[Xtreme RX]

Well, here we are. The official end of the Heisei era.

Annnnnnd it's underwhelming.

I really enjoyed the previous two episodes leading to this, but yeah, as I suspected: They really did need an extra episode or two to really flesh this out. It's a lot of things - disappointing, rushed, nonsensical, unfulfilling - but it's also really epic, has great action and some good performances. The end result just feels like missed potential.

There are great moments. Let's talk about the action scenes. We get to see Time Mazin again. Decade, Diend and Woz teaming up is a fun time (though weird how they just up and vanish for most of the episode). Seeing Grand's full henshin again was fun and I can't tell you how happy I am to finally see some varied use of its powers again. Doesn't quite reach the potential shown in its debut but come on; Type Formula, Maximum Mighty X and TankTank, basically the super form team (oh and Ghost cause why not). And when we get to see Tajadol, Pine Arms and Infinity we see exactly which episode they came from (sans CJX but I can assume its the debut). And we get the return of some big villains too. N-Daguva-Zeba bringing in the darkness from the Kurogatake Mountains, and Evol using blackholes to destroy the city (though he was not in his Black Hole form, minus a point for that) - This is the kind of stuff I always wanted to see in this series.

And that Oma Zi-O debut! Just speechless at how badass it was. The henshin sequence alone was unbelievably epic, but then he goes and one-shots all the endgame villains. He friggin' punches Dragblacker in the face and even traps Gamedeus in like some kind of energy ball. It's ruthless and extreme and over-the-top and I love it. The part where he asks Woz to "iwae" for him was a great moment.

Course, that's about where my praise ends.

No matter how much you try to change the context, the "merging worlds" plot is way too close visually and conceptually to Build's finale last year. You get this feeling that you've seen it all before. The justification for it is kind of convoluted too. Tsukuyomi and Schwarz's world is disappearing because it lacks a Kamen Rider, so by turning Tsukuyomi into a Rider they manage to create a Rider world and can merge it with Zi-O's. Tsukasa even mentions that the world they are currently inhabiting is Zi-O's world. This just complicates the time travel aspect of the show in a way that's just ridiculously convoluted and I'm not even going to get into it.

Speaking of Tsukuyomi, obviously we weren't going to get anything substantial from her Rider form but it was still disappointing to see just how little screentime it got. Like she literally transforms just to detransform again. And later on she gets to stab Schwarz (I suppose it's a homage to Kivala stabbing Decade?) but she dies immediately after anyway. The thing is, her "betrayal" of the team is actually super pointless because Geiz's death is what causes Sougo to go Oma anyway. They literally could have killed her at the beginning of the episode and it wouldn't have changed anything. Instead we have a pointless last-minute twist that does nothing for the episode's already-archaic pacing.

Oh and Geiz's death. Great acting, mind you, it seemed like a scene that was planned to happen but they couldn't fit it in logically. Geiz comes out of nowhere to take that hit and Schwarz waits patiently for like 4 minutes while Sougo says his goodbyes. It just doesn't feel earned at all.

And then Sougo just resets the whole timeline/splits the whole Rider universe back into their respective worlds? The continuity is just... bah why should I even care at this point.

The epilogue is boring. The time reset storyline has been done before and it's been done better. Build last year was better. Even Ryuki was better. Here it really lacks impact. No one cares that Uhr and Hora are back. I get that Oma Zi-O's powers were not only to destroy but to also create, so that would explain why Tsukuyomi and Geiz can exist as students in the new timeline, but like all time-reset stories, it cheapens their big death scenes significantly.

And I know that due to the nature of the production, we can't have a denouement for all characters who appeared in the series, but I feel like there are too many loose ends that fans would have appreciated seeing tied up. Like did Michal come back after the reset? Did the Rider's regain their powers? What happened to the RideWatches? Does Diend still have his time-stopping abilities (did they ever explain if he actually DID work with Oma Zi-O?)? Why is Woz the only one to have his memories?

This is more a personal disappointment but I am bummed that we never got any returning actors from Kuuga. Here would have been a perfect place to have that cameo. As a finale to Zi-O it has its own set of problems, but as the end of the entire Heisei era in a show dedicated to bringing back legends? I know its a tall order but it could have been a lot more bombastic? Like I wanted to see an all-out Rider war. The return of the 20 main suits. The future Riders - would have been cool to see them contribute in the final battle instead of being forgotten about. Maybe some more legend faces in a montage like they did for Gokaiger? The main thing that kept me and many others invested in this show was the anniversary element of it. They tried with the core Zi-O story but it definitely isn't enough and it shows really badly here. There's no excitement, nothing to get hyped over. Well, except Oma Zi-O.

I guess I'd rather end my final review of Zi-O on a more positive note though. I really liked Sougo's uncle till the very end, he was such a wholesome character. And the scene where Oma Zi-O exclaims his powers consist of every Rider's and every RideWatch from secondary to tertiary materialize around was way too cool. I was super glad to see Tsukasa and Kaito get massive roles in the series, especially Decade (though I wish he did more as a Rider). There were many tribute episode, especially in the latter half, that were super well-done, like Agito and Kabuto. So like, my overall thoughts on the show aren't bad. I think it was an admirable effort and certainly a better anniversary show than Decade.

But I think Reiwa resetting from scratch will be a real breath of fresh air. Zero-One looks amazing and I hope it'll breathe new life into the franchise. I'll always have fond memories of Heisei but it's time to put its messy and convoluted history to rest.

When I think back to the episode, there is one thing I think they did very well - the transfer of roles, a baton pass I guess you'd say, to the next generation. We know Takaiwa Seiji is Oma Zi-O's actor based on a screencap from the official website, as I suspected. We also know he is retiring from the main role with Zi-O. In a way, the final conversation Sougo has with himself is a good farewell to 19 years of tremendous dexterity and suit-acting prowess that Seiji displayed throughout his 18 main Rider roles. If Oma Zi-O's Rider kick was to be Seiji's last, I have to say it was a good one. Thank you for all you've done for the franchise.

Oh, and lets keep Shirakura away from the next anniversary series, yeah?

Till Next Time.