Kamen Rider Zi-O, Episode 01: "Kingdom"

[Toku Prime]

Why yes, my visor is shaped like Shocker's eagle logo.
​

This week: our protagonist has some very strange ideas about the morality of dictatorships, I get very confused about the timeline with regards to Kamen Rider Build, Another Build seemingly rampages for an entire year, and Geiz gets the cooler henshin sequence IMO.

Also, our female lead is named after the Shinto moon goddess. If you've seen Faiz and know it's titular hero's big secret, it may seem rather appropriate that she has the Faiz Phone X.


Jokes aside, I thought this first episode was OK. I'm not blown away just yet. But then again, the shows with great first episodes (like Decade or Wizard) tend to disappoint in the end. so maybe that's not a bad thing?

 

[Dr Kain]

I watched the first episode again and I thought it was even worse the second time around.

I think I figured out what it was though that really ruins the show for me. Zi-O already knows he is the main character of the show and that he is utterly invincible because of it. That means no matter what happens, he knows nothing bad will ever happen to him, which means there is nothing the writers could do to make the show have any sort of excitement since he knows who he is.

 

[SamuraiEchidna]

Hmm...
It starts with a foretelling of an evil Rider that will bring about a bad end in the future, cut to present to see a soon-to-be hero that is mostly useless, and we end with said hero getting his powers even though they are mostly useless right now.
...Nope! Don't see any similarities to anything what so ever.

But in all seriousness, this episode is kind of a mixed bag for me...
I won't say it's negative, but an otherwise intriguing episode is lessed by Sougo himself. Why does he want to be a king? Where did he get the grand idea of making that his path in life? I really hope this show will apply some logic in the following episodes and give us some explanation other than "just cause, lol."
Tsukuyomi also needs a bit more development. It'd be one thing if she was about to kill Sougo but found some kind of hopeful potential in him at the last second, but no. She decides to give him a chance from the get-go. And why? Shouldn't she be just as angry as Geiz? Shouldn't she be in a hurry to fix the future as well? They've both seen how bad it can get.

However, unlike other shows I've seen recently, I feel like I get the gist of the show from just one episode. I don't NEED to see the next episode, or a few after that, unless we get those character developments I was talking about. Zi-O will go around saving people who have become evil monster-versions of old Riders, Tsukuyomi will keep giving him a chance and try to help him along the heroic path, Geiz will reluctantly fight beside him but will also keep an eye out in case Zi-O turns evil after all, insert some time traveling to meet previous Riders and gain power ups, and that will be the status quo for a while.

Also, since someone asked me in an unrelated topic, I think the CGI was perfectly fine. It's as good as a low budget show could possible give us.

 

[Dr Kain]

Tsukuyomi - "You're going to become an evil overlord, so let me help you with that."

 

[Black Fang]

I got the impression that Tsukuyomi is trying to keep Sougo from becoming Oma Zi-O without killing him like Geiz wants to. The Time Jackers seem invested in wanting Oma Zi-O to exist so they create the Kaijin Riders to give Souma a motivation to fight and be a superhero.

To Kain's point, at some time the transition from hero to overlord occurs. That's the "bad thing that will happen to him". Seeing him go from some harmless nerd with visions of grandeur to this Zuckerberg/Bill Gates with superpowers.

 

[Dr Kain]

So I just learned that apparently, in order to get important information regarding Kamen Rider Zi-O, you have to watch some stupid ass webisodes because Toei was too damn lazy to actually put it into the actual episodes since it would take away from their gimmick. -_- You know what, #fuckkamenriderzio

 

[Hangyakuno]

So I just learned that apparently, in order to get important information regarding Kamen Rider Zi-O, you have to watch some stupid ass webisodes because Toei was too damn lazy to actually put it into the actual episodes since it would take away from their gimmick. -_- You know what, #fuckkamenriderzio

Is the meaning behind their name really that important?

 

[Dr Kain]

Is the meaning behind their name really that important?

I have no idea, but the show's director has said you need to watch them if you are watching the series. That to me screams laziness.

 

[Hangyakuno]

I have no idea, but the show's director has said you need to watch them if you are watching the series. That to me screams laziness.

It is just actor/actrees playing around with their character behind the scene which more fitted as bonus for movies or bluray pack. Its information is interesting but really trivial matter. Rather than lazy, it is more like they push it so hard that make it weird to show right now.

 

[Toku Prime]

So, Woz gives Sougo his Driver, and I guess also planted the Ride Watch on him in the first place. But he only does so become he comes from a future where Sougo has become Zi-O. Are we starting off with a bootstrap paradox, or will it turn out that Sougo is a red herring and Oma Zi-O will turn out to have be someone else ("Another Zi-O"?) all along?

I'm still confused about the Build timeline presented here. I mean, I get that they likely wouldn't care much for continuity for the older shows, but it's rare to see them completely stack it for the most recent season.

Tsukuyomi - "You're going to become an evil overlord, so let me help you with that."

I think the idea was that she wanted to dissuade him from becoming Zi-O in a non-lethal way, whereas Geiz just goes full Terminator. But the way Sougo goes on to become Zi-O while spouting lines about it being his destiny seems like it should push her to align with Geiz rather than him. I dunno, hopefully they iron it all out in episode two.

So I just learned that apparently, in order to get important information regarding Kamen Rider Zi-O, you have to watch some stupid ass webisodes because Toei was too damn lazy to actually put it into the actual episodes since it would take away from their gimmick. -_- You know what, #fuckkamenriderzio

I think the "important information" is just marketing hype to get people in Japan to subscribe to Toei's Tokusatsu Fanclub streaming service, which is where they're being released. Judging by the first one, they're just three minute long comedy sketches quickly recorded on set.