[Androzani84]

So here we are, at the point where the Time Jackers have fully switched to creating Another Riders in the present (as evidenced by Another Zi-O being dated 2019 rather than 2018). In-universe, Shirakura explained that so many paradoxes have accumulated that the timeline is saying “no more” and forbidden travel through time to 2001, 2004 through 2009, 2014 and 2018. Out-of-universe, I can’t turn up a solid reason, but some have been suggested.

* Most of the remaining Phase 1 Riders are all visibly older than when they did their shows and even if they aren’t that much, they still look pretty different
* Most of them already have some degree of immunity to time changing shenanigans (Blade, Kabuto, Den-O, Kiva)
* To fit with the rule Another Faiz established that Another Riders only last 8 years. (The only other one who lasted that long was Another OOO, or as O-T’s subs for this episode mistranslated him, “Another Woz”, new character)

And with no Ridewatch this time (we’ve still got another episode for Revive), we’ll do the compare and contrast.

Hiryu Kakogawa, like how Asura was the opposite of of both Kouta and Kaito, is an opposite to both Sougo and Geiz. Sougo is someone who looks to the future and was able to get the Legend Riders’ powers be befriending them, while Hiryu is stuck on an incident in his past (as evidenced by the fact his name contains the kanji for “past”) and gains the Another Riders’ powers by assaulting and hospitalising them. Meanwhile, both Geiz and Hiryu are gunning to kill Sougo, but while Geiz is hesitating and has managed to befriend Sougo, Hiryu is utterly dedicated to killing the persons he believes ruined his life.

Design-wise, Another Zi-O’s palette is the opposite of regular Zi-O’s, even down to having a black Ziku-Driver that he uses to transform. And the basic design is the ultimate example of what Another Riders are: a monster that resembles a Kamen Rider. For bonus points, his face looks vaguely humanoid, hinting at how most Another Riders are transformed from humans.