[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 24 - “IT’S OUR TURN”

One of my favorite Kamen Rider moments is the finale of the Fourze summer movie. Gentarou’s getting beat down in space, and it’s up to every one of his friends on Earth to activate enough Astroswitches to create the McGuffin that’s going to save the day. It’s a moment that leverages dozens of disparate stories – and occasional disposable elements – to create the most epic resolution imaginable for a franchise that’s all about the power of empathy. It’s not even that folks are paying off a debt, or whatever; there’s not really a sense of obligation to it. It’s just that Gentarou has shown them the value in helping each other out, so now they’re going to help him out.

It seems to be a long road, but Aruto's perseverance, and heroism, and self-sacrifice finally pays off here (despite that of course those genuine traits won't expect reward, but it can really be benefical despite cynical views like building strong support base). In how all he did towards the Humagears, including Izu, have them making core data for the blade comes from their positive feelings toward Aruto and humanity, which are filtered through Aruto's own signature key, Rising Hopper, which Zea then uses to give form to the weapon. It's so filled with positivity that it completely negates the Ark's negative energy and allows Zea to grab Aruto and pull him out and back into itself. To sum it up, this part of Zero-One weaponizes power of friendship (of which usually is a subject to mockery, not that I disagree, sometimes power of friendship can be manifested in BS ways).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It works because it exposes the real flaw in Aruto’s recent usage of Metal Cluster Hopper: it wasn’t that he couldn’t see the danger to himself or his friends, it’s that he only saw the danger in the Humagears. Much like Ark could only see the violence and cruelty of humanity, Aruto was stuck seeing Humagears as only potential opponents or helpless victims. It wasn’t malicious, or anything. He’s not Gai, looking down on the very concept of AI’s walking around. But it’s born from a fear that any Humagear could get hacked, or go berzerk, and just generally terrorize the public. This is what Aruto has to deal with nowadays: Humagears constantly going crazy.

Other than Fuwa before, now the Humagears have proven themselves to Aruto in his funk, in how Enji, who was used to be looked down upon by at least Oowada, now has proven himself to be able to become a great actor by training, not in movie acting, but in how he deceived Gai, pretending to be controlled by the Ark and infiltrated ZAIA to buy some time for Subaru and Oyakata to gather the data needed to stabilize MetalCluster. So he's able to act as Gai's enforcer. When his cover is blown, he even rubs the fact that he had Gai fooled right to front of his face to treat the viewers Gai being actually angered, breaking his calm smug facade.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I really liked how this episode turns the reins over to the Humagears, and Izu specifically. Yua’s back in her Kamen Rider Secretary role, and Fuwa’s randomly exposing all of his inner traumas to a captive terrorist, so there’s really no one else to fix this problem for Aruto. Izu immediately steps up and marshalls the friendly Humagears of the last two dozen episodes to both study and solve the problem of Metal Cluster Hopper. (Which, boy does this approach make Aruto look even more careless and reckless! His plan was mostly just staring at his Driver and hoping this time he didn’t lose control and attack people. Give full ownership of the company to the Humagears!) It’s the Humagears working together to counterbalance Ark’s nihilism with their own faith. It’s them reminding Aruto of the need to see people as more than just victims or villains, but as sources of strength and reserves of decency.

Izu's solution to the MetalCluster problem izu also taking Gai's cruel view of it and turning it on its head. Gai considered the locusts he based the key on, and grasshoppers in general, as vile creatures that devour their own and crops en masse. Izu solved the problem by gathering her own "swarm" of positive Humagear Data to overwhelm the dark, misanthropic beliefs of Gai and the Ark, choosing to believe in humanity's innate goodness along with the other Humagears Aruto saved and cared for. Other than that this also display Izu's briliance that, like Aruto said, he can't get anywhere without her. Though for Gai's credit, at the beginning he was able to fend off his own creation (Ark) by using a finisher that is collected by the abilities he stole, though that symbolizes how he's a parasite who only grows by stealing the powers of the more talented people around him.