Originally Posted by henshinzero (Post 723267)

Geiz feels like the Terminator. I hope he'll turn around from anti-hero to hero.

We need a third rider soon! Maybe a female rider as well!

Maybe Zi-O can someday cause a Flashpoint altering some riders' lives and experiences. Like replace some of the original actors who took on the protagonist roles, with new ones being the new users of the protagonist riders. ex. What if Haruto didn't become Wizard, what if Ryotaro didn't become Den-O, what if Shinji didn't become Ryuki, what if Wataru didn't become Kiva, what if Yuuske didn't become Kuuga and what if Hibiki never existed.

Originally Posted by Aigon (Post 723279)

Will you stop with your Terminator/Flash references. Geiz seems nothing like a Terminator, and there is not going to be a Flashpoint or whatever. This is Kamen Rider, not DC.

Originally Posted by Annuga (Post 723290)

Well tbf Geiz travelling back in time to destroy the cause of his downfall can be seen as Terminator-y but this time it's the other way around

Originally Posted by Librarian (Post 723250)

Not as expensive as you might think.

Originally Posted by Librarian (Post 723250)

The terminator/rebel fighter approach for Geiz seems expected. So that story should work fine. Kind of figured they'd go for the rebel fighter approach with it being interrupted and explained there's other ways to change the future.



Not surprising, but I do expect that some aspects are going to surprise viewers later. So don't get too arrogant with that "men only for kamen rider leads" attitude.

There are a lot of little things involved in this one thematically that made it more cumbersome to do it that way.

But that checkbox is still on the way to be checked off. That's one thing you can count on Rider/Sentai about. They work off of check boxes entirely for themes and concepts.

When you look at the base concept of this, you can see why a woman lead wouldn't work for the rider that well. But the sub-tones of power corruption, and the 'guidance by a young woman from the future to correct history' as well as what appears to be a learning from other riders what it means to be king, same as the young woman is pushing to teach, all seems to suggest Toei is fully aware of the damage males unchecked or spoiled by power can cause. Which is seemingly something they want to highlight here about dreams of grandeur.

That kind of awareness still fits the concerns of those "check boxes" you deride, and hint at a future series possibly taking the turn instead for a new lead rider where the story is more fitting for it. The more we learned about the story, the more it sounded like that was a lot of why they may have decided against it for this one. Still interesting that it was discussed which means it may be an upcoming thing soon for a new series. They've been rather progressive with various areas as it is with W having more representation and showing various styles of clothing as okay, and Wizard itself being open to having transgender characters. Pretty Cure seems to be starting to dabble more into introducing the potential of a make princess as well as other representation. So I really wouldn't shoehorn the Rider series to a "males only!" kind of mentality for the leads. This feels like an intentional sub-build to prep for the transition for a series.

Also interesting is the side details with the "Timejackers" which factors into whether or not future Zi-O is actually past Zi-O too.

Does feel like a mix of Den-O, Kiva, and Decade from the pitch so far, but let's see how the series develops. Having nods to previous in theme isn't an inherently bad thing, it's all a matter of how that's applied.

Does feel like a waste because of timing, but that's mostly because of Kyoko Okada's 80th birthday being this year and it conveniently landing on a Sunday. So there were a lot of little things that conflicted in theme choice behind what's being covered. Which is kind of a shame, but they may still have some surprises up their sleeve for that.



Those rumors about the process of the decisions were a little more accurate than you may realize. But decisions also change based on how themes and story develops. Zi-O may have been a last minute pitch pivot to prep for future things. Where instead other ideas were on the board at first but didn't seem quite right for an end of an era series, and fit more to a "beginning of an era" series for later. Keep in mind we've got several anniversaries coming back to back right here.



Not as expensive as you might think. It's about on par to OOO and Build, or somewhere between there. Maybe roughly Gaim budget levels or Ex-Aid. Nothing pushed so far seems any more pricey than what they've already done from Den-O on up, and those costs of those effects are getting easier and cheaper to do too, which is why we've seen the increase of them used in Sentai.

They can't over extend the budget too bad as yet, too many back to back anniversaries coming up. So this may have more planning involved for a larger arc tied to that, with more surprises still to come.

Originally Posted by henshinzero (Post 723300)

No references of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Trilogy either in Zi-O?

Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura (Post 723321)

My question is if we'll get Another Another Agito

Originally Posted by Sunred (Post 723341)

Is it just me or is the cliff area where Zi-O uses Build's powers the same filming location where Decade massacred all the riders?

Originally Posted by MnemonicSyntax (Post 723342)

Also the same cliff from that Boukenger special with AkaRed.

Originally Posted by DecoyBlackMage (Post 723351)

The trailer for Build got me really eager for the show, the trailer for Zi-O honestly does not.....

The writer does not have much faith from me, and someone will very likely once again tell me it " totally does not matter because....", so positives so far is that I like the suit and monster designs shown.

I will be watching the entire show just like I have watched every sentai and rider show for years now, but I cannot say the first impression is that great for me so far.

Originally Posted by OmegaEclipse (Post 723670)

I just got out of the hospital and only recently regained internet, can someone catch me up on what I missed? Last I remember was the helmet getting leaked.

Originally Posted by OmegaEclipse (Post 723691)

Sooo, Decade but potentially not a steaming pile of feces? I hope the writer can actually write worth a damn this time.

Originally Posted by Tremere (Post 723823)

The first Zi-O toy is out.

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

Originally Posted by Sunred (Post 723722)

I think the best way to put it is a less messy and refurbished Decade based on what we have so far. :lolol

Originally Posted by Ape (Post 724095)

From what I've been hearing the writing team doesn't exactly have a great track record.

As a result I am being rather cautious over Zi-O... but may still watch it for the cameos rather than the actual plot... :/

Originally Posted by Omnikaiser (Post 724097)

Shirakura (producer) is known for being responsible of the Hibiki fiasco

Originally Posted by IndigoArms (Post 724203)

Speaking of cameos, what are the chances of certain riders coming back. If someone were to make a list of likely to unlikely, would be very handy. Build & Ex-Aid would be exempt since we know they're in it.

Originally Posted by Switchblade (Post 724209)

Forgive me for not using actor names, but I have very few of them memorized.

From just the Heisei era, I would say it breaks down as the following:

Likely returns (based on recent appearances in Rider movies):
Takumi/Faiz
Kenzaki/Blade
Eiji/OOO
Gentarou/Fourze
Haruto/Wizard
Kouta/Gaim
Shinnosuke/Drive
Takeru/Ghost

(Notice that includes the majority of the Neo Heisei Riders. I'm going to be very surprised if we don't see most, if not all, of them.)

Probable (haven't returned for a few years but generally seem willing to come back)
Shouichi/Agito
Tsukasa/Decade
Shotaro/W

I legitimately have no idea:
Shinji/Ryuki (hasn't returned, but seems to lack a compelling reason not to)
Wataru/Kiva (was in Decade, but was probably still under contract at that point)

Maybe, but probably not:
Hibiki (had an infamously bad experience with the show, although most of his co-stars have returned)
Philip/W (may be willing, but he's a very busy actor)
"Kotaro"/Den-O (the actor was in Ghost, but he's way too old to pass off as the kid version of Ryotaro anymore)

Nope (actors who are way too big to come back and do Rider again):
Yusuke/Kuuga
Tendou/Kabuto
Ryotaro/Den-O

That's just main actors, of course. Tons of secondary and tertiary Rider actors have come back to the series in recent years, both as their classic characters and as new ones. The only one of those I'd be surprised to see would be Mihara, aka Kamen Rider Delta, and that's just because I don't think anyone remembers he existed.

I know this is a Heisei celebration, but I could maybe see some of the Showa guys coming back for the summer movie, too. Hiroshi Fujioka (Rider 1) has been doing a lot of these lately and it seems pretty easy to get Tetsuo Kurata back into his old Kotaro costume. The only living ones I'd completely rule out are Rider 2 (at least un-transformed; he was badly burned in a fire many years ago and doesn't do much acting anymore, although he as done some voice work for Ichimonji) and Super-1 (whose actor swindled a bunch of fans out of money to pay off some mob debts).

Originally Posted by Damienthathedge (Post 724214)

I'd say Gentarou would be on the maybe list, his agency isn't a big fan of him doing Rider like with Phillip IIRC and I feel Heisei Generations Final was a one and done deal.

Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura (Post 724215)

I thought Kagami's actor said that he and Tendou are willing to return.