[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O HYPER BATTLE VIDEO - “KAMEN RIDER BIBIBI NO BIBILLGEIZ”



I was a little curious what Zi-O would do for its HBV. Would it introduce some super-deep-cut Ridewatch to honor Heisei? Would it be, like, a tribute to Heisei HBVs? Instead, it’s a completely normal HBV: An utterly hilarious, low-budget romp that conveys a simple lesson while letting our core cast screw around for twenty-odd minutes.

I prefer it this way? I like being reminded that Team Zi-O is, really, just a bunch of teenagers. There’s a very narrow window in the first five or six episodes that let these kids act like the poorly-socialized children they are, and it generated an almost impossibly deep reservoir of goodwill within me for this cast. Seeing them be weird early on let me forgive them a lot of strange decisions in their character arcs down the line. I like having this little reminder that they are all way too weird to have any other friends than each other.

The only character in this story who could plausibly claim to be an adult/authority figure is Woz, but he’s motivated by a) torturing Geiz, and b) helping Sougo learn the art of psychologically destroying your adversaries. He’s not really put in a position to temper these kids’ more extreme tendencies. He’s very much along for the ride this time, despite not being an actual child like Tsukuyomi and Sougo.

Sougo’s wacky in this one, and in a very delightful Pranks Are Fun way, but it’s Tsukuyomi who runs away with this special. I love the fact that Tsukuyomi is having a blast when they’re all goofing on Geiz’z stark terror, and is having more of a blast when it’s revealed that Geiz is maybe being stalked by actual ghosts. She’s fully committed to this bonkers exploration of a haunted schoolhouse, and she will not temper that enthusiasm just to make Woz and Sougo less petrified. She wants to see a goddamn ghost!

Still, this is a Geiz spotlight episode, and I think it was a successful one. The reveal that Geiz is a big ol’ scaredy-cat is believable, since he normally exists in a Superhero genre/context. He’s mostly just punching people in broad daylight, or after a nighttime speech? He doesn’t usually have spooky things happening around him. (Also, I cannot do jump-scare movies, so Geiz is the one in this story I can most empathize with. This story would’ve killed me.) Having his friends try and scare out his fear is a good start, and letting his fear be okay is a good ending. Add to it a neat new suit (the fear sweat on the mask is my favorite touch), and we have the framework for a good lesson-oriented comedy special.

Mostly a comedy special, though. Let’s be real, this thing was exquisitely ridiculous. Fun gags throughout, and a great/stupid/stupidly-great fight scene to callback on all of the physical comedy that was woven through the episode. (I think my favorite touch was Geiz clinging to Sougo’s ankle in terror, and shouting HENSHIN alongside Sougo as he transformed… but tripping Zi-O because he wouldn’t let go. A+ physical comedy!)

As fun as it might’ve been to try and do some Ultimate HBV easter egg-riddled thing, I like that we got something wholly Zi-O. A fun night of these four kids scaring each other and being gigantic weird dorks, with no bigger aim than that. Very nice treat for this show’s fans.