I'm Keeping My Expectations Low For Kamen Rider Zi-O?

This just in -- Tokusatsu News Network has now presented the very thing that me and some Kamen Rider fans (though I'm more of the casual fan towards it) have been waiting for. So what's going on? It's time to reveal the plot and the writer-producer tandem after the rumor that I reacted to some time ago.

First, I could talk about the plot details:

In the fall of 2018, a time machine appears before a hero born in the year 2000. The hero has always dreamed of becoming a king. A mysterious girl appears from the time machine, telling the hero “I come from the year 2068, a world without hope where the king of demons reigns supreme.” The girl has come from the future in a desperate effort to change her own time. The girl then gives the hero an ominous warning “You will become Kamen Rider Zi-O, King of Time, the demon destined to rule the world.” Can this really be the hero’s fate? This is the story of a Kamen Rider who would be king, who will fight to save the past, present, and future, encountering the various Heisei Kamen Riders throughout space-time.

Here's a bit of my thoughts. It's a very creative idea where a Kamen Rider travels across time and meets the various Heisei era Kamen Riders. It's sort of a merging of Kamen Rider Den-O and Kamen Rider Decade. He's trying to fight his fate. He seems destined to be the tyrant of the year 2068 of his continuity. It looks like a battle against his fate and I like the idea.

On the other hand, learning that the writer-producer tandem is Shinichiro Shirakura and Kento Shimoyama leaves me with keeping expectations low. If there's anything you've got to think about innovation -- the 4Ds are definition, discovery, development and demonstration which has it thinking this way. You need to define, discover, develop and yet you also need to show why the product works. Brilliant ideas are important then so is implementation. I was thinking about why I'm critical towards the idea of Shirakura and Shimoyama.

Do I really hate Shirakura as a producer? I was thinking of him being responsible for some shows that I like or are considered fan favorites such as Kamen Rider Agito, Kamen Rider Faiz, Kamen Rider Blade and Kamen Rider Den-O -- all the while he's also been responsible for what I'd call the Kamen Rider Decade Meltdown. Not to mention, he was also the one responsible for the production of the Super Hero Taisen series for some time. It's a brilliant idea -- all the while I think it should have been sent to Japanese video game companies instead because the idea is TOO HUGE for an hour and a half or two hour film, right? I'm just glad that he decided to pull the plug since I ended up disliking almost all of them -- plus, I still hate that first film without hesitation! So maybe, I can give him a chance. TBH, I think Amazons was a brilliant spin-off though I'm still more of a fan of the mainstream Kamen Rider than the spin-off itself. I'm pretty much a mixed bag over this guy. 

Another is Shimoyama as the head writer. He's the head writer of Ninninger -- a series that I don't get too fond of on its own while I'm currently "praising it" (for every dumb reason available and I have really little valid reason to do so such as the more attractive ladies in it) because well, Ninja Steel is just OH SO AWFUL cringe-worthy and not sharp enough to make the cut. Am I willing to give him another chance? I hope that he improves in his writing. I admit, I ended up flipping my stance on Zyuohger (and ended up rewatching Gokaiger after I didn't it too good for my own taste) which had Junko Komura as the head writer -- yet she managed to improve at a huge scale as the head writer of Lupinranger vs. Patranger IMHO. Still, it's best to keep expectations low for me. Besides, I've kept expectations low for myself (and people have the right to do so with me) considering I've got a bunch of Old Shames too!

Right now, I'm excited to see the concept come to life. On the other hand, I'm also critical about the choice for producer and writer. I mean, both work together to help create a good story. On the other hand, Shirakura tends to be hit or miss myself and Shimoyama -- maybe I can give him another chance! I haven't found either which to be as awful as Jonathan Tzachor and Bruce Kalish -- though I've already shrugged over Shoji "Patrick Star" Yonemura several times in a row! So I'll just sit back and wait before I make any further comment. Meanwhile, just don't expect me to do some episode reviews every week or two, if they happen -- just expect them to be pretty minimal with pictures and see them in the same format as I'm doing some of my K-Drama posts.