Geiz, circa Episode 12 - "I did it. I brought the chicken home. This will finally stop the rise of Ohma Zi-O.

But yeah, nothing specifically from me about these episodes, other than I did get pretty invested in them. Tsukuyomi is not well treated, but I was very into the dynamic developing between Geiz and Sougo here, and have some good memories of it. Revive isn't my favourite power-up, not really a fan of either form, but I do like what it means for my boy's character.

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP25)
(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP26)

Okay, so first of all, bad past me! Complaining about Sougo using the Build Armor... see what I mean about how big I was on Zi-O II? I couldn't even appreciate how nice it was to see Zi-O still busting out a power-up from all the way back in the second episode.

One other remark I made about 25 that's fun to dig into with the greater context I have now is when I mention how seeing two guys fighting in water in Kamen Rider always reminds me of OOO. You might recall the offhand mention I made of Satoshi Morota's obsession with throwing people in water from when I was talking about the gradual process of learning to identify toku directors. And back in 2019, I still didn't know enough to go and look it up, and find out that -- you guessed it -- both episode 25 of Zi-O and 46 of OOO were directed by Morota. So the visual similarity is a lot more than just a coincidence! I really do love that whole dream sequence, by the way. Not really for any deep reason, I guess. It just looks cool (like, the color palette is literally cool), and I like it as a way to visually rub in the inevitability of a big conflict between Sougo and Geiz.

Oh, and speaking of a big conflict between Sougo and Geiz, how about episode 26?!

I've held back on a big rant about it until this point, but to lay my cards on the table once again, as I did back then, Geiz is my dude, man! He's like, neck and neck with Zeronos for my favorite secondary ever, if he hasn't pulled ahead yet. He was a character I immediately found fascinating conceptually, because, on the surface, he sounds like he's the protagonist of a show? Yeah, sure, he's a Grim Executioner or whatever, but when you look at the basics? A young man who travels back in time to bring hope to a future ruined by despair? Fighting against fate itself, clad in a shiny red costume? He's got "hero" written all over him, and the unhealthy amount of pressure he's always putting on himself to make everything right singlehandedly only adds to that.

That was always the thing about Zi-O I was most excited about, because I think that's my favorite setup for a hero and their designated rival character. When it feels like you can flip the perspective, and both of them would slot into the other role just as comfortably. Sougo is an inexperienced but optimistic person destined for greatness, but he could also be an arrogant fool rashly taking on power with little regard for the consequences. Geiz has a lot of the trappings of your usual foil Rider in his personality, but I find that from his conception, there are more layers to him and his dynamic with Sougo than just a typical selfless and empathetic hero and a surly jerk looking to accomplish a goal regardless of any mushy personal feelings. Even though that's also exactly what their dynamic is like.

Ryuki was one of my first Rider shows, and in that series, a key component of the drama was always the interplay between Shinji and Ren. Two very different protagonists who nevertheless had the common ground of fighting for other people, in a show where most Riders fought only for themselves. A single person in Ren's case, and as many people as possible in Shinji's. Those two set a gold standard for pretty much every Rider frenemy duo who came after, and with how formative Ryuki is for me, I guess going into Zi-O, it was only natural I'd be excited about the idea of this secondary Rider, who struggles to reconcile his need to defeat the main Rider for the sake of his objective with the undeniable fact that he's not cut out to be a ruthless killer, no matter how hard he pretends they aren't friends. (And uh, yeah Geiz and Knight, are maybe even more similar than usual. Tasaki must've caught on too, given that both show's openings end with the main pair fighting before the title card pops up.)

All this is to say, I was WAY invested in these two leading up to this point, and especially since it took me so long to realize how much I like Sougo, I was particularly invested in Geiz himself. I mean, there's the whole thing I've mentioned before where I sort of saw myself as Geiz, in a way, watching Zi-O to determine for myself if the future it was heading towards was for better or for worse (and taking a while to realize how much I like Sougo!), but on top of that, and all that rambling I just did about his concept, it was also the little things. They gave the Ghost Armor and the Wizard Armor to him, for one. Bottom line, I couldn't wait to see what this whole Geiz Revive thing was building to, and it was pretty much everything I could ask for.

The show did an impressive job making this feel considerably more serious than your average Sougo/Geiz conflict, from the writing to the direction. There's a bit in there I love, when he uses the Revive Ride Watch for the first time, where the scene is pretty much totally silent, aside from the standby sound of Geiz's Ziku Driver. And then he slaps the new Watch on the belt, and the standby jingle for that layers over the existing one, which is just something the toy does, of course, but it adds so much intensity to that initial transformation, used the way it is here.

And then... man, I'm gonna be here all day if I try and actually cover everything I love about this episode, but Geiz Revive! Very cool powerup! It was nice of Geiz to add "fast and blue" to the list of things that make me love him, and yet, Gouretsu has always kinda been the one I like more. It's just so intimidating with the sheer bulk of it, and I love how barbaric the chainsaw is? It's two cool forms in one, though, so I guess there's no point in picking favorites when Shippu is, again, right up my alley.

And then the music! Last thing I'm gonna talk about right now! (I just have to remind myself I can always gush more about Geiz later too.) Geiz Revive was accompanied by an extremely memorable new piece of background music. It's extremely triumphant and heroic sounding, with the kind of grandiose brassy sound Sahashi excels at, fitting Geiz perfectly... as well as it should, because it's based on Future Guardian, an image song I straight up didn't remember when I first watched this episode, which is why I don't bring up how familiar it sounds in that old post. Because it didn't sound familiar yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_kr13FxSKQ

It just goes to show how much the where and how of using background music is as important as the music itself, I suppose. That being said, I also feel like Geiz Revive's BGM really elevates the sound of Future Guardian in a way, since the lack of vocals means the instrumentation is free to be a lot more intense. (I really hope I'm using the word "instrumentation" correctly here...)

This also means the music for Geiz's powerup pairs rather well with the BGM associated with Zi-O II, which mixes bits of Toki no Ouja with the usual Zi-O motif.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnsn2FW1dW8

I'm not sure if the show has actually used this track by the point Die is at yet, based on the quick skimming I did of a bunch of episodes around this point, so maybe it's not actually that closely tied to Zi-O II in the way it's used, but it definitely makes a nice set with Geiz Revive's track.

That's why Uncle was so insistent that someone pick up the chicken!

I mean, I came in through a series about four men who were each convinced the story was about them -- and the story was frequently like Maybe! -- so you don't have to work real hard to sell me on the beauty of that configuration.

And you're right; there's so much about Sougo and Geiz'z perspectives that resonate, as a viewer, that it's hard to say anyone's in the wrong here. There's a murkiness to the conflict, since it's about What Might Happen Tomorrow, that robs it of the kind of clarity that usually powers the morality of these characters. It ends up being two kids who are hoping that they're doing the right thing for tomorrow, even if it's the wrong thing for today. Tough to feel like a noble hero in that scenario!

He nearly went Full Accel with it, which was impressive! It was only five or six seconds between HEN and SHIN, instead of Terui's average pause of twelve days, but Geiz still managed a ton of intensity and gravitas!

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 27 - “THE DAY IT ALL BEGAN 2009”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio27a.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio27b.png

Third part of a four-parter!

I can see why a few people included stuff from this episode in the discussion for last episode. A big chunk of this episode is the other side of events from the last episode: the true cost of Geiz Revive (absolutely hilarious that Woz thought that pointing out that Revive will kill its user might dissuade Geiz), the Kamen Ride-Along with Decade, and Swartz’z random Hey Did I Ever Tell You Guys I Tried To Kill Zi-O backstory.

This is a real Cards On The Table episode, despite a solid emotional scene I’ll talk about in a little bit. It’s about getting our ducks in a row for next episode’s big conclusion, as well as spelling out some of the show’s earlier mysteries. It’s a plot-heavy episode, which is not the most fun to talk about.

It was fun to watch, though. I like Woz and dislike Hat Woz, so this episode’s triumph of The New Kamen Rider Woz is exactly the sort of story beat that forgives a lot of stalling. (This episode has a lot of stalling!) The cleverness of the Woz/Heure team is really thrilling, and I geeked out over them full-on outsmarting Hat Woz. Woz is just cool, I guess. I like how the performance has modulated a bit more into something that feels less… manic? Woz has been humbled by the strategies of Hat Woz, and he’s come out the other side a man of renewed dedication, but less certainty. He can’t just sit back and let the future play out; he’s going to have to speak up for what he wants.

Which leads us into Uncle’s speech to Sougo. I really loved it! It’s nothing we didn’t already know about Sougo (he’s hiding how much it hurts him to lose his friends, even briefly), but it reinforces how difficult it’s been for Uncle to be the best guardian for a lonely boy with strange aspirations. Uncle’s constant need to be a positive force has maybe given Sougo the wrong template of adulthood, creating a sad boy who doesn’t want to burden people with his unhappiness. That’s not great for a kid, and it’s probably extra not great for a budding time overlord. Sougo can’t live his life in isolation, smiling through his pain. He needs to be honest and vulnerable in his need for connection, like everyone does. As a corollary to Tsukuyomi’s lesson about putting Sougo on a pedestal, Sougo can’t put himself on a pedestal, either. He needs to treat his emotional concerns with the same validity he treats the emotional concerns of others. He can’t save people unless he can save himself.

Otherwise, he’d be Geiz, who is single-minded in his urge to reach emotional catharsis by fighting someone who is Definitely Not Anyone He Cares About to the death. Most of Geiz’z stuff this episode is, like Sougo’s, not really new information, but it’s handled as deftly as a Cards On The Table episode can manage. He feels guilty over Tsukuyomi’s trip to 2009 and her presumed murder/suicide bus tour. He’s practically re-energized by Woz’z pep talk about the Revive watch’s list of side effects. (Side effects include: dry mouth, minor headache, minor diarrhea, heart stoppage, and chapped lips.) He’s mostly just wandering around this episode, waiting for his chance to kill Definitely Not His Best Friend.

It’s that sort of episode? Beyond a new, better Kamen Rider Woz, and Uncle’s impressively delivered chastisement of Sougo’s bullshit sunny demeanor, this is mostly just an episode that fills in backstory and begins to connect series arc dots. We get to see some of Sougo’s “dream”, revealed here to be some weirdo test by Swartz to reveal Zi-O’s identity, but it’s not a pressing detail for Zi-O or Geiz’z present. It’s stuff that matters to the series, but not to the characters.

Not a bad episode, for sure, but definitely one that feels like half of 26 and half of 28.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio27c.png

This is a fun arc purely because I like how it puts Tsukasa in the backseat for once? It's very clear he's not here to play some active role in the fight. But yeah it's very much the second half of episode 26.

But man am I so happy that normal Woz got to become Kamen Rider Woz. It's such a good step in like slowly dethroning hat Woz from his pompous pedestal, especially after his big victory of getting Geiz Revive to form. Also the second highlight you mentioned, Junichiro's speech. Yeah this was when I realized I absolutely adore the scenes at 9-5-DO. And just Uncle as a character as well, he's such a good like supporting cast member and this episode is one of his finest moments.

BGM this time is the same as it was the last three episodes, except we've got all the themes from this arc. So Toki no Ouja, Future Guardian, Deep Pitched Over Quartzer, and Decade's Preview Theme. Obviously I pick the Decade Preview theme.

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 28 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1223aBOmPw

Incorrect! Tsukasa is, quite literally, in the driver's seat.

Yeah, the best part about his speech is that it's really illuminative for his comedy relief character. Starting the speech off with I Didn't Know How To Be A Dad To You is such a well-observed character detail, you know? It's like, yeah, he knew how to be a wacky uncle, and a goofy old man, but he didn't really know how to be tough with Sougo when he needed it. He thought he was doing the right thing by not pressuring Sougo, but maybe it was the worst thing for him?

Agreed that this is very much an episode to lay down all everything that's going on to build one more week of hype before the big conclusion. That really doesn't have happen often at all in these kinds of shows, which I feel really goes to hammer the point how special this occasion is!

I feel like this is as good an opportunity to get into some gripes I have though, not necessarily with just this episode but with the show as a whole at this point, and that is that I really didn't care much for Woz becoming a Kamen Rider?

For one, this is ostensibly treated as a big moment for the character, but... I honestly don't feel like Woz has ever been much of a character to begin with. He's fun to watch and his performance is charismatic, for sure, but the show has been going on for over half a year now and it still had yet to really offer any insight or elaboration into his motivations, like why is he loyal to Oma Zi-O, how does he feel about Sougo, Geiz and Tsukiyomi, and how much stakes does he really have in Sougo's dream coming true. He honestly feels more like a mascot, not helped by how both the show and the cast didn't even hesitate to stop calling him by his actual name when his lookalike started running around. (He doesn't even wear black!)

and why is he some sort of wizard? who bleeds paper apparently?

On top of that, the actual scene of him 'working together' to steal White Woz's powers is just kinda dumb? I can't find it in me to be impressed or think 'wow he really outsmarted that guy', it's more that the nonsensical mechanics of this show just happened to favour him this time.

But you know, I realise my problem with Woz may also comes from the fact that the show has basically never, ever shown what Team Zi-O's life living in Sougo's house is like, outside of discussing plot during breakfast. What's their living spaces like? Do they interact at all while at home? Do they do anything when they're not off fighting Another Riders? It's arguably something that can be said for previous shows too (like what do any of the Build cast do to pass the time at that cafe?), but I always thought it felt especially egregious in this show, or maybe because I was just that curious and the show wouldn't feed my curiosity!

So that all leads to Uncle feeling especially disconnected to the not just the story, but to the other characters too since it's like he only exists in this isolated bubble we never get to see the inside of. ...But! That doesn't stop his scene this episode for really hitting for me...

It's a really, really good moment. With just a few lines of dialogue, it gives a wide breath of complexity and emotion to Uncle and Sougo's living situation, explicitly laying out Sougo's problems here once and for all, and even offering some intriguing insight into how this kid could have turned into that evil overlord we all saw. I guess my only nitpick was that I wish Sougo himself had a more involved or emotional response to it before just taking off, but I'm fine with that brief, happy acknowledgement, like he knows exactly what he has to do now thanks to Uncle's kind words. I loved it and think back to this scene all the time!

That track might have been played in brief snippets in part, but it has yet to be played in any significant capacity. I can confidently say that because I distinctly remember the first time the show really puts it to good use, and I have a good feeling you know what exactly that first time is too ^_^

It becomes clear at this point on how Sougo's rise to power came to be. Without the likes of Tsukuyomi or Geiz, Sougo definitely would have become Ohma ZI-O much sooner as without friends he's really isolated.

But with the changes, Sougo definitely has more people to lean to and inadvertently developing Woz as a person beyond being the yes man to Sougo. Altho, he still is lol.

I came to drop this page I found browsing around out of an unrelated manga, but had some stuff to say about Sougo.

Going back to Woz, I remember many were photoshopping Woz (The rider suit) into black since many were expecting Black Woz to transform. Kinda glad he remained relatively the same. This was also the time where I was absolutely sold on getting his SHF too.
https://i.imgur.com/Gx3FFdt.jpg

He's less developed as an individual character, but I'd argue the introduction of Hat Woz does an effective job of sketching in more of his non-IWAE attributes. Specifically, we've gotten to see him as someone who's emotionally invested in this story's outcome, but not entirely sure how active he should be as a participant. It's part of an overall theme this show has been hitting on, that the future only happens if you work to make it happen. It's not some distant choice you're going to have to make (like on Oma Day), it's a constant effort. Choosing not to put that effort forward just leaves room for someone else to decide your future for you.

That's pretty much where Woz is in this episode? He's stood on the sidelines, or subtly manipulated (or not subtly: I think one time he just gave a Ridewatch to Uncle for Sougo?), but he hasn't directly participated. This was a leap for him, to directly confront a future he didn't want to see come to pass.

So, I don't know, there's enough there for me to feel like he's got a character? I'd love to know more (we get another hint of the Geiz/Woz rivalry here), but I feel like he's got some fun details for a tertiary Rider.

Aw, I thought this plan was fun. It's Woz knowing himself well enough to know how he'd do things with Hat Woz'z power, and then turning it to his advantage.

That's a thing that's been building in the background for a while, that the appearance of the Time Orphans as Sougo's friends have helped avert Oma Zi-O's rise, and I like how it's gaining in importance just as Tsukuyomi is determined to kill Sougo. That's a fun development, Sougo's happiness and empathy being a result that Tsukuyomi wanted all along, but she's too terrified to see it.

Crap...

You win this time!

-Episode 28!

-Of course, Revive has a drawback, and of course Geiz will take that shit anyway, have you met the guy?

-Now I remember, it was this conversation that made me really enjoy Uncle. Such a good side character, man.

-It's kind of hilarious how much Another Zi-O is like more of a plot device for this arc more than anything? Need a way for Woz to get the Beyondriver? A reason to explore Sougo's past? A quick fight/distraction for X character? Do I have the MOTW for you! Sure it's technically part of the ongoing plot, but I feel like Hiryuu's own angst has no room to breathe or be explored a bit more with everything going on.....It's a bit of a letdown for an Another Rider based on the protagonist.

-I'm nuetral on Ora and Heure, but man do I hate Swartz. More on that later, though! For now, let's say he gives out an equal amount of "You exist, I guess..." energy as the other two, but the show's attempts to paint him the most mysterious/scheming/strongest Time Jacker while still being Pretty Boring is somehow a bigger disappointment?

It's the BEST BEAT, because Woz goes on forever about the horrible, deadly side effects -- like Geiz cares -- and then wraps up with asking Geiz if defeating Zi-O and saving the future is really worth risking his life.

!!!

WOZ

I KNOW YOU ARE A ZI-O FANBOY BUT THIS IS LIKE GEIZ'Z MAIN ATTRIBUTE

HIS WHOLE DEAL IS RISKING HIS LIFE TO SAVE THE FUTURE

MY DUDE

WHAT THE EFF

Yeah, he's just a distraction in this episode. There's no pathos to his thwarted attempts at relevance, because the guy he's got a grudge against doesn't even know or care about him. He's like a dumber Inigo Montoya, you know? He's got this weird grudge, he can't stop talking about it, and no one cares.

Well I didn’t have much to say about the episode when it first came out (beyond a joke about the next episode a few people on kissasian found funny enough to upvote), so I’ll share some BTS fun facts.

The actor playing Woz had initially auditioned for the role of Sougo (they didn’t decide he was in high school until the guy they went with ended up being 17 years old)

The character designer said that if he’d been given more time and a greater budget, he would’ve given Black Woz a more distinct Rider form rather than recycling White Woz’s.

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP27)

I was all prepared to give some huge rave about that Uncle/Sougo scene, but it kinda warms my heart to see everyone already seems to get everything I could say about it.

Conversations between those two are generally a highlight of the show, but this particular one is a shining example of what I mentioned earlier about how well the show put its earlier, arguably weaker episodes in a more nuanced context retroactively. When you watch those first couple episodes, it's like, you're just wondering why Sougo's uncle is so weirdly not-pushy with him, and you can probably write it off as that just being his weird character quirk or whatever, but along comes this episode, which reframes all that in a way that's real and emotional and sad and touching. He treats Sougo that way because Sougo was a little kid going through a lot at a young age, and Junichirou wanted to be as supportive and caring as possible, to the point where it maybe became a fault.

I mean, it's one of those things where I feel like me trying to explain it ruins the point of why I like the scene so much, which is how it can get you thinking all this and making these connections with just a few lines of dialogue that don't even hit you over the head with it that much. There's a particular flavor I feel Zi-O's character drama has that I've always felt is different from most of the other recent Rider shows, and I struggle to describe it. The current version of my theory about that, thinking about the series a lot thanks to this thread, is that maybe, it's because I like how small and personal the emotions end up being, despite the scale of the story?

Like, Sento around this point in Build was constantly worried about the ethical ramifications of scientific progress, and the weight of his own past actions as someone who had developed weapons, and stuff like that, you know? I don't need to tell anyone that Build's themes were thoughtful and interesting in their own right, but I bring it up to highlight the contrast when I say how nice I find it that Zi-O could take a story about a future despot and two soldiers from a ruined tomorrow trying to change fate, and ultimately make it about a kid trying to grow into the adult he wants to be, and how much his friendships mean to him. That's a core part of the appeal of any fantasy story to me -- how you take those outrageous concepts and explore something immediately identifiable and relatable with them -- and with how Zi-O handles that, especially during this stretch, I guess it's hardly surprising that, exactly as I suggest in that old post, it ended up being a favorite for me. It's on a long list of favorites, mind you, but still! I don't even know why I was still pretending to have my doubts by this point. I really was Geiz! :p

All this is to say, I liked the episode a lot! We're over to Tasaki on direction now, too, which extra sells how important this arc is. I adore touches like the way the usual cold open is handled, as well. This is the first ever time since the premiere that we don't open directly on Woz, because the visual of Geiz and Zi-O fighting kinda says it all.

I also loved the Woz VS Woz action in this one, which I'm sure is another opinion that doesn't need much explaining. "Indeed, the power of Kamen Rider Woz... is in the hands of Woz." might be one of my favorite lines in a show filled to the brim with lines I like (it's also a long list!), and it really highlights how good Keisuke Watanabe was at differentiating the two characters. White Woz has a completely different set of facial expressions, and it's impressive how much he starts to genuinely feel like a completely different person.

Also! The BGM accompanying the one true Woz's transformation is pretty great!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CHhckFegN0

While I praise how different Sahashi's work on Zi-O is from usual, this one has him playing in his comfort zone a lot more, and proving that isn't a bad thing. This track is still very Woz, but it's also distinctly a little Den-O, and I dig it.

!!!

Oh right! Thank you for mentioning this, because it also made me realize that I'm probably misinterpreting the song title here? I kind of assumed they just messed up using "II", but given there are quite a few pieces on the soundtrack that have a "2" at the end of them, in actuality, it might be as simple as this being the second motif for Zi-O, rather than one specifically for Zi-O II? It's grouped with the ones that are named after his upgrade forms though, so I don't know. Not that it matters either way, I guess.

Interesting! I think Woz'z actor would've been a good lead Rider, but I can't see him as Sougo.

I can't remember if I've talked about this before, but one of the really neat things about this anniversary series is how broad its central theme is, and how that works to encompass every post-Kuuga Heisei show's specific themes.

Like, you can have a show about how to use memories well (Den-O), or how to work with people you don't like (Ex-Aid), or how to accept yourself in the face societal indifference (Faiz), but all of those shows are really just individual flavors of Kuuga's main objective: teaching kids how to grow up into good adults. It's all just providing lessons on how to navigate adolescence, but from the perspective of each show's creative team.

So it's sort of perfect for an anniversary show that wants to touch on every Heisei Rider show to explicitly make its story about how to get Sougo to become a good adult. It's not even subtext; the goal of the show's characters is to help Sougo become a well-rounded adult who makes the best decisions for himself and others.

Anyway, yes! I also enjoy how this show is less concerned with Time Nonsense and global genocide, and more concerned with How Do We Grow Up Well.

This makes use of the same name before like the ones seen in Faiz (Kusaka) or Blade (Hirose)! White Woz writes in his tablet that the Kamen Rider Woz power will return to Woz, but he didn't specify which Woz, so his probability manipulation instead lands another Woz (not Another Woz) advantage! So it's quite a gag that is also plot relevant and something useful to advance it. And yeah there'd be his IWAE on his own henshin too. Other than Heure before starting to improve (also joining Woz while Ora coldly told him off), Woz also started to improve here as he showed a bit of concern to Geiz to warn him about Geiz Revive's use. Previously he'd only be annoyed at Sougo ignoring him when he checked the Another Ex-Aid victim and encourage Sougo's bloodlust, showing his lack of empathy. A bit as he'd still be about creating Ohma Zi-O, the tyrant one, by fighting Geiz here, and Heure's still convincing Hiryu to corrupt random people as Another Riders.

Another reason why Sougo can end up as Ohma Zi-O in the future is explored here, as Junichiro puts it, someone who'd deny their feelings of loneliness would be a ruler that has no empathy for their subjects. Which was what Ohma Zi-O ended up as. So another key to solve Sougo succumbing to his capacity of evil like in the original timeline has been solved too here, other than not being denial about his dark impulses inside. I don't know if this change is also partially caused by Geiz and Tsukuyomi barging in, as Sougo's stronger feelings of loneliness in this case might be caused by a real chance of him getting actual friends that is snubbed away from him here, which leads to Junichiro to act up here and scold him (Junichiro's still the main player and biggest contributor here though!). And this seems to also show that Junichiro genuinely takes Sougo's dream to become a king seriously, he's the one to guide Sougo on the right path here, instead of those 2 friends barging in. While in the original timeline, likely as Sougo never had a chance to get real friends, he'd act the same as previously which'd not drive Junichiro to scold him thus he ends up as what Junichiro warned him as Ohma Zi-O.

At their beginning fight, Sougo actually play smart by, actually being a pragmatist that he attacked with his finisher while Geiz charged his finishers up, so it wasn't fully charged and at the end, Sougo was able to make a comeback that they tied their battle instead. And Geiz finally rises to not be Woz's humiliation target anymore! But other than that, this episode makes it clear(er) on how rotten White Woz is, as you said above you didn't like him, it's revealed more now. About the side effects Geiz suffered as Revive? It shows that White Woz doesn't actually have a sympathy towards even Geiz. He only cares about Geiz killing Sougo so his timeline comes to pass, otherwise he'd let Geiz perish by his hyped up power. White Woz also refered to Geiz as "my savior", which literally means only a personal savior for him only as in making his timeline a reality, others who suffer from this be damned. He even now refered that his envisioned world would only benefit the few, likely only him! It was a spoiler before, but not anymore, the main problem in the world White Woz envisioned isn't Geiz or his psychological and emotional issues, but White Woz himself as made clear here including to Geiz himself. An appropriate time for him to get his payback I guess.

No offense and I understand about this but Swartz is quite undersold here in this talk. Plot or character is different storytelling and one is not better than the others even if character is prefered one here, but, I think this is the first real dive into Swartz, other than him using his underlings as fodders. It's something more than just Tsukuyomi expectedly won't resort into killing Sougo, now turns out Swartz is the one that wants Sougo to be Ohma Zi-O, although admittedly this is a set up (still not everything can be told in one episode), as the reason is still unknown for now (key: Ohma Zi-O is someone very OP), but turns out that Swartz already had the king candidate he needs, which is Sougo himself, and that's done by him further crossing all the lines to involve endangering any of the Tsukasa bus' passengers. This also shows that Sougo is still quite gutsy as a child, directly confronting Swartz too. Likely that leads into Swartz choosing Sougo to be made as a king though. I don't know if this'd not sit well but the origin of Zi-O premise starts there. But regardless of the opinion, it's to make Swartz as despicable as possible... even more than Ohma Zi-O himself!

Junichiro: Am I a joke to you? Pointing out about Sougo potentially turning into a ruler without empathy...

So Tsukasa just abandoned all those 2009 kids to the mercy of the Dai Mazines on the Day of Oma, huh? I wonder what DreamSword thinks about this.

White Woz is always acting like an insufferable snob, so it felt good to see him defeated by his own words and his enraged reaction to losing control of the situation. It's a moment of petty revenge for Heure as well, for that time he tried to run him over with a car in the Shinobi arc. Now the true Kamen Rider Woz has arrived, heralded by his own IWAE!

I mentioned before that Uncle Tokiwa is the MVP of this show and here's one of the best examples of that. Not only is he the greatest repairman in history, but he also finds the courage to bluntly tell Sougo what he needs to hear. Sougo has been acting like everything's okay, but truthfully, he absolutely deserves the right to be upset about his situation. What Geiz and Tsukuyomi have been doing to him, regardless of their intentions, is not fair. How can he become a king that people can trust, when he can't even trust his closest allies enough to be honest about his feelings? That's an important piece of wisdom Uncle Tokiwa gives him.

BTW, remember the Ridestriker, that bike Sougo virtually never uses? Pay close attention to it next episode, cause you won't get another chance.

Watanabe Keisuke wasn't the only one to audition for the role of Sougo. There was also Itagaki Rihito, who was instead cast as Heure. What do you think of a hypothetical Sougo portrayed by Itagaki?

Agreed. Kamen Rider Woz looks best in silver. No point changing a suit that already looks awesome!

Yeah, I'd say that even the negative things that've happened to Sougo since the Time Orphans showed up have had a net positive effect on him. It's a bummer for him to be fighting with his friends, but it got Uncle to help him see how valid his feelings are.

Not sure! I think Heure's character is the most interesting of the Time Jackers, but he's so tiny. Like, smaller than Chalice tiny. Very difficult to not get weirded out by seeing an actor that small get roughed up by monsters.

I recall he does grow a few inches towards the end of the show, although he doesn't quite reach Okuno's height. Sougo and Heure are both characters with a cheerful appearance, so I can imagine Itagaki could've made the mannerisms work at least. I'm glad they decided to go with Okuno though. I heard that his henshin pose was something he came up with, using his proficiency at ballet.

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 28 - “OUR GOAL 2019”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio28a.png

This one… hmm.

As someone who only really cares about these shows when I can invest in the characters and their relationships (even if it’s just some random one-off story with guest stars), the epic conclusion to this story about Sougo and Geiz’z really real friendship was delightful. It’s a hard-fought effort to stop looking at haunted pasts or doomed futures, but to focus on the support and value of the present. There was a semi-healthy friendship that Geiz was blowing up because of what might happen in the future, and that’s a terrible way to live your life. It’s also a great way to get yourself killed, if you think so little of Right Now that you’re willing to use a deadly power-up just to save an uncertain future. Everything with the two of them in this episode worked for me.

A lot of that is just… it’s two really fun actors? Geiz’z almost performative frostiness, obscuring a lonely boy’s need for friendship. Sougo’s loudly-stated need for friendship, clearly communicated and now thoroughly unstoppable. It’s massively vulnerable, and both actors nail the strange mix of emotions that need to stabilize into something warm and sustainable.

Where this episode lost me, naturally, is in the Time Nonsense.

Up front: I don’t care about it, but it doesn’t ruin this episode. At worst, it keeps this episode from greatness by diluting its focus. There’s a bunch of time spent adding more mysteries, to take the place of the few resolved mysteries from the last couple episodes. All of that time, honestly, would’ve been better spent on longer scenes for Geiz and Sougo, even if it meant less Tsukasa. (I love Tsukasa! But he added nothing to this episode! Other than helping to set up Diend’s arrival! Sort of! But not really!) It’s this episode trying to do Big Plot Stuff and Big Character Stuff, but doing it separately instead of simultaneously, so it feels like the two sides are fighting each other. There’s not a lot of flow to this episode, and that’s a drawback.

The other drawback is more slight, but I found the resolution to Tsukuyomi’s crisis of faith to be hilariously obtuse, with her basically saying that they should believe in Sougo because the Time Jackers might be up to something. This is– this is not new information! The Time Jackers have been up to something since literally the first episode! We still don’t know what, exactly, Swartz is up to, so Tsukuyomi reverting to Episode 24 Tsukuyomi as the result of more questions than answers feels hopelessly insufficient to the recent shift in the status quo. (I mean, there’s also Tsukuyomi seeing an 8-year old Sougo use his Time Powers to save lives, but: also not new information.) I probably laughed harder than Geiz and Sougo at her 11th-hour arrival to defuse a defused situation, since she might as well have arrived from an earlier, better point in her character arc.

Another Zi-O didn’t really become anything worth caring about (the show never found any nuance to his grudge that’d help it cover four episodes), but he certainly allowed for an epic battle! The fire of Geiz and Sougo’s reaffirmed friendship (shut up, Geiz, you were already friends) was so hot it melted a snowy parking lot, which is pretty goddamn special. Their teamwork through the Another Rider battle royale was exquisite, with them coordinating attacks and sharing power-ups. Just a great front-to-back action sequence of two Rider Bros overcoming the odds for a well-deserved victory.

I’m more excited for the future than I am for this episode, which is maybe the exact wrong lesson to draw from it. (Sorry, Sougo!) I love that Team Zi-O is back together under one roof, and that Woz is officially part of the team, and that Geiz hates it. The road to get here was bumpy, though, so I don’t love that part. The Time Jacker stuff is still nebulous, Hat Woz is still vaguely untrustworthy, Tsukasa is still the Wild Card who coasts on charisma in lieu of a coherent strategy, and the last four episodes of Tsukuyomi’s arc is something I am going to erase from my brain at the end of this sentence. But Geiz and Sougo’s friendship! Boy, that’s worth at least four uneven episodes.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio28b.png

Episode 28!

-Swartz is behind everything! ....Or something like that? There's like, this weird unease I have to have Sougo's inital motivation for being King being "The villians set it up!". On one hand, I guess some people might be interested in whatever Swartz is planning. But on my end, it's a frusturating answer to such a deep desire? But the show has kinda moved on(?) from Sougo's "I'll become a king" to focus more on his relationships and whatnot (very good move), so it doesnt sting as bad.

-But who cares about all that because Sougo and Geiz were so good this episode!!! This episode is such a perfect display of their relationship and how much they've grown(Geiz calling Sougo his friend and how he the nicest guy he knows!!!!!)

-The tie-up for Hiryuu....it's fine? Still feels like a bit of an afterthought. I liked how the solution to defeating him was just working together, because Revive can go beyond both Zi-O's future sight.

-Tsukuyomi's heelturn ends as abruptly as it started. I'm kinda upset it has to do more with finding Swartz's plans, and not like, idk, believing in the other kids??? It could've been a cool character moment....

-Technically, this current arc is episodes 17-30. I totally get that why it ends at 30, but like. This totally feels like a arc's end? *A lot* happened in these last 4 episodes! The kids make up, we get Sougo's backstory, Woz moves in(Woz and Geiz being roommates is like, the funniest decision ever), we get Geiz Revive and Black Woz gets the BeyondDriver.

I'll be honest, Hiryu is such a nothing character that I expected you to get this reaction? He doesn't really do anything special in this arc and is mostly just there as a third party to help wrap up Sougo and Geiz's stuff which is like... this is when I fell in love with their dynamic?

It's a shame about Tsukuyomi btw, really didn't like where the past several episodes took her. It really didn't add anything and you could've easily had her stuff in here without any of the "I want to kill Sougo now" stuff and I feel like it would've been better? Also I'm a fan of the time nonsense so consider me interested and I'll get back to April of 2009 at a later date cause uh... I had some theory crafting going on about stuff.

Anyway back to Sougo and Geiz, yeah, this episode really cemented their true friendship and I loved it. This whole four part arc is probably my favorite because of that. And just... the entire bit of them swapping rapidly between Ride Armors, fighting off the opposite opponents to give themselves space. Just real good stuff! Team Zi-O is now fully together in one roof, and that'll make the 9-5-DO Segments even more hectic.

Next episode though... we've got Diend and we've got a new Legend Rider. So we've got what I assume is Blade's first Preview Theme and then Diend's theme I think as our second one? Both good, but you know I have to go with the first one. Feels nice to get back to kind of standard music.

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 29 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frGoH9m8hqs

My favorite nonsensical part to Swartz'z reveal is that THIS ONE TIME he changed his outfit when he tried to meddle with history, because the show had already established that Sougo's dream had a guy in a hat telling him he'd become king. Every other time we see Swartz, purple sleeveless coat. This one time, when he's going to kill all the witnesses anyway, he goes in a disguise. What?

The big problem I had with the Time Nonsense in this episode is, like last episode, it's all stuff that's only for the audience's benefit. It's nothing to do with Geiz and Sougo right now, on a roof, deciding if they should fight to the death. It's only there to satisfy Tsukuyomi's curiosity, and it doesn't even do that! For the show to treat these incidental plot details -- incomplete ones, at that -- as something as crucial to the episode as the Geiz/Sougo scenes... like, it's such a misread of where this story's strengths are.

I'm glad the only imporant parts of this episode of Zi-O landed so well with you!

As it happens, my favourite episode of Build is episode 22. It became a favourite of mine across the whole franchise the very first time I saw it. After several episodes of Sento struggling with the weight and burden of his power and all that good stuff, it all ends with an epic clash with Cross-Z Charge where Banjo saves him, overcoming his own struggles with his power through sheer force of will. The episode as a whole was a really, really good climax and showcase of the two leads' dynamic and their relationship.

I never in a million years would have thought this weird, bizarre, barely-coherent show about time-travel and some doofy kid who wants to be king would ever come out with anything that reached a similar height, but episode 28 of Zi-O absolutely does and even surpasses it. Wow I really loved this one, and I loved it even more when I rewatched it like, two or three times that following week after it aired.

Obviously it's all because of Sougo and Geiz, and everything from the ten minute or so mark onwards is just about perfect. Them both arrivin at that conveniently empty carpark to keep their horribly sacrificial promises with one another, and Sougo admitting he's fine with all this because this way he gets to see Geiz... Aaghgh! (< good anguish).

Anyway, Another Zi-O doesn't stop being pretty weak as a villain but I'll give him thanks for being the one to drive the very next most iconic moment in the whole show for me. Geiz saving Sougo and shouting out how he's the kindest, greatest guy he knows and calls him his friend while Sougo watches in shock.

Folllowing right up is one heck of an extended action sequence featuring a whole gang of Another Riders and a thorough showcase of nostalgic alternate forms. Once again, the music plays a large part in this scene, an awesome track that not only works in Toki no Ouja (and thus firmly establishing it as a consistent, recurring motif in the soundtrack from this point onwards [especially when that sad piano version plays after the fight is over]), but it also brings back those old, goofy instruments from Zi-O's regular fight music for a very dramatic return. Loved it from start to giant sword finish.

And again, while I'm not particularly invested in Hiryu, Sougo's words to him (accompanied by that aforementioned piano piece) is also a really good moment for him, so I'll thank this villain for that again : P

I know I'm just describing things scene by scene at this point but it really is just hit after hit, because Sougo and Geiz's conversation after it's all over is just such a great conclusion to these troubles that's been plaguing both of them for several real-time months. Sougo asks Geiz to come back to the clock store, and Geiz agrees. I guess the only thing I would change is just have Geiz himself explicitly drop all notion of having a 'final battle' at this point, which would have made Tsukiyomi dropping in begging them not to fight even more funny, and even more sweet as they laugh at her (okay that's rude, I know they're not literally laughing at her, but still!)

Honestly? As much as I have never cared about any of the larger plot stuff in this show and always found it actively detrimental to my enjoyment of it, all those previous scenes left such a good impression on me that I was feeling mighty generous. White Woz is potentionally scheming something with Swartz? I decided "You know what, the show has earned me being a little interested and optimistic" so I honestly found myself looking forward to whatever that may be, alongside whatever a certain thief with a shiny new P-Bandai gun was going to get up to.

I mean how could I not look forward to a bright future, after that wonderful scene of Geiz and Woz bickering, and all four of them reunited with a mostly common goal?

I liked this episode just for that confrontation between Sougo and Geiz. But I don't like that Hiryu got in the middle of it, at least the previous forms got used just to end the 2nd arc.

Next episode, Kaito!-

KENZAKIIIII!!!

Hiryu sucks

“Oh no, that guy we didn’t need is here” - Masahiro Inoue’s Twitter after Diend was announced to return. (More on that next time)

So the most I remember about this episode is that it was the subject of TV-N’s annual “4.1” edit, where they replace the dialogue from part of the most recent episode with something comically wrong (such as Kyuranger’s theme song having the lyrics “We will bribe kids to watch our show”, or Espada declaring you can by his clothes on Premium Bandai (and the price)), in this case we got this for the last scene.

Woz: I love you.

Geiz: Come at me, you sexy bastard!

And we find out that Schwartz has been backing Sougo to be his king, which explains how low effort his choices have been compared to the other two (Heure goes for people in situations where they don’t have a choice, while Ora prefers people too grief-stricken to think it through): he already has an ideal candidate, the rest are just fertiliser.

“Thank you for watching Kamen Rider Zi-O. It’s okay not to watch next week.” - Inoue’s Twitter after this episode.

The last batch of the Another Zi-O/Geiz Revive arc.

Definitely did enjoy seeing the Zi-O cast join forces again, and really liked the scene where Sougo and Geiz reunited. And of course, seeing True Woz nab New Woz's driver (which along with just about everyone else, I didn't think there was going to be another Woz, so I naturally was led to believe Woz just became a Rider to put Sougo back on the road to Oma Zi-O) was fun.

Do have to agree about time shenanigans involving the bus accident, which I was wondering what the heck was actually going to happen, the result was underwhelming, for lack of a better word. They made it seem like something big was going to happen, but then it just went a route that felt almost predictable, also adding holes the Swartz and the Time Jackers' plans (why didn't they do that in the first place?).

It's also unfortunate how Decade felt like he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, while Hiryuu didn't leave as much of an impact as he was being built up for, and Tsukuyomi, while I can see what they were going for, just missed the mark for me.

Not a bad arc, but probably not one that even qualifies as "okay," lots of buildup, with somewhat unsatisfying results, but I guess it's good that these past four episodes weren't Rider tributes.

And wouldn't you know it! Next episode is Blade's tribute, along with our favorite Treasure Sniper!

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP28)

My past self is going to contradict me on this later -- and not without good reason -- but looking back, this is probably my overall favorite single episode of Zi-O? I mean, it's so so hard to choose, with how many amazing concluding chapters this show has to different arcs that are entertaining for such varied reasons, but when it comes to episodes of Zi-O that have just stuck with me constantly ever since I first watched them, this one might just be at the top of the list. At the very least, this four-part arc was literally number one on the list I gave Die back when this was going to be Tokunation watches Zi-O. And given what Die has said about the choices people made, that probably wasn't a contrarian pick for once!

And good thing, too, because I don't know how much I could hold myself back if people started talking too much smack about an episode this obviously amazing! Even the alleged Time Nonsense and Another Zi-O himself are big winners in my book. The idea that Swartz basically maliciously set Sougo on the path towards becoming Oma Zi-O fits beautifully with the overall themes of the series. And it's also why I'm genuinely quite fond of Hiryuu Kakogawa as a character, as well. He's extraordinarily petty by design, because he lacks a strength that our two heroes have. He wants to take down Zi-O, just like Geiz does, but unlike Geiz, his motivation lacks anything deeper behind that. He's got a tragic past that shaped his life in a major way, but unlike Sougo, he makes no effort to prevent himself from letting those events consume him. You can call Hiryuu lame and shallow all you want, and I'll agree, and tell you that's exactly why I like him. He's doing darn good work throughout these episodes as a foil for the true Riders here. Despite the emotional impact for these ones landing where they did, my excitement for these episodes began with the idea of how fun Another Zi-O sounds as a concept, and I did not at all find myself disappointed.

But yeah, at the end of the day, we are here for Geiz and Sougo, aren't we? Still not much I really feel like I need to even explain to anyone who's seen the show, so I'll just talk about Sougo in particular a bit, instead. I feel like from this point onwards is where he's truly become a fully fleshed out protagonist. We saw him find the courage to not let his future define him earlier in the show, and now, with the backstory we're given here, we also see his determination not to be weighed down by his past, and those two things together, I think they get you the real core of Zi-O's goal as a hero. Den-O was the Kamen Rider who fought to protect time, but Zi-O fights to create it. To live in a present he's decided for himself, and to make sure everyone else gets the chance to do the same.

I don't know, I guess I should cut myself off soon, because I could ramble about this one for ages, so I'll just mention that, as you can probably tell from that last paragraph, Sougo's speech to Hiryuu is a scene that's always really stuck with me in particular. Sou Okuno absolutely nailed the delivery on those lines, I fundamentally love seeing the hero just making such an earnest plea for an antagonist not to waste their life, and as FreshToku has mentioned already, it's the scene that debuts what might be my favorite track of the show, combining with the new battle theme from the (amazingly fun!) Another Rider All-Stars showdown to make Toki no Ouja into a backbone of the show's soundtrack for the rest of the run.

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

Gaaaaah, this episode really is just too good! The whole reason this track stuck out so much to begin with, too, is in huge part thanks to how sparingly a lot of the dramatic scenes here use any music at all, relying on the performances of the actors and the stellar visuals from Tasaki to carry the emotions instead. And they can do that *handily*. This was such a wonderful climactic turning point for Zi-O! I'm going to stop talking about it for real this time though! Honest! (Until I inevitably want to talk about it more later, at least!)

Of course the top of an open-air car park is empty: it's winter! Who in their right mind would park where their car could get snowed on?! That's why Geiz picked that spot to duel, because he knew it'd be wide-open. He's become quite the tactician!

It's definitely the one Sougo/Geiz thing in the episode that was puzzling to me? There's no reason for them to fight at this point in the episode; Geiz has already said that he doesn't believe Sougo's a threat. I sort of wrote it off as Geiz still wanting to see if he could take Sougo in a fight (sparring, more than fighting), but if anyone has a better read on this part of the episode, please let me know!

I mean, Sougo and Geiz needed someone to gang up on.

He... does not have a lot of fans, no.

ALL INOUES FOREVER!

Yeah, I liked that they made space to tell a Geiz/Sougo story, without trying to wedge in, like, a Kabuto homage or something.

Bless you. Never change.

It's a really good speech from Sougo. It gets at a lot of what this series has been smart about, how there are all these things happening to and around us, things we can't control, but our power lies in how we deal with those things. Sougo feels bad about how a bus accident that was centered on him ended up hurting other people, but he obviously didn't ask for it to happen, and he can only try to deal with the aftermath. It's the difference between regret and responsibility, which is sort of the main thing this story arc was about?

And this is the part where Sougo and Geiz officially become friends! When Geiz is confronted with that statement, he immediately overcompensates by repeating his pre-development lines, like how Zi-O is his sworn enemy who must be destroyed, etc. But Sougo's anger and honesty finally gets through to him, by taking Uncle Tokiwa's advice. Geiz realizes that he and Sougo can still be friends, even if they're forced to fight each other. And yeah, I've had very little to say about Hiryu as Another Zi-O, but he's a great obstacle to symbolize them finally working together as friends against a shallow person who rejects both of their principles.

Yeah, the contrived resolution to Tsukuyomi's arc was a real blunder. I was willing to see where it would go, but she basically ends up in the same place where she started. What was the point?! It doesn't even address the problem with her fragile faith in Sougo, since the revelation only concerns Sougo's backstory, nothing that actually suggests anything about his morality.

No, this actually makes sense. The Swartz on the bus was his past self, so he doesn't have his purple coat yet at that point. Same reason why he didn't recognize Tsukuyomi. It also means Tsukuyomi and Swartz are part of a causal loop that directly influenced Sougo's and Hiryu's childhood. Surprisingly, there's still one more thing about this bus incident that you haven't seen yet, so I'll leave it here for now.

Anyway, I haven't been rewatching along with this thread like I did for Faiz, Hibiki, Kiva and Decade. But since I recently finished the Heisei Era with Blade, I think rewatching the next arc will give me a new perspective. So this is going to be a new experience for both of us!

I think it's also a great fight at this point in the show because it's basically Geiz and Sougo speedrunning the entire first 28 episodes worth of villains -- in one battle sequence -- due to their friendship? That's a cool way to show how much more powerful they are as friends.

So, I got this, but if the show is saying he suddenly switched up from dressing like a Smooth Criminal to dressing like a Kingdom Hearts protagonist... like, that is a pretty big ask of the audience. I mean, it can happen (Gentoku!), but I'd need a decently-sized fan club video to connect those dots.

He's literally a child compared to others, he was born in 2002. But where did you get Chalice tiny? Kenzaki was one of the taller main Rider actor just that.

For sure Sougo and Geiz part here is by far the best part, but it's about it being executed well rather than about it using characters and relationships. While the last few episodes has shown that Sougo has a capacity of evil, at least 2 traits in his hidden sinister manipulative side and his denial to his sorrow, Sougo is still most of the time a sweet and empathetic hero, and both traits there are also kinda solved with Sougo accepting his Mirror Self (dark side) and Junichiro reprimanding him for it. Everyone does have mistakes and bad choices, but doesn't mean that everyone is the same morally wise like lumping villains like Heure together with the heroes like treating his actions as "someone who just made mistakes before", mistakes are different from deliberately harming others and Heure has only done bad things before but now the Time Jacker "bond" has cracked to have him do something else. Sougo being actually sweet boy in the present, with the dark side still tiny for now unlike for Ohma Zi-O, eventually won over Geiz fully here, it has been clearly proven that Sougo most of the time puts others above him and does good things for them including Geiz.

This is a comedic moment yeah. I guess this also shows about how previously, as "Time Mom" in your terms, Tsukuyomi was the reasonable one in the group compared to the lazy dope Sougo and bullheaded oaf Geiz. But now, Sougo and Geiz has grown into a healthier, more well-adjusted individuals, thus now they don't seem "insane" anymore compared to her, added up to the fact that after they develop, the story focuses on uncovering Tsukuyomi's actual flaw, sloppy as it is, and while she returns now it's shown by her being now the one that looks bad compared to the previously more immature Sougo and Geiz. If you'd say Sougo's achilles heel was his optimism, Tsukuyomi's kinda the same, she was won over by Sougo far faster, but that'd be the one that made her put him on pedestal, and had her judgment blinded, with her optimism and gut feelings. Other than that it's new info for Swartz (him alone, not other Time Jackers) actually choosing Sougo to be the candidate for the king, not trying to disable Ohma Zi-O, and Sougo was someone special if he can use time powers without Kamen Rider powers and as a child.

If this is the last time Hiryu's gonna be seen, then yeah I'd say his resolution isn't really handled well that after some build up, it's just simply Sougo telling him to get over it (but in a nice way) in face of heavy emotional burden. But this isn't the last of Hiryu that'd be seen, he's already shown to be petty and spiteful here, but well, I posted a picture of Narutaki before regarding his talk. Their battle, it shows that Sougo and Geiz are actually unstoppable as teammates, it can be argued that they spent a good amount of their screentime being at odds with each others (one sided, and then it's circumstancial for Geiz's fight as Geiz Revive, not out of hatred anymore) to practically nerf their capabilities! They also defeated Another Zi-O and his entire army while they're injured too!

White Woz is not 'still', as I said before White Woz is more rotten than he appears. He doesn't actually have a sympathy towards even Geiz. He only cares about Geiz killing Sougo so his timeline comes to pass, otherwise he'd let Geiz perish by his hyped up power. White Woz also refered to Geiz as "my savior", which literally means only a personal savior for him only as in making his timeline a reality, others who suffer from this be damned. He even now refered that his envisioned world would only benefit the few, likely only him! It was a spoiler before, but not anymore, the main problem in the world White Woz envisioned isn't Geiz or his psychological and emotional issues, but White Woz himself. Regarding Tsukasa here, his portrayal here is quite sinister, he'd still go through drastic way to destroy the world if Sougo does ended up become Ohma Zi-O as if he was talking about the weather. He had completely calm expression as bus driver before because he doesn't seem to really care for those children (or their parents) on the bus. For erasing Tsukuyomi's arc lately... dunno if that actually does play a part on Geiz's praise of Sougo's morals here, which seemingly is done on different level compared to Geiz's feelings to Tsukuyomi.

I'm sorry but you're wrong. Swartz is clearly taking cues from famous Seiyu, Aoi Shouta.

http://cdn.animenewsnetwork.com/thum...z6vqaa911w.jpg

Note that this works because Aoi Shouta being a time traveler and wearing this outfit predates the Time Jackers conception because of the anime finale taking place in March of 2018. Long before Zi-O aired.

If you're saying Geiz wouldn't want to fight Sougo at that point because of something Geiz personally feels, I think your question might contain its own answer. He may only finally say it out loud to Hiryuu, but Geiz has probably been thinking of Sougo as a friend for quite a while to that point, and the crux of him becoming Geiz Revive to begin with was that he convinced himself all of that was irrelevant. As you said yourself:

Geiz even brings up Tsukuyomi before their aborted final showdown at the very end, so it's clear the weight of that is still on his mind. My take on it has always been that that's exactly why the two of them just bust out laughing when she shows up and says they don't need to fight anymore. Because they see Tsukuyomi is fine, and before she even says a word, they both kinda already got that they just lost half the reason they're still bothering with this.

Kenzaki is not tiny, no. Hajime, however, is a pocket-sized Rider.

I think that's selling the Long Game part of this arc short? This isn't a random two-part story with some iffy concepts that the cast and crew salvaged; this was the culmination of twenty-eight episodes worth of plots and subplots. It's a great scene because the actors are great, but it's a great story because of months of setup.

Note that Swartz is a TIME TRAVELER, HE TRAVELS THROUGH TIME, HE CAN PREDATE WHATEVER HE WANTS

YOU FOOL

First off, how dare you throw my words back at me. I was not aware this was all being saved! I thought we were all just friends hanging out and talking about Kamen Rider. Rude!

Secondly, I feel like a lot of Geiz'z actions (and words!) in this episode are undoing that nihilistic stance from previous episodes. The idea that Sougo is a problem he has to solve -- violently -- feels like something Geiz had moved past. Maybe I give that kid too much credit!

Technically, it's Sougo who brings up Tsukuyomi first (he's asking Geiz to bring everyone home to 9-to-5), but it's definitely something Geiz can't quite bring himself to confront.

I think you're probably right about why Geiz and Sougo are still going to fight each other (Sougo promised Geiz, and Geiz still has Tsukuyomi's blood on his hands), but I wish this episode had given each of them a line of dialogue or two to explain things.

I ended up not being a fan of this two-parter.

I think, when it gets right down to it, I feel like these episodes tried to juggle too much at once?

Hot take I know, but I feel as though it should've focused alot less on Geiz and Sogo. Because the thing is, those two coming to terms was a given to begin with, and the show trying to pull a platonic "will-they-won't-they" falls incredibly flat when they were clearly already Have, as evidence by a ton of episodes before this point. This easily could've all been done and dealt with in a single dedicated episode.

Meanwhile, all of the other things these episodes have to offer, of which I found way more interesting, end up taking a backseat due to this. Tsukuyomi, Woz, and yes, even Hiryu, were all things that I was way more invested in here.

And then there is of course the matter of Tsukasa. My distaste for him aside, he felt incredibly pointless; His only reason for even being a part of this being a way to get Tsukuyomi back to the present faster, which even then really didn't feel needed. Heck, even Tsukuyomi's' part in the plot ends up not mattering much in the grand scheme of things.

A few episodes ago I called Hiryu "Alister" and to fill those who might not get what I mean, the character of Alister in Yu-Gi-Oh actually has an incredibly similar backstory to that of Hiryu here, and unfortunately, he also ended up suffering the same fate that Alister did: Incredibly underdeveloped despite having a ton of great potential. It's a damn shame, and I really did not like how his arc appears to be resolved with Sogo simply going up to him and going "Hey, yeah, sorry, but let's just get over it, I guess."

Alot of potential in these four episodes, but none of it landed for me.

I'd agree with this, even if I'd, uh, pick the exact opposite thing to expand to full-length. I never felt like the mystery of 2009 sat well beside a modern-day conflict between Geiz and Sougo. Both stories are doing different things, with different objectives, and it made for a frequently disjointed experience.

I didn't really see it that way?

For Hiryuu's side of things, he definitely doesn't seem like he's resolved anything with Sougo. He's screaming in impotent rage, which is usually a sign that someone is not super ready to move on from their trauma. Also, there's that little shot of the Another Zi-O Ridewatcch reforming, which hints at this story getting a follow-up down the line.

For Sougo's side... I mean, this is one of the points of this story, that you can't let yourself get locked into past recriminations or tragedies, nor can you feel guilty for other people's choices. Hiryuu isn't ever going to get anything more from Sougo than an acknowledgement that a horrific accident happened, it happened because Sougo was on the bus, and they were both scarred by it. More than that... like, what can Sougo do besides let this guy feel seen? And hope that he can process his shit?

With an underdeveloped, one-note dude like Hiryuu, I thought Sougo's talk with him was empathetic, while still being realistic.