[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

And of course, the return of our favorite Destroyer of Worlds whose always to blame for everything, (Onore) Decade, Tsukasa Kadoya! While he doesn't do much here, I like how his upgrade is simply "now he can use all the Heisei Riders," though funny enough, I wouldn't have minded seeing Tsukasa have a Jikuu Driver, or new belt. I don't know, maybe it's because I find it fun to see a returning character use the new season's gimmicks, which is seen in recent Ultra Seasons, but I'm happy to see this jerk back at it again.

The thing I like best about Tsukasa retaining the Decadriver, but it being Neo -slash- a new DX toy you can buy, is that it makes it seem like he's had another ten years of adventures. I like thinking about Tsukasa going to the World of Drive and immediately undercutting the mystery of the week by just saying I've Got The Gist Of It and blurting out the solution. I like thinking about Kaitou and Tsukasa running some dumb scam on Sento and Banjou in the World of Build, before Tsukasa inevitably gives a speech decrying the loss of humanity during wartime.

Just... I like the implication that he's had a journey, you know? The story of Decade continued.

[AkibaSilver]

When did we last see Tsukasa before this, anyway? World of Wizard?

[Androzani84]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

When did we last see Tsukasa before this, anyway? World of Wizard?

In person? Kamen Rider Taisen. In terms of suit? Chou Super Hero Taisen.

[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

memes

Ah! That reminds me! This is slightly outside my particular area of Rider meme study, so I don't really know why this is the case, but apparently Makoto saying "Fu! Ha! Takeru, why aren't you transforming!?" became a very memorable thing from episode 14, for some reason. I think it might be because of how comically abrupt an introduction that line is for Makoto into the story, and/or because the closed captions specifically included him going "Fu! Ha!", but again, I can't say that with any authority!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The thing I like best about Tsukasa retaining the Decadriver, but it being Neo -slash- a new DX toy you can buy, is that it makes it seem like he's had another ten years of adventures.

Yeah, this was apparently the thinking with beefy Rider #1 back in his movie with Ghost, too, and in both cases, I like the idea of deliberately leaving that implication that things happen to these characters even when we're not seeing them. Plus, in Decade's particular case, he's defying the purpose of his own series again by having the powers of 20 Riders despite being named after the number 10, and that utter disregard for logic and rules is so very, very Decade.

[Switchblade]

You know, if we get some kind of anniversary for the 10th year of Reiwa Rider, I'm going to be really bummed if Zi-O doesn't show up and get a Reisaber, ideally from a Saber character.

[Daikaijuman54]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Ah! That reminds me! This is slightly outside my particular area of Rider meme study, so I don't really know why this is the case, but apparently Makoto saying "Fu! Ha! Takeru, why aren't you transforming!?" became a very memorable thing from episode 14, for some reason. I think it might be because of how comically abrupt an introduction that line is for Makoto into the story, and/or because the closed captions specifically included him going "Fu! Ha!", but again, I can't say that with any authority!

I don't remember that line. But when you say "Fu! Ha!" All I think about is that guy from Black Clover.

Quote:

Yeah, this was apparently the thinking with beefy Rider #1 back in his movie with Ghost, too, and in both cases, I like the idea of deliberately leaving that implication that things happen to these characters even when we're not seeing them. Plus, in Decade's particular case, he's defying the purpose of his own series again by having the powers of 20 Riders despite being named after the number 10, and that utter disregard for logic and rules is so very, very Decade.

I agree! I love this detail. I didn't give it too much thought when I initially watched this, but I can perfectly imagine this.

Also, agree with Die on some of these outrageous scenarios of AR Heisei Phase 2 worlds. I'm now picturing Tsukasa starting out as a street dancer or waiter before, through pure Decade shenanigans, rises the ranks and becomes head of Yggdrasil in AR Gaim world. Or putting AR Shotarou and Phillip out of the job, while Phillip takes interest in him.

[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Plus, in Decade's particular case, he's defying the purpose of his own series again by having the powers of 20 Riders despite being named after the number 10, and that utter disregard for logic and rules is so very, very Decade.

He never said which decade!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

You know, if we get some kind of anniversary for the 10th year of Reiwa Rider, I'm going to be really bummed if Zi-O doesn't show up and get a Reisaber, ideally from a Saber character.

If it's not the Reiwakizashi, I'm burning this whole place down.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

I'm now picturing Tsukasa starting out as a street dancer or waiter before, through pure Decade shenanigans, rises the ranks and becomes head of Yggdrasil in AR Gaim world. Or putting AR Shotarou and Phillip out of the job, while Phillip takes interest in him.

Tsukasa totally learned those sweet Episode 14.5 moves from Kaito in the World of Gaim. It was a clue!

[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 15 - “BACK TO 2068”



Sougo’s optimism was always going to be his Achilles heel.

His entire goal – to be a Good Despot – is one that’s laughably disconnected from the grim history of mankind. Civilization was built by people, and people aren’t always great. Very few countries (if any) have flourished without regrettable-to-inhumane actions, and very few of those countries’ rulers are seen as beacons of morality. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, no matter the amount of caring friends you surround yourself with, or the good intentions you might have. (In fact, there’s another expression, about which path is paved with good intentions…)

It’s also a goal that relies on a willful dismissal of things like evidence and testimony. It’s Sougo hearing people say he’s done something, and countering them with a vow to not do it. He think he’s keeping himself honest by letting people tell him when he’s on the wrong path, but he also disregards their feedback with a smile. He’s not offering much in defense of his growing power and confidence.

Because he doesn’t see that he’s got a problem. Oma Zi-O’s a bad guy, and Sougo just won’t become a bad guy. Sougo believes he’ll find a way to gain all the power and abilities of Oma Zi-O, just as he’s destined to, but he just Won’t Be Evil Somehow. The end. What’s for breakfast?

The stakes of the series can’t ever increase until Sougo directly confronts the claims of the Time Orphans, so we are on a soul-crushing trip to the orange-tinged Misery Fields of 2068, where Sougo can scream at Oma Zi-O, and Oma Zi-O can humiliate Sougo.

As an episode, it’s solid enough. I liked the show setting the big Geiz/Zi-O/Decade/Kasshin fight in the same warehouse as the Build Hazard episodes. There’s a kind of emotional memory to that set, where it just feels like the show is getting bleaker and more serious. It’s a location that strips away the hopeful naivete of youth, and replaces it with terror and consequences.

Beyond that, though, it’s a little one-note? It’s Sougo just screaming No at things a lot, which is both the point of the episode (Sougo’s constant self-deception is making his worst future more likely), and kind of a drag. Sougo needs to hit rock-bottom, emotionally, but he’s starting so so high above that, which means it’s going to take a lot longer than we’d maybe like for him to be in a place to deal with his future.

The part of the episode I liked the best is the recurring entreaty – by friend and foe alike – for Sougo to stop Oma Zi-O once and for all by abandoning his Driver. Just, quit. Beyond being a nicely archetypal Can You Use An Evil Power To Do Good thematic note (real top-line Kamen Rider stuff), I like how obviously wrong it is. Sougo can’t avoid the future by refusing to go there; literally, in this episode. It’s no victory to lay down his sword. Time keeps moving onward, even into a future we don’t particularly look forward to. The solution can’t ever be to deny it exists, nor can it be to stay in the past.

This was a lot of set-up and backstory in the front of the episode (That dumb Time Nonsense dream of Sougo’s! Jesus! I need another Sakurai in my life like I need a hole in my head!), with a very engaging fight scene that took up the middle section, but I’m most interested in where Sougo goes after this. His dilemma is a universal one, even though it's being acted out by a fourth-dimensional warlord in the Misery Fields of the future: How do we grow as people, without becoming someone we despise?

Very interested in what his answer is.



—

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O COMPLEMENTATION PROJECT EPISODE 15.5 - “BE FOREVER COMPLEMENTATION PROJECT (PART ONE)”

I would watch both of those proposed spin-offs, honestly. I know Geiz gets a movie after the show, and I’ve heard enough people on the Figuarts thread mention “Kamen Rider Tsukuyomi” to say that neither option presented here wouldn’t work. These are all fun actors, and I like all of their characters. You wanna hand the show over to Tsukuyomi or Geiz? Be my guest!

But that’s all just a prelude to the big Winter Movie that’s about to open in theaters! With a big SURPRISE! Just like the special surprise this thread will have to celebrate Heisei Generations Forever! You won’t want to miss it!*



*: I mean, you might want to miss it. I don’t know your life! But I think it could be fun for folks.

[FreshToku]

This is the episode that changed everything (everything Zi-O anyway) for me. Up until this point of the show, I had gotten accustomed to the status quo of the show doing these arcs where they reference an older show, Sougo acts like a weirdo, Geiz is wary of Sougo, Woz says the line, rinse and repeat. It was entertaining for the most part, and I don't mean to sound like there wasn't interesting character stuff that happened in those episodes, but for the most part I kinda just don't register any of those events beyond the episode that happened in? But of course, they had to have happened of course. Because a lot of the events in episode 15 only hit because we've spent time watching these characters.

To get one particular nitpick aside, the dream. As far as this episode is concerned, it's the 'explanation' for why Sougo wants to be a king. It's... not really? Why wouldn't he have just assumed it was only a dream? And even if he decided to believe it at face value for whatever reason, it still makes no sense and doesn't go towards explaining anything about the way he acts in episode 1 and so on.

But you know what? That's all in the past! I'm fine with focusing on the present and just the important fact that he has this unshakable goal of wanting to rule the world but be a good guy about it. It's an insane, kinda inherently evil ambition to have, but I'm willing to just believe and accept that Sougo believes in it so strongly that he simply has to try and do his best to accomplish it, no matter what the rest of the world says. And this is the episode where the world really seems set out to punish him for it.

I want to draw special attention to the scene in the middle, where Geiz declares once and for all that he's going to eliminate Zi-O. The framing and the music of the scene, along with that shot of Kamen Rider Geiz slowly walking up towards Sougo, I think it's really good! For the first time, Geiz saying he's going to kill Sougo isn't just part of his schtick, but it feels like this tragic decision because he feels like his hopes that things would turn out okay have been dashed.

Granted, Geiz's cool points here gets kinda dampened by the fact that he's about to get absolutely wrecked by Kasshin, and the conflict shifts from 'oh no geiz is attacking zi-o' to 'oh geiz is gonna get killed'. Oh well!

I'll add that I also really like Decade here acting as the antagonist. I don't really have much attachment to him or his show, but just the fact that he's an iconic Kamen Rider from a previous show, outright calling out Zi-O as being the villain here. Combined with Woz's words about how the tyrannical Oma Zi-O is the Zi-O he knows, it just feels more and more like the universe is out to smite Sougo for his dreams.

Speaking of! I really like Oma Zi-O, by the way? Just right off, his design is absolutely sick. On his own, he's kinda just a generic evil overlord, right? Ruler of the world with overwhelming power and what not, you've probably played an RPG with someone like him in it. But at the same time, that's also all he needs to be, because he's Sougo's future, and I feel like that fact alone gives his story so much more intrigue and dimension than a lot of other similar villains in the franchise. You (or maybe just me!) can't help but be fascinated by everything he says to his past self!

I guess since the very first episode, I've been waiting for the show to dig in to its premise about someone fighting their seemingly inevitable terrible destiny, and this episode really delivered all at once. It's all set-up to part two, but I think I spent that whole week until the next episode waiting in excitement. I hope you'll like the answers you see in the next episode!

But anyway, movie time for now : P Hope Build is still somewhat fresh in your mind because it's crossover time! ...Like, actual proper crossover time instead of what we got in the first two episodes : )

[Enchilada645]

Oh hi Seto Kaiba (I mean Kasshine).

Kasshine's such an interesting entity to bring out at the moment because up until now we've only dealt with Another Riders. So seeing him as a thing that Oma Zi-O just owns is an interesting pace breaker. As is the rest of this episode!

Oma Zi-O and Sougo's confrontation... I can't say much other than a fun fact. Because while I have my own interpretations of Oma Zi-O. I feel he is way more than just big bad evil Overlord for one. We're not far enough in to get why I think that yet. So fun fact time is! You know how he redirects the CGI Bats against Sougo? It's hard to tell, and hell I didn't even tell at first. But Oma Zi-O is playing a violin to do that, Bloody Rose in fact! I only found this out by looking up Bloody Rose on the Rider Wiki!

Anyway, we're continuing with our BGM Swaps where I'll continue to say that the Decade BGM Swap is the best still.

Zero's Legend Episode Previews Corner - EP 16 Preview: