Kamen Rider Zero-One E37 Review: Zaia Underwear

Kamen Rider Zero-One, Episode 37: It Can't Be Stopped

Another pretty interesting episode. Again, we're basically in the final stretch of episodes since we're getting 45 episodes total for this season. And, well, we're certainly wasting no time pitting the new villains against the previous one.

The episode starts off with a relatively simple continuation of last episode's cliffhanger, with Ark-Zero beating up Zero-One's Metal Cluster Hopper form with his finisher, which is a swirling black vortex that turns into a glowing punch that breaks through Aruto's metal shield. The 'All Extinction' attack blows Aruto back, and it appears that Ark-Zero has some vague Jedi-like powers over technology because he just takes control of Fuwa's Shotriser and spins it around, aiming it at Izu. It's a pretty cool slo-mo shot of following the bullet as Aruto runs towards Izu... but it's Jin that super-speeds in and protects Izu from the shot. Ark-Zero then uses a glowing red Force to grab Jin, lift him into the air and sort of toss him around. Really could've done something more significant than that, but okay.

Jin tells the human squad to run, transmitting Ark-Zero's combat data to them as he crawls away, and Ark-Zero... is just slowly walking towards them. Ark-Zero then talks about how a mere Humagear can't defeat him, turns into his orb form and goops over Jin to take him over. So... yeah, the Ark clearly doesn't give a shit about Humagears, then, it's just evil and wants humanity's extinction.

And throughout this episode, after retreating... Aruto is just utterly depressed and devoid of hope, and I really wished that the fight between him and Ark-Zero had highlighted this a bit more. It feels like it kind of comes out of nowhere, and it's seemingly triggered by Jin talking about how "the AI has surpassed humanity!" And yet... I dunno, I kinda wished that we had something more. Maybe a flashback to when Aruto got consumed by the Ark during the Metal Cluster Hopper thing? Or some additional lines about Ark Zero and AI's? Because I really didn't feel like Jin's one sentence had that much of an impact. But while the delivery isn't optimal, I did like the brief character development Aruto has here, where he's all confused about his belief in AI but is now utterly scared about it.

Yua, meanwhile, talks to Ai-chan about her feelings and how she feels absolutely guilty about everything that she did -- being a Zaia thug, betraying Fuwa -- even if it's all ultimately for the sake of justice. This leads to Yua being all sincere when she apologizes to Fuwa later on in the episode, even if there's definitely a hint of reluctance there as she tries to pass it off as Ai-chan wanting her to apologize. There's nothing particularly special about this sequence, I feel, but it's still heartwarming and definitely an emotional closure we needed for Fuwa and Yua -- presumably in the next episode Yua'll get out of the hospital bed and will fight alongside the other good guys.

The rest of the episode mainly highlights Metsubojinrai.net as they go off really establishing themselves, and that's first by beating up the dude that is the current villain in the show and someone who's been manipulating Metsubojinrai and the Ark throughout the whole series -- Amatsu Gai. And Ark-Zero 3D prints a bunch of new drivers and keys, telling Naki to go give Zaia their regards. Some Lannister-style lines there, Ark!

And because Gai is a right cunt, he wants the Zaia-Specs to go out of control on purpose so that they can promote and demonstrate the Raid Risers to the public. This is the last straw for good old Fukuzoe Jun, who's already uncomfortable about manufacturing weapons, but seeing Gai brush aside the potential civilian casualties just for good business? Again, Jun (and Yamashita) have been in the background for the most part, either being a sitcom rival or whatever, but we've had some decent character moments from them and, hey, this is where they have their big part!

Jun finally calls Aruto and arrives on Hiden Ltd, wanting to borrow the help of a specific Humagear since he wants to take down President Amatsu. Jun is also quick to realize that something's not quite right with Aruto, who seems a bit more down on AI instead of being enthusiastic about how it'll bring people together and realize dreams and whatnot. Jun then talks about his motivations, noting that he has a lot of respect for Hiden Intelligence and for the late Korenosuke, and Yamashita wheels in a Humagear body that they turn into Shesta. Yay Shesta! Jun plans to use Shesta to expose all of the evil this that they are very sure that Gai has buried somewhere. And this all works particularly well because Gai is preoccupied with the Metsubojinrai storyline. Shesta and Yamashita hack into the Hiden/Zaia mainframe and gets a gigantic butt-load of data that will expose Gai's criminal wrongdoings.

Speaking of Gai, he gets confronted by Naki and Ikazuchi in the basement, who has had enough of Gai's self-important shit. They immediately shoot down any of Gai's attempts to claim that the Progrise Keys belong to him, and Naki finally transforms! With the Japanese Wolf key and a massive tornado that forms around them, Naki turns into their very, very awesome Kamen Rider form with big fuck-off Wolverine claws, and in an instant crosses the room and unleashes a lot of slashes onto Gai... and tears his clothes apart, leaving him in his Zaia-brand boxers.

As much as Naki should've aimed for the head... this is so much more hilarious and so much more humiliating for Gai, so I approve. Naki and Ikazuchi bugger off, since they've sent their message, and the next scene in this plotline is Gai, as Thouser, leading a massive AIMS goon squad to assault Metsubojinrai.net in a construction site.

And we do get a bunch of goons running around, but a wave of those evil malice kanji from Ark-Zero knocks out everyone. It's a Conqueror's-Haki-esque scene, if we're comparing this to One Piece, and Ark-Zero mocks Gai by tossing his words back at him. And Metsubojinrai.net walking slowly towards Gai like a music video is badass as all heck. For all the faults this season may have done, I really, really do like Metsubojinrai.net a lot. And we get a simultaneous four-part henshin as Horobi, Ikazuchi, Naki and Ark-Zero-in-Jin all transform together, and it's, again, always fun to see these wacky CGI effects all happening on the same time. Claiming that humans are his tools, Ark-Zero and his Metsubojinrai minions all charge into battle against Gai and the two Horseshoe Crab Bros that remain.

We do get a brief cut-away here to see Shesta's hacking bit, but most importantly is Aruto and Jun having an honest conversation, with Jun actually confronting Aruto, asking why he's so down and doesn't sound like he believes in Humagears anymore. Jun gives a pretty cool motivational speech, asking Aruto that if he, with all of his familial backstory and his experiences, don't believe in Humagears... who will? And that's the speech that Aruto needs to get back in gear again. It's a small scene and all, but it's really great and I like it.

The fight between AIMS/Zaia against Metsubojinrai.net is actually pretty cool, and I am pleasantly surprised that the action scenes don't really suffer at all. I also do really like that Naki is the one that's the most front-and-center in these fight scenes. Not only does it make sense since they are the new toy, they're also the one with the biggest bone to pick against Thouser. Naki just slashes Thouser and Thouser can't even damage Ark-Zero at all; while Ikazuchi and Horobi easily knocks the crab bros around and takes them out with their attache weapons.

And it's not like Thouser isn't putting up a fight, because with his Jacking Break, he's able to channel one of Aruto's keys, the freezing bear, to freeze Ark-Zero and Naki... but then Horobi's scorpion tail stabs Thouser and knocks him back. We get a very cool show of Thouser being overwhelmed, with Naki and Ikazuchi fighting him hand-to-hand, and then Horobi ever-so slowly does a badass walk before charging Thouser down. Thouser jacks Naki's Japanese Wolf tornado powers and knocks the three of the Metsubojinrai peeps back... but, of course, Ark-Zero has the Main Villain Power and he just absolutely dodges or tanks everything Thouser tosses at him.

And then... well, we get a couple of simultaneous Zetsumetsu finisher barrage. Naki does an ora-ora-ora kicking blitz, Ikazuchi spins around in the air and does a Faiz-style tornado drill thing that Thouser counters, and Horobi does a very chill, badass walk before unleashing a Sting Dystopia on Thouser. And then Ark-Zero insults Gai even more, telling him that 'tools have no right to think' before doing a rider kick and unleashing his own 'All Extinction' on Gai. Gai, being a piece of shit, keeps insisting that he's not beaten as he crawls away... and, well, I'm pretty sure that if Aruto didn't show up just then, Ark-Zero would be happy to kill him or something.

Aruto shows up as Metal Cluster Hopper, and talks about how he's scared but won't run away, and we get a clash between Zero-One and Ark-Zero, with both of them unleashing their respective swarms of metal locusts and black goop as the two riders clash with each other and Aruto says his 'there's only one person that can stop you catchphrase'. We get a couple of cool effects here, with the Ark 3D printing two shot-risers at one point, and Aruto does some cool video game slashing moves with his Hiden Metal blade. Jin breaks free for an instant and begs Zero-One for help, but ultimately it's Ark-Zero that's victorious, using yet another version of 'All Extinction', grabbing Zero One with some vague red aura powers, tossing him into the air and doing a little Sith Force Crush thing. And Ark-Zero seems to approach Aruto, about to kill him... but stops and walks away. Okay?

The episode's final scene is Gai, wrapped up in cartoon bandages and a neck brace, arriving in his office to be confronted by Fukuzoe, Yamashita and Shesta, who reveal that they have 1843 files about Gai's nasty deeds and they will use this to dismiss Gai from the company. And sure, there's the cool scene where Jun retorts back with a smirk how he can totally think of another person qualified to run the company, but I feel like waving the data in front of Gai is just asking for Gai to destroy it. I mean, he's done so before with the Panda Raider, right?

Still, all in all a very action-packed episode that still manages to be very entertaining and solid. The Yua/Fuwa stuff is kind of whatever but it's still some real neat work. I really do like the redemption arc for Fukuzoe Jun because it really feels in-character, and while I didn't think Aruto's sudden fear and depression is shown well, the Jun/Aruto moment does flow pretty well. And, hey, I really, really do like Mestubojinrai and seeing them wreak havoc here and really show off just how badass of a villain crew they are? Pretty cool. Seeing Gai being beaten the fuck up and humiliated? Priceless.

Random Notes:

• The Gimmick Watch:
• Ark-Zero's finisher is "All Extinction", with the writing being written in katakana but with a glitching-computer texture over it. 
• Naki's transformation is "Force Riser. Japanese Wolf. Break down." Everything else that the driver makes is identical to the other Force Riser riders. 
• Know Your Magia: I was going to ask what the significance of specifying it, but the Japanese Wolf is actually an extinct animal, like most of the Magia! It's basically the extinct version of Fuwa's regular-wolf. 
• I find it kind of funny that Horobi, Jin/Ark-Zero and Naki have these elaborate effects as they transform. Naki has a tornado, Ark-Zero has the goop and kanji, Horobi has his scorpion buddy stinging him... and Ikazuchi is just... kind of there, the parts just appear and latch on with a flash of light.
• Yamashita's actor has a lot of fun actually hamming it up, particularly that one bit when he's cackling at the thought of bringing Gai down.
• We've established that Izu has super-speed running in this series' earlier episodes, so god dang it Izu why don't you run? 
• Shesta's "oh, you're here. Huh." reaction to Fukuzoe and Yamashita is actually pretty hilarious. She's the master of deadpan comedy, that Shesta. 
• There's a bit of a scene where I'm genuinely not sure if it's Gai or the Ark that's hacking into the Zaia Specs. All we get out of this scene is Fuwa ripping off the Zaiaspec from a doctor's ear and that's about it because it's sort of handwaved aside. 
• I didn't notice it before because they were in darkened rooms, but what are those weird orange dangly bits on Ikazuchi's jacket?