[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 23 - “I LOVE YOU FOR YOUR BRAINS!”



I really wanted to like this one! It’s a frothy romantic comedy, heavy on the comedy. It’s got the first Valkyrie appearance since I can’t remember when. It’s got a Humagear accurately diagnosing all of Gai’s psychological failings in front of Aruto, Yua, and Izu. The turn into the climax features a Humagear swearing so hard that they accidentally became a monster. It’s sort of got it all?

And yet, it just mostly didn’t come together for me, in a couple major ways.

Funny to see Ebii again so quickly, and with way more to do than the last storyline, but her character is too broad to believe in. She’s desperate to get married, and won’t accept reality, and that’s the extent of her character. She’s permanently and inescapably In Love, the end. I know this is a quick single-episode appearance for her (I can’t imagine there’s another chapter of her and her jealous friend to deal with), but there’s so little non-comedic character to her, and it got on my nerves after a while.

In the same vein, man, cannot believe that Aruto keeps using the Metal Cluster Hopper key! I know that it’s not in a Kamen Rider’s personality to stand by while there’s danger, and The Only One Who Can Stop You Is Me, but this key has literally only ever been used to cause greater danger. It’s a goddamn trap! It was inflicted on Aruto by Gai, as part of a scheme! STOP USING IT, YOU COLOSSAL DUMMY. It’d be like if the Driver was constantly on fire, and Aruto’s like This Time I Probably Won’t Get Burned. It’s a nowhere strategy, and it’s only making things worse. And he does it twice in this goddamn episode!!!

It’s the sort of story beat that’s meant to showcase Aruto’s perseverance, and heroism, and self-sacrifice, but it only ever comes off as moronic. Literally nothing changes between each battle, but Aruto still unleashes Metal Cluster Hopper on both friend and foe. It was infuriating, and the show never lets the non-Fuwa characters (i.e. anyone we’d expect to deliver level-headed and useful advice on living a long and happy life) forcefully push back against Aruto’s recklessness. It’s zero fun to watch.

So, yeah! Liked the comedy in this episode (all the Match stuff was top-notch) and I’m glad to see Enchilada645 finally got a Raider he could emotionally invest in, but I found Aruto and Ebii’s characters way too thin and frustrating to really get behind. Hopefully the next episode works a little harder on the character logic!