[Shin Henshin]

I just wanna gush a bit about Kamen Rider Outsiders. I'll put some plot points and details behind spoiler bars just in-case anyone hasn't watched as of yet and plans to.

I didn't expect what started as a one-off Father's Day-ish crossover with Genm The Presidents to turn into one of the most intriguing background crossovers I've ever seen KR do.

You can tell it was inspired by superhero films (Specifically and obviously the MCU) with how integrated they're making multiple series. As of the latest episode we've got connections between Ex-Aid, Zero-One, Saber, Revice, Decade, Faiz, Blade, Drive, Den-O, Ryuki and any rider that has dealt with Foundation X.

The story of essentially the ultimate force of good being opposed by a conjured force of evil due to the latter posing a potential threat upon its creation is really interesting to me. Zein is Ark's counterpart. Ark was the epitome of malice and negative emotion while Zein is justice and positive emotion, but if that heroism is left unopposed it could lead to the subjugation and rule over humanity all for the sake of protection. It's a premise KR doesn't touch on much. Last I remember was Daiji's character arc in Revice where losing Kagerou left his just side imbalanced and caused him to make extreme decisions.

The solution to this and the key players involved not only make things interesting, but also either tie up loose ends to previous characters and series, undo some things or give fans things they've been wanting to see for ages. Stuff like Tachibana being the one developing Zein and Yuuto being the user. Or how Zein's powers essentially come from copied Decade cards that he shreds with each use. Blue Bird apparently supporting Tachibana's work and George personally coming to enlist Nico's help since she's taken over Genm Corp as its president post Ex-Aid and they needed Kamen Rider Chronicle's data for Zein's completion. Nico reviving Horobi to function as a Genm Corp enforcer who Ark originally wanted to revive against Zein, only for him to obviously refuse since he's not evil. Foundation X using whatever means necessary to gather the most evil riders they can find to oppose Zein, including reviving Desast, Banno and Brain or trying to recruit Ouja. Even forming a partnership with Smart Brain and the damn Orphenoch King. It's such a wtf series that keeps shocking me every episode with what they do and where they pull from that I hope it continues for as long as it needs to.

Only real downside I have is the wait between episodes. 2 or so months each round is such a painful time frame when they keep bomb-dropping you one after another.