[Fish Sandwich]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Some really powerful emotional storytelling here, unfortunately focused on a plot that basically never landed for me.

Oh, I get it now! I thought for a second this might be a whole new disagreement between us, but it's actually just a classic that goes all the way back to Kuuga – early Heisei shows having cryptic storytelling that I gleefully eat up while you desperately beg the series to give you something you can actually unpack. Heck, I even specifically praised these episodes for being a little vague when I rewatched them:

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Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

This arc finally reveals exactly why Zeronos using his cards is such a big deal, and as you should be expecting from Den-O at this point, it's done beautifully. One thing that's especially nice is that although Deneb hints at it in dialogue, it's not until the very end where we actually SEE firsthand what's going on, letting the viewer connect the obvious dots instead of spelling it out. The show understands that words aren't needed at that point. It lets the drama of the moment hit a lot harder, as does the fact that it comes at the end of a plot that was already perfectly building up to it.

But yeah, I can definitely see where you're coming from with how this one failed to really resonate with you, even though it definitely got there for me. I told you upfront Zeronos is my favorite secondary Rider, and the tragic nature of his existence that the show is starting to dig into here is a key reason why. There's nothing more Kamen Rider to me than a suffering hero.

And like you said, the direction really works in spots, too. I was kinda trying to get at this talking about the first part, but Kaneda's style, for an episode like this, is less "boring and slow" (like the Super Hero Taisen films he's kinda infamous for these days), and more just weighty. And you know, you talk smack about the bike action here, but uh, I mean, I saw those Black Fang episodes of Blade, man. It could be a lot worse. At least Den-O went off a ramp here!

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

And personally, I’ve never understood why someone decided to incorporate an amnesia plot regarding the Zeronos Cards, or give them a limited number of uses. Almost no logical reason occurs to me.

Logical reason as in, like, why do they function that way in-universe? Because on a thematic level, the entire show is about memory, and the cards are another angle to explore that concept from. But if you're simply confused as to the literal mechanics of that, then yeah, as demonstrated by that cell phone Climax Form is rocking, Den-O's type of storytelling isn't super concerned with that sort of detailed worldbuilding.