[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 14 - “WE’RE THE ASTRONAUT BROTHERS!”



“No chance of surviving.”

I mean, Fuwa, right? Everyone in the cast knows it: there’s no way that much anger is sustainable.

This whole episode is interesting in the ways the narrative can’t seem to decide if Fuwa is a righteous man seeking revenge against a wicked enemy, or a deranged lunatic who can’t stop treating every fight as a suicide mission. Nearly every time something spotlights his blinkered fanaticism – like him hearing that the word “lightning” could possibly indicate an unknown member of MetsubouJinrai, so he immediately suspects the next Humagear he meets that utters the word “lightning” in a sentence – something else proves his instincts 100% correct. Literally the first person Fuwa accuses of being a MetsubouJinrai spy is a MetsubouJinrai spy. The universe is constantly validating both his paranoia and his recklessness.

Like, hey, new upgrade Progrise Key for Fuwa! The Ark Satellite gets reactivated, and the first thing it produces is a Fuwa-themed upgrade form. Even the enemy satellite can’t resist the universal equilibrium of Fuwa’s rage being rewarded, his self-destruction given more room to detonate. Look at that thing. It’s got a furiously red reactor where a heart should be. Like Fuwa, there’s no subtlety to this form’s relentless march towards the funeral pyre.

And it’s… that’s sort of what’s interesting about the narrative’s reluctance to either judge or impede Fuwa’s self-destructive insanity. MetsubouJinrai did cause a disaster when he was a kid. They are responsible for acts of terror. Yua’s worried about him, but Gai’s willing to keep him out in the field as long as he continues to channel his rage in useful ways, which he has. People are generally worried about him (Aruto’s whole Are You Okay thing as Fuwa’s crawling on the ground, coughing up blood, sort of undersells the required dismay at Fuwa’s recent antics), but no one’s acting like he’s crossed any real lines. The universe seems to have given him the green light to get his revenge.

That idea is the most interesting part of Fuwa’s continuing story, because the lack of roadblocks or judgments puts the onus on Fuwa to realize his choice: just because you’re owed vengeance, it doesn’t mean you have to take revenge. If Fuwa’s vengeance comes at the cost of his happiness, his sanity, his relationships, his career, his health, his life… what’s the point? And, if it only cost him his happiness, was even that too much to pay?

It’s a tricky story to tell. The early stages definitely felt like a show that didn’t understand the ways it was valorizing Fuwa’s psychotic persecution complex. But the turn here, as we start to explore how power isn’t always the right move, makes some of the earlier missteps feel a little more intentional.

Other than Fuwa, I don’t know that the rest of this episode really came together for me? I thought the Astronaut Brothers were neat, until the story abandoned them for Izakuchi. Just finding more about how random bits of toku nonsense have a little cast of characters making them happen… it makes the Rise Hopper one of my favorite bikes now? Some put-upon blue-collar robot brothers, taking pride in their job while Aruto makes life hell for them? That’s a great idea, and I wish the show had wanted to spend more time with it.

Fights were great across the board, at least. I’m never going to feel like trading unique character perspectives and fascinating world-building for More Action is a great move, but the action was continuously well-shot. There’s a bit in the beginning where Valkyrie goes around one side of a truck to fight mooks while Vulcan goes around the other, the camera stays with Vulcan, a mook comes flying out from the front of the turck, and Valkyrie comes out shooting after him. I had to go back and watch that shot twice.

But, it’s a Fuwa episode, so maybe the humor and pathos should get jettisoned for more violence. Not my favorite front-to-back episode (pivots too hard away from the Astronaut Brothers stuff), but I liked the new shades of Fuwa’s story, and how the show is content to let him make his own decisions, even if they’re obviously bad ones.

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KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SO-DO AI 04: KAMEN RIDER VULCAN - ASSAULT WOLF



It’s Kamen Rider Vulcan, in his Unhealthy Violence suit!

This is a form that I don’t like aesthetically – it’s not a Figuart I’m aching to get, assuming they produced it – but I appreciate narratively. It’s not fun to look at, but, like, neither is self-destructive mania! Everything about Assault Wolf should be slightly unpleasant, bordering on scary.

And it is! We already touched on my favorite element, the furious reactor where a heart should be, but the rest of it is equally gross: red lights and lines everywhere, aggressive shoulderpads, basically zero humanity. It looks like the kind of form an evil anti-human satellite would produce, and the kind of form Fuwa would not learn any lessons from.

The SO-DO version is remarkably accurate, even giving him Zero-One’s brand-new gun to carry. The torso stickers sometimes layer over molded/raised parts, but they link together to make the deco feel contiguous. The only rough spot was the helmet, since the asymmetry and fairly arbitrary coloring of the show suit made the location for the forehead crest sticker feel incredibly unclear. Probably ended up drifting it a little too far to the right. My version also has a very loose left pauldron, so I don’t think this is a figure I’m going to keep on display forever, even setting aside the whole Fuwa Has A Death Wish of it all.

It’s a fascinating suit, and a fun figure, but I do not need to spend this much time staring at Fuwa’s psychological failings! Please get this away from me now! It’s bumming me out!