Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich (Post 768031)

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I 1000% cannot hate a show that has the audacity to go for a gag like this. We've had two characters become Riders in a short time here. The first thing the Ark did was beat people up. The first thing Naki did was rip Gai's clothes off. Which is a better debut? You'll have to decide for yourself, but I can tell you the latter was at least something I've definitely never seen before.

I'd be lying if I said I still didn't have some pretty severe issues with the way this show is written, but this is the first episode in a long while to shut that part of me up completely while I was watching it. I'm not sure if it's some way better episode than usual, but crucially, the things it's doing instead of the things I want are convincing me they have merit in their own right.

Case-in-point, that scene with Gai. I've complained over and over about the weird sense of non-stakes to the action in this series, and bemoaned the idea of a Kamen Rider show that gets too far away from the basic idea of a hero who saves people from monsters. Excuse me if I go on another negative tangent, because I'm seriously trying to cut down on these, but the extra context will probably help the more positive overall point I'm making. The conclusion I've come to is that Zero-One at this point is more of a martial arts series than a superhero show. The characters don't exactly have fights so much as they spar, and if you view the show through that lens, everything that doesn't make sense about the fight scenes suddenly does. This is maybe best exemplified by Yua turning against Gai back in 33, where she turns into Valkyrie while Gai is just sitting there. At least in that immediate moment, all Gai was doing was going on a rant about how people are tools. There wasn't any danger she was stopping by being a Kamen Rider there, but she was angry at Gai, and wanted to hit him to feel better, and that's sort of the kind of show this is. Which, like, I don't think that's wrong! It's not what I'm usually after in Kamen Rider (which is basically Haruto dropkicking a Phantom), but it's valid in its own right.

And what I'm trying to loop back around to here, is that, when you get down to it, having the Ark send out his MetsubouJinrai goon squad just to embarrass Gai like a bunch of college pranksters is another textbook example of this mentality. There's basically nothing accomplished there besides getting Gai to want to go fight Ark-Zero, when Ark-Zero could've easily come to him Terminator style, which could've been way more dramatic and tense. But, on the other hand, Gai getting pranked is absurd. It's hilarious! I'm sitting here offering up a "what if" writing scenario like I've done so often, but I'm just not made of stone, and I have to admit that what the show actually came up with was great for its own reasons.

And that's how this one felt in general. A lot of things that were really satisfying to see, even if they weren't what I would've expected. My biggest "complaint" is probably Yua totally chickening out of that apology to Fuwa right at the end of it, but that's not a complaint with the episode. That's entirely in-character behavior for Yua. Which is exactly the kind of thing that makes me sort of hate Yua, even now that she's got my bottomless pity. I think the fact that I was like "Oh, come on" is definitely the intended reaction, given that even MAO is criticizing her for it, and it's actually a really strong moment of characterization, something that's at the center of what I thought made this episode work so well.

Seeing the Hiden Intelligence side-character crew really pulling some weight was beyond my wildest dreams. I think we knew just enough about Fukuzoe for his actions here to land, and the manner he goes about giving Aruto a pep-talk is very well considered. It's not like he suddenly apologizes for everything he's ever said about Aruto's ability to lead a company (although that might be coming! Who knows?), which would've been forced. Instead he's just acknowledging the one, absolutely undeniable truth about Aruto's strength of character: the kid's heart is always in the right place.

Aruto's mini-arc here isn't very good on the surface with how sudden it comes and goes, but it accomplishes something that's a huge benefit to the show as a whole, and that's pointedly reframing his static nature as a positive, which, again, I was so impressed by how bold that is, I just can't hate it. If the show wants to tease the idea of Aruto losing faith in his most central belief, only to immediately pull the rug out and say the whole reason Aruto is a great hero is because he just won't do that, all I can say is, yeah, you know, maybe that's right. I happily pump up Fuwa along with everyone else, but I maintain that even without a significant arc, Aruto is a great protagonist with a base set of traits that are rounded and interesting enough to make up for that. Even despite me doing the whole "Fuwa is a Showa Rider!" bit, Aruto is easily the character on the show who most resembles a traditional Kamen Rider (from any era) in terms of his values and goals as a hero. He's just a swell guy who really likes people (even the ones that are robots) and will stand up to anybody who tries to take away their happiness and/or freedom. He's also, and I don't think this is something to be understated, definitely the one who makes the best role-model for the kids watching the show.

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Ever since the show began, I've thought this is a top-tier catchphrase. It's simple and catchy in terms of the words themselves, but there's a bigger meaning to it than just the one on the surface. Heck, the surface meaning has almost never made sense. At any given time, there's an average of ~2 other Riders who stand just as much chance of stopping whatever bad guy Aruto is currently after. Like, even if he's not in the scene, Fuwa could totally run on over here to help out, right? But the way I see it, the whole point about the phrase isn't so much in how literally true it is, but in how it symbolizes this idea of basically... stepping up to the plate, I guess? Aruto says it because he's going into the fight with that level of determination. He's not going to back down, and he's not going to get someone else to do it for him. He can do this, and he will do it. It's a line that's positively dripping with heroic resolve, and I'd like to think seeing Aruto struggle with fear like this legitimately inspires some kid somewhere to maybe think in their head when they're feeling unsure that, I don't know, there's only one person who eat all this broccoli, or study for this exam, or clean their room, and that's them.

It's all about leaving a positive impact, and when it comes to that, Aruto is a perfect lead backed by an extremely charismatic actor in Fumiya Takahashi, and if you still don't believe me, just listen to him telling Ark-Zero he won't run away. That whole scene is absolutely magnificent, and I honestly think it all the more so specifically because Aruto does end up losing that fight. Again, going back the role model thing, I think seeing Aruto having to overcome fear, even if it's arguably rushed, is an important thing in making him that much more relatable in a way the other Riders aren't. Fuwa bottles all that kind of stuff up, and Yua is currently moping in a bed, but Aruto, Aruto both admits he's scared, and doesn't let that stop him. Whether or not it immediately works out perfectly isn't really the point. That fight scene was maximum hero points all the way, punctuated by stellar choreography that combines with a killer new piece of BGM to give the whole thing some serious intensity. It honestly reminded me of Blade's fight with the Caucasus Undead, right down to Aruto not needing a new toy to restore his confidence (lookin' at you, Kachidoki!), and when I'm when I'm saying your Kamen Rider fight scene is living up to that, rest assured you're doing something right.

Oh, and also on the subject of fight scenes, I thought Thouser's fight against the MetsubouJinrai crew did a great job of showing Gai trying and failing to deal with the obvious numbers advantage they have in a really interesting way. Just like the Ark-Zero/Zero-One throwdown, it has an actual flow to who's winning, where each blow feels like something that matters, which is a sense I don't always get from a Rider fight scene. Great action all around in this one.

This post got way choppier and longer than intended, but I'm just happy it wasn't because I kept thinking of new things to complain about for once. If anything, I skimped on all the minor bits I liked just to stick up for Aruto. This was a darn good episode of Zero-One, is the overall point here.

Originally Posted by IndigoArms (Post 768061)

Is there any way to maybe cut some of the fat from this

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich (Post 768092)

I'm assuming it'll show up by 39, because a final form debuting in the 40's would just be tragic even for a show that wasn't liable to get cut short. Even Ultimate Form made some cameos in the 30's!