Fair enough. I personally just had long since checked out of their relationship because Is, to me, is a charisma black hole and plot device. So, I personally feel like focusing on that really detracted from the chance Aruto could have had to actually get some focus of his own. It's very much just a subjective complaint from me.

Yeah, the Ark is... Weirdly characterized. On one hand, it is consistently depicted at making pretty obvious mistakes, but the show keeps claiming that it's cold and calculating. It feels like two different interpretations of it are flying around the writers room and they never really ironed the true one out.

Yeah, Ark plots tend to be either impossible mouse traps that the heroes can't even perceive, or He Just Hates Humanity And Wants You To Know It. You'd feel like one would negate the other's effectiveness, but I guess not! He's doing okay!

Alright, folks. This might be a long one... (And if it ain't, then good!)

So, the "Pandemic Arc:" Honestly, not much, just set up for the true big bad of the series, the ARK. Naki finds a dream, Ikazuchi returns, Yua leaves ZAIA (forgot about her greatest attack move in the show, ha ha!), and Aruto starting a new dream alongside the Humagears. Then there's the recap episode featuring Azu (Or As, I'm assuming if the official translations suggest that, I could be wrong. People probably made jokes about adding an extra letter to her name, but I won't talk about that), AKA Evil Izu who works for the ARK.

But as it turns out, only Horobi is working for the ARK, and ARK is one tough cookie. A machine shown only humanity's misdeeds making him into the robot overlords from The Terminator (I haven't watched it), viewing humanity as inferior and not worthy of continued existence. ARK also has a fantastic design! A mismatched monstrosity that just fits the bill as a machine monster like the Magia that came before it in a way.

We also got Naki's Rider form, which I love! Much like Naki, it looks both masculine and feminine, a perfect neutral Rider anyone can be happy with, because that design is just so good. Also, nice how it's also wolf themed given the connection with Fuwa (best character).

We also got Thouser/Gai's redemption arc, which I can see why this guy doesn't deserve one, or how it's just hamstrung in just so we can have an "All Good Guys Vs Super Strong Unlimited Power Bad Guy." He's a jerk, shown completely heartless, and is the very picture of a big corporation that eats all others... And yet, in spite of it all, I liked this episode.

Now, being the perfectionist, Mr. 1000%, I figured that was part of his road to becoming a twisted piece of human garbage, but I did find it to be a nice little story of him losing sight of his dream, which as seen throughout this season, dreams are one of the most important themes. It also works in how he has to clean up the mess he made (which was bigger than Metal Cluster Hopper) and atoning for being one of the people responsible for this event. All this thanks to M.A.O. the Japanese Alexa! Which is kind of fitting that the A.I. Gai resonates with are the ones without human forms. Hooray for doggo! And the title of the episode is one of my favorites.

And now the moment we've (some of us) been waiting for: Kamen Rider Zero-Two! Not that Dinosaur Waifu from that one Anime we don't talk about. But Zero-One's Final Form... Kinda.

I love how this form works by adding an extra piece to the Driver and how it's made by Aruto surpassing his grandfather's work, even making it pretty much a whole new Rider instead of an upgrade. And boy do I enjoy the design! It is basically just Zero-One 2.0, which only serves to make the name even more fitting, but the reds, the "2" jutting out the chest in Build RabbitTank fashion, I just really enjoy this form. Because naturally, in order to outwit an enemy who knows all your stuff, you have to make a new one to throw them off.

Whew... Thought it'd be longer, but here I am! Probably missed or misinterpreted some stuff, but it is difficult to remember this part in the show when the arcs mesh after not seeing it for a while. Maybe I'll do a revised look back once I rewatch and own the series.

It actually very easily can be both. Because here's the thing, all Izu/ZEA are calculating throughout the episode are possibilities, not definites. Could Ark come and easy kill the heroes if it wanted? Yes. Does that mean it is 1000% going to do so? No. Same as anything else that can think.

Very true! It's a great strategy!

But... that's exactly what does happen. The Ark shows up to try and murder Aruto. It's not just a random possibility, it's exactly what the Ark was planning to do.

Just because Ark shows up doesn't mean it was a 100% certainty. You can predict that a fish will jump in a river, and be correct, but that doesn't mean that the chances were always 100%. The simulation does change slightly every time, afterall.

I'm not arguing the simulation, I'm arguing what the Ark does. The Ark shows up to murder Aruto, and it's only the creation of the Zero-Two Progrise Key that averts it. The Ark's plan was to leave Aruto alive on the bridge, then show up at his office an hour or two later to murder him. That plan doesn't make any sense to me?

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 41 - “TAKE THY NEIGHBOR’S HAND!”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...zeroone41a.png

We’re coming up on the end of the Zero-One TV episodes, and I’m realizing (or even REALxEYEZing) that I never did an image post for this show. I never really took the time to let myself soak in the cinematography of this series. Thought I’d have to skip that post this go around, until I got about six minutes into this one and had already pulled a half-dozen examples of stuff that visually elevated the material. So let’s talk about how smartly this episode was filmed!

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This opening scene with Team Zero-One does a smart job of keeping Aruto and Izu in the frame whenever Aruto’s talking about his plans and dreams, because they’re not just his plans and dreams anymore, they’re theirs. Him and Izu are one cohesive unit now, and this framing never lets you forget it.

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Perfect visual gag. Perfect. The long hold on Fuwa’s face, and then the background explosion just as he breaks. Five stars.

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The whole sequence of Jin’s return to MetsubouJinrai’s “No Humans Allowed” Clubhouse is full of evocative, fascinating shots. This one’s the first of several long-takes for the episode, with the group being shot through a set of blinds. It crushes down the image, creating a claustrophobia to Jin’s pleas for understanding. He’s in a familiar space, but now it’s hostile territory. By both limiting the image and extending the take, we get a lot of anxiety injected into this shot.

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A fraught conversation between Horobi and Jin, but it’s one that becomes increasingly philosophical as it goes on, abstracted from their familial connection into something more primal and fundamental. As such, this part of the exchange is just their silhouettes; we’re looking at two concepts, not two people. They’re not connecting as individuals, they’re just arguing their morality.

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A nice reminder that this confrontation between Jin and Horobi has the larger goal of reclaiming MetsubouJinrai from the Ark’s clutches. We’ve got Naki and Ikazuchi here, literally sandwiched between two opposing viewpoints.

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I like how, as the argument between Horobi and Jin turns into a fight, they can’t even look at each other anymore. They need to separate out their bond from this conflict; they need to dehumanize their opponent. Jin can’t fight his father (or father-figure), but he can fight Kamen Rider Horobi.

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And then the fight happens in darkness, illuminated by almost nothing but sparks. Such a fun way to shoot this fight.

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This gag killed me, but I still hate the development. For one thing, Fukuzoe should be President of Hiden Industries. He’s a guy that never stopped fighting for that company, not just its principles. It’s totally his time to be in charge. For another thing, though: I really hate the idea of Aruto coming back to his family’s company. He specifically turned down returning to Hiden Intelligence a few episodes ago because he had his own destiny, his own dream. He could (and should) rebuild Hiden Manufacturing with Izu, honoring their dream. He could (and should) license the Humagear patents to ZAIA/HI – collaborating with Gai, which is something this show is 1000% built on – to save the day. But Gai just being like You’re The Better Man? And Aruto being like It’s Good To Be Back? No thanks! Super-duper no thanks!

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Nothing special about this shot (typical boardroom stuff), but this line struck me as real Inspired By Actual Events. Probably the one society-altering Kamen Rider finale that was a little too close to home for folks watching.

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This is the part of the episode where the members of MetsubouJinrai are cut off from the Ark and need to make a decision as to whether they’ll continue to serve, or if they'll rebel against their master. The camera work on all of them are great, but I was especially fond of how trapped Ikazuchi looks in this shot.

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When we saw Horobi earlier as the Ark’s emissary, he was shrouded in darkness. Here, as he chooses to defend Jin and the rest of the Humagears against the Ark’s malevolence, he’s backlit and bathed in light. Great visual cue that this is a Horobi that’s fighting for his own convictions, rather than at the whim of some orbiting tyrant.

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Kamen Rider Horobi and Kamen Rider Zero-Two, teaming up to take on Kamen Rider Ark-Zero. Ark-Zero’s dead center, the focal point of the protagonists’ combined power.

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Whole fight was a goddamn masterclass in 21st-century tokusatsu fight scenes. The music was impeccable; intense but gentle, a battle with emotional weight to it. The combo moves of Horobi and Zero-Two were stunning. The extended finisher was climactic in every sense of the word. And this one little pose of Zero-Two as he waits for the explosion looks like it belongs on a movie poster. Absolutely stellar work on this fight from everyone involved.

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And then this counterpoint, as the destruction of the Ark is just this little flash of light, followed by a little puff of smoke. It’s so far away, it might as well not even have happened at all. I love that choice, to deny the Ark any sense of scale at the end. It never mattered.

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Because the real threat hasn’t been Hate as a concept, it’s been the people who act on hate. In one of my favorite developments, Horobi has followed Phoenix from Wizard’s example and let a hero give him a pep talk that convinces him of the righteousness of his crusade against humanity. Aruto’s no longer dealing with a Horobi that’s just a vessel for mindless hatred against humanity. He’s facing a Horobi that has seen how humanity’s capacity for hatred has lead to multiple near-extinction events for Humagears, and could potentially lead to more in the future. Horobi’s war against humanity is now personal and logical, grounded in hope for his people and a desire to protect his family. He’s fighting for something now, and that makes him more dangerous than the Ark ever could be.

Fantastic episode of Zero-One.

I find it hard to describe this episode, even after watching it there was no part that really stood out to me, don't get me wrong it's still a good episode, but aside from the end of the episode, I wasn't particularly invested. Speaking of the end of the episode, this whole episode is just tying almost every plot point up, even including the Ark, which is just blown up along with Zea/There, it's anticlimactic to me, and I get the whole the 'Ark is immortal because it's an AI inside of Zea' thing, but I'd rather that the Ark was just destroyed by Zero-Two, even if I do like Ikazuchi getting to destroy the Ark on his own.

Though I guess it's fine to have an anticlimax since apparently the Ark isn't the final villain, but rather Horobi, who wants to extinguish humanity so they can't make another Ark (acting as if he hadn't been the main reason that Ark had such a negative effect on humans and HumaGears), it's felt like since episode 1 that the show has intended to have Horobi be the final villain, but (just like the rest of these Covid episodes) they did it in a rather rushed way.

They have him explain his motivations in less than 2 minutes, and I can see almost where he's coming from, considering how humanity is, there's definitely a chance of there being an Ark 2, but just based on the possibility that there's a chance of it happening, Horobi decides that's a good enough reason to exterminate all of humanity, I can kind of get it, but the villains in the show (and especially Horobi) haven't gotten enough development for me to understand why Horobi would do this. Though other than those two things, it was still a fine episode, not the best, but not the worst, just a plain ending to an arc for me.

So yeah I will personally agree with anyone who say's that Aruto shouldn't have been Hiden Intelligence's President again. Like I don't know, do a joint partnership between Manufacturing and Intelligence, Fukuzoe giving Aruto the funding via Intelligence so that Manufacturing can get all the Humagear's out to everyone. I feel like that might've been a better solution.

That being said... while I was amused and enjoyed Horobi as a simplistic villain before, I really loved this episode for him. You can tell at the start he's still firm in his belief's about the Ark but he's slowly but surely cracking under the fact that Ark despite being able to easily recover, is not addressing them and is simply auto attacking the infrastructure without them. It's such a good change in motivation, and I love that despite defeating Ark, we've turned what it represents more into an actual concept/ideal.

"So long as human's have evil in their hearts, the Ark can return" and like, that's not a false statement in the slightest! It was thanks to Gai's animosity towards what Hiden was becoming that he filled a satellite full with malicious data. Who's to say someone else won't do something like that or worse again.

Other highlights of the episode to me, Fuwa's laugh being timed with the explosion, the short but sweet moments we get with Naki and Raiden. Some familiar faces in the Humagear's returning, that made me smile, 119nosuke's return in particular. Oh and of course, Ark attempting to retaliate only for Raiden and his bro to beat it to the punch and blow up Satellite Zea which as you described, as seen by Aruto, is not that fancy of an ending for Ark which is fitting.

I'm actually kind of... disappointed by Raiden and Naki here. They kinda just stand around here without uttering much of themselves. Raiden especially, but that's only because I've just been really disappointed how tacked on he is to the group. Raiden and Naki technically don't even have a reason to be in this room at all and would have honestly just immediately defected to Jin or Fuwa and Yaiba's side a long time ago.

Horobi's combo fight with Zero-Two was great, always a fan of how they handle Horobi the rider in terms of how they display his stunts. But from this point on, my view on Horobi starts to crumble. He didn't have quite much development to actually form this realization he has at the end of the episode and it just falls apart when I recall that he looked at Aruto a few episodes ago and thought: "He must be the one that'll change the fate of Humagears". I know, I know, rewrites and Covid and all, but my thoughts remain as they are.

Gai stepping down and handing the company off to Aruto really does feel like a studio note/mandate. Not only does it go against Aruto claiming his own destiny, but it also makes it look as though Gai is dodging responsibility. Definitely one of the aspects of the show I didn't like.

I think Horobi's argument is partially that humanity could create another Ark in the future, but it's also that humanity keeps vacillating between Humagear Genocide and Humagear Celebration. (I believe the current landscape for Humagear integration into society is Humagears For Some, Miniature Japanese Flags For Others.) I'm not sure I'd want to bet my people's survival on how persuasive a random CEO is? His bleak outlook of humanity's acceptance... it sort of has precedent.

Sort of surprised we didn't see Matsuda Z trying to cheer up kids or whatever, but, yeah! Very fun to see all the old Humagears lifting humanity up again. Very sweet.

I mean, I think Raiden got a pretty big role in the destruction of the Ark? And his reunion with Subaru was pretty sweet? And he was the most vocal about the Ark tossing them to the side? For a cast this packed, I think that's plenty for this episode. It's also substantially more than Yua or Fuwa got the last couple episodes. Remember when Fuwa kept saying how he was going to defeat Ark? He wasn't even invited to the fight.

It certainly felt like the writer didn't have a clue why Gai would voluntarily step down, or why Aruto would voluntarily return, because neither guy gets a scene explaining their actions. It's just There's An Emergency, and we're supposed to fill in the blanks. I will not be doing that!

REALxEYEZing is a nice pun, even I didn't have that cross my mind. Also, are you implying that Aruto and Izu are not cohesive unit before?!! :lol

It's ironic here that, despite their initial portrayal, it seems as if Jin is the worse one between the 2 (YMMV). While Horobi is already certainly terrible in his ruthlessness to carry out his missions without budging a bit, Jin's the one who is utterly psychotic, did more despicable actions to carry out their missions, and absolutely revels on it. Though there was an implication when he tried to help Seine before being re-hacked. But now, while Jin didn't immediately turn good on his revival at ep. 25, he's the one who changed quicker for the better than Horobi, properly taking care of Humagears (if still imposing some misantrophy beliefs that time), and later, turning good when he starts aiming for Ark (ep. 36) and helping a non-Aruto human (Yua). But overall, this scene is also another Aruto weaponizing friendship scene, with Jin (of all people, for early series context) supporting and advocating him against Horobi.

Otherwise, regarding Ikazuchi, his Raiden persona is completely separate, Raiden was always good, but Ark just intervened. Zea returning Raiden allows him to be the proper big brother to Subaru and Hiden's ally as he always is. Even Ark knew this, in ep. 39, it knew Raiden would turn on them and encourage Zero-One to antagonize them, so Ark returned Ikazuchi's singularity, as a deliberate way to get Aruto alone so Ark could take his Driver. And Raiden was the one who finished off Ark for good here, instead of the main protagonist. Raiden's just one of the Humagears that helping out (though he had the biggest contribution), there are others like Oyakata, 119nosuke, doctors, and nanny-types, which is a reminder that helping out isn't only about beating up bad guys.

I do think that this was quite a regression too for Aruto. Him being shackled back into the destiny as someone who just continues his family's company. There's some Horobi-stuff for Aruto even before, previously, he agreed to become the president only out of necessity to take care of Humagears, when what he wanted before was to become a comedian. But with Hiden Manufacturing, he now is committed into doing what it takes to help Humagears like making a company himself for that. Though if Fukuzoe's in charge, there's something he needs to learn to (or already had), like fighting as Kamen Rider, not focusing on Hiden Intelligence's bottom line (e.g. covering up Magia's attacks, Daybreak Incident).

Bathed in light? It's true that now Horobi fights for his own convictions, but if light also meant good, then it's far from the case here (though it may be a bait to think Horobi has received enlightenment, but actually NO. Jin did win in their debate though). As I said before, just because Horobi is fighting against the bad guys, doesn't mean he's redeemed at that time, bad guys can fight another bad guys. And Horobi is very much that. After fighting Gai due to his hatred of humanity making use of Ark, now he's someone who is against Ark, thus he fights them along with the cast. But, because he's against Ark, he STILL performs exactly the same actions as Ark's pawn before, killing all humans, because he holds them accountable in the rise of Ark, in their corrupt traits (and lumping all humans together). No humans means no corrupt traits (in his eyes) and no Ark. So.. what's good of working with people you don't like in this case? Though of course this is working with another villain, this is quite a natural outcome of what'd happen after the common threat is beaten, there are no reasons to ally anymore.

Yes, Horobi's turn of character's journey, starts, now. It's really late yeah for him, even more than Jin (at ep. 25), and Ark (at ep. 36). This is also a reminder that, even if the actions (and outcomes) of 2/more different people is exactly the same, it doesn't mean that they're the same people. For heroic examples, there are those who fight because it's the right thing to do, but there's also those who fight only to get paid (emphasis on "only"). The outcome may be similar, but the latter isn't the same character, they're more selfish and potentially anti-heroic. For Horobi here, and he's a case where his morality doesn't change, this doesn't improve him to even anti-villain levels or such (so much for the 'enlightenment'), if he succeeded, at least the humans would be extinct, but previously, it was to serve Ark, and now, it's his way (and worldview, tbh) to disable Ark, totally opposite aim. And him being more dangerous than Ark? Eh, being dangerous or not isn't decided by someone's character, it's by their powers. You can have genocidal mindset, but you can't carry through that if you're not powerful (or not powerful enough). Horobi isn't likely to surpass Ark in fighting as Kamen Rider, who destroys everyone and only Zero-Two can match.

Wasn't it Gai? And it wasn't a named character that was the reason behind Ark having negative effect. It was random human malice info Gai shared on him, which'd mean random unnamed people were the reason. Horobi is one of the negative effects Ark gave on Humagears, though the experience in this episode still didn't change his genocidal mindset.

Horobi does have a point here, but while Horobi or other villains can make good points, it can be invalidated depending on who makes the point, like, if they're so horrible person.

The thing is, development isn't necessarily about someone turning to be a better person. Someone can get development while keeping their morality the same (like Horobi here, or some MCs), or someone can get development to turn even worse, like Micchy in Gaim. For Horobi thinking changing the fate of Humagears.... remember that the keyword is, "fate of Humagears", ONLY Humagears. Not any other species. Humans won't be included in that thought (and Aruto's only 1 person), thus they're not safe if Horobi thinks to keep Humagears safe, he still thinks he needs to exterminate humanity.

Apparently, it's probably the "karma" for Gai for all his atrocities before, now he had to lose his CEO position he liked and reveled so much, and is deemed as undeserving to be one and that the man he terrorized so much was truly the better one. Of course, someone can lose CEO position not by doing what Gai had done.

Not much to say that hasn’t already been said, so I’ll share this here, since there isn’t really anywhere else I could’ve shared it.

Progrise: I make up a festival by all energy. Festival Entertainer: Matsurida Zett.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=IpETZW0d-Z0

Boy, if you think ep 37's pacing was certainly not comfortable, this episode beat that in a certain mile. Honestly, this is the first time I don't know where to start talking. We had Gai stepping down as Hiden's President, Aruto claiming back his position in Hiden, Ark stopped using Metsubojinrai, Horobi and Jin's conflicting ideas, Ikazuchi and Naki's defection from Metsubojinrai, Horobi finally reached Singularity and betrayed the Ark, Aruto and Horobi teamed-up for the first time, and the Ark's destruction by the Uchuyaro's bros. To say the episode was bloated is an understatement. I think Die had chosen the correct step by making this episode as an image post.


This episode was the one that I thought Covid really impacted the filming. There were many neat ideas but they were hugely clammed in a single episode. I don't even mind Aruto returned back as Hiden's President because I'm honestly not surprised for them to make weird steps here and there. I mean I want Aruto and Izu to rebuild Hiden Manufacturing but when Aruto returned as the President, I was like "Well that's neat. Guess it's Aruto's lucky day." Because it lacked quite a punch, I just felt like it was just an everyday routine for Gai to play as the President and pass it on Aruto after he is bored.

Rather than reiterating how splendidly Die explained Horobi, I just want to say I couldn't keep my laughter when Aruto asked Horobi "Well, do you want to join my company now?". Man, Aruto didn't quite learn from his experiences with Jin. Dude, you just teamed-up with Horobi solely to save Jin and because there was a bigger threat. Don't expect or even believe someone, who had been an antagonistic force for most of the series, suddenly became good and buddy buddy with you, especially if you barely had a heart-to-heart interaction. For someone who built the amazing Zero-Two, Aruto is still not the brightest one in this subject.

One last thing, I just thought the Ark's death was cathartic and karmatic to some extent. I had said I dislike how the Ark exploited the weakpoint in our hero's side, by manipulating Aruto and Ikazuchi. So obviously it was karmatic that THESE two ended up ruining and foiling the Ark's daily life. Aruto obviously outwitted the Ark by inventing Zero-Two and Ikazuchi got the spotlight by giving the final blow to the Ark once and for all. Ikazuchi blew up the Ark might be my favorite moments in this episode beside the team up in such a bloated episode. If Die have watched Super Sentai or Power Rangers, the Ark was basically defeated in almost the same manner as many MOTW in those shows.

The way I see it is that Metal Cluster Hopper is Zero One's Final Form, while Zero Two (which =/= Zero One) is Aruto's Final Form.

Wow, okay, you totally need to do something about that!

Thouzer is the MVP of the show, no contest.

I recall that Zero Two and Horobi teaming up to defeat Ark for good was written to be the finale due to you-know-what, so it makes sense that this fight scene would be appropriately spectacular. However, the staff didn't know how much time they'd have, so despite the show already getting cut to a low cap of 45 episodes, they overcompensated, finishing the main plot at 41. Everything after this is basically improvisation, with only the original abstract premise of Horobi being the final villain getting carried over. Whether or not that was a good thing is debatable.

Regarding what I mentioned before about Zero Two though, this is the peak here. It was designed to be Aruto's ultimate weapon against Ark and now that it's fulfilled that purpose, the next 4 episodes seem determined to undermine it and the few remaining appearances it does have aren't much to write home about.

Except unlike Phoenix, Horobi actually has a sense of morality and misguidedly believes that committing genocide of humanity is necessary to bring justice to HumaGears, which makes his motivation more similar to Heart Roidmude. Horobi is thinking critically now after reaching singularity and it just happened that he came to the same conclusion as Ark's will, but out of fear instead of hate. He's experienced firsthand the evil in humanity and he only sees Aruto as the exception to the rule. Horobi wants to destroy the hierarchy created by humanity and he doesn't have faith in Aruto's diplomacy to do that.

I wouldn't say that light always has to signify good. Here, it's representing clarity and conviction. When the episode started, Horobi was starting to doubt the Ark's strategies, and MetsubouJinrai's place within them. In this scene, he's energized and focused on rescuing Jin from the Ark, as well as certain in his dream to liberate Humagears from humanity.

I'd hugely disagree with this. Horobi's more dangerous in that his vision for the future is less nihilistic than the Ark's, and his power is in the strength of his convictions. The Ark was an easy villain to defeat because it was two-dimensional. Horobi's going to be harder to defeat because he has a point.


His optimism is... sometimes he's not really seeing things all the way through. I'm not sure why Aruto thought Horobi turning on the Ark to avoid a Humagear genocide and save Jin suddenly meant Horobi was going to be Chief Smirking Officer at Hiden Intelligence or whatever, but it's a very cute scene. I like that Aruto assumes that the people who fight alongside him are his friends, even when that's clearly not the case. It's so charming.

I just like bringing up Phoenix because it's the biggest Be Careful What You Wish For plot development for me. (I love those episodes.) It's the same problem Team Zero-One had with Naki, where they decided to follow their dream right back to a robot death cult. I like how Aruto doesn't really get that people can have really terrifying dreams. Just can't see it.

Aruto becoming President again worked for me. Like, I know, he went out on his own to find his own destiny...but it's still his family company, he's grown a lot since then, and there is a lot of power and authority in Hiden that he can only access as President, especially in a crisis, and Gai has come a long way in accepting Aruto. Maybe they could've built up to it a little more, but I could get behind it.

Horobi really came a long way. Finally acknowledging his parental feelings for Jin in a genuine way and standing up for him and for all Humagears against the Ark, to the point of teaming-up with a human. It's just all this self-actualization and character development, built from the kind of being Horobi is and what he's seen, ends up still leaving him the villain in the end. Because not all dreams are good, Aruto.

I like how much defeating Ark was a team effort, both from Zero-Two and Horobi to the Space Brothers. Seeing the satellite get taken out when Ark least expected it was perfect.

Still arguably got it better than Genius or Grand Zi-O as far as Final Form treatment goes.

A jump to the sky turns to a Riderkick to the Sun.

In terms of win/loss ratio, yeah, I guess. If I had to try and explain my specific frustration, it's probably that I think Zero Two was made to seem like a bigger deal, symbolically. Instead of the generic setup of collecting all the Full Bottles or Ridewatches, it was the friendship between Aruto and Izu. Instead of an upgrade to an existing Rider System, it was an entirely new Rider created to allow Aruto to Henshin in the absence of Satellite Zea.

That's fair. It would've been nice to have seen it used more.

The multiple phases of the hero plan was pretty great. They can't defeat the Ark for good on the ground, so they need to get it to retreat back to Satellite There, which is where it's vulnerable. Very fun plotting!

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 42 - “AS LONG AS MALICE EXISTS”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../zeroone42.png

I don’t think I’m going to like the end of this series.

There’s broad strokes stuff in here that I enjoyed – the ways hatred becomes self-perpetuating and transmissible; how abused people can become abusers; how our ideals are sometimes the only things that can help us weather adversity; the impossibility of letting go of anger; how difficult it can be to have an open dialogue about our fears. All of that stuff was compelling, and it’s generally exactly what I watch Kamen Rider for. I like these shows best when there’s metaphor amongst all the plot.

But, god, I also like it when the plot makes sense! I like metaphor and plot, not metaphor or plot.

So much of what happened in this episode felt barely thought-through and flimsily explained. In order for the twist of Aruto being Ark-One to land, it takes almost an entire cast of characters (I guess Naki and Ikazuchi took a spa day?) to act like idiots. We need Izu to decide to skip out on telling Aruto about Horobi’s plan, which the entire Humagear population knows about, so she only manages to delay him by a scene. We need Izu to continuously place herself in mortal danger to prove that a genocidal terrorist in the midst of genocidal terrorism is willing to entertain an opposing viewpoint. We need three separate members of Team Zero-One to allow Horobi to walk out the door after killing Izu. (This is the big one. Why do people keep treating Horobi’s departures like the toku equivalent of saying Good Game? Why in the world would you let him wander off after executing Izu?!) We need Aruto to be so overcome with grief that he’ll take up the mantle of the same villain he worked to detonate over the last dozen episodes.

It’s all so dumb. It’s metaphor and theme completely untethered from character and plot. It’s making a point about hatred and intolerance at the expense of 40 episodes worth of investment in the world of Zero-One. It’s a good idea that the show wasn’t in a place to execute well, but everyone involved said Screw It and did it anyway.

(It's also flattening its main themes of combating racism and bigotry by doing a dull revenge plot, but that seems like a minor flaw in comparison. But since we're talking about it: I dislike that larger conversations about how different groups integrate into society gets abandoned for a fridging and dull solo villainy. We're so far off the beam from discussing Humagears as a group of disparate viewpoints, and that sucks.)

And even outside of all of that, to see that Horobi’s big plan to liberate Humagears is the exact same shit he was doing in Episode 1? Jesus, why bother? I don’t know if the point is to satirize Ark’s boring strategies or Horobi’s complete lack of creativity, but the only way I can see including a MetsubouJinrai revolution this half-assed is as a joke. Horobi finally has a reasonable argument and an actual dream, but it’s the same old horseshit on the battlefield. Incredibly disappointing.

I pretty much thought this whole episode was disappointing? It’s easy to see what the story is trying to accomplish, but there’s just not enough raw material in the right places to justify it. (Super glad to see that the resolution to the mystery of Jin’s benefactor is Some Brand-New Character That Was Never Even Hinted At.) It’s frustrating to think that no one on the production team was able to come up with a better story than this, after seeing how much the show has to be bent out of shape to start it. Literally anything would’ve been better than this. I sort of wish the show had ended at 41.

Ah yes the episode where I got to use the Red vs. Blue "Wait you can't do that, that's illegal" gif.

Sad that this episode didn't land for you, I personally thought it was a swerve and was entirely captivated by it. That being said, remember when I said they didn't know how many episodes they had? Someone else spoiled it, but basically they weren't aware they were going to have 45 Episodes till pretty late, and Episode 41 was supposed to be a "Finale" of sorts. So basically they had to speedrun most of their idea from the final arc in 36 to 41. So yeah they weren't going under the assumption that they'd have 10 episodes or so left, they were running under the assumption they'd only have like 6 episodes left.

I feel like Horobi trying to do the "same shit" so to speak as Episode 1 was the point though? Like, he's got a dream but he's clearly not putting his all into it because we can see him denying his heart with Izu confronting him and the ensuing scenes. I suppose the shock of seeing everything sorta go to hell in the most unexpected way possible was just, too good for me. Like I don't think anyone could've predicted this?

That being said, this finale arc definitely made me set aside plans I had for a Zero-One MV because the end focal point for my MV was basically Zero-Two beating the crap out of Ark and well uh.... yeah.

Anyway I feel like all the emotional stuff hit me way too much to where I was fine with some things being a bit off. Also Ark-One is clever in the fact that, Zero-Two can't get Final Form Rot in performance if the user itself uses another form instead. So as of right now we've got Zero-Two with a 100% Victory streak which has... it's been a while since we've had that for a Final Form huh?

That being said Ark-One is absolutely retooled from what he was supposed to be and I wouldn't doubt that Williamson was supposed to be Ark-One because of a lot of key details you can notice on the Ark Suit as well as the key itself point towards this being ZAIA related. It feels like originally it was supposed to be Gai but that got scrapped when they realized he was getting the wrong kind of hate and went for the "redemption" route with him. So and this is just me guessing, Williamson was supposed to be like, Jin getting rid of AI Ark so that he could take over as a Human Ark, in a sense. Or at least that's how I feel.

This is a fine episode, it contains things I really like, but it also has some issues, and yet it's probably my favorite of the series. This episode I barely feel as if I can describe, it's filled with so many things to discuss that it's hard to focus on one specifically, this episode has many things that I personally predicted would happen, such as Izu dying and (this is obvious to expect from Kamen Rider) the main hero getting a berserk/evil form, but while I do like those plot beats, the rest isn't as great.

Like, why would Izu go on her own, to face someone who will likely kill her, when she knows that she can't be backed up? Izu has never shown to be illogical like that even if she thinks that she can supposedly convince Horobi that what he's doing is bad, which is obviously a very bad idea. Aside from that, Azu returns, I remember a lot of people back then thinking that Azu was only here for the recap specials, so it's nice to see her again, well not that nice considering what she does, but I'm glad she reappeared.

I don't even know if I can describe my thoughts on the rest of this episode, just that I didn't really like quite a few of its aspects, though I do like Aruto becoming the host for the Ark, but I wish that hadn't happened literally one episode after the Ark was supposedly defeated. I still really like this episode and some of its elements, but s bit of it wasn't too great, but even besides those bad elements, for some reason, I really like this episode and I'd probably call it my favorite in the series even if it has quite a few not so great things.

Because she's reached Singularity, and as such isn't operating on stone cold logic anymore.

Adding to this, she could also still harbor some kind of fear for Aruto's safety from the simulations she had to run. And thus was acting illogical because of said fears. Cause like... she'd probably still be messed up from those simulations I'd imagine.

It's a boring point, I guess? Beyond being an illustration of Horobi's lack of enthusiasm about his plot to exterminate humanity... why would a show think spending an episode with a homicidal/genocidal villain who's just going through the motions would be compelling drama? Why wouldn't you tell a story that makes Horobi less of a limp presence?

I think Izu showing up to try and talk sense into Horobi is a good thing. I think two Humagears deserve to have a conversation about the direction of their species and culture. I think Izu trying to have the same conversation mid-murder spree is, much like Jin's attempts to stop Vulcan from murdering a currently-murdering Horobi in an attempt to de-escalate tensions, pretty stupid. I am okay with characters making poor decisions because it makes sense to their characters. I am less okay with characters acting stupidly to further the plot.

All the emotional beats of this episode hit hard for me.

Like Is, inspired by Aruto and believing so much in his dream of humanxHumagear coexistence risking herself for that dream by trying to get through to Horobi like Aruto would...only for it too be too late or not matter in the end. But I still found that brave in its own right.

Or how Horobi is so determined to continue on this path of hate and violence because it's all he's ever known and all he knows how to do.

Or Aruto, a man filled with heroism and ideals and who believes in the best in people...losing that most precious person to him because she believed in his ideals and being powerless to stop it. Left with only a facsimilie of Is goading him and the prospect of revenge, it turns him into the very thing he fought against...because the hate finally consumed him.

And in destroying Is, Horobi has created an even bigger threat than he could have possibly imagined.

But, yeah, Ark-One! It's a really cool suit, you don't expect the hero to become the villain, and yet as a fusion of Ark and Zero-One it works surprisingly well in capturing a melding of both characters while being pretty obviously evil.
Because it served a character purpose?
Can it be a bit of both?

Even since she's reached singularity, Izu has still been shown to be logical, and in the simulation she sees Aruto getting beaten by the Ark, and I don't see what possible negative repercussions could come from telling Aruto "I saw a vision of Horobi transforming into Ark-One and beating you, so it would be best to formulate a strategy if this vision turns out to be true", and if she knows that Aruto can be killed by the Ark and that the Ark can't be reasoned with, she's basically going there to die, I get that that's something that illogical thinking after gaining Singularity could cause that, but it's still something I wouldn't expect Izu to do, even after gaining Singularity.

It's a cool suit! (I didn't have time to build the SO-DO, so I'll talk more about it tomorrow.) It's always neat to see the heero become a villain near the finale, I just wish the motivation to get there was smarter.

But there needs to be a balance between Same Old Bullshit and This Character Is Caught In A Loop Of Hollow Behavior. Having a line-up of random Humagears and old Magia suits... it's no fun to watch? Like, maybe there could've been a different way to get at Horobi's inability to see beyond his lifetime of hatred? Some less dull take on his limited perspective? I feel like this show had options (definitely could've used a MetsubouJinrai scene, if only Naki and Ikazuchi hadn't booked that couples hot stone massage) and it went with the least enjoyable one.

It was! The first scene with the two of them was great, and everything I would want in a story that's trying to figure out Horobi. Then she starts running in front of cars, basically, and I wonder if the Singularity obliterated her sense of self-preservation. It's only the second part I have a problem with.

As in Japanese spirit tropes, conviction and resolve can strengthen someone (though it also can lean into BS levels like "power of friendship" meme if handled poorly), but, just inner character strength can only take you so far. Ark was easily beaten by Aruto (as Zero-Two), but Horobi is even weaker than the easily-beaten Ark. It's just clear that Zero-Two carried the fight against Ark. Zero-Two doesn't need Horobi's assistance to beat Ark. And ofc, it takes idiocy (Aruto acceping Azu's deal, and taking Ark-One Driver, even if he still has Zero-Two) to keep Horobi being a "threat", as this episode shows.

Overall yeah, I agree for this one. Zero-One has a handful idiotic moments, not only in this episode, but also happened several times in the past. Like Gai not finishing his buyout before launching the competition, Fuwa dangling the ZAIA Spec that had evidences contained inside (easy target for Gai to destroy), Aruto (you complained about him jumping into fight before as idiotic moment instead, for Metal Cluster Hopper..), Jin & Yua's plan to disable Ark, even Ark not removing MetsubouJinrai.net members' free will, etc. There's more idiocy than just what you said here, later Aruto, after watching Izu got killed in front of him, wasn't suspicious of Azu approaching him, despite that the only disguise she did was adding blue streaks on her hair (instead of red), but her hair is still long, not short like Izu's, and he accepted Ark-One Driver despite that Zero-Two would easily beat Horobi. Izu approaching Horobi is also done due to Azu's manipulation, in her showing Ark's simulations, but yeah these are more of the cast's idiocy rather than Azu's competency....

The main thing about the series now, isn't Horobi, is Zero-One making the lead Rider fall from grace, something that is quite unique among KR franchise and many'd appreciate that too, despite that it'd even further push away the larger conversation. The end part of the episode was only done to show that Aruto's not brainwashed. Otherwise, regarding Izu's idealistic view and Horobi's nihilistic view, Horobi's view (nihilism) seems to be often viewed as the "mature" view. Those who have faith in human's goodness are ought to "open their eyes" that humans are inherently evil. It's a widespread but mistaken belief that cynicism and nihilism are "intelligence", when as Izu said, in reality, the real problem is learning from biased data; though positivity can be problematic, probably happened here too regarding Aruto's previous sympathy for Horobi, doesn't mean that negativity is the superior view, negativity can be just as biased or "naive" as positivity view. Being objective isn't about twisting anything to negative as much as you can, like some've perceived.

I think this part is more compelling than you'd think though (though some idiocy could smear it). What do you expect actually before? How can Horobi accomplish that other than him doing similar shit like the beginning? After all, it's already established that he's still not changed despite fighting Ark. I'd think there's more on Horobi than him doing similar shit as him at the beginning, it's about how he's someone who'd throw his hatred of humanity anywhere, he'd do shit like accusing any Humagears who side with humans as being corrupted by them, killing any human traces even in fellow Humagears, like Izu, as well as him being provoked and enraged at the suggestion of him having human traits, like Izu suggesting him having a heart. That's also a show of hypocrisy that, he accused humans as inherently malicious, yet he claims to have no heart (which is a term usually describing someone malicious).

It's true that, Phoenix is an irredeemable bastard, but while Horobi at first glance sounds like Heart, he's not really like him, he's quite depraved too in his villain stint. Someone that's more like Heart in Zero-One, would be Jin at his revival, before ep. 36. He actually took care of Humagears (even if there's some misguided way in breaking off their relationship with humans) and would at least tolerate humans who'd be benefical to them. Heart sees all Roidmudes as his friends, is enraged at their deaths, mourning and avenging them instead of labeling them as failures... Horobi claims to want a better future for Humagears, but he didn't put that into practice other than his misantrophy. By that, it's not only humans who are threatened by Horobi, fellow Humagears aren't safe from Horobi either. He 's full of hypocrisy and willingly destroys any Humagears who do anything to slight him and dragging them into needless conflicts, mainly humanity-related. Heart and Jin (at the start of revival) actually earned the anti-villain status, but not for Horobi; he develops without changing his morality spectrum.

One of my favorite moments during Die's entire journey on watching the 1st Phase Heisei Riders was when Die was a bit surprised and taken aback by Takumi's revelation as an Orphnoch in Faiz. Kudos for everyone who insisted Die to NOT watch Paradise Lost first so as not to spoil the twist. Die's line : "Takumi , though. I mean, goddamn" in that episode still rings in my head now. That basically, more or less, summarized how my feelings are for this episode.

Die might not know now but during Zero-One's airing, there was so many speculations regarding Ark-One. I still fondly remembered everyone discussed whether it was Horobi, Gai, Azu, or an entirely new character like Williamson, who would become Ark-One. My money would be on the show basically revived the Ark(-Zero) back and upgraded it to Ark One. That would be so lame and inconsequential to last episode but that's basically the most mainstream storyline that we have gotten up to this point in the franchise. Takahashi himself loved to bring back characters here and there in Ex-Aid.

Aruto as Ark-One, though.... Man, goddamn...

I need to disagree a bit with Die on how he viewed most characters suddenly became idiotic in this episode, especially Horobi and Izu. I don't think Horobi and Izu's actions in this instance was idiotic or boring. For Izu, it was easy to argue because she basically had just seen Aruto died again with her own eyes. Of course she wouldn't want to worry and bring Aruto to this mess which could claim the single important person in Izu's life. I hugely criticized the interaction between characters outside their faction a lot. Aruto and Izu, though? They were the two characters with the strongest bond in the series that I would buy Izu didn't consider her own safety and life if it was for Aruto's sake.

For Horobi, remember he's more or less like Jin in the first quarter of the series. Of course Horobi would return back to his daily routine to exterminate humanity. Like it or not, that's the single lesson that was indoctrinated by Ark to Horobi. Even with the Ark gone, it's undeniable that Horobi could only do the same thing because THAT was the single lesson that he kept learning from the get go. I'm sure if Horobi was more earnest like Jin, he would answer that he attacked humans because that's the ONLY way he knew to ensure Humagears' safety. Like Aruto said before destroying Jin in ep 16, had Horobi didn't learn malice from the Ark, all of the conflict in this episode would have been avoidable.

Even I'm buying Aruto's fall in Azu's temptation and became Ark-One. Izu was not just a simple person for Aruto. She WAS the only person in the series that kept being in Aruto's side no matter what, high or low. No matter how you see Aruto and Izu's relationship, losing such an important person would hurt tremendously. I had wished in ep 40 that nothing would break apart Aruto and Izu. So, it crushed my heart to see Izu exploded right in front of Aruto's eyes and it was deafening to hear Aruto's anguish. If I were Aruto, I would not just stare into nothingness, I would become a crying mess and rolling in the ground till dawn. Poor guy... If only there's someone who could give Aruto a hug...

Oh yeah, if there was an idiot in this episode, I firmly say it would be FUWA! I was gritting and face-palming myself whenever I saw Fuwa in this episode. Firs of all, he basically ruined Izu's conversation with Horobi. As shown by Horobi's hesitance later, some of Izu's word DID reach out Horobi's heart. It was only because Fuwa's arrival and provocation that lead Horobi tool an action there. If only Fuwa and Yua wasn't there, I was sure Izu could reach out Horobi in some way shape or forms. Don't even mention that Fuwa was shoving aside Jin later, who tried to ease the tension and stop this needless bloodshed.

And then there was the scene where Fuwa PREVENTED Yua to comfort Aruto. Like, DUDE! Aruto needed a hug and a huge support in that time! I couldn't do that for him so if you don't want to comfort him, at least let Yua do the stead! I know it was cultural difference where most Japanese person will usually leave grieving people, like Aruto, alone to process his grief. But, come on, Fuwa. I thought you WERE Aruto's friend, beside Izu! Aruto DID so many things to pull out Fuwa from his hate and revenge, helping you finding a dream, and made a therapy bot for you! After all of those things, the only thing that you could do was letting Aruto ALONE!? No wonder Aruto fall into Azu's grasp; Azu was the single person who volunteered to comfort Aruto at that time.

Because of that moment, I dare to say I HATE Aruto and Fuwa's relation as Main and Secondary Rider. Just ask any other Secondary Riders before Fuwa: If they saw the Main Rider in the position like Aruto, I'm sure they will do something other than leaving the Main Rider alone. Geiz was shocked and felt bad for Sougo after witnessing Another Kiva's death, Banjo would beat up Sento to get him out of funk before cheering him up a bit, Hiro DID give some nice wisdom to Emu after Kiriya's death and so on. Fuwa? Do nothing and prevent Yua from cheering up Aruto. I don't care whether Horobi was still out there or Fuwa didn't expect Aruto to become Ark. For certain, Aruto DIDN'T need a room alone, he needed support at time like this. I'm feeling bad because Aruto is TOO much of a nice guy to Fuwa, the so-called friend who didn't even give back all of Aruto's token of friendship in all of its earnest.

This episode soured my views on Humagears particularly because they just chose to side with Horobi, the robo-terrorist, immediately just because he said 'human bad'. Aruto is right there in being the sole guardian of the Humagears' innocence but they join up with the one that furthers anyone's claim that Humagears are dangerous at the drop of a hat. Really super strange!

I find it also odd during the time Fuwa just stopped Yaiba from comforting Aruto and the two just LEAVE HIM THERE?! Fuwa of all people should know what leaving someone to their misery and rage does. At first I swept it under the rug since I was captivated by the episode, but now it just looks dumb to me. This was set up just so Aruto can turn.

And speaking of Aruto turning, it's... actually a brilliant idea! This is genius move especially when you take into consider Aruto's upbringing. He was born with his biological parents not being there for him, his robo-dad wasn't there for most of his life spending little time with him and more so as a Kamen Rider, Grandpa Hiden didn't even bother to check on him and just dumped the company on him, his social life is an absolute wreck with his only friend being an old comedic partner leaving him because of their differing views, his comedic career just being in the absolute dumps, and his emotional support being only really Izu, it is understandable that he would absolutely MAD when that support is gone. Fuwa was a good friend to him but no one was absolutely as close and supportive as Izu was, so this is completely understandable for him, especially when we've already seen and also had Gai pointed out this hidden darkness within Aruto a long time ago. I really like the shot when Aruto saw the Ark-One key and we see him let out a grin as he takes it, he wasn't controlled or whatever, he took it 100% by his own volition. Aruto was never a mentally sound person! (please don't take it the offensive way :lol)

I also like to think this episode is what made Fumiya Takahashi's acting career go up through the roof. He's been featured in other roles depicting this exact demeanor Aruto displayed and I've watched those shows he starred in and he always absolutely kills it portraying a really insane person.

With that, I'd like to link another one of 10pperance's doujins, this one putting a bit more into Aruto's thoughts inside the Ark-One suit.

https://www.facebook.com/bakanki/pho...72779232761992

https://scontent-hkg4-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0w&oe=6326721A

I always enjoyed how Aruto's heroism was bound up in the dream of a better future for Humagears. Now he's mad at Horobi for murdering Izu. We have an Evil Aruto (for the aesthetic value of Evil, anyway), but I'm not sure how Aruto wanting to murder Horobi is discussing the same things as Horobi's desire to destroy humanity, or inverting Aruto's previous belief of societal protections for Humagears. It's hatred, sure, but not really bigotry or intolerance.

Sure! Aruto's grief over Izu;s death is, in isolation, enormously affecting and completely the sort of thing that would make Aruto lose his moral compass. It's just... I wish it hadn't started by fridging Izu. I wish the whole scene where Horobi kills Izu didn't feel so much like a plot machination, a sacrifice built specifically to make Aruto murderously unhinged. Like I mentioned in the episode post, there are elements I like metaphorically, and Aruto's turn is one of them. I just don't like how the show chose to get there.

I thought this was really funny, actually. Horobi puts out a Humagear-wide call for terrorism buddies, and he barely gets enough participants to face Hiden Intelligence's softball team. (Go Hiden Figures!) Sounds like Aruto's support of Humagears is paying off!

Oh hey, Keuhne’s back. It’s been a long time (40 episodes. Can you believe it?)

And this is why my video for the Ark-One Zetsumeriskey was simply the RKF figure. To avoid this spoiler (which was probably unnecessary, since I did mention it once in a certain other thread when discussing HEROEZ you may have a MEMORY OF)

So basically, at this point, the show was running on fumes. They could only salvage two things from their original plan (Williamson and Ark-One), most of their suit actors (the ones for Vulcan, Valkyrie, Thouser and Jin) had gone on to work on Saber (as Saber, Kenzan, Espada and Blades respectively). But they still wanted to do Nawata vs Takaiwa for their final battle, hence why the plot is slightly contrived to make Aruto want to murder Horobi (but it does have some thematic resonance with several of Zero-One’s upgrades having an increasing connection to the Ark).

And since I forgot about this, I’ll just put this here.

Progrise: I am a younger brother to assist a satellite, There. Astronaut: Uchuyaro Subaru.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=n7YbqnW7iB8

I liked seeing the old Magia suits again even if they're just being used as generic footsoliders at this point which is usually what the kaijin get reduced to when we're stuck with Rider vs Rider.
Well, she's only been sentient for a bit of time...

Same here. While I'm not going to contest anyone who says Izu was dumb for getting herself killed like that, I still respect that she made an independent decision to protect her boss. That was always the risk of reaching singularity, of becoming alive, that you can actually die. Izu probably felt closer to humanity than other HumaGears, due her lack of a backup, but with self-awareness comes the power to dream and she was willing to risk her one life for the sake of her dream of peaceful co-existence. Yeah, that's pretty brave, regardless of the outcome. She did manage to chip away at Horobi a little, make him see for a moment the hypocrisy in his argument. Izu didn't die for nothing.

Well I did say "similar", so I know Horobi's motivation isn't exactly as pure and sincere as Heart's. Now that you mention it though, yeah, I can see a lot of Heart in Jin as a fellow red fighter who wishes for liberation of his people, so that's probably the better comparison. Horobi probably sees himself as this, but even though his motivation is clear, his actions are not. He's acting out of fear of what humanity will do to them and out of father's instinct to protect his son from that threat. He feels pressured to eradicate humanity ASAP, including their influence on HumaGears, rather than allow them the chance to do any more harm.

I respect your opinion, but I have to disagree with you here. Isamu absolutely cares about Aruto and wanted to give him the space to grieve and work out his feelings, as that's exactly what Isamu would want if he was in that position. If not for Azu showing up, I'm sure he would've had a serious pep talk prepared for Aruto later when his head was clear, but he just never got the chance. It's nice that Yua's instinct was to console Aruto, but I don't think he would've been receptive to that when the wound was so fresh. Isamu understood that, so he figured that leaving him alone was all he could do for him at that time. There's no doubt in my mind that Aruto and Isamu have an unbreakable bond after everything they've been through together.

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 43 - “THAT IS A HEART”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...zeroone43a.png

Of all the things that I never expected to see again in Reiwa, the biggest one has to be the remix summer movie. You know, the frequently-Inoue ones, where it would do a truncated version of the main series, but with a different ending. The characters are all there, and the relationships are the same, but there’d always be just enough changed to make it feel ancillary: some new random character in a position of power, a different final boss, etc. The big thing would be a kind of slimmed down version of the show’s themes. It’d usually be more personal, a Versus thing rather than an exploration of larger concepts.

That’s what this final batch of episodes feels like. It feels like the remix movie version of the Zero-One TV show.

Those movies could be fun, for sure. This episode has some outstanding fight scenes (I love the shots of Ark-One in darkness, referencing Aruto’s misery), and some beautiful staging. It’s consistently entertaining to look at. But there’s a narrowness to what the episode’s talking about, and it’s reductive in ways this show largely avoided in the past. We’re not really talking about how society decides which people have value, or how working classes view their necessity to capitalism, or how marginalized people balance utility and independence within oppressive systems. We’re talking about the poisonous nature of revenge, and how violence begets more violence.

It’s fine, as a concept to explore with these characters. It’s just the Dig Two Graves lesson, but that’s got a ton of inherent drama. Doing a story where Horobi denies his own emotional needs to the detriment of his support system, while Aruto demolishes a year of goodwill to try and stave off despair, that’s a story you can tell in this world. But it’s simple, you know? It’s straightforward in the way 70-minute summer films frequently were. It’s about two forces in opposition, so everyone outside those two forces is relegated to the sidelines. Naki and Ikazuchi are back from their spa day, but they only get a single scene to tell Jin things are getting out of hand without actually, uh, helping him. Thouser and the Shotrisers (18+ show this Monday at the Metro, doors open at 9pm) spend most of the episode going to different rooms and expositing. (Good fight scene with Ark-One, though, for real.) The Humagears as a culture don’t get a say in what’s happening, other than it sounding like Horobi’s accidentally driving more of them crazy. It’s just a story about Horobi and Aruto.

In that shrunken spotlight, though, it’s actually pretty good.

Treating this group of episodes as more of a tangent than an epilogue frees it from the narrative weight of the proceeding themes, and lets it work as basically a two-hander. Both actors turn in series-best work (not exactly a high bar for Horobi to clear, but credit where credit’s due), and elevate what’d otherwise be a fairly standard revenge story. The escalation of hostilities feels sickeningly inevitable, with Horobi’s steadfast refusal to admit culpability running up against Aruto’s enraged loss. It’s not exactly fun to see Aruto this hollowed-out and grim, but it feels earned to a degree that had me anticipating the next scenes. There’s energy to Aruto’s terrifying mission, and it nicely compliments Horobi’s deteriorating confidence.

The two of them have spent the past couple episodes switching between who has the moral high ground, and the irony is that neither of them do by the end. They’re both killers, and they’re both villains. Hatred’s turned them both into vessels for destruction, with nothing to show for it but more hatred – directed inward and outward. They’ve both lost people close to them, and are becoming a living rejection of those victims’ dreams in the name of vengeance. I liked this show better when it was about how society did that, but there’s still some artistry to a story applied to the individual.

—

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SO-DO AI 10: KAMEN RIDER ARK-ONE

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...zeroone43b.jpg

The thing I like best about this suit is how the breastplate looks like a screaming Humagear face. The red eyes, and the open mouth… it’s a million miles away from a happy grasshopper, you know? There’s an anger to so much of this suit, and I love that. The harsh black/white coloring is a worldview without compromise or empathy: us vs them, victors vs victims. The red cuts through blocks of color to indicate that while the facade may be cold and unfeeling, underneath it’s all rage and fear. Gorgeous villain suit design.

The figure nails the design, too. Only maybe ten stickers across both boxes (they painted the inner arms, which is way above and beyond), and the inclusion of closed fists to make sure your posed toy is capable of inflicting horrifying violence. Real pretty to look at, and maybe be afraid of.