Time Jackers just can't take no for an answer.

There's an interaction between Ryu and Alicia which takes place before Takeru is born, where it's implied that Takeru's and Argos' blonde hair was inherited from their great grandfather.

I have nothing nice to say about this episode, so let's just get to the bit. My favorite character from Ghost is one that's not at all surprising.

https://i.imgur.com/MmMNel8.png

Alain, or as I like to call him, the Actual Secondary Rider from Ghost.

It's easy to see why Alain is a favorite even among people who don't like Ghost; He's the character with the least amount what are commonly considered "annoying" traits, he has a fully realized character arc, great fashion sense, and he's Ben 10! What's not to love?

While I do have certain gripes with the way his character was handled(such as him constantly jobbing for Makoto), it really helped that he was, in general, always a highlight whenever he showed up on screen. His interactions with Granny and those specials that were devoted strictly to him were top notch stuff.

Oh right, there's also this.

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

...

So-- so their take in the novel is that Takeru's hair is naturally that color?!

I can accept a lot in my tokusatsu. Souls of departed heroes contained within collectibles, magic belts that play background music when a superhero takes form, Yurusen not being punted into the sun: Yes, sure, totally believable. But I will not, for a single second, pretend that that's Takeru's natural hair color. I can't do it! You can't make me!

Hey, it's my favorite Henshin noise! And one of my favorite Ghost characters!

I'll always have a fondness for Alain, but not because he was the best character on the show, or the one who was better than Makoto, or anything like that. It's because his era of the show was when it felt like the show was locking in on everything it wanted to do. Alain's redemption arc was the start of a string of smart, sensitive storytelling. I feel like getting his story right led to the creative team having enough confidence in their abilities to get the rest of it right.

also alain was my favorite onari on the show and i'm not sorry about that

Careful not to let FreshToku hear you say that!

It's humorous how that's what surprises you about that reveal. :lol

Alain's one of my favorite Tertiary Riders and his redemption is heralded by one of my favorite inserts:

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

I feel like Makoto could have been ok if the writers actually had ANYTHING Resembling a clue with what to do with him and Takeru there's potential but he spends the first 15 episodes whinning and here's an issue I have with Ghost from the time between the first 15 episodes until the last arc of the show there's no urgency for ANYTHING, I will say the first arc of Ghost wasn't AWFUL it wasn't a great start but at least there was potential for something decent enough it's once we get to the point where Adel takes over as the villain where things go south hard

oh yeah and who can forget Tengan sentai Necromger

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP13)

Hey, what do you know! This is the first time Die and I both picked the same screencap! I was wondering if that would happen at some point!

Looking back, it seems I was already decently thorough with my post at the time, so I'm not too sure what to even add, just going off memory. I guess I actually really like the idea that the episode is so dedicated to putting the Ghost stuff front and center? Like, obviously you don't want that coming at the expense of the actual Zi-O crew, but considering this episode is also Tsukasa's debut on this series, with all the implications that carries, I appreciate the thought that Mouri was looking out for Takeru by making sure the viewer couldn't possibly forget they were watching The Ghost Episodes, and not Kamen Rider Decade II, that show everyone apparently wanted more than Zi-O.

You see, I remember when Decade *was* the anniversary Heisei Rider show people thought was a bunch of confusing nonsense starring an unlikable lead character, but hey, I guess that just means I can look forward to Sougo inevitably becoming just as well-loved once the novelty of dunking on his show wears off too. I mean, we're probably like 80% of the way there already; it's been a few years. (And maybe if I'm real lucky, "Takeru is good in post-series stuff" will eventually become "Takeru is good", too! :p)

It's also a really good sentiment? I appreciate how much Takeru's actor clearly believes in the work he did, coming back to these types of specials despite folks not really being too vocal in their support of his show. Much like a certain series protagonist, he's willing to put in the hard work to forge connections with people, even if it's laughable, and especially if it's difficult. He might be outshone by other characters from his show, or the series on either side of his, but he's going to keep turning up on these post-show projects until people believe in him like he believes in them.

(Eiji. I mean Eiji.)

This part confirms further that Geiz is a tsundere, but he did act out on him moving just to spy and kill Sougo. Well, this is the stock part of lighthearted primary Rider rubbing off on the secondary Rider. Likely actually it wouldn't be necessary for Geiz to be stopped here when he goes apeshit to Sougo (other than protecting Junichiro's shop), like his lookalike Ren in Ryuki in his hostile declarations to Shinji. At the end of the episode, Sougo's consciousness is separated from his body. Actually the 'tsun' part would be reduced here if Geiz is more willingly to openly call a truce. As Tsukuyomi informs Geiz that Sougo's not breathing, Geiz doesn't let out a triumph here that his target has apparently died here but he did shake his body to wake him up a bit like Tsukuyomi did.

Actually Makimura is commendable for resisting Heure's temptation and still goes saving Mika by himself. But unfortunately for him, staying human would mean he died by that and that means Heure can still put the Ghost Watch into him to launch his schemes, Makimura's resolve against Heure being completely negated (as if Makimura's just someone bad like previous Another Riders, he's accused as making Mika suffer). And the Another Ghost part here is also a scheme to Heure as well to give the damned if you do/don't scenario for the heroes in how beating Another Ghost would still have Makimura die. Sougo's status as Ohma Zi-O in the future is also unfortunate that Heure can use it to drive everyone away from Sougo, and further their schemes of making others treat him as a tyrannical overlord, despite that currently Sougo wants the best for others (if he knows the situation well enough).

Tsukasa shows off his overpoweredness here and experience by trouncing both Sougo and Geiz without trying that much, in Agito and Hibiki forms. No parallel in the Rider fights though (not that I've found it) unlike for example Decade's Kuuga vs Kiva all forms. Otherwise I can't say much about how Tsukasa here is a wild card, and he'd operate in mysterious ways. That he seems to backfire a bit to Time Jackers in not finishing them off or acting on his own. Though Ora found a suitable candidate for them to be groomed up as king, like Woz does to Sougo. But there's now favoritism towards Decade in general here with the easily-impressed part? (because the reasons you talked there about anything is something that I deem as criticism in Decade).

If Sougo doesn't have the Ohma Zi-O destiny or caused grief for Geiz, wonder if Sougo would do the same to Geiz like Takeru here, though Sougo already did now even with the destiny. And Sougo does really get the short stick here of him being a ghost as well as what'd happen to him due to real life related consequences. Other than that, this is the occassional goof off in the usually composed Tsukuyomi had in crushing on Ryoma Takeuchi.

I'm pretty much 100% in the bag for Tsukasa? I mean, I'm watching Zi-O for the stories of Sougo, Geiz, Tsukuyomi, Woz, etc., but I'm not gonna pretend I'm not thrilled to see Tsukasa do whatever he wants at whatever amount the show feels like dispensing.

Tsukasa is a gigantic pain in the ass, but he's also a Legend Rider who's been instrumental in the defeat of a number of apocalyptic menaces. Tsukasa will always show up to ruin some Rider's day, but he'll eventually help them save it. The things people could criticize Tsukasa's character for are inextricably bound up in the things that make Tsukasa such a compelling character. He's the best because he's also frequently the worst.

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 14 - “GO! GO! GHOST 2015”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio14a.png

It’s foolhardy to try and predict what Tsukasa will get up to in a story. You can’t believe anything he says, and only half of what he does. His demeanor invites everything from skepticism to outright loathing. He’s a hero who embraced the identity of Destroyer Of Worlds. He’s a wild card, if you’ll pardon the expression.

So I don’t know where the story is going to go with him, and I don’t have any guesses. But I like the use of him at this point in Zi-O, as an antagonist. I like it, not because he’s more popular or cooler or whatever, but because of the conflicting ideologies, and the metatextual read of it.

I’ll start with the latter first, because that’s how my brain works. The idea of the previous Anniversary Rider being an obstacle to the current Anniversary Rider just makes sense to me. This is a show about the future, so the biggest threat should be someone from the past. Team Zi-O represents the limitless possibilities of the future, the way we can keep changing ourselves until the best parts of us are on the surface. Decade is about honoring the past, revisiting circumstance and memory as a way of codifying it into history. Putting two generational heroes into conflict is a chance to talk about how history is different for the people who lived it, and how that history becomes a weapon they can use against the future. Old Guy Versus Young Guy is 100% where I want this story to go, and I’m happy to see it happen, even briefly.

And to do it with such diametrically opposed characters! Sougo, who turns adversaries into allies and allies into friends; versus Tsukasa, who couldn’t ever pay a compliment without making it sound like an insult. Sougo is all smiles, while Tsukasa is all smirks. Sougo is outgoing and generous, while Tsukasa is moody and unreliable. Sougo’s goals are broadly stated and aggressively pursued, while Tsukasa’s are vague and haphazardly advanced. You literally couldn’t design a better villain for Sougo to face.

So, yeah, absolutely loving how this show has integrated Tsukasa into a nebulously antagonistic role in this show. Thankfully, though, that’s not all this show has to offer.

All of the Ghost Legend Rider stuff was great. Takeru continues to be a charming guest-star, bonding easily with Sougo over the weirdness of being a Ghost. (Which… there’s a gag at the end I loved, where Sougo immediately says that he’s hungry once he’s alive again. That’s a great callback to Takeru’s need to eat again when he was a ghost, and Takeru even says I KNOW, RIGHT in response. Except, this Takeru never died, right? So how could he commiserate with Sougo?) Makoto showing up – was not expecting that! Bringing back Akari's Ghost Visibility Spray to, uh, make Takeru completely corporeal (???) was a neat way of paying homage to the cast members that weren't brought back. It’s all in service of a very Ghost plot, with Sougo using the power of a Luminary (Tsukasa) to free a tormented soul and reunite a family. It’s a very charming tribute to a frequently overlooked -slash- reviled series.

They even created a little space for both Takeru and Makoto to Henshin into Ghost and Specter, which feels a bit like the show trying to get more of the Legend Rider suits in the show. (Hell, we get the Ghost suit twice in this episode: once with Takeru, and once with Tsukasa!) After a bunch of stories where the plot required our Legends to be actor-only cameos, this story gave us our heroes in their suits as well, which is maybe how it should be. I didn’t mind the other way, but this felt better.

This was a lot of fun, and I didn't even mention how much I loved the name "Heiseiber" for Decade Armor's weapon. (I LOVE IT SO MUCH.) Last episode definitely came off a little uneven, with a lot of Decade and Ghost but not enough Zi-O, so it was nice to see both the Decade and Ghost stuff feel connected to the Zi-O stuff. Connections! One more gift from the Ghost side of things!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio14b.png

—

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O COMPLEMENTATION PROJECT EPISODE 14.5 - “PINK DEVIL”

Weirdly, the ones that are the least tethered to providing information (or participating in our shared reality) are the best of the .5 episodes.

There’s really nothing of “value” here. It’s just the standard Decade Is Magenta Not Pink reminder that we’ve been getting since the Decade Net-Movies. (Which are brilliant.) That’s it. The end.

But just seeing Tsukasa swan around 9-To-5 and lazily demand respect while Team Zi-O tries to downplay his undeniable achievements in elevating the Heisei Rider aesthetics… super fun. Super fun! It’s all of the kids on the show playing straight man to Tsukasa’s immortal charisma and weird physicality. (He’s very balletic in this? I don’t remember Tsukasa gliding as much before.) He owns a room in a way that I think can get missed in the context of a tokusatsu show. Here, it’s like a play, and you’re just putty in his hands.

Just like Sougo!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/ziocp14a.png