KR Zero-One 04 released

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Ratings

Poll ended at Mon Oct 07, 2019 7:30 am

☆☆☆☆☆
22
61%
☆☆☆☆
11
31%
☆☆☆
2
6%
☆☆
1
3%
0
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Total votes: 36
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by Lunagel »

That's pretty much the whole plot of Chobits
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by Catastrophe »

Another great episode. The writer obviously recognised issues that plagues Ex-Aid because I don't see any here.

Vulcans form looks real neat. I love how Aruto it serious about showing the truth and attempting to bond with Vulcan.
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by Kalys »

Alright, time to admit it, I'm hooked. 4 episodes in, 4 times I've punched that five star button on the poll as fast as I could. I honestly haven't been this excited about following a toku show weekly like this since GAIM aired and so far it's been a pretty good ride with a good balance between plot and toy promotion, as well as seriousness and sillyness. I sincerely hope it lasts because I'm really into this right now.

Fights have been really good all around, can't think of a single one I found boring yet. The plot thickens every episode and while the one episode format of "Aruto visits/sells X Humagear" might get tiring later, so far it's still working as well as making sense, he's just gotten into the company and in most commercial places (at least as far as I know), they have you running the low-end errands for a few weeks at least so you'll actually know what the people under you will be doing before you take your actual position higher in the hierarchy.

Speaking of Aruto, I'm really enjoying his personality and the way he acts, could do with a bit less screaming but it's not bad enough to bother me. I actually find his not being a good comedian funny in a way, in fact, I'm pretty sure that's the joke and I get the feeling he actually knows it whenever he acts out one of his gags. In a "Look at how lame my joke is, now laugh at me." kinda way. Which is then made funnier by Izu explaining the joke and his overdramatic reaction. Might be just me thinking that though... Well, and Fuwa.

Fuwa is another character I'm really enjoying here, he's got the stock "focused on a single goal" many secondary riders have but you can see there's more going on in there than just "Murderify Humagears." As for Yua, I'm really looking forward to what she'll be doing, so far she's got me very interested in whatever she and her mysterious employer are scheming.

Last of all is Izu, who I feel is still a little on the plain side personality-wise but she's slowly learning and adding little quirks to her personality, such as the "explaining the joke" thing, I'm really looking forward to where that will go in the future but, for now, she's just a way to explain things to Aruto and provide equipment, which still works so I'm okay with it at the moment.

As for the villains, I'm honestly quite happy with them. Jin seems like someone fusing Enter from Gobusters and Parado from Ex-Aid and letting the result run amok, which is great, while Horobi (I think that's the name) is for now just the menacing silent-type with the sinister plan, but that's good enough at the moment and he makes up for less screen-time by being pretty menacing, especially after this last episode, got some really big Blood Stalk (when he was serious) vibes right there when he appears.

So all in all, got the ingredients for a very good show and, in my opinion, already on the right rails, let's see where it goes now.
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by resop2 »

If the make Izu a Kamen Rider then they must call her Kamen Rider Tsukkomi. Then in combat, Aruto could make a lame joke and she could back hand him saying "Nandeyanen?".
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by takenoko »

Can I ask why people call Fuwa by his family name, but Yaiba by her given name? Is this just people being arbitrary?

Oh weird. Looks like in 4 episodes, her name is only said once in episode 2. Kind of a nitpick, but I don't like that.
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by Kalys »

resop2 wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 11:35 am If the make Izu a Kamen Rider then they must call her Kamen Rider Tsukkomi. Then in combat, Aruto could make a lame joke and she could back hand him saying "Nandeyanen?".
Okay, I just pictured that in my head and it's funnier than it should be... XD
takenoko wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 12:25 pm Can I ask why people call Fuwa by his family name, but Yaiba by her given name? Is this just people being arbitrary?

Oh weird. Looks like in 4 episodes, her name is only said once in episode 2. Kind of a nitpick, but I don't like that.
Not quite sure, honestly, it just came out like that for me, I guess they stuck with me for some reason? Though it might also be because they're shorter and faster to memorize/write than the alternative?
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by takenoko »

I guess, although no one calls him Isamu so I get that. But why Yua over Yaiba? Yaiba is much cooler sounding, it means blade!
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by Kogashi »

takenoko wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 12:25 pm Can I ask why people call Fuwa by his family name, but Yaiba by her given name? Is this just people being arbitrary?

Oh weird. Looks like in 4 episodes, her name is only said once in episode 2. Kind of a nitpick, but I don't like that.
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by Go-On Macaroni »

I use "Isamu" because one of the fairies on Star Twinkle is named "Fuwa" as well and I don't want to trip myself up.
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by resop2 »

I was giggling during the show because there is a music video by Berryz Kobo for the song "Seishun Bus Guide" where they had TV Tokyo Announcer Ōe Mariko play a bus guide (that the members of the group, dressed in drag, were crushing on) and it seemed to me that Anna was styled in a similar way, to the point where I was expecting the little kids to be crushing on Anna.
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by ViRGE »

If I'm being honest, the show is being bogged down just a bit by the obligatory Q1 toy introductions. New forms are flying in fast, and not necessarily with a whole lot of logic behind why they're being used (e.g. Isamu not even trying his base Wolf form the second time). It's being handled a lot better than pretty much any other recent series, but Q1 remains a bit of a hazard in this regard.

Otherwise, as everyone else has already gushed about, it's a really good episode. I like the heavily serialization here, and more to the point I greatly appreciate that the show isn't holding back in answering big questions about the world - it's 4 episodes in and we already get to learn about Daybreak rather than having it dragged on for months. That's good story telling.

I don't think anyone here actually believed that the kid's father was responsible for the original explosion, but I like how they twisted it into him being a hero all the same. And while I suppose I shouldn't be too surprised that MetsubouJinrai was up to something even that far back, I also wasn't expecting them - or at least, I wasn't expecting their involvement to be uncovered quite this early. Meanwhile, using this moment to tease the first evil rider is an effective way to trickle that in on an episode that already had two new forms for the heroes; it's just enough to whet the appetite, while not being so important that it distracts from the rest of the episode.

Meanwhile I am surprised that they're dropping the secret identity aspect of Zero One so quickly. But as this episode has done a good job justifying, it's for the best. How refreshing is it that we're 4 episodes in and the heroes aren't fighting among themselves for stupid reasons? It's KR, and they'll be fighting eventually as that's the series formula, but I really appreciate that they aren't going for the cheap melodrama of having the heroes fighting each other. It means there's a lot more screen time to actually develop the series' big plot threads and characters.

Aruto's overall conviction in this episode was really heartwarming as well. Admittedly it's a primary trait of main riders as a whole, but how it's being executed on here is really cool. Aruto is the boss, and he's going to get to the bottom of things no matter where that leads him. So often these series have the hero as some underdog nobody who is trying to fight some corrupt system from the bottom; but in this case Aruto is going right from the top, grilling his own VP in the process. The first promos for the series largely treated the president thing as a stupid gimmick, but it's being used very effectively here to freshen up the usual tropes.

Finally, I'm really interested to see if we get some further exposition/consequences of what happened with Anna. Despite getting spiked by the MOTW, she's the first bot not to really go rogue. Is that because of something that was on the memory card? Sheer force of will? One of the world's big problems is that MetsubouJinrai can just keep jacking HumaGear to do their dirty work, so I'm eager to see how that subject is tackled, keeping in mind that at the end of the day there still needs to be a way for MetsubouJinrai to get more footsoldiers for the heroes to fight.

Tangentially, I do have one minor nitpick about the footsoldiers in terms of design. It would have been nice if the crew had made a separate footsolider suit for mooks based on the old school HumaGears. The ones running around Daybreak Town are using the "modern" HumaGear ear pieces, which stands out just a bit since we've already seen that the old school models had larger, clunkier pieces.

Also, Daybreak Town needs better security. Despite being a secure area, any nutjob can break in (or out) it would seem.:lol:
takenoko wrote: Sun Sep 22, 2019 7:30 am Seeing the two lady Humagears standing submissively in the background, it really kind of made me feel uncomfortable. Like this is already sort of what backwards Japanese guys want from actual women...
I had the same thought at first. But in the very next scene, both Izu and Anna are grilling the VP pretty hard. So it (thankfully) ends up being a bit more nuanced than what we first see. Still, they're played by human actors, which is why we feel uncomfortable at times.
Anna is played by the lovely Ohkubo Satomi, who was Sailor Moon if you're a fan of the new musicals.
I didn't even know there was a musical. This is the second Sailor Moon to show up in a SHT show this year, so Toei must be on a SM bender.

And I have to say, she did a really good job. I know I've said this once before in a previous review, but playing a robot can't be easy; you have to be able to do the flat emotions and mechanical motions of a robot, but still put some pep into the performance to help sell the character. It's a really fine line to walk here, and she did a great job of it (shame we'll never get to see her again).
I'd be glad to see less of the noble woman who sacrifices herself for the cause trope in Japanese media.
I'd just be glad to have the show stop fridging the HumaGear of the week every single week. Every time we meet a new one, they get irrecoverably jacked by the end of the episode.:(
Everyone, pay attention to the Anna berserk scene. Davinci copied the frame numbers in to get it to match with the video. Pretty dedicated!
Kudos to Davinci. That looked really cool!
Doublesteel wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 6:36 pm Calling it, all 3 main riders are humagears, that would explain Aurto's shitty comedy, fuwa's stubborn personality (and actual solid logic) and Yua's beauty mark.
Yua's beauty mark? I can see the first two's character traits being tied into being HumaGears, but you've lost me on how a mole is a sign of a robot.
TypicalStandUser wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 12:41 am So, what is “the Ark”?
From the establishing shots in the first couple of episodes, it appears that the Ark is MetsubouJinrai's version of the Zea satellite. They seem to be using the original satellite that was being built for Daybreak, and converting it to nefarious purposes.
BreadToku wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:08 amIt looks really silly when it's holding the gun with those giant gauntlets
Right? I realize that the gauntlets extend past the hands (as opposed to replacing them), but it still looks unintentionally hilarious. Giant Rider, little gun. :lol:
Also I keep seeing people have theories about any of the explicitly human characters turning out to be humagears. Honestly, I'd really hate it if they do that kind of twist but I'm going to try to keep an open mind about anything.
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takenoko wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 11:01 pm Humagears, they look just like people!
Now, how much for the optional biofuel upgrade that allows HumaGear to run off of soylent green? :P
takenoko wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 12:25 pm Can I ask why people call Fuwa by his family name, but Yaiba by her given name? Is this just people being arbitrary?
Being the dumb westerner that I am, I thought Fuwa was his given name. I'll have to make a note to stick to Yui and Isamu from here on.
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by Mxylv »

Good grief, this show has been incredibly good so far. Part of me's worried that they'll run out of story elements at this rate, but there's a good chance that they haven't actually told us anything about the "real" story yet, so I'm willing to not worry about that for now. The episode goes head-on into corporate corruption (always a fun topic), has Aruto put his money where his mouth is by revealing his secret to Fuwa, and adds a sort of post-apocalyptic section to the setting. Finally, we get to see Fuwa potentially showing a weaker side; it sounds like he's pulling a more traditional "telling the young guy to be stronger" play, but it also came off to me like he was down to virtually begging someone else to keep sharing his worldview. Not sure if that was what the writer intended, but if so, it was remarkably deep. Nice to see that he ended up being right to at least some degree, which adds a bit of nuance to the argument. There a few minor issues here and there (mainly, I'd like to see the villains given a bit more motivation for wiping out humanity), but everything else seems so good that it's hard to complain about anything.
Lunagel wrote: Thu Sep 26, 2019 10:44 am Here's what really caught my notice this episode. They mention around the beginning that the explosion is several nuclear reactors setting each other off in succession. Then later they mention the central control is in Humagear Manufacturing Factory 1. The Japanese here is ヒューマギア第一製造工場 (Humagear Daiichi Seizou Koujou), which bears an awful lot of resemblance to Fukushima Daiichi. Daiichi just means number one, so it's by no means an uncommon name, but specifically mentioning nuclear reactors and then calling the factory Daiichi seems like some sort of commentary. I could be overthinking this, but it's what my brain leaped to when I heard it.
I was thinking the same thing; the nuclear disaster aspect of it and the fact that the area's considered unsafe and restricted years afterward make me think it was an intentional reference (part of me wonders if it's Japan's version of American movies with terrorists who want to wipe out cities and countries, although there are terrorists here as well).
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by takenoko »

ViRGE wrote: Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:55 am
takenoko wrote: Fri Sep 27, 2019 12:25 pm Can I ask why people call Fuwa by his family name, but Yaiba by her given name? Is this just people being arbitrary?
Being the dumb westerner that I am, I thought Fuwa was his given name. I'll have to make a note to stick to Yui and Isamu from here on.
*Yua.

I guess I'm just annoyed that no one's actually said her name so far. I get why Fuwa doesn't, since he seems like an asshole. But Aruto and Yua met several times in episode 3. And she's a Rider in this series, even if a tertiary one.
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by Doublesteel »

ViRGE wrote: Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:55 am
Doublesteel wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 6:36 pm Calling it, all 3 main riders are humagears, that would explain Aurto's shitty comedy, fuwa's stubborn personality (and actual solid logic) and Yua's beauty mark.
Yua's beauty mark? I can see the first two's character traits being tied into being HumaGears, but you've lost me on how a mole is a sign of a robot.
How much I would love Izu to just pop in and comment "the comedy comes from the subverted expectation that Miss Yua also has a trait relatable to humagears by mentioning an innocuous trait of hers such as her beauty mark"
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Re: KR Zero-One 04 released

Post by darkmage02 »

Really liking it so far. I think Zero One so far does an excellent job of being dark where it needs to, and funny whenever it calls for. Anna's transformation gives me the creep, can really see her struggling to fight the evil. Great job on the actress' part. Quite heartbreaking to see her go like that.

Really digging the cyberpunk music whenever the main villains show up. Will we get a Heart from Drive scenario of them developing a love for humanity in the end? We'll see. Tho, they're more terrifying in just 4 episodes than Heart and his group in their series' entirety.

Aruto and Fuwa's friendship begins. And I support the theory that one of them might be a Humagear.

-1 point for me because we didn't get to see Falcon really soar (heh) in this episode. No finisher was shown, and he flies without wings. Ehh?

Kong was cool af. Yaiba is up to something for sure.

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