[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 12 - “ME X MY STAGE 2013”



I’m starting to come around on this smiling would-be-tyrant!

The performance is reliably great, but this time doubly so. There’s a disarming abundance of cheerfulness, no matter the stakes or circumstance. It never feels (in this story, at least) like Sougo’s unaware of the reality of the situation, just… he’s confident that he can save the day. And that’s not an overconfidence, it’s just him seeing the best outcome for everyone, and doing what it takes to make that future come true.

The central paradox of Sougo’s character really snaps into focus in this episode, as he deals with both Woz’z sudden but inevitable betrayal, and Geiz’z vow to stay by his side forever and ever just in case Geiz needs to kill him and for no other reason.

Sougo’s fine with both! He’s genuinely happy to see both of his friends doing what they think is right, even if it could hurt and/or kill him. That’s why he wants to be king: so people can be free to do what they think is right. He wants to be the sole arbiter of right and wrong, so no one can tell anyone what to do. He wants to be a Good Despot. It’s, as always, completely idiotic. But here, in this episode, it feels sweet and generous. I get why folks like Eiji and Emu would chuckle knowingly at Sougo’s effervescent enthusiasm for unquestioned command. Sougo wants people to work towards the future that makes them happy, even if it’s in opposition to his. He values friendship more than fealty.

Which is good news, because two of his most trusted friends (out of, uh, three) are pretty convinced he’s on the complete wrong path. Geiz is jilted, sure (he just comes home to try and make Sougo feel bad, pretty standard sworn enemy behavior, zero percent weird), but he’s pretty much telling Sougo that an execution is imminent. And Woz! Woz, who is past the point of advising Sougo to knock it off with the friendly shenanigans and is openly collaborating with the Time Jackers to bump off the Time Orphans. We’re definitely in for a rough patch for Team Zi-O.

This was a pretty great outing for them, though. Not much to touch on from the Legend Riders – Kouta was less useful here than in Heisei Generations Final, which is saying something – but the rest of the story was a delight. Some terrific gags (there’s a bit where the background music drops out so Tsukuyomi can yell at Double Sougos that things are too confusing right now), and a final battle that utilizes the dual timelines to the most visually-stunning level yet. Everything about the bisected screens was gorgeous.

I don’t know if this was as good as the first part (really let down by Kouta’s non-factor), but as a whole? Really excellent two-parter that used twice as many Sougos to solve his weirdest character trait. Super excited for where this show can go when its firing on this many cylinders.



KAMEN RIDER ZI-O COMPLEMENTATION PROJECT EPISODE 12.5 - “INTERVIEW WITH A TIME JACKER”

On the one hand, this was probably the most worthless .5 episode yet. Nothing in here expands your knowledge of the show or its characters. The versions of Geiz, Woz, and Swartz – Team ZZZ – shown here should be encased in quotation marks as big as a Time Mazine. It’s four minutes of mugging, breaking, and non-sequiturs.

On the other hand, BEST .5 EPISODE YET.

Everything about this killed, with Swartz’z incredibly flamboyant egotist setting the tone for the episode. Geiz and Woz matched his wackiness with self-effacing jokes and just a tiny smidge of burning chemistry. It was such a blast to watch these three actors make jokes about pre-Christmas character intros and other tokusatsu tropes.

God bless these three idiots.