Kamen Rider 01 Episode 3: The HumaGear Potential And A Serving Of Sushi

This week's episode of Kamen Rider Zero-One explores yet another touchy theme. For one, I don't like the idea of people playing God with science -- it might be the potential hazard that Kamen Rider Zero-One may be showing in its later episodes. I'm for innovation but there's always a limit to where humans should go such as how Dr. Kubota does his science in the 1990s Super Sentai series Denji Sentai Megaranger. I don't even believe in letting robots replace humans. At the same time, I think of the science behind the Megaman X series which has the Reploids as a new generation of androids that can learn and think like humans do. I'm also thinking about the craziness that's Dragon Ball Z when both Cell (a bio-cyborg) and Android 19 were seen in Hell due to their free will. So, by Toei's rather weird logic -- androids do possess souls if they can think like human beings.

This episode does get me hungry due to the sushi plot. The guest star is Kenta Uchino (who played as a kid of the week in Megaranger episode 43) -- he plays as the android Niikiro Ikkan. Although he can produce good sushi but it does show the compromise behind the industrial age. Mass-producing something or making something without a heart doesn't make a good product. I guess that's why old man Norio Usami of the Magokoro Sushi didn't like the automatic sushi. Sure, we can have automated production for raw materials but some things are better off done the old-fashioned way even in the midst of modernization. It's like I'd like to prepare some dishes by hand while the ingredients were manufactured from an assembly line. Pursue the new but never forget the old.

Yua does enter into the scene and pays a visit. She's the technical adviser of AIMS. Is she just dropping there for sushi? What's interesting is that she's also shown her Kamen Rider form. I would admit it's quite sad female Kamen Rider sidekicks aren't so mainstream yet. Sure, Kamen Rider could be aimed at the male audiences but shouldn't we have more female Kamen Rider sidekicks? Sure, we've had female allies who do stuff like crack codes (like Sakurako Sawatari helps Yuusuke Godai figure out his new powers as Kuuga) or serve to be morale (like Kiriko Shijima in Kamen Rider Drive though she got weakened later on -- I think having more female henshin sidekicks can sell more toys. Yua's role doesn't seem she's just eye candy -- she also shows her ally Isamu on how to be more tactical. Yup, what can male superheroes do if it wasn't for useful female allies that work behind the scenes? More respect for Toku women who help our main heroes in doing their jobs. Without them, the show won't go on either!

This also brings me to get suspicious about the Executive Vice President Jun Fukuzoe though especially when he mentions a win-win situation -- if Aruto loses then they can use it to vote him out of his position. He says he benefits regardless Aruto succeeds or fails -- it's probably due to him being unable to take the fact that his boss is way younger than he is. He also breaks a cartoony Dr. Evil laugh (from Austin Powers) type of laugh. Just where's Mike Myers when you need him? He does have that troll face made before he laughs with his subordinates like Dr. Evil does with his. I really just wonder is he meant to be antagonistic sooner or later? Would he be the new version of Dr. Maki from Kamen Rider OOO? It's too early to tell! Maybe, he will get better or get worse depending on what producers intend to do with him. Maybe, he's an AIMS spy for all we know.

The show also has introduced a new form -- somehow in fit with the gimmick. Zero-One does have animal themes so I guess it's only normal to have a fish form. Also, the corrupted HumaGear for this episode is very squid-like. Aside from the sushi -- I'm actually hungry for squid. Though, my favorite style of preparing squid is the Filipino-style grilled squid. I kinda want to invite Aruto over for some Filipino-style grilled squid just watching him fight.

What interests me is that there could be a way to save some corrupted HumaGear. We saw Ikkan become corrupted yet he's somehow restored in the finale. The HumaGear's potential to evolve is really there considering that Ikkan actually starts learning to make sushi like everybody does it. He's learning to make sushi from the top or from the bottom of his artificial heart. It's almost like how robotic characters in Megaman X start to develop and learn things like humans do. You can say goodbye to the robot's faster learning ability. Ikkan starts to learn to make sushi like a human even if he's a robot.

Also, we see a bit of the shadow of AIMS. She reports some scientific intel to who could be her yet-to-be named (at least by Toei) superior in said organization. She talks about some scientific intel about how the HumaGears work. There's still some mysterious stuff as the Progrise Key which she thought was destroyed during Day Break -- it turns out to be hidden in Hiden! There's also that arc that may be coming soon to this series soon!

With that in mind -- I think Kamen Rider Zero-One may end up ending with several cliffhangers soon. I think next week might be a two-parter. If the show will proceed with having the two-three parters and cliffhangers then expect me to do massive summaries of two-three episodes instead of the weekly write-ups then!