Break Down

This movie is what got me to realize the significance in those words from the Force Riser, and in turn made it my second favorite belt in the show.

While it's by no means perfect, I really like this movie. The action is top notch as always, the characters are engaging and/or interesting, and the emotional core of it all: the test of Aruto's resolve and if he's really willing to fight for what he believes in regardless of who his opponent might be, really worked for me.

The Zi-O stuff is whatever, but Aruto and his father really shined here, which is definitely what the whole movie hinges on. Easily the best movie that Zero-One has to offer.

This being a 01 x Zi-O movie really feels like it didn't think any further than "The time-travelling crew takes the current main hero to the past!", given how the Zi-O cast just... basically are time tourists along for the ride after that point. I don't even remember Sougo and Aruto having any moments together other than that bizarre ending scene and the inevitable team-up fight with Grand (which I swear Momotaros' actor gave a voice cameo for)

One thing that is nice though is that Tsukuyomi is just... a part of that gang as a Rider with no need for explanation, and just treating it like she had been the whole series. It's also a thing in Geiz Majesty and Decade vs Zi-O, so it's neat to see it be that consistent after her form's really horrible debut in the series itself

You might be interested to know that Revice defies this trend. The KR siblings' dad is not only still alive but part of the supporting cast as he runs the business that acts as Revi's home base and is always around.

So this movie!

As always, we get Tsukuyomi transforming in the tradition of "Let's use the Tsukuyomi suit as much as possible post series". Though this is the last thing you haven't covered that she was in so...

ICHIGATA!!!

Ichigata is my favorite suit from Zero-One (Ironic considering what my profile picture is, don't worry it's fittingly #2), it has a lot of good heft to it, is a really cool reference to Ichigo, bringing him into the modern era with a more mechanical aesthetic... and he has an energy scarf. I love energy cloth accessories, so if you give me an energy cape, scarf, etc? I will eat it up!

I actually surprisingly liked the movie myself, but to each their own!

I like how Zi-O seemingly separated all the Rider Worlds and yet that still isn't preventing crossovers.

I dunno, the conflict between Aruto and his dad worked for me. Maybe it's because their suits were so amazing, the fight so dynamic, and Aruto gaining a new understanding of his father and what he did to help others and how much he really cared about Aruto...to me it was the emotional core of the whole movie. And I just loved those suits.

I like the concept of Another Zero-One. Like, design-wise it fits a lot as a more monster version of Zero-One and continuing the trend of Another Riders up to that point, and having it be a Humagear fighting for the sake of other Humagears makes for a great parallel to Aruto. And yet...I don't feel they emotionally resolved him quite so well? I feel like Aruto should've been the one to ultimately confront him instead of Fuwa and Yua coldly slaying him no problem because there was no real emotional catharsis or reaction to his genuine concerns about Humagears.

I like Finis design-wise even if she's even more razor-thin than most Time Jackers. And Another Ichigo...well, like, the Showa Riders were never really relevant to Zi-O but I guess in a theme about a new generation inspired by Ichigo on several fronts, it makes sense.

I like that the movie showed off a lot of forms, like all of Zi-O's upgrades, team Zi-O fighting together as a team, and while Zero-One doesn't get a movie upgrade or Shining Hopper, he gets to fight alongside Grand Zi-O in all his forms before they finish with a Double Rider Kick in their base forms, which was neat for a final fight.

I always found it interesting that Korenosuke is such a pivotal character to Aruto, his character arc, and his entire job really...and they never interact on-screen. Like, there's never one scene of them together or face-to-face between the actors, it's all in absentia. Aruto reacts to his grandfather's actions and legacy but never to his grandfather himself.

Also, the implications that Korenosuke made a Humagear of his own son to raise his grandson...was he so consumed by grief and the effect it would have on Aruto that he didn't think he had any other choice? Was he on some level testing the depths they could go to with Humagears? Why didn't he build a Humagear of Aruto's mother? Did he feel he was already playing God too much? Was he just razor-focused on his own son? Did he not think Aruto needed a mother?

I know Jin and Horobi were currently the major villains, but wow...they tanked a triple Rider Kick and didn't even de-transform!

Sougo setting up Heisei vs Reiwa early with a quick Zi-O and Zero-One fight. I like to think Aruto won though.
They kind of investigated together (I think they were confronted by Soren together) and Sougo helped emotionally support Aruto a bit. We didn't get a lot of them together but I felt like they had good chemistry, plus it was fun seeing Sougo be a Rider Senpai.

Yeah, it always irked me how Aruto's feelings about his grandfather are all very vague and in reference to his legacy as Hiden's president...but not as his grandfather? It's never impiled or hinted at what Korenosuke's dynamic with Aruto was like post-Soreo's destruction and pre-Episode 1 (Like, we are supposed to assume he took care of Aruto personally during that time? Or the way they're implied to be slightly estranged in Ep 1 is supposed to mean he just shipped him off somewhere while he focused on maintaining Hiden?)

(Aruto's mother is such a nonexistent concept (we don't hear a lick about her ever iirc) that it makes me think Aruto's real dad just invested in the adoption/surrogate process as a single father. As for Korenosuke's choice.....I don't know about you, but no matter how cool my robot parent turned out to be, the fact that my only living relative would rather do that, than yknow, actually spend time raising me, I'd be a little miffed personally.)

I'm trying to think of Main Riders with significant mother figures.

Tendo had his grandmother but that was about it.

Ryotaro's older sister was basically his mother.

Wataru's mother was fairly plot relevant (and Megumi was kind of defined by her own mother) even if she only really did any actual mothering in, like, the last few episodes of Kiva.

Kota was another instance of a characters' older sister basically being his mother.

Sento's mom showed up for two episodes (but those were some very emotionally impactful two episodes).

The question of why Aruto not only wasn't cared for by his grandfather after his died is one of MANY questions I have regarding that family.

-What happened to Aruto's mother?

-Why does Grampa Hiden make a robot dad, but not a robot mom?

-What happens after Headphones Dad is blown up? Does Aruto just live in an orphanage for the next decade?

Aruto and his grandad never feel like they had some being falling out, but that old man avoided Aruto like he was radioactive. A lot of questions left to answer!

I KNEW I KNEW HIM FROM SOMEWHERE. Thank you!

And onto the production info. Which is somehow more detailed on the actual plot that the movie itself is.

I'm glad you had a good time with it!

I'm glad to see her at least on Woz'z level, as far as usefulness in fights. That's the bare minimum!

That said, my favorite scene for her in this movie was trying to wrangle Geiz in 2007, when he's just doing combat rolls in front of every robot he sees. Her being some perennially-overworked Time Mom is intensely nostalgic for me.

That's good to hear! All Dads Are Dead needs to stay in Heisei!

It's a very good suit! My second-favorite series-wide, maybe, after ZeroZero-One. All the Ichigou touches are great, and it even references the bulk Dad Ichigou suit from the Ghost movie!

Yeah, there's a real narrative shrug here, with Woz going I Guess They're Combining Again. I don't care, it's just a movie, and we need them to team-up. But still! Not a ton of effort on justifying the return of a lot of the elements Sougo sacrificed so much to eliminate.

Yeah, all dads are dead so far (until Revice as said above which is fully against this), and it's not Toei exclusive thing, many characters in series are made independently without their parents in general. It's probably done solely for story's sake, and as it seems that some people tend to forget non-tragic backstories, many backstories are made by filling it with tragedy (of which some think that type is the only one qualified as backstory), and the loss of parents are easy way and thus a popular choice. Either to satisfy what they think people demand or that this type of backstory had been done so much some people forget about the more normal backstories. Or that they'd want to avoid writing parents if they can't do so, and it'd kill 2 birds with 1 stone to provide what they think are compelling backstory and a reasonable excuse to not write about parents.

This is an altered time of Zero-One, the alternate timeline to have... all of this happening so it's separate from the main series, but yeah it does betray the principle of Aruto having a good, loving Humagear dad that fueled his worldview, because here, though he's not operating in malice, he seems to be a dad who gave poor upbringing to Aruto, like his view of his son being ready to be on his own is the.. outdated Spartan way of besting him in a fight? Along with the complicated setup like feigning being corrupted with Ark to make sure that the fight is done to the death so Aruto can be "independent". Why making yourself dead in the process? Kids would rather have their parents around right even if they're already an adult. Another showing of Soreo having poor grasp of being a parent here. This is an alter(ed)nate timeline, but dunno if Soreo would pull BS like this?

Korenosuke is definitely well-intentioned and sticks to his principles, and he does have preparation in the main series when the robotic war happens, like Zea to fabricate the Zero-One Driver and give Izu orders, but here yeah, he really does have a severe lack of foresight here and can unintentionally cause some problems himself. He outright deflected Will's question here. This is an example of miscommunication (TM) that plagued the conflict. I also even think that Korenosuke had a lack of foresight when announcing how humans would be free from work at the presentation, and.. so where'd humans get their incomes? Though in the series he doesn't believe in androids stealing human's jobs. Though of course, Will's genocidal rage is probably understandable but he'd target far more than just Korenosuke, but humans who don't have anything to do with him. This movie actually displayed about how Ark worked, it corrupts and brainwashes the Humagears into submitting to its... will. Will himself actually isn't brainwashed though as a twist and used Ark to accompany him.

I have to say that Finis (that Time Jacker's name, obviously, it's based on “finish”, or "end" as in Latin, as so far the last Time Jacker to appear. Also based on finis word that in Swedish, typically means "closing time" or "the end") has stunning outfit, but that's about it. They (Finis' genderless as per actress interview) only had wanting revenge for Swartz, for unknown reasons why one would be fiercely loyal to total scumbag like him.... and some misleading trailer that painted Finis as a someone who tried to alter Zero-One's history to prevent the tragedy of Daybreak Town, but the end product had Finis wiping the history of Kamen Riders instead, like Tid from Heisei Generations Forever. But perhaps, with all your complaining here, the Zi-O part is done so... none of these can be seen as canon as all of those are altered timeline? (crossovers are probably usually done for fan-service). Character wise, I'd say that here, Woz is actually being mostly helpful to others instead of his usual hidden selfish agenda schemings (other than typical hammy debutings).

I'm also left wondering what happened to the Aruto of this timeline, since a) Headphones Dad didn't get blown up to leave him a double-orphan this time; and b) the AIMS crew knows exactly who he is, so he must still be around in the present? (As a criminal/fugitive, based on every Humagear trying to hunt him down.) So, like, what was Headphones Dad doing with his human son during a global purge of humanity for an entire decade? Please stop doing alternate timelines if you aren't going to put any effort into it, Kamen Rider!