Heartwarming / Kamen Rider Zero-One

Moment Subpages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.

"I'll get better, President Aruto. I promise."

Series

Episode 1: I am the President and a Kamen Rider

• Aruto yelling at the Magia not to laugh at someone's dream while it doesn't have one of its own. He even goes on to yell that it may know the word, but he'll never understand what it is.
• Fukkin Hōkai Tarō really did enjoy his job as a comedian HumaGear and from his perspective, the laughter and smiles from the audience did make him feel genuine happiness. Which makes it all the more sadder when he gets hacked by Jin, even when he tried his best to fight it off...
• When a child asks the manager whether he'll shut down the Amusement Park, the latter says he has no intention to despite the attack it suffered from, all thanks to a "Mysterious Yellow Hero". When he sees Aruto, he even gives him a wink to show his secret's safe, and as a form of thanks.

Episode 2: Are AI Enemies Or Allies

• Aruto gives a handkerchief bandage to Mamoru, the HumaGear security guard, since he reminds him of his dad.
• This episode provides hope that maybe Isamu can lighten up and become Aruto's ally some day. He actually thinks Aruto's dumb gags are hilarious.

Episode 3: That Man, Sushi Chef

• Throughout the entire episode, the owner of the sushi restaurant is adamant about his refusal to take in Nijiro to work at his restaurant, believing the sushi life is not for robots. By the end of the episode, the former becomes much more accepting to him, albeit the replacement Nijiro, and even begins personally teaching him to to craft sushi.

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

• During the beginning of the episode, two of Gou's classmates taunt him claiming his father was responsible for the Daybreak Town incident. As the press conference is reported on the news revealing what really happened, those same classmates immediately apologize and admit they were being really mean, while admiring that Gou's father was incredible.
• Isamu learning that Aruto is Zero-One leads to a rather great bit foreshadowing his later Stab the Scorpion moment. Upon hearing Aruto's promise to not keep secrets and seeing him transform Isamu looks at him fighting the Trilobite Magia and then takes his finger off the trigger. Consciously or not, he's begun to recognize Aruto as an ally.
• Anna actually managed to force the little remaining personality of herself to break through the reprogramming, and became the first Trilobite Magia to do so, all just so she can show Gou the truth of what happened. This also shows the first possibility and hope that maybe Trilobite Magias aren't that severely corrupted and can be saved after all, if there's still a little of its "soul" remaining. Also doubles as an awesome moment for her.

Episode 5: His Passionate Path of Manga

• Choichiro Ishizumi regaining his passion for drawing manga. At the beginning of the episode, we see him act akin to a slave-driver, working four HumaGears to death while he lazes around. Once we get to the end, he only has one, a reconstructed G-Pen, but this time, the two of them work together.
• Jin asked Horobi if he was his assistant, only for Horobi to say otherwise, saying the former is his son. Even as villains of the show, it's nice to see the two get a heartwarming moment. Until the next episode

Episode 6: I Want To Hear Your Voice

• Seiji Tazawa's interaction with his daughter, whether when she was a human and then as a HumaGear is touching. The manager truly cared for her until the end.
• As Seine was an illegally constructed HumaGear under the Specialized AI Law, Aruto had to get around that loophole by resurrecting her as an AI home assistant akin to the Alexa. Seiji nonetheless is happy his daughter would still be around, at least in voice.
• Aruto comments on the situation afterwards that people cannot live without AI, which makes it a pun with the Japanese word 'ai' meaning love, and then causes him to make another pun joke.
• Izu copying Aruto's comedy joke at the end.

Episode 7: I'm a Hot-Blooded Huma Gear Coach

• The way Jin dotes over Little Assassin (a name Jin gave him, by the way) is adorable. While LA's child-like personality is mostly to assist in its Adaptive Ability,^note  To learn, grow and... well, adapt the fact he and Jin get along so well from the get-go is a stark contrast to the cold, distant relationship between him and Horobi. When the Dodo Magia is defeated, Jin even looks around for him, as if worried. The good side of Jin may not be fully gone, after all.
• The entirety of Kobe's eruption into self-awareness. Kobe's display of raw emotion during his declaration of wanting to see his team win is nothing short of beautiful; His face in particular really sells it. It makes his immediate conversion into a Magia then-and-there all the worse.

Episode 8: The Destruction Begins Now

• Jin's reaction to Little Assassin coming back with data intact (in a new model-body) after assuming he was gone for good is to hyper-actively jump for joy like an actual child.
• Mashiro-chan's scan by Izu gives insights on the former's character. Which is also sad considering what happened to her and her colleagues later in the episode.

Episode 9: This Life, Leave It to Me

• The reactivation of the HumaGears has one for Aruto, Izu, and Yua.
  • Yua running over to beg Aruto to reactivate the HumaGears due to Isamu desperately needing surgery and them being his last hope, even stating that she'd take responsibility if something happened.
  • Aruto snapping out of his funk and telling Izu to reactivate them, stating that he has to have faith in the HumaGears, even if no one else will, before going out to stand up to Metsuboujinrai.net once more.
  • Izu gets one when she admits that, even if she isn't sure whether HumaGears that gain sentience will act with good will, or if them reaching Singularity will be good or bad for the company, she does want to have faith in Aruto and his beliefs, meaning, in a roundabout way, she wants to have faith in them as well.
• As much as he denies it, Fuwa is starting to appreciate HumaGears more, especially since one saved his life.
• Aruto learns Isamu think he's funny after he busts a gut trying not to laugh at one of Aruto's puns, and he is just so happy that someone finally appreciates his jokes.

Episode 10: I am an Actor, Shinya Owada

• Little Assassin truly believes that Owada is an assassin too and calls him "sensei." In retrospect, Owada thought he was a great actor.
• Although Fuwa knows that Yua is working for ZAIA behind his back, he still trusts her anyways because he knows that she's a good person at heart.

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

• Despite the shooting is already ruined by Magia's attack, Owada changed his mind and willing to work again with Enji.
• Doubles as a tearjerker, but Owada's words before being shot seems to be directed to Little Assassin, given how he simply stood there and took the bullet anyways.

Episode 13: I Work as the President's Secretary

• Aruto encourages Izu to have more confidence in herself, seeing her as an amazing secretary who can support a useless president such as himself.
• Fuwa actually shows concern for the injured Aruto, who rushes to go find Zetto-5 despite his condition. When he falls over, it's Fuwa that helps him up and tells him to transform, as the system can ease his injuries.
• Izu's flashbacks with her and Aruto are heartwarming in and of itself. None of the flashbacks are the cool, actiony, fighting scenes, but the silly, goofy ones. This goes to show how much Izu actually cares for him, not as the CEO of Hiden Intelligence, but as Aruto himself.
• When Wazu pushes Izu out of the way and has his own battle data extracted, he goes on to say that no one can extrapolate Aruto's potential like she can.
• Moments before he shuts down, he projects a flashback sequence that has Korenosuke Hiden ask him to assist both Aruto and Izu in the future. He goes on to say that while Izu may agonize over eventually achieving Singularity, it was Wazu that showed him the true potential of HumaGears.
  • Even better, in his final moments, Izu finally calls him her wonderful older brother.
• Wazu left Izu his pocketwatch, which Izu holds onto with a genuine smile. No matter how sad it was to see her brother pass away before her eyes, Izu will honor him without tears.

Episode 15: To Each His Own End

• Jin gets a small moment here in this episode. He makes two small graves honoring Little Assassin and Ikazuchi, burying the Dodo Zetsumerise Key. Even if the former betrayed both him and Horobi, it's heartwarming for Jin cuz despite all that has happened, he considers the two as friends.

Episode 16: This Is The Dawn Of ZAIA

• The fact that out of the entire board of directors of Hiden Intelligence, sans Jun, nobody votes in favor of ousting Aruto as president of the company. Instead, they all give him a standing ovation, praising Aruto for fighting Metsuboujinrai.NET as Zero-One and risking his own life to save the company, as Korenosuke Hiden had foretold. Even better is that Sanzo of all people, essentially Jun's kiss-ass lackey, is the first one to begin praising Aruto, and leads the applause.
  • What's even better is that Jun, albeit reluctantly, is willingly giving Aruto praise for his actions. Ever since the series' start, he's been nothing but a thorn in Aruto's side, scheming of ways to oust the young president and take his place. However, even Jun admits that a man like himself knows to give him credit when credit is due, and says that Aruto's actions deserve recognition.
• Aruto promising Izu he'll win the fight if she promises to get better, and them sealing it with a pinkie swear.

Episode 17: I'm The Only President And Kamen Rider

• Aruto and Izu wishing everyone a Happy New Year is a pretty sweet gesture, especially since the show has gotten a fresh start in the Reiwa Era of Japan.
• Unlike before, Izu is fully supportive of Aruto's jokes and is now even making some of her own. She's come a long way.

Episode 18: This is My Floristry

• Because she had not been hacked by MetsubouJinrai, Sakuyo's memories are stored on Hiden's cloud and are restored in the wake of her destruction by Thouser. This makes her the first Magia to recover without losing their memory.
• Gai proves he's not totally morally bankrupt when he discovers that Rentaro cheated to win the flower arranging contest, he actually helps Aruto and Izu confront him while threatening legal action due to the bad press the action could bring ZAIASPEC. He might be a scummy villain, but he wants to prove ZAIA's better than Hiden fair and square.
• Sakuyo forgiving Rentaro and encouraging him not to give up on flower arranging. The flower arranger apologizes for his previous behavior.
  • Earlier she confessed that all she learned about floral arrangement is from the Tachibana school, and when she use Rentaro's own words to encourage him, he had to reckon that he was a master learning from the pupil.
• Izu lamenting that Hiden lose the first round of "5th Workplace Competition", but Aruto didn't mind it and stated that HumaGears aren't just learning from their masters, but also teaching people what's in their heart.
  • Sakuyo compliments his floral arrangement this time around, and he too complimented hers, saying he could see her heart in it.

Episode 19: She is a House-Selling HumaGear

• After Is made a pun like Aruto usually does, he praises her pun and she gives him a very adorable smile.
• This episode introduces the real-estate selling HumaGear Smile Sumida, likely one of the kindest characters in the show, and the episode makes it easy to root for her.
  • At first, the show seems to be setting up a case of Good Is Dumb, as it cuts between Smile's pitch to a rather independent looking couple for suburban family home and Tatsumi's aggressive profit-focused pitches. While Smile's suggestion at first seems to only draw blank, seemingly unimpressed stares from the couple, at the end they immediately and happily agree that it's exactly the house they want. And then we find out Smile's sales are equal to Tatsumi's even though she's only interested in the happiness of her customers. Whaddya know, Good Pays Better.
  • Her other grateful clients include a family with children she happily plays with (and later tries to protect from the Splashing Whale Raider), and an elderly couple who thank her for finding them a perfect home.

Episode 20: That is 1000% the Best House

• While Oyakata and his "brothers" are working for the interior of the log cabin for Ginnojo Oshiro, Aruto asks Smile why she is so sure that log cabin is suitable for him. Smile answers that she didn't think that Ginnojo need an overly big house, but rather his quality time with his family.
  Smile: You don't need many rooms if you are living on your own. If anything, it makes upkeep more difficult for a senior citizen. But, with this house, I belive he will have the perfect space to enjoy time with his family. As long as the person who lives here is smiling, I believe this house will be happy, too.
  Aruto: [agreeing] I see.

Episode 21: Objection! That Trial

• As Aruto starts to question his faith in HumaGear after visiting Horobi, Fuwa comes to reassure him and even makes him smile with a snack refferencing the red hoodie from earlier.
  • Fuwa himself has shown that his faith on HumaGears has improved, to the point he thinks they are "both guilty and innocent". Goes to show how much a character development he went through.

Episode 22: He Still Didn't Do It

• When the trial concludes with Yuto being found guilty, there is a new evidence that shows a third party was responsible. The one who supports Bingo is Ichimori, because he almost falsely convicted an innocent man. He also compliments to Aruto that his HumaGears are truly capable which clearly makes him happy, and thus scoring a victory for Hiden Intelligence.
• The episode ends with Yuto being found innocent and Aruto and Izu making a joke together.

Episode 24: Now It's Our Turn

• Izu quietly asks Aruto to believe in them (HumaGear) while he's unconscious and takes both the Zero-One Driver and MetalCluster Hopper key. What follows is a truly brilliant and massive plan of using Enji to distract Gai as both Subaru and Oyakata sneak into Daybreak and transfer some data to stabilize MetalCluster Hopper, and allow Zea to reconnect to Aruto. After this, she sends a plea to every HumaGear we've seen up to this point, flashing scenes of them being attacked or hurt, but also showing Aruto helping and smiling with them, asking them to help him now. Every, and we mean every last one save for the likes of Wazu (for obvious reasons) calls out Aruto's name in unison, and along with Izu, encodes their positive feelings towards him and humanity onto their own individual Progrise keys, which are then delivered in record time. The keys then get filtered through Aruto's own Rising Hopper, cementing that his power and love of HumaGear is permanently combined with their own, as Zea creates the Progrise Hopper Blade. And as noted in the Awesome page, it works in the first second Zero-One holds it, dispelling the words for war, hate, and so on from the Ark and allows Zea to reach Aruto and bring him back. His joy at seeing Zea is easily visible.
• In a Freeze-Frame Bonus, a large number of gift boxes are sprawled all over the table after Izu retrieved the HumaGear Progrise Keys from them; Almost as if the Keys were intended to be "Get Well Soon" gifts with well wishes from the HumaGears to Aruto.
• Seeing Izu do Zero-One's pose behind him is this, along with cute. And given the above on how the Progrise Hopper Blade was created, you'd be forgiven if you thought you saw all the other HumaGear doing it too for just a second.

Episode 27: I Won't Give Up on Those Lives

• While trapped in the burning building, Jun and Sanzo both had faith and trusted that Aruto and 119 Nosuke would rescue them. And as brash as Jun had acted before, his concern for Sanzo and Shester's safety really shows just how much he cares for employees.
• After the fire is extinguished, Aruto runs into the burned building to personally recover 119 Nosuke, with Yua following suit.
  • When Yua questions why does Aruto go so far to do such things despite being able to restore their data. His response? HumaGears are basically hard-working employees to him, and he could never leave knowing a single one was left behind.
• Even after the scuffles in the previous battles, Fuwa encourages Yua to help him rescue Jun, Sanzo, and Shester in the building and holds her hand. Yua is also shown to not be as cold-hearted to HumaGears as she seemed in the previous episodes because she was willing to help carry Shester out of the building to safety and agreed with Takeshi that Aruto had won the round because of 119 Nosuke's efforts.
  Fuwa: Who cares about she works for!? We're talking about people's lives here!
• Although ZAIA was initially declared the winner of the fourth round, Captain Homura decides to speak up and give the win to Hiden, while acknowledging that 119 Nosuke is a true firefighter, citing that he truly understood the importance of saving lives whilst he doesn't have one of his own.

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

• The preview has Aruto say this after he's lost Hiden Intelligence to Gai, proving without a doubt that, President or not, he still hasn't forgotten his dream of making HumaGear and humans smile.
  Aruto: I'm going to do everything I can to protect the HumaGears.
• After having lost the competition, Aruto doesn't give up in the slightest. Instead, he chooses to start over and build a new company from the ground-up. Enter HIDEN Manufacturing, whose purpose is to rebuild and protect all HumaGear after Gai gives the order to recall and scrap the robots.
• Aruto reactivates Izu using a special Progrise Key with her data. Like the ones used for transforming, it has a catchphrase:
  "Secretary Izu. Take off, toward a dream."
• Aruto seems to have died Taking the Bullet for Izu, and Gai decides to rub salt in the wound by announcing the deletion of all the backup HumaGear data. However, as Yua reports that the data is missing from Zea, Aruto picks that moment to reveal that not only is he alive, but he's stored the data of not just Izu, but all the other HumaGears into Progrise Keys on his person and that one of them blocked the bullet, specifically, the one for Mamoru.
• Though Aruto is no longer President of Hiden Intelligence, Izu makes it so that he can still be allowed to use the Zero-One Driver by contacting Zea. In other words, Zea refuses Gai outright and considers Aruto more capable of utilizing the Driver.
  • More specifically: Izu and Zea couldn't change ownership of Hiden Technologies anymore, and neither were willing to recognize Gai, so instead they made a whole new company and put Aruto as its sole president to abuse the loophole that "only the president can use the Hiden Zero-One Driver". They have faith in him being the ideal president, even if it means he has to start anew.
  • It's also extremely heartwarming seeing how much trust and faith Korenosuke Hiden had for Aruto in the end. He knew something like this could have happened, and from the get-go, made sure that the Zero-One technology, as well as all the patent rights for the HumaGears were not Hiden Intelligence property, but individually owned, so he could pass it on entirely to Aruto alone.

Episode 31: Take Off Toward Your Dream!

• Despite many people fearing HumaGears, Choichiro Ishizumi doesn’t fear G-Pen and is genuinely concerned about him after Gai shut him down. He ask Aruto to bring him back as he considered him as his partner and express his interest on a manga created by HumaGears which contrast his attitude toward them in Episode 5.
  • It's even better when you realised that Choichiro Ishizumi knew Humagears would left to be scrapped if left somewhere else. Not only that he wants G Pen to be fellow manga artist but also wants G-Pen to consider staying with him, for G-pen's safety.
• Slowly but surely, Jin seems to be coming around to Aruto's view on HumaGears and dreams.
• After repairing the blank HumaGear, Aruto decides that Shester would be the first one to come back. Even though she had little screen time, it is sweet to know that Aruto still cares for Shester as part of his team.

Episode 32: My Pride! The Runway of Dreams

• Isamu seems to have overcome his Fantastic Racism against HumaGears, and seems perfectly happy working with the now rebelling Naki when fighting Gai.
  • And at the start of the episode, we learn that either Aruto hired him or he apply to be the bodyguard for Hiden Manufacturing. That alone proves he sees Humagear as fellow living beings and indirectly support Aruto's dream.
• Both Aruto and Jin wishes to see Naki have their own dream and reach for it with their own hands even if they are bound to Fuwa.
• Due to having an injured leg caused by Gai, Delmo could not appear physically on the runway for her model show. Is and Aruto helped her to make that dream come true by appearing on the runway, for her sake and Is relayed the cheers from the stage so that Delmo could hear it too, what she dreamed for.
  Delmo: Thank you, Is.
• Like Choichiro, the man is charge of casting models for fashion shows as well as her fans are very concerned about Delmo when she was shut down by ZAIA, which goes to show that not everyone feared HumaGears and once again, Gai is proven wrong!

Episode 33: Are Dreams Important to You?

• Yua finally breaking out of Gai's grasp when he takes his manipulation of Fuwa too far.
• Fuwa getting back up after his Heroic BSoD after realizing what his dream is. He makes it clear that he's not driven by his irrational hatred of Humagears anymore, but instead by something much more noble.
  Fuwa: I don't need anger anymore! I have a dream now. And that is to make the most of the Kamen Rider [Yua] created.
• Yua and Fuwa's dynamic during this entire episode. Even if they were on opposite sides for a while, it is clear that they still care about each other's well-being and want to see the best in each other.
  Gai: Technology will be the end of you!
  Yua: Haven't you heard? Apparently feelings can overcome technology! So I'll turn ZAIA into scrap!
  • A subtle one, but Fuwa casually catching Yua's ShotRiser at the end when she goes in to slug Gai. Doubles as a Funny moment.
• Keita encouraging Lovechan to go join a kid's tennis camp as a coach.

Episode 34: This Is The Path Of Death

• Like people came before, Members of a local vegetable plantation and factory are glad to have Midori working with them again. Despite her status of a HumaGear, they don’t fear her at all! Gai is 1000% wrong.

Episode 35: What do HumaGears Dream of?

• Fuwa managing to force enough effort out of his damaged body to grab Naki and demand that they remember their dream. Naki's eyes flash a few seconds before gaining their senses. Naki overcame being a tool yet again to live with their dream.
• Horobi protecting Jin. It is heartwarming enough that Aruto decided to trust Horobi's original programming which still exists despite Ark's corruption, and in turn, protect Horobi from Thouser.
• Horobi, who seemed quite affected by Aruto's speech to him after Taking a Jacking Break, stating that Aruto is like no human he's ever seen, and thinking that Aruto may be the one who changes the future of HumaGears.
  Horobi: Zero-One... What are you doing?
  Aruto: Do you know why you saved Jin, last time?
  Horobi: What?
  Aruto: Because you're a father to him. You didn't save him because the Ark told you to. It's because you want to protect Jin like a father would! That's the reason why! Am I wrong?
  Horobi: I wanted... that?
  Aruto: You're not Ark. You're you, and nothing else. And you're allowed to have a dream of your own.
  Horobi: [Briefly silenced, seemingly bemused by Aruto's words]
  Gai/Thouser: [Sighs] More of this dream nonsense? These defects couldn't possibly have a dream. They yearn only for the death of humanity.
  Aruto: WRONG! [Stands up] The HumaGears aren't at fault. It's anyone who would deny their right to dream! Like the one who created the Ark. Gai Amatsu... THAT'S YOU!

Episode 35.5: What Created Metsubou Jinrai?

• The fact that all four members of Metsuboujinrai.net becomes self-aware due to The Power of Love.
  • HumaGears reached Singularity by gaining a sense of accomplishment in their works. As an astronaut-type HumaGears developed to care for the Ark, it is logical to assume that Ark or his love for space is his Singularity Point. Instead, Ikazuchi became self-aware out of love for his little brother, Subaru.

Episode 36: I am the Ark and a Kamen Rider

• Aruto shows concern over Fuwa's well-being and tries to help him, which leads to the creation of Ai-chan.
• Fuwa goes to see his family after some encouragement from Ai-chan. The result lifts the burden from his shoulders that he's been experiencing for the past few episodes and strengthens his faith in HumaGears.
• Fuwa comforting a distraught Yaiba by leaving her Ai-chan to confide with.
• Aruto still having faith within Horobi, despite the Humagear being damaged beyond repair thanks to the Ark.
• Fuwa saying that he's fighting for Humagears when he and Aruto go to confront the Ark.
  • On top of that, he complements Aruto for creating Ai-chan, as the AI helped him out with his lingering issues regarding his family.
• Fuwa in general is a Crowning Person of Heartwarming during this entire episode. Compared to his personality in the beginning of the show, this episode clearly shows that he has grown far past his prior animosity towards Humagears. Not only that, he clearly has better relationships with both Aruto and Yua, appreciating the former's help (despite not admitting it right away) and comforting the latter in an almost-gentle manner, things that would've never even happened in the beginning of the series.
• There's also Jin saving Yua from Ark-Zero and dropping her off at a hospital so that she can receive much needed medical attention. He really has come along way from being a genocidal cyber-terrorist.

Episode 37: It Cannot Be Stopped

• Jin immediately saving Is from Ark Zero's shot with his Super-Speed. Note that he was battered thanks to the Ark possessing him moments before.
• Yua being honest with herself and apologizing to Isamu for all the things she did to him. She even apologizes for the truly minor stuff, which goes to show how much she actually cares for Isamu and his well-being. Crosses over with Funny thanks to her Tsundere reaction at the end.
  • Just like the previous episode with Isamu, Ai helped Yua to solve her worries and do what she needs to do. Yua even says that she can't really think of Ai as a tool because of that.
• Jun and Sanzo coming to Hiden Manufacturing to seek help from Aruto to bring down Gai's inhumane actions as president. Yes, exactly as it sounds like.
  • On top of that, Jun genuinely believes Aruto has the passion to believe in the potential future created by artificial intelligence and Humagears when Aruto was mentally scarred that Ark Zero was the very representation of betrayal to his belief in artificial intelligence. It gives Aruto the courage to face Ark Zero once more despite him losing at the end.
  • Jun even justified that only a Humagear can bring justice to Gai who belittled them as tools.
  • Made extra heartwarming when it's Jun of all people that does this. From the start, he had been nothing but a thorn in Aruto's side, wanting him removed as Hiden Intelligence's President. The fact that we get to see that he does actually care for the young man more than he actually let on before is truly amazing.
• Jun and Sanzo stood up against Gai with evidence to propose to the Board of Directors that they dismiss him. When Gai claims that no one can run the company better than he can, Jun retorts that he knows of one person. That person? Aruto. This just goes to show how much faith that he now actually has for him.

Episode 38: I'm 1000% Your Friend

• Gai finally gets his chance for redemption, and it hit him non-stop:
  • Ai-Chan manages to make Gai open up and talk about his own issues.
  • Zea prints out an upgraded Hiden Aibo for Gai, who embraces his "reborn" friend and even sheds a tear.
  • Thanks to all that, Gai decides to help Aruto.
• The A.I.M.S. infantrymen demonstrate concern for Yua and Fuwa's attempt at engaging Ark and displays defiance towards ZAIA, while letting Yua know they saw in her the inspiration to being part of A.I.M.S.

Episode 39: This Conclusion, Unpredictable

• Fuwa and Yua backing each other up when Gai asks for their forgiveness. Compared to their dynamic in the beginning, it is beyond refreshing to see them openly supporting and caring for each other.
• Aruto calling Ikazuchi/Raiden "aniki". Aruto may have been separated from the latter, but that doesn't mean he won't forget their bond.

Episode 40: Toward My Dream and Mine Alone

• Compared to their characterization from the series start, it's nice seeing Fuwa and Yaiba embracing the idea of people and HumaGears sharing a dream.
  Fuwa: People and HumaGears sharing the same dream, huh?
  Yaiba: ... I like the sound of that.
• Zero-Two's transformation sequence has a rather stealthy one, as it features a pair of grasshoppers instead of one. The first grasshopper is the same as the one from Rising Hopper, but the second is Rocking Hopper's, the model associated with Aruto's father.

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

• Gai announces his resignation as President of Hiden Intelligence, and immediately gives his position to Aruto. Even before Aruto arrived at the Board Meeting to legitimize this move, Gai admits that Aruto is well more suitable for the role as President than he is.
  • Even better is that Jun immediately accepts him and even offers his hand towards Aruto
• The montage of HumaGears arriving at multiple locations to help relief efforts in the city:
  • Oyakata and his brothers arriving at a damaged building, preparing to rebuild it.
  • Multiple Doctor and Nurse-type HumaGears helping out at a currently swamped hospital, with Dr. Omigoto leading relief efforts.
  • 119-Nosuke and other Firefighter-type HumaGears preparing to enter a building to rescue everyone inside.
  • Subaru about to go back into space, with Ikazuchi approaching him, ready to help.
  • Two Nanny-type HumaGears interacting with children.
• Once Naki and Ikazuchi abandon Ark, who's the first person Naki approaches for help? Fuwa.
• After being cast aside, Horobi teams up with Aruto to take down Ark.
  • With this episode, all four members of Metsuboujinrai.net has now defected their allegiance from the Ark.
• Subaru and Ikazuchi working together like brothers once more to destroy the Ark-infested Satellite Zea.
• Even if his dream is for the eradication of humanity, it's oddly heartwarming that Horobi now realizes he does actually have a dream.

Episode 42: As Long As There's Malice

• We have Izu trying to get through to Horobi to save Aruto from his death. Even through Horobi shoves her off, she still holds her ground, firmly believing that Humagears and humans can work together.
  • Even when she's on the verge of self-destructing, she still has enough strength to push Aruto away from the blast.
• A subtle one when Yua tries to go over to Aruto, only to be stopped by Fuwa. While it's absolutely heartbreaking, it's nice to see the both of them openly expressing concern over Aruto's well-being.
• Amidst all of the tragedy, we have Jin trying to protect Horobi from becoming the Ark, even though he beared witness to Izu's death by Horobi's hand.
• Jin spends the entirety of the last episode wandering around in a torn suit and dirt on his face. The first time we see him, he's just waking up from a recharge, his suit is fixed and his face and even hair all clean. The last person seen with him is Horobi. It's heavily implied Horobi took time to fix Jin up before heading off to other places.

Episode 43: That is a Heart

• Even while under the effects of the Ark-One suit, Aruto still cares enough for his former allies (and Gai) to avoid fighting them if he had the choice. And when he doesn't, he merely disables them so the fight doesn't escalate.
  • Lets take a moment in seeing Aruto sparing even the likes of Gai. Sure that he may have been the catalyst of Ark's malice and eventually the source of almost every conflict in this show, but this reveals that deep down, Aruto finally agrees to accept Gai's apology and the Ark-One suit complies instead of influencing him to murder.
  • This does not stop here. Pay attention closely to the battle when Ark-One encounters Horobi alongside Magias that sided with the latter. Sure, with Ark-One's power he could easily crushed the Magias into bits and pieces instantly with little effort but he doesn't. It's implied that Aruto was holding back because he still cares for them.
  • These hints could possibly mean that while Aruto is still furious and anguished from Horobi killing Is in previous episode - he had no intentions of truly getting revenge on Horobi but instead is trying to get him to acknowledge the existence of a heart within himself.

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

• Gai has brought his redemption game level up with two actions:
  • First, he detached A.I.M.S. from ZAIA Enterprise and insteard turning it into a governmental corporation, and appointing Yua as the Combat Commander.
  • Next, he gave her a mission with Jin's earpiece and he didn't need to tell anything before she understood what she had to do: rebuild Jin.
    • Let's not forget Yotagaki in all of this. Despite being willing to use A.I.M.S. as a force of suppression, Yua's actions directly influenced him to give the earpiece to Gai so that Yua can rebuild Jin. He may be a callous figure, but this proves that he is not as cold as he appears, and trusts Yua despite not knowing her for long.
• Yua coming to prevent a disaster involves her letting herself getting hit by a rioting HumaGear then calming them down with nothing but a demonstration of human's kindness.
• Fukuzoe, Yamashita, and Shesta doing a dogeza with utter sincerity to appease the rioting HumaGears.
• Raiden tries to talk Horobi into listening to his heart, but backfires when Horobi argues back on what he would have done if his younger brother died instead of Jin.
• A touching reunion inside Zea between Soreo Hiden and Aruto. After so long, father and son meet again.
  • The way this was set-up was utterly beautiful. Aruto, in a state of confusion, asks Zea on what to do now. Instead of being greeted by an Izu hologram or a disembodied voice, he's greeted by Soreo, holding the Zero-One Driver. No words were said, but the meeting is enough to clear up Aruto's senses, and gives him the answer on what to do with Horobi.
  • There's also the fact that Aruto went back into Zea for answers. Zea is undoubtably the biggest representative of good within the series - the complete opposite of Ark. Despite having fallen into the Ark's influence, he goes to Zea for answers.

Episode 45 (Finale): The Future of Each

• Soreo coming back to give a pep-talk to Aruto. He explains that he's proud of Aruto for what he's accomplished, but his heart is full of anger and sadness. Soreo reminds him that his strength has to come from the heart - not from power - comforting him by saying that he knows exactly what's talking about. He then gives Aruto the Zero-One Driver and heads off, giving Aruto the answer he was looking for.
• With Soreo's pep-talk, Aruto finally throws away the malice he has for Horobi. Instead, he sympathizes with the HumaGear about their shared feelings of guilt and pain, saying that it's okay to accept that sadness. Through this, Horobi accepts that he actually has a heart and finally sees the error in his ways. While the fight starts back up again, it isn't out of malice, but rather out of catharsis - allowing the two Riders to finally let go of the guilt they were feeling and replace it for compassion and sympathy for each other. This sums it up beautifully:
  Aruto: We are Kamen Riders, aren't we?
  • Horobi may have decided to trust Aruto midway through their fight and held himself back after destroying the Ark-One Driver, which led to the perfect opportunity for Aruto to get his feelings through him.
• Rising Hopper making its triumphant return as Realizing Hopper, with a brand-new Zero-One Driver courtesy of Soreo bringing it back through the Zero-Two Driver.
• Aruto not destroying Horobi. His Rider kick was enough to incapacitate Horobi and destroy the Zetsumetsu Driver, but it wasn't enough to actually destroy him. That have to taken an incredible amount of restraint and Aruto pulled it off with pure willpower. Doubles as an Awesome moment.
  • Aruto saying that there isn't a need to destroy Horobi anymore. He had a chance to destroy Horobi for all of his actions, but he didn't, instead allowing him to redeem himself and ally with humans once more.
  Horobi: Why didn't you destroy me?
  Aruto: Because... There isn't a need for that anymore.
  • With Ark no longer pumping malice into him, Horobi smiles from his defeat. It's nothing like his usual smirk and smug, but a true-to-heart smile possibly from having both proven Ark wrong and proving his faith on Aruto wasn't misguided.
  • Horobi is so happy that he sheds tears of joy. Having learned to feel emotions might have been too strong for him.
• The "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue sure counts:
  • Raiden is finally back where he belongs: with his brother exploring the cosmos.
  • Gai is working his way back up in the Thouser department with a team of Hiden Aibo for emotional support.
  • Yua is in charge of A.I.M.S. again, this time with Naki as a new support member. When the others question it, Yua reassures them that humans and HumaGears can work together, which is a far cry from her old self.
  • Fuwa is working as an independent Rider, helping a woman in a car accident.
  • Horobi decides to restart MetsubouJinrai.Net with the revived Jin, only this time their goal is to defeat the malice of the world so the Ark will never rise again. Then, when Jin hugs his dad, Horobi smiles.
  • Though she isn't really the same as before and does not remember anything that happened prior, Is is back.
• Aruto going out of his way to reteach Is all the things he wants her to know, starting with his catchphrase. The episode ends with them trying to perfect their timing in the most adorable way possible.

Anime

Kamen Rider Zero-One Short Anime: Everyone's Daily Life

• Horobi is seen smiling when he saw the photo of Metsuboujinrai members.

Movies

Kamen Rider Reiwa The First Generation

• In the trailer when Korenosuke Hiden gets killed by Another Zero-One, it's Jun of all people who grieves about his death and tries to run to his body only to be stopped by Sanzo. Considering that Jun was practically celebrating Korenosuke's passing under the idea that he would be Hiden Intelligence's new CEO, this speaks volumes.
• Izu expressing that her dream is to stay by Aruto's side and see his dream come true, even though she's being restrained for "betraying" the Humagears.
• The resistance coming in to save Aruto, Izu, and Shester from the horde of Humagears. A lot of them actually express relief at Izu being alive and well, which is a radical change from their prior animosity towards her in the beginning. Doubles as an Awesome moment.
  • It is a bit surprising that Shesta of all Humagears was the one who believed that Aruto should be president. It was to the point where she was the one that instigated a voting session out of her own free will. On top of that, she was not hacked alongside the other stockholder Humagears, which subtly proves that there is a lot more to Shesta that we don't know about.
• Although it is a tearjerker, the last moments of Soreo Hiden are this, where he and his son sees each other off with a smile, despite Aruto crying his eyes off.
• Izu's Longing Look at Aruto when she's going through her memories of the movie.

Kamen Rider Zero-One: REAL×TIME

• Near the end of the movie, Is manages to retrieve the Zero-Two Driver and its Progrisekey after they were taken by S. When she does, she connects to Satellite Zea, who managed to survive from being destroyed alongside the original Is by using the Zero-Two Driver and the Progrisekey as a makeshift server. Better yet, when Is connects with Zea, she suddenly remembers everything. Ladies and gentlemen, the President's secretary is back.
• Right before the team transformation, Horobi smiles and comments that the world isn't so bad after all, showing how far he's come since the series began.
• Rihito reuniting with Akane.