[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 41 - ?2019 - WORLD RESET?

It makes sense to do it now. Some of it's because we went right from the high of Grand Zi-O?s 45-minute debut scene (rough estimate) to fighting Oma Zi-O in the Misery Fields of 2068. We had a hero who thought he was ready to claim victory, so he needs a taste of ultimate defeat. We can?t have Sougo thinking he?s wrapped everything up just because he?s collected enough roleplay items to access the endgame content, can we? We gotta humble him a bit.

Now as your watch (not the Rider device) has reached this part, this isn't merely about Sougo being ready to claim victory, but this is also about how Sougo's journey in his youth as a whole is also partly Ohma Zi-O's plan, he's the one who recruited Woz his own fanatical prophet and sending him back to the past to serve as a mentor (corruptor) to the younger Sougo, motivating him to follow his same path. So actually Woz is, the right hand man of Ohma Zi-O, which is why he's villainous, it's because of his actual role too, though he turned better in ep. 30. And Ohma Zi-O's tiny bit of decency is treating his minion Woz well. Why does he do that? Because Ohma Zi-O's goal was to create an alternate version of himself to distract the multiverse from his own machinations.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

There?s not a ton of stuff to dissect from this episode, since it?s a Darkest Timeline story. (It?s mostly just everyone forgetting Sougo, except for the part where they think he?s a villain.) Hiryuu?s back as Another Zi-O, and he?s just as laughably forgettable as last time. He ruined the world because he hates Sougo and can?t get over his anger, which is? I guess it?s a motivation? It lacks a sense of scale, which has always been my problem with Hiryuu. He?s mad about some accident Sougo survived from when they were both on a bus together a decade ago, and that?s all the show ever seems to come up with for him? It should read as intensely personal yet universal ? the loss of both parents for reasons that are impossible to define ? but there?s so little specificity to Hiryuu, so little sense of what he?s like when he?s not sneering at Sougo?s existence, that it?s difficult to feel any emotions about him besides Apathy. You might as well have a melon with a frowny-face drawn on it plunged onto the end of a broom, and had the Time Jackers make that thing Another Zi-O. Just waving some scowling melon-broom at Sougo while Woz cheers it on. Might work better for me!

I mean for sure you did have your experiences with Narutaki in Decade before, but characters can be of different types y'know? Hiryu isn't someone that is meant to be rife with a sense of scale, and it's also ok to make a character that has motives that aren't typical villain grandiose plan, and that also counts as motive, characters meant to be annoying and hatable like him (to see what's coming to him). He's meant to be someone utterly petty, bitter, and spiteful, like how Narutaki blames everything on Decade, even when he's grasping on straws for logical reasons to do so. He rejects Sougo's advice before considering that an insult, someone that would never take responsibility and shifting blames to everything else, and still envies him for having a better fate than him, rejecting Sougo's good will and making it his mission to steal everything from Sougo out of spite. This also shows about how Hiryu is worse than Ohma Zi-O, willingly becoming the Overlord and is terrorizing the world only for spiteful motivation of taking everything from Sougo, while even Ohma Zi-O believes his actions somehow saved the world even if he is completely insane. Though for all his bitterness, he has a tragic part of being a broken man unable to move from the past.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I liked Tsukasa being here, though. He has a way of cutting through Sougo?s (very understandable!) self-pity and trying to get that kid to realize that his friendships can?t be taken from him by weird time magic, because he?s still the kid that made those friends. (Tsukasa is living proof of how valuable friendships can be while the universe is trying to undo your existence!) Also, boy, real sad to see him think that him losing all his friends is because he didn?t take on Oma Zi-O even more solo. Sougo! Your powers are not the Time Overlord stuff! They?re your innate empathy and boundless optimism! That is what drew these people to you in the first place! It?s the thing that Hiryuu could never replicate, because he is just a one-dimensional obstacle with a very weird headband!

There's another crushing card being handed to Sougo here about how Tsukasa took a blurred photo of him. The thing is, only Sougo is blurred, and it's symbolic regarding how Sougo may be erased from existence regarding his defeat to Ohma Zi-O, the altered timeline, and Hiryu taking his place now. I would also say here that Tsukasa has less asshole approach here than some of his other actions, because though at first he mocked Sougo's ambitions, when Sougo opened up, Tsukasa is more straightforward of dealing with him instead of disguising more insults, he actually explained about how the world crumbles, Geiz and Tsukuyomi are meant to prevent him becoming a king, and thus Sougo's ambition to become king shouldn't be reliant on them. And for sure this episode tortures Sougo (and him losing is Ohma Zi-O doing his plan), not even his friends, with Tsukuyomi a bit hostile and Geiz going back into murderous rage he had in earlier series, attacking Sougo when not transformed, but his own uncle also tried to attack him, in similar fashion to Geiz (with loaf of bread), with white radish.

And obviously Hiryu would never replicate Sougo, he's even worse than Ohma Zi-O after all, and while Sougo did draw people to him, Ohma Zi-O, which is alternate Sougo which'd have the same kindly youth he had, is also alone, everyone hates him for a good reason and is trying to overthrow him, including his younger self. Hiryu not drawing people to him is completely on point as evil version of Zi-O! While current Sougo now had found some keys to prevent himself becoming Ohma Zi-O, by accepting his capacity of evil and being more honest with his feelings instead of not admitting bad situation.

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Originally Posted by FreshToku

Also also, I really have to say I'm immediately disappointed that Grand Zi-O's summoning powers have been simplified. Obviously having him do all that 'pluck directly from original series' to the extent he did in the previous episode is unreasonable, but I figured they'd just at most have a suit do a generic move for a second before vanishing. Here, he summons them and they fight like Pokemon, just like Diend does. And while I'm at it, it bugs me that they show Oma Zi-O doing the same thing! One of the reasons I thought Grand Zi-O's powerset was so cool is how it contrasted with how Oma Zi-O fought back in episode 15. Compared to how Oma Zi-O embodied the past riders' powers into himself, Grand Zi-O celebrates their legacy by having them show off for themselves. But no, now they're both just Diend.

And Zi-O isn't the only one to pull this. Other Riders also had the Rider powers simplified after their debut, which is another thing that are my pet peeves in KR fighting scenes. For example, in Ex-Aid, the Rider Kicks of the titular Rider, like when he brutally (temporarily) killed Para-DX or his final kick against the final threat (depowered Cronus). And obviously, how Brave fights as Taddle Legacy in later fights compared to his debut. Some of the later Build fights also had the power use minimized and had the fighters go purely hand-to-hand. Otherwise nice trivia of Ohma Zi-O and Grand Zi-O's fighting style comparison.

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Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Sougo has one of the most potential broken forms in Kamen Rider and while it doesn't entirely job here... it goes from utilized 75% of it's potential in it's debut to like 10% of it's potential here. Grand Zi-O can do so much... and Sougo is not utilizing it at all and it's honestly really sad. Which is why I'm calling my shot here and just declaring Grand as the second Final Form in a row (Build Genius I glare at you) that wastes any potential it might have.

Kamen Rider fights are often like that, unfortunately, I mean I like the variety of powers (quantity =/= quality though, but Sougo is broken as anniversary Rider) that is given in the upgrades in Heisei Phase 2, but many disappoint me with how many of them are underutilized in fighting and isn't used to full potential. Gaim Kiwami Arms was one of those that has his variety of powers used well. Technically it'd be futile because Ohma Zi-O has the more superior version of Grand Zi-O's powers thus Grand Zi-O would inevitably lose, Ohma Zi-O was the one that pulled him into the fight at the first place, and they probably shortened the fight to only show Ohma Zi-O countered Grand Zi-O with superior version of the same power, because the point was about Grand Zi-O losing but still...