I honestly really enjoyed how subtle and thoughtful that moment was. Having Horobi be the one to argue that Izu isn't thinking beyond her programming is such a smart way to:

-remind the audience that this isn't the same Izu from the series
-because Horobi murdered her
-and now he's trying to atone for that by defending Humagear sentience

Like, that's a whole bunch of dramatic ground to cover in an incredibly small moment, but the script nails it.

Yeah, Lucifer's just there to have an unambiguous asshole to detonate, and I think he fills that role splendidly. He gets blowed up real good!

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE: FINAL STAGE

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...finalstage.png

I can’t think of a more brutal indictment of this stage show than the following: In a thirty-minute Zero-One story, Aruto doesn’t make a single joke.

Like, what’s the point of this stage show, then? Why bother getting any of the actors (including an alarmingly tan Fuwa) to come back? It’s a stunt show, and that’s it. There’s no story worth delving into (Ark Zero-One is a repaint suit with a rehashed motivation), and no writing worth discussing. It’s the most boilerplate Zero-One project I can imagine, and it’s relentlessly underwhelming to think about.

The main positive, maybe the only positive, is the fight choreography. It’s clearly the only part of this that was given any care or attention (that Ark Zero-One suit, jesus), and it’s definitely worth watching maybe four minutes of clips if you can find them online somewhere without sitting through this whole thing. The Valkyrie/Vulcan action rivals anything from Zero-One outside of REALxTIME, with their fight against Ark Zero-One being a particular highlight. All of the suit actors do an admirable job trying to create something of value, when the writing does them absolutely no favors.

I don’t… like, if you want to say It’s Just A Stage Show, fine. This is a children’s matinee trifle, where you clap along with the theme song to empower the heroes. It ain’t striving for anything more than a reason to buy a glow light at some stupid markup. But, man, these shows can at least be less mercenary in their obligations, you know? You can try to say something with the characters. (The Build stage show excels at this, if I recall.) This is just boring platitudes and misapplied encouragements, and it really let me down.

I thought the Metsubojinrai bits we got were really cute with Jin and the others.

Bringing Ansatsu-Chan back as Ark-Zero was also pretty cool.

But idk, I feel like you might just be expecting too much out of Final Stages? Heck even I thought Builds was alright at best. Tbh, the most I enjoy them as is idea fodder when it comes to my fanfics.

Though it was clear from the offset that this stage show was clearly impacted by Covid when it came to a lot of things. Mostly in the, instead of cheering or chanting, people clap along to a song which was honestly funny to witness when I realized why they did it that way.

Also now that the Stage Show is out of the way, I suppose I can say this when it comes to the Ark now. The hosts that usually go full tilt and never turn around and betray Ark are the people who just... do not have any

http://media.tenor.com/K9-SqJMNjkEAA...nal-damage.gif

emotional damage to them.

Horobi? Stuff about Jin.
Aruto? Stuff about Izu.
S? Stuff about Akane.

Meanwhile those that don't, end up being Ark till the end. Behru, Azu, I'm even counting Ansatsu-Chan, don't really have any emotional damage or baggage to them, which allows them to easily stay walking the path of Ark.

Just a fun thought honestly.

To me, this stage show was all about MBJR and showing how their dynamic has grown. Assassin Boy coming back and basically calling the group out for what they did to him was especially nice. This stage show is the closest thing we ever got to a MetsuboJinrai movie, and I appreciate it for that. Ontop of just being fun to watch.

Yeah this Stage Show was kind of boring and lacks a lot of energy. I give it some slack with when this exactly take place in terms of real world contedt which makes it hard for me to be critical of it.

But man coming off Build's and ZI-O Final Stafe which where more emotional and fun imo this does fall flat in compairson.

Cool to see more Zero-Two I guess.

The premise for a good Zero One movie is there, with the themes and a lot of cool sci-fi action, but yeah, I can't get past the poor execution, controversial developments and the lack of relevance to the narrative. S to me is merely one of many of Azu's ongoing attempts to revive Ark, far from a major character that holds any importance to anybody or anything that comes before or after. The world in this story feels so detached from the world of the show that I could expect Decade to show up and tickle Zero One in the back.

Feels like this was a consequence of rewriting the movie to take place after the finale and that the staff always planned for OG Izu to show up for the fight against Lucifer. Unfortunately, I'm convinced that New Izu was only introduced after Izu's death in the improvised final arc to serve as a plot device, a vessel to be filled, a tool to facilitate the return to a status quo that had overstayed its welcome. Regardless of the established rules of the setting, it seems like Zea is basically a god that can do whatever the hell it wants.

Even with a new president running the Japanese branch, ZAIA is still a ticking time bomb and everybody knows it. Gai means well, but the best thing he can do to rebuild his credibility and offer secure employment is to cut ties with that company and start from zero with a business that better represents his new values.

That's a thing I'm used to from a few years of New Japan Pro-Wrestling live events, where it's all claps and foot stomps. I think it works fine? The clap-along moment was sort of charming. I like that type of kid-oriented live entertainment for Kamen Rider occasionally, that reminder that this is all supposed to excite children, at the very least.

That said, man, I don't know why COVID has to equal Generic Story? I feel like there were plenty of options available to the production team (the show starts off as a Hiden Intelligence live demonstration before being completely abandoned) that could've been more exciting than Another Ark, padded out with bland speeches about teamwork. Like, COVID's definitely going to affect how many actors are going to be on stage together, but it's not going to impact voiceovers and plotting and whatnot.

I wish Naki and Ikazuchi weren't immediately brainwashed, but, yeah, this was a decent outing for MetsubouJinrai.

The glow sticks sure looked fun.

ZAIA Manufacturing!

I liked the Final Stage well enough. It's pretty rare that they really hit me; I can name all the ones that did that very easily - Ghost, Build, Zi-O and Revice - so this one just ends up falling into the category most do: Yeah That Was Pretty Fun. Could be better, but it's harmless and enjoyable enough

I feel like the actor for S carried a lot of emotional and narrative weight to me despite being another avenue for Ark to carry out his plan, but he did his own thing anyways and I don't think he needed a prior emotional connection to the cast or their story (beyond Aruto maybe relating to his loss) since it was Aruto learning about him in the movie.
To be honest it's hard for me to imagine Zero-Two Izu happening before the finale while OG!Izu was still alive.

AI's be pretty darn effective.
It worked for Aruto! Kind of!

Thouser Intellion be like: