[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 9 - “PUT THAT LIFE IN THEIR HANDS”



So many smart ideas in this episode!

The big question at the center of this episode – are the self-aware Humagears inherently good or inherently evil – gets the best possible answer: Neither. No one’s inherently anything, and if we’re going to treat AIs with the same level of respect as people, we have to concede that their choices are their own. Some are going to go bad, like Jin and Horobi. Some are going to go good, like the surgeon in this episode. Humanity just has to have faith that the overall choice is going to be good, and that we can try and create a framework of mutual respect to foster that outcome.

That idea of multiple conflicting inputs creating options to alter destinies, we even get that in the resolution to Fuwa’s front-to-back, top-to-bottom ass-whupping from last episode. Fuwa was nearly killed by Humagears twelve years ago, but he was saved by a Humagear today. He can’t lean on the All Humagears Are Evil thing anymore, because he’s proof that they aren’t. He gets to choose which input – Evil or Good – he gives the most weight to. And, yeah, he might still pick Evil! One good robot doesn’t outweigh an army of killer ones, and that’s his choice to make. But now he’ll have to reckon with the possibility of Humagears being worth protecting, and that’s a step in the right direction.

Too bad Yua’s brief change-of-heart blew up in her face, however. She has a neat little scene with Izu about how Humagears will treat humanity if/when they become self-aware, and when she returns to Izu with some Not All Robots epiphany, Izu’s there to ask why Yua faked a Humagear rampage and (maybe?) leaked it to the press. There’s some shame to Yua in this scene, but it mostly seems to set up A.I.M.S.’ Mysterious Benefactor from ZAIA Enterprises as a potential new rival for Aruto and Hiden Intelligence. It’s left open-ended, and I don’t really want to waste a thousand words trying to guess what happens next. Suffice to say that Yua’s dirty work in the background is now very clearly in the foreground, much to her dismay.

The whole episode’s great for exploring morality as not some ingrained thing, but a choice that both people and Humagears can make for themselves. The surgeon can choose to save Fuwa, or kill him. Fuwa can choose to forgive the Humagears, or destroy them. Yua can lie about her culpability, or atone for it. Just like Izu and Aruto, the only thing we can do is have faith that the people we believe in will make the right choice.

–

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SO-DO AI 02: KAMEN RIDER VULCAN - PUNCHING KONG



And the right choice for me was not buying the Breaking Mammoth SO-DO!

I don’t like the mechs or Zords or whatever for tokusatsu. Just zero percent my interest. (This episode’s action-packed finale was, probably, my least favorite finale to date. I don’t care about two CGI robots punching each other! And I probably never will!) I didn’t feel like ordering the Breaking Mammoth and Rise Hopper set back when I was ordering every Zero-One SO-DO set, and I sure don’t regret it now. Very okay not having that thing on my shelf.

But what I do have on my shelf is a Punching Kong figure, and it cracks me up to talk about this suit/figure in the Fuwa Is Dying episode, so let’s finally take a look at this guy.

I built this one way back, because I love suits with big ol’ mitts on them. (So psyched about yesterday’s Kangaroo Genome SO-DO figure! Build? Big ol’ mitts?? A tiny Vice in the pouch??? Sign me up!) Any suit design improves as the size of its fists expands, and that’s just science. The fact that they’re big ol’ mitts that become rocket punches is just… it’s genius, and I’m sorry I waited this long to gush about this suit.

It’s Fuwa’s first form change, and I like how it denotes its power. It’s bulky and dark on top, slim and white on the bottom. It’s not the slight vertical asymmetry of Shooting Wolf, it’s a massively powerful upper-half and nothing else. The red lines help break up the blocks of black, and reinforce the raw power of the design. It looks like it’s going to hurt you, even more than Shooting Wolf’s barely-restrained fury.

Like I said, I built this one way back (couple years, at least), so I don’t really remember how the build went. Looking at it now, I’d say the only stickers are the bits of red, the silver of the belt, and the Shotriser. Everything else is molded or painted. Seems like it’d’ve been an easy one to do? Easy or not, I think the figure nails every aspect of Punching Kong. Simple and effective design, with a simple but effective toy. Sorry I didn’t talk about it sooner!