[Chasing]

I felt that this ending was great. People tend to not realize this, due to the fact that this show is centered around AI, but Zero-One's theme has ALWAYS self-identity, which is far beyond machines gaining sentience; a theme that has already been explored plenty of times in the history of media. By making self-identity the theme of the show, it's allowed our human characters AND our non-human characters to really feel like they've connected. Kamen Rider, as a franchise, has explored the idea of robots and androids plenty of times in the past(in fact, it's a primary part of its history), but Zero-One managed to hit me in the feels in a completely different manner than say, the Roidmudes. If not for the pandemic, I truly believe the final arc of this show would have been absolutely perfect.



Has Horobi done a metric fuck ton of horrible things in Zero-One? No doubt about it. However, Aruto not forgiving him and giving into his negative emotions would have probably been the most predictable outcome in the series. If ANYONE were to forgive the most heinous Humagear that exists in Zero-One since the very beginning, it's Aruto. If ANYONE were to forgive Horobi, the Humagear who murdered someone's best companion, who was also a Humagear, it is absolutely Aruto.



The only one who could put a stop to the inevitable war between humanity and Humagear? It had to be Aruto. Considering the impact 2020 has left in our world, it is genuinely impossible for me to believe anyone seriously thought that Zero-One would have an absolutely heartbreaking ending.