So this whole thread, I've been wanting to chime in and say how much I loved Zero One's characters and story and designs. But I could never think of anything to say about any of it that someone else hadn't already said better than I ever could. But now with this arc with Naki and Delmo and everything, I finally have something original to say.

When these episodes aired, I'd been thinking about who I am for a while. Then Delmo's whole thing about being absolutely confidant in who you are, and the stuff with Naki deciding their own purpose. And I read how the writers made Naki not have a gender to be like their actor. And then I guess something klicked? I realxeyes-ed I can just be like that, be 1000% percent myself, and well, I've been happier with myself since then. I guess these episodes (and this show by extension) changed my life? So yeah, I guess that's my story with Zero One and Naki and stuff.



Also sorry about those probably-overused puns at the end there. I couldn't help it.

At least she was smart enough to give herself an extra couple years to get it, compared to Aruto's deadline! She's really the sensible one, in character or out!

That's awesome! Thank you so much for sharing that!

These shows... I mean, they're so good about creating safe spaces to talk about how to be a good person and, maybe more importantly, how to be a happy person. It's that Kuuga thing about Protecting Smiles, you know? That theme is baked into Kamen Rider now, and every show needs to spend at least a little time talking about how to be your authentic self, and not let the world make you unhappy with whoever that is. Faiz is still my go-to for Kamen Rider shows that want to discuss how to (or whether to) be a part of society when you feel like it's unwelcoming, but this arc of Zero-One... man! So smart in how it's trying to decouple other people's acceptance from personal happiness. I can see why this show spoke to you!

Wolves just kind of have a thing about protecting dreams in Kamen Rider, I guess :p

Same here. I've enjoyed every show I've watched thus far, and even with some bumps in the road, I still had lot to love about every Rider show, be it suit, score, or story.

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Gosh! Finally able to catch up after been busy a few days ago. I will try to keep it as short as possible because my real meat is going to be next episode. These few episodes made me realize that maybe Zero One is more suited for this single adventure one-episode formula, especially in ep 31. However, that by no means the Job Arc was a bit of let down because of the two-parter formula. That arc has some missteps outside of its two-parter formula. This continuous episodic formula that harkens the early phase of Zero One seems to be the most effective and the most enjoyable experience for audience.
Unlike most people who easily put ep 29 as their favorite episode, if you ask me, ep 30 is my most beloved episode of Zero One. Even if Aruto lost last week, there’s some aura in this episode where I felt Aruto had more freedom and less restrain than several episodes ago. Even in suit, there’s not a single of hesitations when Zero One beat Thouser. It was as if Takahashi and Shibasaki told Fumiya to just a bit more relaxed during the shooting and let Yuya Nawata to wreck a havoc and pull his max potential during the fight scene. All in all, up until this point, I can confidently declare that this episode had the best show off for Aruto both in and out of suit.
The next two episodes are just your typical solid episodes of Zero One. Those two are a complete solid of episode. I appreciate that they didn’t give two-parter again after the Job Arc. Honestly, I was also as surprised as Die when they could still pull their groove back by going back to single episode adventure. Constant beating of Gai can be a deal breaker here. After experiencing Cronus beaten up for several episodes, I was worried if Takahashi would make the same step. Still, I’m glad you and the others enjoyed Gai beaten to the pulp for these episodes. I just enjoy how many times that shoved Gai’s tattered clothes for these couple of episodes. That’s some dedication in the make up department.

I should've noted the similarity back when Fuwa jokingly warned Gai not to get kicked in the head by a horse and die! Good catch!

Someday there's maybe going to be a show that just flat out doesn't work for me, but I'm feeling pretty good about the twenty-plus shows that worked.

I wish I remembered more of Ex-Aid's pacing. Was the Cronus stuff really super-repetitive? It doesn't stick out in my brain as egregiously dull, but I've also watched literally a thousand episodes of Kamen Rider since then, soooo....

Tbf, I'm one of the people who didn't mind the constant beating of Cronus during the last part of Ex-Aid. I didn't really feel it was so or too-repetitive. I thought Takahashi did a good job on focusing more on its characters and less focusing on Masamune. Ep 37-38 is basically an day of limelight for Hiro with a battered Cronus as a bonus. Same goes for the next few episodes. For Zero-One? I will refrain my opinions for later but my opinions on how Takahashi handled Zero One was not much different than how Ex-Aid was.

If you want some statistics, I can list how many times Cronus was beaten in Ex-Aid:

- Ep 36 : Beaten on Hyper Muteki's debut. Duh
- Ep 37 : Almost beaten by Muteki, Lazer and Poppy but stopped halfway
- Ep 38 : Beaten by Muteki and Taddle Legacy
- Ep 40 : Bombastically defeated by Ex-Aid and Para-Dx
- Ep 41 : Lost to Graphite and to add further salt, also lost to Muteki again after the heroes countered his Reset ability
- Ep 42 : Wasn't defeated as Cronus but Masamune still had a lost because Gamedeus was beaten here
- Ep 43 : Beaten by the three main Riders even after having a power up
- Ep 44 : Even as a big Gamedeus, he still lost to Level 1 Riders
- Ep 45 : The finale so... A big defeat for Cronus

Well, try to interpret that as you want whether if it was repetitive or not.

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 33 - “ARE DREAMS REALLY THAT IMPORTANT?”

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This is a show about dreams, which is why it never felt like Yua fit in.

It’s not that she didn’t have a dream in the same ways that Fuwa didn’t have a dream. She wasn’t consumed by rage, unable to see beyond the horizon of her hatred. She was too pragmatic for that. She’s an engineer. She understands technology, and how it can assist humanity. But, like, assist humanity the way a traffic light does, or the way an electric toothbrush does. She creates technology that makes human beings safer, or more productive. That’s it. She doesn’t make technology that emotionally or psychologically enriches human lives, because that’s unquantifiable. She follows the data, and works to make things more efficient. Humagears were dangerous, so they needed to be stopped. ZAIA Specs were safer, so it was only right for her to support Gai’s takeover. The world is a place with cause and effect, but everyone she fought was arguing for unverifiable phenomena; for wishes instead of results. She was never a villain, she just couldn’t understand the value of fighting for a dream.

So Yua probably found the last dozen episodes as frustrating as we did, with everyone around her agitating for a response she couldn't give. Everyone’s shouting at her about dreams, and that’s not her. They’re decrying tools, but tools serve a reliable purpose. Tools are dependable, while dreams aren’t. Fuwa and Aruto kept pushing her to define herself by their terms, by their metrics. She couldn’t care less if people are sad about their robot friends not being around, because sometimes that’s the price of progress. Better solutions inevitably disadvantage the opposition, and folks will cry about that. It doesn’t make it any less important to make technology safer for the public. And that’s been the one constant for Yua since the first episode: technology should always make the public safer.

We’ve been wondering for a while what would be the straw that broke Yua’s dedication to ZAIA and Gai, and it’s the most obvious thing in the world. When she sees that Gai is using technology to make people less safe – to actively harm someone like Fuwa – she’s had enough. It’s not about the theories or the possibilities or the dreams. It’s about seeing her technology be used to hurt people, right in front of her, and saying No. Gai’s done a million shitty things, but they could all be couched in the idea of a safer, more productive humanity. With the reveal that he’d psychologically tortured Fuwa just to make him into a weapon, Yua’s seen enough. There’s no alignment between her worldview and ZAIA. She can’t continue to work under someone who fundamentally doesn’t care about who his technology harms, since it’s the biggest thing she cares about.

This is a show about dreams, but dreams need to be tempered with an awareness of the world around you. Characters like Fuwa and Aruto can bet their lives on optimistic empathy, can tilt at Thouser-shaped windmills, and probably win the day. For the rest of us, we need to make sure our goals are achievable. We can pursue a goal without trying to make a dream come true; knowing the difference is sometimes the only way to succeed in this world. A character like Yua is here to show us that a little pragmatism might be the missing ingredient to a story about living in a way where everyone gets to be happy.

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So yeah in hindsight with this episode, very much, I saw what they were trying to do with Yua in the long run in terms of Episode 1 to now. Was it a completely bumpy road with a lot of frustrating moments? Yeah. But I think you put it best in that Yua doesn't exactly fit in with our main Rider duo, and that really makes her stand out tbh. It's really hard to word anything else because I honestly think you hit the nail on the head about Yua this episode.

Other notes is while I don't think our Humagear this week was too incredible, he was charming in little scenes. Like Love-chan being like "I want to compete in contests!" only to deflate when Izu tells him that's illegal but then the kid who threw him out going over and being like "Hey don't worry, you can still apply for the coaching positions". Thought that was a really cute scene.

I also like how far Fuwa's come when it comes to this episode, well aside from the sudden revelation that part of his life is fake (which has divided a lot of people on whether it was necessary or not), but the first scene being him delivering a Humagear to Aruto. He plays it off like it's no big deal and he's doing his job, but would the Fuwa from Episode 2 have done that? I don't think so, so it's nice to see.

Also I know you dislike Thouser getting owned every week, but I feel like this one was at least special. We get to see Vulcan and Valkyrie back together again, doing combo's with each other. Like that cool running around shot with Valkyrie leaping over Vulcan while their pelting Gai with everything they've got. Then that final finisher with her in Lightning Hornet, might be one of my favorite finishers in the show?

Like, I always talk about mixing finishers and this is one of them. Yua going for a Rider Kick, realizing that's not going to cut it and then shooting Gai in the face at near point blank range? Really good!

That entire fight scene was *chef's kiss*. This was one of those posts where I really only wanted to talk about one thing, but rest assured that I was not blind to all of the other absolutely terrific things in this episode. Love-Chan was great, the parallel subplot about projecting your interests/values/enthusiasm on others was expertly deployed, and the absolutely rousing finish of Valkyrie and Vulcan teaming up to kick a heretofore-unknown seventh shade of shit out of Thouser was very, very welcome.

I thought this one was pretty great, front to back.

I guess it makes sense Humagears can't compete in actual sports but dang it if they can't be enthusiastic coaches.

I guess at this point it's not all that surprising that Gai completely fabricated Fuwa's entire memories and identity to be the Humagear hating tool he needed him to be...although it really makes Fuwa's entire character arc up to this point and his sheer fervor and passion kind of funny in hindsight. Then again, how would one kid have survived a swarm of killer robots? I dunno, Fuwa makes the rules or something...

I guess it's just good that Fuwa's in a better place and had already overcome that hatred, so it wasn't necessary, although now I guess he has to deal with the fact that all that anger was completely misplaced and constructed the whole time.

Valkyrie returns! It's nice to see Yua in proper form and to see the AIMS duo fighting again. And she gets the Finisher!

Man, it's got to be rough for Thouser this beat down around. Like, Vulcan helped, but Gai literally lost to probably the weakest base Rider in the entire show. And then that punch!

I didn't have much to say on the last episode, but I can say a little on this one, I don't think that there has been one time so far into the show where I've actually liked Yua's character. This episode fixed some of the problems I have with her, but even so, I just can't consider her compelling character that I enjoy watching, but that's just what I think, and I'm sure there's a lot of fans who actually like Yua from this episode and up, but I still don't like her that much. Besides that aspect, the rest of this episode is perfectly fine and I do still like it.

I think it works, since it's basically just another layer of Fuwa rejecting someone else's control, and him creating a version of himself that he can believe in. It'd probably be more shocking if we had a sense of Fuwa's life outside of work, but OH WELL. (Like, does Fuwa not have family that could go You Were Never Terrorized By Robots? I know that All Dads Are Dead, even in Reiwa, but is there not the traditional younger sister who could correct him?))

The only downside to this fight scene is that once again it hinges on Gai just assuming his underlings will eat an infinite amount of shit, and he can gloat while they choke it down. I know he's pathological in his dismissal of anyone else's autonomy, but this is just some incredibly bad corporate leadership. Does ZAIA not have an HR department? Can they not sit Gai down and try to go over some ways to interact with employees without trying to conversationally dominate them. Just a thought!

I loved this episode, and I'm pretty much completely on the hook for Yua going forward, but I can't deny that this show could've done a better job of illuminating her character before now. Like, all the stuff we learn about her in this episode... it could've shown up any number of times before now? Just have Yua say that she doesn't think dreams are valuable! Or that tools serve more of a purpose than dreams! But it's just a dozen episodes of her acting grumpy and wandering off, which makes it seem like the show hadn't figured out her motivation until this week.

This! THIS! This is *chef's kiss*. Perfection. I'm glad that Die ended up enjoying this one a lot and reignited the reason why we all love Yua. This might be my second favorite ep of Zero One, behind ep 30. I might be in the minority here and it's going to be a hot take but I always love and enjoy Yua even in the Job Arc. The conclusion that Takahashi gave to Yua's character was the perfect culmination of Yua's development in the series.

Die already made a splendid opinions about this episode. Your opinion about how Yua is different from Aruto and Fuwa was spot on because there's always something about Yua that clearly set her apart from her companions. When Yua said 'Dream, dream, and dream. What kind of bullsh*t is that!?' that's what they key line to summarize Yua's whole character and your opinions in a single line. Yua had always been a reactive character. She only does thing in reaction not by consciously doing so herself. She only transforms to Valkyrie in the first half because of reaction to Rogue Humagears and doing everything that Gai ordered in the second arc. So it's also relieving and refreshing to see her finally took an action for her own cause. I must give props to Hiroe Igeta who was able to do incredible acts in the climax of her character in spite of all the shortcomings she might have several episodes back.

I also love that it was 'Fuwa' who was the trigger that pulled Yua from Gai's hand and started rebelling against him. It might be subtle but Yua has always care for Fuwa even in the early series and even in the Job Arc. So, the fact that someone used the technology, that she has believed in up to this point, to harm not just a normal civilian but also someone Yua knows and also cares for is the single line that Gai had crossed in this episode. In addition, it was also Yua who aroused Fuwa again after receiving such harsh truth from Gai. It was after seeing YUA, the single person who was loyal to Gai but now standing up for herself and him also, Fuwa managed to regain his spirit not only to crush Thouser again but to declare his newfound dream. I can continue this all day long but Takahashi did make a good step in this one. I don't think Yua's redemption would make such a big impact had it not been because Gai harmed Fuwa and Fuwa's declaration of his new dream was enriched after Yua took the action. Say that Aruto was the victim of Gai, instead of Fuwa, I don't think the impact result would be as good as if Fuwa was the one who Gai had machinated.

Now that I mention it, it's kinda weird that we are in more than a half in to the series but Aruto and Yua barely had meaningful interaction. Aruto said 'Yaiba-san!' was the single line that Aruto had to call Yua by her name instead of Aims or Zaia to refer Yua. I might be greedy because Fuwa and Yua's relation was more than good enough but I wish we had more interaction from the Main Rider to our 'Tertiary Rider'. Sougo and Woz, Sento and Kazumin, Emu and Taiga, etc. I think from our past series, I can say we had a solid relationship between our Main Rider and our Tertiary Rider even in the early stage of the series. It's a bit shame that we didn't have the same amount of interaction between Aruto and Yua, especially late into this series.

Couldn't get into this episode. I really just couldn't; I got what they were going for but it feels very out of nowhere and by now they'd burned all the good will I had towards this character. And heck, they couldn't even have the girl get her own battle without one of the guys' new upgrades stealing half of it. Just a kind of okay resolution to a very empty story

Yeah, I think this episode did a good job of reframing Yua and Fuwa as a partnership, even if they've been on opposite sides of the issue for a while. (The show also put in the very clear parallel of Love-chan and his student, whose partnership was constantly dissolving and reuniting, until they figured out a way to respect each other's goals.) There's no shortage of scenes this time with only Fuwa and Yua, at all levels of energy. There's a real feeling of them getting over their animosity/misunderstanding, and dedicating their energy towards helping their partner succeed.

It definitely wouldn't've worked with Aruto and Yua, though, no. This isn't Ex-Aid, where you can mix up the pairings to try and say something about aligned goals; this is a show about how two people collaborate on a shared vision of the future, so it's gotta be Fuwa and Yua.

You're not wrong! Like I said before, the success (to me) of this episode definitely doesn't negate a dozen episodes that would've been better served slowly teasing out Yua's subplot, rather than having her as some barely-defined lieutenant right up until her spotlight episode. Not the best pacing!

I don't know if I totally agree with Vulcan stealing part of her battle spotlight, though? He's there, and he looks cool, but his performance feels very complimentary - even, like, contingent - to Yua's actions. Valkyrie gets the gigantic But Why Heroism henshin, she gets the finisher, she gets the form changes, she gets the very cool acrobatics... I don't know, I felt like she was the unambiguous star of this climax?

No I know, but like...

When Fuwa got his big moment of resolution of taking control of his life against Thouser, he did it solo. When Aruto got his big moment of resolution of fighting back against Thouser after his new company's registered, he does it solo. When Yaiba gets her big moment of resolution of something something dreams I barely remember... it's a double-team fight. She does get the big finishing hit on Thouser and everything of course but it sticks out a lot to me that she's specifically the only one that doesn't get a solo fight. Gotta sell some new toy on shelves I guess

As Love-chan is not mentioned here, what I can say about that is, it's an example of miscommunication causing further problems. Keita lying to everyone about having a girlfriend who views Love-chan as a creep would of course, not have him or anyone else realize that Keita's not trying to become a pro tennis player that reaches Grand Slam. Love-chan's also a rare showing when someone can train others too hard and extreme, while not having the stereotypical tough and demanding personality, but he's too enthusiastic and had a single-minded focus. About the fight, there's a potential human bodycount in AIMS 2 officers Dewaga and Shida, with how there are spent bullet casings and one of their sunglasses on the ground.

Well certainly not now, she resigned from ZAIA and thus she's now turning into the show's secondary heroine. But previously, one isn't necessarily above villain status if they aren't fully bad, aren't full-on moustache twriling types, or such. She was an anti-villain, she's doing ZAIA's dirty works, but there are redeeming qualities in her about her good intentions, or concern of casualities, drawing the line at certain methods (her hesitations, but she's still loyal to them). Humagears was mainly dangerous only because of Gai's work of corrupting Ark, and ZAIA Specs was advertised as something safer after making Humagears a threat via Ark, it's purely Gai taking down his competitors, profiting of his deeds to make public doubt Humagears and escaping trouble from that. I don't know if for this one you overlooked the reason of Humagears going rogue (which Fuwa already acknowledged), or that it's more about Yua making decisions based on what already happened (Humagears already turned dangerous).

Treating living beings as a tool is something terrible though, seen in what Gai does, not only to Humagears (e.g. Naki), but also to humans, seen in how he treats Fuwa and Yua as disposable in ep. 29, and that view has rubbed on Yua but only to Humagears in her case. Though Humagears are androids, there are complexities in them particularly for those which reached Singularity, which at least it's something Yua acknowledged. Otherwise, Yua's treatment of them before, albeit subtler than Fuwa, can be also a form of racism towards Humagears (Gai's a far worse form of this), many fictions often the line between the values of human vs. non-human life getting blurry, automatically placing less value on something less human-like physically and psychologically (like slaughters of non-humans are generally more ok), and Yua's an example of that in her previous Humagear view. Seems to take effect too that cruelty seems to be far more noticeable to people when, it's displayed that someone treats humans as tools instead of something else. There's a hypocrisy too that, to vehemently treat Humagears as tools, Yua herself is also a tool to Gai despite her denial.

It's something consistent regarding Yua before, generally whenever Fuwa is injured or hurt, she becomes noticeably worried. His first fight against Horobi, his subsequent hospital stay (and the threat to his life when the medical Humagears were all shut down), and his first uses of the Assault Wolf Progrise Key all put her in a noticeable state of visible concern and distress; she even forced him out of a transformation once when it became clear his body couldn't take the strain. Other than that though, this is further a turning point for Fuwa, after previously changing his target of vengeance to ZAIA, now here, he further clarifies that his vengeance against Humagears is over, and now he truly gained Kamen Rider sensibility, becoming more heroic and trying his best at making use of Kamen Rider. Fuwa officially has shed most of his negative traits here, here's the time Zero-One ditches the edgy secondary archetype, though Fuwa's still has some temper issues. But still, while Fuwa wasn't villainous, it was still Gai irresponsibly causing trouble for others especially Humagears via someone else, showing more of his rotten side.

I think she definitely took the lead in this fight and works well with Fuwa though I think part of it is that frankly she's the weakest Rider and I don't think any amount of character evolution would've made it possible for her to beat Thouser solo.

It would've been high time to give her a new form but it didn't seem like they were willing to commit to that.

See, the reason I was fine with the way the fight played out, and this is because me and my friend were talking about the various systems in Zero-One the other day.

While others like Thouser, Zero-One, Horobi, etc are excel at fighting solo, I feel like that can't be said the same for the Shotriser Riders. Like, I'm not trying to diss Fuwa because that dude has some real good fights and is a real powerhouse, likewise with Yua, I enjoy the way she fights as Valkyrie.

But there's just this little magical spark whenever the two fight together. My absolute favorite fight in Reiwa First Gen was Vulcan and Valkyrie fighting Another Zero-One. The two working together and combo'ing off of each other. And I feel like the fight in 33 is on par with that. Just the way Fuwa tags in by leaping and rolling over Yua's back as she stumbles in order to keep the attention on him for a bit as she recovers. The way they just compliment each other in their movements and how they're able to easily overwhelm Thouser.

It's also why I feel like the Shotriser's are only a duo team, Vulcan and Valkyrie just really compliment each other well. And I feel like the fight wasn't just Yua breaking free of ZAIA but also Yua reestablishing her partnership with Fuwa.

Oh and I forgot to mention but I absolutely adored the part at sundown where Yua just clocks Gai in the face, felt deserved especially coming from her. It was so special they made it into a special Ganbarizing finisher animation for Valkyrie!

It's not that rare for me to feel like Die isn't giving a Rider episode enough credit, but it's a lot less common for me to still feel that way with an episode he already likes. There are a million things about Zero-One I just kinda haven't said in here, but for whatever reason, I'm really fired up to talk about Vulcan and Valkyrie right now, because I want it known how fantastic this episode is, and only talking about whether or not Yua has a dream barely qualifies as scratching the surface. (Not to say that wasn't a thoughtful, well-written post, Die!)

One of the things I have mentioned in here, way back toward the start, is how Fuwa and Yua were both built from the ground up specifically to contrast each other. And "contrast" is always the key word with these two. Their Rider designs, their personalities, so on and so forth. Again, I said a lot of this already.

The contrast also extends to their character arcs, which is maybe critical to understanding why Yua is written the way she is.

Put simply, Fuwa and Yua have completely opposite trajectories for their development. Fuwa is a man imprisoned by his past, who learns to look forward; Yua is a woman trying to create a better future with technology, only to become trapped by every decision she's ever made. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Fighting Jackal Raider and Rampage Vulcan debut in the same two-parter, or that Fuwa's main opponent in that fight is the Jackal Raider. At the same time Fuwa ascends to the highest point he's ever reached, Yua sinks to the lowest depths she ever will. For over half the show, Fuwa has been learning and growing, arguably changing more dynamically than anyone else in the series, and he's rewarded for that effort by becoming the kind of hero he never could've been at first. In that same span of time, however, Yua has done nothing but stagnate. She's arguably changed and developed less than anyone else in the series, and she's punished for that inability to progress by being reduced to a mere monster of the week for the Kamen Riders to take down.

The way Fuwa and Yua's development bounces off each other was a huge part of what made episode 29 so great, and it very directly feeds into what makes episode 33 so great too. It's really the climax for both of their arcs at once? (Which is kinda perfect for two characters made to be a duo!)

Because 29, it wasn't actually the final word on either of them. Fuwa gave a dramatic speech, but it was a speech all about how he'll eventually have a motivation outside of righteous vengeance, and Yua hit rock bottom, but it's like, how content can she really be staying there? They both find their answers here, and the episode does a great job emphasizing how each of them is lifting the other up. Yua finally realizing she doesn't have to chain herself to ZAIA has a ton to do with Fuwa, and the dream Fuwa discovered is one he explicitly credits Yua for giving him the chance to fulfill.

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(This is some of my favorite suit acting from Asai ever, by the way. Love how Vulcan's hand is visibly trembling as he's pointing his gun, really selling how intense the emotions Fuwa is going through are. He's trying to look brave, but letting go is probably the hardest thing he's ever done.)

I think Fuwa's memories turning out to be fabricated is a somewhat controversial twist, but honestly, I think it was 1000% the right call to emphasize the growth he's had. The Fuwa from the start of the series could've never handled being told everything that kept him going was a lie, but for the Fuwa in episode 33, it's a chance to cement once and for all that his past isn't what drives him anymore.

And of course, while all that's going on, you have Yua, racked with guilt after realizing just how much she's been complicit in, only for that to ultimately become the push she needs to finally decide a course of action for herself, standing up to a person who has done nothing but try to suppress her free will all this time. Yua's whole way of thinking has a ton to do with the idea that everything should serve its proper purpose, but it's only here that she figures out you're allowed to find a different purpose when the one you're currently serving isn't serving anyone else back.

...But you know, now that I think about it, I guess I'm just kind of scratching the surface here myself. No wonder Die decided to just focus on one thing! I only tried one more than that, and it was still too much! So yeah, there are plenty of things I'd still like to touch on about this episode itself, and these characters in general, and, and well, the show in general, even, but for now, I guess this is the gist of it. Vulcan and Valkyrie are both really great! Great enough to get me to actually say something substantial in here for the first time in a while, even, which is crazy, because this is far from the only episode in this stretch of Zero-One I'm particularly fond of.

Can't really say anything that everyone else hasn't. Thought it was great, and am very glad it was one of the episodes that was able to be made before the pandemic hit.

That's fair! I will never fault someone for feeling like this show doesn't treat Yua with the same care or attention it does the other Riders.

Yeah, Yua's still in a mid-point for her development, where we really haven't seen her acknowledge the Humagears as a lifeform worth protecting. But now that she's teaming up with Jin and Horobi, I imagine that'll get addressed!

Their cooperative fighting style is so ingrained in the show that it's in every opening!

Much like Yua can always depend on Fuwa's support, I know that I can always depend on this thread to cover anything I leave on the table. Really just wanted to focus on Yua's arc that time, but I knew some brain genius would pop up in the thread to talk about a different aspect of the show that spoke to them. Thank you for using a thing I created to be a hero!

For sure! It'd've been a crime to let Yua's arc be truncated or abandoned due to COVID.

...just like it'd be a crime for me to forget about the Zero-One anime shorts I've definitely, 1000% been covering in DreamSword's Toku Anime thread! My schedule's been nuts (and getting nuttier all the time), but when DreamSword suggested I send him write-ups of Zero-One's anime episodes to post under his account -- thus saving me the editing and posting work -- I couldn't say no. Please head over to his thread to discuss the episodes I've absolutely watched and written about! Thanks!

I really liked the fight choreography here, I loved Gai just showing up behind a bench, umbrella in hand before throwing it away to transform. It was very welcoming to see the Valkyrie suit once again and have Yua get a punch in from Gai.

However, sorry to be coming in here to be such a downer, but this episode brought down Fuwa for me from a 9/10 to a 7/10. And a later movie bringing it down to a 6. I still really like him, but I was just not a fan of how he was handled.

I think Gai revealing to him his memories are fake really broke a huge deal about Fuwa's character. See, his rough childhood encounter with the humagears was sketch, yes. There were no casualties in Daybreak save for the one person who blew the place up.

(Slight tangent here on Daybreak, I see people saying Gai has a lot of blood on his hands, but I would like to say he actually doesn't because it was already stated that there were no casualties during Daybreak save for the one guy who signaled the evacuation and blew up the place, so at best Gai really only has one person. This is not me defending Gai, yet. Just like to let ppl kno)

But coming back to Fuwa, he had a rough encounter with humagears which caused a deep-seated hatred towards them that was only remedied once his life was saved by one, ending his prejudice towards them and believing in Aruto. I personally think making it so the memories were fake just ruins the journey Fuwa went through.

How do I say this, his prejudice towards the Humagears were fake, coded, a lie. It makes it seem like the steps he took to remove this hatred were not genuine and also removes all accountability on his part to take the steps and dump it all on Gai. It's also... kind of pointless for Gai to tell him that, only serving to add into the pile of "Gai's misdeeds of no reason"

One thing this also feeds into is the way Humagears are portrayed in this show. It being fake memories planted by a shady businessman furthers the notion that Humagears did nothing wrong and any concerns or legitimate fears about AI are non-existent. I don't want to be too philosophical, but I will say that I will
be.

Edit: Sorry again for being a downer. Especially with how rare I come on here to say anything. But I'd like to preface that I do have good things to say for Fuwa later in the show, specifically one concerning a new toy and also for two specific episodes for my five-horned golden boy.

https://i.imgur.com/C7r2B7W.jpg

Yeah, I think the best argument against Fuwa's fake memories is that it's giving things like Intolerance and Bigotry some weird supervillain rationalization, rather than a choice Fuwa made for himself twelve years ago. I don't know that it does this show's themes any favors to shove that all onto an outside force?

That said, I think the counterpoint is that things like Intolerance and Bigotry are always something that comes from outside of us. It's the way your parents raised you, or the community you lived in, or your friends, or etc. Babies aren't born bigots, you know? ZAIA didn't make Fuwa hate Humagears, they just gave him a formative trauma and figured he'd turn into a Humagear-hating lunatic. If that dude had gotten therapy instead of becoming a Kamen Rider, he might've had a better outcome.

I think the show as a whole handles it well, but it's definitely something I can see hurting the character for you. Definitely feels weaker

But ZAIA did brainwash him into being prejudiced in order to fuel his hostility. But besides that, outside forces or not, the actions one takes with those feelings are still their own. Shoving it to Gai I feel robs Fuwa of any personal responsibility. The rewatching of Fuwa's journey up to this point also becomes tainted for me because it only rings to me that all of the actions he is taking up till this point was only because Gai made him do it.

Up to Episode 34 (just watched; not a huge fan!), the only thing ZAIA did to Fuwa was implant a memory of a Humagear attack. They didn't force him to be a Humagear-hating lunatic, they just created a narrative for him that he was a victim of Humagears. It's not like they flipped some switch labeled Hates Humagears. He eventually processed his way out of blaming Humagears for his attack, which he couldn't do if ZAIA were making him hate them.

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 34 - “THIS IS HOROBI’S WAY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...zeroone34a.png

The villains on this show… boy, not my favorite?

For the first time in a long time, we’ve got an episode without Gai as the antagonist – a role I was incredibly tired of him occupying – and it’s at best a lateral move. Horobi’s back on his bullshit, which is smirking and saying God Told Me To, and I don’t find much of interest there. Horobi should come across as either an impassioned zealot or a charismatic cult leader, but he might as well be a DX toy that only plays its two or three recorded lines. Every strategy is just some watery hate machine telling him to go do villainy, and then he does it. It’s the repetitiveness of Gai’s one-note Blowing Aruto’s House Down thing, but without even the smarmy hateability of Gai’s performance.

And it’s… like the Ark stuff is so distractingly hollow that I hate to see this show regressing back to it, even if it’s just to deconstruct it in the next episode. The Ark is supposedly destroying a sinful humanity to create a world that’s safe for Humagears, a plan which requires the destruction of:

-humanity
-Humagears who like humanity
-Humagears who are useful as weapons against humanity or other Humagears
-Humagears who are nearby
-Jin, once

It’s a robot death cult whose M.O. and stated objectives are so diametrically opposed as to be instantly satirical, and yet we’re still having them as a main plot! In Episode 34!!! Jin’s return from the grave was a breath of fresh air, since it had a baked-in rejection of the first act’s The Ark Wills It routine. Horobi’s schtick was tired twenty episodes ago, and I care for it even less now.

This show’s success has maybe been in spite of the antagonism of your Horobis and Gais, not because of them. The best villain this show has – and the one whose complicated, nuanced menace is as fresh now as it was in the premiere – is society itself. When this show wants to ask unanswerable questions about the ways we view one another, or dig into the difficult work of helping each other succeed without losing our own perspectives, it’s as tense and poignant as any other show’s endgame. Whenever this show needs to have someone for Zero-One to detonate, I feel like it’s paper-thin and unconvincing. Horobi’s from a dumber, more binary version of this show. I sincerely hope the next episode treats him that way.

—

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SO-DO AI 06: TRILOBITE MAGIA

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...zeroone34b.jpg

On the topic of repetitive villains whose motivations are stock and virtually irrelevant: it’s the Zero-One mook suit!

I think the Trilobite suit is pretty neat. It’s just a Robot Skeleton, but that’s an almost perfect idea for a starting point. The MetsubouJinrai takeover turns a Humagear inside out, so here’s this black suit with silver bones and musculature. It reads real well from a distance, and looks menacing as it lurches in a group. Really solid mook suit!

And a decent one-box SO-DO figure! You know the drill by now: bunch of stickers, extra set of hands, no weapons, no base. All of the stickers were large enough to stick over the raised detail, and nothing was hard to maneuver. Since you might end up stickering a half-dozen of these guys, it’s a pleasant enough experience to repeat.

—

PROGRAMMING NOTE

I’m going to be at Chicago’s C2E2 convention tomorrow for some work/networking stuff, and I’ll probably be out pretty late. I really doubt I’m going to have time for an episode post, so we’ll be tackling 35 on Saturday, most likely. See you all then!

I always prefer genocidal killer AI cult over unintentionally hilarious businessman any day so it was nice to see Horobi getting some time to shine.

Also hey we got to see Shining Hopper again! That was cool!

Not much else to really say when it comes to this episode though, thought it was interesting to have the Humagear this time be one that specializes in controlled farming. If there's one thing I like about Humagears it's how weirdly specific some of their jobs can get.

I would just like to say sorry in advance.
Horobi wearing a cool suit and being played by Takaiwa had worn me out from this point. Not during its airing, but rather as the show lingered on my head over the years.

But I liked seeing Shining Hopper again and how it was used effectively to dispatch the Magia troops even if Aruto was a few seconds too late to save the garden.

And, oh hey they're taking interest in Raiden's key. Wonder how that will go~

Yeah, the Ark stuff in this show... not the best? It kinda feels like the thing which would be done with by the first pre-new years arc. Which it already was! But now they're back! Aren't you glad...?

An okay episode this time around, we see another way the HumaGears are used, agriculture, it makes sense that that would be an area that could benefit from HumaGears, but like I said for some of the competition episode, it's a strange thing for Kamen Rider to make an episode about, not that I'm against it, it just doesn't feel like something anyone would've expected an episode to cover.

Anyways, Yua and Jin try to extract Naki, a concept that sounds almost strange to me, I know we've seen the HumaGear data packs that Aruto has, and I know that Naki's on a chip, but it just feels weird to me that they can just get Naki from Fuwa's brain, but I guess it's not crazier than most other things in this show, so I don't know why I focused on this in particular, but it just came off weird to me.

I agree that the villains in this show are quite boring, aside from Jin, and I guess Naki, considering what they do at the end of the episode, but the others, and more specifically Horobi, don't seem to have much going for them, they don't ruin my enjoyment of the show, but they don't really add anything to this show, I groaned when I saw that Horobi had showed up at the farm, because I just don't care to see any of them show up because I don't care for their motivations or character, but I still do like the show.

Horobi betrays Aruto as everyone expected, because unlike Jin, Horobi doesn't have any reason to not betray him, and then they fight, but suddenly all of the ZAIA Specs start going berserk, meaning that Naki has returned, which I guess they can just do with their mind, but I'm going to stop questioning these things, an okay episode this time, nothing as good as the past few, but still okay, if a little boring.

It really was! I was honestly a little shocked to see Plain Ol' Shining Hopper instead of the Assault variant, but pleasantly so. Very fun to see an older form get brought out like that, and used so well.

I've said it before, but I think part of my problem is that I don't much care for the guy playing Horobi? The suit acting for action sequences is fun (Takaiwa can absolutely still bring it), but the guy outside the suit has just never made a single interesting choice as an actor. Super dull performer, to me.

I may have audibly groaned when I saw Horobi walking up to Aruto's tour group? They had, like, ten episodes to figure out a fun new angle on Horobi -- and I feel like they'll get there in another few -- but this is what they decided to go with.

I always think these little views into Humagear industriousness are cute, and this one was no different. There's some interesting ideas in Midori's character that don't 100% come across (how companies can rely on technology to the detriment of training workers, Horobi's deleted role as a nurturer), but I think seeing Humagears and people collaborating on a project is always worth including in an episode.

The situation with the Ark was never fully resolved though, and Ark and MBJR did still pay a major part in Act 2. It'd be far more lackluster if they'd just starting pretending it was gone, I think.

How long has Yua been waiting to knock out Fuwa? I just love the idea she could've done that to him the whole time and only does it now because she needs him to cooperate for his own good.

Of course then they unleash another human killing machine...
Aruto probably brought it out without the Assault function because last time he fought Horobi he was actually able to fight him evenly with just Shining Hopper. Too bad it seems like Horobi was still holding back by that point.

Of course that doesn't mean he can take out Metal Cluster Hopper since it's clear Horobi has been outleveled at this point (just not by Thouser).
I actually think he does a great job of conveying Horobi's menace and pure, one-track-minded, dedication to annihilating humanity and following the will of the Ark. He does come off believably robotic and rigid, but that's part of the point in my opinion.

They should give HumaGears their own competitive league!

Well, false memory syndrome can fill in the blanks of an abstract narrative to create a more convincing lie, so Isamu could just go "grrrr HumaGears" from Gai's fabrication and his own brain probably did the rest of the work. Isamu isn't the kind of person to think deeply about something for too long, he only ever focused on the abstract picture.

The "This Is My Resignation" Blast Fever is Yua's most bad*ss moment for sure! She deserved that gratification after enduring all of Gai's abuse and disrespect. Gai sure has some serious resilience though, for him to keep coming back every week to get beat up, but I guess he needs a little more time to lick his wounds after that humiliating loss.

Thanks for reminding about this. Gai's list of crimes is so long that it's basically black comedy, so it's easy for people to lose count of what he didn't do. However, he did understand that there was an extremely high risk of people dying, so his intention was still there. On the HumaGear side, Soreo died as well, so that's two casualties we know about. But I guess we can't say Gai literally has Soreo's blood on his hands, cause Soreo doesn't have blood, only robot fluid.

While prejudice can and often does come from conscious thought, I agree that some of it is the fault of culture that imprints those bad feelings in us. That's why so many people don't understand that they have prejudice, don't understand that they're doing anything wrong. The same kind of prejudice that Gai has towards HumaGears, coming up with mean excuses to frame them as being dangerous and unreliable, which fits in to his oblivious trait.

He bestowed that same oblivious prejudice on to Isamu, filling his head with a false tragic backstory about rampaging HumaGears to make him remember them with scorn. The difference between them now is that Isamu was able to dissociate between reality and fantasy on his own, through his new experiences with the good in HumaGears. Gai's reveal would've crushed him before, but Aruto and the others were able to give him something else to live for besides hatred and revenge, Isamu found something that was real and meaningful, the possibility to dream and look to the future.

Ark can't determine a solution to evil that doesn't involve committing acts of evil. Unfortunately, evil is all it knows. When you only have on tool at your disposal, what else can you do? Ark is the Gai to Horobi's Isamu, with how Horobi believes he's doing good for his kind but doesn't think critically about Ark's methods, he doesn't have singularity, he doesn't know how he's supposed to function as a father to his son, or what a world without humans would be like. The prejudice is on both sides of society, since everybody is conditioned to hate each other and reject them as evil, without stopping to see the evil in themselves.

Yeah, Horobi never really did much for me as a villain, either. I always found him to be maybe not a complete sucking void of charisma, but really, really bland. Gai is definitely more engaging to watch, but counters that by being so fucking awful.