It's the impatience to him, I think, that makes him seem more villainous than Woz. Woz came back to witness history unfold, while Hat Woz is there to create history. It's all in the name of someone else's victory, but it's about twisting the narrative to feature him.

Hat Woz is totally going back to 2068 to tell everyone that he and Geiz are besties, is what I'm getting at.

So, fun fact: Originally they planned for there to be multiple different versions of Woz praising different characters (a Red Woz for Tsukuyomi, a Grey Woz for himself), but for reasons that “you are not supposed to know about”, it was scrapped (plus having one actor playing at least 4 characters might get confusing). Though as for why I know about those specific examples… well, you’ll see.

As for the two parter, the most I remember is Sougo actually going for the Sentai tradition of calling attacks with separate names to what’s being announced.

Next time: True or false: It’s against the law to sell ice cream on Sundays in Oregon, USA?

How do you know all these facts from these shows? Do you have an inside source or something?

Sh Ranger also also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O Episode 17 & 18


WARNING: The above link contains spoilers. Don't read until after Day of Oma!

I sure hope Fish doesn't mind me borrowing his format here. But I thought it would be a real shame not to share my review of this arc that I did a few months ago.

Rentarou's murder spree here isn't even the worst example.

They're functionally friends, sure, but when your tsundere friend sometimes contemplates (not just thinking about, but having intent) killing you, then it's probably not there yet. But I guess if Takumi and Kusaka are friends now, then who knows? I think Geiz sees Sougo as more of an ally of circumstance, than someone he's hanging out with cause he wants to. Or at least that's the story he's sticking with. He doesn't want to get too close to Sougo in case he has to actually kill him. This conflict with the two timelines will either make them or break them.

Regarding Geiz's insistence on referring to Sougo only by his Rider name, Alain did the same thing with his perfect best friend Specter, despite having a poor understanding of the concept of friendship. Also, Sougo's the only one in Team Zi-O with more than one name, so you could say Geiz is just being consistent.

ZX! Hattari! :p

Ryusoulger is one of my favorite Sentai as well! Honestly, I think it did an even better job at ending the Heisei Era than Zi-O did, with how deeply the knight motif is connected to the lore and has that Bakumatsu feeling of a warring culture trying to become more peaceful. I love the upbeat and catchy Que Bom dance song at the end of each episode, which is maybe tied with the Zyuohger dance for my favorite. More reasons for Die to watch Ryusoulger!

White Woz is pretty OP, with how he trolls Heure with the car and can just skip the middle to get to the conclusion he wants. The only reason he doesn't just abuse the hell out of his powers all the time is that he needs to step back to facilitate the rise of that "Geiz Revive" he mentioned before.

What do you think of Kamen Rider Woz's Futuring Time gimmick?

X

No, I just read a lot

Iwae Sentai Wozranger?

Androzani is basically Woz'z book, but if it had a TokuNation account. Androzani is the irrefutable record of Kamen Rider history! IWAE!

Geiz ONE THOUSAND PERCENT does not consider Sougo his friend, which is one of the things that makes their dynamic so enjoyably weird. Like, Geiz obviously cares about Sougo, and he likes hanging out with him, but remarking on it will draw an I'm Not Here To Make Friends, followed by an episode of grim pouting. Geiz is not at all good about expressing his emotional needs!

I'm not sure I know what that is!

It's Sougo himself giving the term Black Woz and White Woz :|, though in fanbase for the former, he's usually refered as just Woz with the latter (with hat) still refered as White Woz.

Ironically no offense, but you saying that Geiz still had his dream of defeating Ohma Zi-O is quite overlooking the Sougo/Geiz friendship now and their changes. Geiz wants to save the future, originially yeah by killing Sougo due to him still viewing him as the tyrannical dictator regardless of current Sougo self, but now with him having a faith in Sougo he'd want to save the future without defeating Ohma Zi-O, he'd want to prevent Ohma Zi-O from being born without killing Sougo. For the not seeing himself as a hero, Geiz actually is self-righteous, with him having the mentality of seeing others as 'doing what's right' or 'an evil that must be destroyed'. Probably not seeing himself as hero, but he sees himself as someone who'd never be in the wrong.

Ironic, now it's the Shinobi part that is praised instead compared to before. As it's already known, Rentarou is an upstanding guy that has Kamen Rider sensibility, that he wanted to fight as Kamen Rider Shinobi to protect those who needs it. He's an example of a most of main Rider archetype that is played up as a non-major character. Of which, like I said before (yeah for Decade one), power is much needed to act upon his sense of justice, you can still help as normal human but the impact would be far less.

Though it's easier here to pick on Rentaro risking to become a monster or resigns himself here as the consequence of Another Shinobi had happened, but is it technically similar for some other heroes? Especially the ones who are normal humans without their power source, they are given powers through other sources either by others giving them the belt or finding the belt itself for Kamen Riders. Rentaro doesn't surrender to fear and anger (well probably there's a bit of fear), he's actually similar to Makimura from Ghost 2 parter before of actually the Another Rider who refuses the temptation from Time Jackers (the very thing that made White Woz get his Shinobi Ridewatch), only that their resistance is still futile. For this case, Rentaro is given power by an irredeemable villain in Swartz, thus it'd be playing into his schemes, but as Kamen Rider are commonly about heroes using powers from evil for good, it had happened to main characters too like Kenzaki getting his belt from BOARD (who is orchestrated by Tennoji), or for my previous mentions, Kouta being "helped" by Sagara but it's him manipulating Kouta for his own ends. Of which those can be seen as fools for letting themselves being pawns for the villains (albeit they're are aware and accepted the pawn status to make use of their power to fight for justice).

Only difference is that Another Rider doesn't only gave them the Rider strength, but they also transform the subject into a destructive, evil creature obsessed with a twisted version of their original desires. So it's like them being brainwashed, not acting out of free will, albeit so far the only Another Riders which are good people are Rentarou and Makimura (others would gladly comply to doing the destructive things the Another Rider turned them out be). Personally between Rentaro and other heroes (though he does need Sougo's pep talk), the mere difference here is the devices the manipulators use on the heroes. Devices like what belt BOARD gave to its members or Woz gave to Sougo doesn't change their self, they act fully on their own as the Riders. But Rentaro acted against his will, the Another Rider corrupting the users (like OOO PuToTyra's side effect).

White Woz is even more evil than Heure too. Though Woz is technically villainous, he's genuinely courteous, while White Woz is outwardly charming, it's to hide his cruel and sociopathic demeanor. It's an opposite of Black and White Woz. Other than that, he's the big winner too here, being the mastermind in the events here, despite Rentaro being more of the focus here and Swartz having an effective method. He used everyone as pawns to achieve his goal, he goads Sougo into fighting Another Shinobi, while giving Rentaro the pep-talk, with Swartz continuously activating the Another Shinobi watch each time the latter is defeated, and with the pep-talk, Rentaro will refuse the Watch, thus it confirms that Rentaro will become Kamen Rider Shinobi in the future and White Woz can get the Shinobi Watch from that.

There's a possibility of him murdering Sougo, but though murder isn't an admirable scenario, it's now different. Previously Geiz wanted to murder Sougo out of hatred and vengeance, and it's the first and only option he'd use, constantly looking for an opportunity for that. But now Geiz would also try to look for ways to prevent Ohma Zi-O's birth that doesn't involve killing Sougo, like Tsukuyomi (up until this point), and would kill at last resort. And there's characterization for the murder, he'd now kill Sougo out of making sure Sougo doesn't live long enough to see himself as a villain, so there's a concern for Sougo himself too, not out of hatred. Geiz even now shows his trust on Sougo by giving him his belt and acknowledging his desire to try becoming good despot (where previously Geiz would constantly ignore that out of hatred). Dunno if those'd be actual friends but for sure Geiz now is much closer to Sougo than before.

I feel like you haven't seen the hat!

Sure, that's true, but that's why I phrased it as "defeating" Oma Zi-O. That can happen in a lot of different ways, not just by being a grim executioner. Geiz can defeat Oma Zi-O by being a positive influence on Sougo, or by being a stern judge of Sougo's actions. Geiz'z dream is still to defeat Oma Zi-O and save the future.

I don't know if that's how I see him? I think Geiz'z off-putting nature and generally rude vibe isn't from certainty, but from fear. He's someone who is scrambling for a solution to a deep despair: I don't think you hijack a Time Mazine and travel back fifty years to execute a teenage version of Time's Best Worst Overlord because you're sure of what's right and wrong.

Like, his whole weird dynamic with Sougo speaks to a kid who wants to portray immovable righteousness, but is psychologically adrift. I don't think he sees what he's doing as the only logical course of action?

I don't believe I mentioned this last episode, but I was not expecting the BeyonDriver to sound at all like that. Given Woz's personality, I originally expected his belt's voice to be something dignified or calm, kind of like Necrom, so you can imagine my surprise when the Driver starts shouting "WOZ! ACTION!" before blasting super-future-new-age-techno-party music.

But as many have said, this arc is more of the White Woz introductory arc, as much as I liked the idea of Shinobi. Though I did enjoy seeing Kamen Rider Woz in action, it usually does fall into the phase of the season where it kind of loses its flare for a bit (as some later seasons are wont to follow, not like they're all like that, but that's kind of how it feels sometimes). The old "New Year, New Rider" gig.

Since this episode focuses on Kamen Rider Woz more than Shinobi, I'm going to talk about Woz! I really like his design, very sleek and futuristic, and more based on a digital smart-watch that Geiz is. Sure, it's because he's an alternate future Rider, but that honestly works given the state of the future Geiz hails from, and that's something I like. And his weapon is certainly an interesting one, being a spear, a scythe, and a cane, it's strangely unique seeing as how most Rider weapons tend to be something like Guns, Swords, or good old fashioned fists. The only thing I kind of wish this suit had was a coat like design like Wizard's, since both Wozs wear similar duds (I would also say scarf, but Shinobi has that base covered, and French Woz doesn't have one).