KR Zero-One 12 released

[takenoko]

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Last week's rating: 4.5 / 5 (18 votes)

Alt Title: Has Dodo's suit been changing this whole time?

I don't know what it was about this episode, but it sure felt like a bottle episode at first. Both camps just sticking to themselves and the introduction of a goofy exposition character (plus the fact that we're almost in the second quarter of the series) almost had me worried that this was a clip show.

But it's not, it's all really relevant to the main plot (I think?). Even though it lulls you in with seemingly low stakes (I guess the police are at the door), it was really good seeing Aruto clash with A.I.M.S. and the police while Metsubou deal with Dodo. It felt like a good chance to check in on everyone and we got to see more of Izu, Fuwa, and Yaiba's characters, which is always welcome.

I'm kind of intrigued by Was. I want to know why he's claiming to be Izu's brother. Is Was sentient? How smart is the guy? Given his antics though, I wish he was dressed as Detective Columbo rather than Sherlock.

Only wrote two notes as I was watching this time:
-Whhhhy are Dodo and the Horobi Father and Son combi infighting?
-This is like some Ironman levels of obstruction of justice. How is Aruto going to get out of this one?

4 out of 5. Enjoyable episode. Looking forward to seeing what kind of shocking twist will happen as we enter quarter 2 of the series.

Finally, I told you Izu should have been Is! I called it all along but no one believed me!

P.S. WB to writing Rider, Sanjou Riku!

[PurpleHat]

Gotta go with 4/5 as well. Was is interesting, and I like how there are older Humagear models still in existence. It's a nice piece of world building. I do wish Was went into more detail about what the former President knew about MetsubouJinrai.net.

I also wonder why Dodo fought Horobi and Jin. Did Dodo reach Singularity? Did reaching peak assassin also mean killing off Jin/Horobi? That fight definitely feels forced without any sort of build up, and points more to Dodo reaching some sort of Singularity. Horobi at the very least anticipated it, not that it did him any good. At first I thought he took the key so that Aruto & co couldn't get it.

[Sentai_ZXR7]

Not too bad episode, I enjoyed the development of it.
Five HumaGears were stolen from Hiden and used by MetsubouJinrai.net.
One of them is the Lil Assassin.
The events are very bad for KR Zero One Hmmmm.

[Catastrophe]

You can definitely tell that some other writer did this episode. Sanjou has a habit of using his characters to tell the story, rather than most writers that used them in the story. He also likes to explore sibling themes between non-human characters, so that comes through here as well.

Pretty good episode. A bit of mood whiplash from last week. I'm wondering if Shining Hopper has some kind of drawback if Was was insistent on using Mammoth. It looks pretty neat though, reminds me of Kick Hopper.

[ViRGE]

So following last week's events they're doing another two-parter. The last one was unconventional enough that I wasn't quite sure what would happen here. Though I should have figured that Toei is going to milk Shining Hopper for as long as they can.

Like Takenoko mentioned, this episode was deceptive. It absolutely feels like a bottle episode at the start, which would be unfortunate coming off of the momentum of the last two-parter. But even with the defective detective running around, this episode still rises to the occasion and does a surprising amount of world-building.

And I do mean surprising. Up until now, I was not expecting the series to delve into where MJnet was getting their bots. Presumably they were making them, and that was that. Instead, we find out there's a whole criminal ring for stealing and remodeling Humagear. And better still, MJnet is then stealing those bots from the criminals! It adds nuance to a piece of the story where I wasn't expecting it, and enriches it as a result.

Meanwhile, Aruto being on the run is interesting. The setup for it wasn't very good, I feel. However the fact that he transformed right in front of them and called it his business suit was great. Though I guess the cat is now entirely out of the bag for the company and the public alike that the green grasshopper guy fighting evil robots is the CEO of Hiden Intelligence, so I wonder if we'll see any ramifications from that?

And Yua continues to be a ZAIA puppet. I am hoping for some delicious consequences here!

As for Dodo, what I find most interesting of all is that the mooks he made weren't regular mooks; rather they were Dodo mooks. I just can't see the production staff making new mooks like that for a one-off appearance, so I expect this means that there is a lot more Dodo to come.

Finally, it looks like Izu's big character arc is starting! Up until now she's been purely a supporting character while the show gets the Q1 toys out of the way, and now that's done, it looks like she's going to get her time to shine. Given what we've seen in the intro, I'm really curious to see where her arc goes; the intro hints that it might go to a bit of a dark place.

Also, that that slide of hers followed by the ultra polite bow just killed me.

Side observation: Shining Hopper is a grasshopper on a grasshopper? What the heck? There's doubling down on the whole grasshopper thing, but this is entirely too literal.

I'm kind of intrigued by Was. I want to know why he's claiming to be Izu's brother. Is Was sentient? How smart is the guy?

The show is certainly hinting at it. And thus far, any time the characters suspect a bot is past the singularity, it's been true. In which case, I'm afraid of what terrible thing is going to happen to Was; thus far none of the post-singularity bots have survived MJnet.

Finally, I told you Izu should have been Is! I called it all along but no one believed me!

You are technically correct! That said, I personally will argue until I'm blue in the fact that giving a character a 2 letter name that's a common English word is incredibly stupid. So I'm rather glad she's Izu, as that's much more distinct as a name.

I also wonder why Dodo fought Horobi and Jin. Did Dodo reach Singularity? Did reaching peak assassin also mean killing off Jin/Horobi? That fight definitely feels forced without any sort of build up, and points more to Dodo reaching some sort of Singularity. Horobi at the very least anticipated it, not that it did him any good.

I don't think its clear whether he's reached the singularity yet, and to be honest, I'm not sure it matters. One way or another, he's decided that he wants to go out in the world and be his own bot. Which is good enough as any to fight your masters. Dodo being Horobi's monster that has gotten out of control has a certain delicious irony to it.

[Xirix]

Yeah I don't think anyone was not believing you takenoko, just it would look hella dumb. That said, I enjoyed the episode, I quite like Was, and it's nice to see Dodo just kicking ass.

[Gekko]

If "Izu" is actuay named after "Is", and his brother is "Was"...

...then maybe we can expect a related Humagear named "Will Be", "Will", or something, in the future?

[takenoko]

>Though I guess the cat is now entirely out of the bag for the company and the public alike that the green grasshopper guy fighting evil robots is the CEO of Hiden Intelligence, so I wonder if we'll see any ramifications from that?

Wait, are people seeing his suit as green? It looks yellow to me

>As for Dodo, what I find most interesting of all is that the mooks he made weren't regular mooks; rather they were Dodo mooks. I just can't see the production staff making new mooks like that for a one-off appearance, so I expect this means that there is a lot more Dodo to come.

Dodo is getting quite a bit of action! I was surprised they modified a skull into his head design. They totally didn't have to, but I guess they wanted to represent his evolution

Finally, I told you Izu should have been Is! I called it all along but no one believed me!

You are technically correct! That said, I personally will argue until I'm blue in the fact that giving a character a 2 letter name that's a common English word is incredibly stupid. So I'm rather glad she's Izu, as that's much more distinct as a name.

The sole voice of sanity in a mob of madness!

[Alfie.Moiz]

I am new here just in case
The episode was great. I absolutely enjoyed Dodo saying "Time to leave the nest" in the double sense and nobody is going to comment on Jin break heart (do humagears have hearts?) for losing his bird partner (or Brother?)

[Layton13]

Yep, this feels like Sanjou alright. Weird, eccentric characters I quickly fall in love with.

Yeah, honest to god, I would love for him to write more episodes. That is a Humagear I want to see turn Magia simply because I like him so much. This whole episode just makes me wish he would be given another Series again. I really like his writing style.

[takenoko]

Just in case you're wondering, the nest line is there in the Japanese too:
巣立ちの時だ
巣立ち 【すだち】 (n) leaving the nest, becoming independent, (P)

Yes Sanjou, write more stories about robots and detectives. /me looks at the cliffhanger for Kamen Rider Brain.

But more importantly to me, please write more Beet the Vandel Buster now that your illustrator has gotten better D:

[Kogashi]

*makes a sour face* .. I don' like it. I really don' like it. I feel like it is dragging it's feet through a storyline they feel is filling a plothole that no one thought was a pothole (how Dodo can keep coming back with the same body), just so it doesn't have to show off the new form too soon. Yes that is my main complaint in this episode, new guy who is an old model is fine as a character, like someone more energetic who actually gets under Izu's skin... *tries to not think about* more tension between Yaiba and if her loyalties lie with evil mega corporation or the law. But just, the 'main' hook of the episode as it were, where Dodo's bodies came from feels so... unneeded. It feels like it's an issue only people in the writing room were hung up on, and so much of the episode is wrapped up in that. Unless the remaining dance humagear becomes a recurring character through out, like a AIMs assistant or something, we are likely to never see this lot again outside of a minor cameo near the end, this will not have mattered in the long run. AND THEY SPEND SO MUCH TIME ON IT

Also, oh hey Fuwa look, more examples of Humagears when made being safe but these existing groups that go out of their way to make them dangerous. How bout that? No? Gonna still be the exact same character through out the series with no meaningful growth other than 'well, I guess some humagears are fine if they are nice people but in general they still can't be trusted'? ... okay cool Sorry I know I am yammering, about things that will no matter, because the effects are well done and the characters say funny lines well, but this keeps bugging me and well... This is what I used to do for bout a year and a half on youtube *shrug*

[WannaFantaMan]

Only thing that kept the episode from being perfect was THE GOD DAMN CLIFFHANGER BECAUSE F*CK THOSE!!! Anyone else lawl when Izu went ZOOM ZOOM to get the new key only to lose it completely when she did that slide to give it to Aruto while maintaining that stoic face??? xD

[Kamen Rider Raven]

Also, oh hey Fuwa look, more examples of Humagears when made being safe but these existing groups that go out of their way to make them dangerous. How bout that? No? Gonna still be the exact same character through out the series with no meaningful growth other than 'well, I guess some humagears are fine if they are nice people but in general they still can't be trusted'? ... okay cool Sorry I know I am yammering, about things that will no matter, because the effects are well done and the characters say funny lines well, but this keeps bugging me and well... This is what I used to do for bout a year and a half on youtube *shrug*

Fuwa has actually been rather subdued in his humagear hate as of late. The distrust is still there but he gives credit where it's due. He seems downright impressed with Wazu. However he still has been through a tramatic experience so I don't expect him to suddenly love all humagears. That being said, he's far from one note, which is something I was worried about at the beginning of the series.

[takenoko]

Yeah, I think Fuwa's characterization is pretty good. He's made steps forward, but has good reason to be hesitant and distrusting given the circumstances