Kamen Rider 01 Episode 25 - A History Lesson Episode

There's a bit of an intermission episode that came in-between the challenges. It just reminds me Kamen Rider Kuuga also did a similar thing with an interesting recap episode. This time, much of the lore of Kamen Rider Zero-One has been unfolded. Please note that I'm not going to write about the firefighter arc until it's done and that I'm already pursuing other new stuff. Though, I'm enjoying new school Kamen Rider more than I'm enjoying new school Super Sentai. 

There's really some weird things going on. So why is Izu a robot suddenly feeling sick and hot? I guess that's the next step of the HumaGear development. There's also a physician droid known as Dr. Bot - one who was responsible for the development of HumaGears. This would start to revela a lot of important lore from the show. What's better is that Isamu himself is really involved as was traumatized by the DayBreak Incident.

We get a recap of 12 years ago. Aruto's "father" was created together with Horobi. It's revealed that Hiden Enterprises and ZAIA Enterprises were once involved in the project. There was also a town dedicated to HumaGear experimentation. However, this incident went haywire when Satellite Ark was introduced to human evil by none other than Gai himself. So who's the bigger villain between Gai of ZAIA Enterprises or that of the rogue HumaGears of Metsubojinrai.net?

Speaking of Metsubo Jinrai - I do feel relieved that both Horobi and Jin are returning. I felt the show was getting boring without them. I love how Jin managed to sabotage Dr. Bot (though Dr. Bot wasn't really evil) to fulfill a new, dangerous mission. Meanwhile, one can see how smug Gai can be and how little lives (both HumaGear and human) mean to the bastard. I wonder would he eventually try to manipulate both Horobi and Jin for his own convenience?

What's interesting to know is that Jin returns with a new, more powerful form. Jin reveals that he used Dr. Bot to create him a new body. This time, Jin acquires a new phoenix form. I wonder what new form has Horobi acquired? What role will Gai play as a third wheel to the conflict or why does he want to get ZAIA? Everything is starting to reveal itself.

Aruto and Gai seem to be the two sides of capitalism. Aruto and Hiden Enterprise represent the capitalist dream of providing for community benefit. Meanwhile, Gai and ZAIA represent the corrupt capitalist. It's revealed how sleazy Gai is when he mentions that the Kamen Riders are but weapons. Well, he's somewhat right about that if he's talking in the context of Showa era's Kamen Rider seasons. Some Showa Rider seasons had a few riders that got their powers from the villains they crush. I'd like to joke that Gai would've made a good member of Gorgom if he belonged to the Showa era. I really feel like beating Gai up since it's his fault that the mess started in the first place!