[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 17 - ?I?M THE TRUE PRESIDENT KAMEN RIDER?

It?s a great premise, the whole Job Battle thing. It allows for a neat little Humagear/humanity story, while being in service to the larger ZAIA plot. And the stakes? I mean, it?s just to let Gai feel like a smug prick, which is sort of amazing? There?s the larger threat of ZAIA taking over Hiden, or whatever is going on with Ark, but this story is fundamentally about feeding Gai?s ego, front to back.

It's a great premise.... But the execution on the other hand, not so much.

So you've made it to the start of the dreaded Job Competition arc. I'll totally have a lot to complain about as you progress, but I'll start by mentioning that this wasn't actually Takahashi's choice. No, instead, it was producer Ohmori Takahito who decided this would be a good idea. Based on ratings, he might've been right, as more kids tuned in every week to watch Aruto and Gai wage this proxy tournament between HumaGears and AR-enhanced humans. Critically though, it's often considered to be the worst part of Zero One and a chore to get through. And this is all before you-know-what screwed with the production.

I think the main problem with it is how the competition is a lazy framing device as an excuse for lots and lots of filler. It could've been a best out of 3, since all you need is each side to show their qualities and a decider. Like, I get it, Gai doesn't merely want to defeat Aruto, he wants to crush him. But Gai is clearly underestimating Aruto's competence, which means this competition is going to be a little tighter than he'd like, which means having to tolerate more weeks of this tedious charade.

It's not all bad though. Of course, the world doesn't just stop while this is happening. Isamu totally doesn't give a damn about any of this, which I guess makes a lot of people relate to him even more! He's much more interested in solving the mysteries of Metsuboujinrai. Everything about Isamu in this arc is worthwhile for sure. Actually, there's even one round of the competition I liked for focusing on something less trivial, but I'll save that for later.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SO-DO AI 05: KAMEN RIDER THOUSER

The gold and silver, as noted previously, are perfectly flamboyant. The multiple horns coming in to form a crown for the helmet, also ridiculously on the nose. Some tiny bits of purple to add even more regal highlights. And we can?t forget his signature weapon, the hysterically named Thousand Jacker, which gives him superior Jacking ability, enough to even Jack a thousand times. (He?s very excited to let people know about his Jacking!) It?s the suit of someone who needs you to know how special he is, at all times, forever.

Thouzer is an acquired taste. I think it helps to have insight in to Gai's mind, to understand why he designed the suit to look so tacky with all the gold and silver and pretense of perfection. When I first saw the suit in magazine pictures without knowing who the user was, I didn't like it. But now when I think of Gai in that suit, yeah, it makes sense. It's perfect for him and I think it's clever how it made me like it for how much I didn't like it. Similar to your reaction to Assault Wolf, I guess. Does that make sense?

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Originally Posted by Rei

Now that this episode is here, I must reiterate that I'm a huge Gai fan.

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Originally Posted by Rei

The original design of Thouser did not have a black face, the mask was all silver with blue eyes, but I think them changing it to black and purple helped give it its status as a villain rider, without making it look too evil.

I agree with the change, but for different reasons. An all-silver mask would've looked like some kind of five-horned beetle, whereas the black helps to distinguish the caucasus from the arsinotherium, emphasizing his use of two types of Key. Blue eyes would've been counterproductive to Gai's public image, considering how HumaGears have blue eyes by default. Furthermore, purple is a darker shade of magenta, the sum of red and blue, symbolizing how Gai plans to rule both ZAIA and Hiden Intelligence in his game of manipulation.