I actually really like Zero form, love The whole rust theme.

Also despite never getting to these episodes the debut of Zero managed to burn its way into my memory, which I suppose is appropriate, via a YouTube clip.

That's hilarious! And, yeah, pretty apt!

Plus it probably is easier to get an Altair form figure and then after coating the green parts with super glue sprinkle actual rust powder and voila. :lolol

Just gonna get a non-Seihou Altair for cheap and leave it on my back deck for the summer, create the world's longest Zero Form form change.

Well there ya go, of course I won't talk about this much yet before, but this is the main reason for Ryotaro acting that way, he would rewrite the time doing that way. And Airi herself also had her part on this, not only others like Ryotaro, as a part of her traditional Japanese feminine aspects.

Wait, before you talk about how Kai's strength point is about him only working to finish the job, not monologuing or expositioning, and he shrugs off everything others need to know, but this talk seems the opposite about him having a conversation about his goals. Also, here, about how Kai has total apathy and moral relativism, and treating everything as subjective and pointless, this kind of villain is commonly seen and those trait Kai have is their glaring flaw that also can lead to their downfall; they cannot understand the concept of goodness or generosity because there is no guaranteed return on that investment, as in general, evil always assumes that virtue makes you weak, and also assuming ulterior motive in the heroes' "so-called" heroic acts. And by that, those villains fail to anticipate the heroes' selfless actions that makes them lose. And for Kai having apathy and pointless view of mindset, this seems like a nihilist trait, though he acts childishly upbeat instead of being cynical, but this trait is one of the common people who has the inability to comprehend good altruistic behavior.

For him baffling at Ryotaro mourning Yuuto, self-centeredness makes it nearly impossible for a villain to understand or embrace the necessary demands of friendship and love, as they find such concepts, like you said here, laughable and/or distractions. They tend to believe in self-preservation and individualism above all things, act in their own self-interest, believe competition makes them more successful, and assume heroes "enslave" people to an arbitrary system of rules and dogma. Pride is by nature competitive, pitting the arrogant villain against everyone, they simply can't understand cooperation advantages, which is a form of love, placing it beyond the realm of their understanding. Plus, while the villain may be surrounded by countless lackeys whom he keeps them in line via threats or outright violence, and can lead into infightings that can put them into disadvantage, the hero has numerous companions who are willing to help them even in dire situations and enable them to defeat the baddies.

Jokes aside (if this one is it), like from before, the "better" timeline here is only a lead-up to killing Yuuto and trying to trick Ryotaro into not interfering to Kai's plans by showing him that it made for a better present. Better outcome aside, this isn't actually a genuine working towards a better time, this is like, for example, someone telling others half-truth to benefit him and cause strife towards the subjects. By that this isn't about Kamen Riders Should Not Do This To Achieve Greater Good, because this by itself isn't an actual greater good except Kai's trick to Ryotaro, which doesn't work for someone who still wants to try giving every party good outcome (like in Blade, Kenzaki trying to please both Hajime and whole humanity). I guess this is also a testament of Ryotaro's development from the beginning of him being shy and timid, to someone who holds his belief strongly? W̶h̶i̶l̶e̶ ̶O̶z̶a̶k̶i̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶s̶l̶i̶m̶y̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶n̶e̶w̶ ̶t̶i̶m̶e̶l̶i̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶M̶i̶u̶r̶a̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶t̶r̶u̶e̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶w̶a̶s̶ ̶c̶a̶r̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶n̶f̶a̶n̶t̶ ̶d̶a̶u̶g̶h̶t̶e̶r̶.̶

Zero Form is Zeronos' final form yeah, and it was seemingly obtained by regaining memories, seemingly about Airi here. I guess about the memories, this has happened in some others like Yuuto coming back to life from others' memories here like Yuuto gaining Airi's memories again to him. Zero Form goes from Altair Form's short range into the long range with outright gatling gun.

Not sounding appealing to me either, but I guess the theme sound change is to show the change of Den-O's situation from more lighthearted and goofy before to be more disastrous and distressing right now, with the threat of Kai or something.

I think people are forgetting how insanely popular the Imagin were during Den O's run as the 2nd act of the show felt like it was at time focusing more on them then the actual main character Ryotaro. So it makes sense with their large popularity they would for the last few episodes change the opening to a cover of it sung by the "real" heroes of the show

Hard to think that would be the reasoning if they wouldn't even remove Hana from the opening, let alone add in Kai or any of the potential darker/menacing villains. Also, I mean... I don't think Kai's energy really screams More Aggressive Theme Music? He's a snarky coworker, not, like, Gaoh.

The fact that this is happening in the final ten episodes is what makes it so bizarre to me. They've got such a solid opening song, the show itself is a hit... why mess with success? And why do it when nothing else really changes? So weird. Would love to better understand that decision making.

KAMEN RIDER DEN-O EPISODE 41 - "CANDY SCANDAL”

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I liked this episode. I'm not really sure how to explain why, though.

I mean, it's incredibly charming. The overall story is about how to protect your friends emotionally and physically, and that's a fun storyline for a show so drenched in hilarious relationships. Mixing Ryotaro's Den-O training with Deneb's attempts to build a world of People Who Get Along With Yuuto, that makes for a well-choreographed and dynamic episode.

Spinning it all off of the devastating Zero Form two-parter is a smart move, leavening the apocalyptic trauma of the last story with quirky stagings and ridiculous exposition. (The entire Here's What Zero Form Is Doing scene, along with a broad restatement of Ryotaro's commitment to reuniting Sakurai and Airi, takes place as Yuuto and Ryotaro are enjoying the entirety of a theme park.) There's a whimsy to this story that kicks off with that slapstick street robbery of the intro and never lets up. I can't think of a single scene that isn't shot through with charm and energy.

The main thing, though... this is a Deneb story? It feels like it's going to be a Yuuto story. It feels like it has to be a Yuuto story. But then Yuuto can't be bothered to express any real feelings about the last story to anyone who cares about him. There's only so supportive that Ryotaro can be when Yuuto is going to do whatever the hell he wants, and there's only so much hand-wringing Deneb can do for a young man intent on Not Making Any Friends. So it's up to Deneb to correct the situation on his own.

The first amazing idea this story has is for Deneb to go around Japan at night and beg people to Please Get Along With Yuuto while he's in Yuuto's body. Forcing Yuuto to hand out candy to drunkards and bystanders in the hopes that one of them will remember Yuuto enough to help him persevere as Zeronos? Aces. Love it. Such a fun pivot from the heartbreaking melodrama with Airi. Taking Deneb's embarrassing attempts to create connections for Yuuto and turn it into maybe the thing that'll save Yuuto's life, to make friendship a literal lifeline... yeah, that's an episode I'm going to enjoy.

The second amazing idea is to have the IOTW plot be that some random girl got a crush on Deneb.

Like, yes. Who in the world could be a better boyfriend than Deneb? He literally shits candy. You add in the cooking, the limitless emotional support, the Reassuring Shoulder Guns, the unparalleled optimism... like, of course Shouko immediately crushed hard on him. Of course.

Shouko as a character doesn't really come across too clearly in this one, unfortunately. There's a secret in her past (a hospital stay?) that'll probably clear up some of why she's so thrilled with haircuts and new outfits and adorable late-night meet-cutes to a degree that is suspect. But even without that, she's so much fun to watch in this episode. The way her smile never seems to abate, despite something in the back of her mind that she'd rather move on from, it honestly kept me smiling whenever she ways onscreen. It's just cute, all of her stuff with Deneb. Them bowing to each other in succession because they're so excited to be having this fun moment. Adorable. Adorable for miles and miles.

Although, definitely don't think this is a story about Deneb falling in love or anything. Maybe, but it doesn't feel like it. It feels like a story where Deneb is leaning into a possible new woman who'll remember Yuuto, but probably at the (accidental) expense of that woman's feelings. Deneb is in one story (Trying To Save Yuuto) and Shouko is in another (Trying To Smooch Yuuto). This doesn't feel like one that's going to work out great for everyone.

I do love how much Shouko's into this doomed romance, though. Her reactions are big, but they're Teen Romance big. Showing up way too early for a date, screaming her excitement into a pillow, being unable to articulate a wish to an imagination monster from the end of time because she's already getting everything she ever wanted. It's all so thrilling, just going on that journey with her. I'm sure the next episode is going to be full of some hard truths and tearful send-offs, but this was an enormously pleasant episode of sweetness. Which is I guess appropriate for a Deneb spotlight story?

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THE BAGGAGE CAR

-There's a new opening sequence to go with the new theme music, and I also hate that? It's now replaced about two-thirds of the normal footage (all the Hana stuff, most of the Airi stuff, Zeronos) with clips from the upcoming episode. I absolutely loathe getting most of the episode shot at me in a context-free rush. Hate that experience more than I've ever loved anything on this show. Skipping the opening credits starting with the next episode.

-Not a ton for Ryotaro to do in this episode, besides interrogate Yuuto enough to dot i's and cross t's from the last story. (To recap: Yuuto's Zero Form burns up other people's memories of Yuuto in the present, as opposed to memories of Sakurai in the past. If I'm getting that right? It sounds like any memories Yuuto makes with people are now up for grabs.) Still, the training bit with the other Imagin is brilliantly choreographed, and I for sure cheered when Ryotaro caught Momo's sword strike in his hands. Typical for this episode, it was an inventively shot way to roll out a bunch of exposition regarding Sakurai.

-Only one brief Kai scene, but he still manages to express ennui while somersaulting off a landing onto some boxes. This guy!

See, back in 2007 the imagins were popular especially since the voice talents behind them were also big deals. And voice talents in Japan have somewhat of a pop idol-like status within the fandoms(emphasis on fandom since even mainstream Japan only knows a handful of voice actors such as Koichi Yamadera, Nana Mizuki, and Mamoru Miyano who have made efforts to appeal to the masses who could care less about nerd/geek stuff within Japan be it recording artists or as regulars in variety shows). Personal observation, a small chunk of Den-O's popularity relied upon that fandom and was a nice entry point for people who might like anime and games but did not know much about toku to give it a chance. Of course, the original mix is still great but the choice makes sense when considering all this.

This is a third rate episode with a fourth rate human castcast. Now then, screw the human cast, it has this guy.

Kenjiro Tsuda

Notable anime roles: Seto Kaiba in the Yu-Gi-Oh series, Spanner in Katekyo Hitman Reborn, Bruford in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Part 1: Phantom Blood, Suoh Mikoto in K, Ryuga in Beyblade Metal Fusion, Adad in Ultraman.

Notable Tokusatsu roles: Redyue in Kamen Rider Gaim, Kasshine in Kamen Rider Zi-O

Notable dubbing roles: Percival Graves in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, The Hunstman in Once Upon a Time, Kylo Ren in the Star Wars series, Dave Clark in Tomorrowland, Killmonger in Black Panther, Andy Warhol in Men in Black 3, Bernard in Megamind.