[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

And that's what I feel is the slight ignorance that this statement produces. If only because I didn't know Takahashi wrote Decade, the only Rider series so far to have a cliffhanger ending.

Listen, dislike how Ex-Aid and Zero-One ended all you want, they ended. I get it, True Ending seems like a confusing title, but it really isn't when you think about it. It's just a post-series chapter like a post-game extra story in a video game. And don't try and point towards the Eden cameo in the credits for Zero-One's final episode. That is not on the level of "We're starting a fight and now our Secondary is aiming a gun at our Protagonist's head to end the episode before we cut to a trailer full of fake scenes that advertises itself as the conclusion" that Decade did. They had a story arc they started in Episode 42 that ended in Episode 45.

For me, Johnny Makishimа's frequent appearances in the show justify the name "True Ending." We know he's a villain and he did his share of villainy in the show, but he wasn't punished. For a kids' show, that's enough to give the show an unfinished feel. With Zero One, yes, you can admit that Eden's cameo is forced, but it didn't have to be there. In the end, Geats didn't have a Geats X cameo in the finale, so Takahashi did make some conclusions.
As for Decade, even though I consider it objectively the worst show in the franchise, its ending irritates me less, because:
A) A show without a plot can do without an ending;
B) Tsukasa being beaten up by all Heisei riders and then shot in the head by Diend is quite satisfying to me as a finale. The trailer you mentioned was either cut from my version, or I just didn't remember it.