders be worked up by the Time Jackers to reach Ohma Zi-O's level? Regarding Another Ryuga, it provides quite a new solution that it's an another Rider who is a dark self of the primary Rider before, but it'd still be related into the main Rider Ryuki/Shinji (Takamasa Suga's return! but with different hair), thus the solution is to kill the original self so the dark mirror version would also perish. Now it's Geiz's newfound sense of morality, following the other 2's footsteps that is the problem (but shouldn't change), he won't do underhanded tactics like that anymore to beat Another Riders.

And at the end (I know now you've watched ep. 22), there's a tease of Sougo facing his darker, more sinister mirror self. The issue is solved in Ryuki-way like Shinji with Dark Shinji, but as the premise of Zi-O is about a sweet boy that can turn into genocidal warlord much later, this is the 2nd time Sougo comes into term of his destined future as Ohma Zi-O, previously he dealt with his older self, but now, he's dealing with his inner demons, shown in his dark mirror self who is both young and sinister (while Ohma Zi-O was old), so now the viewer is given akin of Ohma Zi-O's personality in the young Sougo himself. Sougo is genuinely noble and well-meaning and it's proven more in ep. 15-16 back then, but the mirror self controntation here would lurk deeper behind Sougo's self and explaining why there's a potential of him turning into Ohma Zi-O.

Rider Time Ryuki should be next week, Sunday through Wednesday, after Zi-O Episode 28. And happy early birthday!

Yeah, it's a story that's trying to dispel the notion that Zi-O and Oma Zi-O are two different guys. All of the stuff that could eventually become Oma Zi-O, the seeds of that are inside Sougo right now. His challenge is to harness those parts of himself for good, instead of for evil.

That's fair! I just think the visual of the Time Jackers propping up, like Another Quiz and going Here's The Undisputed Ruler Of Everything is pretty funny. Dude can't even really negotiate doorways that well. How's he supposed to be run a ruined world?

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP22)

This episode and this two-parter as a whole are real special for me. Like I mention in the old post, I literally went right back and watched them both together after finishing the second part for the first time, which I don't do often, if ever. It just made such a massive impression that way, and I think it absolutely cemented, after a steady uphill climb, that Zi-O as a whole was also going to turn out to be something special for me. This is easily one of my favorite form debuts ever, and it really brightened my day seeing Die give such well-stated praise to the themes it's exploring.

One of the other really cool things this episode does is bring back Toki no Ouja, and well... do you remember when I said in the Kabuto thread that I wasn't going to rewatch Kabuto right then and there? Because I talked myself into doing that translation of the lyrics after all. なんか行ける気がしちゃってさ。I mean, what better way could there be to show my appreciation for one of my absolute favorite Zi-O episodes, right?

The whole reason I hesitated was because there's just no way my efforts are going to get across how spectacularly precise and clever the word choice of the original lyrics is, but this song ended up shaping my perception of Sougo so much that I figured that was no reason not to try. It deserves a way better, prettier translation than I can give it (like something as nice as Over-Time's rendition of Over Quartzer, which I'm incidentally quite fond of), but hopefully I gave it one that conveys at least some of that original brilliance. This is a song that made me love this show even more than I already did, and I'd be happy if I could help it do the same for someone else.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuYVMX1NP8U

時の中を　駆けるように
Within time itself, I race onwards
真実だけを　探して
Seeking out truth, and truth alone
止めさせない　誰の時も
I won't let anyone's time be stopped
掛け替えのない物語　繋げる　あるべきよう
Those stories are precious, and I'll see them connected, as they should be

目を閉じれば　内なる声が響く
Close your eyes, and the voice within will lead the way
偽りなき未来　往く
Heading towards a future free of falsehood

ジオウ　時の王者
Zi-O, the ruler of time
この世界の　運命導き
Guiding the very fate of this world
Cuz I still dream on　真の王者
Because I still dream on, of a true ruler
時を越えるSAGA
In this saga that goes beyond time!

人は出会い　変って行く
People cross paths, and those meetings change us
それを進化と　呼ぶなら
And if that is what it means to grow
対峙してる　力さえも
Surely someday, even the forces that stand in my way
いつかきっと願った夢を　支える　希望になる
Will become the hope that supports me, as I reach toward my dream

信じるため　僕らは生まれてきた
Never lose faith, for we were born to keep believing
いつだって"自分"であれ
Stay true to yourself, no matter what

ジオウ　時の王者
Zi-O, the ruler of time
戦うのさ　時空飛び越えて
Fighting on, across all time and space
Cuz I still dream on　真の王者
Because I still dream on, of a true ruler
受け継ぐのはLegend
The one who inherits this legend!

伝説を知るたび毎に
With every legend I encounter
未知なる価値を　飲み込むように
It's as though I start to grasp potential I've never known
手に入れる
I take into my hands
自分らしく新しい　強さを
A brand new strength, that can only be my own

ジオウ　時の王者
Zi-O, the ruler of time
この世界の　運命導き
Guiding the very fate of this world
Cuz I still dream on　真の王者
Because I still dream on, of a true ruler
時を越えるSAGA
In this saga that goes beyond time!

Great points! I'd like to add that while it's important not to ignore the capacity for evil in others by only focusing on all their good actions, that advice should be applied to the self as well. I like Sougo's interaction with Dark Sougo, as it gives another example of hostile interaction between two Sougos, like Sougo's previous interaction with Oma Zi-O. Dark Sougo is obviously a bad person and an a**hole, but he possesses a sense of self that Sougo was lacking. He does the opposite of what Tsukuyomi did, by telling Sougo how much he sucks and how he's totally going to become evil in the future. It's not what Sougo wants to hear, but it's what he needs to hear. Being told reassuring things and praise too often can make a person complacent, so I think it's important to hear constructive criticism instead of pretending those unpleasant things aren't real.

Sougo made some good progress towards becoming the greatest kindest demon king in the Shinobi arc, by deciding to have faith in his future self. But even the greatest kindest demon king is ultimately still a demon king, in which evil is an inherent trait. Having too much faith was always Sougo's weakness. To combat evil, he needed to understand evil and that it was something he was capable of. It's not even specific to Sougo, or even Geiz. That's just human nature. We're all plagued by things like sadism and selfishness, no matter how much we don't like to admit it. But we have the potential to act against those parts of ourselves, as long as we acknowledge that those things exist.

Something else I'd like to point out about Dark Sougo's Zi-O, since nobody else brought it up, is that the time on his face is different. Our Sougo's Zi-O has the time of 10:10, but due to Dark Sougo's Zi-O being mirrored, his time is 2:50 instead.

This is the arc where Tsukuyomi shows her true colors. Her willingness to give Sougo the benefit of the doubt until now wasn't out of selflessness. She wanted to believe in him, as steering him away from the path of the evil Oma Zi-O was the best case scenario compared to Geiz jumping to the conclusion of killing him before he becomes a threat. But wanting to believe in someone isn't the same as actually believing in them. It's denial.

When Sougo asks Tsukuyomi if she thinks he can become a good king, she tells him exactly what he wants to hear, hoping that it'll encourage him. But everything she told him was a lie. She's scared of what he could become and all it takes is a display of Zi-O II's power to remind her of that and completely shatter any pretense of trust. Geiz sees the potential in Sougo, both good and bad. He also has that fear, he's also seen what Sougo could become, but he's always challenged Sougo's morality. That's why he actually trusts Sougo, cause he made him work to earn that trust. That's something Tsukuyomi never understood. You have to doubt someone first, before you can sincerely believe in them.

Am I the only one who thinks Zi-O II is too OP at this stage in the show?

But anyway, good episode, maybe not great, but I liked it.

Really loved the Ryuki Armor Time, but Zi-O II is pretty good too. From being two Zi-Os meshed together, where their watch band forms a "II," and the majestic jingle, it's a neat design. But his powers feel really broken... He can rewind time, predict an enemy's moves (he wouldn't be the last, unfortunately), and as par for the course when it comes to powerups, completely trounces the monster-of-the-week.

Shinji had a nice scene with his former boss, but maybe because it's been so long, since seeing this then Ryuki, I don't have anything to say about how well or not they pulled the theme here. But as I said, I liked this episode, even if the power creep took a little too much leap here.