[Librarian]

GQ Driver.
Wrist watch motif.
Power up devices based on "rider watches" as in watching a rider series.

This has fun written all over it.
The wrist device layout even kind of looks like the vhs turn wheels placement and has the matching insides to those to fill the space. Slightly larger of course, but still a neat accidental design thing.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blade Fang

I think Gate's butterfly visor may reference to Butterfly Effect in time travel.

Possibly a double reference there. Potentially three layer if you count the Ashton Kutcher movie. The butteryfly effect helmet could also be a "gate" helmet too with the curve lower inside to represent two gate doors either connected backwards to make butterfly wings, or to symbolize a smaller gate in the middle for better flair and to make the 'gates' fit the helmet better instead of them looking like they are opening and being more arch shaped.

Really digging Zi-O's base design though. Especially the gloves.

Surprised no one has brought up the design similarities to the batman villain Clock King though. Which kind of adds further fuel to the fire of why this one has to be a woman rider.

Do like the power up suit designs, but I could do without those shoulder pieces. Hopefully those will be easily removable on the figure series with a neat storage method, and some other kind of power up for streamlined shoulders will come later. It's the only thing I don't like about the designs at all, other than that, they are perfection.

Starting to think that concept of a shorter series to a longer series may end up being true too, but the two series are connected and they come back around to Ji-O after it with a follow up. So possibly some big "Foundation X" in the second series stuff if that's what happens. Which would make sense. Decade to W and W was allegedly same universe as Rider 01/02/V3 as was Decade and DiEnd technically. And that's where Foundation X is. Which as hidden nods go, a "TimeX watch" seems like the perfect hidden way to allude to that.

Getting some major Doctor Who 50th kind of vibes off of this as a build up to a massive 50th rider celebration and dawn of a new era after.

Anyway. Want Shodo Zi-O figures now already. My rider shelf NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDS them.