[Annuga]

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Chaos Entity

Not at all. Girls are called kings in anime and the like all the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Librarian

Yup. In fact it's been the modern trend of Japanese media for a bit.
Women as kings. Pure strength. Often times the biggest badasses with the best action scenes. And that's been spilling over into Rider series too.

Decade made it a point that Tackle does count as a rider. OOO's had the inhumanly strong girl. Even as far back as Faiz had Delta initially worn by girls. Hibiki was supposed to have a larger story focus on one apprentice Oni that was a girl. Kivara was the decisive character to stop Decade. Wizard made it a point to get reprimanded for his views on girl mages.

So it is entirely possible Zi-Oh could be a girl. Which actually kind of fits the watch band motif too, as t's become a relatively modern trend of girls using the thicker watch bands now for watches. And tbh, I kind of favor that concept myself. Lots of story potential there, from a mother that's a rider, or a teenage girl otaku, or a big sister, or more. And it does fit the "Sadako" pattern if jumping into TVs is true.

That's the beauty to a rider suit, most at least. They are relatively non-descript to the point any gender could be underneath unless it's directly a point to make it a gendered suit. And Japan isn't shy of trying things like this either, as we saw with the casting in Shibuya 15. They could feel it's the right time for this.

But like I said, it could go either way. But it is interesting to note that the suit does feel rather "ungendered" intentionally. Like how Delta was.

Also found it kind of interesting that the name seems to be a play on multiple levels. Zi-Oh is not that far off of Zero, as in zero hour refering to "origin point" or a point of release or point of change. While also phonetically spelling G-O which spells GO as in Let's Go rider kick. And then it also has the in joke of "Time King". Which with Toei's sense of humor, they would consider gender bending that intentionally. Like pointed out, in japanese media there's a conscious effort to go against expectations or other culture's perceived norms.
So making this rider a woman could fit to that.

So blatantly calling it a "Time King" rider does raise the chances it could be a girl underneath the armor. It really could go either way.

My personal only worry is how the 4th wall breaking comes across then. Sarcastic and fun, or if handled wrong will it be insulting. Perceptions based on gender with the same line delivery is sadly there with audiences. But the more I think about it, the more I actually kind of prefer this concept as a woman instead of male. Something new for the time and fresh. Plus toei's humor. A person deriding the show for its lead's gender: "Watch it!" Which also works on many levels too.

Honestly, I personally kind of feel a woman as the rider works the best to break down false preconceptions. And it really is overdue.
Do really love this design so far too. Not sure which way it'll go for wearer, but so far that design is very sweet.

And the concept of "Time for change!" does fit some themes of what may end up being 21, 22, and 23 on series of the new era, which I guess would be 1, 2, and 3 of the new period, which with the shift happening during Zi-Oh, really does make it the zero hour show.

Really excited to see how this one turns out! Already want a Shodo figure of this rider.

Huh. My mistake, though I still doubt it considering Toei's track record. Though should they do it, I'll probably get the toy line to show some extra support