Why the next Rider show after Zero-One should be more uplifting
 

Personally, I think the next Rider show should be more uplifting and lighthearted after Zero-One end and here's why.

The last few shows (Ex-Aid, Build, Zi-O and even Zero-One) are pretty dark and the last lighthearted show was Ghost and I think it's time to take a break from dark tone and bring more lighthearted tone for the Next Rider show.

The reason why they should make the next one more uplifting because Coronavirus Pandemic and I feel it's a good idea to have the next rider show to bring the smiles back to the people and especially childrens who are having difficult time during Pandemic.

They make friendship as central theme for Fourze after 2011 Tokyo Earthquake and they wanted a hero to bring the smiles back to people and that's how Fourze came about.

I don't know about the gimmick for Next Rider show but I am hopeful the next one will be more uplifting and lighthearted similar how Fourze help people who were struggling with 2011 Tokyo Earthquake and they should do same for people who are currently struggling with Coronavirus Pandemic.

I agree, but I would hardly call Ex-Aid and especially Zi-O particularly 'dark' by Rider's standards. Zi-O honestly was far more lighthearted than your usual fare despite the premise.

Yeah, I can't speak to Zi-O or Zero-One, but I love Ex-Aid for how it never really feels that dark, even when it deals with heavy themes like guilt and mortality and failure. While it's got a darkness maybe at its core (debatable!), there's so much joy in its aesthetic (the colors, the music, the effects) that I don't think it plays as dark for most viewers.

I mean, every Kamen Rider show's going to have some darkness; it's an action-adventure show with monsters in it, it had goddamn well better have some darkness. But I don't think that darkness was especially prevalent in Ex-Aid.

Even Build had a lot of joy in it (one of its major themes was Peace And Love), but with a heavy war setting it's harder to argue for its exclusion.

Kiramager is very uplifting!

I say RIDER show, NOT Sentai show.

I know Kiramager is already uplifting but Zero-One is still little bit dark since the show deals with racism and prejudice regarding Humagears and majority of Riders (Except the main rider) are either Anti-Heroes, villains or just straight up jerks.

I mean despite the flashy visulals, moments of comedy, and art direction especially with the costumes, I do agree when people say Ex-Aid is a dark show. Let's not forget episode 16 and some of the stuff the villains did. Heck, just check out the opening clip. It does set the tone of there is darkness that lingers, and that Ex-Aid is on a mission to do something about it. And you see the background story for Hiiro and Taiga, dark enough I would say.

I doubt the next season will actually try this, but it's got me wondering: How could it be possible to do a Kamen Rider series without any truly evil characters? I guess the normal monsters-of-the-week could be just wild beasts that are dangerous only because they're hungry or territorial, but what about the human (or monster with human form) antagonists?

Maybe a Kamen Rider season that was like a sports anime, where battles between Riders are a form of entertainment similar to boxing or wrestling, and the "villain" Riders are just rival athletes?

Or maybe a treasure hunt, where the Rider and their allies are seeking something valuable for some noble cause like uncovering the truth or whatever, while the villains are after the same treasure for more selfish reasons like greed, but even they have lines they won't cross and aren't trying to do anything terrible like end the world?

A Rider series more like Ghost is literally the last thing I'd want. If I want to laugh or be "up-lifted" I just look to other sources. While Kamen Rider has great capacity for comedic moments, for me the weakest shows in this franchise are the ones that lean too heavily on wacky hijinks and zany characters (I'm looking at you, Onari).

The best Rider shows strike a good balance between the dark and light, and I hope the next one will do the same.

I like your sports rider idea I'm honestly surprised Bandai/Toei hasn't done something like this since sports/competition anime are pretty popular.

Ex-Aid IS dark. All the flashy visuals are for destroying a pathogen that wreaks deadly havoc to stress out its host enough to kill them. Most of the main Riders have some form of dysfunction that makes them antiheroes at best, the creator of the Drivers is one of the lead villains, and it's the first series since Gaim to kill off a Rider during the first act.

The opening part, there's Emu suddenly disintegrates into data, foreshadowing what happens when a Rider's gauge hits zero and Game Over.