Recap / Kamen Rider Zero One Ep 38 Im 1000 Your Friend

Vice-President Fukuzoe and others have reported and found evidence that connects Gai Amatsu directly to all of the dangerous and suspicious events surrounding the Ark! However, Gai claims that he will violently suppress all of the evidence at once! Fukuzoe asks Aruto for support and he consults with Gai, but Gai doesn't seem to budge on his resolve! Meanwhile, the Ark, who has now transformed into a Kamen Rider, has initiated the next stage of his operation! The Ark appears at Hiden Intelligence's Space Development Center! Just what on Earth is the Ark trying to do?!

Episode Tropes

• All for Nothing: Gai's attempted coverup ends up being this, since Shesta just sends the video of him transforming into Thouser and attempting to kill Jun to ZAIA instead.
• Big Damn Heroes: When Aruto was about to be killed by Ark-Zero, Gai saves Aruto by deflecting Ark's attack with the Thousand Jacker.
• The Bus Came Back: Eida and Ono, the Battle Raider pair from episode 31, return this episode, deciding to work with Yua and Fuwa in stopping the Ark.
• Call-Back: Aruto uses the Hidden Lab's emergency escape hatch to enter it after Gai locked it off.
• Day in the Limelight: This episode essentially is Gai's, focusing on finally breaking him down, getting his backstory, and ultimately showing his decision to finally work with Aruto.
• Defiant Captive: When Ark briefly possesses Horobi, Jin makes a swift attempt to attack Ark with his SlashRiser. Attempt only because Ark was able to easily stop the attack to prove how fruitless it was before repossessing Jin.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Gai transforms into Thouser and attempts to murder Jun because Jun went ahead and cancelled all the preorders for the RaidRisers.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Gai is surprised that Aruto has no intention of returning to being the head of Hiden Intelligence, only just to chide Gai for his actions as a boss and that he needs to be better for the company.
• Evil Is Petty: Ark frees Jin from his control, only to show off that his Awesome by Analysis abilities in predicting that Jin would try to kill him under a false sense of security. Once he's done, he proceeds to take control of him again.
• Freeze-Frame Bonus: When we see from Thouser 2.0's perspective, its possible to read the info in its HUD, especially its EMOTION category.
  Amatsu Gai
  Age: 45
  President of ZAIA Japan and Hiden Intelligence
  EMOTION

  DESPAIR

  HE WAS NOT ACKNOWLEDGED BY ANYONE.

  I WASN'T WORTH A PERCENT.

  SETBACK

  HE LOST EVERYTHING.

  HE IS LOOKING FOR HELP.
• Freudian Excuse: This episode reveals that Gai's issues stemmed from his father being an especially strict Education Papa when he was younger, and punished Gai if he got anything less than 100%.
• Heel–Face Turn: Eida, Ono, and Gai all make one this episode, deciding to work with the Heroes against the Ark.
• Heel Realization: Gai finally realizes, after 10 straight minutes of The Reason You Suck Speeches from Aruto, Iz, Shesta, Jun, and Sanzo, that he is an absolutely terrible boss.
• Immediate Sequel: The previous episode ended with Jun, Shesta, and Sanzo confronting Gai while holding the evidence necessary to out him. This episode starts off with...Gai in the hidden lab, already have stolen Sanzo's flashdrive and prepared to delete its contents, with Jun, Sanzo, and Shesta locked out of said lab.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: From Ikazuchi's reaction in response to his memories, its implied that removing their Singularity Data also removed Horobi's, Naki's and Ikazuchi's memories associated with them.
• Meaningful Name: Thouser was the name that Gai gave to his toy robot dog when he was younger.
• Ironic Echo:
  Aruto: "You already have ZAIA, why are you so obsessed with running this place? Do you secretly love Hiden Intelligence or something?"
  • Later on:
    Gai: "I couldn't stand your business, built on idealistic nonsense, and the reason was simple. It was because I loved Hiden Intelligence!"
    Aruto: "Seriously?"
• Pet the Dog: Quite literally as after Zea created Thouser, Gai gently picked up the robot dog and caressing it after so many years.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: The first half of the episode is devoted to Aruto, Iz, Shesta, Jun, and Sanzo giving several of these to Gai for about 10 minutes; basically saying that he's a horrible boss and that he can't run Hiden Intelligence like he runs ZAIA Enterprise. Probably the most shocking part about this is that it actually sticks.
• Villainous Breakdown: Gai is basically in the middle of having one when the episode starts, raving that they cannot replace him, eagerly deleting the evidence, and demanding Zea obey him when it refuses to manufacture the RaidRisers. He does calm down by the time Shesta receives an alert about Ark attacking, and by the time we come back to him, he seems to be depressed by the realization that he is a terrible boss.
• Wham Shot: We get one from Ikazuchi, which sheds some light on what was done to them in Episode 35.5.
  Ikazuchi: [in pain after remembering some of his memories with Subaru]: What are these memories...!?
• You Are Not Alone: Fuwa gives this sentiment when Eida and Ono admits that they still see Yua as their captain and that working under her is what makes them proud as AIMS Soldiers, saying that contrary of her opinion, she still has a home in A.I.M.S.