[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

That's awesome! I'm super glad that this movie really resonated with some folks. It's only right for an anniversary show's Summer Movie to deliver a highly-concentrated burst of Kamen Rider excitement.

I also think SOUGO could be a metaphor for avaricious companies that constantly make sequels and remakes to their IPs, instead of making new original content.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

I will also mention that the guy who wrote this was a guest writer by the name of Kota Fukihara. But don?t really expect to see much more Rider content out of him, since he died of a brain haemorrhage 10 months after this came out.

Damn, I didn't know about that. R.I.P.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 44 - ?2019 - AQUA?S CALL?

All of that feels like it's trying to distract from the lack of urgency to this final batch of episodes. We?ve got a villain to fight, in Swartz?z Another Decade form, but we don?t really have a scheme to thwart. Team Zi-O isn?t actively looking for Swartz in this story, because they don?t really know what he?s planning to do, or what exactly he hopes to accomplish beyond Win. Similarly, there?s no sense of Swartz using his newfound power set to actively target Team Zi-O; he mostly seems like he?s trying to scoop up Heure?

While I agree with the consensus in this thread that Swartz is kind of meh as a final villain, Another Decade is definitely a big deal! Remember when I mentioned how Another Decade couldn't exist back in the Ghost arc, since the Time Jackers can't trace Tsukasa's origin? Well, turns out another way to make Another Rider is just to take the power from the Rider, as Swartz accomplished in the Another Zi-O II arc. So now Another Decade exists! Probably the most dangerous paradox in the show. It also means that Tsukasa's involvement here is an actual case of "This is all Decade's fault!", since him merely staying away would've prevented Swartz from obtaining that power.

This isn't the first time a final villain used the power of Decade though, Callas became Decade Violent Emotion in the last level of Battride War.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Other than that, we?ve got Heure joining Team Zi-O, maybe, and it?s cute. I will always love Sougo?s commitment to people who fight for their future, even if they?re fighting against him. He?s clear that Heure has some atoning to do for, uh, an entire season of wrecking people?s lives, but he?s also more than willing to give Heure that shot at atoning. Seeing Sougo get excited over another friend moving in with him? man, that is the best. Easily the best scene in this episode.

Heure was always the least malicious of the Time Jackers, he's done some typical bad things but nothing as depraved as Ora and Swartz have committed. He's also done some good things (for antihero reasons), like saving Another Ghost's host from his original death and helping Woz outsmart White Woz. He also has the most loyalty to his fellow Time Jackers, being the only one to not use them and he didn't hesitate to help Ora escape after Swartz betrayed them. So I like how easily Sougo can befriend him, since Sougo can see both the good and bad in people and he probably sees that Heure is someone who became this way due to his past of being orphaned and that loneliness is something he can relate to due to being ostracized for his dream of becoming king.

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Originally Posted by cosmicrescend0

Episode 44!

-Glad to see Another Drive! Wonder why they didn't toss him in OQ, but whatever!

I've never thought about that before, but you're right, it's unusual that the movie which was also the Drive tribute didn't include the corresponding Another Rider. I guess it's not like they could've made one in 1575 though.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Aqua is historically a barely-competent Rider, so he's well-suited for this temporal mix-up.

Historically? It's humorous that you say that, considering Aqua hasn't even been born yet.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

And out of a desire to keep Spinning Wheel out of this (I?ve never cared for that song. Too much of a cacophony of voices to me), I went for Unlimited Drive

More love for Unlimited Drive!

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

In Geiz and Tsukuyomi's case, their self-fulfilling prophecy is ofc about how their attempts (or even... mere existence) to prevent Ohma Zi-O are actually a path of creating Ohma Zi-O instead, it causes time loop in the following (this is all Decade's fault though as usual! ONORE DIKEIDO! The Decade in question is Swartz):

1. Swartz got livid over Tsukuyomi being chosen as the heir over him and dumped her on another timeline and erased her memories.
2. He began his grand plan by going back in time to indoctrinate someone to become king, orchestrated a bus crash in 2010 to test who is worthy.
3. However he had a confrontation with surviving Tsukuyomi in said bus, and that caused Swartz to damage the bus in a way that caused it to crash the way it's seen in the series and had Sougo being chosen by him as a result.
4. Sougo developed an obsession to become king, and successfully became one but turning into unstoppable tyrant Ohma Zi-O.
5. Then the Resistance sent Geiz and Tsukuyomi to the past to stop his tyranny.
6. Time Jackers are going back to the past as well due to how unstoppable Ohma Zi-O is.
7. While the other 2 wanted a puppet king that they can control, Swartz had his own differing reasons in doing so (he won't replace Ohma Zi-O as the king he needed, but at 2068 he's plain unstoppable)..
8. Go back to 1.

Yeah, Sougo's backstory is one big causal loop. Tsukuyomi accidentally escalates the bus incident of 2009, resulting in all the kids including Sougo and Hiryu getting transported to the Day of Oma. SOUGO uses his powers offscreen to set up Sougo as the chosen one. Swartz takes the bait and manipulates him to become king so he can gain more power. Geiz doesn't directly influence that event, but he has a minor role, since his decision to kill Sougo is what brought Tsukuyomi to the present, to stop him from doing that. Similarly, his doubt about killing Sougo during the Another Zi-O arc is what brought Tsukuyomi to 2009, seeking her own solution.