[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE EPISODE 35.5 - “WHAT CREATED METSUBOUJINRAI?”



This was okay?

I’m definitely running out of ways to say that a COVID-era special was clever within its restrictions, while still very obvious in how it was restricted. We are on one small set, with two actors maximum. There’s maybe eight minutes of new footage in this episode. We’re basically reiterating (and occasionally recontextualizing) entire character arcs within a single scene. There’s almost nothing here we didn’t already know, and anything new is going to be expanded upon in future episodes.

But, y’know, I like these actors! Azu alone makes this thing delightful to watch, with her cutie-pie delivery on existential threats an endlessly watchable approach to fleshing out (literally!) the Ark’s presence. Jin finds some fun shades on his I Totally Love Ark You Guys Seriously gray area, with a tease towards his still-unforeseen benefactor (Satellite There, I’d assume) and Jin potentially acting as a double-agent against The Ark. (Plus, I just love how the episode has him saying that Horobi’s lessons changed his life, when you know he means Aruto.) Ikazuchi and Naki get some good drama out of their inability to see how far they’ve come, with a nice application of swaggering braggadocio and humble inquisitiveness, respectively. And Horobi… is also present for this episode.

I don’t know that I care a lot about The Ark’s plans, if I’m being honest. It’s one of those villain schemes where it takes 80% of the series to have any clarity, and by that point I don’t have any time left to get invested. There’s gonna be a villain suit, and a robot uprising (or whatever), and then it’s basically every series endgame ever. The points where I could care about the MetsubouJinrai plot were mostly ages ago (first act, plus some of the last five episodes), and the show opted for dull repetition and catchphrases. There’s a lot in MetsubouJinrai that I care about – easily three-quarters of the roster has my complete and undivided attention – but The Ark itself? Not so much.

Otherwise, yeah, this was a clip show that tried to do some fun stuff with the format… but it was still a clip show.