Awesome / Kamen Rider Zero-One

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THIS IS MY RESIGNATION!

General

• Despite being programmed Artificial Intelligence androids, most Humagears managed to improve, earning the trust of the humans they got entrusted to and acknowledged as someone equally important.
• Everytime Gai suffered a defeat from the heroic (or less villainous) Riders, it is absolutely cathartic seeing him being utterly humiliated by them.

Series

Episode 1: I Am The President And A Kamen Rider

• Isamu shooting the HumaGear behind Yua.
• Jin nonchalantly defeating the HumaGear attacking him and shooting him in the head. All of this while laughing and keep watching Zero One's fight.
• Zero-One wastes no time making its first finisher Aruto's Rider Kick and clocking in the Reiwa Era with a spectacular one. The camera slows down so you can see just how thoroughly it tore the Magia it hit apart.
  RISING IMPACT!
• The effects are ramped up considerably. This is not obvious from the get-go, but once the action starts it really shows its potential.

Episode 2: Are AI Enemies Or Allies?

• Isamu forcing open the Shooting Wolf Progrise Key — which by all rights can't be unlocked without authorization from Yua — using sheer determination.
  Isamu: Humagears hurt humans... they are the enemy of humanity! I WILL DESTROY THEM ALL!!!!! [screams as he pries open the Progrise Key]
• Vulcan's transformation involves shooting a bullet at the Magia, having it loop around back to him, and then punching the bullet to transform.
• Zero-One's second transformation in the episode is no slouch either, with the robot grasshopper crashing down through a glass ceiling above him and sending glass shards raining down around Aruto as he transforms.
• The first bike fight of the series is also the first time a monster has ridden a bike in nearly a decade, using a combination of CG and clever camerawork to do complex stunts even with the restrictions on the legality of driving Rider bikes in filming.
• Once again, the cinematography of the fights is spectacular as is Vulcan's finisher. It's given a tracking shot for the projectile as it melts through the shipping containers in its way.
  SHOOTING BLAST!
• The shot after Vulcan's finisher is cinematic bliss, as he and Zero-One see each other through the string of holes that Vulcan's Shooting Blast left in the shipping containers separating their respective fights. The two share a moment of glaring at each other before Zero-One makes his escape under cover of smoke.
• Aruto steps up to the plate as CEO by crashing Jun's attempt at a cover-up press conference and revealing that Is recorded his encounter with Jin, allowing him to name MetsubouJinrai.NET as the perpetrators and prove Hiden Intelligence's innocence, all delivered with the style and confidence to make the audience truly believe that he's worthy of the position he's inherited. Then he ruins the mood with another terrible joke.

Episode 3: That Man, Sushi Chef

• Yua's debut as Kamen Rider Valkyrie. She quickly rounds up her targets, and her finisher involves dashing around her targets as she generates an orange energy sphere right in the middle of them that explodes, scrapping anything within range.
  RUSHING BLAST!
• Aruto debuts his first form change in the series, Biting Shark, and quickly demonstrates how effective a powerset that involves cutting can be.

Episode 4: I Saw The Bus Guide! Anna's Truth

• After three episodes of being told by Is to keep his Secret Identity, Aruto decides to forego what some seasons like Agito, 555, Kiva, and Drive had trouble with and becomes Zero-One in front of Isamu in order to prove to him that he's an Honest Corporate Executive who won't hide from him any secrets.
• Flying Falcon VS the Onchyo Magia. The epic High-Altitude Battle is glorious.
• Again, Isamu opens the Punching Kong Progrise Key using sheer determination.
• Anna the HumaGear manages to fight off the Magia corruption to play the video recording that reveals the truth of Daybreak Town.
• Isamu pretending to attack Zero-One with his Finishing Move but instead destroying the Monster of the Week in epic fashion.
  PUNCHING BLAST!
• The Reveal that Gou's father had actually contained the disaster he was posthumously accused of, pulling a Heroic Sacrifice by sealing the Daybreak Town factory while still inside it so that the rampaging HumaGears don't escape either. The moment this is made public, not only is his name finally cleared, but he becomes regarded as the hero he really was.

Episode 5: His Passionate Path of Manga

• Zero One Flaming Tiger's battle is drawn as a manga, and it was awesome. Hell, pretty much everything about Flaming Tiger is awesome. Zero-One standing amongst the flames as he stares down the Magia is an incredible visual in and of itself, but then the fight being done in the style of a manga makes it so much cooler. And of course, we have the finisher:
  FLAMING IMPACT!

Episode 6: I Want to Hear Your Voice

• Seiji Tazawa defending his daughter from Jin, which forced the latter to retreat.
• While dealing with the Onycho Magia after he's stolen the Flying Falcon Progrise Key, Aruto has to improvise to find a way to defeat the flying machine. Using his bike to keep up with the Magia, Aruto leaps into the air and transforms into Biting Shark, hitting a Biting Impact and destroying the Magia. Unfortunately for Aruto, the key wasn't with the former HumaGear, who had handed it off to Jin, leading to the next moment.
• Kamen Rider Jin's first transformation and fight is this combined with some Nightmare Fuel and a tearjerker. After Jin discovers the horror of what he had done to Seine as she goes on a rampage, Horobi comes in. Jin, now having been told what parents are supposed to act like, asks if Horobi is there to protect him. Horobi coldly states that Jin has failed him and slams the Force Riser on him, hacking him so he returns to his previous setting. The usual falcon envelopes Jin within its wings before exploding to become Jin's Rider form.
  • Following this is a pretty much one-sided fight between Jin/the Gaeru Magia and Zero-One, with Jin making use of his flight.
• We also have the debut of Kamen Rider Valkyrie's Lightning Hornet form, which has a deadly bee weapon. Lightning Hornet's ability to fire electric hornets from its chest ends up being pretty useful when the Gaeru Magia tries to escape by swimming in a nearby lake. Then there's the finisher (And for bonus points, its a Rider Kick too):
  THUNDER! LIGHTNING BLAST FEVER!

Episode 7: I am a Hot-Blooded Huma Gear Teacher!

• A small one, but Vulcan is able to use the Attache Shotgun a little more effective in Shooting Wolf form when in Episode 5, he needed to be in Punching Gorilla to handle the recoil.

Episode 8: The Destruction Begins Now

• Zero-One is struggling with Little Assassin in the climax, but with Is's help, he goes through a gauntlet of all the Progrise Keys he obtained (minus the Flying Falcon for obvious reasons), and ending it with a Flaming Tiger powered Kaban Dynamic.
• The villains had their moment of awesome in this episode. In short; they stole A.I.M.S weapons, reprogrammed a Giga to infect an entire hospital staff of Huma Gear, and cripple both Vulcan and Valkyrie from fighting for a while.
• We finally get to see Kamen Rider Horobi in action, and it did not disappoint.
  • It is literally one sided Curb-Stomp Battle. Horobi's No-Sell all Vulcan's attack including his finisher, before finishing him off.
    • Just the finisher in general and how it's presented is horrifyingly awesome, especially after shrugging off Punching Blast, leaving Vulcan exploding like a Monster of the Week
  STING DYSTOPIA!

Episode 9: I Will Take Care of that Life

• The fight between the Breaking Mammoth and the Magia Giger is a sight to see, as Aruto Rider Kicks the Magia Giger with a giant Progrise Key.
  • Notably, after this, while Jin's bemoaning the loss of the Giger, Horobi's noting that Aruto might be more of a problem than he expected.
  BREAKING IMPACT!
  Horobi: Zero-One... you do seem to defy all calculations, I'll give you that.
• Dr. Omigoto rejects being hacked by Metsuboujinrai.net by pure determination and remains loyal to the Hippocratic Oath.

Episode 10: I am an Actor, Shinya Owada

• After Shinya Oowada leaves the scene, Little Assassin comes to dispose of Eiji, the Actor HumaGear, claiming "he's not needed", but that scene gives plenty points in favor to Little Assassin, added with previous moments:
  • Much earlier in the episode, Little Assassin claims "I'm no losing. I'm growing."
  • Later when he shows Shinya Oowada his combat technique, the "Assassin Stare", he also goes on to do a brief play of the movie scene, and Little Assassin manages to seamlessly ad-lib, something Eiji can't do.
  • The way Little Assassin simply tosses the Actor Humagear aside, then pantomimes ties being adjusted and takes a fighting stance while transforming shows how he has learned a thing or two from his master's works.
  • And after, Little Assassin actually gets his own finisher and would have killed Yua had Fuwa not interfered.

Episode 11: Don't Stop the Camera, Stop Him

• How strong is Horobi? Strong enough to completely No-Sell Breaking Mammoth attack and finisher.
• Little Assassin evolves PHYSICALLY this time, gaining armor, chest auto-cannons and grenades.

Episode 13: I Work as the President's Secretary

• While being heartwarming and sad, Wazu's sacrifice and devotion to his duties can be awe inspiring, specially for his young sister Is's growth.
• The true power of Shining Hopper and how it is explained easily overpowers most Rider's first upgrade: it is capable of simulating possible combat strategies and changing the outcome at the very last second, as well as exceed the enemy's potential. In other words, not only it pushes the user beyond their current limits, but it can also counter an enemy's prediction of his attacks.
  • Despite all this, the Dodo Magia actually manages to endure the finisher... and then Aruto scans the Rising Hopper Progrise Key and gives us a boosted finisher for the first time in the show, completely destroying the Dodo Magia and plowing through it's last attempts at fighting back.
  BYTE-RISE!
  KILO-RISE!
  MEGA-RISE!
  SHINING MEGA IMPACT!
• Many Heisei seasons had at least one upgrade that had dangerous side effects to the user, which usually required the Rider to become stronger, either in power or will, to effectively use it. Here we have a complete reversal; Aruto wasn't too weak for Shining Hopper, Shining Hopper was too weak for Aruto and had to be adjusted to properly work.

Episode 14: We Are The Astronaut Brothers

• Fuwa once again opens up his new Progrise key through force. However, it was made specifically for HumaGears, connecting itself into the Ark. This doesn't deter him in the slightest, using the new form to destroy Ikazuchi.
  Fuwa: I don't need happiness! What I need... is rage!!! Ever since Daybreak, I've survived to this day by rage alone!!! I will destroy MetsubouJinrai.NET!!! THAT IS ALL THAT MATTERS TO ME!!!!!! [screams as he pries open the Progrise Key]
  • Not only is the Assault Wolf form connected to Ark, but the wiki's info translations points out it lacks safeties or life support. Fuwa comes through coughing up blood from using something that by all rights should have killed him. The man is the series' poster boy for Made of Iron.

Episode 15: To Each His Own End

• Aruto Hiden gets beamed by both Zea and Ark when turning into Shining Assault Hopper, it is as if the will of Ark itself sides with him.
  • Aruto's arrival to the scene. Jin has Vulcan and Valkyrie on the ropes with hacked Gigars, not helped by Vulcan being forced out of his transformation to save him from Assault Wolf's side effects. Then, from offscreen, we hear simply "PRESS!". Cue Breaking Mammoth, which immediately takes down the Gigars and the Trilobite Magia threatening the AIMS Riders.
  • Aruto delivering a scathing "The Reason You Suck" Speech to Jin:
  Aruto: I understand that you want to exterminate humanity. But what do you think about HumaGears to you then?
  Jin: They're my friends.
  Aruto: If you call them your friends, then why did you hurt Is? And it's not just her, why did you hurt any of them? You've been using the HumaGears for your own, and abusing them... Someone who does such awful things can't be considered a friend!
  Jin: Shut up! It's all the will of the Ark!
  • Two words: "Learning complete." Cue Aruto calmly removes the Assault Grip from Assault Wolf Key and puts it onto his Shining Hopper Key.

Episode 16: The Dawn of ZAIA

• Aruto's final showdown with Jin is glorious from beginning to end. Some highlights:
  • Aruto hurls the Authorize Buster into Jin's chest, dashes forward and rips it down through him.
  • While Aruto's holding off two Gigers, Jin loads the fallen Horobi's Sting Scorpion Progrise Key into the Attache Shotgun and fires it point-blank into Aruto's back.
  • Is teaches Aruto how to use the Shine System, and Aruto proceeds to rip the Gigers apart with his new Attack Drones. Find A New Life kicks in as Aruto overwhelms Jin in an aerial battle using the drones.
  • Jin and Aruto exchange Rider Kicks, both getting their finisher cards, before the force of the kicks clashing makes both cards explode and fall to pieces around them. Both land and stand up before Jin's suit shatters to reveal the extent of his injuries. Jin has just enough time to deliver his final words before he slumps over and explodes:
    Jin: Humanity... will be... exterminated... as is the will... of the Ark...
• Aruto is dead silent as he walks over, picks up the Flying Falcon key, and stares at it. It's a moment of awesome for suit actor Yuya Nawata, who manages to perfectly convey all of the character's emotions through the mask and costume, something his predecessor Seiji Takaiwa was considered a master at even in his later years.
• Jun holds an emergency board meeting to discuss dismissing Aruto as President. The votes are tallied, and Jun is the only one to vote for Aruto's dismissal, forcing him to quickly walk it back to save face. Doubles as a moment of Heartwarming.

Episode 17: No, I Am the President and a Kamen Rider

• It's a small moment in the scheme of things, but when Gai presents his new product Zaia Spec and boasts of sales reaching 724%, Aruto simply points out that it's not 1000%. The look on both men's faces shows that the wannabe comedian got the last laugh.
• Thouser's debut, where we see that Gai has every right to be as confident as he is.
  • The driver runs on two Transformation Trinkets. Powerful enough by itself, but then we find out that one of them is a Zetsumerise Key. That's right—somehow Gai reverse-engineered the bad guys' tech and made it his own.
  • When transformed, Gai is an absolute monster, manhandling the rampaging Magear and no-selling Shining Hopper.
    • His finisher deserves mention, too—it's one thing to take down the enemy with overwhelming power, but Gai goes an extra step and steals power from the nearest Rider to fuel his attack. It plays very well to his overall persona of the conquering king.

Episode 22: He Still Didn't Do It

• The beginning fight between Shining Assault Hopper and Thouser. Even after Thouser jacks the Shine System, Aruto is able to fight him on even ground with their Shine Systems countering each other and Shining Assult Hopper countering Thouser's greater strength with speed (and vice versa). Gai even concedes that they'll have to determine the battle's winner in court.
• Disturbing as the transformation may be, Zero-One MetalCluster Hopper form finally defeating Thouser for the first time is a sight to see. He is able to take all of Thouser's moves like it was nothing and hits Thouser even harder with his new powers. Not only that, but MetalCluster Hopper form is a souped up Pest Controller and can literally make anything with the metallic grasshoppers the form produces, ranging from shields to spikes or even a storm of the bloody things. The cherry on top? Aruto never once moved from his position and brutally beat the shit out of Thouser, save for the one instance in which he choke-holds Thouser and blasting him point-blank.
  • Though some credit is still given to Gai. Despite losing the battle horribly, he still walks away satisfied. Show casing his Chess Master status as he likely already planned for his defeat as he had Yua record the entire incident of Zero-One in his berserk state, giving him even more ammunition's to smear his rival's reputation, and even worse, the activation of the MetalCluster has damaged Zero-One's Transformation Trinket, leaving him unable to use any other form other than the out of control MetalCluster. He even has the last laugh as he walks away laughing while Aruto can only glare at him from behind with hatred.
• Isamu's tendency to brute force his way through problems proves to be incredibly useful as he manages to, for the second time in franchise history, rip a belt right off of a transformed Rider!
  • What's more, Isamu is the first to remove the belt from an upgraded Rider. Specifically, a berserk one.

Episode 23: I'm in Love With Your Intelligence!

• Last episode, we saw how dangerous MetalCluster Hopper is without even moving. Now Zero-One is mobile with the form, decimating everyone in sight. He pretty much No Sells every attack he gets hit with, including a Progrise Buster Dust from the Authorize Buster.
  • Credit to Vulcan and Valkyrie here. Even when Thouser was outmatched, the two are able to think fast enough on their feet to keep Zero-One at bay until Yua is able to remove the MetalCluster Hopper Key from the Zero-One Driver.
• Three words: Metal Rising Impact. Zero-One's main body in MetalCluster Hopper stays perfectly still as two swarms of Cluster Cells turn into copies of MetalCluster Hopper, both delivering a Rider Kick to an enemy.

Episode 24: Now It's Our Turn

• Villainous Example. In the beginning of the episode, Thouser jacks the Mammoth Key's data, not from the form, but from the finisher he was blocking. He then proceeds to defeat MetalCluster Hopper with a finisher powered by every single ability he's stolen thus far.
  Thouser: Don't underestimate me, ARK!
• Through The Power of Friendship from Aruto and HumaGears that he knew well, the Progrise Hopper Blade frees Aruto from the Ark's influence, and can even cure HumaGears-turned-Magia.
  • Specifically the core data for the blade comes from every HumaGear that has been a Magia or close to an attack up to this point. Is even adds hers, as does Subaru, and all their positive feelings toward Aruto and humanity are then filtered through Aruto's own signature key, Rising Hopper, which Zea then uses to give form to the weapon. It's so filled with positivity that the literal second Is puts it into Zero-One's hands it completely negates the Ark's negative energy and allows Zea to grab Aruto and pull him out and back into itself. The show managed to literally weaponize the power of friendship.
  • The Cluster Cells are then absorbed and sealed within the blade, so when Aruto needs them, he can coat the edge with them to add force to his strikes, or to throw them at an opponent. Thouser witnesses this firsthand, and to say that he's not happy is an understatement.
  • In a sense, Is's solution to the MetalCluster problem is taking Gai's cruel view of it and turning it on its head. Gai considered the locusts he based the key on, and grasshoppers in general, as vile creatures that devour their own and crops en masse. Is solved the problem by gathering her own "swarm" of positive HumaGear Data to overwhelm the dark, misanthropic beliefs of Gai and the Ark, choosing to believe in humanity's innate goodness along with the other HumaGears Aruto saved and cared for. It's awesomely validating to see Aruto's belief in the HumaGears pay off.
  • There is a moment after Enji reverts from his Magia appearance to his HumaGear appearance, Zero-One verbally roasts Thouser like a little kid giving his bullies a raspberry when the tables turned, nonchalantly. It's funny and awesome at the same time.
    Thouser: How? How did you do this!?
    Zero-One: Heheh. Of course you'd never understand. And neither do I!
    Thouser: [enraged] ENOUGH JOKES!
  • Let's not forget Zero-One finally landed a finisher to Thouser for the first time. This time, not from the Ark's influence, but rather from Aruto himself. And he delivers it with style. And that's how you know it's Aruto.
    Zero-One: But I couldn't have done it by myself. [combines both Progrise Hopper Blade and Attache Calibur into Naginata Mode]
    DOCKING RISE!
    Zero-One: And I had to believe in the HumaGears! [scans his Progrise Hopper Blade onto Zero-One Driver]
    ULTIMATE RISE!
    [Zero-One unleashes two Sword Beam attacks, one from Progrise Hopper Blade and another one from Attache Calibur. Cue explosion.]
    ULTIMATE STRASH!
  • It should be noted that Thouser never once had the upper hand in their fight. After seeing him smugly walk through just about everyone for eight whole episodes almost consecutively, it's incredibly satisfying to see that he never even stood a chance.
• Credits to HumaGears Aruto had met, learned, helped and saved across the series. They repay his kindness by donating their data, Is included, to create a countermeasure for MetalCluster Hopper's side effects in the form of Progrise Hopper Blade. Doubles as immensely heartwaming.
• Some minor, non-fighting examples for HumaGears:
  • Match's plan to unite Chiharu with Teruo by purposely turned into Ark Gaeru Magia ended successfully. He even shouts "BEST MATCH!" in hilariously hammy but satisfactory way.
    • To top it off, while Match is intended to pretend being berserk, he is one and only HumaGear who learned how malicious the Ark's influence in its current state.
  • Enji, after regaining his consciousness post accidentally touching the Ark controlled Zero-One, approaches Gai while pretending to be controlled by the Ark and infiltrated ZAIA to buy some time for Subaru and Oyakata to sneak into MetsubouJinrai.net's abandoned base and gather the data needed to stabilize the MetalCluster Hopper Progrise Key. When his cover is blown, he even rubs the fact that he had Gai fooled right to front of his face. Seeing Gai's smug calm giving way to actual fury for the first time is as cathartic as can be.
    Enji: I am a HumaGear actor, Enji Matsuda. Acting is my main gig.
    • Also worth noting is that Enji is well aware that he may not coming back alive or transformed into a Magia, but he does so anyway because of his Undying Loyalty to Aruto.

Episode 25: I'll Save the Humagears

• A Fridge Offscreen Moment of Awesome, because Aruto recalls the events of Kamen Rider: Reiwa the First Generation. This means that Aruto beat Sougo, the Rider with power of every Heisei Rider.

Episode 27: I Will Not Give Up on Life

• 119nosuke, after being taught the importance of not discarding the lives on people who had no life sign, pull off a Heroic Sacrifice to allow his firefighter rival, Homura along with Isamu and Yua to rescue Jun, Sanzo and Shester from the rubble until the heat from the flames shut him down. He earn respect not just from Homura but also his president, Aruto, who went to the trouble of retrieving his body.

Episode 28: My Rap Will Change The World

• So, Vulcan and Thouser are fighting again. As expected, Thouser kicks his ass, and appears ready to land a finishing blow. But then, out of nowhere, a Rain of Arrows falls upon the battlefield. Thouser is forced to use a Flying Falcon Jacking Break to block the first salvo before hanging onto the summoned falcon to try and fly out of the way, as the Metsuboujinrai.net battle theme starts playing in the background...
  • Yua's debut as the Fighting Jackal Raider, her first power-up in a long time as the others have gotten more and more forms. Lightning speed plus a Sinister Scythe, and a Finishing Move that sends the enemy flying and then smashes him right back down. Of course, she's, like, 85% a villain at this point so it's not a good thing, but it was cool.

Episode 29: Our Dreams Don't Break

• Gai attempts to use the microchip in Fuwa to get him to attack Aruto. Fuwa's response is to fight back and regain control of his body, followed by the glorious transformation and debut of Rampage Gatling. What happens next is an absolutely cathartic Curb-Stomp Battle of Rampage Gatling beating down both Yua and Gai by himself. One of the highlights is during the Rampage Power Blast finisher, where Vulcan nails Yua with a HUGE lariat that snaps her scythe clean in half, and then spins and hurls her a good 20-something feet with all the effort of tossing a ragdoll. Ho-ly shit.
  • The opener is pretty impressive too, since before hitting Yua with the lariat Fuwa tanks her Fighting Bolide without even flinching. Yua doesn't get a single attack in edgewise after that.
  • Before that he also struck a symbolic blow for Yua by nailing Gai with the Rampage Speed Blast, an attack that incorporates both of Yua's signature Progrise Keys along with Falcon.
• It's a rather dark example considering the implications and how he got there, but Gai establishes himself as one of the few villains in the Kamen Rider franchise to pull a victory over the hero. He won the Workplace Competition and is now in full control of Hiden Intelligence.
• The end of the episode has Aruto who now lost Hiden Intelligence walking away, but instead of looking sad, he looks more determined than ever. Instead of having been shown at the beginning, the episode title appears only now, as he walks towards us with grim determination. Showing that while Gai may have won the competition, he still has not won the battle, and he'll not win the war.

Episode 30: After All, I am a President and a Kamen Rider

• Aruto's decision to fight back against Gai is to create his own company, HIDEN Manufacturing, whose purpose is to rebuild and defend all HumaGears after Hiden Intelligence recalls the robots. It also doubles as Character Development. Aruto never cared about being a President, he just accepted it because it was the only way he could become Zero-One and fulfil his dream of bringing smiles to people's face. All the experiences he's gone through since the series began, and all the HumaGears he's met have him propelled to where he's doing something the comedian he would have been otherwise would have never done.
• When Aruto is shot, everyone thinks he's been killed until he slowly gets up and reveals that he had an impromptu bullet-proof vest under his shirt in the form of the HumaGear Progrise Keys. For bonus awesome, the specific key that shielded him from the bullet was none other than Security Guard Mamoru. Even his Key is a great security guard.
• Aruto transforming into Zero-One in an Out of the Inferno moment is awesome, but what tops it is that Zero-One, with just his base Rising Hopper form, is fighting on equal footing against Thouser of all people. It shows how much Aruto has grown over the series. This is proven further when two AIMS agents barged into the fight to aid Thouser only for Zero-One to maintain control of the fight, even using Thouser's Thousand Jacker as a jumping platform.
• Special props have to go to Is, who ensures Aruto can still use the Zero-One Driver despite no longer being the President of Hiden Intelligence by contacting Zea. Keep in mind that Is was programmed to follow the President of Hiden Intelligence up until she achieved Singularity so in essence she's going against Gai, the current President, in favor of her ex-boss. Better yet, if the fact that Aruto can still transform is any indication Zea itself has decided that, as far as it is concerned, Gai Amatsu is not the rightful President of Hiden Intelligence.
• Korenosuke Hiden deserves some mention too given how much insight went into his plan. When Gai argues that all HumaGear and AI technology are patented to Hiden Intelligence, Is tell him that it is not the case. They are patented to Korenosuke Hiden and he passed it on to Aruto, meaning they are not Hiden Intelligence property. In short, this not only allows Aruto to own and manage the HumaGear technologies without violating the patent law, it also ensures that the technology will not fall into the wrong hands should Hiden Intelligence fall. And as a bonus, it also renders Gai's move of buying out Hiden Intelligence completely moot, as not even Satellite Zea will obey him.
  • The fact that Gai, of all people, is a victim of Korenosuke's posthumous plan relying on Loophole Abuse to keep him from winning, only makes the irony so much sweeter. After seeing him be a Smug Snake for so long even after the setbacks he faced, it's satisfying as hell to see him get 1000% played like a fiddle.

Episode 31: Take off towards your Dream

• Jin and Zero One doing a Double Rider Kick at Thouser, who got his ass handed to him for the fourth time by his enemies. Bonus points for Gai finally snapping and swearing to crush Aruto's new company.
• Not just Izu but Aruto's interactions with G-Pen allowed him to achieve Singularity. Upon seeing this for himself, Jin is willing to put some faith in Zero One.

  Jin: I think I'm down to stake a bet for the future of my friends on your dream.

• A villainous one for Gai, by simply just applying strategy and coordinating better when facing Zero One in his Metal Cluster Hopper form. Despite only accompanied by the same AIMS agents in Episode 30, which easily falls to one Finisher by Zero One, Gai manages to fight on even footing against Metal Cluster Hopper by keeping his opponent surrounded and Zero One focused on him while the other 2 agents kept their distance and firing potshots at him, putting him at a Win Win situation. If Zero One goes for the two agents, Gai will just simply strike him from behind. If Zero One focuses on Gai alone, the other 2 agents are free to fire at Zero One. If Jin had not interfered, Aruto would have been in rather serious trouble.

Episode 32: My Pride! The Runway of Dreams

• Aruto handling the Fighting Jackal Raider(Yua) and Gai. Unlike in episode 29, where any property of Hiden Intelligence was supposedly under ZAIA and Aruto was begging for mercy, being only on the defensive and got his pride trampled, this time around, Aruto was not entirely on defensive, but on the offensive as well because he knew, with Korenosuke's gambit paying off, the future of both Humagears and Zero One is his family's responsibility.
  • When Thouser unleashes the combined power of various Progrise Keys that he Jacked, Aruto uses the Metal Cluster Hopper Key to unleash a massive swarm of metal grasshoppers to protect Is and Delmo, with some creating barrier to prevent advance from the Freezing Bear, Punching Kong and Breaking Mammoth, before coming to fend off the other Progrise Key animals that were trying to destroy Is and Delmo. These moments alone were awesome enough as it helps protect Delmo, with only relatively minor damage to her leg getting through.
  • When transforming into Metal Cluster Hopper for the second time, the grasshopper swarm flies towards the Raiders and ONLY the Raiders, giving enough time for Aruto and Is to fetch Delmo.
• Naki and Fuwa working together (similar to Kamen Rider Double), as Vulcan Assault Wolf AND Rampage Vulcan, to hand Thouser another beatdown is pretty satisfying to watch. Especially after Thouser called Naki a tool and mocked the HumaGears for having dreams.
  Naki: I am a HumaGear, but I am no tool!
• Gai gets dealt another dose of Did Not Think This Through when realizing that he can't just outright replace the HumaGears that have become vital in the workplace.
• Not only does Is manage to walk the runway in Delmo's place saving their plan for having a Humagear appear in the fashion show to help repair their image, but even though Is has never modeled before and was not programmed nor designed to do so she does it like a pro anyway and ends up completely charming the crowd.

Episode 33: Is Having A Dream That Important?

• Yua and Fuwa's fight with Gai is a string of awesome moments from beginning to end:
  • Just the fact that Yua's back to using her ShotRiser to become Kamen Rider Valkyrie counts. After months of serving as Gai's lapdog, she finally can't avoid listening to her conscience anymore.
  • Even on her own and while he's assaulting her with pain from her control chip, Yua manages to keep Gai off-balance and evade his attacks with impressive displays of acrobatics.
  • As soon as Fuwa joins in, they start displaying a level of teamwork they've only pulled off before in Reiwa: The First Generation, both making use of Yua's signature diagonal run to bombard Gai with bullets from every angle.
  • Fuwa gets to deliver a Jerkass Realization speech as he pummels Gai, bringing his character arc to completion and invoking the essence of Kamen Rider, how a force for evil can be turned to good.
    Fuwa: Listen up, ZAIA! I'm a changed man! Those old memories can go to hell! I don't want revenge anymore! Because I've got a dream now... to make the most of the Kamen Rider you created!
  • Gai throws his Amazing Horn finisher against Fuwa's All Rampage, setting their horde of animals against each other. Yua switches into Lightning Hornet and weaves her bee drones through the battle to hit Gai, demonstrating more skill with one power than Gai does with ten.
  • Finally, Gai falls back on Shining Assault Hopper as he almost always does, and Yua outplays him while throwing a "Reason You Suck" Speech in his face at the same time, just before she takes out her gun and shoots him at point blank range in the face.
    Gai: Technology will be the end of you!
    Yua: Didn't you know? Apparently emotions can go beyond technology. So I'll turn ZAIA into scrap!
• Gai attempts to torture Yua again after his defeat, only for her to fight off the pain and give him a much-needed armor-piercing punch right into Gai's smug face. It's so cathartic it was treated as a Finishing Move along with its technique name, that being "This is my resignation!".
  Yua: Consider this as my resignation.

Episode 35: What Do HumaGears Dream of?

• A Villainous Example. Thouser vs Horobi in the first round. Horobi is easily able to fight Thouser to a standstill due to being so much more skilled then him. Until Thouser begins throw out one special move after another in rapid succession which overwhelms Horobi.
  • This further drives home the point of Gai being Unskilled, but Strong. Gai's defeats are not because he is weaker than Aruto or Fuwa, but rather because he doesn't know how to use his own abilities or weapons properly.
• Just as Thouser is about to finish Horobi off with the Sting Scorpion-powered Jacking Break, Zero-One arrives just in time to save him and take the poison sting for himself.
• Two for MetsubouJinrai shortly after the above: Naki hacking Gai's forces to turn them against him, returning the favor to Aruto (who was about to get punched by one of the Gigers Gai called in) and distracting Gai long enough for Horobi to get a second wind. Horobi uses this second wind well, by delivering another beating to Thouser, marking yet another defeat for Gai. Thouser even lampshaded it before his imminent doom.
  Thouser: I've had ENOUGH OF THIS BULLSHIT!!!!!!

Episode 37: That Thing Is Unstoppable!

• A Villainous Example. Despite being outnumbered 4 to one, Thouser puts up surprisingly a decent fight. He manages to Jack Naki's powers in the midst of exchanging blows and uses it to put down Horobi, Ikazuchi and Naki in one go. Too bad for him, that Ark Zero is a on whole different level.
• Aruto arrives to challenge Ark Zero once more and this time round he puts up a much better fight. As the battle eventually seems to be going his way, it's revealed that Jin was Fighting from the Inside allowing Aruto to gain the advantage if only momentarily.
  • This leads to Ark Zero finally deciding to stop playing around. When serious, he delivers a Curb Stomp battle against Metal Cluster. Effectively crushing him...without even taking a single step. Think of the beating that Metal Cluster delivered against Thouser in their first fight, but even worse.

Episode 38: I'm 1000% Your Friend

• For the first time in a long while, we see a transformation sequence happen while the Kamen Rider rides his motorcycle.
• After long, Thouser got his moment to shine, by coming to Aruto's rescue and batting away Ark's energy orb.

Episode 39: The Conclusion Cannot Be Predicted

• Ark-Zero's calculations are foiled by something it couldn't predict: Aruto and Gai working together to defeat it.

Episode 40: Towards Mine and My Dream

• The debut of Kamen Rider Zero-Two and it quickly beats Ark-Zero with ease.
  • The way they show it is awesome as well. Ark-Zero seems to be using his ability to predict Zero-Two's moves, followed by using his All Extinction on a seemingly overpowered Aruto... Cue him predicting that attack and answering by kicking the crap out of Ark-Zero and freeing Raiden at the same time.
  • To begin the above mentioned Curbstomp Battle, Zero-Two begins by literally kicking the Ark out of Raiden. Yes, you read that right. And after reading the Ark's entry and understanding that it bores into it's host so deeply that the Ark-Zero suit is the only thing keeping them alive and functional, the fact that it was removed so easily should highlight how much stronger Zero-Two is compared to Zero-One.
• Zero-Two is built off of this in general. It was designed to be superior to Zero-One in every way, and plays with All Your Powers Combined by taking the best parts of Zero-One's Hopper upgrades and puts them in a single form. And, according to the official data on the Zero-One website, was created to be a perfect counter for Ark-Zero. Considering the fact that before Zero-Two's debut, Ark-Zero was annihilating all the other Riders without any real difficulty, this confirms Zero-Two is the strongest Rider in the show.

Episode 41: Thou, Take Thine Neighbor's Hand!

• Horobi gains the upper hand on Jin as they fight, with the latter aiming to prevent Horobi from contacting the Ark. Even without gaining any upgrades whatsoever, Horobi continues to prove why he's a top level threat.
• Aruto finally returns to Hiden Intelligence after Gai decides to resign and hand over the company back to him.
• As a result of his return to Hiden Intelligence, Aruto deploys HumaGears to help with rebuilding after the Ark's attack. We see Oyakata Saikyotakumi involved in rebuilding houses, 119nosuke in rescue operations, and Doctor Omigoto treating people at a hospital.
• By sheer force of determination, Horobi managed to resist Ark's possession and punched it out of his body.
• Aruto and Horobi decide to team up for the first time to hand the Ark an ass-kicking of a lifetime, spurred on by Horobi finally realizing what his goal was and their common goal of rescuing Jin.
• Ikazuchi (now seemingly back in his Raiden persona) and his younger brother Subaru team up to destroy the Ark-possessed Zea, seemingly defeating the Ark for good.
  Subaru: Do it now, brother!
  Ikazuchi: Farewell, Ark!
  • Made even better by the fact the Ark was preparing for its next attack, stating that things weren't over yet...only to realize what's happening too late to do anything about it.
  The Ark: This conclusion is...inconceivable!

Episode 42: As Long as There's Malice

• A villainous one for Azu: she had one hell of a Batman Gambit up her sleeve. By showing Izu a simulation where Horobi is possessed by the Ark and kills Aruto, it leads to the secretary HumaGear trying to stop Horobi. Her efforts are not only in vain, but lead to Horobi killing her, which sends Aruto over the Despair Event Horizon to the point he's willing to make a Deal with the Devil with Azu to get revenge and become Ark-One. Damn.
  • And she even placed a failsafe in effect, by telling Jin that Horobi will become Ark, which added two possibilities to the fray: Jin dying to protect Horobi and Horobi becoming Ark, or Horobi making the heroic sacrifice and Jin becoming Ark.
• Aruto is now the character in the franchise with four different Rider powersets used (Zero-One, Zerozero-One, Zero-Two, Ark-One). Keep in mind the previous record holder was Yuji Kiba, who was three different Riders (Faiz, Kaixa, Orga).
• As Ark-One, Aruto wipes the floor with all the other Riders except Thouser single-handedly, effortlessly blocking everything they throw at him and even performing an Offhand Backhand Bullet Catch when Fuwa tries to shoot him. Then he knocks all four of them out of their suits with a single Perfect Conclusion.

Episode 43: That is a Heart

• Ark-One dodging everything Thouser, Vulcan, and Valkyrie tosses at him with minimal effort and without attacking them at all. And even when Thouser managed to steal the data from his belt, he simply destroyed his weapon and disintegrated his driver, following with the disabling of Vulcan and Valkyrie's brain chip when they attempted to Rider Kick him and effectively making three Kamen Riders lose their transformation seemingly permanently in a matter of minutes.
  • Destroying the Thousandriver is the quintessential Laser-Guided Karma against Gai, as the entire reason Ark-One is even a thing is because of his entire vendetta against Hiden and his corruption of the Ark.
• Ark-One gets another one by tearing through the army of Magear Horobi before proceeding to beat Horobi down, without Horobi being able to land any effective hits on him. Effectively, he destroyed the entire uprising Horobi was building in one go, before giving Horobi a rightly-deserved beat-down.
• As tearjerking as Jin's death is, it has its share of awesomeness for how it was played out: he flies in just in time to take the hit, he's blown out of his Burning Falcon form, red feathers float down and Burning Falcon's wings stays with him, slowly disintegrating as he spends his last moments with Horobi. Bonus points for the actors exceptionally conveying the characters' emotions at that moment.

Episode 44: There's Only One Person Who Can Stop You

• From the Preview we get:
  • Azu has successfully coerced both Aruto and Horobi into becoming avatars of the Ark. And Horobi receives a new driver that looks to be a modified version of the original Zero-One Driver.
  • Isamu is still in battle with a new transformation: Kamen Rider Orthros Vulcan.
• Yua managed to calm down a runaway HumaGear, all without transforming!
• Jun owning up to his duties as a Vice-President thanks to Ai-chan.
  • Not only that, but Shesta shares his views and dreams and prostrates with him to calm down the rioting HumaGears.
• As the final battle approaches we witness the arena become a Field of Blades with every Rider weapon throughout Zero-One.
• It may have been intended to be tragic, but Aruto's fight with Isamu is pretty epic and cathartic to watch. As Zero-Two, Aruto overwhelms Orthros Vulcan until his Shotriser explodes, knocking Isamu out of his transformation. Considering how daft Isamu was acting, how little sympathy he offers Aruto and how he almost immediately jumps to attacking him instead of trying to talk him down, seeing Isamu get the crap beat out of him and knocked on his rear end is oddly satisfying.
• In the 40 episodes since Sting Scorpion's debut, Horobi finally receives his upgrade by combining the mysterious Progrise Key from the prior episode with his new Zetsumetsu Driver, both curtesy of Azu; Ark Scorpion.

Episode 45: Each of Our Plans For the Future

• The fight between Ark-One and Ark-Scorpion is a sight to behold, but take a look at how Aruto's acting. Instead of fighting Horobi at full-force, he starts to hold back, especially when he shakes off As's influence off of him. He throws away the Attache Calibur and takes on Horobi's attacks full-force, to the point where the Ark Driver-One is destroyed for good.
  • As Jin explains, this fight isn't the Ark's will, but Aruto's. Thanks to Soreo's pep-talk, Aruto finally realized what he needed to do. Because of his empathy and heroism, he was finally able to get through to Horobi once and for all, making the fight about their pain and shared feelings of guilt rather than revenge.
  • Basically, As lost. HARD.
• Aruto throwing away all of the malice he has for Horobi, instead sympathizing with the HumaGear on their shared pain of losing a loved one. This finally gets Horobi to realize the error in his ways, eventually allowing Aruto to incapacitate him.
• The Rising Hopper Progrise Key evolving into the Realizing Hopper Progrise Key, transforming Aruto into Realizing Hopper with the brand-new Zero-One Driver. While it may look the same as Rising Hopper, its stats outclass it immensely, easily taking on Ark-Scorpion with ease.
  • Before he transforms, Horobi is about to take a potshot at him. Aruto catches his punch with all of the strength that he has and transforms easily, showing that he isn't about to lose that fight just yet.
  • Aruto taking down Horobi with not one, but two Rider kicks. The best part about it? He doesn't even kill Horobi. His second Rider kick used just enough power to incapacitate Horobi and destroy the Zetsumetsu Driver, but not so much that he kills Horobi once and for all. That takes some serious restraint and Aruto managed to pull it off.
• Jin reviving with the help of Yua. What's even more awesome? His data was stored in the Ark, thus allowing him to tell As that she lost to Aruto's empathy and Horobi's pain before he makes his second resurrection.
• Yua hiring Naki as a support for A.I.M.S., a far cry from her old self. When questioned about it, she easily defends her decision, saying that humans and HumaGears can work together to make the world a better place.
• Even though he doesn't have his ShotRiser, Fuwa is still doing his absolute most to protect the city, easily smashing through a car window and ripping a car door off.
• Horobi, restored by ZAIA along with Jin, has been given a new attire and found a new goal for MetsubouJinrai.Net: protect the world from malice so Ark may never rise again.
• Aruto rebuilding Is from the ground up. While she doesn't have her memories, the fact that he managed to do what many said was impossible is impressive.
• A villainous example... even when As failed to turn humans and humagear against each other, it's revealed that she still has other plans to fall back on. The Stinger reveals that she has an accomplice by the name of S, and that the heroes victory is but a setback at best.

Movies & Specials

Kamen Rider Reiwa: The First Generation

• Horobi's Dynamic Entry has him cutting a bullet in half.
• The resistance managing to hold their own against the corrupted Humagear forces. While they did lose massively, they managed to survive against killer robot forces.
• The resistance and the Zi-O team (sans Sougo obviously) performing an epic Big Damn Heroes and saving Aruto, Izu, and Shester from certain death against the Humagears.
• Fuwa and Yua defeating Another Zero-One through some well coordinated teamwork.
• Aruto delivering a pretty epic speech about how the current situation is all wrong and that Humagears and humans should be working together rather than one taking over the other. He gets to deliver an indirect, but pretty epic Shut Up, Hannibal! by stating that he is Zero-One and he will fight for that dream to happen.
• Doubling as a Tear Jerker, Aruto defeating Soreo. Aruto has more primitive equipment and less combat experience than his Humagear father and he managed to win through his sheer love and determination.
  • As an added bonus, the suit actors for both Zero-One and Ichi-gata is Yuya Nawata and Seiji Takaiwa respectively. As in, not only has Takaiwa handed over the reins to Nawata as lead suit actor, but they also managed to show that in action by letting the two show it off as stunt actors a la the seasoned master vs. the youthful new guy. And, despite his age, Takaiwa is still more than capable of going one-on-one with Nawata even though the former lost to the latter.
• Woz, Geiz, and Tsukuyomi overwhelming Metsubojinrai.net with a triple Rider kick.
• The final battle between Zi-O and Zero-One against Another (New) 1 has many moments:
  • Sougo using Zi-O II's Combat Clairvoyance to dodge all of Another New 1 attacks including finding a spot where he can just stay still and charge up his sword.
  • Aruto overwhelming Another New 1 by using all his forms in rapid succession.
  • Sougo using Grand Zi-O to its fullest, calling upon every single Heisei Rider to fight Another New 1.
  • Aruto and Sougo finishing the fight by performing an epic Rider kick by driving the Attache Calibur through Another New 1.
• In general, the action scenes are spectacular, showing off radically different styles and sides to every single faction and/or character in the movie. From the frantic, fast-paced action scenes showing off the handicapped resistance to the methodical combat style of the experienced Sougo and Soreo, every action scene is some of the best Kamen Rider has to offer. Many have praised it to be the best part of the movie.

REAL×TIME

• Horobi makes another dramatic entrance this movie by leaping off a building and transforming midfall. His landing creates a massive dustcloud and he uses the cover to take out Mooks in three slashes.
• Late into the movie, Aruto tries to get a reformed Rihito/S to run from his former subordinates so he can go shut down the nanites, only for Bell to charge up a Thousandjacker finisher as Lucifer a short distance away and fling it at him. Aruto then responds in turn by throwing the Attache Calibur across the room untransformed with so much power and precision that it stops the projectile mid-flight and deeply embeds itself in a nearby wall.
• This then segues into another awesome moment: Aruto and Is (who has had her memories restored) donning their drivers and transforming into Zero-One Realizing Hopper and Zero-Two respectively.
  • Is as Zero-Two is just awesome in general. In the final battle it's actually Is that does most of the heavy lifting, taking out all of Lucifer's Mooks herself and then going to back up Aruto who was losing to Lucifer until she joins in and they double team him with Is getting in most of the hits. Which makes sense, since Is is already somewhat superhumanly strong to begin with and Zero-Two is signficantly more powerful than Zero-One.
• Horobi, Gai and Yua fending off Thinknet in their civilian forms, before Fuwa and Jin join in, leading into a full team henshin.
  • The two showing up is an awesome moment in and of itself. Last time we saw them, Jin had been struck by a crashing jet and two more showed up and went after Fuwa. They appear a few hours later a little banged up, but otherwise ok. The implication is that they managed to fight off the jets and are STILL able to fight off the Thinknet army!
  • Horobi later splits off from the team to chase after one of the Thinknet leaders, who had gone after Es at the Thinknet HQ. Just in the nick of time, as Es is about to be ran through with a sword, Horobi jumps in to intercept the blow with his Attache Arrow, saving Es' life and buying him time to reunite with Akane. Suffice to say, being a hero looks good on Horobi.

Zero-One Others: Kamen Rider Metsuboujinrai

• Just about every scene with Lyon Arkland, as he plays the entire cast like a fiddle and technically wins in the end, even if he doesn't live past the movie.
  • One particularly notable scene is when he rebukes As's attempts to turn him into an incarnation of the Ark, delivers a speech about just how Stupid Evil her beliefs are before executing her.

Zero-One Others: Kamen Rider Vulcan & Valkyrie

• Kamen Rider MetsubouJinrai's fight with Justice Serval is an awesome moment on its end, with it countering everything she tries to throw at it. It's not an awesome moment for poor Yua however, who spends almost the entire fight getting beaten.
• Fuwa gets his own Zero-One Driver and transforms into Dire Wolf Vulcan.
• Lyon Arkland has another one despite not even being present in the movie. He singlehandedly undid just about everything Aruto and his friends were working for in the series, and took down over half the Zero-One Kamen Riders in the process. Even if he isn't alive anymore, he still got the last laugh over the main characters.