I was personally very hyped to see Aqua come back. Megamax was my first ever Rider thing, and, yeah he's an unusual choice, but that's part of the fun!

I haven't seen the Bill Gates special, so onto the next episode!

Aqua's back! And with a fresh pair of boxers to boot! It's such a nice callback to Megamax and the bonds he forged with Eiji, and kind of works in this story about time travel, and just nice to see him again regardless.

So now we have our big bad, Another Decade. It's a great detail to have Zi-O face a villainous version of the previous Heisei Celebration Rider, but he seems more in line with DiEnd in terms of his powers. It would have been funny if when Swartz became a Rider, his visor would be in English. Another Drive is cool, gotta finish the Another Rider dex before the show ends, and a nice little side story with the other Time Jackers.

Overall, the final arc is off to a slightly messy start.

Boy, it's been a while, hopefully I didn't get ahead of myself in post.

It's definitely funny to see one-off Summer Movie guys treated as an unstoppable army (G4? Dark Ghost? Kamen Rider Deadbeat Dad?), but it sort of works? For the Phase 2 villains, they usually show up when the heroes are at their most powerful, forcing them to level-up to survive. Even with their final forms, I can see Geiz and Zi-O getting roughed up by four movie guys attacking simultaneously.

I mean, it never feels like Heure is unaware of what the Time Jackers have been getting up to, even if he's capable of seeing it differently now. Sougo can see that Heure is becoming aware of the consequences for aligning with Swartz, and it's becoming clear that it wasn't an informed decision originally. Sougo's not a guy who's going to berate a suffering adversary that's reaching out for help; that's what Geiz is here for.

A big chunk of this run of the show is about how positive actions can have unforeseen negative consequences, so, yeah, makes sense to have Another Decade be the villainous representation of that! Tsukasa almost always makes things worse, even as he's empowered by the universe to make things better.

It's only weird in that Drive Type Next would be a more logical Legend Rider for the Drive Ridewatch story; Aqua's still fun to see! Except for his weird genie pants! I really hate those!

My favorite running gag in this series is Team Zi-O's incredulity at any out-of-context Heisei Rider callback, so I was thrilled to see Tsukuyomi's baffled reaction to Aqua staring wistfully at a pair of boxer shorts to psyche himself up and Henshin. He's such a weird dude!

Normally I usually only have my one post but um...

This is Spinning Wheel Slander! Which is why I shall represent Spinning Wheel myself!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISrRlFF3x_A

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 45 - “2019 - ETERNAL PARTY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio45a.png

It is darkly funny to me that the only reason we learn any information about Swartz’z plot is because Tsukasa shows up to investigate.

Like, that’s sort of cute, how bad Team Zi-O is at some basic superheroic investigation, but it’s also sort of everything wrong with the Swartz plot in this story. Even setting aside that we’re in an Everything Falls Apart episode, our heroes have been almost exclusively reactive for the longest time. What precisely Swartz wants and how he plans to get it are total question marks, and no one in this story besides a special guest star seem to have any thoughts on how to find out. Without a plan of attack from our heroes or an enunciated scheme from our villain, we get some good emotional beats and solid fight scenes and cool cameos that never seem to add up to forward momentum, which is incredibly ironic for the Another Drive story. If I watched this episode in isolation, I’d’ve thought there were at least a dozen episodes left to go, not four.

And it’s a shame, because I generally enjoy a good Everything Falls Apart episode. There’s basic character conflict stuff that’s been papered over with exciting adventures and vows of support, so it’s time for those arguments to get out in the open.

The big one is, naturally, the one between Sougo and Geiz. It’s their incompatible worldviews, which become more relevant the closer we get to a finale. Geiz doesn’t believe people can change, because he’s seen real horrors. When someone shows you who they really are, you don’t need to risk your safety to ask follow-up questions. You protect innocents, and you destroy monsters. Sougo’s someone he can get behind because Oma Zi-O doesn’t exist yet; it’s a paradox that allows Geiz to have his friendship while still feeling like a dedicated soldier.

It’s a stubbornness that normally comes off as a hilarious pessimism, until Sougo starts to see it as a depressing lack of empathy. Watching Geiz tell Heure that he’s a villain, the end, no forgiveness, get out… it’s like nothing Sougo ever did made any impact on Geiz. Sougo’s been fighting monsters to give everyone a chance to build a better future for themselves, while Geiz has just been fighting monsters. When Geiz throws Oma Zi-O’s destruction of the future back in Sougo’s face, it’s clear that these two aren’t on the same page, if they ever were.

Since we’re in the middle part of a three-parter (at a minimum!), this plot is left nicely open-ended. While Tsukuyomi is still openly conflicted about the Time Orphans’ value to Sougo’s development and/or defeating Swartz, Geiz’z feelings are left a bit more ambiguous. To me, he reads as embarrassed by his lack of emotional growth, and how he’s let Sougo down. He’s not built for protecting people, or seeing the good in people. He’s a grim executioner from the future, and he feels like that’s where he should’ve stayed.

This is an episode that maybe doesn’t do a great job on furthering its series arc – Swartz’z stuff is just a Shrug Emoji with a single-feather earring – but really works as a discussion about the difficulty of honestly examining your past in order to articulate a better future. Characters like Heure and Sougo take big risks to become better people, while characters like Ora and Geiz succumb to the gravity of their pasts. Even Sougo’s school friend from (I think) the Ex-Aid story shows up to touch on this theme, where he’d rather be trapped in a fantasy world than deal with his disappointment in the real world. (I mean, it’s not a great metaphor: Swartz kidnaps and brainwashes the guy, he’s not exactly an example of Informed Consent.) This is a series that wants to talk about how we need to work to make our best futures possible, so it’s nice to have a late-stage episode that shows how difficult of a lesson that can be for our heroes to apply personally.

Especially when it gets you murdered! Yeah, Heure dies in this one, probably. (Deaths are ambiguous on most Kamen Rider shows, doubly so for a time-travel show with multiple timelines.) Even though I didn’t guess that Another Drive was the Paradox Roidmude (another movie villain!!!), I still correctly surmised that Ora would gladly turn on Heure if it ensured her survival. I imagine most folks won’t care too much, since the Time Jackers rarely felt like three-dimensional characters, but I thought the last couple episodes did a lot to make Heure feel like a character who deserved the chance that Sougo was offering. Seeing him get cut down by what he thought was a friend, all because she couldn’t see a way where they could be more than the villains they were… like, that’s a nicely poignant death scene.

I liked a lot of pieces of this episode? It’s darker, which feels appropriate for an episode full of Dark Riders. Eternal’s back, and that’s always fun. (He’s also responsible for Surprise Drive, helping to tie together the Drive elements.) I always liked Aqua’s fluid fighting style. I’m a sucker for Tsukasa just going The Rules Never Apply To Me, and then jumping ahead in the story to solve the mystery. It’s a good middle episode of a three-parter.

It just doesn’t quite feel like we’re in the endgame? I feel like you could’ve done this exact story ten episodes ago, which is the last thing I want to feel as the show is winding down. Good stuff, but there’s an inescapable lack of momentum.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio45b.png

Eternal showing up was cool, as was his quick duel against Aqua too. It's neat to have like movie Rider face movie Rider. Swartz is still there. Oh also I thought it was cute and clever that the Paradox Roidmude was Another Drive. Like it's not hinted at but it's still neat given he's technically a movie Rider as well and this was basically their way to get past not having Dark Drive's suit.

Anyway Uhr! Uh, despite not really caring about his attempted redemption, I did actually feel something in his death. Which is good because he had something to him! I mean... listen, I got more of a reaction out of this death than the Remocon and Engine Bros in Build... so I consider that a win!

We've got Eternal's Movie theme, Decade's preview theme, Aqua related BGM and Future Guardian this time for the BGM Swaps.

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 46 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6m-4rUOcbkM

It's one of the better twists this show has done during an adventure! I liked that it retroactively made sense for Swartz'z new powerset (Movie Riders, not Another Riders) without spending a ton of time teasing it out. Good balance!

This was a case of too little too late for me with Heure. The foundation for him being the one decent Time Jacker who could change and develop was laid out during the Kikai arc... only for them to do absolutely nothing with it all the way until now, which ends up just feeling as though they just needed a way to get the villains out of the way. In the end the only thing I felt was disappointment.

Know what was almost never disappointing though? The case of Kamen Rider W!

In what might be my last entry on the bit I've been doing all throughout the thread, I actually had to think pretty hard on this one, since I like alot of the W cast pretty much equally. After alot of consideration though, I came to a conclusion that kinda surprised even me:


Yeah, didn't think I would at first, but I've decided that Shotaro Hidari is my favorite of the season.

What ended up being the deciding factor is that, well, as "simple" as Shotaro's' character is in comparison to others such as Philip and Terui, it also never got messed up in any way for me? And yes, I preface all this with these interpretations being very much a "me" thing.

I really dug Terui's' tale about revenge and his dynamic with the cast as a whole, and for a majority of the show I saw him as great Asexual representation, but then the "romance" with Akiko got pulled out of nowhere and killed that entire vibe right off.

Meanwhile with Philip, he was always fun to watch and the way in which he slowly became the main character over the course of the show was really cool to me, and I felt his arc was fully realized perfectly with the penultimate episode. And then that got yanked away immediately.

But Shotaro? From start to finish I never once felt he was annoying, or out of character, or that his potential or arc was wasted. He was always fun to watch, had a great balance of strengths and weaknesses, and his relationship with Philip, whether one decides to interpret it as romantic or platonic, was always done wonderfully.

In short, the phrase "beauty in simplicity" exists for a reason, and it's something I wish Zi-O had kinda kept in mind over the course of its run.

Have to admit, I managed to keep this reveal a surprise with a fake compare and contrast pretty well (probably helped that I was just as completely surprised back when the episode aired). Anyway, here’s the real one.

Shinnosuke had a partnership with Kim Steinbelt, which grew from the latter giving him advice and encouragement, until they were able to sync their minds as one. Meanwhile, Paradox is a Roidmude who completely fused with her past self, and took on Ora’s form to sow discord between her and Heure. And while she did briefly work with the original Ora, she still wanted to kill her to be the only one.

Next time: White Woz returns for a Woz vs GingaFinaly fight. Whoops, I seem to be recapping too far ahead.

Surprise! It's Episode 45!

-Aw man, Heure's dead, If only there was someone on the team who could turn back time to save him, preferably someone who already has done it twice in the past...(This is a joke. I don't knock off points if the healer doesn't immediately step in if a character suffers a non imemdiate but fatal wound in a JRPG cutscene, that's silly. Still, It's kinda bizzare Zi-O II's wild and seemingly OP powerset was just traded in for summoning Riders for Grand Zi-O, right?) Anyway, Heure always felt pretty early on that he'd be most likely to break off from the team due to not always being onboard with Swartz's schemes but stuck around because 1) he geniunely believed in urusping Ohma Zi-O, even if it meant dirtier methods here and there and 2) poor kid probably has nowehere else to go, what a shame.

-I......didn't know the Paradox Roidmude was also a movie villian, I just thought it was a random Roidmude they made up on the spot. That makes a lot more sense.

-The fantasy diemsion is called Another World, is it supposed to be a little reference to AR Worlds, since it's the power of Another Decade? That's cute.

-Did. Did anyone geniunely wanted to see the return of White Woz again? Because I sure didn't? I thought the note we ended on for his character was fine enough.

That's fair! The idea of Heure and Ora finding a space within Team Zi-O to define themselves individually and create a future for themselves... that was the most interesting part of the last couple episodes to me? So I was probably more invested than I should've been for this recurring antagonist to have a brief flash of Not Being Forgettable before getting murdered.

Sneaky! I love it!

It wouldn't surprise me, since it's Tsukasa who comes up with the name, and he seems enormously pleased with himself as he's saying it.

I'm interested in it mostly because I'm curious what the return of The Rider Who Makes Geiz Sound Heroic But Really Just Wants Him to Be A Murderer says about this specific conflict Geiz is having with Sougo over how to find empathy for your foes.

Personally yeah, for me Geiz's hilarious pessimism would turn him self-righteous, to see everything in black-and-white and that he'd boil down between others always doing something right in front of his eyes, or someone that must be destroyed if caught doing something wrong or even be implied to do so. While Geiz is no longer like that to Sougo or some Another Riders, he reverted into that mentality when dealing with Time Jackers. Well though he had good reasons of doing so with the previous deeds the Time Jackers did, like what Sougo summed up here (and Geiz can potentially, perform self-fulfilling prophecy again by making Heure actually evil again due to rejection and mistreatment from him, he's quite like this too when dealing with Another Wizard back then), Geiz really contradicted himself with his approach here, that he doesn't believe in change for people, at least quickly (not changing quickly =/= can't change at all), but he stayed to make sure Sougo doesn't become Ohma Zi-O, growing out of his murderous ways, which'd mean he does believe in change, for Sougo at least.

Speaking of Tsukuyomi, wonder what's her view regarding Time Jackers now compared to Sougo, at least Heure, with her too protecting him last episode. Otherwise, though Miharu talked about the consequence of time travelling, Tsukuyomi seems to 'defy' that a bit by asking for more time to further try and believe. Actually I don't know if trying to change the past, the act alone, is something wrong or not, and also compared to letting tragedies happen and not trying to do anything. Like, for the Time Jackers, I'd consider them wrong by fucking up lives of some people via Another Rider instead of them merely going to the past. For Geiz, personally I don't think that it's necessary to see the good in people to perform morally good deeds (extension to protecting people), like you can acknowledge about how someone is evil or have potential to be evil without sugarcoating or downplaying it, but possess moral compass to acknowledge their rights, such as not killing someone who had not done evil yet like a child/younger version of a future criminal or such.

Didn't you say Ora's also possibly get integrated in Team Zi-O to some positive effect? Otherwise, while Heure got tragically murdered and seem to be actually redeemed, albeit too late, I lowkey actually want for Ora to emphasize her betrayal by also, walking away by literally stepping on his dying body as if he doesn't exist. Not to make Heure suffer like Geiz wants but continuing after several physical jabs from Ora before. I guess the real lesson for this is that, neither Sougo's empathetic approach or Geiz's merciless approach are the absolutes, but actually individuals can be just different, and that people should be evaulated individually rather than using their group/occupation as a whole. In how Heure's the one who's actually redeemed, but Ora's the one who's still a backstabbing manipulative scumbag as ever who also had no gratefulness in 9-5 before (u̶g̶h̶,̶ ̶h̶a̶t̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶i̶g̶n̶o̶r̶a̶n̶c̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶E̶n̶g̶l̶i̶s̶h̶ ̶l̶a̶n̶g̶u̶a̶g̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶p̶l̶a̶c̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶d̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶p̶i̶e̶c̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶h̶i̶t̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶r̶e̶f̶e̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶"̶h̶e̶r̶o̶i̶n̶e̶"̶ ̶o̶n̶l̶y̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶m̶a̶j̶o̶r̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶r̶a̶c̶t̶e̶r̶). Both individuals are different despite both being Time Jackers.

About characters succumbing to the gravity of their pasts or not, it's pulled here for Eternal and Aqua too, of which Aqua claiming Eternal will lose because he's just a ghost of a past. But Eternal makes another point about how, every future will inherently turn into a past. Probably this shows that what decides the future is still what happened in the past. About Dark Riders being brought here, actually Owada had more 'innocent' outcome in the alternate world by winning the Tekken tournament instead of losing... but Eternal appearing would mean that, as Tsukasa explained, Swartz created a world where the bad guy wins, instead of W beating Eternal, so there's a horrific stuff there regarding how Eternal can appear here regarding how Eternal actually won in that world. Other than that, even though Aqua had fluid fighting style, there's a big irony about how a Rider named Aqua loses a battle.... in underwater!

True, only Heure had a sliver of conscience compared to the other 2. But about Another Ghost's host, it wasn't Heure doing good thing, it's him being manipulative too to put the heroes in a tough spot, as they know they can't let Another Ghost run off and steal souls, but at the same time, nothing will change when they properly destroy the Another Rider as Makimura will still be dead. Makimura also refuised the Another Ghost power, also showing how he's a good person compared to other Another Riders, yet Heure still forced his choice to him without regards, and a corrupting one at that. And I guess anti-hero term is more fitting to evaluate entire character, instead of single/few actions, like if someone who is overall bad but had done few good, it only adds redeeming quality first to them first instead of outright heroic traits.

It's a thing this show talks about a lot: What's worth more, your past or your future? Characters like Geiz have a difficult time focusing on anything other than their resentments, their tragedies; while characters like Swartz are obsessed with the future and will do anything to reach it. Sougo's role in the story has always been to find balance between the two, to let the past be a blueprint to build a better future, with the present as the landscape where that building can begin.

So, I guess this is the best we're going to get for a W tribute arc, huh?

Everybody deserves a redemption arc. And Ueru (I still don't know how to spell his name) made good use of his time in this arc, until he died. And you know what? I think it had a lot more impact than Swartz being the big bad, or more than I thought it would boil down to in general. This was not a bad arc in the slightest.

It's cool to see Eternal again via Another Decade's power, though I must admit, I wish they did a better W tribute than this and the noodle guy in Heisei Generations Forever. It's not bad, but some of this arc doesn't really fit him? Unless people getting stuck in eternal dreamworlds is the point, than otherwise, good joke, Toei.

The theme of past and future works well here, as is shown throughout the season, people think only of the past, clouding their paths and judgements by only what they know of, rather than thinking of the now and later. Whereas Sougo believes they can have a better future, which makes sense, since he's been told he's going to become evil, but that's the point, you have to act in order to change the future, whether you're told "you will be bad" you won't know until you try. And that's something that resonates with me about Sougo, he's not biased to "good" and "evil," even if there are bumps in the road, he takes them in stride, looking to the bigger picture no matter what.

I remember being surprised when the show killed off Heure. Not that I didn't expect the show to off villains, but it still caught me off guard that they would kill off the kid. I'm kind of used to shows not killing off children (and yeah, I'm sure he was somewhere in his later teens, but he looks like he's maybe 13-14).

The Eternal cameo was fun. It's a short phase, given the show is almost over, but I do love this era's "okay, who else is available?" approach to guest stars.

It's especially weird that they never got Accel for a W arc, because Accel shows up in everything. He was in both a Drive and a Gaim movie! He was just in some Revice web-series! I think he's behind at least three accounts on this forum! They probably had to work harder to not have him in this series!

There were a few actors where I remember thinking "they just showed up in [insert movie title here], they'll definitely be in Zi-O!" only to have them miss the whole thing.

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 46 - “2019 - OPERATION WOZ”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio46a.png

*sigh*

Half of this episode was absolutely fantastic. There’s a fleetness to the Rescue Geiz plan that’s refreshing and exciting; a heist-y oasis of clever plotting and clear consequences. Characters get used in unpredictable ways for action sequences that rival this show’s best, while keeping the narrative core personal and emotional. It’s an All Hands battle to save a teammate, but it’s also a chance for Geiz to confront how his outlook and his mission have changed over the last year. Genuinely thrilled over how precise and smart the first half of this episode was.

And then.

And then we get to the whole What’s Swartz Really Up To part, and I could see the wheels coming off of this whole goddamn series arc, second by second. It’s not that it’s dumb, exactly. I don’t know that it necessarily contradicts anything we’ve seen in this season, but folks can certainly shout out things I’ve overlooked. It’s fine, as far as the details of Swartz’z established motivation are concerned. Him wanting Sougo’s power to be the King of Time or whatever? Sure, fine, okay. I don’t know that it creates additional tension to the earlier part of the show, when the Time Jackers were like How About This Rando every other week, but it doesn’t break the show or anything.

The problem is that it continually introduces new problems for the characters that only come from Swartz’z monologues, and only seconds before they’re relevant to the plot. We aren’t in an endgame that the show has been building to since the first episode, despite the Time Jackers being around since the very beginning of this show. We’re getting some random scheme of Swartz’z, with an out-of-nowhere stipulation to complicate things. The idea that Sougo can’t destroy Swartz without also erasing Tsukuyomi’s timeline… what?! It’s like saying Sougo can’t eat a bowl of noodles without Woz dying. Why? Says who? Since when is Swartz responsible for his entire timeline? If this was a sword hanging over our heroes’ heads, why in the world wouldn’t the show want to tell us sooner? Why throw it at the viewer this late in the story?

Dramatically, it feels like the story has whatever rules and stakes are necessary for the current conflict, and that sucks. That sucks real bad. I’m not saying the superhero show about time travel needs bulletproof causality or unbreakable rules for pseudo-science, but you can’t just drastically alter the stakes by having the villain go Oh By The Way. It feels unfair in a way that flimsy Ridewatch mechanics don’t. It makes Swartz feel cheap, and that’s literally the last thing you want your season-long villain to come off as.

I really disliked the end of this episode, almost to the exact amount I loved the beginning of it. The first half had tight, clever plotting, and a warm view of its characters. The second half had bizarrely untethered machinations and frustratingly under-established stakes. Add to that a rapidly – and disappointingly – growing body count, and you have the makings of a cliffhanger that has me honestly dreading where this story could go next.

Thanks, Swartz!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio46b.png

As usual, Swartz continues to disappoint in the villain department. It really feels like the writers were trying to make Swartz this all controlling villain that was constantly backing Sougo into a corner, because that's the thing and what these episodes are trying to show us. That Swartz really wants to back Sougo into a corner for some reason. I mean I feel we can guess the reason but yeah. He really wants to force Sougo's back against the wall but the way it's done is pretty messy all things considered.

Honestly, I feel like most of the plot of these final six episodes aren't the best. What I do like however is Sougo in it, Sougo and what is essentially the end of his journey. For as messy as the plot stuff is (Even though I'll applaud something later because of a giga theory I crafted) I absolutely feel like the important thing to pay attention to is Sougo.

That being said, I'd like to gush about the parts of the episode you did like because they were also my favorite parts. Operation Rescue Geiz was a great way to spend most of the episode, where Hat Woz decides he could care less about being a lacky and wants in on helping Geiz. To where they enact this gigantic scheme to make it look like the heroes are losing.

And then we get possibly my favorite usage of Trinity, utilizing the transformation and necessity for all three to combine to drag Sougo and Eternal into Another World so that they can use Eternal's finisher to break a hell of a lot of worlds.

Also there are just some fun bits like Eternal's "I didn't lose, I didn't lose!" bit where he tries to play it cool by being "The wind just wasn't flowing my way". And bringing back the W Armor for a cool little brief fight too.

Next time on BGM Swaps: Drive's Preview BGM, Decade's Preview BGM, Tsukuyomi's Insert Song, and Toki no Ouja. So nothing new to really say here because it's just the usual suspects.

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 47 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7FBdksoOW8

https://i.imgur.com/efHgUQ6.png

"I didn't lose, I just didn't win."

Double hilarious considering this Eternal comes from a timeline where he actually did win.

The end of the heist plot was so From The Writer Of Gorider that I was loving it. Using Trinity Form, alongside Eternal's finisher, to free a bunch of trapped sad-sacks? Amazing. So great!

Arguably, the timeline where he beat Double is actually the one where he lost. Dude really hates living!

Soooo, you've said in this threads before that you like seeing people's thoughts on these shows and I certainly have a lot of thoughts about Zi-O and these episodes. I've been a bit hesitant to go as deep into them as I could though, because if I'm being honest, its almost just entirely being negative and overly dramatic about things that probably don't matter. If they do come off that way, I can only hope you find my posts, both in the past, this one, and any future ones, at least somewhat interesting or amusing?

Anyway, so funny thing about my experience with this episode in particular? My first time I watched this episode, I actually watched it raw without subtitles. Usually, in the few tims I did this in the past, it was because I was so excited to see what happened next that I couldn't wait for subs. For Zi-O 46 though, um... it was because I was both so completely checked out of the story at this point, but I still feel obligated to see what happened, that early on in the week I decided 'ugh i'll just watch the raw right now and decide after whether i care about the subs'.

There's like a bunch of reasons why I was checked out, but one of which is that last week's explanation of trapping people in worlds where they relive a moment of fixing their greatest regret, which in turn summons a dark rider from a timeline where they won is... so absurdly convoluted? And its not even correct because Eternal and Woz are clearly the ones who lost and remember losing and dying. Its so needlessly dumb that I couldn't fathom why there was such a longwinded explanation to bring in more suits to fight (By the way, do we have enough people in this show with this exact powerset?!)

Well, I can think of one explanation. Its that the concept above only existed to show this episode's scene of Geiz, in that Another World of his. In hindsight, its probably not a necessary scene, is it? It doesn't partcularly move anything forward or reveal anything we couldn't infer already.

And yet, it may possibly be one of the most important scenes in the whole show to me?

Like I said, the first time I watched it was without subtitles, but I could infer what was going on. That Geiz's greatest regret was how sour he left last episode's conversation with Sougo, and all he's been thinking about since then is wanting to do it over, and tell Sougo that what he wants more than anything is to create a brighter future with him.

I actually cried. Cried from this scene where I couldn't even understood the words being said! It was probably a number of factors, that being that just the idea of the scene is really great, the really anguished urgency in which Geiz says it all, but most of all probably how this one short scene suddenly reminded me all at once of why I had been so invested in this show so much to begin with. I thought to myself that no matter how many plot holes or stupid machinations there may be, as long as they nail this scene might be representative of whatever the end of this show will be, I think it'll be alright!

So. Then there's the final scenes in the episode. The ones you chose to screenshot. Geiz, Tsukiyomi and Woz all start talking about what Swarch's plan could be as dramatic music swells up.

Watching and hearing this actually made me angry. It makes me angry now, just thinking about it! The show has the gall to act like it has any actual plan going on with this sorry excuse of a plot, and trying to present it something worth caring or thinking about! Just a minute-long scene earlier with the characters earnestly expressing themselves was one of the best I've ever seen! Maybe do more of that instead of whatever this is!!?

The whiplash of my feelings between the scene with Geiz in that imagined world, and the exposition in that warehouse... I probably sound like an insane person at this point with how much turmoil I let this episode of a children's show put me through, but god, Zi-O might have done some actual damage to my psyche with how much it put my emotions through the wringer. And the show's not even over yet!

And there's so much other stuff happening in this episode, but who actually cares about any of it. Well actually, Aqua dying like he did here is at least morbidly funny. I mean wow, that guy was still technically a Legend Rider and this is how he goes out? Sorry to all five of Aqua's fans.

Also the last scene with Sougo yelling Swatrz's name is trying soooo hard to be the end of Episode 47 of Build and absolutely falling limp in comparison.

Episode 46!

-Very sweet moment from Geiz, saying he wants to stay with Sougo in this era together! The faceless Sougo is like, a really nice touch in the scene, though I can't really express why.

-It kinda felt like they were doing the thing where a character is just reciting a bunch of his catchphrases with Eternal :-(. His death scene was great though!

-Whoops! Aqua's dead, how unfortunate.

Hora getting killed is........ugh? Like if you wanted to kill Swartz this entire time, and actually cared for Heure, couldn't you have just assisted Sougo and Friends?????????? Nobody dead is better than both dead, after all!

-Man I don't even want to talk about Swartz this episode. So dull, so frusturating of a character!!

-Now I wasn't there was the show was airing nor have any deep insight from hearing production ramblings, but I always got the feeling that Zi-O was a very.....fluid series, behind the scenes? Like water, it doesn't have a set shape it will eventually settle into when solid, so you can unfreeze it and re-freeze it into new shapes, for better or worse? Like, I do appericate the show learning what worked and what didn't and course correcting itself for the audience as it went on (in the short-term), but as a result I think it couldn't bulid any other long-term plots up that didn't last more than an arc? Thus, here we are at this very weird-feeling endgame. That's just a personal theory, though!

Yeah, I'll say it now. I really liked Aqua's' arc in the director's cut of Megamax, so to have his character not only be done terribly here in this three-parter, and then have him get killed off? Rubbed me the wrong way. Them remembering they already had a Future Rider before this show was nice, and the boxer scenes with him were top notch comedy, but that was about it.

Didn't like this set of episodes very much.

I've said it before, but in case it needs repeating: I am looking for conversation, not consensus. As long as people remember to back up their criticisms or praise, I'd be thrilled to see what people think of these shows, no matter my own opinion.

In a half-episode full of smart choices, this was maybe the smartest one. I love how minor it all is, how precious and private. Geiz said something mean to his friend instead of being vulnerable, and he's worried it'll be the last thing he ever says to Sougo. He wishes he could've been more honest. That's it. That's so lovely?

And, on the one hand, I'm sort of bummed that Geiz'z whole I Need To Stay speech isn't delivered to Sougo, but I think it's better that it's not. Sougo was never mad at Geiz; he was just disappointed that Geiz couldn't see the value in optimism. All Sougo needed to do was smile at Geiz'z return, and we've got a concluded plot.

All of the fake people in Another World are faceless, and it's a great detail. It really showcases how these worlds are about people who can't confront reality.

The thing that kills me about these episodes is that this is all a very Act 1 problem for this show, and I thought they'd learned not to do things this way? There's a regression to the series arc here that is incredibly frustrating, because it somehow makes the previous good episodes seem like a fluke, instead of a show getting smarter about its story. I hate thinking that!

There's really no reason to have him (or Ora, honestly) get killed. Threatening Tsukuyomi is sufficient to rattle Sougo. Randomly killing people to make Sougo all enraged and bloodthirsty... why? Who wants that to be where Sougo's personality is at for the last three episodes of his show? Gross. No thanks.

I can imagine Swartz being all like "He's got all the Ridewatches now, time to push this kid's buttons by threatening his loved ones to get what I want!"......before realizing the kid only has like, what? 3 friends and an uncle he's particularly close to? 3/4 of whom have some sort of power that'll be irriating to deal with? Guess imprisioning and murdering random acquaintances this was the next best thing I suppose.......

But seriously, if he's trying to goad Sougo into becoming enraged and violent, I can only assume he wants Oma Zi-O to appear, but like. You're back at Square 1, then?! I don't follow that kind of logic at all.....

Even more than all that (which does a yeoman's job of trying to provide logic to Swartz'z scheme), it's a development that turns Kamen Rider Puppy Dog into Kamen Rider Attack Dog, and who was asking for that? Who in the world was watching this show hoping that it would Get Personal for Sougo? Unpleasant.

Aqua’s death is basically the plot reaper at work. He won’t leave until he’s taken both Geiz and Tsukuyomi back before it’s too late, but they don’t want to go back until it’s too late, so killing him is pretty much the only way to resolve his role in the show. (Since he wouldn’t make a good regular)

Only three pages left until the end of the world… which is my confusing way of saying that I’ve downloaded the last three episodes to rewatch them and give clearer thoughts.

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP44)
(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP45)
(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP46)

Big series-length plot threads are definitely not Zi-O's strong suit. I've always heard the show sort of had to write around what guest stars they ended up getting, probably meaning it was a more fluid production than usual, and on top of that, I also know for a fact that when Shimoyama was the main writer on Ninninger, he consciously avoided tying himself down to any particular twists and turns ahead of time, giving himself room to make the story up as he went along. I think that worked out a lot smoother for Ninninger than it did for Zi-O, if I'm being honest.

The struggle of making Swartz into a proper main villain, especially, was maybe something complicated by him only becoming the main villain for sure once they eventually settled on that. More things I know for a fact: Woz Ginga Finally was originally conceived to coincide with Woz revealing himself as a full-on villain, and the gimmick of Zi-O Trinity was supposed to be that Sougo was borrowing the powers of two Riders who weren't normally on his side. And yet those potentials are perhaps lost to their own Another Worlds now, because in the show we ended up getting, we strayed so far from that path that we got an episode where Woz and Woz both work towards helping our heroes, and the bonds of friendship that power Trinity are crucial to saving the day.

To borrow the words out of Shirakura's mouth -- "a television show is a living thing."

Not to drag the discussion back to Over Quartzer, but I found it sort of funny to read Die criticizing how the plot twists contradict what we've seen on TV, because, fair as that point is, I also know that the show has been contradicting the show plenty of times, and certain elements of Over Quartzer are potentially truer to the "original" vision they might've began with, such as Woz's shocking true allegiance, or the idea of Sougo's supposed destiny being a lie. No doubt all this haphazard plotting is part of why Barlckxs thinks our Heisei is such an unsightly mess. Because, you know, it kinda is.

And all of that definitely caused its share of problems for Zi-O when it came to drawing the show to a close, for sure. But I really love the duality of Die's post about episode 46, because the sheer joy he found in the thrilling Woz-centric plan of attack Team Zi-O puts into action highlights just about all the good that could've only come about because of the same decisions that left the other side of the episode feeling so limp to him. If Zi-O didn't veer off-course to the uncharted future it did, we could've avoided half-baked attempts at propping Swartz up... and we also could've lost out on so many of this series' best moments.

This is another one of those super navel-gazey sort of post from me where I don't really have a point, so much as I'm just throwing some food for thought out there, but naturally, I can't bring myself to be too worked up about any of the flaws these three episodes might have. All the fun I had with them sort of overrides that part of my brain.

I was, as you'd expect, easily suckered in by that scene with Geiz's Another World in 46 especially. (I also specifically remember reading FreshToku gush about it and appreciating it even more because of that, for the record!) It's just this really wonderful story beat to have the thought that's eating Geiz more than anything else in his life, in that moment, to be "Why did I make that the last thing I said to him?" Everything about the way Geiz loses his temper and ends up saying something he regrets, it's so grounded and human, and exactly the kind of character drama that made Zi-O a lot more than just shallow fanservice to me.

(Although man, it's still so great that Aqua, of all Riders, got such a massive spotlight in this show.)

I mean, I feel like he'd've been okay with a very forceful Our Place Is Here from the Time Orphans? Kamen Riders in general are okay breaking the rules if it's for a greater good, and Aqua specifically is a massive push-over. It wouldn't've felt out of character for him to acknowledge the ways Geiz and Tsukuyomi have made things better by being in 2019, especially after teaming up with them against Swartz.

That's the frustrating part about all of this, is that it feels so inflexible compared to the last twenty-odd episodes. Much like (the late?) Aqua, this show has been astonishingly good about turning weaknesses into strengths, and redirecting force to create surprising reversals of fortune. So much of what made this show great was it letting the characters (and actors!) help dictate the story.

So to get these gratingly false moments of plot-driven storytelling... why? Why not lean into the dynamic you already have and try and craft something towards that? Why randomly bump off characters to Raise The Stakes, when all of your best moments -- including the one in this very episode -- come from the smaller, interpersonal struggles of poorly-socialized teenagers? Why shove a celebratory, warm show into the hacky mold of Now It's Personal? Why?

I love when production teams are willing to recalibrate their visions towards what's on the screen. It's the absolute best outcome for a year-long project. I'm not sure why this show forgot it right when it most needed to remember it?

For sure, it was bad*ss to see Paradox return! I totally wasn't expecting him to be revealed as Another Drive's true identity. Him masquerading as Ora reminds me of how he did the same thing as Eiji. But I'm mostly surprised that he was the one who killed Heure, rather than a regular villain in the show. That was a tragic scene, after Heure had started to find a real friend in Sougo, so yeah, I understand why Sougo would be ticked off at Paradox laughing sadistically about that. However, even if it was actually Ora as Another Drive, I don't think she'd be above killing him anyway, since she mostly cares about herself.

Not really, but I don't mind. He fits with the Another World thing and it doesn't even require a returning actor to make it work.

Sougo did use time travel to save Makimura before destroying Another Ghost though, so even if it wasn't Heure's intention, it wouldn't be inaccurate to say that Heure is part of the reason why Makimura survived when he would've died originally. I guess I was just using "antihero" as a synonym for selfish, since Heure is a pragmatic person similar to Evolt, so he won't do something evil if there's nothing to gain from it, when doing something good might better serve his goal in the long term. In his truce with Woz, that was an "enemy of my enemy" scenario.

Pretty much. But hey, Daido/Eternal's an awesome movie villain Rider, so I'll gladly enjoy this hell!

I thought Swartz's delivery of the exposition of Sougo's three options sounded pretty ominous. But the more I tried to figure out what those extremely vague options meant, the less sense it made and the less I cared. Yeah, none of the stuff he's saying here makes logical sense, or rather it's the logic of the world that doesn't make any sense, which just happens to be where the show loses any grasp it once had on its generally consistent Time Nonsense. It only gets dumber from here!

Yeah, that was really smart use of that form, kind of like a solution out of a video game or something. Even Daido was impressed by how they used him, despite how he tries to act dignified about it.

Swartz'z delivery is always great (he's gives good Villain, no matter how absurd his story becomes), but I genuinely did not understand what he was menacing Sougo with at the cliffhanger.

I find myself thinking about this Achewood panel a lot over these last episodes of Zi-O:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/folded.gif

Missed this the first time!

It was Ora who kills Heure, not the Paradox Roidmude. Another Drive laughs at it because he pretended to be Ora to trick Heure, and then Ora kills him anyway.

Basically, it boils down to this:

Sougo kills Schwartz and rules as Grand Zi-O: Then the timeline Tsukuyomi and Geiz came from no longer exists, and they poof out of existence.

Sougo lets Schwartz win: The the latter can take over both worlds, and he?ll probably kill all of them, but they continue to exist.

Sougo becomes Ohma Zi-O and defeats Schwartz: Then Geiz and Tsukuyomi turn on him, and Schwartz’s time loop stays in effect, keeping the events of the series going until one iteration of Sougo makes a different choice.

So, I'm sorry, is the difference between Option 1 and Option 3 that the Time Orphans will get mad at Sougo? And that's what keeps them from vanishing?

It's more that, assumingly, Geiz and Tsukuyomi will once again be born in the future where Oma Zi-O rules, and the entire show starts all over again.

Not that it makes any sense anyway considering how much space-time has been absolutely screwed up to now.