Nah, park's for automatics. Isamu would never trust a machine to shift his gears!

Would be inconsistent, in you using Was for the older brother, but Izu for the little sister. Yeah, at first glance he'd be impossible to take seriously, and Izu here acts cold, aloof, and rather stuck-up against him. But there are lessons from Wazu here, other than to not judge the book by its cover. Wazu's someone who uses unconventional method as the best detective around, and that's about how, sometimes, unconventional approach to things can actually be the best course of action, compared to how people like Izu and especially Fuwa (as a professional military member, except when he goes off the rails to satisfy his grudge) always do things by the book and not look out of the box, especially regarding professional stuff (character or faction) that is usually acknowledged as 'competent' and encourages following all what they want, particularly pragmatic approaches (looking at you Yua). Using unconventional method also can, of course, make it unpredictable to the enemies, though there's a risk of the allies trying to stop the perceived lunatic from 'ruining' everything.

Wazu also managed to further change Fuwa's stance that he'd admit he's good, as well as giving him an idea of how a Singularity izu like, instead of the threat he perceived them as. Wazu also shows the countermeasures Hiden did take about Humagear's evil plots. Wonder if Assassin-chan is sort of the evil counterpart of Wazu here of how he had become so advanced (in Version 5) that, he acted as beyond a tool, by turning on Horobi and Jin, and it's an unexpected moment for them. And so here, Assassin-chan's true identity is revealed that he's Matsurida Z, a dancing Humagear. Its name is based on Japanese phrase "matsuri daze" which means "it's a celebration". There's also number theming of how 4 is a death number that, there are 4 Matsurida Z stolen, and the 4th one is also the strongest iteration.

While Horobi is my favorite base Rider suit, yeah for Zero-One, I suppose for me the upgrades look better, like Rising Hopper suit here, though admittedly, the reason I like it would be about it being more serious Zero-One.

Riku Sanjou only ended up writing for this show because Takahashi took longer than expected to write Reiwa The First Generation, apparently. I'm EXTREMELY glad he took long enough for us to get these episodes. I've told you several times over how I don't think there's a big difference between Takahashi and Kakehi's writing on this show, and that's a good thing, but when Sanjou is writing it, it's just Double, and that's a *great* thing.

I'm not sure if I've given this spiel specifically to you before, Die, but... wait, no, I just remembered I brought this up back when we were talking about Kamen Rider Brain, so, once again...

...so "fun" is always my key word with this writer, and at the risk of making the show sound all downhill from here, this is probably THE most raw fun you'll have watching Zero-One. This story stands out so much from the rest, and in such a good way. It's just completely grin-inducing and funny the whole way through, which helps (I adore Aruto having some YouTube page full of countless sub-100 view videos of all his lame standup gags; not to mention "these are my work clothes!"), but again, just like Double, the script is also genuinely well-constructed beyond that. It's no surprise seeing you praise the episode for swinging away from a heavy atmosphere while still advancing the story and characters meaningfully, because like, that's Double! That's why that show is a beloved classic, and it makes me so happy that Zero-One got to tap into that same magic for a few weeks. And like you mentioned, basically everyone gets a bit in here, which I've always felt is something that happened because we had a new writer? You gave Sanjou all these toys, and he's gonna play with 'em, dang it!

Oh, and speaking of toys, I do rather like Shining Hopper. It'd sort of be easier to talk about once you've actually seen the form in action, but they took an unusual approach to the design by having it do that whole subtractive upgrade thing. It's Zero-One after shedding most of his armor, (which, again, will seem more relevant in a bit for you!) and the undersuit itself bulking up nicely suggests how this is an overall upgrade instead of just any random new animal.

They also used up like all of their best ideas at once for this form, and between:

-"WHEN I SHINE! Darkness fades..."
- Turning the Key like an actual key
- The bug-catching net

...it's really no surprise I can't help but love it? I'm amazed they didn't hold off on at least one of those for some bigger upgrade down the line. I'm not sure if I really have a favorite Zero-One upgrade, per se, but Shining Hopper in particular gives me a lot of warm feelings.

I'm not sure anyone's explicitly addressed this yet, but yes, weird names are very much the Hiden tradition. Not only does it apply to pretty much all the Humagears, and their satellites too, but you've got Korenosuke and Soreo ("this" and "that"), and Aruto himself is literally "a person", which also apparently came from the staff's desire to portray him as a regular guy first and foremost, rather than as some paragon of justice who's always in the right.

It's a sort of broader theme with the show I can't really define that well off the top of my head, but the episode titles kinda fall in line with the same idea, as they're generally very straightforward phrases, with the consistent format of a pronoun or demonstrative word written in katakana for emphasis. And it's like, why is a boring regular word the part you're calling attention to? I still only sort of understand, even a couple years later, but I've definitely come to love how understated and sort of poetic those titles can be. I may not be able to describe it well on its own, but if you contrast it against how Takahashi's previous Rider show about garishly-colored video game doctors loudly mixed Japanese and English together for its episode titles, the deliberately subdued flavor of Zero-One's shtick might seem a bit clearer.

Looking at Die's current signature as of this post I miss Kenta Uchino as Teppei from Ultraman Mebius, which Die, if you ever start Ultraman start from either that or Max if you don't mind mid-2000s toku. Mebius btw was the show that aired alongside Kabuto circa 2006.

I actually really like that about Aruto. It ties into alot of the things that I interpret the show doing, and makes me love him as a character all the more.

It's funny how, with Toku being known for being rather out there, especially to people not really familiar to it, that Zero-One chose to define itself in trying to come across as plain and to the point. Heck, it's one of the few nitpicks I have with the official subs; Them using ZEA instead of THERE. Still, it's a pretty fun meta thing overall.

That's a clutch comeback! Nicely done!

Yeah, it's not a suit I'm fond of, but Shining Hopper definitely communicates its purpose pretty clearly.

And I'm okay with it being a one-story diversion? This show's generally been about weightier existential questions, and you need a bit more seriousness to the show for that to work. There's no saying you can't drill into thorny questions about technology or empathy with a character who's as much of a buffoon as Was is, but the dissonance there is probably tough for a full series to handle. This is a fun outing, but I don't need it to be the baseline.

I want to say the vague idea is to do Ultraman Trigger in the future? I heard that was a good one?

To be fair, the "ZEA" spelling does appear on-screen at one point, so I think that's what they were deferring to. (Even though "There" gets used too...) Honestly, I just really respect that they even had the guts to keep Is and Was as the normal words they are.

(Oh, and while I was looking around to check that information, I found out the 3D printer is even named "That"? Hiden really takes this naming shtick seriously!)

This is one of my favorite episodes in Zero-One.

I just love the detective and how he's an older Humagear model with old-fashioned detective duds, but the fact that his role in the episode is such a good one makes it better for me.

We also get Shining Hopper, which is a suit I actually really like, it's different from the norm when it comes to Rider upgrades, and the protrusions on the chest are a nice touch. Although, much like Zi-O II, it runs into the weird problem of being a little overpowered compared to some later ones, but not as much. Nitpick though it may be, it's just standard procedure for Rider, but still a neat form overall, though I do like Rising Hopper better.

And R.I.P. Ansatsu-Chan.

That quote is so good, and I still wonder why I love it so much.

Also, Haha! I either forgot most of the official names, or just now learned what they actually are, but I find those names extremely funny. No wonder Aruto tried and failed to become a comedian.

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 13 - “BEING THE PRESIDENT’S SECRETARY IS MY JOB”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...zeroone13a.png

An overall solid finish to this mystery story, with some terrific action to complement some nice character growth, even if some of the story beats feel a little rushed.

And, let’s start with those rushed story beats: I feel like the Was sacrifice, along with the potential Izu sacrifice, sort of comes out of nowhere? The idea of the Shining Hopper Key being incomplete because the satellite doesn’t know what Aruto’s capable of in the same way Izu does, that tracks. This is a show about seeing past faces and descriptions and origins to get at the limitless potential within everyone, so we need there to be an obstacle that can only be cleared through the bond between a human and a Humagear. I could quibble about Izu deciding to sacrifice herself now, when the threat of MetsubouJinrai is far more terrifying than an errant Dodo, but, like, she’s had a rough day. Folks make bad decisions sometimes in the immediate aftermath of failure. Sure.

But then the solution to You Can’t Murder Izu In Episode 13 is Was taking her place, and that just doesn’t work for me? He’s got Zero-One combat data, sure, but he doesn’t know Aruto, not really. He just showed up that day! He’s seen Zero-One fight for maybe fifteen seconds! It not only ends up robbing the Shining Hopper Key of the specific bond that Was spends his dying breaths explaining to Izu, but it rushes the Was/Izu story into a quick resolution that it didn’t really need. They save the actor from 11, but they drop Was? Why couldn’t he have survived this brand-new process?

Besides that, though, I thought this was a pretty fun take on the First Upgrade Form story. I like that Shining Hopper is about Aruto’s ability to constantly (Prog)rise to meet any challenge, and his view of technology as a way to unlock power. Seeing him surpass a machine that was built to surpass him was an exceptionally smart way of illustrating not just Zero-One’s cool new overpowered ability that will be utterly negated within six episodes, but a great distillation of Aruto’s sense of his own untapped potential. I don’t love the suit a whole lot, but this episode certainly sold the concept of Shining Hopper to me.

There’re a few other things that felt like they’d be discussion topics, but ended up not being utilized enough to bother. I was as excited as Aruto about him teaming up, officially, with Vulcan and Valkyrie, but then the whole fight is decided by Zero-One’s new form that everyone marvels at. Similarly, I thought the last Assassin-chan Humagear was going to get some screentime in the finale, but he’s just casually mentioned as being in custody, so I guess everything’s okay now? The pressure on Hiden Intelligence was what was motivating this entire story, and it’s sort of handwaved in a line of dialogue over the final scene. Not great follow-through?

I complain about some of these points, but I still had fun with this episode. It’s a little more action-focused than last time, which means a bit less comedy, but there’s still plenty of joy to be had. (I especially liked Yua wondering what two Hiden Humagears were doing inside an AIMS van, since Fuwa split without leaving a note or anything. Funny gag!) It’s a little sloppy in its wrap-up, but I liked what it was talking about. Very fun two-parter.

—

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SO-DO AI 03: KAMEN RIDER VALKYRIE - LIGHTNING HORNET

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...zeroone13b.jpg

Lightning Hornet! I legitimately would’ve felt bad if we’d waited much longer to talk about Valkyrie’s first form change. It would’ve felt… I don’t know, disrespectful? Luckily, we a) talked about Shining Hopper last time, and b) actually got to see Yua use this form in this episode, so we’re good to go!

It’s an interesting suit design. It gives up some of the aggression of Rushing Cheetah for a nimbleness, which is a nice tactical option. Rushing Cheetah’s all about maneuvering around the battlefield until Yua can move in for the kill, while Lightning Hornet spams attacks from the air until the opponent is ready for the finisher. Both styles benefit from Yua’s strategic mindset, but Lightning Hornet feels a bit more self-sufficient in its ranged attacks.

The design’s… I like it, but I don’t love it. I think it’s the antennae on the helmet? It looks a little too dainty, and I want Yua’s suits to have the same sense of power as Fuwa’s or Aruto’s. (The little blue booties do not help in this regard.) Still, I enjoy the crispness of the blue and gold and white. It sells Lightning as the main thing for this suit, and the honeycombed hexagons fill in the Hornet part.

This figure, though! Yikes! The one box is about 60% of the body and four stickers, while the other box was all the armor, a bunch of replacement body parts, and twenty-odd stickers. The second box was bulging. Most of the stickers were annoying, but not time-consuming: everything needed to fold around in some way, which made centering things tricky. A bit of a bummer that the wings show up in a later accessory pack, especially when the first box was so light, but I’ve got that accessory pack in a pile somewhere.

Anyway, yeah, decent suit and a decent figure. Sorry it took so long to get to!

Yes, start with Max. Everyone should watch Ultraman Max.

Trigger is... Okay, so Trigger isn't objectively bad, but I think it's safe to say that if you start there, then any other New Generation show you may want to watch next is a step up.

Or, you could go back to '05 and watch Max.