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I love how in spite of getting beaten in his debut (Black) Woz still is smug as he wasn’t aiming to defeat Geiz, just slowing him down. It’s a type of debut I don’t normally see where it is not about shilling forms but about what it means for characters and how it used to affect the plot. Tsukasa playing judge is interesting. We've seen him as a resigned executioner and devious mastermind but never as one toa actively judge the worth of a world, And for all of his bluster Tsukasa is trying to aim for a brighter future for all. Also, the final scene with the ZI-O bike with 47 seconds of screen time is the least used bike in not just Heisei but Kamen Rider history lol.

Seeing Sougo and Geiz beaten up limping to each other for a “final fight” that there hearts aren’t really in it the empty parking lot, the early snow, how anxious Geiz is contrasting with how determined and resigned Sougo and his admittance as Sougo is his friend at the (unneeded) arrival of Another ZI-O and that barrage of all the Rider Armors wa sso cool since this was essentially a graduation from these form. The combination of Shippu speed in almost clock-up like manner comboed off ZI-O II future sight was great. But in the aftermath Sougo trying to move on with Hiryuu but him voutsinas the Another ZI-O watch refuses to break is a perfect symbolism. But it;s that final scene with all three as Tsukuyomi reunites with Sougo and Geiz it’s was so simple they didn’t have to fight after a dozen or so episodes of saying it will at the end of the day if the two warriors hearts aren't in it then don’t fight. And all we can do is laugh together at how silly we were.

All the heightened emotions and nearly-filled prophecies made the writer extra Magical Realism-y in this episode. There're a bunch of crucial, character-altering details here that sort of don't come up again, but in the fever dream desperation of the characters, it feels correct.

Tsukasa loves to play into his Destroyer of Worlds legend, but there's no chance he was actually going to destroy Zi-O's world. Tsukasa always works best as a semi-skeptical audience surrogate: the guy who walks into a show and goes What Story Are You Even Trying To Tell. He just wants Zi-O's complicated backstory to either starting paying dividends, or get out of the way.

So fun fact, this arc was originally going to be a tribute to Amazons, since Shirakura wanted to do one at some point and Bandai went along enough to include lights for all three Amazon Riders in the Ziku Driver. But Toei vetoed it, on account of Amazons not being something you want to directly expose your kids to (At least the Teen Titans Go movie never gets any further than referencing Deadpool. I say from experience that kids are likely to miss stuff like that), so all we get is this “humans being wiped out by savage monsters in a world full of asshole heroes” premise.

Also, Hiryu. More on him later.

Now as your watch (not the Rider device) has reached this part, this isn't merely about Sougo being ready to claim victory, but this is also about how Sougo's journey in his youth as a whole is also partly Ohma Zi-O's plan, he's the one who recruited Woz his own fanatical prophet and sending him back to the past to serve as a mentor (corruptor) to the younger Sougo, motivating him to follow his same path. So actually Woz is, the right hand man of Ohma Zi-O, which is why he's villainous, it's because of his actual role too, though he turned better in ep. 30. And Ohma Zi-O's tiny bit of decency is treating his minion Woz well. Why does he do that? Because Ohma Zi-O's goal was to create an alternate version of himself to distract the multiverse from his own machinations.

I mean for sure you did have your experiences with Narutaki in Decade before, but characters can be of different types y'know? Hiryu isn't someone that is meant to be rife with a sense of scale, and it's also ok to make a character that has motives that aren't typical villain grandiose plan, and that also counts as motive, characters meant to be annoying and hatable like him (to see what's coming to him). He's meant to be someone utterly petty, bitter, and spiteful, like how Narutaki blames everything on Decade, even when he's grasping on straws for logical reasons to do so. He rejects Sougo's advice before considering that an insult, someone that would never take responsibility and shifting blames to everything else, and still envies him for having a better fate than him, rejecting Sougo's good will and making it his mission to steal everything from Sougo out of spite. This also shows about how Hiryu is worse than Ohma Zi-O, willingly becoming the Overlord and is terrorizing the world only for spiteful motivation of taking everything from Sougo, while even Ohma Zi-O believes his actions somehow saved the world even if he is completely insane. Though for all his bitterness, he has a tragic part of being a broken man unable to move from the past.

There's another crushing card being handed to Sougo here about how Tsukasa took a blurred photo of him. The thing is, only Sougo is blurred, and it's symbolic regarding how Sougo may be erased from existence regarding his defeat to Ohma Zi-O, the altered timeline, and Hiryu taking his place now. I would also say here that Tsukasa has less asshole approach here than some of his other actions, because though at first he mocked Sougo's ambitions, when Sougo opened up, Tsukasa is more straightforward of dealing with him instead of disguising more insults, he actually explained about how the world crumbles, Geiz and Tsukuyomi are meant to prevent him becoming a king, and thus Sougo's ambition to become king shouldn't be reliant on them. And for sure this episode tortures Sougo (and him losing is Ohma Zi-O doing his plan), not even his friends, with Tsukuyomi a bit hostile and Geiz going back into murderous rage he had in earlier series, attacking Sougo when not transformed, but his own uncle also tried to attack him, in similar fashion to Geiz (with loaf of bread), with white radish.

And obviously Hiryu would never replicate Sougo, he's even worse than Ohma Zi-O after all, and while Sougo did draw people to him, Ohma Zi-O, which is alternate Sougo which'd have the same kindly youth he had, is also alone, everyone hates him for a good reason and is trying to overthrow him, including his younger self. Hiryu not drawing people to him is completely on point as evil version of Zi-O! While current Sougo now had found some keys to prevent himself becoming Ohma Zi-O, by accepting his capacity of evil and being more honest with his feelings instead of not admitting bad situation.

And Zi-O isn't the only one to pull this. Other Riders also had the Rider powers simplified after their debut, which is another thing that are my pet peeves in KR fighting scenes. For example, in Ex-Aid, the Rider Kicks of the titular Rider, like when he brutally (temporarily) killed Para-DX or his final kick against the final threat (depowered Cronus). And obviously, how Brave fights as Taddle Legacy in later fights compared to his debut. Some of the later Build fights also had the power use minimized and had the fighters go purely hand-to-hand. Otherwise nice trivia of Ohma Zi-O and Grand Zi-O's fighting style comparison.

Kamen Rider fights are often like that, unfortunately, I mean I like the variety of powers (quantity =/= quality though, but Sougo is broken as anniversary Rider) that is given in the upgrades in Heisei Phase 2, but many disappoint me with how many of them are underutilized in fighting and isn't used to full potential. Gaim Kiwami Arms was one of those that has his variety of powers used well. Technically it'd be futile because Ohma Zi-O has the more superior version of Grand Zi-O's powers thus Grand Zi-O would inevitably lose, Ohma Zi-O was the one that pulled him into the fight at the first place, and they probably shortened the fight to only show Ohma Zi-O countered Grand Zi-O with superior version of the same power, because the point was about Grand Zi-O losing but still...

I love how Uncle Tokiwa goes from some oblivious dude who thinks teens jumping out of mirrors is totally normal, to giving Sougo a critical piece of advice to resolve his conflict with Geiz, to fixing the freakin' Denliner as proof that he's the Greatest Clock Repairman In History!

Drive is also very prominent in the Grand Zi-O jingle: "Double, OOO, Fourze! Wizard, Gaim, DORAIBUUUU!" Like the Ridewatch is screaming at Sougo to remind him that he still needs to get his own Drive Ridewatch instead of borrowing Oma Zi-O's.

Really bad luck that Sougo just happened to summon him against Oma Zi-O though. But when you consider that Oma Zi-O already has an idea how his younger self would act, he probably planned for this to happen and set up this fight specifically to show that Drive is loyal to him, not Sougo.

I imagine the effect is similar to Yesterday Dopant, where the Riders are pulled from their times to go through the same motions, but without awareness of their new surroundings and without harm to those Riders, who aren't really present. So it's probably not that horrific.

That is a fun fact! And, wow, Amazons would maybe not be right for this show!

So, a) using Narutaki as an example is basically agreeing that Hiryuu is an embarrassingly one-note villain; and b) I don't think it's wrong to expect more substance or nuance from a multi-story villain. If Hiryuu was a standard two-episode Another Roder, sure, who cares. Him being Angry Version Of Sougo is plenty. But if this guy ends up being in at least five episodes? I'm not sure you can get away with shrugging at his deficiencies as irrelevant.

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP41)

- *Sees this is a Morota episode*
- *skims around to immediately find Hiryuu punching Sougo into some water*

Man, it really is like every set of episodes this guy has ever directed has at least one moment like this. Dude loves splashing water like Sakamoto loves explosions.

Anyways, you can see from my old post that me and this arc kind of got off on a bad foot, but I think I've cooled off some in retrospect. I mean, I definitely still find it somewhat silly that we had a plot thread in this show where Oma Zi-O tells Sougo to collect Watches to become Oma Zi-O and Sougo somehow interpreted that as "collect Watches to NOT become Oma Zi-O", but hey, that got us some of the best episodes of the series, so why bother complaining? Besides that though, I think I just had my expectations set unreasonably high because, well...

...You have *no* idea how excited I was to finally see that Hiryuu was back after that tease with the Another Zi-O Watch fixing itself back in episode 28. Hiryuu's like, my guy, man! I was probably the only person who did care whether or not we ever saw him again, but I genuinely loved him in those first four episodes, and the thought of the series getting the chance to expand on that dynamic between him and Sougo was super enticing to me. The setup was all there, with a narrative clearly geared towards digging into Sougo himself once again, meaning the return of his bargain-brand evil knock-off could once again provide a great foil, and really, that was basically everything I cared about going into this story.

I think that's why I acted like it was some great crime that Mouri was writing this instead of Shimoyama, which is one of the things my perspective has already changed on. In retrospect, I kinda like that both writers got a shot with Another Zi-O? This arc has a very different flavor from Hiryuu's debut, and as I've said before, I enjoy how much variety Zi-O brings to the table. These episodes have a very strong hook for their story, and despite the weirdly pessimistic attitude with which I wrote about it at the time, I can tell you that I was very much looking forward to seeing where it was going.

Wait, seriously? I'd kinda like to know more about this, if that's the case? It's really hard to imagine the idea of doing an Amazons arc getting far enough along to even be replaced.

My source is Zi-O’s Complete Mook. I’ve no idea if there’s more information there, beyond what the comment translating most of the information I’ve been sharing in this thread (the rest of it comes from Tom Constantine’s translation of the Round Table discussion) said.

I wonder if the idea of an Amazons arc was floated as a general idea pre-series, not for this specific 2-parter, because let's be honest, the Dan Kuroto .5 episode reveals which legend Rider arc went where was as much about filming availability than some grand plan. Being in the Driver... all the main Riders are in the Driver, including all the Showa Riders, I don't think we can take "in the driver" to mean anything more than a vague "Yeah we might include them". But then again, I'm just speculating

I think Omega, Alpha and Neo are all in the Driver because A) You can kind of consider them all Main Riders? Omega I don't have to make a case for, but Alpha sort of shares the main protagonist role in Season 1 and then Neo is the main character we're following in Season 2. And B) all the Riders of Build and Ex-aid - the two most recent shows - except Mad Rogue are also in there. Amazons is technically both the third most recent show (it debuted during Ghost, ie between Ghost and Ex-Aid's debuts) and also just as recent given Season 2 was during Ex-Aid and the movie came out during Build -- about 5 months prior to the Ziku Driver's release!

I distinctly remember being let down by this arc both not having enough depth to Hiryu to make him an interesting villain and also the way Grand just immediately started sucking. Kind of already been gone over why those are, so just to add something slightly unique onto that...

Something I noted at the time that I still agree with is that what specifically disappointed me about Grand here is that in its debut, it was doing something extremely specific -- it wasn't just summoning Riders, it was summoning moments in time, using the full force of a Rider's finisher or what have you when they were beating up a villain. This made it extremely cool and distinguished it from other summoners, was a great visual flair and easter egg hunt, and allowed as well for funny moments like the Momotaros gag. But here... it's just normal summons, which makes Grand just feel like a glorified Diend with nothing more special to him other than that I guess he can also summon their swords. It's not like they don't try to do cool things with the summons, and they do succeed in some places; but it's such a derailment from what Grand initially seemed to be.

Also Ohma corrupting Drive resulting in a really fucked up pitched-down version of the car honk was... absurdly funny. Loved it

Attachment 61868

Anyway, the most genius idea here being that the Another Rider here is Another Zi-O II, the monster actually got an upgrade! I strangely enjoy that detail. I also find it interesting how Sougo is now everyone's enemy, even his uncle's in this world, which reminds me of Tsukasa after he accepted his role as the Destroyer of Worlds, which makes him siding with Sougo quite fitting.

It really is the bleakest of timelines when all of your friends now view you as an enemy, and never met you in the first place, and your archnemesis is king of the world with your butler in tow, and has your evil future self's statue set memorabilia in his home.

Also, hearing a warning as an invitation to follow a particular path is Sougo's earliest character trait. That's some Episode 1 stuff! That is the Time Orphans begging him not to Henshin because it means he's going to become Oma Zi-O, and then him doing it anyway. At least this time it was to stop a more terrible outcome, not just because he didn't understand the consequences?

I rarely want to call out when this show does clever things with Sougo's abilities, because I feel like it has a condescending ring to it; I'm So Glad This Show Remembered Form X Could Do Thing Y, that type of comment. But, yeah, it's weirdly typical for this show to have a new form debut that's not just more powerful, but tactically singular, and then sort of forget it in the next story and just spam attacks. Remember when Zi-O II could rewind time? This show sure doesn't!

The thing I was most disappointed with in this story was that Hiryuu wasn't (that I'm aware of) still called Another Zi-O, leading to a Resistance that was wondering who the hell Zi-O was. Missed opportunity for some apocalyptic giggles.

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 42 - “2019 - MISSING WORLD”

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It’s sort of interesting how small and personal this story ended up being.

We’re in a Darkest Timeline story, where the whole world is changed, but this entire story is about how the bond that Sougo formed with his friends is because of their own innate qualities. It can be obscured, or severed, but it can’t be erased. We’ve got a villain who’s taken over the world and vowed to crush our heroes, but this story just wants to focus on the warmth of friendship.

I like it, even if there’s a whiff of a missed opportunity in this installment. Hiryuu’s plan is just to destroy/humiliate (it sort of depends on the scene) Sougo, so we never really get a sense of what this new world has to offer. Like, even in the endless supply of films where Shocker took over the world, there’d be some weirdo detail that added to the experience. Cart racing, or whistles, or whatever. Here, it’s barely even implied. I guess the Another Riders are attacking people? And I guess Hiryuu is the king because of that? The specifics of the world lack even the saturated filters that hint at the ecological ruin of the Misery Fields of 2068, lending everything a sort of shrug of menace. It’s the Darkest Timeline because Sougo’s lost his friends, and that’s about it.

But that’s a good story to tell? It’s nearly on the level of a clip show, the way it sort of races through the Geiz/Sougo story. It touches on Sougo’s other friendships, but it’s basically dedicated to exploring his friendship with Geiz by recounting their crazy journey from adversaries to uneasy allies to friends.

Tsukuyomi’s friendship was always an empathetic pragmatism: befriending Sougo was a way to alter his destiny, help build a lonely boy into a powerful hero. Woz’z friendship was first and foremost a dedication to a regent; as soon as the title of Overlord changed hands, Woz’z loyalty (if not his admiration) went with it. But Geiz’z friendship was like pulling teeth. It was earned through months of fighting, both at each other’s sides and at each other’s throats. Getting Geiz to be Sougo’s friend in just a few scenes is, maybe, the most difficult quest of Sougo’s life.

This is one of those episodes that kind of lives or dies by one scene. It’s not a big reveal or huge debut. It’s not a Legend Rider thing. It’s not even a big, melodramatic showcase for an actor. It’s, like this whole episode, resolutely low-key and intimate. We get a nice scene where a perplexed Geiz wants to know what he was like in the previous timeline, and how he ever ended up being friends with a kid who wanted to be a time-conquering overlord.

The details are… I mean, they’re just details. Even describing the scene sort of robs of its magic. But if you’ve been watching this show for 41 episodes, it feels like a reward. There’s nothing to it, other than Sougo cheerfully telling Geiz that they were friends, and Geiz slowly coming around to the idea. It’s just a really warm scene, a fun encapsulation of this weird dynamic that’s powered a whole series.

I don’t know if this show works without you buying Geiz and Sougo as friends? I feel like that’s a pretty crucial buy-in. This isn’t a series designed by its central pairing, like a Build or a W or an OOO. But the ability for Sougo to win over his own executioner, to instill a sense of optimism and faith in a pessimistic grump, that’s a plot that connects all of these other stories. It asks the viewer to give less weight to a fearful future than a happy present, and that’s such a fun message for a show like this to slowly spin up.

So, yeah, the Geiz/Sougo stuff was a big win for me, despite the, like, plot being so threadbare yet cluttered. It’s a lot of things happening, but nothing really moving forward. Nice to see Diend, even if Stopping Time To Swipe A Ridewatch doesn’t seem like the sort of task that would’ve been beyond the Time Jackers more generally. And Decade’s in this, leading to my favorite Zi-O gag in forever:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio42b.png
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It’s a fun enough episode, even if it’s really just on the back of some funny jokes and a home run of a Sougo/Geiz plot. Two parts in on this story of Team Zi-O’s dynamic being tested and, while I like the concept, it’s not a group of episodes that feel like it’s doing more than an in-series version of fan service. I like Geiz and Sougo! But that’s not new information!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio42d.png

Tsukasa and Kaitou are both making gigantic messes in this story, which -- as a Kamen Rider Decade fan -- is something I found utterly delightful.

Rip Kabuto not mentioned in the duo rider series (also den-o)

Edir: also drive

We're in the middle and really you honestly nailed the most important part of this episode aside from the confirmation at the very end of Tsukuyomi and Swartz' relationship. This is very much a Sougo and Geiz sort of episode.

I also like that scene where the Another Riders are chasing after Tsukuyomi after she rounds a corner, and Another Build clearly trips and fumbles and that was not supposed to happen but manages to keep going. Like even Another Kabuto pauses for a moment. That and the small gags with Tsukasa, what with the Magenta not Pink line, and him just stuffing his army helmet with bread alongside the moment where he just points a real gun at Hiryu. Solid stuff.

Next time for BGM Swaps and we've... got the same deal as last time! So not much to go into aside from posting the video.

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 43 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41sTPe0XOi4

I mean, nearly every Heisei show has a strong central partnership, sure. Godai and Ichijo, Takumi and Yuji, Hajime and Bench. It's just that those shows don't make the partnership as central as other shows that are more explicitly about two characters throughout the show, to the exclusion of other characters. Many shows have good pairings! But most shows aren't front-to-back about just those pairings.

(Den-O... man, maybe, but the Den-Liner crew is so central to the series.)

It's such an actorly move, him needing to be doing some business in the background, but I loved it. This is a scene where Sougo has to convince two people who would very much like to murder him to not only not do that, but also please be his friends again... and Tsukasa's stocking up on bread while casually reminding Sougo that he wants to be exactly the thing the Time Orphans are afraid of.

VERY SOLID STUFF!

Yeah! You happend to pin down exactly what it is that I liked most about this episode, and its that one conversation on that rooftop.

So there's two scenes between the two in this episode. Early in the episode where Sougo is pleading to Geiz Revive instead of fighting back. This one's a little eh to me and I feel bad for saying that, because it is a rather sad scene of Sougo risking getting killed instead of fighting his friend. However, he already had it explained to him that Geiz doesn't remember any of the stuff he's talking about and that there's a villain responsible for affecting everyone's memories. I hate to call a scene 'bad' just because a character is following their heart instead of logic (which is so often the case with Sougo) but I guess this scene's emotion didn't quite manage to land for me.

What did definitely land was the later scene, with Geiz asking about how he and Sougo could be friends, and Sougo happily telling him about their bizarre up-and-downs! I really, really liked it. The piano version of Over-Quartzer playing, Sougo happy when Geiz gets grumpy with him in that classic fasion, and Geiz can't help but be charmed as well. (Sorry to rob the scene of its magic...!) It's so good, and it makes me think that this show doesn't have nearly enough scenes of these two, or its main characters in general, just having these low-key conversations without involving plot machinations or whatever stakes are going on.

I honestly do believe that, at least in concept if not in execution, that the dynamic of Sougo and Geiz is as central to this show as say Sento and Banjou is to Build, but its just that Zi-O goes about it in a different way. There were like twenty different scenes in Build where Sento and Banjo boost one another up by demonstrating their perfect understanding of each other. And I liked just about all of them!

In comparison, Sougo and Geiz's building relation is significantly more gradual and understated, which makes sense since there was/is that looming threat of Sougo becoming Oma Zi-O looming over them. And it was only in the most critical moments where you may doubt whether they're really friends at all, like in episodes 16 and 28, does it all come bursting out in full force. While I might have liked more conventinal scenes between the main duo like you might see in Build, I also really liked how the show, intentionally or not, made this more subtle dynamic between them, and I think made those critical moments all the more powerful.

It's a great pairing, and it's definitely a core pillar of this show, but I don't think it's on the same level as Banjou and Sento. The big giveaway for me is that this show's combo form is Zi-O Trinity, while Build's is RabbitDragon. Sento only needs Banjou! He loves his found family, but he needs Banjou. (And the show knows it. That final scene!)

With this story... like, Geiz is the hard one to get, but this episode still finds time to reunite Sougo with Tsukuyomi, and lament Woz'z absence. There's a ton of power in the Geiz/Sougo story, and the series is 100% aware of it, but Sougo isn't a one-friend guy.

Not much to say about this one. All I remember is that the scene of Specter fighting Another Ghost became prominent after Kiramager vs Ryusoulger was announced, for semi-obvious reasons.

Oh yeah, Sayo's doppelganger's big brother fighting Asuna's doppelganger's big brother. Very meta.

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 43 - “2019 - TSUKUYOMI CONFIDENTIAL”

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Honest question: does anyone care about Swartz’z reveal here?

The absolute best part of the episode for me was when Tsukasa claimed that all of this Time Nonsense family drama was very easy to follow, leading to Geiz’z accusatory demand to explain it if it’s so simple, only for Tsukasa to pivot to it not really mattering beyond Swartz being the Big Bad. It’s funny, but it’s also clear that even the writer of this episode isn’t prepared to answer any of the myriad questions that spring up from this episode’s It Was Swartz All Along reveal.

It’s a smart move for the episode, but a dumb move for the series. The only thing that really matters in this episode is that Team Zi-O needs to defeat Hiryuu to get the world back to normal, and then take on Swartz. The why/what/how of Swartz’z plans and backstory are, in the moment, completely irrelevant. He’s just one more obstacle, the end. Spending even a single solitary second trying to understand anything Swartz tells Tsukuyomi is time that’s better spent on defeating their immediate foe.

But it’s all so dumb. It doesn’t make sense for Swartz to share his power with Heure and Ora, since he was always going to need it back and they contribute nothing of value to his schemes. It doesn’t make sense to leave a fully-powered Tsukuyomi alive in an alternate timeline, when he wanted her dead and needed her power. It doesn’t make sense to do all of the Another Rider schemes, since Swartz wanted the throne for himself this whole time. The idea that Swartz wants to be king is fine. The thought that he’d make his move now is reasonable. The reveal that this is all proceeding according to his design is a massive distraction, and a really disappointing plot development.

…Which only really matters if you care about the plot, and literally no one in this story does. It’s incredibly weird to have a dumb plot development - that’s going to make me less enthusiastic about this series in my memory going forward - occur in an episode that still manages to be entertaining. Such is the magic of Heisei Kamen Rider! It’s an episode that colossally bungles its series arc, but still concludes this three-parter with an enthusiastic focus on meat-and-potatoes tokusatsu storytelling and exhilarating character reunions. As dumb as the Swartz stuff is, the scene of Woz trying to make Geiz think that he worked under Woz as Zi-O’s servant was worth a hundred of those idiot reveals. Stuff like that is what I look for in a Kamen Rider series, not some tightly-woven series plot. That would be nice! But it’s not ruining my day if ain’t here.

It’s going to be a thing I bring up a lot in the future when I talk about Zi-O, though. It’s so dumb. I don’t care about it. Does anyone?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio43b.png

Swartz's thing here is uh... meh. Which is why in my story I really don't plan on him taking the final villain role. The Time Jackers are honestly pretty meh during this final arc and Hiryu is still the best villain in Zi-O for me tbh. I have a second favorite but we'll be getting to him soon enough. Other than that I enjoyed the more personal beat stuff here and the funny little gags here and there. Like the one Die mentioned of Tsukasa and Geiz talking about Swartz.

That being said, fun fact! I'm pretty sure the one Another Rider not counted for in terms of being killed is Another Wizard! He just stops existing after the first fight. Anyway this episode is great because we brought back the Heisaber and really it's a shame that I think this is the last time we see it? I feel like if Grand was to have any kind of weapon, the Heisaber is perfect given its Rider Ability function.

Next time for BGM Swaps, OST which I assume relates to our guest, Drive's preview theme, Decade's preview them and Future Guardian for some reason?


Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 44 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk4OLIWNVIU

I could very easily make my usual statement about how Tsukasa ruins everything, but really, that is so minor in the grand scheme of why I ended up really disliking this three-parter.

This arc made me really worried about the final stretch of a show that, up to now, I was rather enjoying for the most part. A plot that makes no sense, action that does nothing to impress, and characterization that felt like a huge step backwards.

I was excited to have Hiryu back, but yet again, he's given basically no focus in what is supposed to be his arc; Almost like it's done as some unfunny in-joke on the part of the writers. Heck, why is going back in time to save the people on the bus never once even brought up? Not like the laws of causality are at all being thoroughly followed at this point in the show anyway, so why not?

The Time Jacker focus has always been a mess too. They almost had me rooting for Herue around the time of Kikai due to how he was being mistreated and seemed to be wanting to break out on his own due to that... only to completely forget about it, because why give a character an arc, I guess.

Diend is here, and he's always a delight, but at the end of the day, that's it. He's really just here to pad out the run time. What a waste.

Sure, the rooftop scene of Sogo and Geiz is nice and all, but it's severely undercut by nearly an hour and a half of story that I very much did not care for. And pulling this sort of thing now is a huge misstep for a show that I was looking at very fondly up to now give-or-take an arc.

Just, yeah, if this is what the last stretch has to offer, then I have a feeling I'm not about to enjoy these final episodes very much.

Maybe Sougo should be a one-friend guy at this rate, though...

That big exposition dump is absurd how many new holes it opens in the plot all at once, while being about characters I am incapable of caring about beyond wishing they'd go away. It's kinda extra sad because I found the rest of the episode pretty underwhelming!

I haven't revisited the episode since it aired but I don't think there was any notable emotion behind Woz coming back to Sougo's side. There's big climax with four riders vs all the Another Riders, but there's no tension or particularly interesting action, and Sougo overcame Hiryu's power just because.

Also i feel I might as well say because thinking about this episode made this thought come up, but I don't really care for Tsukasa and Kaito in this show? They are ostensibly recurring characters, but it feels to me that show is content with just having them go through their usual iconic motions and lines while acting as plot devices (I guess this is enough for some people but I already mentioned the aspect of the show that's just referencing old shows isn't something I go wild over). As of yet, they feel glorified cameos in that sense, no more integrated into the show than any other Legend Rider appearance despite their number of appearances and new merch.

It's almost crazy to dedicate so much storytelling to propping Swartz up as a Big Bad, because this show has had one since its very first scene and it ain't Swartz. OMA ZI-O STILL EXISTS! He's an outstanding villain! He's all about fears of action versus inaction, and the inevitability of moral entropy! For a generation of shows that were all about growing up, he's the fear of what you might grow up into! He's the ultimate Heisei Villain!!!

WHY SWARTZ

WHY

For a minute in the beginning of this one, I was expecting them to pull a Wizard and make all of the lackluster Time Jacker plots into something sublime and clever. They did not do that! They maybe did the opposite?

There mostly isn't. It's Woz feeling embarrassed by his ruse, and Sougo being okay with it because Woz was just doing what he thought was best. It's hilariously minor.

No.

Episode 43~

-Arguably, I cared in the sense that it very much pushed a villian I was always kinda bored of into the realm of frusturatingly dull. I've never been particularly a fan of Rider "masterminds", (with only a handful sticking in my mind after the credits starts to roll), but Swartz? The man is so devoid of anything- cunning, charisma, fun dynamics/foils with the heroes- that I'd rather literally anyone else take a stab at playing mastermind than him, even if it makes less sense than Swartz......

-At this point, Hiryuu being so one-note about his hatred feels hilarious in a twisted sense, it's like he's forever frozen in a speific point in time.

-Uncle gearing up to go save Tsukuyomi himself was very sweet, even if it was supposed ot be a gag.

-God I wish there was more to the Time Jacker betrayal than what we got. I feel like there was lots of potential missed with those two. In my initial watch, I really liked Heure and Ora, but now I think that was in the sense I've might've been filling up the holes there with my own personal headcanons/theories and whatnot. Bummer.....

-Oh yeah, this is the closing episode to the penultimate arc btw, we're officially in endgame territory now. Kinda a sour note to end on, as my feelings about this AU 3-parter mostly range from neutrality-frustrating, just like how I felt on my initial watch. Hopefully Zi-O sticks the landing...?


- But hey! On the flipside of all this negativity, I think there's no better point in time than this to jump into OQ and the HBV, I've been really looking forward to those discussions!

It's certainly looking that way!

It would've certainly helped this betrayal land at all if we'd gotten a sense of Heure and Ora as more than just The Other Two Time Jackers. If they'd served some specific purpose, or had designs of their own, or tried to usurp Swartz, or SOMETHING. Instead, they're just two kids who rode Swartz'z coattails until he randomly decided to stop letting them do that. Fun story!

Tomorrow night! OVER-QUARTZER!

Villain? No

Antagonist? Yes.

It all really feeds into how I feel about Oma Zi-O and my interpretation of him at the end of it all. And while I think he's a wonderful antagonist... he's not the main villain of the series. As dull as the Time Jackers are, they're the true villains while Oma Zi-O is an inevitability of something to come.

Rider Time Ryuki! Man when the first was announced I was super hyped about it! The amount of returning actors, Odin, Another Ryuki, getting see to the Heisaber again. The best way I can sum up it like the opposite episode of ZI-O where the Legend Riders are the main focus, Sougo and Geiz are only in one scene and we only use the Ryuki music. Honestly souring point for me is no Femme not even a new user a Abyss is lteral nothing in this special he's not even nameed! (If your wondering yes all the other replacement Riders do have actual names so Abyss was so last minute) it also intreasting that Asakura remembers Ryuki which feels strangely on point with the character for some reason.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT-p...ature=youtu.be

And here this really well made fanmade op of Rider Time Ryuki(that also uses footage from Dragon Knight) which I hope can help entice you into watching that show)

Let's get the negative outta way first of all man these suits have seen better days lol. Secondly Tezuka was so out of character before getting his memories back and I hated it he was the most moral Rider in the show so to see him scting like this when everyone else is in character just hurts so much more. Asakura just not giving a shit is still the best. Ren and Shinji being compelled by their past lives memories feels poignent and I actually don't mind the amnesisa stuff I'd rather they try that rather than just act like everything was back to how it was in 2002 like Build V-Cinema which to me chickened out on actually telling a story about the New World and how things have changed.

But I love Sougo moment in this episode he looks he about turn into Ohma to beat done Another Ryuki just wanting to stop this mindless violence by any means necessary.

So getting to see Odin transform at last was really cool 17 years late but still. Also getting to see the final Survive card as well as the three cards together was such a great deep cut for this show fans have been speculating and waiting for that for years. As someone who doesn’t like Ryuki ending I love Rider Time Ryuki it feels more in line with the inherent tragedy with the show and I think it cool inverse if nothing else. Also I sctual,y kinda dig the new Verde Kimiura his actor did well with limited work to tell a normal rando thrust into this like Shinji but with a more jaded outlook it’s a shame that he only fought in the first episode (what was the point of Tezuka giving back his deck?)

Not denying that, I also stated that due to how you had not so pleasant experience with him and I was more like expect yourself to be disappointed on Hiryu to not have high hopes on him from said previous experience. And yeah there's nothing wrong to expect substance or nuance, but my point was about how substance and nuance isn't only done by something out of the viewer's preference, something not on viewer's preference can be also substance or nuance even if it's not their type. Like when someone hates on main protagonist for not being like Tsukasa or such, and claims them having no substance/nuance due to being a 'goody-two-shoes', doesn't mean they actually have no substance/nuance, it's kinda them having wrong take on the character they hate.

So you actually like this one, I didn't expect it because this can be a reset button that renders previous memories of what have been watched in Zi-O futile, after all every developments, interactions, buildups, comedies, etc., are all erased in an instant and it's not a final resolution to make the situation better or such. And that due to how this is now ep. 42, the relationship restart can be really rushed compared to what we see previously. And you may not like it but for this one the Another Riders are Hiryu's own creation, not taking civilians as puppets like before, so yeah this one's intentionally showing that the Another Riders are empty shells, to show about how Hiryu has been upgraded, though as usual, this details more of Swartz's importance that he's the one behind everything in Zi-O, the actual driving force of the story's conflict, instead of someone who reacts to the story like everyone else, which is why he's the main antagonist.

While the timeline has changed and that Sougo lost everything he knew, including his family, Sougo himself hasn't changed at all, so they're now dealing with the better version of Sougo that has solved his Ohma Zi-O problems. But yeah, despite that it's what Tsukuyomi wanted to alter his destiny and guide him to become the hero he wanted to be, the ones who successfully changed that was only Sougo himself to accept his dark side as well as Junichiro to reprimand him for his blind optimism. Albeit she does make her intent herself to build up relationship with him by saving Sougo here. You describe this as 'empathetic pragmatism', and without enough context, probably audiences can assume Tsukuyomi as naive idiot who plays right into enemy's hands and consider Geiz as sensible to finish the job quickly, encouraging him to kill the future villain. I'd talk more about Woz later as he's still in middle of his current role, despite that it's enough for viewers to assume that Woz only cares about who'd become overlord, and for those who didn't put Woz on pedestal, would be expected as he's not morally sound and wants to create a ruler overlord, just happens to help the main protagonist.

There's an implied amnesic relations for both Geiz and Tsukuyomi, of which here Geiz still has tsundere feelings for Sougo, to feel a strange feeling in his chest due to how he can't hate Sougo even if he wants. Though obviously as someone who isn't altered, Sougo kept his faith on Geiz before, to believe that Geiz would promise to end him when he became an evil overlord, but actually this almost costed him his life, as Geiz almost killed him if not for Tsukuyomi stopping time. For this one, though I've seen someone in Rider that is revealed to not have a killing intention later, while previously he's still stopped, such as his lookalike Ren from Ryuki, for this one Geiz is inch away from hitting Sougo though, so it seems that he had an intention to kill him here, at least at first. Sougo pretty much seems to play a New Game+ here against Geiz to spoil what'd Geiz do with him in the future, though obviously it'd be a success here.

Probably it goes without saying but yeah there's everyone's opinion including yours on Sougo on his debut. Though I also admit that I warmed up over Sougo better too when typing on this post (my talk about his delusion at the beginning was also a show of disapproval on him, compared to other protagonists) compared to the time when I watched the series on TV. Sougo is still a frequent punching bag over Tsukasa though in the franchise, I know people obsess over him, but Sougo is frequently hated and bashed to make him look bad compared to Tsukasa.

Big part of why I haven't replied to the last few episodes is because I legitimately don't remember anything about them.

Well considering how much attention the show has given to Sougo rising up from being an ordinary high schooler to a king, a guy like Schwartz who’s been groomed as a royal his whole life, but was never meant to actually take the throne, no matter how much he wanted to, is a perfect foil. It’s like poetry, it rhymes.

Anyway, we’re at the point I can FINALLY do this.

Ridewatch Playlist: All in the Cards Mix

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

“KamenRide! The Rider who transforms into other Kamen Riders is… Decade”

We start off with a pretty easy choice, in Journey Through the Decade https://youtube.com/watch?v=D7T_Y49KrrQ

“Every Rider is a target. The destroyer of worlds, Decade Gekijoutai”

This only appeared in one movie. So the only logical choice is Stay the Ride Alive https://youtube.com/watch?v=OidK6MW8V_s

“The warrior inheriting the true power of the Kamen Riders. Decade Complete Form”

And while this doesn’t necessarily describe this form, I wanted to get this song in somewhere and there weren’t many other candidates, so here’s Ride the Wind https://youtube.com/watch?v=BLxxzAa1As0

“KamenRide! Summoning other Kamen Riders, Decade’s rival is… Diend”

And for him, there was also an obvious choice, with Treasure Sniper https://youtube.com/watch?v=csIF_KYkvo0

And for Another Decade, I went with Revolutionize, a song ostensibly performed by all three Time Jackers, but if you listen closely, you can hear that Schwartz is the loudest voice. https://youtube.com/watch?v=W7gXASQ7Nto

And whereas Decade is one of three Riders to have watches for all his forms (the other being Faiz and Redacted, his series sure hell isn’t.

Kamen Rider Diend (Complete Form)
Kamen Rider Kivala
Kamen Rider Kuuga (Rising Ultimate)
Kamen Rider Abyss
Kamen Rider Amaki

And while Another Decade hasn’t appeared in the flesh yet, I can still do the compare and contrast in terms of character, since Schwartz counters both Tsukasa and Kaito.

Tsukasa was the former leader of Dai-Shocker who chose to conquer the 9 Worlds for his own amusement, only to have a Heel Realization when he found that his sister had been corrupted to fight for them. In contrast, Schwartz intends to use Sougo Tokiwa as a Puppet King for his own conquest and treated his younger sister like crap.

As for the second guy, Kaito broke away from an authority position to escape the controlling influence of his Big Brother Bully, while stealing only unique, irreplaceable objects from every dimension he visited as collectibles. Schwartz chose to stay in his position of authority, taking away the unique powers of the Heisei Kamen Riders to advance his plans. Schwartz is also a Big Brother Bully, manipulating Heure and attempting to murder Tsukuyomi.

Edit: I promised to give more on Hiryu and I will deliver. Someone thought him showing up in this arc was a lead up to him learning that Schwartz had sacrificed his parents for Sougo’s ascension, which would lead to him joining the heroes. Even when it didn’t happen, the same guy insisted it should’ve happened at some point in the final arc and was disappointed when this was his last appearance. Meanwhile I’m like “I doubt telling him the truth would make a difference at this point. Plus he’s definitely not as sympathetic as you seem to think he is, random person.”

Anyway, join us next time for 4 playlists in one.

It goes without saying, but Swartz's big reveal was nothing special. At all. For one, Tsukuyomi being his sister was already revealed in the preview, making the "big reveal" pointless, and even if they didn't spoil it, we would have figured it out long ago when Sougo went to her childhood home and there was her brother with the same smug hat as when Swartz told Sougo to become king. And most jarring of all, is that his grand plan makes absolutely no gosh darn, hornswoggling, jerry-jimming sense!

When we were introduced to the Time Jackers, they were trying to oppose Oma Zi-O by crowning a new king to take his place, and now Swartz is saying he was doing it so he could become king, and he didn't bother trying to kill Sougo in the first place to do it. The Time Jackers, here, showed that they are perhaps the worst Rider Villains I've seen so far, because their goals and just about everything else have nothing to put them near Evolt, Genmdeus, Fourze's Principle, Baron, or even Shiro from Ryuki, they all had something that made them something which the Time Jackers lacked. Long story short, they're a mess, with Swartz at the top of the heap.

And it doesn't help that this would be the place to make Hiryuu a fantastic villain. Swartz absolutely wasted him.

But on the positives side of things, Sougo renewing his friendship with Geiz and Woz was nice to see, and Tsukasa becoming my absolute favorite character. I loved the castle siege where they fought all the Another Riders, and Woz made a speech, prompting perhaps my favorite moment in all of Zi-O, and then there's that All Heisei Rider Kick, the gem of this whole arc. We also get more Kaito, who's just picking the opposing side just to mess with Tsukasa, which I find funny.

Anyway, we're nearing the climax of Zi-O! What a journey.

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP42)
(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP43)

I feel like my summation of this three-parter as "Zi-O's Greatest Hits" is still pretty accurate. I mentioned how much I was looking forward to seeing where these episodes were going at the time, and I mostly ended up feeling like the answer to that question was "places we've already been." There's not a lot that this adventure really reveals about any of the characters involved, when you get down to it, and that's especially unfortunate when it also contributes to taking the wind out of the sails of the main villain's big motive rant. ...That being said, it's one of those things where I don't really begrudge the series for it too much in retrospect, and I could easily see myself enjoying these episodes more for what they are on a rewatch. The thing about retreading so many elements of this show that have been done before is that a lot of that stuff was good, right?

I mean, heck, I skimmed through these ones a bit to refresh my memory, so here's an example: how the very end wordlessly conveys Geiz being back to normal with that little exchange of gestures between him and Woz. It's nothing new, but it's such a wonderful summation of the post-Trinity dynamic between those two that it'd make me feel guilty for asking these episodes to do more than they are. Even the issue I had with Hiryuu -- the issue even *I* had -- with how 7 episodes with no development to show for it is maybe pressing his luck as a character, I already look at differently now, because the idea of Another Zi-O being a character so fundamentally and utterly trapped by the past that he's incapable of changing even slightly... that's still pretty dang on point, thematically? Oh, and speaking of thematically appropriate foils!

Me! Kind of! ...I mean, at least if nobody else will!

I guess the answer is really "no", if we're talking strictly about the actual plot mechanics going on here, which I distinctly remember feeling ~pretty~ messy, but I absolutely like the Time Jackers way more than I think most people do -- completely unironically -- and a lot of that started coming together for me in this final stretch of the series. Heisei Kamen Rider shows love their focus on found families, and Zi-O is maybe less subtle about that than usual. So I actually really ended up loving the contrast between the main heroes and villains. You have this protagonist in Sougo, who becomes best buds with his own executioner, living under the same roof with all his other time friends and his supportive and caring uncle; and then on the other side of all this, you've got Swartz: this colossally s***ty authority figure dragging these two surly kids around in this cold, affectionless dynamic where they basically all hate each other's guts and constantly treat one another like complete garbage, because that's all they've ever known and they don't know how to quit.

I don't know, it's hard to make a big case for them right now, going entirely off of memory, and I suspect it'd be another fun thing to pay more attention to on a rewatch, but while they aren't utterly amazing antagonists or anything, I don't doubt their presence is adding something worthwhile to the series. Really, the thing that bugs me most about these three is just that I can never remember how to spell their names. :lol