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08-30-2020, 04:10 AM | #11 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2018
Posts: 210
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Quote:
But I was even more weirded out with regards to Izu. Like, think about it for a second... Aruto lost someone he loved, and he's like... purposefully replacing her with someone that looks and sounds just like her, and choosing to give her the same name? It's not even like this is in respect of the Izu he lost, but he actually implies that with time and teaching her all the quirks the old one had, it will make her the same Izu as before. That's creepy! How is that any different from that one guy who made that humagear look like his dead daughter!
I figured its because of all sorts of laws and regulations surrounding a living person's identity that would be troublesome if a Humagear takes over. Rebuilding Izu is not an issue. |
08-30-2020, 04:26 AM | #12 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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Quote:
You are allowed to rebuilt destroyed Humagears, but you are not allowed to create a Humagear in the likeness of a deceased person.
I figured its because of all sorts of laws and regulations surrounding a living person's identity that would be troublesome if a Humagear takes over. Rebuilding Izu is not an issue. Last edited by FreshToku; 08-30-2020 at 09:00 AM.. |
08-30-2020, 07:01 AM | #13 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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This finale was definitely sold to us the wrong way. Oomori's exact words were まったく違います, and yet you'd have to squint pretty hard to look at this conclusion and yet not see all the bits that seem strikingly familiar. But that's not really a problem, is it? I'm not going to hold overly audacious statements from producers against this ending. The real question is simply whether or not it worked for the story being told. It mostly does? I'm honestly struggling to even organize my thoughts, because there's a lot this episode throws out there, and a lot I'm not sure how I feel about. The core of it, Horobi and Aruto's big fight, was the part I probably felt the best about -- mostly. The fight itself starts out okay and rapidly gets better, culminating in a very memorable sequence with Rising Hopper that, once again, could only be brought to you by Sugihara's insanely kinetic direction. Thematically, Horobi and Aruto working out their violent impulses and ultimately realizing that moving on from their grief is the only real way forward, I love all that too. Where it starts getting slightly murky is that the conclusion Aruto reaches wasn't generated internally, and I'm never going to be the biggest fan of that choice, even if I can appreciate what the show was trying to do by bringing his dad back into the picture for the climax. It's something you can argue both for, and against, very easily. It certainly wasn't wrong of the show, with what it was always about, to have a HumaGear be the one giving a human the final lesson about what it means to have a heart. Plus, even if using the base forms in the final battle is something of a tradition at this point, I'm never going to be sad about seeing Rising Hopper again. Although I also chuckled a bit when Aruto's Driver printed out another Driver. It's way more logical than a Joker thing where he just suddenly has a real belt would've been, but the visual of it -- a belt that makes belts -- in the show with way too many belts? Strangely appropriate imagery for the finale! Beyond that, it's mostly a lot of little points I can't tie together easily, so allow me to pay tribute to most of my posts from back on that other Yuuya Takahashi Rider show, and break out the bullet points: - Fuwa, Yua, and Gai all sitting in a room is also simultaneously a point for and against the episode. It's slightly embarrassing for those characters, even with Vulcan getting his big scene last week, and their plan to bring Jin back doesn't seem to end up making any difference to the final battle. On the other hand, I enjoy how committed it was to keeping the focus squarely on Aruto and Horobi, so it didn't end up bothering me too much. - The time skip after Aruto and Horobi's fight leaves a couple things to the imagination I wish weren't. It's never shown how exactly the mass HumaGear rioting resolved itself, and while this episode is stretched for space as is, a quick cheesy scene of everyone seeing the big proxy human/HumaGear showdown end with the combatants reconciling and then standing down themselves might've really added to the emotional impact. - The places they find for the cast in the epilogue are about as solid as can be. Fuwa doing his gorilla thing with a car door is easily the best scene in the entire episode, but Gai with his loyal legion of robo-pups in his pathetic non-office only continues the confusion I feel towards his character, and Yua and Naki seem to end up at AIMS entirely because the show wasn't totally sure what to do with them. Who are they planning to be fighting against, even? Are Magia still an occasional problem? I know that pointless tease of a new guy is still a problem, at least! I'm sure he'll prove to be an exciting enough character... wherever he shows up next. Not exactly the best use of the runtime in a cramped episode to be setting up new plot threads, though. - I love that the show didn't undercut the weight of Izu's death and the meaning it had by outright bringing her back, but Aruto's ethically sketchy workaround means Wizard still did this kind of conclusion the best. And for people who don't like Wizard, it's also not as good as OOO, which it's a lot closer to in spirit. I can see what the show is going for with Aruto's decision, but it really just feels too weird and creepy to come off as the heartwarming new beginning for the duo it's clearly meant to. -- That's about it for the episode, which is a bit of a mixed bag, leaning more towards good than bad at the when it comes down to it. The series as a whole, then, is... well, exactly that. This show was definitely sold to us the wrong way. Was this the grand start to a bold new era of Kamen Rider? Absolutely not. Comparing it to what Kuuga did back in 2000, or even what the original did in 1971, to that kind of innovation and freshness, holy s*** Zero-One is just going to get slaughtered in that fight. And there's just no way I want that for it, because it's never, ever been a bad show in its own right. As far as I'm concerned, this was the 21st Heisei Rider series. The country may have moved on, but this franchise has had a formula that's been working for about a decade, and I don't blame them for not radically changing it in an instant. Even removing that high burden of expectations from Zero-One, of course, it's been a show with a lot of problems. There's been a lot of speculation as to what things might or might not have been were it not for the unexpected production issues in the back half, but frankly, I think the idea that was the root of any problems in the final arc is nothing short of a fairy tale. As a fan of this show, I can tell you without hesitation it has had problems with things with pacing and structure for a very long time, and I don't think five extra episodes would've helped all that much at the end of the day. It's a series that has had some notable lows. There have been character turns and plot points that either feel sudden when they happen, or not explored enough after. Fight scenes that, while pretty, feel like an obligation with unclear justification in the story for how they play out. Storylines that overstayed their welcome for far too long, and other ones that could've stood to stick around a while longer. It's not a perfect show, but for all those faults, it's also had some insanely notable highs. The bits that didn't feel sudden, the fights that fit perfectly, and the plotlines that nailed what they set out to accomplish. I think a lot of the uneven nature of Zero-One can be attributed to both having a huge cast of characters who all need to be transforming, as well as the rather complex themes its story was often trying to tackle. Both of those can either be positive or negative things. Lots of Riders can be very exciting for the variety and potential it presents, but tricky to balance narratively so that everyone gets things to do that feel important. A show about the rapid advancement of technology, the ethics of artificial intelligence, and the fundamental nature of the human soul similarly presents some very fertile ground for powerful storytelling, but is also a tall order for a children's series that needs to keep it digestible and make plenty of room for pulse-pounding fight scenes. The strengths and weaknesses of Zero-One aren't separate, but intertwined. They're all springing from the same core. The same heart, if you will. And that heart, at the end of it, for all the complaining I've done over this past year, is something that resonated with me more often than not. This was a series that delivered on some truly spectacular moments, be they excellent emotional beats, or just action that was on a whole different level from your average toku show. It had a cast of characters I loved seeing each week, with Vulcan being destined to go down as one of the most popular secondary Riders, and Aruto destined to be one of my personal favorite Rider protagonists. All the stuff about the show I didn't like, I think I've more or less made my peace with it already. It will always be unfortunate thinking about the potential Zero-One could've had, but the potential it realized, maybe that's enough, you know? It's been a crazy ride these past 45 episodes, but not one I'll be looking back on with regret.
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08-30-2020, 07:18 AM | #14 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: Nov 2014
Posts: 1,270
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I wish they went with the Chase route and have Izu stay dead, make it something for Aruto to cling on to and to build a dream dedicated to her.
Anyway with Zero One done, what are my thoughts. Overall I have to say it's...mixed. First off, I never liked Aruto. I thought he was annoying and really grating to listen to, on top of the fact he didn't really have a stand out personality, other the typical shonen hero that's always doing the right like it was a preprogrammed setting. Fuwa was my personal favourite character, started off as abrasive & cold, but then later on started to develop into a loyal ally and hero, and I was annoyed he got screwed over the course of the show when he's a far more interesting character than Aruto. Gai I never saw as someone as pure evil that I hated, mostly because I didn't really care for much of the characters in the show he messed with. He's no bad Micchy, who I despised during the course of the show since he backstabbed everyone and was a little shit. Plus the whole robo dog thing was just out of nowhere wished it more elaborated on and hinted at a good side to him. The plot is not easy to make a proper assumption on due to the pandemic screwing the schedule up. The first arc was really good, it sets up the scenario and world, with this mystery continuing on through this arc which culminated in a great two part conclusion, it was a shame that was the best it got for me. The workplace arc needs no introduction, everyone hated it, felt like useless filler. the later arcs shifted away from it, but I felt It was lacking something. It's like all this set up but the pay off was weak. The last "Ark" was good, only IMO didn't stick the landing, as it had a Deus Ex Machina just magically fix everything and it's all sunshine and roses again. It had a great premise and I thought it was going to be the "ending never done before", but the last 2 eps felt like a studio executive told the writer to make a happy ending, it felt kind of disjointed. So that's that's my thoughts on the show, and I hope Saber might give me something I'm looking for. Last edited by IndigoArms; 08-30-2020 at 07:26 AM.. |
08-30-2020, 07:33 AM | #15 |
NinninComic
Join Date: Oct 2017
Posts: 745
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Izu staying dead was impossible in such a universe with a concept like humagears.
Technically she is still dead. Aruto will never have the same Izu anymore. The best he can do is create a new humagear from a scratch with her face and teach her the same way. He could have avoided doing that. sure. But that would have been weird and a bit stupid (or at least "off theme") considering the whole series humagears kept on being destroyed and remade. sometimes with memories intact, sometimes no (I remember the sushi chef humagear who wanted to learn everything again from a scratch). |
08-30-2020, 07:37 AM | #16 |
Dai Shogun
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 7,526
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Very disappointed with this. It was great until 16 minutes in, then they just decided to make it the most cookie cutout Rider ending you could possible come up with. Aruto is just president, no consequences to the Ark-One thing at all, Jin is back, everyone stays Kamen Rider and is happy, and the worst offender: A new Izu. Fuck. Off. What bullshit. Nothing was learned from this final stretch of episodes, nothing. It might as well never have happened at all.
Oh, and Azu? New Ark guy? Hey, guess what! Watch a movie to see how this one ends! How about no? Zero-One was fine, it really was. The late production, as unfortunate as the show being impacted by you-know-what was, shaped up to be a fantastic and unique ending to it. What a shame they didn't pull through with it. They had all the pieces, but in the end lacked the guts to make it happen. Just to be clear: I don’t want a "dark" ending. It’s not like I want to see everyone being miserable. But Aruto just going back to daily president life like nothing happened? Absolute no-go. Same with the new Izu. I can buy Metsubojinrai.net serving as guardians, Yua introducing Naki into A.I.M.S. was fine too, Gai has a puppy squad (yay?), but everything else? Vulcan I didn’t even mention, mostly because he does nothing noteworthy at all. *Sigh*... what an absolute shame. No other way to put it. They had me in the first half, and then forever lost me with the second. |
08-30-2020, 08:59 AM | #17 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2017
Posts: 159
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Heres hoping they do a set of "lost episodes" were we see what would have been if they didn't have any delays. Shame they botched it with zero one; I liked some aspects but they needed to really apply some more common sense.
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08-30-2020, 09:12 AM | #18 |
Unironically IXAcises
Join Date: Mar 2020
Location: Trapped in that booth where Misora purified FullBottles
Posts: 49
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First time I've ever watched a Rider series from start to finish while it was airing, and I mostly liked it. The same goes for this ending too, it was mostly nice but I do have a couple issues with it.
I love that the final conflict was resolved by both parties putting down their weapons and stopping the fight. And all the Riders' endings suit them, I think. Like, I never even considered Naki joining AIMS, but even that fits with their character. As for the negatives... Jin's resurrection didn't really do much in regards to stopping the fight. Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't think Horobi even knew he was back. And Izu's resurrection was... just kinda creepy. Like, Aruto builds this whole new HumaGear for the sole purpose of molding her into a carbon copy of his dead best friend. I guess I'm glad she'll be back to appear in any crossovers that come up, but to be honest, I would've rather had some cheap out-of-nowhere resurrection of the original Izu. The cliffhanger with Kamen Rider Eden, undoubtedly to be resolved in a movie, was something I didn't like at all. There's gotta be some other, better way they could've used that minute of screentime. Lastly... It's just always been weird to think of Jin as Horobi's son. But those are just minor things in the end, and I still see this as a good finale for a good series. I've got no doubt that I'll look back on this as one of my top five Kamen Rider series. |
08-30-2020, 09:22 AM | #19 |
Dai Shogun
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Germany
Posts: 7,526
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Quote:
And Izu's resurrection was... just kinda creepy. Like, Aruto builds this whole new HumaGear for the sole purpose of molding her into a carbon copy of his dead best friend. I guess I'm glad she'll be back to appear in any crossovers that come up, but to be honest, I would've rather had some cheap out-of-nowhere resurrection of the original Izu.
"Who are you?" "The presidential aide. Every president requires one." And as he hesitates, wants to send it out because of fear and grief, he accepts this turn of fate to have a new HumaGear that can learn from him and that he can share his life with. That would’ve been ok. Building a copy of your dead friend to give into your trauma really isn't. But yes, Izu needs to be back for future movies/crossovers yada yada so of course they brought her back… I'm currently evidently butthurt but yes - I loved watching Zero-One. It was very good; I doubt the ending will have a lasting negative impact on me. |
08-30-2020, 09:41 AM | #20 |
Alias: ZeroEnchiladas
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 2,571
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I do feel like people are focusing on "The ending is nothing like what has been seen before" part of the message and not the "This ending will reflect how the Reiwa era moves forward"
And that's the idea of Heart, how it takes a good Heart to help others, an ugly Heart to cause destruction and hurt. And how it's not about the powers that make a Kamen Rider but the Heart. And I thought that was like a nice little theme they did. Overall still enjoyed the finale despite some of it's questionable decisions. Keeping Azu and Malice around does make sense, both from a marketing and just, normal perspective. It's something that can't really be taken care of so easily, and I think that's why they emphasized so much on Aruto vs Horobi, this was their finale, their way to get past their grief and grow. We can have our world ending threat some other time with Eden, but for now, I'm glad they decided to push for a more personal sort of ending. |
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