Yup, this post is guaranteed to contain spoilers so please don't read further unless you're finished watching Kamen Rider Zi-O or you don't mind getting spoiled. The finale arc was pretty much a weird one. So here's my own personal thoughts -- so if you like the ending then I'm fine with it. On the other hand, I do have mixed feelings towards the ending.
For one, I really didn't find the whole final battle with Evolt all that interesting. I guess he was already weakened during the second to the last episode.
So many sacrifices were already done in the process so is it worth all the sacrifices? Evolt is finally destroyed by Kamen Rider Zi-O and a new world is emerging. This one has a lot of weird consequences since merging two parallel worlds would create a world where Evolt never existed. It also has some very hilarious consequences. So did Toei's executives decide to meddle for the nth time considering the number of tragedies that Build already built up for the whole majority of the show's run?
This also affects the existence of Takumi Katsuragi and his present self as Sento Kiryu. Sento arrives in this new world where the Sky Wall incident never happened. The merger starts removing memories of people. People who were supposedly dead come back to life -- Kamen Rider Ryuki style! IMHO, I wish everyone that died in Ryuki stayed DEAD. However, this isn't exactly a bummer like the executive meddling done in Ryuki. Some character development is kept for Sento who still remembers everything -- but none of his friends in the dystopian future he came from would remember him. TBH, I feel like Sento still having his character development is better than what Ryuki did to Shinji towards the finale.
We see newer versions of Gentoku, his father (who's now the current Prime Minister of Japan) and there's a bit of a mention of
Toshiki Inoue Midou Masakuni as the Japanese Foreign Minister though said actor didn't show up. Sawa shows up as a journalist and introduces herself to the new version of Gentoku who wasn't warped by the power of Evolt. Also, Kazumin and his gang are alive and well in this world but as said they have no memories of the events. Miki Momozono ahem Misora Isorugi mistakes Sento to be the other Sento. Her father Soichi now appears as a version of himself that was never used by Evolt. Utsumi appears here as a worker for Nanba Heavy Industries -- though I wonder how that senile old man is doing in this world? I'd assume he's probably still believing in whatever nonsense is in his head. I guess Akira Hamada got his flowers already so there's no sign of his character Mr. Nanba anywhere.
I just feel sorry for Sento -- surely he deserves some reward after sacrificing himself to build a better future. TBH, it feels a bit like Spielban who still has his memories of the whole show even if his victory in the past changed their history -- Ben no longer remembered his time serving the Wahrer Empire and only Spielban, Diana and Helen remembered the events prior to the big revelation of Spielban's finale.
Then it turns out that surprise or not -- the other world Banjo appears! A new version of Banjo appears dating with a new version of the original Banjo's girlfriend. Sento tries to communicate with black-haired Banjo (who didnt have samples of Evolt's DNA) but that version of Banjo doesn't remember him. The other world Banjo appears and they both share their memories. They break the fourth wall when Sento presents what could be Toei's script book -- they review the 49 episodes one by one! Somehow, is it me or is Toei trying to remind children that Tokusatsu is a creative work of fiction? It's really funny how it happens -- yet I feel like the events of this show would be linked to next Sunday. I mean, the preview even shows Zi-O's cast meeting with Sento and Banjo! At least, Sento and Banjo still remember the adventure they had together unlike Shinji and Renn in Kamen Rider Ryuki!
Yes, August 2018 is coming to its end and September 2, 2018 will be the Dawn of Zi-O. I did express my concerns on Kamen Rider Zi-O and
why I'm keeping a low bar on it. I can't help but still think of Shichiro Shirakura -- is it true that he hates Tokusatsu? If so, IMHO he's probably better off producing my idealized and really crazy ideas that shouldn't be taken seriously (or even produced into reality) such as
Shippaiman and
Gohan Heishi. Two why hasn't Toei fired him if it's true that he really hates Tokusatsu? What about Kento Shimoyama becoming its head writer? I think I'll probably still give him a chance even if I don't find myself highly fond of Shuriken Sentai Ninninger (though I did finish it and thought it was just OK but nothing special compared to what I perceive as more fun series such as Kyuranger or this year's Lupinranger vs. Patranger) -- though I admit that I did like him writing the Gavan/Go-Busters episodes in Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters and I thought his Kaizoku Sentai Gokaiger episodes were fairly decent to good. For one, I still think that Shimoyama still does better than Shoji "Patrick Star" Yonemura -- somebody who's taken a seminar in script writing (and I NEVER DID) plus it's too early to tell how Zi-O will turn out.
This also has me thinking about how I'd do some of
my Zi-O related posts. I wanted to do other reviews the same way I'm reviewing Lupinranger vs. Patranger or last year's Ucchuu Sentai Kyuranger -- though I ended up taking some indirect advice from Sentai Bandicoot. He writes some concise, meaningful reviews for Gingaman episodes and there's only one picture above them. I thought about the way I did my reviews for
What's Wrong With Secretary Kim where I made a concise post where I'm giving my opinions per episode, only one to three pictures per post. Spoilers and newsflash is that I'm still going to present my first impressions on Zi-O though just don't expect me to do weekly updates (though I may change my mind) while I'll be watching the show. I'll still be watching it though me giving my opinions on updates (such as toy catalogs and episodes) may arrive at a very slow pace. I don't see myself taking a Toku break just yet -- just that I feel the need to "WOAH SLOW DOWN!" every now and then!
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