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So the series is only on episode 10, but it might be fun to randomly check in throughout the year to see how people find the series. Right now, it seems very favorable! The story, characters, theming, and suit gimmicks are all pretty good so far!

So remember you can change your vote until the poll ends!

Top marks for now. Rider shows typically suck at having a good first quarter arc. 01 is doing everything right. Great characters on both sides and the interesting plot threads are teased at just enough of a rate to keep it interesting.

Also doesn't feel overly toyetic at this stage.

The story and characters are fine, my problem lies more with what I had already feared would happen. Just like in Ex-Aid, the filler is forgettable and has not enough time to develop more than very shallow surface level. If you can't make the individual components of a show enjoyable you are doing something wrong. At this point, ZI-O was more entertaining for me from week to week. I expect Zero-One to be similar in quality to Ex-Aid, which means I probably will not enjoy it as much as ZI-O. Seriously, ever since Drive good filler has been really hard to come by and only ZI-O really scratched that itch for me.

I might be one of the few people who thought the first quarter of Ex-Aid was just fine, and I enjoyed Build immensely especially in it's early episodes. Zero-One has basically been doing just that. It's been slightly less serialised than those two shows at this point, but it's been greatly entertaining and leaves me incredibly intrigued for what might be coming next.

I don't think I've seen a mainstream Toku series since before the "Neo-Heisei" era that's had as consistently enjoyable a start as this one has (possibly excepting Gaim?). The suits' animal theme hardly feels forced at all, as technology often replicates nature IRL, and the humor feels neither overdone nor placed at inappropriate points. It's certainly possible to improve it (some of the episodes can be a bit repetitive and I'd like to see a bit more about the public's reactions to Aruto's business decisions and announcements), but so much of the series is so well done, from the mystery to the aesthetic to the occasional dilemmas, that whenever I criticize the show it feels like I'm nitpicking. The show's definitely off to a strong start; hoping it keeps up the momentum from here!

I like it so far, though I haven't found a favorite character yet so I can't really give it 5 stars. It's a fun show. I still wish there were less forms.

5/5 so far for story/characters/direction/designs & gimmicks.

I enjoy how they keep referencing previous characters of the day, mainly in flashbacks. It definitely adds coherence. The main cast is also superb.

Really looking forward to what will come next!

Very much enjoying it, I'll probably have to check out the other one that the writer of the first five episodes did too.

Zero-One definitely has the strongest start of any series since Kiva (and I say that because I haven't watched any before that point). Even Gaim, which also was a fantastic series, didn't start quite this strong; it spent a bit more time setting up status quo, which in retrospect was important, but not especially thrilling at the time.

Thus far everything is on point. The show has good characters (none of whom carry the idiot ball), a very relevant and exciting sci-fi theme, and the plot is moving at a steady pace while not making any great leaps of logic just to fit the show's merchandising needs. On which point, the show is also doing great by not buckling under the need to introduce so many forms in the first quarter, which is something where most other KR series falter.

To be honest it's kind of hard to write about the show, because it's a whole lot easier to criticize a show's faults: you can point out (in great detail) what's wrong and why. It's a lot more difficult to write about a show when it's working well, because everything fits together so nicely. So as someone who's prone to writing long critiques of Toku just for the heck of it, don't mistake my short post for a lack of interest: I'm loving the show, and I can't think of a single thing I'd want changed.

Except perhaps the theme song. It's pretty good. But it's no Excite...

I mean, it helps to have engaging characters who aren't just annoying to appeal to infantile senses of humor. The worst we get is Aruto's comedy, which got dialed back right away. The AIMS duo are fairly well actualized character (although more Yaiba please) complementing Aruto in terms of AI engagement while also having their own personal motivations.

Speaking of which, good theming? While doing a story about game doctors who want to find immortality through transhumanism was ambitious, dialing that back to some grounded scifi about AI was probably a smart move.

Also Jin and Horobi are okay as villains, Jin more so since we've seen more of him.

I only started watching and catch up to current episodes but I have no bad comments on this series so far. The gimmick is interesting and enjoyable. The stories are doing well so far. I do like the fact this is the first Kamen Rider series with a female Kamen Rider as a regular, not extras. I do want to see how Hiden Intelligence would face this crisis and tackles through it. Aruto's secretary, Izu is cute and appealing. It makes me want to give her a big hug. Oh, since the opening has the segment where Izu could or will possibly turned against her president and the humanity, I would like to see how Aruto would get her back to normal without destroying her body and restore from backup or factory reset. So yes, ZAIA had about a dozen type of Progrise Keys in stock and I wish we can get a lot of form change in this series apart from the super and ultimate upgrade.

Much like Double, I would probably enjoy this series a lot. Although I do find out that anniversary series for Kamen Rider tend to mess up a lot more than a normal series. Sentai seems far better at handling anniversary series. It just bothers me why they have to apply the theme of using past riders' powers for main rider to use regularly on anniversary series. That idea is inspiring but not necessarily feasible. ZI-O definitely suffer a lot than Decade because you have to recruit at least 19 casts, minor or major, from each series to make each series tribute a success, in theory plus proper execution. The fact that they are too dependent on this being the major trait cause the series to suffer.
Let me simplify. Take Super Sentai anniversary like Boukenger. This is anniversary and the rangers do not use past rangers' power for regular use but apply the past mecha design into monsters of the week or enemy generals. So yes, I definitely enjoy the series well. In any case for Kamen Riders, Double and Zero-One seems to be far better than their direct predecessors. Maybe the same for Kuuga after Black RX.

This series has been great so far for the most part. From the protagonists, to the main supporting characters (minus Yua.. which I'll get to later), and the antagonists, they are all pretty well fleshed out and given their individual opportunity to shine. I have to give my respect to the writers this season, they have done a much better job in creating characters that viewers can relate to and care about.

My gripe with Yua is pretty much the fact that while being the third Rider of the series proper, she doesn't feel that integral to the story, nor does she have any particular great chemistry with the other main casts. Fuwa is supposed to be the "lone wolf" of the story, but even he has better chemistry with the other characters than Yua. She felt isolated for the most part, she doesn't bond with anyone as Yua and as Valkyrie, she didn't manage to do much as well. She has only won 1 major fight so far, and didn't get as much moment to shine as Zero One or Vulcan. Don't get me wrong, I like the actress and her character as a whole, I just want more from her and there's still plenty of episodes left for the show to give us a female leading Rider that we can truly root for.

Now when it comes to the suits, Zero One has been fantastic thus far. Minimalistic design that somehow stands out, animal theme suits that doesn't feel forced to sell toys, and no over-the-top gimmick. I like it when Toei goes back to a more basic design for the Riders. The fight choreographies have seen some ups and downs, with the one in the pilot episode being the best among them all. So far we only got 3 major CGI fights if I remember correctly, and those aren't too bad. I would love to see more action scenes like what we got in episode 1.

At this time of writing, it's a solid 8.5/10 for me. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Zero One continues to impress.

4.6 of 5 stars (15 votes)

Changed my vote from 5 to 3, given what has happened between November and now.

Even if the finale turns out to be the worst episode in history, I'm pretty confident in saying right now that Zero-One is a solid 7/10 or 8/10 for me.