Kamen Rider Zi-O was built up as a big thing for me. After I had finished Build I asked what season I should watch next, one of the options being Zi-O. It was heavily advised khổng lồ me that I should watch as much Heisei Kamen Rider as I can before watching Zi-O. Và I took that to lớn heart. After 19 seasons, here I am with the 20th in the Heisei era.
Zi-O is Heisei's second attempt at a big anniversary season that wraps up all the past riders. From callbacks lớn insert themes khổng lồ including movie exclusive riders, this season tries its hardest with the 49-episode life span to lớn be a final swan song for the era. How did they do as both an anniversary, & as a normal show? Well..., we'll get to lớn that. Spoilers ahead for the season, & for all of Heisei era just in case. Strap in, this will be a long read. (Disclaimer, the rest of the reviews made for Kamen Rider are on that respective subreddit.)
Story:
The story for this season follows our main rider being harassed by people from the future over something he hadn't yet done. Sougo Tokiwa wants lớn be king. He gets told that he becomes a demon king in the future. He takes the news fairly well & decides on being a good demon king. It's an interesting premise, having the main anh hùng being the larger threat in the story, while still opposing it. We've had seasons in the past where the main rider turns into a monster, or is one from the start & we find out later, but here we have a potential version of the main rider being this evil king, và so they set out to lớn make most of that come true, but khổng lồ be a good king instead.
The pacing is alright for the most part. It tries khổng lồ be serialized following the two-episode act structure of most seasons, with a few three-part stories here và there. Almost every season gets two episodes to pay respects to lớn the season they are referencing, with a few exceptions that I will get into later. Unlike another season, Zi-O makes sure khổng lồ continue telling their own story and still remembers lớn develop the cast. While they will have two episode tributes lớn past seasons, they will also use those episodes to lớn help develop one or two of our main characters, while also providing closure on old seasons. It also helps that they leave a few gaps between the past rider episodes khổng lồ provide more development & upgrades khổng lồ our characters, introducing future riders to lớn push the plot.
I bởi vì have an issue with the pacing of one of the arcs, which I will bring up later when talking about tributes to lớn past seasons.
Riders:
Sougo Tokiwa/Zi-O- Sougo is an alright main rider. He's got a goal in mind and wants to see it through khổng lồ the end. He's a boy that wants to be king, even if it means we'd be called a demon for it. Through his own character, he convinces others to trust him with their rider powers. It felt lượt thích he at least earned his power-ups so they don't come out of nowhere. He's a fine character, but I wouldn't put him in my đứng đầu 5 for main riders.
Geiz Myokoin/Geiz- Geiz is a pretty cool character. He's headstrong, & a little reckless. He starts out hating Sougo at first but then learns to mellow out as the episodes go on, learning lớn trust Sougo and later Woz. His eventual friendship and bromance with Sougo is sweet, và I'm glad it was built up over time. This guy loves to grab guys by the collar, it's kind of hot.
Woz/Woz- Before watching Zi-O, all I knew about this guy was the rejoice meme. Now that I know him, I love him. He reminds me of George from Revice. He's fun, got a lot of energy khổng lồ him, and is quite loveable. Although, there is one part about him that I can't forgive. He spoils the episodes as they start when I try so hard to lớn avoid the previews.
Supporting characters:
Tsukuyomi- She's a mixed bag. At first, Tsukuyomi is alright. She's better than most rider girls in Heisei và does an alright job. But, around the time of Zi-O II, she và Geiz had a shift. While he came more trusting, she seemed to lớn be less so of Sougo. There was a twist reveal of her character that surprised no one, and she barely did anything as a rider for those 1 1/10 episodes, so I didn't count her.
Junichiro Tokiwa- This man. This man right here. This man is worthy of being King. He và Sougo had some of the best emotional moments together that I have seen in Toku, he fixed the Denliner like it was nothing, he's a great cook, provides good advice và outlooks on life, and is just a great supporting cast member. If the Time Jackers were smart, they would have gone after him. Or maybe they didn't because they feared him.
Tsukasa Kadoya- Introduced working with the Time Jackers, Tsukasa still holds his màn chơi of charm lớn him. It's clear he is after something và is only with them for his own reasons. He's been updated with a new driver to lớn turn into phase 2 riders. He appears in the Decade vs Zi-O special, but I am told not lớn watch it.
Daiki Kaito- He's the same as he was in Decade. A common thief looking for the world's treasures, và will bởi vì whatever khổng lồ get it. He doesn't show up a lot in Zi-O but appears when the plot is starting lớn move along near the over game of the show.
trắng Woz- Much lượt thích with the Decade cast, white Woz is a phối of being a supporting character, & an antagonistic one. He does actually help the main riders in the end, so I'd put him in this camp. He was interesting at first, being an 'evil' Woz with the power to move the future, but he didn't use it to lớn its fullest và lost his rider powers lớn our Woz. He disappeared for a while, và then came back again, helped the riders, và then disappeared, all in service lớn his savior, Geiz.
Future Riders:
As well as having past riders, this season also included some future ones for Woz khổng lồ get power-ups from, as well as phối up the storytelling. For the little screen time they are given, the same two episodes as the others, they did a good job at making them feel like their own characters.
Rentaro Kagura/Shinobi- While the weakest in terms of roundedness in the main series, there is a spin-off all about Rentaro which needs its own review. In the show, he's pretty cool. He's the standard nhân vật with ideals of Justice, but it was great that his present self was the Another Rider.
Mondo Douan/Quiz- Mondo is the second most rounded out of the trio. He was brought from the future to lớn meet his estranged father to learn if he truly loved his mother. He has a touching moment with them before losing his powers, but it was still cool. He has an interesting design và gimmick, being a super-powered quiz host.
Rento Makina/Kikai- Rento is a robot in a dystopian future where robots và humans are against each other with the former winning. He looks after the children và fights against his nature as a machine. He's probably the most rounded character out of the three future riders. His interactions with Sougo felt genuine, and his suit was pretty cool.
Villains:
Unlike a different season, this one actually has its own villains, the Time Jackers, and the Another Riders. The Another Riders are exactly as they sound, another version of past & future riders in the Heisei era. Monsterous versions of main riders that try to take the place of the original. They have cool designs lớn them, and their powers relate khổng lồ the rider they are based on.
The Time Jackers are the active main threat that goes around the timeline making them. They bởi so in tìm kiếm of a new king, one khổng lồ replace Oma Zi-O, or so we, và most of them are told.
Heure- Heure was the most active of the Time Jackers. He was childish và impulsive. He was the most memorable out of the three. He's also the first to lớn die.
Ora- Ora is the Medusa of the season. Subdued, mostly level-headed, and the least interesting of the group. She's the second to die and does so in the most boring way. Kicked in the face. At least Heure was stabbed in the chest, she wasn't even rider kicked.
Swartz- Swartz is the typical last man standing that betrays everyone và has goals beyond originally thought. He at least had a plan that made sense given the show & was around since the introduction so he's got more presence than the previous season's final villains. But, seeing how Zi-O came after Build, he was competing against Evolt. Not an easy fight.
I also want to bring up Oma Zi-O the demon king. From the way he's phối up, you'd assume he'd be the final fight, except he's not. He's there, but ironically, he's one of Sougo's biggest supporters, telling him what khổng lồ do, and giving him some help later in the season. He's less a villain và more a red herring that happens khổng lồ be antagonistic.
Music:
The music in this series is pretty good. I had already heard the main opening
Suits:
The suits this season were pretty cool. I lượt thích how they all stick with the motif of watches to go with the theme of time.
Zi-O- Based on a clockwork watch. Being the main rider, Zi-O gets most of the suits, starting out with his base size before gaining the rider watches of the recent riders. He gains more over time, but they don't get used due lớn having a power-up stronger than the armour forms. Zi-O II is a pretty cool form, & how he gets it is rather interesting. Twinity size grew on me, but it was alright and it lead khổng lồ some decent development with our three riders. Grand Zi-O is a mixed bag for me. It reminds me of Balde King form with the gold armour & engravens of what he gets his power from, i.e. The riders. I'd prefer if they were grooved plates over statues.
Geiz- Based on a digital watch. Being the secondary rider, he doesn't get many power-ups in the main season. He was the one lớn use a good amount of rider watches though, being the holder for Drive và Ghost and then getting Faiz and Genm. Revive is a cool idea. Kind of like a better version of Rabbit
Rabbit và Tank
Tank from Build. Two forms, but he's able lớn change them on the fly, switching between strength & speed. It's brought up how it takes a toll on him, but it's not brought up again after that.
Woz- Based on a smartwatch. The fact that he got a final form is amazing. First, I lượt thích how his power-ups come from future riders, however, that limits him to 4 including the final form, but mostly uses Shinobi & Ginga. Ginga is an alright final khung for him, with a cool design và interesting powerset. My problem with it however is how he obtained it, which I'll get into later.
Action:
The kích hoạt this season is pretty cool. Although I think what brings down the speed of the kích hoạt is how bulky some of the suits are. Besides that, they make good use of the various abilities of the characters, mostly related khổng lồ time like seeing the future or stopping time. The characters have moments of being smart where they use those abilities khổng lồ counter past enemies. However, despite having some impressive bike kích hoạt in the early episodes, they heavily decrease the amount of it in the show khổng lồ the point that they just forget. They did have mech action which I'm hit & miss on in Kamen Rider using giant robots as time machines.
How they handled tributes:
From easter eggs lớn cameos, I'd say this season enjoyed going into Rider past from Kuuga to lớn Build lớn bring in as much as they can to lớn really make this an event. I love the small nods like the phone guns being designed around Faiz, or the Time Jackers machines being based on Captain Ghostie và Castle Doran.
Kuuga: Borderline none existant. At most we get the Kuuga suit giving the thumbs up in the movie, with Geiz graverobbing the powers from the coffin, and the big bad in the movie turning into a CGI quái thú version of Kuuga.
Agito: Arguably one of the best tribute arcs. Shoichi returns & actually helps develop one of our cast with their experiences with identity, they use Kino's suit for the Another Rider, & we get a whole squad of G3 which is as useful as a whole squad of G3, & the return of Believe yourself over the action.
Ryuki: Ryuki actually gets two types of tributes, one I'll talk about in a bit. The other focuses on Shinji's life after his paper went under, & how his reflection became Ryuga. It's an interesting arc because it led khổng lồ Zi-O II, và it was great to lớn see Shinji and his quái dị together again.
Faiz: Faiz has its tribute arc as part of the Fourze one. Takumi is back and still can't have anything hot. Masato is also back, which doesn't make sense to me as the last time I saw him he had a pain in the neck và was being used to lớn grit the snow.
Blade: Obviously my favourite season from phase 1 gets one of the best tribute episodes. We got khổng lồ see Hajima và Amane again, showing how their father-daughter relationship grew over the years and what happened before Kanzaki comes in and we're almost faced with the kết thúc of the world before both are turned into humans, & can now lead normal lives.
Hibiki: They took an interesting approach khổng lồ it, which is very much lượt thích Hibiki. Todoraki is back & has grown since Hibiki, now being more independent. It was also cool khổng lồ see Kiryu's actor come back.
Kabuto: Worms are back, & with them comes the Hell brothers, which finally gives me closure on what happened to lớn them at the over of Kabuto. Gattack is back, and now he is worthy of being Kabuto. Also, we get a cool moment with the opening starting lượt thích Kabuto's before turning it Zi-O's.
Den-O: Den-O gets two tributes because of course it does. They got a brief one in the movie, but then a proper arc in the show. The Taros are themselves, and we get to lớn see Yuuto's actor again. It felt less lượt thích a tribute to lớn Den-O, & more lượt thích the backdrop khổng lồ Grand Zi-O's debut.
Kiva: This one hurts me. We got to see Jirou again, which was great, but no one else. It also hurt that this arc felt cramped as it also had Ginga, và Woz getting his final form, which had nothing to vì with Another Kiva or the user. It felt tacked on.
Decade: We got Decade and Diend as recurring characters in the show, so as opposed to lớn an arc, we got them for the run.
W: Again, nonexistent outside of a ramen shop in a movie. We do get a cameo from Eternal from the W movie appearing against Aqua which was cool.
OOO: We got to lớn see Ejji & Hina again. Ejji is still a good guy as ever, but now a politician. He helps show our main rider what a real king is like. Also, I want to give a shout-out lớn Aqua who appears later in the show và still holds the lessons that Ejji taught him in the movie.
Fourze: We didn't get lớn see Gentaro and the rest of the team, but we did get a cameo from the Rider club with two guys from the mega max movie, & of course the best character, Chuta Ohsugi in all of his greatness.
Wizard: We got a tease of Haruto in the episode prior, but we didn't get him. We did get Nitto, which is still cool. But if he doesn't remember he's a rider, và he has his driver, doesn't that mean he's slowly starving lớn death because he forgets lớn eat energy.
Gaim: This one felt a little meh. We got khổng lồ see Kouta holding down a job, as well as past Kaito showing why he's in charge of Baron, but the arc focused more on space Jesus sending Zi-O back in time to help himself.
Drive: This one only barely got a tribute in the show. We didn't get any returning actors at first. We got Roidmude 108/108 as Another Drive & a satisfying beatdown, but when the timelines were crossing, we got to lớn see Machine Chaser, và Chase again.
Ghost: It was cool that we got khổng lồ see Spectre, even just for a little bit. Takeru is still as much of a cinnamon roll as usual.
Ex-Aid: Following Build as the second tribute arc, this felt like it was most in theme with Ex-Aid, & keeps the same spirit of Emu doing what he can for his patients.
Build: This was the first season to get a tribute arc, which makes sense since it was the season before Zi-O. It was awesome to see Sento and Banjo again, and made some sense seeing how by the over of their season it was just those two, so I guess this happens before the new world movies.
Rider Time Ryuki:
Zi-O had a brief mini-series that connected khổng lồ the show, this one focused on Ryuki. It told the story of there being another, shorter rider battle. Zi-O seemed khổng lồ be following the movie's ending while Rider Time follows the show's. My interpretation is that both events happened as Woz knows about Ryuga, but Ren remembers Shinji dying, but because of the Time Jacker stuff, the two timelines crossed. I treat this like a movie and break down my thoughts.
It was great khổng lồ see some returning faces. A lot of them have aged well.
I didn't think I'd see Kamen Rider Raia being so bloodthirsty.
So did Miyuki & Jun have sex because they were both Asakura victims?
I like the extra detail that even if time was reset, Kitaoka would have still died lớn his illness, so Goro is the one lớn take up being Zoldo.
Seeing Shinji and Ren together is awesome after all these years.
Ryuga still looks cool.
The Zi-O parts feel tacked on, and the reason for the fight feels forced.
The way Zi-O wins feels lượt thích an asspull.
I love the joke of Eri being at the hospital, only for her lớn be a doctor, not a patient this time.
Asakura is still a mad man as ever.
Most of these riders are just here lớn job.
Compared lớn Decade:
Decade was an overcomplicated mess that lacked its own story or focus. In 31 episodes it couldn't tell an easy-to-follow story và needed a movie and 2/3 of another to fill in the blanks, and even then it left us with too many unanswered questions. In contrast, Zi-O had an idea of what it wanted lớn be. It told a consistent story with a limited cast while also having cameos from past characters to help develop the cast, & show off what makes them great.
Kamen Rider Heisei Generations FOREVER:
This is the last of the Heisei Generations movies. I haven't talked about them much in the past, but I have my own thoughts about them. Usually, with movies, I lượt thích to save them for their own bigger đánh giá to go over the whole thing in detail, so for review like this, I bullet point my thoughts in order to get to lớn the point.
They did Kuuga and W dirty. Despite this movie being the tribute movie for Kuuga and W (and Den-O, separate issue there), but the most we get as tribute around them is a stone coffin, & a ramen cửa hàng guy that someone had lớn point out to lớn me.
This movie is deemed non-canon, but because of the contradictions, và the use of time travel & Imagin magic, I like to believe this movie did still happen, but most of the events happened differently so Zi-O still got the two Rider Watches.
This movie was actually really fun.
I loved seeing what would happen if a rider tín đồ brought the rider reality into their own.
It was great khổng lồ see familiar faces from Build và Zi-O, even the side cast like Grease and Rogue, even if just briefly.
This movie felt lượt thích a love letter to lớn Kamen Rider. While we didn't get to lớn see face cameos, we did get to see & hear suited riders from all trăng tròn seasons fighting their heart out against such a large threat.
Ending:
If you've read my đánh giá of Ryuki and saw my thoughts on the show's final ending, you can probably predict how I feel, and what I'm about to lớn say. But before that.
The final arc feels like a finale. Everything is coming together, the worlds & timelines are crossing, landmarks và enemies are appearing all over, và our heroes' options are running low. Swartz is the last man standing with the power of Decade & the watches are broken. Their plan khổng lồ stop him is ruined by Tsukuyomi becoming a rider, and joining him, even if she has a plan. I'm not counting her as one of the riders because she did nothing in the show as one.
Everything is turning worse. However, thanks to lớn a certain Uncle who should be a King, the watches are repaired và Grand Zi-O returns. However, not enough and Geiz và Tsukuyomi die. Sougo turns into Oma Zi-O & easily defeats Swartz and...resets the timeline.
Yep, it's back to 2018 at the start of the season but now Geiz, Tsukuyomi, Heure, and Ora are in Sougo's time & have no memory of what happened, with the only person that seems lớn remember being Woz. I hate this ending. I am typing this with a calm face, but I am livid. I hate rug sweep endings. They basically erased everything they did, making the past 49 episodes and movie pointless. Because now, Zenzaki và Hajima are still Jokers, Shinji doesn't seek out Editor-in-Cheif or get closure with Ren, and Kiriya doesn't inherit the title of Hibiki. Everything good thing that our heroes did is now wiped from existence because of this. If he has absolute nguồn over time, why not just rewrite their deaths, & save them, the good still happens, your friends would live, and you get to lớn be King.
But what if there was another ending? One with a different outcome, where our characters are put on a different path. One that doesn't make me regret watching it.
Over Quartzer:
So much like the other alternative endings, it doesn't clear up every loose over of the show, so there are no Time Jackers, no Decade or Diend, and no Tsukuyomi as a rider. We do get, a better tribute lớn Drive, a new suit, and a way better ending. I won't give it a full reviews here, but you probably get the point.
It was awesome lớn see Krim & Go, as well as get some backstory for his family. I didn't know he was Dutch.
Seriously, what is it with Kamen Rider and Nobunaga? This is like his 5th appearance. Although, I prefer the other versions. Even the one that was just a hoodie.
The first half of the film feels a little disconnected with the Krim stuff before going into the big conflict, but I get what they were trying to lớn do, especially with the sentiment of living someone's present while you're in another's past.
They do bring up Swartz and his actions in the past, but somewhat retcon it with Barlckxs using Zi-O as a stand-in. Maybe off-screen we see Barlckxs kill Swartz as the others because they'd probably get in the way.
Woz dies...except not really.
Through the encouragement of his demon king future self, we get Oma Zi-O but less evil looking.
Everyone in Heisei is here, Kuuga to lớn Build, G lớn Kuuga manga version, even the parody Kamen Rider.
Heisei Rider Kick
They don't reset the timeline ruining the season.
Issues/Nitpicks/Rants:
Now, I was going to actually make this section be full of time travel issues because I've already ranted about the larger issues I have with Zi-O. But then while watching Over Quartzer Woz said this when Geiz asked him about certain plotholes/points "The answer's not written in any book. Truly, truth is stranger than fiction." So if they don't care lớn question it, why should I?.
Final thoughts:
As the final entry in the Heisei era of Kamen Rider, I can tell a fair amount of love went into making this a final goodbye to lớn the era. The show's ending is a bit of a letdown because of everything that was built up, & I'm bummed we never got a 20 rider vs Oma final battle, but the movie made up for it. The main riders are okay, the supporting cast is up to par with most seasons, & a lot of the tributes were well handled.
So that was Zi-O the last of the Heisei era, and the last full modern Kamen Rider series to lớn watch as I don't want to try again with Saber just yet. As teased in the Decade review, I'm going to begin writing up a ranking for all đôi mươi seasons based on my opinions of them. Until then, let me know what you thought about Zi-O. Thank you for reading.
Over the past trăng tròn years the Kamen Riders have battled against the likes of the Grongi, Unknown, Fangire, Orphnoch, Greeed & so many more. They"ve been doctors, demon hunters, wizards và detectives. Some have journeyed through the decade and travelled through time, while others hail from parallel universes. But eventually all things come to lớn an end, and as the curtain closes on the Heisei era a new one is about khổng lồ begin. But before welcoming the Reiwa era with Kamen Rider Zero-One, Toei celebrated the longest consecutively-running period in Rider history with Kamen Rider Zi-O. As the 20th and final Heisei series Zi-O pays tribute to lớn everything from Kamen Rider Kuuga all the way up khổng lồ Kamen Rider Build, with plenty of guest stars & surprise developments to lớn see the era off in style.
In the year 2018 Sougo Tokiwa is just a high school student who dreams of becoming a king. But fifty years into the future he will become Ohma Zi-O – the demon ruler of time who has harnessed the nguồn of all Kamen Riders. When resistance fighters Tsukuyomi và Geiz Myokoin travel into the past attempting lớn prevent this apocalyptic future, Sougo is determined lớn become a benevolent ruler và prove his destiny isn"t mix in stone.As a group known as the Time Jackers unleash monstrous "Another Riders" across time in an attempt to lớn alter the history of the Heisei Riders, Sougo battles to save the time space continuum as Kamen Rider Zi-O. Aided by Tsukuyomi and Geiz as well as his future retainer Woz, Sougo meets the Riders of the past – gathering their powers while also creating a new future without the threat of Ohma Zi-O.
The mantle of an anniversary series comes with certain expectations, và when said anniversary is the swan tuy nhiên to a whole era there’s a lot of pressure to bởi vì something big. And Kamen Rider Zi-O is a series not afraid lớn dream big. Right from the get go it offers a time travelling plot line, bringing back past Riders as the events of their shows became entangled in Zi-O’s own story. But it wasn’t plain sailing from the start, & tackling time travel always presents problems. Initially Zi-O proved divisive as it played fast and loose with Rider continuity, while at the same time setting rather strict rules its own story had to lớn play by. Issues lượt thích how the Another Riders come into existence và how they"re destroyed had explanations, others such as why Sento Kiryu in a world without Kamen Rider Build would still be Sento Kiryu did not. As enjoyable as Zi-O could be, it said a lot that its plot holes were often the butt of jokes in comedic “.5” webisodes. These early teething problems are no fault of the cast though, who all settle into their roles quickly and develop nicely over the course of the series. So Okuno brings a youthful charm khổng lồ Sougo, brilliantly painting him as heroic và optimistic, firm in his dream no matter how delusional it seems. These qualities make him the perfect for both interacting with & leaving an impression on others, as well as leaving the viewer curious khổng lồ see just how this boy could ever become the ruthless Ohma Zi-O. Sougo has the perfect foil in the stubborn & battle-hardened Geiz, & although Gaku Oshida’s portrayal can be (understandably given the context) irritating in his obstinance, Geiz’s growing trust in Sougo over the course of the series is among its stronger character moments. Tsukuyomi (played by Shieri Ohata) on the other hand is disappointingly short changed in how active her role is, though later plot revelations vì try to make up for this. Finally there’s Woz, who strikes a fine line between comedy & moral ambiguity in his fanaticism of his overlord. Not to mention Keisuke Watanabe playing two different versions of him came completely out of left-field, & he does a fine job of it too.Unfortunately the same high praise can’t be said of the villains. Not that any of them are especially bad by any means, more that plot seems content to keep them shrouded in mystery. Despite boasting some really strong appearances the over-looming presence of Ohma Zi-O remains more of a threat than a promise, so rarely does it feel lượt thích the Sougo we follow could become this tyrant. Similarly the Time Jackers are a constant presence yet their motivation & background is barely a footnote, until the story sheds some light on just one of them at the very end. It’s not that they’re bad characters, more that after several years of engaging and/or multi-layered villains they just seem very one-note.
However when Zi-O finally lets go of all the rules it initially imposed upon itself, it becomes a cleverer and far more enjoyable series. The introduction of a series of “Future” Riders hailing from an altered timeline is an unexpected move for something which logically should be preoccupied with celebrating the past, but it offered the chance for a different kind of guest star as well as a reminder that Kamen Rider should always be looking toward the future. While Kamen Riders Shinobi, Quiz & Kikai will never get their own series, it’s fun lớn speculate on what they could have been as we inch closer lớn the beginning of Zero-One.The fact this change roughly times with Tsukasa Kadoya"s arrival as a reoccurring cast member as opposed to a one-off guest can"t be a coincidence. Lượt thích Zi-O, Kamen Rider Decade also tried to go big with its ideas on how khổng lồ celebrate an anniversary – perhaps even more so as it attempted to bởi it with alternate universe Riders rather than the real deal. But while it"s generally agreed that Decade"s story failed to lớn live up to lớn its promises, it still manages lớn stand out thanks khổng lồ the strength of its cast & the sheer spectacle of its more memorable moments. At this point it feels like Zi-O tries to follow a similar path, as issues like past Riders being erased by the creation of Another Rider or the cost of Geiz using his Revive size are either hand waved away or just outright forgotten. Bigger things like just who the hell Kamen Rider Ginga is don’t even matter. Rider continuity is brought into question once again with the late trò chơi revelation that each series takes place in its own world, which in itself highlights how much of a frustrating mess Zi-O is if you sit down and try khổng lồ think about it too hard. But sit back, just accept what you see on screen và the show becomes a non-stop thrill ride that wastes no opportunity to celebrate the Heisei era in a variety of interesting ways.
Whereas in the first half merging the Fourze và Faiz episodes khổng lồ make a funny little number pun was about as clever as the tributes got (depending on how you feel about an OOO tribute essentially being turned into the Kuroto Dan show that is), the second half takes a deep dive into each shows’ respective histories khổng lồ make them truly exciting for fans. Both Blade và Hibiki get continuations that either redeem past mistakes or offer closure, while the Kabuto arc finally gives Arata Kagami the moment he"s always deserved. Meanwhile the Agito arc presents a neat spin on the Another Rider concept, & the loud out loud fun of the Imagin returning in the Den-O episodes is just further evidence as khổng lồ why that show got so many sequels & spin-offs. Many of these tributes come complete with the shows" original insert music to make them feel all the more complete.Then of course there"s the cameos. With the exception of Kuuga there is representation from all 19 of the previous Heisei series, some much more significant than others (Fourze & Kiva fans should also prepare for disappointment). In many of the cases where the lead character was unavailable the show does its best to lớn bring back someone that will resonate with the fandom, & as it approaches its endgame these cameos become all the more unexpected & exciting. No one truly expected lớn see Kamen Rider Aqua from Movie Wars Megamax again, let alone in a multi-part story arc that would see him face off against Kamen Rider Eternal. It might not be quite on something like Gokaiger"s cấp độ when it comes khổng lồ scale, but when địa chỉ cửa hàng up the numbers and it certainly isn"t that far off. But once again leading this charge is Tsukasa, with Masahiro Inoue completely stealing the show lượt thích he never left the franchise. Whether you love it or loathe it there"s no denying that Kamen Rider Decade was a troubled production, so it"s amazing lớn have him (along with Daiki Kaito/Kamen Rider Diend) back to continue their story. Of course in traditional Decade fashion his appearance & new powers raise all sorts of questions, none of which are likely lớn ever be answered. But Decade somehow manages to be that one area in the franchise where it never really matters, & that"s all down to just how good Inoue is in the role.
The visual side of things also live up lớn the expectations of an anniversary series, with plenty of older suits (some in better condition that others) being brought out of the Toei store cupboard for a range of varied & exciting action scenes. The base suits for Zi-O, Geiz and Woz are all wonderfully designed with their different watch aesthetic and unique "Rider" eye pieces, with subsequent upgrades taking them all in different directions. Kamen Rider gaudiness reaches a new cấp độ with Grand Zi-O – covered head khổng lồ toe in gold busts of each Heisei Rider along with a nearly two-minute belt jingle encompassing all of their individual sounds. Though they never get through all 19 in the show itself the Ride Armours are another really fun concept, and lượt thích how the shows themselves have evolved over the years the designs vary from restrained khổng lồ outright ridiculous. The way the kiến thiết team were able lớn take pieces of older suits & repurpose them into four unique-looking "future" Riders just highlights the cấp độ of ingenuity the thiết kế team had working on this show. But when it comes khổng lồ design alone the real winners of the series are of course the Another Riders. The Ayakashi Diend from Decade"s Shinkenger crossover was far too good of an idea to only use once, so Zi-O bringing it back to lớn produce quái thú equivalents khổng lồ every Heisei Rider as well as the new future Riders really is a delight. As well as the sheer level of detail that went into each suit they all have their own individual quirks, many of which pervert those of the original Riders in subtle ways. The Another Riders are so good that it’s not only hard to lớn pick a favourite, but also lớn pick a least favourite.
Though it may often struggle with the logistics và consistency of its lofty story, Kamen Rider Zi-O is a highly enjoyable series that excels where it truly counts – as a true celebration of the Heisei era. With only a few omissions to speak of nearly every series from the past đôi mươi years is properly celebrated in some way – be it through guest appearances, clever call backs or even continuations that build upon established continuity. A true love for all things Kamen Rider shines throughout the show, và because of that even in its weaker moments it"s hard not watch with a huge grin on your face. As the last time fans may see some of these characters in any significant capacity, Kamen Rider Zi-O is a goodbye worth savouring.
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Alexsaid...
I really struggle khổng lồ pick because so many of the later stage ones were so good. If I had to lớn pick one I'd probably say Blade, but the Agito, Hibiki và Kabuto ones were all incredible as well.
29 August 2019 at 15:16GWolfsaid...
I won't lie I found this to be a mostly quite bad series. Not the worst buuuuut...the first half felt like the tributes didn't work but Zi-Os plot did, then the series did a backflip. Và there's SO many dropped plot points or fudged issues or just awful character writing. What even was Ginga? Or the dai mazines? Or Geiz's relevance past ep 28? What was Tsukuyomi's point? What about the original plan at the kết thúc played out the way 48 suggested it would?
The Blade, Agito, Hibiki, Den-O and Kabuto run was fun. But only when they focused on references. The second they turned back lớn their own really actually good plot idea, they kicked the ball away after dropping it.It can be said that it did act as a tribute series but unlike most of those this tried to lớn have it's own internal story and ngắn gọn xúc tích and themes...which it didn't succeed at. When the chip core premise is that no matter what's going on our series is heading towards the protagonist becoming a monster & it never makes a solid connection between those two characters...that's a major flaw.I enjoyed Decade way more in this than his own show, và Ohma Zi-O is unambigously great. Woz is also fun but forgettable bar the gimmick. But I'd say these are the worst Heisei villains. With a really bad plot
I didn't like it và am real glad to move onto Zero One, I won't lie.Also I would say easi
chengkengsaid...
I Actually lượt thích the series, i find it interesting, however most of the previous actor didn't really have time to lớn shine. They should let decade and diend use more of the new cards..... But it's ok. I rank the series 4.5 out of 5
11 September 2019 at 11:15Lucassaid...
At least the creators of Zi-O actually bothered khổng lồ bring back veteran actors of the franchise và feature them in tribute episodes instead of "n
Ew Po
We
Rz".
Jacobsaid...
I enjoyed the show as a whole.The cast, minus the villains, were exceptionally fun.The suits were amazing. I liked the henshin clocks & poses a lot.The music, while a bit not to lớn my liking in its repetitiveness, was amazing as well (Over Quartzer & Zi-O King Of Time are awesome bops).And the story itself never seemed khổng lồ take itself too seriously, và was pretty good for a time travel story.Overall, Zi-O is a good show, and is a great sendoff to lớn an era, in my opinion.
2 December 2019 at 15:09Stephen Cassatsaid...
I really enjoyed Kabuto's arc along with Hibiki. (They finally made Kyosuke Kiryia likeable)
15 December 2019 at 10:18JIKUU BEST MATCHsaid...
I rate this series 3/10 & many fans will agree with me. Kiểm tra TV-Nihon website lớn find out. How can you say Zi-O is good?? Geiz barely got any character development, Kiva arc was fucking garbage và ep 41-49 was just a mess.
14 January 2020 at 16:16Ang Peng Howsaid...
Thanks for your review. I really enjoyed this show despite its flaws as I saw the good and bad moments within this series when I watched it.A ranking post is an interesting idea, if you'd like to know how I rank for all trăng tròn Heisei-era Kamen Rider shows I've seen in my opinion:1) W2) Agito3) Kabuto 4) Drive5) Ex-Aid6) Den-O 7) Zi-O8) Wizard 9) Gaim10) OOO11) Kiva12) Kuuga 13) Ryuki14) Build15) 55516) Decade17) Blade18) Fourze19) Hibiki20) Ghost
31 March 2020 at 02:08Stephen Cassatsaid...
I honestly loved Zi-O. Sougo was so infectious with his goofy charm, Geiz was a great Secondary Rider, Woz (I have no words, he practically ran the show), và Tsukuyomi were both good additions. Favorite Arcs: 1. Kabuto 2. Blade 3. Hibiki 4. Drive 5. Future Riders
Overall, I don't care if people say it's bad. I honestly believe that the writers were having a blast with this series and were just wanting the audience lớn have fun. I know I certainly did.
Stephen Cassatsaid...
I honestly limed the unconventional message Zi-O gave us: Embrace your destiny to lớn change it.
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