Headscratchers / Kamen Rider Zero-One

• It was said that once a HumaGear is hacked, it is considered corrupted and must be destroyed. But when we see the ending of the episode, we see HumaGear staff again in the amusement park, and we still see Aruto in his battered clothes. Are they replacements or those who fled the Magia attack, or were they repaired after they were de-activated?
  • Likely they were replaced, considering how brutally both Zero One and the A.I.M.S soldiers damaged them. They were probably broken down for scrap parts, but the individual HumaGears were likely beyond repair.
  • In addition, cloud technology allows the personality matrix of the destroyed HumaGears to be replaced with them having no memory of their rampage or corruption. However that requires Hiden to ensure the AI memory to be recovered.
• What's with AIMS symbol? It looked more like a biker gang symbol than a military organization.
  • Then again there are real life examples of strange Distinctive Unit Insignias such as the United States 40th Cavalry Regiment whose insignia is a dinosaur wielding a flaming sword.
  • Take a look at BOPE's logo◊, coincidentally another military police unit specialized in dealing with high-risk situations; it may or not have been an inspiration.
  • The logo is death and thunder. With episode 16 reveal it could be intentional as both Metsuboujinrai and AIMS are pawns of ZAIA.
• I knew it was probably only to show off his chessmaster status but is the mysterious guy in episode 3 playing chess against himself? Is there a trope for this?
• It may be a plot-related point but anyone wanna throw in some guesses for why did the Neohi Magia's tendrils not target Izu when it was converting all the HumaGears in the area into Trilobite Magia?
  • Could be justified as while the Magia had so many tendrils, it is not unlimited and Izu just got lucky...though I am one hundred percent sure it is plot related.
    • Plot related guess: Not every HumaGear can be converted to mooks. Maybe those who have achieved Singularity requiring belt to be converted to Magia.
    • Alternatively, Izu is the only one that is immune to the corruption, even avoiding being detected by a Magia. Basically Plot Armor here.
    • Pretty much, we saw that medical HumaGears couldn't be converted until MetsuboJinrai stole some gear from AIMSso Izu should be the most resistant to the Zetsumerise Keys, as the assistant to Aruto both as CEO and Kamen Rider.
    • The fact that she gets hit by one of the tendrils and while it seriously injures and almost kills her doesn't hack her would seem to suggest she's immune. It's worth noting Izu is shown to be built slightly differently than most HumaGears who have the basic "plastic person" body underneath which then projects the more human looking form over it when activated(and can switch to a totally different one if a different identity module is installed) but as we see in episode 30 Izu's secretary girl appearance is seemingly built completely into her frame and deactivating her does not revert her to a base form. Given that most of the hacked gears have their humanlike forms torn away to hack the basic forms underneath and Izu does not share this design she probably cannot be hacked in this way and instead it just punched through to her internals and seriously damaged her.
• Where on Earth do the Trilobite Magic get their weapons? I know the most obvious answer is that when a HumaGear is reformatted into a TM parts of their body get modified into weaponry for them to use….but how does a bit of reconfiguring create a fully functional firearm? It’s one thing to change the head into being more armored or creating a knife for them to use, but how on earth can you justify an average HumaGear having the parts necessary to create a fucking gun?
• How are Aruto’s activities as Zero One even legal? At no point is he ever confronted by the police or been faced with any form of legal repercussion for being a Kamen Rider, even after he came out about it. You’d think laws on vigilante justice would come into effect, but nothing ever happens? Just what kind of legal magic did Korenosuke do when he filed the Zero One Driver patent?
  • Vigilante justice has never been an issue for any Kamen Rider or Super Sentai member before so why would it be an issue now? It's not like Zero One goes around beating up human criminals who can sue him for damages, or interfere with police work, he almost exclusively only uses his power against Metsuboujinrai and their hacked Huma-Gears. The only time he should be in legal trouble is that brief part where he locked out the mainframe and went on the run from AIMS that one episode to buy time. He probably shouldn't have been able to just walk away from that without arrest. Otherwise though, in Toei verse Japan it's not against the law to run around as a suited hero.
• Likely gonna be Played for Laughs but... Is Aruto always gonna break the ceiling everytime he transforms indoor? Fridge Logic : Is that why Izu told him to keep his identity secret? So he doesn't get sued?
• Something weird about Progrise Keys : we're 5 episodes in, why do we still know nothing about how and why A.I.M.S. and ZAIA have access to them, or why MetsubouJinrai group have a modified version of them?
  • It's likely related to Daybreak destruction.
    • We know KR Horobi (or at least the key user) already active 12 years ago, so those progrise keys might have existed back then. The mysterious guy in episode 3 possibly from ZAIA remarked that current Zero One's PK are the ones who was lost, and simply be remade. Note that ZAIA was also involved during Daybreak event.
    • Why and how they are made are not going to be revealed so soon. It would be like if Build reveal the secret of Best Match in early episode.
• I might be short minded on this, but if Aruto was upset to lose the Flying Falcon Progrise Key, why not make another one? He has the technology and resources, and unlike say the Eyecons from Kamen Rider Ghost, they're all technology based. Unless there's an unwritten rule against this, Aruto shouldn't freak out about losing a Progrise Key.
  • I think it's more the fact that it was stolen from him which he is annoyed about.
  • Agreed to the above, though given that he hasn't yet made a replacement key suggests a possible limit on how many copies can exist at a time...
  • Original poster here. Headscratcher now rendered moot as Aruto reclaimed Flying Falcon Progrise Key after Jin's first death.
• Why does his bike transform into a giant smartphone? It made sense (to a point) in Build since the phone mode shrank to normal size and could be used as a phone, but here the bike just launches from space as a giant phone before unfolding. Why bother? It’s not like they’re being discrete when a giant block of plastic crashes through ceilings when called.
  • My assumption on this was that the toy was designed before it was determined how it would be used in the show- it was probably originally meant to be used in a similar manner to Build's, but it was changed at the last minute. Maybe they thought launching it from space was cooler, or maybe they just didn't want it to be too much like Build.
  • As I understand it, one of the reasons bikes aren't used as much in KR shows anymore is that the bike toys don't actually sell all that well anymore. So, in both Build and Zero-One, they make it so that the bike toy is an alt-mode of the cellphone toy. So they can sell the bike as a toy cellphone instead, which presumably people will be more willing to buy as a two-in-one toy than they would a bike that was just a bike.
• I wonder why Aruto isn't utilizing the Progrise Holders on the sides of his belt and needs to rely on Izu to hold onto his Progrise Keys? It would make more sense for Aruto to use the Progrise Holders to carry some extra Progrise Keys on the go.
  • Look at what happened with Falcon. Up to now Rider gear typically hasn't been outright stolen like we've seen. Most either A) Get to a power item before another and claim it, B) Willingly trade/pass items when cooperating, or C) Shoot them out of the other's hand. Jin had Falcon stolen and nearly pried Hopper right out of the Driver. Given that, it makes sense that Aruto is less enthusiastic about pulling a Sento and keeping all of his keys in his pockets. Heck, he can't even keep his weapon safe from getting nabbed.
    • Okay, so the Progrise Holders are used when the main Riders are in their super forms (i.e. Zero-One in Shining Hopper form carrying the Rising Hopper Progrise Key on the right side Holder and Vulcan in Assault Wolf form carrying Punching Kong Progrise Key in his Holders too).
• I don't think HumaGears are technically paid or need to sleep (though they definitely can go to off mode) so they didn't actually need a home, but... Where do HumaGears stayed when they are offline? Those who have owners might have stayed in their house, but what about those working in public sectors, like being teachers or doctors and nurses from the hospital?
  • I would assume Hiden Intelligence would make some docking stations for the those HumaGears in their place of work. That way, they power down in those stations, and charge up for the next day.
• So why is the board of directors allowing Aruto to assume President now when they were supporting Vice-President?
  • Presumably a massive Bring My Brown Pants situation given ZAIA's machinations have left Hiden so vulnerable.
  • Not to mention that the presidency comes with the Zero One Driver and all its baggage. Even if they refuse To fight the Magia, they will still be targeted for the Driver and the secrets it holds. Can’t imagine too many suits climbing the corporate ladder would see sitting in the Big Chair worth fighting killer robots every week.
  • Fukuzoe still wants it, but it's unlikely that anyone that's spent five minutes with him would think he'd be any good as a superhero. At least Aruto's debut had him winning in spite of a couple bumps.
  • But the boards sided with Fukuzoe in the first episode though.
• Up to Episode 13, they've been building up Isamu's character development, having him opening up to the idea of HumaGears and working alongside Aruto. But then comes Episode 14......and he suddenly reverts to an even worse version of pre-Episode 9 Isamu?
  • I think it was just because he met Raiden (who had similar temperament). He usually just hide his laughs but here he outright walked away from Aruto's joke because he didn't even want to laugh. My guess is he forced himself to keep his anger because it is his only drive, he didn't think he can defeat HumaGears without hating them. As #15 shows he probably didn't have any other life goals and didn't care if he die as long as he can kill them.
  • Out of universe reason is because multiple writers. Not only characterization might feels off but the tone and pace too.
  • #21 seems to confirm the idea that his rationale at the time was "I've got to keep my hatred in order to get my revenge". Between mulling over the meaning of their victory over Metsubou Jinrai for several episodes now, seeing that humans aren't much better, and then his pep talk with Aruto showing that he believes that HumaGears can be evil or good shows that his character has improved drastically. He just defaults to anger and hatred to power him through a fight if need be.
• Writing this as of seeing episode 17, but I am curious on how big Hiden Intelligence is supposed to be? If ZAIA is an international company than ZAIA the collective surpasses Hiden Intelligence even if we only see ZAIA Japan. I am mostly unsure where Hiden Intelligence scales to say Google or Mistubishi in company size.
  • This is mere guess but the fact they had ZAIA specifically mentioned as a multinational company makes me think Hiden mainly focused in Japan (that is if they even had any other branch outside Japan). Since the settings are pretty futuristic maybe Android/robot products are pretty normal, and HumaGear is merely a famous brand name. There might be Chinese ripoff somewhere, or USA developed their own robots...
  • During the news of the buy out, Hiden Intelligence is called the biggest AI company in Japan, even after all that happened. The fact that the HumaGear tech patents belonged to Korenosuke and then to Aruto really makes you wonder how widespread the HumaGears are.
• What is the main difference between Hiden Intelligence Progrise Keys and ZAIA Enterprise Progrise Keys? It seems like there is some form of significance in the two as some are used by the Riders for transformations, others use them as something for their weapons, while others are just around or end up used by Raiders. Could there be theoretically a Sting Scorpion Raider if the key was acquired or Fuwa using the Dynamiting Lion in his Shot Riser or side weapon? This is especially apparent when some keys were needed to further the Ark but not others like Rising Hopper.
  • This is just my opinion but the progrise keys made by ZAIA and Hiden Intelligence are no different other than who is the maker. All functions the same way, giving a new look, armour, different form of finishers in what weapons were used. Shining Hopper, Assault Wolf, Amazing Caucasus, Metal Cluster Hopper progrise keys are modified versions of the normal progrise keys. Theoretically, all the standard progrise keys would work on Zero One Driver, AI Ms Shot Riser, Force Riser and even Thousandriver along with the weapons. However, those abundant number of progrise keys would not be fully utilised by the Riders on every episodes against the bad guys and vice versa. It is all the same like Gaia Memories from W, Medal in OOO, Lockseed in Gaim and all. They all exist but the protagonists and antagonist to fully use all of them. Remember, this is a TV show where the props and selling of toys runs on budget.
• Why did Aruto agree to all five rounds competition? Gai is the one who decide all the themes. In the first two, the Raider ruined the competition (they are also ZAIA's candidate). And Thouser is physically attacking him, too. Is it not enough to file a report to the Police or at least called off the competition?
  • Gai had the ability to simply buy controlling stock of Hiden Intelligence outright, with nothing Aruto could have done to stop him. The competition only exists because Gai is so greedy that he's willing to give up a guaranteed success just to make a little more money by using the competition to promote the ZAIASPEC. Since he's the one in control, he sets the terms of the competition. They can be as unfair as he wants because he holds all the cards.
• Somewhat related, AIMS (Isamu) tried to bring in Yua for questioning...and he just backed off because Gai stopped him? Isn't that means ZAIA is breaking laws?
  • The Doylist answer is that this never comes up for the same reason it doesn't come up with other police Riders like G3, Accel, or Drive: because it would make bad television. The Watsonian answer is that Gai is able to afford really good lawyers.
• Gai also used Zetsumeriser right in front of Aruto to hack Hiden's HumaGear...isn't that outright property damage? Not to mention how he should be questioned for owning Zetsumeriser. So ZAIA is free to do whatever they want, even breaking laws, simply because the law enforcer (AIMS) cannot do anything to Thouser anyway?
  • See above. This one does at least get some payoff, since Aruto follows up by questioning Horobi about the Zetsume Riser and figures out Gai being the culprit behind the Ark as a result. Why Gai thought this was a good idea is another question entirely, but he seems to be deliberately provoking Aruto into hating him. In any case, he's also egotistical enough to do it just because he could.
• Quite likely a case of yet-to-be-revealed at the time of this writing, but I feel the need to pose the question; what the hell is Yua still doing with Gai after everything he's revealed to be responsible for? She was visibly uncomfortable in the latter half of the MetsubouJinrai arc with what he was having her do, and that was before he was revealed to have created the very organization she had been fighting and all the chaos they caused. Yua knows all this, so what could possibly still be keeping her with him? Is he blackmailing her or something?
  • If you watch anime or other shows before, you know there is the definition of coward. Yes, she is one of them. This matter aside, here is the analysis about Yua. She treats HumaGears as tools and backstab Aruto who was earnestly fighting for HumaGears. Her position in AIMS was temporary. Her permanent post is in ZAIA. Think from her position. If she carelessly expose Gai's scheme to public, it might fail because she does not have solid evidence to get him convicted while Gai has fake evidence to deceive and to dismiss her from her position. Remember, even if she does not have any trouble like medical cost for operation on her family and etc, she still needs money for a living. She got no job if she does that. Say that she sort of fight alongside Aruto against the Raiders, she still got the short end of the stick with only one auxiliary of the standard progrise key, no new modified key compatible with Assault Grip or the new type that is based on Metal Cluster Hopper.
  • I am leaning towards 'not-yet-revealed-motive'. Yua is practically the third rider, yet she had no background story whatsoever. We are shown her loyalty is (currently) to ZAIA, but we didn't know how she landed in that position.
  • Perhaps in due time (I doubt it would happen but possible). We do know Aruto had a HumaGear as his adopted father, got killed from protecting his human son. Isamu had fears and hatred against HumaGears. Gai had some sort of dissatisfaction of HumaGears being used improperly. We are about to know about Horobi soon and Jin again, perhaps. Possible to happen for Yua but if selling toys takes priority, she might be lackluster. I mean, even for Sentai, Lupin VS Pat, you hardly knew deeper about the villains because the series focused more on the protagonists. Ryusoulgers was pure garbage for me because of the lousy writing and uneven plot progression.
  • With the reveal of the microchip inside her brain, Yua has no choice but to be subservient to Gai. And unlike Fuwa, she doesn't have the backbone to fight back.
• So...Fuwa is more pissed off about ZAIA using AIMS as tools? Not because Gai is technically creating Daybreak itself?
  • Yes and no. It's implied that he hates ZAIA for everything that's happened to him thus far, from Daybreak to using him as a tool. He's just more pissed off about being a tool because he likes to follow his own rules and beliefs, rather than let somebody else (that somebody being Gai) tell him what to do. The Daybreak incident is implied, although that might be negated since his memories of Daybreak are fake.
• Gai admitted to corrupt the Ark satellite twice already. What's stopping anyone to just get him sued? Or at the very least they could just record all his confession on profiting from HumaGear's corruption, that no one would buy ZAIA products anymore.
  • Doylist explanation, it would make the story arc end in about two episodes. Watsonian explanation, Gai is an extremely powerful CEO with ties all around the world and top class technology. It's a matter of money and politics; do you want to go for the morally righteous path or do you want to go the more pragmatic path?
• I'm just gonna assume it is Idiot Ball again but... Gai outright had Yua using Zetsumeriser, and somehow the TV only catch the part about HumaGear turning into Magia? How the heck Gai get out scot free from all of this?
  • Not sure how to say it but maybe he has influence on every possible authorities just like most corrupted people. Granted even during the first competition, he intended to make his representative for ikebana go bankrupt. I know it sounds illogical for obviously multiple times of caught in the act crime Gai committed but it seems like even the authorities bow to him. Not sure if it is the product he provided or otherwise. We might learn about it soon.
• So Fuwa quits AIMS and take the shotriser, progrise keys and the communicator with him. How?
  • I mean, what are they going to do to him, fight him?
    • So basically anyone can break the law if they are Kamen Rider. Thouser gets free pass for all he's done in tournament arc, now Fuwa's doing the same. It's not like normal human stands a chance against them.
    • Agreed. It does not really matter since it makes no difference. Isamu might have resign from AIMS but that does not mean he return anything, especially if it is done so abruptly. Since Gai bought AIMS over and was the ringleader for everything, that's the more reason he don't want to return any of his equipment.
• Why was it, in universe, why Amatsu made the super mode Progrise Key for Isamu and not Yua? Out of universe has an explanation, Isamu is the secondary Rider and there currently are six Riders total, so some of them are going to lag behind because toy sales. From an in-story perspective, what was his thought process of giving it to somebody who showed signs of being able to resist him instead of giving it to the person he has control over?
  • That might be answered in Project Thouser. But, in my opinion, he would have succeeded if he done that to Isamu before Metsuboujinrai.net was destroyed because at that time, Isamu is too obsessed with hatred and rage that no one could convince him otherwise. Gai presume that Isamu was the same HumaGears racist now but did not take into account that Isamu could change for the good as what we see him now, being on the same page as Aruto. On that account, I presume Gai thought it would be an efficient way to gather data by using a prototype on someone who is easily filled with negative emotions like Isamu, since that is what Ark's entity represent, and would help it evolved better. Yua is outright calm and had no hatred towards HumaGears as much as Isamu so that would not be efficient. Plus, Gai is such a narcissist that he thought everything goes his way and refused to accept others' opinion. That is Gai's biggest weakness, overconfidence.
• I really wonder myself. Gai made an outright stupid move by recalling/stop the service of all HumaGears right after he won the Workplace Competition. Obviously, ZAIA Spec isn't going to help the people, at the hospital that had been relying on HumaGears now. Cause HumaGears is not entirely in the whole line of job for them to assist humans. There is no politician HumaGear, obviously but the hospitals, police force (excluding AIMS), firefighters are some of the essence of what HumaGears being a part that would be troublesome to remove so suddenly.
  • That it was a terrible idea was the point. He was so focused on destroying Korenosuke's legacy that he didn't bother to think on how much damage such moves would cause to him and to his company.
• Is there any in-universe reason for Aruto to appear in the runway? I mean the doylist explanation is it would be a waste to not do it. But they only need Delmo's replacement. Izu as a HumaGear is understandable (she can learn to model quickly if Delmo teach her) but Aruto? And he's kinda messed it up, too.
  • I believe it would be because there might be a ZAIA officer among the fans of Delmo who would outright shoot her in wide open. Realistically, this was done in February.
• So did Degawa (the dude with the beret) and Shida (the dude with the shades) just get straight up executed off-screen?
  • It's heavily implied (bordering on blatant) due to the numerous shell casings and the dude's sunglasses on the ground. Considering how Gai is extremely ruthless in completing his goals, I wouldn't be surprised if he ordered the two's execution along with Yua's.
• Why does Jin carry the Burning Falcon Key on the end of a shackle-chain? Is it supposed to be symbolic or something?
  • Could be symbolic of the fact that he's holding his cards to his chest and is working for his own goals rather than somebody else's, but this is a bit of a stretch. The more reasonable answer would be that he's afraid of getting his Progrise Key stolen (which is ironic because he stole the Flying Falcon Key).
  • Out of universe, it is revealed that Jin's original transformation pose (throw the key on air and catch it back to transform) is actually caused some scenes retake due to him missing the key. I am just gonna assume it is actually happened in universe, Jin missed his key throw so much that Horobi scolded him and told him not to lost his key again and chained it to him. Or something like that.
• I have some doubts regarding Aruto's statement at times but yet he has to be confident with his words to say it even if backfires. So my doubt is this, HumaGears that dreams won't go berserk or hacked anymore. I just recently watched the Reiwa First Generation because the HumaGears in the hall, along with Shesta claimed that they have dreams or wanted to dream but all got hacked. Even Soreo had dreams but he bluff of being hacked by Ark. Was it because those HumaGears are just at the first stage of singularity to have a dream or they are connected to a full powered Ark by that time? So yeah, in the present time, Ark is not yet at its or to show its full power and stuck under the sea. Would that statement of no HumaGears berserk or hacked backfired Aruto again or not?
• Why did Aruto let Fuwa get curb stomped by Gai in episode 27? He could easily have aided him using MCH and yet doesn’t do anything and as a result evidence of the sabotage of the fourth round by a ZAIA employee is destroyed.
  • Because they’re in public and Gai is a respected philanthropist, while Aruto’s reputation is hanging by a thread. Attacking him in public would cut that thread and result in the competition being awarded to Gai, regardless of points earned.
• So, we now know that Gai’s entire T.O.B. scheme was doomed to impotence because Korenosuke and later Aruto, not Hiden Intelligence, owned the patents for the HumaGear, Zero-One, Zea, and all their associated tech. But, speaking hypothetically, had Gai known this from the beginning, would there have been anything he could have done to force Aruto to give him the rights to the tech (for I doubt Aruto would ever give them up willingly) or were Gai’s plans completely stillborn from the start whether he knew it or not?
  • Patents are extremely hard to give up as long as they are valid. Gai would either have to A) do some hardcore negotiation or B) basically kill Aruto in order to get the patent. In other words, his plans would've stalled the moment that he knew about the rights, even though he has the bigger conglomerate and the money to fuel his agenda.
• So... ZAIA also sells underwear in universe?
  • Mostly it was Toei's joke. It is possible since there might more to just good technology in ZAIA. It might be a from a branch which involves clothing. They could even sell beverages and food as well.
• Regarding Ichikyo Amatsu during Gai's childhood, what kind of man holds their child to school grade standards ten times greater than normally allowed by education systems!? Unrealistic expectations much!?
  • Usually what happens to us tends to happen to our fathers. Same deal when people tend to assume good grades gets you anywhere, true for school but not the case for applying jobs if being passive in extra curricular activities.
  • Unfortunately, this is an actual thing that's still relevant to this day. It's called "tiger parenting".
  • This is especially true in Japan, where failure is very much looked down on and children are held to an extremely high, unrealistic standard.
• Why have they decided to release Kamen Rider Zero-Two related merchandise before it's even debuted!? What kind of marketing strategy is that!?
  • Did you miss word of the global pandemic that’d been preventing them from making episodes for a month and a half?
    • What was to stop them from holding back toy releases for the same reason?
    • Because Toei is at it's core, a company that promotes toys for Bandai. Much in the same reasoning of Kirameiger in releasing all of Silver's gear ahead of his debut, the idea is in essence "LOOK AT HOW COOL THE STUFF IS, AND YOU'LL SEE IT SOON IN THE SHOW! BUY IT NOW AND GET HYPE!" Which is actually a solid idea, you maintain the excitement for the show, and keep sales up, despite the pandemic.
    • Also, given how supply chains work, it probably would have been considerably more expensive for them to try to hold up the toy release than it would have been for them to shrug and continue. Remember, the show is made to promote the toys, so the toys are the important part. Toei probably didn't really care that it would spoil the story of the show a little; the toys would still sell, and that's the important part.
    • Indeed it is, if it comes out late. Kids might not buy it in favour of the next series belt and vice versa.
• I understand giving someone some time alone to grieve, but why would anyone literally leave Aruto alone like that right after Izu's death, especially because of what happens next? Isn't leaving a now-emotionally vulnerable and broken individual who had just lost the last remaining remnant of what he could consider his own family alone like that the worst action to take at this moment?
  • While Yaiba clearly intended to try and comfort Aruto, the fact of the matter was that Horobi was still at large, still building a Magia army, and still intent on wiping out humanity. Even with Rampage Vulcan Fuwa can't do more than fight the more experienced Horobi to a standstill, Gai showing up wasn't certain and Jin at the least wasn't fighting against Horobi, so Yaiba was the only help Fuwa could rely on at that moment. Simply put, it was a bad call, but in the situation he was left with Fuwa had to prioritise stopping Horobi and hope that Aruto held on in the meantime or he'd be risking the lives of innocent people.
  • Japanese culture (and Asian culture in general) is fairly particular on not really stepping on people's space when they're in such a vulnerable spot. Even if they did want to, Fuwa thought that the best thing was for Aruto to process his grief first before getting in the way. It's also established no one thought Aruto was going to become Ark-One, and certainly not Fuwa and Yua. Clearly they had good intentions, but it also clearly backfired.
• So Zea takes form of Aruto's father or keeps a copy of him somehow? It seems like an asspull out of nowhere.
  • Remember that part of Zea's duties was to ensure a connection to HumaGear and make certain they were operating correctly. Further once a HumaGear gains Singularity, they're effectively a living being, albeit a mechanical one. The implication is that though his body was destroyed, his consciousness lives on in Zea, same as any other HumaGear that was lost over the show....save for Was.
  • Aruto's dad involved, and in fact the one building Zero One driver, didn't it said they had no backup for those involved in Zero-One project?
    • The Zero-One project is implied to have been after Daybreak happened. It's possible that they saved his data before the project came into fruition.
• In the beginning, doesn't MetsuboJinrai's plan seem to be missing a step or two? Step 1: Find individual HumaGears that are approaching singularity, and turn them into Magia one by one. Step 2: ??? Step 3: HumaGears take over the world. Ark hadn't been revived by Ikazuchi at this point, unless it had planned all this during the failed launch that destroyed Daybreak Town. I know the Doylist explanation is because that's what you do in Kamen Rider, but it still seems weird.
  • It's been a while but isn't the implication is MJnet take the singularity data required to revive the ark? It doesn't matter the magia got destroyed, they retrieve the key and take the data afterwards.
• Has anyone ever wondered why the Amazing Caucasus Progrisekey has three announcements? "Break Horn" "Amazing Horn" "Thouser Horn". Was Gai supposed to have upgraded forms that ended up scrapped, or what?
  • Maybe he did. But most likely because he was a narcissistic egotist who liked to boast and show off his so-called superiority.
• Why was the movie rewritten to take place after the show following it’s delay? Very little in the finished film justifies the change, nor does the details that were confirmed to be changed.
  • Mostly it was changed to be post show to make the final arc of the show (which was heavily rewritten and had many harsh and jarring moments that were needed to get everything done in the amount of time they had left) easier to swallow because the movie comes after it. Is was only destroyed because they intended to restore her in the film for example. It mostly was just post show to give a feel good ending where all the Riders team up and Aruto gets to be a dashing hero taking out a bad guy again. If the movie was mid show, then the series would end with the protagonist having gone into a very dark place, Is dead forever and most of the other Riders depowered which is not the feel the staff really wanted to end on.

• Has anyone thought of an in universe reason for why Horobi Ark Scorpion and Vulcan Lone Wolf use the same bodysuit(sans lone wolf sholderpads) ? like i get they reused the suit but i was wondering if anyone had any better ideas in universe