Kamen Rider Zi-O, Episode Faiz: "Switch On! 2011"

[Toku Prime]

Because of course Kaixa's big return begins with him attempting to murder schoolgirls...
​

This week: some random choices for returning characters from Fourze, but they treated Gentaro's absence about as well as they could really IMO, the new club house is a bit of a let-down compared to a space station (though it makes sense even without the time travel element - the Rabbit Hatch was blown up!), they don't dwell on any images of Yuki but I'm glad they didn't remove her from the KRC group photos after the actress publicly badmouthed them, I see Osugi keeps a photo of his beloved Ms Sonoda in his lockbox (though I'm not sure who signed the baseball?), Another Fourze's opening face is freaky, the Fourze Armour's finisher is as over-the-top as you'd expect from Fourze, I was confused about Another Fourze really being Another Faiz until I remembered that Orphanochs rise from the dead, glad to see that Another Faiz did the hand flick, and Takumi did the most fabulous hairflip for his reveal at the end there!

Also, the kid who becomes Another Fourze in 2011 is apparently played by the same actor who played "Crow" in Garo Makai no Hana. I never would have guessed if I hadn't been told!

 

[Hangyakuno]

Now how they will excuse scene where Sougo give ridewatch to Gentarou, they must atleast give him some face up then.
Or may be they can make Gentaro take it from his student.

Well Crow are not that memorable character anyway, given his hair was changed too and he is just victim/monster of the week here.

 

[raden238]

This was another good episode. I enjoyed the details that went into this Fourze tribute. Pics of the Kamen Rider Club, Osugi still harping on Ms. Sonoda. Having a stunt double actor for Gentaro is about as good as they could of went with it. Strange they couldn't get Sota Fukushi back, considering he just returned last year for the Heisei Generations movie, (maybe its tight scheduling or other commitments?) I liked Zi-O Fourze Armor, it reminds me of Meteor Cosmic States and that Zi-O Limit Break Rider Rick was awesome.

At first, I didn't like the idea of cramming the two Rider tributes into one arc but this turned out great. The twist of Another Fourze turning into Another Faiz was cool. Karin is definitely an Orphanoch, which explains why Kusaka was after her! Loved this idea of combining the lores of two different Rider shows into one.

 

[Toku Prime]

If there's a silver lining to not having any core characters from a show appearing, it's that I didn't really think about how nonsensical the timeline changes are until after I finished watching the episode.

 

[SamuraiEchidna]

Man, this episode was GREAT!

This is way better than Faiz having an identity crisis, as someone else theorized before the episode came out. And I love the way they are handling it! A stunt double that looks like Gentaro from behind, clips and photos from the show (unless that Zodiarts battle was recreated), using voice clips from the original actor (or a really good sound-alike, I couldn't tell), and then having his lack of appearance be justified behind a good plot while letting other returning Riders have center focus?! This is how you do it! With this one episode, Zi-O just became WAY superior compared to Decade.

And can I just say how awesome it is that we saw timeline altering in real-time? Now we finally understand how it works. Once the watches/Another Riders come into play, history is altered. The Riders cease to exist as we remember them, and so do their monsters and every threat they ever faced, leaving only Another Rider. And even when Zi-O takes the Ride Watches, history is still altered. A confusing start for how this time altering stuff works, but it's finally beginning to make sense.

And I even enjoyed the .5 special with that bit of trivia about Shotaro Ishinomori and how it relates to Sougo's name. I love behind the scenes trivia like that. Now if only we could get an explanation for why Sougo wants to be a king. That's still gone completely unexplained, and it bothers the heck out of me, but not enough to ruin this experience.

 

[Hangyakuno]

Still wondered though, they never explain why even Geiz and Tsukuyomi didn't know about Faiz when they are using gadget with Faiz theme. Like they are still hiding another easter egg for the plot.