I thought the movie came after ep 12?

That's where TVTropes puts it, which is what I've been going by.

Not sure that it really makes too much difference though.

They go by chronological order, Die goes by release order.

Yeah, that seems good. (It’s all where I’ve got my Ridewatch playlist scheduled)

My overriding memory of this 2-parter is the split-screen fight at the end. Like, double timeline Sougo is very fun. Woz deciding "Well, waga maou, I guess I need to be proactive in giving you trauma to make you evil?" Good! But that fight is just real good, you know? And sometimes, that's all you need.

I thought released by then.Okay my bad.

While I do agree that Kouta cameo was too short. I feel with the time given they did alot with him. Seeing God!Kouta in all of his glory was so cool how he sets this entire arc and other things in motion. And I like small detail of Alt!Kouta working at Drupers all those years later.

The Suika Watch was such a clever gag in fact this entire twp-parter with laugh out moments from me.

And I don't think I can say anything about the visuals now do I?

Haven't seen Gaim yet, so I can't do my bit, but I will say that the gags all throughout this two-parter were top notch.

alsoyoutotallystolethescreencapiusedfor12.5

Episode 12!

-The episode's lots of fun. Lots of gags dedicated to our two Sougos, which are all pretty good! My favorite one has to be where they're trying to figure out which Sougo to hide from uncle.

-That split-screen fight is one of the few things I clearly remember about Zi-O, it's such a fun idea and it's exceuted wonderfully.

-Kaito does exactly what I expect him to, pushing Geiz to not half-ass things and get himself in gear, as well as kicking out our MOTW out of the group the second he steps back. Used pretty well here, I'd say. Unfortunately, the same can't really be said about Kouta, normal or Fruit Jesus flavored. But hey! Out of all the "actor returns with a slightly different haircut", he scores pretty high in that regard.

-Woz....Dude's got his work cut out for him if he's to mold this guy into a evil overlord. At least Sougo doesn't mind his beteryal, so it seems he's free to do as his pleases...

-Glad to see you coming around Sougo! For me, I don't think this was the moment I said "Yeah, this kid's alright!", but this arc really is a good one for him!

-I don't know what kind of persona Swartz's actor was going for in this .5 episode (maybe a character in one of the plays he was doing) but like. it's golden. Wonder what it would be like if he had that kind of personality in the actual show.

-Geiz coming back with chicken in this episode(wonderful landing to that setup) and the .5 episode with him stating that his main appeal is that he's a tsundere....I love this kid so much. Never change, Geiz.

Aw man, this is reminding me that I've actually haven't seen a lot of these or HeiGen Forever. (Only watched OQ/GM/ZvD specials). I've been avoiding some of them for........Reasons, but this rewatch is the best time to actually sit down and watch some of these for the first time. Excited for that.

It's the most dynamic fight scene this show has managed yet. The rest of the episode's really fun (there's a FANTASTIC bit where Tsukuyomi is trying to get one of the Sougos to leave the room before Uncle notices there's two of them), but that fight at the climax is really something else.

It's nice to see Kouta again, but I was a little surprised they didn't give him much to do here. He's mostly just carrying fruit, and then giving Sougo a couple RideWatches. This episode landed all of the Legend Mentor stuff on Geiz/Kaito, which it also sort of did in Episode 11? There's the Space God Kouta stuff in the beginning of Episode 11, but after that we're pretty firmly in a Kaito story.

I think it worked, though. I really liked Kaito heckling Geiz enough to stop pouting and actually work towards his goals. Never ever go to Kaito if you want to just vent! He's not one of those friends!

Ha ha, did I? I want to act shocked, but, like, what other screencap could someone use from 12.5?

I did like his haircut, for what it's worth. Not seeing him with the super-short dark hair or the longer white, but with a mid-length black haircut was different, but I think he looked good.

It's a great callback, that chicken gag. I love the continuity of both Geiz assuming no one ever got the chicken, and Uncle politely pointing out that they still had dinner when Geiz ran away, but HEY fried chicken is always good thanks for getting the chicken Geiz.

Geiz is so good on this show. He's tied for first with Sougo, Woz, and Tsukuyomi.

Neat! I hope they're fun! For both of us!

was kinda hoping we'd get these in order so I can just spam memes from this video when it came time for Gaim (watched PMMM last year and it literally has the same plot as Gaim (minus the corporation) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Trgx...VideoonYoutube

If you're talking about Swartz's plan here regarding Another Gaim, then it's definitely not working out better for humanity. Swartz is an irredeemable villain (and Androzani was right... Asura was worse than even da(m)n Kuroto too), he just... didn't have as much of a power as Ohma Zi-O for now to make that much of a difference. The other Time Jackers aren't much better either like the sociopathic and cutthroat Ora.

There'd be an additional friend for Sougo which is the future/present Sougo to each other here. And as obviously, present Sougo is the first person to completely agree and empathize with what future Sougo intended to do. Sougo's the biggest supporter to Sougo, probably rivaling/more than Tsukuyomi and even Woz. And yeah it's not overconfidence, but Sougo's idealist, and his sentences also often ended with "Kigasuru" (Feels like it). It's totally Sougo's innocence, but he can actually come as creepy/disturbing due to his nature there, in how he can frequently wave off the bad stuff going off to concentrate on what he wants, like how him being quite nonchalant learning that Ohma Zi-O is evil tyrant, and this'd be a case too of him being unaware of the reality of this situation. And regarding what I think of Sougo pretending to be stupid... yeah it'd be what Eiji does too, taking advantage of his homeless status.

I mean as I said, Woz is villainous despite that he'd be helping Sougo. Woz is Sougo's ally, but both Tsukuyomi and Geiz's enemy. Woz had bad goal to those 2's good (albeit in pragmatic way for Geiz). It's a dynamic that can be created from a premise of current cheerful hero but is destined to be a tyrannical villain. It's expected for Woz to ally with Time Jackers to finish off the Time Orphans. It's also what Woz did before to goad Sougo into stop helping Geiz for helping him to be Ohma Zi-O. Woz also had dark belief on Sougo that he'd use others as a pawn until he no longer needs them (more on that below). But due to how those enemies flock to Sougo, there are some mutual parts between Tsukuyomi and Woz here, as both chastise Sougo for his well-being, potentially erasing himself with his paradoxical move. Tsukuyomi out of her concern for the currently harmless Sougo (that doesn't deserve Ohma Zi-O treatment, so that's also another reason why she's angry while suspecting there are 2 Sougos) and Woz out of accomplishing his goal.

Kouta had less screentime here, but I guess this 2-parter still showed about how godly Kouta is (not using the term Fruit Jesus, sorry). Kouta is someone that screwed up some part in Woz's plan here. Previously there's about Woz not expecting Sougo to already have Gaim Watch, and how there are now Geiz's name is in Woz's records. And regarding above with Woz believing Sougo will use anyone as his pawns, Kouta gave Sougo an advice to believe in his friends before, to not control them. That'd be probably a path of Sougo not succumbing into villainy like in the original timeline. Other than that, the cuts in the final fight is well-executed agree.

Not only that Kaito noted his hesitation, so Geiz being tsundere is apparently a quite canonically stated fact here. Other than that this is the first time you directly talked about both Woz and Time Jackers here.

Sure, but that's our perspective as viewers. As a character within the story, Swartz'z point is that he and Geiz are both mucking around in the past to change the future, so who can say which plan is the better one?

Really? Huh!

The Time Jackers aren't generally worth discussing because there's very little growth to them. Since their introductions, it's pretty much been the same plots for them. While Episodes 9/10 changed up their strategy by not conscripting grieving parents and heartbroken creeps into trying to become rulers of time -- instead picking someone who actually wanted to be the ruler of time -- the very next story was a guy who just wanted to head up a dance crew.

Woz is sort of the same way, but infinitely more charismatic and watchable. His deal's been pretty much the same since Episode 1, so much so that Sougo is anticipating his hard-earned IWAE in Episode 12. Woz is very fun to watch, but there's not a ton going on with him outside the margins.

That all looks to change, though, with Woz aligning with the Time Jackers (however briefly). Hopefully there'll be more to talk about soon!

I forgot just how glorious the .5 Episode was, seeing three normally serious guys descend into idiocy.

As for the episode itself, again, not much I can really recall in good clarity, but the two Sougos were a fun gag this episode, especially the dual fight. Really fun stuff.

But boy oh boy, am I looking forward to talking about the next episode.

(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP11)
(Fish Sandwich also watched Kamen Rider Zi-O - EP12)

These episodes are even more significant to me than usual, if I'm remembering correctly. I don't think I really documented this anywhere, so I can't check, but as I recall, the visuals in these episodes impressed the heck out of me to such a degree that I actually felt the need to go look up the director, and when I found out it was Kazuya Kamihoriuchi, who I ~maybe~ already vaguely knew as the Hazard Form guy, a lot of things clicked into place. Especially because I'm pretty sure this was also when I found out he directed the Specter movie, and everything about these episodes of Zi-O looking so good made even more sense.

Back at that point in 2018, the only toku director who had a style I could instantly identify was Kouichi Sakamoto, because everyone can identify his work, but finding this whole new web of connections between some of the most beautiful and purposeful Rider cinematography I've ever seen inspired me to start making it a point to check who the director was for every episode of Zi-O going forward. I knew I wouldn't be able to understand what significance those names had at first, but I figured if I stuck with it, I'd eventually start picking up on other traits that are unique to other directors, as well. Now, of course, Zi-O ran into 2019, when a certain user joined this forum to start making threads like the one you're currently reading, and somewhere around him watching Agito and Ryuki, I started making it a point to call out those director names in there, too, despite still not grasping what actually defined most of them. Amazingly, the user in question was willing to indulge this. (Although I'm sure he'd just say it's amazing the forum at large is willing to indulge him.)

But you know, it did start paying off sometime after that! I went from describing Ryuuta Tasaki's work as not "particularly remarkable" to gushing about how fantastic his visuals are at conveying the story. I developed a massive appreciation for how Hidenori Ishida does much the same with raw atmosphere and mood, especially when I rewatched a certain show about one very Cool Guy. I developed an equally massive appreciation for Teruaki Sugihara around this same window of time, as well... but, ah! I'm getting ahead of myself now! I suppose that's still in the future for you, after all, isn't it, Die?

And it still seems like the further we move into the future, the more I'm still learning about all these people. Like how much Satoshi Morota loves throwing people into water, which is one of those things I always smirk a bit whenever I notice now. Heck, maybe one day, I'll even be able to properly articulate what I think makes Shoujirou Nakazawa's direction so cleanly and pleasant to watch.

...And *ALL* of this might very well go back to these two humble episodes of Zi-O, because -- and I'm repeating this for emphasis -- they're utterly gorgeous. The fight at the end of 12 just totally blew my mind, especially. How good the script was for this two-parter just makes it all the better. Just when I was worried Mouri's take on Zi-O might not be up to snuff, he immediately swings things around from his rough-around-the-edges first go at it, and gives us an amazing story that delivers on a very creative premise with loads of inspired comedy, and all backed by a genuinely solid core to the narrative, focusing on the relationship between Sougo and Geiz.

The bit with Geiz remembering the chicken at the end has always stuck with me as much as anything else in these ones, too. I think that's such a perfect illustration of his arc in this story. One of my favorite general things about Geiz is that he only ever calls Sougo "Zi-O". It's sort of this conscious dehumanization of Sougo, to only ever refer to him by that title. He's not some goofy yet charming high school kid you could potentially be friends with, he's Zi-O, the guy who ruined all your lives, and the guy you're here to stop... and yet, when all is said and done, Geiz can't help but find himself trying to live under the same roof as everyone else. He can't stop himself from coming home, you might say.

(Oh, and yes, Sougo immediately becoming best friends with his own self from half a week into the future is immensely adorable. You can see it in my old posts, too, but this is definitely around the point where Sougo starts to click into place as a character.)

After two episodes of searching, Takatora could finally be reached for comment. He stated, quote, "this will not save the world."

https://i.imgur.com/VeYJf09.png

He could be heard muttering something about childish dancing games as he walked off. Yggdrasil is still maintaining media silence after five years.

...Anyway, this was light on Gaim, but still a pretty enjoyable romp. Woz is fun. Geiz with the chicken is his best moment yet. We get a few more hints as to what Fruit Jesus can actually do with literal godhood. If Best Fruit were here I'd give it a few extra points, but alas.

It would've been nice if there'd been a minute for Sougo to say goodbye to Future Sougo. I feel like that scene would've been really sweet and weird.

I'm sure they always will, because it's continuously amazing and generous.

(We're talking about Switchblade, right?)

The Geiz/Sougo dynamic is great, to an extent that makes me a little sad for Tsukuyomi. (She's real quickly becoming a permanent Time Mom, a role she's only able to shed when Geiz isn't around.) But there's no denying how electric the camaraderie is between Geiz and Sougo. Geiz CONSTANTLY saying he isn't there to make friends, despite moving in with Sougo. Sougo CONSTANTLY smiling at all of Geiz'z actual threats, happy to see his friend living his best life.

Unbelievable how fun those two characters are to watch.

Takatora probably became another weird billionaire with a rocket fetish. If only he had somewhere to channel his energies, like fruit-themed armor and near-escapes from fratricide! It's the world's loss...

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 13 - “GHOST HUNTER 2018”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio13a.png

I really wanted to love this one – Ghost! Decade! Agito and Hibiki, sort of! – but it didn’t come together for me in a major way.

It’s real disjointed, you know? It feels like a very transitional episode, shifting gears into a new Act. We’ve got dissension in the ranks of our heroes, a new bad-ass lieutenant for our villains, and not much more than that. There isn’t a lot in here to unpack thematically (it definitely doesn’t feel like it’s About anything), and the amount of stuff in this episode keeps it from really affecting Team Zi-O. I assume/hope that’ll change in the second half, but this one just felt like it was three different chunks of story, wedged together.

-ZI-O CHUNK-

Unfortunately, this was the least fleshed-out part of the episode. It’s mostly just Team Zi-O attacking the premise in the most straightforward way possible. There’s a monster, they’ve already got the Ghost RideWatch, and that’s kind of it for them? It gets a little more complicated when Sougo has to confront the consequences of defeating a zombified Another Ghost, but that only gets a couple seconds of screentime, and no resolution. All set-up for Part 2.

The rest of their antics were Geiz’z increasingly violent attempts to keep Sougo’s attention, which were honestly delightful. I love the idea of Geiz spending an introductory scene in each episode trying to kill Sougo, and then just immediately calling a truce as soon as the opportunity presents itself. Kaito is off somewhere rolling his eyes so hard at this kid.

-GHOST CHUNK-

The meatiest chunk of the story, despite it featuring both Shibuya and Narita, the most worthless Ghost characters. (Even the puppet was more integral to Ghost’s story!) But we also get Takeru, back in his 2015 hair color (my preference), working as a ghost hunter. The story he’s in this episode is sort of Adel’s story in miniature, so it’s One Of Those for Zi-O. In lieu of doing anything that directly addresses our core cast, let’s just run ‘em through a Legend Rider’s story, giving the Legend Rider in question most of the screentime. It’s fine, as a basic celebration of the show in question, but it’s not the most clever or impactful use of the returning cast.

Because we’re just doing a story about a guy who wants to turn people into ghosts out of a misguided need for control. There’s the complicating factors of His Sister and Is A Zombie, but it’s all still in the Kamen Rider Ghost mode of needing to emotionally rescue some person who’s letting their fear and anger keep them from engaging with the world. Also, they’re dead!

This part of the episode… again, fine. I’ll never ever care about Shibuya and Narita, but it’s fun to see Takeru again.

-DECADE CHUNK-

But nothing in this episode compares to the undiluted ecstasy of seeing Tsukasa hang out and make everything worse for Kamen Riders.

I couldn’t even begin to guess at what his role in this story is going to be, or why he’s working alongside the Time Jackers. It’s Tsukasa, so the reasons could be anything from Upcoming Betrayal Of Villains, to Evil Again, to Felt Cute Might Destroy World Later. You can have Tsukasa show up in any story, for any reason, and you probably should.

He’s great in this. I love the Neo DecaDriver. I love that it’s magenta. I love seeing him lounging around in an observation tower at a helipad or wherever (what is up with those flashing lights at the end?) and just drinking coffee until Ora asks him to go murder Geiz. I love how little context we’re given for his actions. I love him just doing his catchphrases and looking cool as hell.

I am too easily impressed, when it comes to Decade. Beyond shit-stirring, which is what Tsukasas do best, there’s really nothing about Decade’s appearance to even talk about. I mean, we don’t even see the Decade suit at all! Not once! We see Agito twice! But I don’t care. I don’t care! Tsukasa’s great, and any moment he wasn’t on the screen, I was asking Where’s Tsukasa.

Overall, not a great episode of Zi-O. Too scattered in its storytelling, rendering everything a little too basic and lacking in thematic weight. (There’s a vague thing in here about Working With Villains, but it’s too incomplete to construct.) Good scenes, pleasant Legend appearances, but it really didn’t add up to much.

-I DON’T CARE THOUGH BECAUSE TSUKASA-

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/zio13b.png

—

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O COMPLEMENTATION PROJECT EPISODE 13.5 - “GHOST TEACHER”

Takeru’s confidence and generosity is the best. He’s great with these three weird teenagers, even as Tsukuyomi says he’s getting too old -slash- isn’t Shinnosuke, and Sougo cheerfully points out how much of Ghost’s mechanics were lifted from Dragonball. (Geiz, the Makoto of Team Zi-O, is very quickly won over by Takeru’s burning spirit.) It’s fun to hear about cost-saving shooting techniques, especially when they’re delivered by such a cool teacher.

I missed Takeru!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/zio/ziocp13a.png

This was an interesting set of episodes. I do enjoy Tsukasa being set up as an antagonistic force. Cause let's be honest, it'd be too easy if he was on the good guys side. It'd make things way too easy, so I appreciate what they do with him here.

This reaction is funny because I feel like your praise about Tsukasa is the one thing people latched onto while ignoring everything else about the episode. So everyone called it the best episode ever. To be fair, it's Tsukasa. But, the way the fandom reacted over Tsukasa's appearance kind of annoyed me cause this was still where people were still trying to get used to Sougo. So you just had people constantly dunking on Sougo. And it's Tsukasa! I get it. But that doesn't mean I had to like people bullying and actively wishing harm upon my clock son.

We've got another BGM swap but with Ghost and Decade still! I will still say Decade's BGM Swaps are the best for like any time they show up.

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 14 Preview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PE2CKseqlJ4

Also, showing up like a villain and making things worse is how Tsukasa says Hello. If he showed up out of nowhere to help Team Zi-O out, this episode would be a million times worse. It would be so massively out of character that I'd probably never shut up about it. Having Tsukasa show up and not be a lazy nuisance would be like Godai returning and not doing the thumbs up. Fans got expectations, man!

Yeah, I maybe mentioned this at the start of the thread, but I'm not really here for the Legend Rider stuff? It's nice when it's done well and additive to the story of Kamen Rider Zi-O, but I don't ever want it instead of the story of Kamen Rider Zi-O. This episode didn't really carve out space to tell much of a story about Sougo, Geiz, or Tsukuyomi.

Let's go! Kakugo! Episo-o-ode 13!

-Opening gag so good. Love these kids so much.

-Another Ghost! Looks real cool! Interesting dilemma to handle the fact that they already have the Ghost Ridewatch! As you said, a bit of a shame they're playing it straight in how the MOTW reflects the Legend Rider's season, I can let it slide this time. That is of course, because something far more interesting is here...

-Tsukasa!! Wouldn't be Decade if he didn't insert himself into someone's story uninvinted, but it seems he's recieved a formal invination from the Time Jackers (and Woz) this time? And of course he accepts. If you asked me if pick out any main rider that would go and fight some teenagers for an afternoon or three for some odd amusement, I'd have to pick Tsukasa. Causing chaos is his forte, so I'm excited to see what happens next. (Tsukasa is rather hard to gauge on the "actor with slightly different hair" gauge for obvious reasons, but I think I like this look of his?)

-Oh and Takeru's here too!!! I'm kinda happy this an arc where the Legend Rider tags along for the ride. Not only because I like him a lot, I just think him and Sougo are fun to pair up together. Geniunely don't remember him having cool monk-excorist powers or whatever on top of being a Rider, maybe he had time to do so in this revised timeline? Kinda sad they couldn't get Onari or Akari's actors, wouldve been fun.

-We did it, gang! Took us a bit, but Zi-o's dead(?). Show's over, go home, and make sure to buy a Ridewatch or two on the way out! .......But seriously, I love how Geiz spends the opening scene going "I'm your enemy! Don't forget that!!!" but when Tsukuyomi says he's not breathing, he gets equally concerned.

-Some comments here and there in the .5s, and especially the whole Drive bit makes me wonder how exactly they manage to corral up actors for a project like this. Were they just going to do this episode with Shibuya and Narita if Shun Nishime's schedule's never opened up? Are there actors who barely couldn't make it?

Once again, not much here. Just prep for next episode, but it was very fun prep indeed! (Now if you'll excuse me, I will follow Takeru's advice and go re-watch the Specter v-cin.)

So I yeah Tsukasa here and I love how Woz introduce him and someone that can change history and that he similar to ZI-O it feels on the nose playing aware how ZI-O has some similarties to Decade.

Also love how the Ghost crew was almost going to untie Sougo .... until he talks about being king and they just decide nope! Where leaving this kid tied up it's great lol.

Also I disagree that the Ghost stuff didn't have thematic weight. By making Another Ghost a dead cop it ties into elements well the first one is obvious being dead and all but the guy was targeting people who would've been responsible for disasters in the future. And I love how they tied into his motiviation of wanting to defeat ZI-O because of how terrible his future self is.

And finally Decade boy oh boy they way brought him back was just so in line with the guy. Speaking of the Neo Decadriver it actually got another upgrade that you may not be aware of.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EWbPDtmW...jpg&name=large
Obviously there the inclusion of the Main Riders from W onwards but notice that despite being in Agito Ground Form he has Flame Saber. Now the obvious reason why they did this is simply cost saving measures considering how many forms and weapons the Phase 2 Rider have and the Driver has only so much space. But I do think case of creativity caused by limits because Decade power set has now been upgraded to be able to just use any Rider weapons or abilites much faster than before.

(Also that Takeru/Shinnouske gag in this .5 episode is one of my favaorite gas to come out of the whole thing)

This was a good look for him! He comes off a bit more posh, which is probably the right level for Legend Anniversary Rider to be at. He's a pretty S-Tier Rider to bring back, canonically, so he should dress the part!

Takeru's story seems to be following in his dad's footsteps more explicitly, so I imagine he learned all the cool ghostbusting powers his pop had.

(And, honestly, I felt like it was Sougo who was tagging along for the ride here? Team Zi-O landed square in a Ghost story!)

Kaito is rolling his eyes so hard.

I wanna say that Heisei Generations Forever almost had Philip from W, but the schedules couldn't work out. He was down for it, but he was tied up with a different project.

It's for sure a fun gag to have Takeru -- the Heisei Rider who's all about connecting with people -- go This Dude Is Too Dangerous To Let Free. He's a sweet boy, but he's got limits!

There's superficial stuff, but I don't feel like it was a story that Sougo's really invested in, or speaks to his arc. There're consequences for his (potential) future actions, but I don't feel like it was a weight on Sougo's mind.

Most of the parts that could be claimed as thematic are just Time Jacker manipulations? They're spinning Another Ghost around this episode; it's more about them and Woz targeting Team Zi-O than it is Another Ghost having a demonstrable strategy.

I knew that it being an anniversary season and Decade armor being one of the upgrades for ZI-O at the time, I knew that someway somehow Decade would make his way to the show.

But I was still pretty giddy when Agito showed up, I immediately knew that it wasn't Shouichi. It was Decade! It took a while to get used to the garishly magenta belt, but I love it now and how it upgrades Decade's abilities.

It was very nice of them to celebrate the arrival of Masahiro Inoue by using suits from two of Toshiki Inoue's most famous shows: Agito and Hibiki.

So one of my dirty little secrets? I kind of really like Takeru when he shows up in things that aren't Ghost. He's a fun, likable guy with a good heart who's great to have around when he isn't the protagonist. I enjoyed his turn here a lot, in no small part because he really felt like the original character in ways that some of the other recent tributes didn't. This isn't Takeru who became a monk or Takeru who became a salary man, it's just the same guy minus the part where he died and then sat around waiting for Eyecons to fall into his lap. Absolutely no complaints with him here.

And then, of course, we have Tsukasa. We were always going to have Tsukasa. As I keep saying, I'm pretty sure he keeps a Decadriver and bottle of hair gel by his front door in case Toei calls up and needs him for something. I appreciate that the show is doing something different with him, too. Decade was the previous anniversary Rider, so it's really fitting that he isn't just another victim of time erasure. Instead, he's being a randomly antagonistic asshole. I have to assume that this is one of those rites of passage that every new Rider has to go through: having Decade show up to randomly attack them for no apparent reason.

Flames. Flames on the side of my face.

Speaking of Toshiki Inoue, I may not be in this thread often, but I will be when it concerns him because I would love to talk about our Ambassador Hell Inoue

What a coincidence that you get to the episode where Decade shows up with the powers of the next ten years worth of Riders (which the toy managed by deleting all the Form Ride, Attack Ride and additional Riders other than Skull, along with giving the Showa Riders a generic transformation noise) on the day, the other side of the original Super Hero Taisen gets a similar upgrade released by Bandai. https://youtube.com/watch?v=O9wYkXnCOTI

Anyway, let’s get on with…

Ridewatch Playlist: Yes, I Actually Created A More Sizeable List Than You were Probably Expecting Mix

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NbmHH1pfUNE

“The power of luminaries, the parka-wearing ghost Rider is… Ghost”

And here, I went with what people were probably expecting to be the only song from Ghost on this list, Warera Omou Yueni, Warera Ari https://youtube.com/watch?v=2A6vEykhGk8

“The red-hot, burning Ghost. Toucon Boost Damashii”

And I went with the song for Super Movie Wars Genesis, Hajimari no Hi (say what you want about the film, it’s got a pretty good song) https://youtube.com/watch?v=BBz2XjH7Hlk

“All 15 luminaries powers are gathered, this is Ghost, Grateful Damashii”

And here, O went with Go! Go! Ghost!, a remix of the Eyecon jingles into a full rap song by the guy who voiced the Ghost Driver. https://youtube.com/watch?v=o3H8mT6pfiA

“Life burning bright into infinite evolution. The strength of the heart unleashes power. The strongest Ghost Mugen Damashii”

And there’s another movie theme here, ABAYO from the summer movie (which got stuck in my head when I was watching the show through promos) https://youtube.com/watch?v=TqX_b_KGlVo

“Let me show you my way of life! The blue parka Rider is Specter”

And like with Cross-Z, Grease, Brave, Baron and Zangetsu, I went with his V-Cinema’s theme, New World https://youtube.com/watch?v=SbXWsYKRAgQ

“A new power has been received, the Specter with wings, Deep Specter”

“The World of Ganma’s ruling Rider is Necrom”

And with him, I went with the Harpy+4 song from the Sanzo two-parter, Zenryoku Start Line https://youtube.com/watch?v=RdHNGG3_wxU

And now for the list of the unreleased, with there being no winners of the competition this time either.

Kamen Rider Ghost (Musashi Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Edison Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Robin Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Newton Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Billy the Kid Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Beethoven Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Benkei Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Goemon Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Ryoma Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Himiko Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Houdini Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Darwin Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Tenka Touitsu Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Ichigou Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Heisei Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Ex-Aid Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Drive Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Gaim Damashii)
Kamen Rider Ghost (Wizard Damashii)
Kamen Rider Specter (Nobunaga Damashii)
Kamen Rider Specter (Tutankhamun Damashii)
Kamen Rider Specter (Houdini Damashii)
Kamen Rider Specter (Edison Damashii)
Kamen Rider Necrom Specter
Kamen Rider Sin Specter
Kamen Rider Necrom (Grimm Damashii)
Kamen Rider Necrom (Sanzo Damashii)
Kamen Rider Necrom (Yujou Burst Damashii)
Kamen Rider Dark Ghost
Kamen Rider Dark Ghost (Napoleon Damashii)
Kamen Rider Dark Ghost (Ikkyu Damashii)
Kamen Rider Dark Ghost (Pythagoras Damashii)
Kamen Rider Zero Specter
Kamen Rider Dark Necrom Pink (Pink)
Kamen Rider Dark Necrom Red (Red)
Kamen Rider Dark Necrom Blue (Blue)
Kamen Rider Dark Necrom Yellow (Yellow)

I won’t be doing the Decade playlist now because I have three rules for them. 1. The Another Rider has to have appeared, 2. A character from the show has to make an in-person appearance (even if it’s a deceased corpse) and 3. The Ridewatch has to have been obtained by Sougo or Geiz. It’ll be a while on that first one, so it’ll be a while until the playlist drops.

But, since we’ve got an actress that went on to be more recognisable to the Sentai crowd (namely, Ichika Osaki playing Another Ghost’s sister), I’ve got a special addition to this week’s playlist.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=xJYctqzY9To

“The cool Sentai fighting with the power of Ryusouls is, yes! Ryusoulger!

And the song I went with was Que Bom! Ryusoulger!, so I could share this video of the Zi-O cast attempting the dance. Key word “attempting” https://youtube.com/watch?v=Va0M67kLZ78

And as for the compare and contrast, Whereas Takeru is a disembodied spirit collecting the souls of deceased luminaries to bring his body back, Another Ghost is a reanimated corpse stealing the souls from nobody, preventing them from “burning bright”. And while Another Ghost is visually based more on Marvel’s Venom (more specifically, the then-recent movie version) than a Ganma, he does have a similar gimmick to some of them (I recall the one from Igor’s debut having a similar gimmick, only he used a knife)

Do you think Heure's marketing strategy has improved? Before, he was using threats to make people become Another Riders, but now he's offering a person who canonically should have died the chance to live. Kind of makes me think about the Time Jackers' claim in the previous arc, since Another Ghost really was helped out by Heure's intervention.

Regarding the Ghost Ridewatch, the causal loop hasn't been completed yet. Geiz borrowed it from Oma Zi-O in the future, but Sougo still needs to obtain it in the present.

This is what I was referring to before about "unexciting or unwelcome" returning characters. In Ghost's post-finale, Jabel proved that he was the best monk apprentice Onari could ask for, making Useless Monk Apprentice #1 and #2 even more useless. So I find it ridiculous that the staff thought bringing back those two characters would cause viewers to feel any emotions.

You're right about Yurusen, they should have brought back.... That poor nameless cat who Toei neglected to credit! This isn't the first time Toei neglected to credit their animal cast either, as Denji Dog IC's physical actors (both of them!) are also uncredited.

You're also right about Takeru's blonde hair being more iconic, especially considering it's even an important plot point in the novel.

I don't love the Neo DecaDriver, since I think the pink clashes with his Kamen Rides, unlike a neutral white which can go with anything. It's also redundant since he already has an iconic pink camera, but now he has two. I don't even like the name, since Neo is kind of a generic word to call the upgrade. I don't like how contrived it is that he happens to Kamen Ride in to Agito so many times, when it's not like he needs to hide the fact that he's Decade or anything like that. Besides, his favorite Kamen Ride is supposed to be Ryuki, so he should be using Ryuki more often.

However, I do think Tsukasa contributes an ominous feeling to the show, as his mysterious origins means that unlike the other Riders who can be traced back to a specific time and place, it's technically impossible for the Time Jackers to create Another Decade.

I felt pretty much exactly the same way you did. Even worse is that due to Ghost's poor reputation in the west as the least popular Phase 2 show, Takeru got overshadowed by Tsukasa's appearance as well. Even as someone who started with Decade and generally enjoyed seeing Tsukasa return, I felt so disconnected with people only talking about Decade that fortnight while ignoring and/or trashtalking Sougo and Takeru. I didn't want this show to become Kamen Rider Decade Season 2 at the others' expense.

I mean, that's cool and all, but Violent Emotion didn't even need to Kamen Ride to access other powers and weapons. Violent Emotion is just that OP!

Geez, more Ranger Keys? How long does Bandai intend to keep this up?

Damn, you beat me to it.

I guess I could still mention that this isn't the first time a future Ryusoulger appeared in a Kamen Rider show, as Kishida Tatsuya appeared as Haruto's friend in that Wizard episode with the hospital scene people were talking about not long ago in this thread.

Yet another reason why Die should start watching Ryusoulger sometime!

Everything on the Ghost side of this story was so on-model (Shibuya, Narita, the temple, the Professional Ghost Wrangler gig, Takeru's whole look) that I legitimately forgot why Takeru couldn't just Henshin at the end and help Zi-O out. It felt like I was watching a Winter Movie!

Again: SO ON-MODEL.

just like hibiki's henshin from the classic toshiki inoue series kamen rider hibiki

I'm looking forward to his work on this show! He already didn't do the Faiz tribute, so I'm assuming he'll be trotted out to work on the Kiva tribute. Or maybe something even weirder! No spoilers!

Totally intentional! You know how dialed-into the world of Sentai I am now, after seeing three whole episodes of DonBros.

Yeah, I can sorta see it?

I feel like the Time Jackers' strategy is as Throw It Against The Wall And See What Sticks as it's ever been. The first few Another Riders took deals to save themselves, or help loved ones. Didn't work! Then they went with a guy who wanted to rule the world. Didn't work! Then they went with a guy who was not even aware that he was supposed to be trying to rule the world. Didn't work! Now they're going with a guy who vowed never to work them, died, and they just reanimated. We'll see how that one turns out!

I would love to hear how/why Takeru's hair color becomes an important plot point in a novel. That sounds nuts.

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