[TheRaizin]

Watched this last night and only now did I manage to put together my thoughts. After I was done doing a lot of things. So..

The "WOW!"

Let's get the action out of the way. It was a spectacle under Sugihara! The return of the bike fight, the brutality of some attacks, the stunt action, and great use of each rider's abilities. Zero-One and Zero-Two's final fight was the highlight of the film of course! Izu's mannerisms in the 02 suit was stupid in a good way! All very cool!

As stated by Fish, Fumiya and Noa were amazing here. Aruto was great as per usual, whether he was being a dork or the hero known as Zero-One, he puts forth as to why he is THE #1 Reiwa Rider! Noa is great as Izu running around doing errands as usual, but she shines the most during the end where she stops Aruto as Zero-Two and teams up with him. You can tell the two cared for each other as they fought on Lucifer and that kind of long stare at each other at the end. The part where Izu tells Aruto that she doesn't want to lose him, pulled my heartstrings a bit. I liked rider couples a lot. This one is going into my list along with Shinnosuke and Kiriko.

Speaking of rider couples, Esu/Rihito and Akane! I know Hideaki Ito definitely had lots of fun playing as Esu! His charisma and presence in the movie is very good! Esu and Akane's backstory is another byproduct of Gai's meddling with the Ark, only this time in a way that doesn't concern Humagears but also, somehow, the lives of people as well! Esu's plan was odd (I'll explain that later), but I guess being clouded with anger it would have holes in it.

Now, there isn't much of Akane, but whatever little screentime she had would already make me understand why she was Esu's fiance. They were great together. Especially the wedding scene! This is more of a personal thing, but I've seen ppl say they've had tears during Aruto and Izu's heart-to-heart after HRH's debut, but I had felt my tears during the wedding scene, because I'm a sucker for wedding scenes with emotion. The church brightening, Esu's clothes turning white, coinciding with the Reiwa double riders' rose petal covered fight, all screaming with LOVE! And that's what theme is the movie, I feel.

Everyone else, Fuwa, Yaiba, Gai, Horobi, and Jin, they all had some fun interactions. I also especially like the part with Fukuzoe and his partner, really shows his growth from the show and respect for his President. But I do have some very minor nitpicks. Gai, as per usual, was a blast for me to watch. I love the guy, goddamn.

The "Okay, fine."

Naki and Raiden. I can't knock on them on this one, they pretty much last minute additions and removing them from the movie entirely doesn't change much of the plot anyway and from what I've read in the production notes, they didn't have much time getting some scenes done since they were pressed for time with the restrictions and all, but also they were doing it while the show was running so they probably don't know how it all still ends. In a perfect world, I would have wanted the two to transform at least once. Have an additional 5 minutes for the movie to have Ikazuchi help out Aruto make his way to Esu and Naki to maybe defend the van from some Abaddons who found it. They're fine with what little they had. Raiden's truck scene got me smiling at least since I like Raiden.

Now, the interactions between the cast sans Aruto and Izu. There's a lot that happened between the show and the movie with each other in this one that we didn't see. Especially given the context of the ending of the show and the Final Stage.

Horobi and Fuwa are weirdly buddy-buddy considering the two have barely interact in the show (probably a case of the covid break or and the job arc), Fuwa and Jin too. Basically, Fuwa's interactions with MBJR are odd considering there's probably something that happened between the show ending and the movie where there's a big reconciliation for the multiple factions. There's also Gai (omg Reiei's is talking about Thouser again ughhh), I'll just simplify it and say I'm petty and I wish the four other riders should have at least thanked him a bit for basically putting in the leg work to get the info for Esu and the ThinkNet/2ch Abaddon weirdos but still declined him anyway. Especially given the context of the Final Stage (if that's even canon) where Fuwa expressed his gratitude to Gai for restoring the chip. But in any case, it's just a minor petty nitpick for me because of my liking towards Gai lol.

The "Ehh...?"

While a good movie nonetheless, I had some few issues with it.

Lucifer is an afterthought. I get it, yes, they needed a villain for Aruto and Izu to fight without having it be Esu, and also for Bandai to shill one more gimmick for the Eden driver, but he did feel hollow. Probably still a case of them being in a sort of rush with this movie, but I felt like I needed a bit more time to pretend I care about this guy, rather than just having him be here and make le villain speech. Just something I feel, there's not really weight to this issue of mine.

Izu's restoration. Ah, here we go. This was my biggest concern with the movie when I saw the trailers. Were they going to make Izu-2 (that's what we'll call new Izu) have all the memories of Izu-1 and basically say "Nope!" to the whole ordeal that Aruto went through as Ark-One? Hmm.... No? Maybe?

From what I understood from the movie, Izu-2 did NOT get a full restore. It was more of a highlight-reel, the bare essentials, for Izu-2 to correctly react to the situation and aid Aruto. There was the part Izu-2 tells Aruto that she hasn't learned what a heart is, how to laugh, and that's what convinced me that this isn't Izu-1 resurrected. After all, how can Izu-1 wish for all humagears to someday have heart when she, herself, don't even know it yet? At least that's how I understand it. This isn't Izu-1, Izu-2 is her own person and nothing will convince me otherwise.

HOWEVER, the issue lies with Izu-2's.. uhh... Individualism? That the correct word? Basically, I wish they'd have sprinkled in a bit more Izu in the scenes succeeding her stopping Hell Rising to signify that this isn't the previous Izu. Maybe have her speak out as well during when Aruto convinces Esu, take the lead sometimes during the fight Lucifer, show an extra bit more emotion towards Aruto's joke at the end. Something to say "No, this is an entirely different person, carrying the legacy of the first Izu." Tho, I guess Izu transforming into Zero-Two by her own accord rather than to just deliver the belt to Aruto was more or less that difference? I guess?

As for Aruto, I've prety much thought that Aruto accepted Izu-2 as her own person. That's how I'll want it to be.

Noa Tsurushima is placed third in terms of importance (Ryutarou Okada and Hiroe Igeta being 1st and 2nd respectively.) in the casting list, so unless that's Azu, I hope Izu-2 gets to transform to Zero Two once more or showcase some more scenes of her being, well, not Izu-1. It is the final story in Zero-One, and as with the case with Geiz Majesty and Grease Perfect Kingdom with having most, if not all, of the riders transforming again, I hope that's the case here too.

Overall, REAL×TIME gets a 8.5/10 for me. I think this is one of the best solo rider movies I've watched since Surprise Future. Sincerely hope Saber gets a shot at his own full-length post-show solo movie. Doubt it tho.