I have a lot of thoughts about both Geiz and his tactical dickie. I’ve gone over them before and definitely will again in a few weeks.

I'm a bit fond of him, but understand why some people absolutely despise the character.

Anyway! Very excited for Die to get to Zi-O, and to rewatch it for myself! It's only been a few months or so since I finished it for the first time, but reading these threads always helps me gain some new appreciation for a show or catch something I missed on the initial watch! And I feel like that's especially needed for this one....

If Heisei Generations: GhostDoctors was a Toei deciding to step up their game with the crossover films, then Heisei Generations: Ex-BuildOOO's is on the same level, if not stronger for that sheer thematic core of Banjou trying to figure out how to be a hero, when getting shown by the way by a group of people who have rehabilitated far worse. Except maybe Kouta, I think everyone around him just got depression. I've still not seen all of OOO (Yes, I know, I'm a godless heathen), but Ankh coming back for just that moment is, just like Megamax, scripted and acted perfectly to the point where you don't need to. And while Build/ExAid/OOO are the core bunch, Gaim and Fourze are cute little additions that always remind you Riders help out other Riders.

As for the Build film, can only agree that it has some good moments severely hamstrung by wrenching the Blood tribe into the show in the clumsiest way possible. Even as movie villains go, they're pretty bland and dull, with little of Evolto's charm.

And as for Zi-O, shame to hear you didn't make it to the quota Die! Sure would be a shame if a group of toku fans were to ruin your attempts to do it solo by posting their thoughts in the same thread, huh?

If anyone is curious, here were the arcs that I applied to be a part of for "TN Watches Zi-O."

1. 7 and 8
2. 23 and 24
3. 33 and 34
4. 44, 45, and 46
5. Geiz Majesty

Having not seen Zi-O yet, I have zero idea what I'll think of these episodes, but uh, if anyone can particularly guess as to why I chose the ones that I did, well, you've certainly done your homework, haha.

Wish I could apply for the Kiva arc and/or Black Woz's debut. Unfortunately, timezone's a screwy and not in the position that I could just freely use my time.

I started Amazon on YouTube today.

Here were the sets of episodes I went to pitch for.

5th: 21 to 22
4th: 23 to 24
3rd: 37 to 38
2nd: 13 to 14
1st: 25 to 28

5 through 2 were mostly in terms of like, which Episodes I feel I could talk the most about. 1st though is like, my favorite set of episodes in the entire show.

One of the reasons I didn't pitch in was because I was too lazy to look up which episodes were which arcs.

There's a bit of trepidation about starting Zi-O (which I'll get into tomorrow), but I always end up loving watching these shows. I don't, uh... I don't always end up loving the shows, but I love watching the shows. It's a fun discovery process.

The thing that's always most exciting is seeing what some other production team (writers, producers, actors, stunt teams, caterers) thinks a Kamen Rider show should be. Some of it's in the specific themes or concepts a crew wants to explore (Teamwork or Humility or The Possibility For Change), but some of it's in the tone of the material, or the emphasis on different storytelling tricks.

It's like each team just bought the last team's house, and I get to see what they've turned the inside into. How did they decorate? What walls did they knock down? Why are there so many goddamn clocks? And etc.

The thing that always makes that scene land for me (and I've seen it probably three times now?) is how Eiji underplays his reaction, while his eyes are going OMG ANKH.

I think I talked about this, but you can't be honest, emotionally, with Ankh. Eiji can't start crying, or hug him, or say how much he missed Ankh. He just has to take it all in, and fight back tears, while Ankh tells him he looks like shit. But everything in their brief reunion tells you that this moment means the world to both of them: Eiji's watery eyes, Ankh's barely-concealed glee, the easy rapport of them being snarky with each other. It's perfect.

brb gotta ask the mods to pre-emptively lock a thread

One of the fun things about collecting people's Zi-O picks was getting to see where the most interesting episodes were going to land. Not necessarily the best (probably?), but the ones the most people wanted to talk about.

The most-requested block was 25-28, followed by 21-22, so it seems like I've got a real weird middle section to look forward to. Beyond that, 35-36 and 17-18 made a few people's lists. Oddly, no one volunteered for the first two or final episodes, so... uh, could be a rough series arc!

No spoilers in response to this info, please, but I thought it was worth sharing with the world.

That's awesome! I can't wait to hear how you're liking it. And you have to share; it's the friendly thing to do!

"Hoo boy" is right. I can't believe I didn't push back on that completely uncalled for potshot you took at ska!

You tell him, Eiji!

Anyways, yeah, much like Anything Goes, Heisei Generations Final is really dang good. Not AS good as the perfection of Anything Goes, but what is? (Okay, I'll stop.) Kamihoriuchi is still great, and like I and so many other people immediately told you at the time, Ryuuga's arc in it is both very true to what Build is about, and a very nice general tribute to the whole heroic legacy of Kamen Rider. I like the idea that someone as simpleminded as Ryuuga struggles to wrap his head about the simplest idea of all, which is that someone would ever just fight for Love & Peace without expecting to even be rewarded for it. Oh, and speaking of which...

Somewhat paradoxically, my own gripes with Build mean I completely understand where you're coming from with your criticisms of this film, and yet, I also feel like you're underestimating what a perfect encapsulation of the series it is to a level where I'd kind of hoped it would get its own "Hoo boy" from you. Or, man, I don't know, I don't exactly want to say you're not giving the film enough credit, but... well, maybe I do? This isn't my favorite summer movie, but, especially having rewatched it recently, I think on a lot of levels, it nails everything a good Rider summer movie is supposed to do. Thanks to Kamihoriuchi's amazing direction (this is top-tier work even by his standards), even those most uninspired elements of the story are delivered in a way that is, and for all its faults, the narrative gets to the core of a lot of the different ideas and themes from throughout Build all at once.

I don't know. I didn't really expect to come in here trying to make an impassioned defense of this movie, so I'm probably not doing the best job of it. The only thing I really wanted to say was how much I adore Everlasting Sky. It's a beautiful ballad to end the film on, and it's especially significant to me as the only song for Build that my beloved Shouko Fujibayashi wrote the lyrics for. As much as I love how Ready Go is literally assembled from quotes from the show, Everlasting Sky is the perfect theme for Sento in my mind. Fujibayashi, as ever, just cuts right to the bone of the narrative, and puts so perfectly into words the way Sento knows more than anyone how fragile and unrealistic his idealism is, and yet still chooses to believe, more than anyone, that it's possible to make those dreams come true anyway.

So I guess what I'm basically getting at is that I'm glad the movie came as close as it does to living up to its amazing theme song. :p

Since other people are bringing up their lists, then for the record, I totally would've done the first and last episodes, by the way. I'm pretty sure I even told Die as much when I submitted mine, but I'm basically down for whatever when it comes to Zi-O. And I still am! So, you know, obviously you'd have a harder time convincing me not to kick in my thoughts on the show when that thread starts up. So don't fret too much, Die! If anything, you probably mostly just saved yourself a lot of headaches not having to try and figure out the scheduling for 20 people.