[Daikaijuman54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It?s really the only way this show could end.

I held off on my thoughts, because I needed to consider this line. And find how it's almost accurate to put it that way, unless the final arc was changed almost completely.

Is this a great finale? No, not at all. But is it a good (enough) ending for this show? Honestly, that depends. For me, I'd say it's better than what I was thinking, not quite as good as it could have been, but not a bad way to end it.

I feel like Geiz's death somehow reminded me of Ryuki? Be it Shinji's death in the mains series, or Ren's death in the 13 Rider special, I somehow found myself looking back to this series and seeing his sacrifice something akin to that. I don't know if I can really put into words, or if I'm completely misremembering, but that's how I look back on it.

Oma Zi-O's debut transformation is great, maybe could have been done better, but getting to wipe out Swartz and his backup buddies (boy did I enjoy seeing Evol show up just for the heck of it) was fun to watch, and how Sougo even does boss Woz around to give him his speech, like a true Demon King he was feared to become. What I truly love about Oma Zi-O's debut is how you can tell he's a threat you probably can't defeat, a future that will happen no matter what, it felt like an event that both the heroes and villains can't prevent, and that's something I liked about Zi-O, that it didn't matter how pure and innocent Sougo was, there would always be the event he would become Oma Zi-O.

Swartz is not a good villain in many ways, and there are only perhaps a few positive things I can attribute to him, but his role as the final boss is not even a question. But, as I mentioned early on in this journey, the Uncle is my favorite character in this season next to Woz. Both are great supports, uncle moreso, but the fact that while his schtick was to be the guy who owns a clock shop that gets almost no customers whatsoever, he was always there to support the heroes even if he had no idea what was going on, even fixing the Ridewatches, and that's why he's a great guardian figure and supporting character. While Woz was just so much fun to see every time he showed up on screen, and how involved he became with the cast as the series progressed.

Overall, Zi-O, much like real history, isn't perfect, nor can everything in it be considered all good or all bad, it has both, and while it tries to make the best use out of it's themes and plotlines, I wouldn't call this a bad season, or even a bad anniversary. But neither can I say it's a great season either, as it's biggest storyline has an almost laughably bad quality in some places, and it honestly loses itself more than losing itself in the anniversary aspects (funny enough), to me at least. But it's not a bad season all things considered, I still had fun, and I wouldn't have minded rewatching the season with everyone here, but seeing how well my memory held up was interesting to say the least.

Now if I can just get around to the rest of the Zi-O stuff...