Kamen Rider Zero-One Discussion Thread

Who won which round? I'm way behind.

Ah! Okay! I hope Hiden wins Round 5. Thouser's the current Kamen Rider Douchebag.

Anyone got a head to toe shot of Zero-One in that base form before the avatars attach to him? The Wikia site had it. But it's gone.

I just watched episode 29. After the revelation that the AIMS Riders have AI chips implanted in their brains to interface with the Shotriser, Gai explains that Isamu's chip contains Naki's AI, aiding him in using the Ark-produced Assault Wolf key in conjunction with his incredible strength and durability. This was foreshadowed by Jin when he told Isamu that "Naki is closer than you think." These chips allowed Gai to brainwash them remotely and through Isamu's connection to the Ark, Metsuboujinrai could brainwash him as well to distribute the Raidrisers and facilitate Horobi's escape. Unfortunately for Gai, who continues to be a terrible person, he underestimates Isamu just as he did Aruto. Isamu broke his control and became Vulcan Rampage Gatling to wipe the floor with Thouzer and Jackal Raider.

This is finally the end of the tedious competition arc with ZAIA's victory over Hiden. The 4 episodes where Aruto won the lawyer and fireman rounds could've been skipped if only they had taken a break from the competition like they did with episode 23-25 to introduce Metal Cluster Hopper and progress Isamu's arc. However, I have to give credit to Takahashi for using this arc as a transition between the shutdown of Metsuboujinrai and Gai's acquisition of Hiden. His previous season, Kamen Rider EX-Aid, kind of just jumped from Genm X's death to the Kamen Rider Chronicle arc which made it feel more like EX-Aid Season 2 than a natural continuation of the season. So I'm glad he at least tried this time to make Kamen Rider Zero One feel like a whole season.

Vulcan Rampage Gatling's debut was awesome! I didn't think much of it before seeing it in action since asymmetrical forms generally don't appeal to me, but the scene with the Rider Models attaching to him one at a time to form his suit while he approached Jackal Raider intimidatingly, that sold me on it. Its utility of the various Progrise Keys' abilities had a very Best Match kind of style with Vulcan using them in triads based on power, speed and elements. His finisher reminds me of Hyper Kabuto's Maximum Hyper Cyclone with Vulcan using Falcon's wing to stabilize himself before firing the shot. It was a great character moment for Isamu as well, with him breaking the control just like the lock of a Progrise Key through determination and reminding everybody that Kamen Rider Vulcan follows his own rules and relies not just on anger but his own sense of identity.

Gai is an intelligent president but lacks wisdom. He keeps making new keys for his enemies that are way stronger than Thouzer and of course they keep backfiring on him. He's lucky to have gotten this far and I look forward to seeing him take a serious beating from the alliance of riders who justifiably hate him. Yua insists that she's working for Gai willingly, so I'm curious what her reason could be.

The rift in Metsuboujinrai that I predicted back in the Dodo arc is happening now, with father and son clashing over their directives. Horobi serves the Ark unconditionally and Jin has his own ideas about liberating HumaGears. Even though Horobi's doing it for the wrong reasons, it's a good thing that he saved Isamu. How ironic that Jin's declaration that he doesn't care about exterminating humanity involves attempted murder of a human under Horobi's protection. With their clash and Yua still being loyal to Gai, it may take some time before they can get their alliance to remove Gai from the president's seat. And what then, with the Ark still wanting the genocide of humanity? Gai isn't the only threat. I presume that Aruto needs Jin's hax0r abilities to authorize the Zero One Driver since he's no longer president but will it be through Zea, which is now under Gai's control, or the Ark, which is dangerous to control?

I watched Reiwa: First Generation. It was probably the best movie of Kamen Rider in years. At least, from the Taisen type of movies. I know, the premise is the same from Let's go, Kamen Rider, and the Kamen Rider 3 movie: bad guys change the past, to a dystopian present, where the bad guys rule, but it was better executed. Gosh, I'm glad the writer of Zero One (and Ex-Aid) wrote this one, and not the writer of Zi-O, former writer of (wrragh! I almost puke) Ninninger. He seems to care about the characters, even the Zi-O ones. I found Sougo, and the rest of the cast, more compelling than the TV series. This would be the beginning of a new Decade syndrome (CrossRanger_tm), like Decade was hated in the moment of airing, but with late apparitions, he became fan-favorite. I liked Sougo in this: more mature, insightful. Not an idiot, like in the TV. Like a real character! I would say, the lack of guests and former Riders, probably was for the best. It focused in Aruto, and his "father", Soreo. I like the movie completed more the idea of "humans and HumaGears coexisting together" and "HumaGears have dreams too", like Soreo.
Which it leads me to the episode 30: Aruto, trying to rebuild the HumaGears, while making a new company. It reminds me of Tony Stark, when he lost his company, after the Onslaught saga, his "death" and the Heores Reborn BS, he came back, only to find his company, Stark Enterprises fused a Japanes company, Fujikawa, so he created Stark Solutions, for a while.
Episodes 31 and 32 are good too, with Humagears, showing the capacity of create its own dreams, and this resolve Naki's dilemma. The only low point is Gai: he is still an idiot, who is still get beaten every single episode. I sincerely hope they'll gain some power up, because right now, it's just laughable. And next week, another Rider could beat him up. So, go Yua! It's your turn to beat Gai/Thouser! LOL.
I love this series. I hope it ends better than Ex-Aid. It have better sci-fi, and ethical dilemmas, than remind me "Do robots dream of electric sheep?" from Phillip K. Dick, the basis of Blade Runner, and good episodes of Star Trek TNG. Hell, I consider Zero-One better than Star Trek Picard, talking about ethical dilemmas and A.I., and synthetics. That thing is a piece of sh17.

Glad to see Raiden back as Ikazuchi and wearing a new cooler outfit than his orange space jumpsuit. If Naki's going to get a body soon, I hope she* can still become a Rider like the other members of Metsuboujinrai.

*The actor/actress said they want us to determine the character's gender, which means we can safely use any pronoun we want. This reminds me a lot of Spectre (the French spelling unlike Kamen Rider Specter) from Black Ops 3 whose bio mentions that nobody knows their gender due to always wearing a helmet and using a voice changer and encourages players to decide. Spectre is also a synonym for ghost, which fits with Naki's death motif. I wonder if one of the staff behind Zero One was a fan of Black Ops 3.

Arkzero's Driver looks like a remodified Zero One Driver. Maybe it was created using the data collected on Shining Assault and Metal Cluster Hopper since both of those forms have interfaced with the Ark. As for the host, it could be Horobi, who has the strongest connection to the Ark, or Gai, who we still don't fully understand yet. It would be totally ironic if the self-proclaimed pioneer of humanity ended up being used as a weapon for destroying humanity.

This arc is interesting since with Metsuboujinrai taking a more passive role in the events and Gai only attacking HumaGears, it means that there's no danger to human civilians. It really emphasizes the moral that HumaGear lives are no different from humans with Aruto fighting to protect their dreams. Maybe it's cause I'm rewatching Faiz right now but Naki's line "I want to have a dream. But for now, I'll protect HumaGears' dreams." reminded me of Takumi.

There's also some meta humor with Gai realizing just how completely pointless the competition was since Aruto is still authorized as Zero One and HumaGears are gradually regaining their popularity. He even admits that Delmo walking the catwalk would invalidate everything about his decision to shutdown HumaGears. His true colors are starting to show on the outside now. He talks about the good of humanity but it's all just a lie to cover up his megalomania.

On the topic of Faiz, I checked the Wiki page for Sakuragi Nachi, Gai's actor, and it's actually his favorite season. He even used Kusaka as inspiration for Gai.

^ Maybe Naki, but yeah I think that Horobi is more likely right now. If it's Gai, he would still gain a new upgrade but he would also become a puppet for the Ark like how it controlled Aruto. Hatred strengthens their connection to the Ark as shown when HumaGears retaliate to abuse and when Aruto couldn't prevent the death of Bingo. Currently, Gai hates everybody. If he connects to the Ark, possibly as an alternative to Zea, it would probably dominate him using the programmed he gave it. I think Gai has too much faith in his infallibility to give himself an upgrade, especially due to the limitation of his Driver. Learning allows HumaGears to become better at their jobs but it's the same for humans. That's why Aruto, AIMS and Metsuboujinrai (even Horobi who hasn't got an upgrade) keep getting better while Gai is no stronger than he was at his debut, assisted only by the animal modules he copied. Not sure if he can even count higher than 1000.

I agree that it's cool how Naki's gender is officially left open to viewer interpretation, unlike all those female-voiced male characters and vice versa from Ryusoulger, Ninninjer and Gaim. Unfortunately, you called it, the Naki gender flame wars have already started. Even in a scenario where everybody is right, some people just want to prove themselves more right.

It's the same for Bugsters who reproduce asexually, they're functionally androgynous but we still identify Parad as a guy and Poppy as a girl since they have those masculine and feminine characteristics. In the past, there was no distinction between sexual traits and gender but now gender is seen as something more intrinsic and defined by the self. With HumaGears, that sense of identity is important for their progress towards singularity. If they all looked the same and were assigned unspecialized jobs, they would never experience that. There's a symbiosis between them and humans who teach them. By making them more human, they were made independent, like receiving fire from the gods symbolically.