Yeah, there are some notable differences (battles in the city, getting rid of the Douji and Hime in favour of the super versions, actual conflict), but in general, it’s nothing outrageous as people make it out to be. It’s pretty much a proto-Kabuto.

I've watched a good deal more Zero-One at this point. I'm in the middle of the tournament bit, just finished the firefighting one. This whole arc has been a bit slow honestly, but I'm still enjoying it a lot. The cast in this one has been particularly enjoyable for me, and the show itself has a lot of characteristics I like from previous Rider shows. It's a bit hard to explain, but it reminds me a bit of shows as varied as W, Faiz, Black RX, and more! I'm okay with the current part of the show being a bit mediocre as long as they manage to pick back up again later.

My new thing is shouting at the screen that Fuwa is going to die. I don't know if he actually will but I've seen Faiz! I know what happens to people with wolf themes who lack future goals!

If you can make it through the tournament arc, then the rest of Zero-One will be a breeze. The next two arcs are fantastic, even if the loss of 4-5 episodes hit the final arc hard

It gets worse; a lot of established characters get really badly misinterpreted or mishandled (especially Akira). Mostly, though, it’s a case of a wonderful and unique show having all of its real character stripped away and getting turned into something on par with filler episodes of other Rider shows.

That is something that struck me a lot about Hibiki. Even if you were to look at the post-29 section as its own thing; completely unrelated; as its own show? ... I’d sooner rewatch Wizard. It’s just kind of rubbish and uninteresting.

Zero-One, on the other hand, unfortunately never lived up to the excellent potential the tournament arc expertly set up.

I disagree.

I think the second half had a much better idea of what to do with the supporting cast than the first half (what was Zanki doing after his retirement again?). Plus the new arc actually makes the show somewhat more interesting to watch.

I think the key issue the second portion has in comparison to the first is that it lost the unique feeling in favor of becoming your standard rider fare.

Not bad in and of itself, especially if the more laid back tone didn't suit you, but for a franchise that, for Kabuto and beyond, would basically set itself in a formula for years to come, losing the unique personality was a rather tough pill to swallow.

The Zanki stuff is the only saving grace of that era, and even that doesn’t remotely balance out the bullshit that is the Shuki arc and what it does to Akira.

Is it weird that I didn't actually notice that many changes besides the obvious stuff?! Yeah I don't like Kiriya either and I would have liked Shuki to be in it more but in terms of actual amount of pros and cons in each half I would say they are almost on a par for me and the final episode was still relatively satisfying given the production problems.

https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...760&height=427

Keisuke's not having a great time of it, and episode 8 just sorta piles it all on. Seriously, I didn't expect the only ongoing plot thread we have to be resolved so early, and in one episode!