Kamen Rider Zero-One Episode 40- "Towards Me & My Dream!" Discussion
 

With the loss of the Zero-One Driver, many believe all hope is lost. But Aruto has one last project in mind to challenge The Ark....

> okay so Zero-Two doesn't go doubling and the like... he just do better, more 'silent' moves of Shining Hopper doing simulated attacks.

> Aruto putting Izu in so many simulations she achieved "Dame desu" waifu tier... xD it's sad though 'cause she has to go through that much pain just to achieve it.

> Ark gets outcalculated... this part of the series is basically 5d chess now... xD and we're gonna see Ark-1 soon as countermeasure to 02.

> ALSO HAVE YOU SEEN THE WAY ARK BECAME SO EFFICIENT SO GOES STRAIGHT FOR THE KILL BEFORE ANYONE CAN HENSHIN?! Last time I saw this was in Ryukendo... that was over a decade man... oh s*** Tsukasa's behind this isn't he?!

Man the first half of this episode really had me shook, especially since I couldn't understand it until like we sorta got a visual of what was happening during 02's introduction.

Still really cool and I enjoy how simple Zero-Two is, I'll need subs to better understand but man.

THIS IS LIKE THE FIRST TIME 01 HAS HAD ME THIS SHOOK

Ufff... Yeah, this has to be the worst Final Form episode in a long time...

First, why does the Ark suddenly want to kill Aruto after leaving him last episode? Like, you had him right there! Just throw him off the damn damm! That's the only reason it lost!

Second, the episode is just confusing and not fun to watch. You can catch onto the fact that this is a simulation relatively early, but even with that info it just tries to fake you out so often that it gets repetitive and boring.

And boy... technology is just magic now. 3D-Printers? Who needs that? Somewhat realistic limitations? Pah! Nah, we just let memory units turn into Progrise Keys because reasons! And get a magical Zero-Two Driver as well! Why not!

And lastly, Zero-Two falls into the same problem Shining Hopper had. It's just confusing to look at. It doesn't properly convey what it actually can do. The visuals just don't explain it properly. Aruto somehow explodes but is fine. Ok?

God... I really wanted to like this episode, especially after the last two were so good, but this? Yeah... Sorry, that was just bad in my opinion.

I can't tell if you copy/pasted this from Reddit or the other way around. Lemme just fanangle through what you're saying.

"Why didn't the Ark kill Aruto right there and throw him into the dam."

There are some ways this could be explained as we didn't see what happened between 39 and 40. Jin could've easily used his flame-y teleportation abilities to whisk Aruto and Izu away back to the compound. The ark could've processed the idea of killing Aruto right away AFTER it had assimilated the satellite. Linear processing.

"The episode was confusing and you can catch on early that it's a simulation."

The subs aren't out yet, so there might be some info we haven't seen yet. I'd also say the hiatus might have affected the way how the original script was going to go. I didn't think it was repetitive since the repetition simulation only happened, like what? Twice?

"Technology is magic now."

In a show where a robot can teleport using fire, 3D print using a belt without no materials to gather from, and spawn large metal constructs of animals using belts, a USB device turning into a progrise key and spawning a belt from your mechanical finger tips is weird. I get it, it definitely was weird, it's not the strangest I've seen. There will definitely be some info once we get the subs. Maybe the point of the simulations was to somehow reactivate Zea from within Izu. Also, did you forget that the Humagears can already 3d print stuff within themselves without problem, so long as they have the data. I.E. the Magia.

"Zero Two and Shining Hopper are confusing."

How is Shining Hopper confusing? It just creates holographic simulations of all of Zero-One's possible attacks, which fools the enemy and gives Aruto the necessary move to attack them with. Zero-Two ain't that hard either. It's just two Zero-Twos. Aruto doesn't explode, it's energy from the Ark's attack that explodes. And he's fine cuz it's a form debut and they always whisk off the attacks when it's their debut cuz they're stronger.


I get the nitpicks, but they CAN be explained.

Over-time working overtime to get subs out so quick!!!

This episode feels really inspired in the way it's presented. Having us go through that initial worst outcome from Izu's perspective is a really surreal experience. Also seeing Izu break down and expressing, like, any emotion outside her usual range feels exactly like the big deal it should be, even though I do still think we should have seen her acting less machine-like much earlier.


The visualisation they choose to use of Zea creating the new progrise key and driver is certainly a lot more, uh, whimsical compared to how this show usually showcases the tech, but I think it works as emotional imagery. Aruto and Izu holding their hands out together, and the Zero-Two driver coming to them as a representation of the shared dream between Humans and Humagear. To be honest, I wish Zea wasn't involved at all? I wish Aruto and Izu just managed to build the thing on their own, with the limited tools at their disposal. If that sounds unrealistic, well... so is everything else about the tech in this show anyway.

Still no idea how Aruto, who has never been shown to be a technological wiz of any sort, managed to invent a system that's more powerful than anything Zea could do on it's own. I guess by that same token, they've never shown that he wouldn't be good with tech, so I guess I can't call it a contradiction!?

Zero-Two itself is cool though. Alongside a flashy new insert song, with lots of callbacks to Aruto's first fight as Zero-One, it's a fittingly spectacular debut for a final form.

Finally, this is getting into the preview but... I don't like that Aruto is apparently back as president of Hiden Intelligence. Didn't the show just make a big deal out of how he was going to surpass his grandfather by sticking with his own company, built with his own hands, and culminating with a Rider he conceptualised on his own. Since I'm already talking about the preview, I'm sure Horobi siding with our heroes is going to be about as well done as Gai and his robo puppy, but I already fully expect that we just gotta group up everybody on one side before we blow up the Ark sentai-styled.

Sadly this episode left me a bit unfazed. Ark being "Okay I kill Aruto now" - I mean sure? Why though? I guess he's your main threat now that you control the satellite but you could’ve done that last week super easy.

Not a fan of the whole simulation / time-rewind thing. You see it coming so the pain you should feel for witnessing these characters die is numbed to nonexistence. The only time this episode got me was when Izu tried to wake Aruto up, that was a really well done scene.

And then - Zero-Two. The suit is glorious, it absolutely is. Streamlined, looks great, simple function. No reusing past powers shenanigans, no reusing past weapons shtick. They thankfully eliminated those before with Rampage Gatling and Ark-Zero. It’s great that a final form can just be the strong thing that punches and kicks well.

I'm glad they brought the visuals from Shining Hopper back as well, because honestly, that's when this show got really creative with visualizing the powers of the AI combatants and it has never been surpassed for me since. Although this is where Zero-Two also falls flat a bit for me: It doesn’t do much original stuff. All the things I praised it for are valid, but it still lacks that little pinch of originality.

So the episode was good I guess? The scene with Izu crying made me feel things, Zero-Two is nice - but overall the episode only felt like a solid 6/10 when I wanted it to be a 12/10. I'm also really not a fan of how the Progrise Key and Driver came into existence. Felt a bit wonky overall.

Lastly, there is one thing I actually hated about this episode. Zero-Two had a cyber muffler just like his dad after withstanding Ark-Zero's finisher. Why is this not a thing for this form? Why doesn’t he have it when he moves around fast? It would've not only looked awesome but would’ve been a nice nod to Ichi-Gata. It’s funny, whenever I feel like Kamen Rider does movie tie-ins terribly they cannot figure out one simple thing I actually would’ve enjoyed seeing referenced.

Got the subs, not much to say but I still really enjoyed this episode. Zero-Two seems to be right by my assumption of it being the true Successor to Shining Hopper as it is Shining Hopper on crack.

Not so much less than a second decisions that help you outmaneuver the opponents and more so just actually out-predicting decisions based on what was going on.

Also I'm inclined to go along with the more whimsical aspects here because literally, MBJR created Ark-Zero by creating a data key that fell into a bunch of wires that then decided to spit out a symbiote entity that can just take the shape of a Driver and fly around and stuff.

Because giant mechanical animals appearing from nowhere and then turning into armour is a realistic limitation?

Im not the hugest fan of Zero Two (the red looks better than the scans made it seem) but how the hell is it “confusing to look at?” Doesn’t convey what’s it actually does? Do any of the suits? What does Zero a Two do that needs conveying?

Zero Two is a damn refreshing final form, being a straight “improvement” over the already clean base form. He’s a Kamen a Rider, and he looks the part, and is so much better than the hideous Metal Cluster Hopper.

That was the only kind of weak part, as I knew Aruto wouldn't stay dead, and once everyone else dropped like flies I was like "so this is a vision or something." Then as soon as it went back to her I realized it was Izu predicting possible outcomes. It made sense, though, as Izu's always been on the cusp of true singularity, and her experiencing real emotion would definitely push her over into what Zea has always wanted for Humagears.

Though Aruto knowing this, planning this, and triggering it within her subconsciously was kind of cruel. Kind of impressive for a character I've always felt as a short-sighted idiot, but cruel.

I didn't predict this outcome.

When Aruto died, I figured this was going to be another new form resurrection. But then Gai got shot through the heart, followed by Isamu and Yua, and I got confused. Zea creating a backup of itself inside Izu and running simulations to counter Ark's predictions was pretty clever and showing the scenario from Izu's perspective made it and her sadness seem real and sympathetic. The Ark is another perspective. I knew Aruto was going to make it out okay from the trailer but disregarding that, my question was "how?" especially after simulated Ark started killing off the main characters.

Zero Two is cool. I never disliked the form and merely didn't consider it final form material but as xSauriaNx said before, technically it's not Zero One's final form cause it's not Zero One anymore. Zea said Metal Cluster Hopper is the peak of Zero One's learning. Thinking of it like that, Zero Two returning to a basic design with less flash and just doing basic stuff more effectively makes a lot of sense. And now Aruto is capable of AI processing speeds in real time without having to interface with Zea. That's another meaning of 2: 1 human + 1 AI = a symbol of the relationship between 2 kinds of being.

It grows on you the 02 suit. When I watched the raw, I really thought they killed gai off in an unexpected underwhelming way as a way to spite him as the creator of the arc. Then he shot both fuwa and yaiba, then turn out they live. I was really expecting this was uprise explosive serious repercussion judging from first fee minutes. They caught be off guard and then it's back to the cliche tropes.

Like db super and alot more japan will never go back to 80-90s dark plot about accepting deaths of heroes in the most tragic way possible.

02 debut felt lackluster it's like an upgrade faster harder shining for arc. Still no azu or answer to who brought jin back online. He was made to be the chosen one, but he's as disposable as the rest ? Now horobi randomly will sketch side maybe because of jin. A lot of switch side without development. Suddenly aruto might be friend with the arc in the finales like gamou and fourze.

My in the moment response to this one was hugely positive. I think this episode was fantastic at using emotions to sort of pave over the bits of plotting that aren't all there at times. The way the Zero-Two Driver and Key were created is the perfect example... is what I would say if I didn't realize as I was writing this that the Ark has the ability to print out weapons after getting a body, and the whole explanation here is that Zea essentially exists within Izu now, so...

The point is, even if there was some major contradiction to established series rules, the meaning of those scenes isn't in what's literally happening. Zero-Two is born when a human and HumaGear join hands to leap towards their dreams. It's that simple. The visuals are telling the story in that moment, and it's all the more powerful a scene for it, in my opinion.

And that's kind of the story with the whole plot, for me. Sure, Ark-Zero showing up to murder Aruto with finger lasers is completely uncharacteristic, obviously the entire main cast was not going to drop dead, yadda yadda yadda... but that kind of thing is how the show rolls, and I accept that as long as I feel there's a greater purpose being served, and that was very much the case here.

The debut episode of a final form is generally meant to be a penultimate statement on the overall themes of the series, and as such, choosing to specifically focus the narrative on Izu was without doubt the best decision. It just could not have been anyone else, even Aruto himself. I don't think I ever put this down in writing, but back when the show started, I was crazy excited about the potential of her character. I was hoping for basically the best character development of a Rider heroine ever, with a gradual but massive shift in personality as she became more and more indistinguishable from a human through her experiences with Aruto. In my mind, she was always the key to the entire story. The growth she's had ended up being a lot more subtle than I was maybe hoping for. I was going so far in my head as to expect her to stop defining herself as an assistant entirely, while the direction the show went in ended up emphasizing how assisting Aruto is now a genuine desire for her rather than a predetermined purpose.

The more episodes go by, and the more time I've had to think about, I really love what the show has done with her over time despite, and maybe even because of the downplayed approach. The main thing was, I needed Izu to really start showing different emotions by the end. All of this is to say, seeing her crying here, and all the sadness surrounding it, had all the impact I could've hoped for. It felt completely earned. The situation is simulated, but the tears are as real as can be. I loved that.

Aruto's part in all this is pretty good too, and I especially liked getting to see all the brainstorming he did to create Zero-Two, which, delightfully, has just about nothing to do with the technical specifics like a discount Sento, and everything to do with what he wants Zero-Two to represent, with a bunch of crossed-out rejected names on top, and that big triangle dominating the bottom showing how dreams, hearts, and technology all support each other. It's all exactly the kind of stuff Aruto would be thinking about, you know? Heavier on the raw passion than the step-by-step logic.

If I could critique one thing in all this, it'd be to echo what FreshToku said about involving Zea in any capacity muddling the theme of surpassing predictions and not needing to be reliant on his legacy anymore. I don't necessarily need Aruto to build the Zero-Two Driver in a cave with a box of scraps, but the less old hands involved, the better. Still, points for not having Gai involved in the slightest, which gives me newfound hope his redemption arc isn't just happening because it's convenient for the other plot threads.

But again, this is very much an episode where the problems just sorta melt away for me. At the end of the day it gets us to a real cool fight scene as usual, bolstered by Shoujirou Nakazawa's gift for clean and concise direction, with his typical smooth use of slow-motion to emphasize a moment, such as Zero-Two sliding by Ark-Zero's right hook as the fight begins. Plus, it does that thing the big climax fights always do where the little mechanical overlay or whatever appears over Aruto's foot as he leaps into action, which is always nice to see. And a second insert theme! How about that? I don't think it tops the existing one, but literally nothing can, so second place is nothing to be ashamed of here. Plus, and I know literally nobody else cares, but I legitimately love how slick the font for Zero-Two's finishing moves is. It's a perfect match to the sharp lines of the suit itself.

And as you can tell from my points of praise getting that minor, I'm kind of out of things I really want to say about this episode, but I absolutely think it was another real good one. There was an absurd amount of time we had to build up expectations for Zero-Two's debut, but, at least for me, I'd say it lived up to them.

I'm trying to come up with something intelligent to say, but after watching that episode my thoughts are mostly just screaming "oh nooooo Izu TT_TT" and "WOW THAT WAS SO COOL!!!" over and over.

Uh... oh, I like how both Aruto and Ark are fighting for specific visions of the future and how that's mirrored by their use of predictions in battle. It's not blatant symbolism like 02 being created by both Aruto and Izu, but it's a neat little bit of thematic consistency. That fight was all about the future.

Also, I'm sure it was to save on CGI, but I thought it was kinda cool how 02 didn't have any fancy special effects when he switched places, he just ducked out of frame and came back in somewhere else.

The first half of the episode is really in term of actings and cinematographies. But the cut off from simulation to reality is abrupt. It's like everything play out EXACTLY as simulated by Zea, down to Ark-Zero using laser pointer to kill Aruto. How strong is a Humagear's calculation power?

Zero-Two design is cool though. Somehow make me think of modernized Showa instead of Heisei weird designs post-Decade.

Really wish I had something more profound to say here, but Fish really summed up my thoughts perfectly.

This was a damn good episode IMO. Probably one of my favorite Final Form debuts ever. Even though the "deaths" were not real and I sorta caught on once Yua died (I assumed Zero-Two would be another "resurrection" form and Gai's sudden death was for pure shock), because it was essentially told from Izu's perspective, I went through the emotions along with her and that's what was really important there.

It's also a subtle thing, but I liked how Aruto still apologized for what he put Izu through, despite none of it being real....because despite that, what Izu felt WAS real. Sure, it didn't become some huge moral dilemma (nor did it really need to become one), but lesser Rider shows would have glanced over it entirely.

And Izu acted like a girl afterward is cute :)

too cute :)

So funny thing - when Aruto died, I though something to myself along the lines of "Wow, this is when they get their buddy Zi-O to come back and rewind time to fix the problems." And then it almost looked like Izu had learned to rewind time. I mean, of course it was all a simulation (I don't think that's intended to be a twist, it's been mentioned enough times with the Ark), but I found it amusing.

But yeah, 02 debut. Not sure I thoght it was *amazing*, but it's still a solid episode where Izu has a chance to show her development and personality, Aruto gets to progress past his grandfather's legacy, and we get to see Gai get shot. Seriously, though, that's pretty brutal, how they all get taken down so quickly. Aruto actually had me shocked for a moment.

02 is cool in how simplistic it is, and the producers must love that CGI budget being saved, but idk, I almost wish it did have some fancy trick. But I guess it doesn't need it. This isn't just 01 with another gimmick added on top, this is a new start. A second beginning. A second beginning that can outpredict the Ark's predictions.

As one twitter user pointed out, this is the second time the opportunity to bring 001 into the series has been ignored.

I think it because the 001 suit was scrapped to make Ikazuchi

Gotta admit I was really confused about what was going on during the first simulation and subsequent rewind. That's especially embarrassing because I was a big fan of a show called Person of Interest a few years back that pulled a similar "multiple simulations" stunt. Once I figured out what was going on it was a really good episode, though. The creation of the Zero-Two Driver is definitely a little "okay, sure..." but I won't argue with the results.

I frigging love the Zero-Two suit. It's a clear update to the original Zero-One and it stays sleek and streamlined. There's very little in the way of the excess bulk that you sometimes get with final forms. The callbacks to Rider 2's suit are also really nice touches (love the faux scarf detail so much). Probably my second favorite final form already; just an amazing, amazing suit.

Plot armor ease of writing when necessary. I would be happy if first half was real for a second they clean the slate no bs revival for gai like Dan, but they fuwa and yaiba. I would understand if arc was sid wanting to spite and bully someone, but he wasnt possessing jin unless rai ikazuchi have feeling for aruto that limits arc, then the show didnt convey well. The final form is like a stronger version of shining in speed strength and calculation capacity. It's not a fusion of multiple gimmicks or have anti power that mute the villains powers a la ex aid muteki to build genius . Seriously, if the rumored final final form does show up, then it might be aruto answer to a upgrade to metal cluster like 02 to shining n. I wished zea becomes 02 literally or 01 comes back alive as a cyborg. This is like build technically the bottles on this body are the 40 main, but not really. The same with Ai version of zea coincidently sort of get back up to izu to create 02. No Azu or reference to .5 episode. Crying izu is closest we get to canonize the opening theme.

The driver still look cheap in the show. I was expecting a better paint job in the props department. I guess no more base form ttanformation to sell toys and to scale things up. He does got the weaponsS.

With about less than 2 months left, I have some questions:

1. Will Yua get an upgrade on par with Assault Wolf at least?
2. Will we ever see Azu again?
3. Can the older PKs still be used with the Zero Two Driver?