Likely not if history is any indication, but no casting has been shown or announced yet. So who knows.

Maybe next series though if not this one, and we've yet to see any side riders too.
And if this is anything like Decade to W. This might be the first in a set of anniversary series. But this anniversary it's celebrating is the watch one.

Zi-Oh as far as I know, isn't the one that'll step outside those bounds. It could, but the 4th wall breaking might make it too much for a debute of a female lead, because then the 4th wall commentary could be perceived as insulting instead of playful. You know how fragile male perceptions are on those topics, though in japan it's typically not as bad in America on that level of ignorant spin.

I do expect we will get some kind of female lead rider within the next 5 years, and maybe more than one. And it also depends on the spin they use for the story too for this. If they went from the angle of a mother connecting to her child through a show her child likes, that could really work. But that feels more like a one off special than a series. It would be neat to see some respect shown to female fans of the franchise though, so we could get something at some point. But likely more towards the same year they announce a male pretty cure member. They'd want to balance it some, but also not alter the demographics too much.

Until more story details and casting are announced though, it's anyone's guess.

You did, yeah, I've seen that one around. It'd be amazing if true, but I doubt it. There are easily ten false Kamen Rider rumours to every grain of truth every few months when a new Toy Catalog drops.

Like, for Build, early rumours said he was a construction worker using the World Driver, with second and third riders from the get-go (a gardener and fashion designer, respectively).

The rider being pink and silver does lend itself to being a girl, if we follow society's stereotypes. The design is based on a woman's Rolex watch, not a man's.

I mean, Ex-Aid and Decade were both pink. The only thing I could see it giving away a more female rider vibe are it's long nails.

I just hope Zi-O won't be like Decade as a devil/destroyer nor will his season be flumped!

Fascinating design from what we can see. All main Kamen Rider suits (with the maybe-exception of Ex-Aid) have been in some way a riff on the original Kamen Rider suit, but this one is more specifically referential of multiple previous Rider suits. I'm seeing
- Decade's color scheme
- Den-O's vertical chest piece
- Build's shaped-eyes motif and asymmetrical antennae-analog
- 555's fingertips
- Wizard's collar and shoulder line
- Ghost's framing of the face

They could just be coincidental - again, all those designs riff on Kamen Rider 1 - but it feels to me like a lot of these might be deliberate visual references to Heisei Riders. I'm not detecting any Fourze, Gaim, Drive, OOO, Ex-Aid, or W references, but then again, we're only seeing the head and part of the shoulders.

IIRC, Zi-Oh at one time was at least considered to be a female rider, but then various amount of debate points bounced around trying to figure out if it was time for that yet. So this one may be male. Granted, we're also assuming only one person will wear it. Which may not be the case either.

Could though. Especially if they don't overtly tweak the armor to seem like it. So the toys can be either or. One of the perks to full body suit/masks and armored characters is it can be anyone under the mask unless it's obvious in sculpt/design.

So like form fitting tights that show musculature like Spider-man typically reveal gender based on that. But Rider armor so long as it's not designed with a boob plate, can still market toys to boys and girls without an issue no matter who is under it. The watch band though on the chest is typically male. Granted it's becoming a more modern trend of both styles of watch bands are used for either or, it used to be the thicker watch bands were male watches while thinner bands were female watches.

Zi-Oh can go either way, but I don't think the magenta is a sign of anything at all other than a color that made the design standout. Japan isn't as archaic in color choices as other areas. And even over in Sentai, there's been a streak of Blue female rangers like a conscious effort to get rid of color use stereotypes.

Fingernails wouldn't be a way to reveal it either. Phillip painted his(fang joker), Hibiki had sharp ones, and so have other riders. So finger nails aren't really a "female reveal" kind of thing at all when it comes to designs.

I can't believe Zi-O would be a girl, cause otherwise wouldn't the Rider name be Zi-Ojo or something?

I'm not a super big fan of the design, it doesn't have a unique silhouette compared to most Riders.

I like it. Can't wait to see the whole suit!