[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O: OVER QUARTZER

It?s all over the place, this thing. We start with a Mach guest-appearance, then spend some time in the Sengoku Period for some slapstick comedy, then find out that Everything We?ve Ever Known About Sougo Is Wrong (in a development that looks at the stupidity of Swartz?z plot from Episode 43 and says ?hold my beer?), then have a battle over Heisei?s sloppiness (???), then look at the aftereffects of the film?s plot and go Ha Ha WHO CARES. Tonally, it?s disorienting and unpleasant. It?s swinging wildly between insane extremes, never letting the audience get a handle on if the movie should be taken seriously or not. The only way to make it work would be to either ground it in character, or have a theme so transcendent that any plot defects are irrelevant.

Over Quartzer is my second favorite KR summer movie. It was double-billed with Dinosaur Panic, my favorite Sentai summer movie. Both happen to involve time travel. As you can imagine, I had an awesome weekend when I watched those two in early 2020 (literally a week before the world went to hell)!

To paraphrase Sougo: Who cares if it's bumpy?! This isn't just a celebration of the Heisei Era. That's the metaphor to appeal to the audience who are already invested in Heisei, but it's also a celebration of individuality. I was excited to see Gou return and say his full catchphrase, it brought back fond memories of watching his story in Kamen Rider Drive. It's Sougo's history, but Gou's story doesn't stop there, he's still trying to revive Chaser. Sougo inherited the power of Heisei Rider, but we spent about 31-48 episodes with each of those Heisei Riders, seeing them learn and grow as people. Even if the timeline is littered with chaos, we can use that chaos to build a better future. That's the moral here. Not everything we've ever known about Sougo was wrong. As Oma Zi-O proves, he still succeeded in becoming king despite being used as a body double. Geiz and Woz came to the past to destroy and manipulate him respectively, only to be won over by his heroism, leading them to reject the consolidated yet hollow timeline the Quartzers were working for. We're not just confined to part of someone else's story, we can decide what we are for ourselves.

I love the casting for ISSA as Tokiwa SOUGO. Not only does it add another OP singer to the list of movie villain Riders, but from certain angles, he does resemble an older Okuno, which makes it more believable for Sougo to be mistaken as SOUGO. His hatred of the messy Heisei Era makes him an effective foil to Sougo, who celebrates history and the wisdom to learn from it. The trip to 1575 is a great example of this, where Sougo gets to cheerfully show off his vast historical knowledge and his easygoing attitude towards Gyuuzou fabricating and dramatizing Nobunaga's biography based on Geiz's personality which is closer to the actual demon king (it's so ironic!). Of course, my only complaint with this is that Nobunaga's depiction here is totally different from his Parka Ghost self, but I'm willing to let that slide since it's in service of a story that is also very relevant to Sougo.

There's lots of other cool stuff to praise here as well. The big coronation of Zi-O Oma Time and how he slices the hell out of those Dai Mazines with his giant golden energy swords! All the obscure wildcard Riders like G and Brain showing up for the climactic fight! That satisfying 20 Rider Kick recreating the original Heisei name announcement banner to destroy Barlckxs! The extremely catchy P.A.R.T.Y. theme! This movie is a highlight of Kamen Rider Zi-O for me and I couldn't imagine a more honest and extravagant way to honor the legacy of Heisei Rider and turn the page for Reiwa.