[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

his dad was maybe a Humagear (?)

I'm kind of surprised you're confused about this, because one of the things I found so great about these first two episodes is how easy it is to infer so much about why Aruto has the outlook on AI he does just based on the quick couple of flashbacks we get. And then of course, what makes the second episode so great is also how easy it is to tell why Fuwa has the exact opposite stance, and--

You know, it's just occurring to me there's like, WAY too much I want to say about Zero-One? I completely forgot to mention something pretty significant earlier, even, which is that I recently finished a rewatch of the whole thing I started when Shout released the show. So I've already had the show on the brain for a while now, and there's not a layer to it I don't have things to say about. Like:

- The standby noise for the Shotriser! The whole "Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider." thing is cool and memorable, but beyond that, it's a really purposeful way to communicate something meaningful about the setting. Die won't have full context for this yet, but when you consider where the Shotrisers actually come from, it becomes very clear why the branding is shoved in your face so heavily. I'm sorry I'm talking about the future a little more than usual, Die, but I'm definitely going to forget to bring this up later, and it's a smart enough detail I don't want to risk that. This show did so much in its designs and everything to get across both the high-tech nature and sort of corporate feeling of all that gear. The difference in Zero-One and Vulcan's suits is just great, for example, and they even consciously highlighted that in the transformations. Zero-One is this super slick hero suit Hiden made that zaps itself onto the user to give them superpowers, but Vulcan is a lot rougher than that. Fuwa is much more of a warrior than a hero, so his suit is this clunky assemblage of armor that attaches itself to him bit by bit to enhance his combat capabilities, because AIMS is not concerned with the kinds of things Hiden is, and Fuwa himself most certainly doesn't care about the same things Aruto does.

- I really love the Shooting Wolf suit, by the way. Asymmetry is always appealing to me, and Vulcan is that plus being blue, and a dog, which are two of my favorite things in general. It was kind of an easy sell, but at the same time, I still remember being impressed by how much more I liked the AIMS suits once we started seeing them in action. From the initial scans and whatnot, I wasn't too sure how those designs would really come together, but the actual suits really make every part pop to exactly the degree it needs to. That blue is real pretty!

- Ooh, ooh, and then there's the guy *in* the suit, and I ain't even talking about Fuwa yet! Nawata does a great job as Zero-One and all, bringing a liveliness and spunk to that character we probably couldn't have gotten from Takaiwa, but Vulcan is played by Kousuke Asai, and there's anyone in this show with the talent to match Takaiwa's expressiveness, it might just be him. I first took note of Asai back when he had one of the lead roles in Lupinranger VS Patranger, and he really delivers here as well. Vulcan always comes off so tense and aggressive in how he carries himself, and the way Asai continues to match Fuwa's strong emotions throughout the series is always loads of fun to watch out for.

- And speaking of people who made Lupinranger VS Patranger so amazing, do I even to need to tell you Sugihara's direction is still absolutely incredible here? The choice to contrast Vulcan's first transformation against an equally climactic moment for Zero-One was an insanely smart choice from Takahashi as a writer, but it only works as well as it does because of how smoothly it's cut together on top of that. There's a transition I've never forgotten since I originally watched the episode, right after those transformations finish, where a close-up of Zero-One rushing into battle towards the left of the frame cuts pefectly to a shot of Vulcan rushing into battle, towards the left of the frame, keeping the motion consistent and selling it all as one scene across two locations. It's a trick I caught Sugihara using a few times after this, as well, and I think it perfectly highlights what I love most about his style. "Kinetic" is always the word I use to describe it, and it's because of stuff exactly like this, where you can tell a ton of thought went into how the motion of the camera dictates where the viewer's attention is.

- Then there's the other big reason that's one of my favorite scenes in Zero-One, which is Gou Sakabe's soundtrack. He's the guy who did Ghost, a show that had great defined musical motifs for all its main Riders, as well as just slapping in general, and that continues with this show. Zero-One's upbeat heroic sound is amazing in its own right, but that climax makes excellent use of the appropriately intense music associated with Vulcan. Like, I could immediately tell at the time that was Vulcan's music, despite it being used just as much for Aruto here. If you recall how glowingly I praised Ixa's theme for how much it fit Nago, well then this is the Reiwa version of that. Vulcan's got one of my favorite bits of music in the entire franchise.

...And uh, let's see, what else is there? I guess I haven't explicitly mentioned that Fuwa made a great first impression and I really like him, but, uh, everyone thinks that, so there's probably not much need to elaborate. But again, it's the choice to contrast that with Aruto's own character development that makes this episode such a winner, and I really loved everything they do with him in this one. Plus, it's always nice to have an elaborate action sequence involving Kamen Rider on a bike. Don't get too used to those! ...But they definitely made much more of an effort upfront than Zi-O did to make you associate Kamen Rider Zero-One with his ride.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Rise Phones... man, I don't know. You're telling me that the company that developed Humagears also sells a phone that's three inches thick and made of shiny black plastic? I know Bandai's gotta sell role-play items, but, man, my disbelief can only be suspended so much. Just let these kids use iPhones! You've got enough plastic crap to sell!

I think the Rise Phones are a great bit of this show's world-building, honestly. You see everyone using them, and it lets you know how big of a company Hiden is in this universe. If they didn't look so distinctive, that would absolutely not come across nearly as well. A Hiden logo on a generic smartphone doesn't really pop on the camera the same way, you know? It's the same way Humagears all have really big headphones on. It's a much stronger visual.