Why Kamen Rider zero-ones cast doesnt work for me.A thread.

Disclaimer: this is a purely subjective analysis based on personal opinions. If you like the cast, good, more power to you.

So, I have made it no secret that I don't like 01 that much. And one of, if not the main reason why is because I don't like it's cast of riders. I do consider them to be one of, if not the weakest cast in the kamen rider seasons Ive seen.

But why is that? Lets analyze

Zero One is a series with multiple riders. This style of having 5+ riders is often rather divisive in the fandom, as these shows often focus on the conflicts between riders than riders fighting monsters, which many prefer to watch.

Now, I don't have issue with multi-rider shows. If anything I actually really like them, and prefer the conflicts between riders over the rider vs monster format.

When at its best,shows focusing on rider vs rider can be engaging and bring interesting ideas to the table.

Now, I'm going to explain what makes shows focusing on riders work so well for me, after which I'm going to talk why I personally think 01s use of multiple riders is rather weak.

For me, the big appeal of Kamen Rider are its themes and character conflicts. Kamen Rider often tackles the idea of what it means to be a hero, to protect others no matter the cost. It tackles the idea of sacrifice and of being a good person despite circumstances of ones origin.

Different rider shows explore these theme from different angles. Some shows also tackle other topics, whether it be besides the core themes or as a replacement to them.

And a big way rider tackles these themes is with its characters and their relationships with one another. Different characters often represent different aspects or stances on an issue the show wants to tackle around.

Themes affect character dynamics, which help establish themes.

The way different characters react to one another and get in conflict not only gives tension and drama, but also to explore different ideals and how these ideals react to one another,whether its by complimenting, contrasting or clashing.

Thats where multiple riders come in. Since riders are essentially equals to one another in terms of power, their values are often okes that are the most established and well developed, the ones the show wants to focus on.

Now, I think that supporting casts and non rider villains are important. I also think that there is merit to rider vs monster conflicts from a thematic standpoint (especially in seasons where the monsters are treated like individuals like in faiz or drive to an extent)

However, conflicts between riders have this different scope and scale. Since riders are equals both in power and how their value is focused on, their ideals are on an equal footing as well. Which makes these clashes of values all the more meaningful and powerful.

To show what I mean with this Im going to use two examples of rider shows that use multiple rider conflicts to explore themes well: Blade and Ex Aid.

So lets start with Blade. Even if Blade has three (later four) riders, it is a good example of how to do rider based conflict right.

Blades main themes are trust and betrayal as how far one is willing to go,both physically and with their actions, for their ideals.

How far are you willing to go for your ideals? What will you do to fight those you love? Are you willing to sacrifice your core principles and values to reach that? Are you willing to betray and decieve others, if the end results are worth it?

These questions and more are all ideas that Blade explores. And it does it with its three main riders: Kenzaki, Tachibana and Hajime.

All of our three riders have different personalities, backgrounds and values. These affect their worldview and how they see themselves and the world.

That, along with what they know of the situation theyre in, affects the way they react to the situation and to others. Their differences in worldview and knowledge create conflict and tension, which is used to explore the themes.

Kenzaki believes in protecting others, but knows little of the situation, which contrasts with Tachibana (who is aware of whats going on and angry because of it) and Hajime (who seems to have an internal conflict of why he should fight)

This, coupled with their varying levels of trust (Kenzaki is the most naive but has issues trusting Tachibana due to his betrayal, Tachibana doesnt truat anyone and Hajime is conflicted between wanting to trust others and not trusting anyone) is what creates their conflicts

Now that we have talked about Blade, lets talk about ex aid (we will get to zero one, trust me)

Ex Aid has whopping eight riders, yet despite that, it handles its rider based dynamics and conflicts pretty well and uses them to explore some interesting themes.

Ex aids central theme is life. It explores this theme in numerous different angles, from how it should be valued to what the value of life truly means.

Does someone who convicted a crime deserve help? Can people be redeemed and given a second chance in life? Who (if anyone) decides who lives or dies and when? Is artifical life even life?

These questions, and more, are questions Ex Aid uses to tackle its central theme of life. And it does it by its use of riders.

Like Blade, Ex Aid uses its multiple riders to tackle its issues. Each of the riders have their core set of beliefs, which then are put to test not just in different situations the show gives to us, but also with the riders clashing with each other both literally and figuratively

Because Ex Aid has sooo many riders and different situations said riders are put in, Im not going to each rider throughly. I do want to get to talk about zero one after all.

Instead, Im going to talk about one example as I feel it illustrates perfectly how ex aid uses its riders to explore interesting themes: the relationship between Emu and Parad.

Emu is someone who values life to its fullest, someone who sees it important to help others in need no matter who they are and where they're from.

Parad meanwhile is a cold hedonist who sees others as playthings. Because he is a literal videogame character come to life, he doesn't understand the value of human life. His values and logic are completely alien to us, just like our values are to him.

Parad doesn't understand that people only live once. He doesn't understand that when you die in real life, you don't respawn, you are gone for good. Because of his worldview taught by his background, these things are completely alien to him.

Throughout the show, the worldviews of these two characters are challenged time and time again due to the harsh reality theyre in clashing with their (arguably naive) mindsets

Emus optimism is challenged by his tribulations and clashes with both his foes as well as fellow CR riders.

Parad has to come face to face with how destructive his video game like mindset is.

And the way their values are challenged the most is with each other, as their relationship and clash is one of the most important ones in the entire show

Emu and Parad are linked to each other both in a literal and metaphorical/narrative sense

Literally speaking Emu and Parad are strongly connected to one another due to Emu being Parads host. They have this link that draws them to one another thats almost impossible to explain with human terms.

Narratively speaking, Emu and Parad are foils of one another, characters that are similar but have major differences in personality and values, which is used to create contrast, conflict and pararells

Due to Parad being created from Emu, he shares similarities with him mannerism and personality wise.

But due to him having a different upbringing, he has different values, which could be seen both as the polar opposite but also as a twisted reflection of Emus values.

This differences in experiences,worldviews and values, as well as their connection to one another is what makes the two characters clash

Emu doesn't understand Parads cruelty, whereas Parad doesn't fully grasp Emus humanism, no matter how much he is created from Emu

this all culminates in ep 39, where Emu shows to Parad the literality of his actions, by killing him over and over again.

This is Emu telling to parad "this is what your worldview looks like! This is what you do to other people! And unlike you they cannot come back to life after they die!"

Its harsh, but sells it home in a way Parad can understand

and this is what makes ex aid work so well. It has these interesting individuals with interesting backgrounds and worldviews, which clash with each other so beautifully in different situations theyre put in.

Ex aids cast have meaningful dynamics and connections with one another, which are not only engaging to watch, but also one of the reasons it themes work so well and are so multifaceted.

So now that thats out of the vway, lets talk about 01 and why its use of rider dynamics and conflicts doesnt work.

01s central themes is technology and the way humans react to it.

What is our relationship with technology? What should it be like? What kind of different attitudes to technology are there? What are risks with technology? How do we avoid those risks while we use tehhnology? Are ai equal to humans? Can they have humanity? What even is humanity?

These are all fascinating questions, and ones perfect for a rider show, considering one of riders core themes is humanity and transhumanism.

And to what its worth, zero one does a pretty good job with exploring these themes, thanks to its worldbuilding and use of the "humagear of the week" format. The humagears are super likeable and the episodes focusing on them tackle these ideas from different angles.

Where zero one falls however, is applying these themes to riders and their conflicts.

On paper, 01s riders should work well with these themes Each of the riders have different views on technology and the coexistance with humans and ai.

Aruto sees the potential of ai not only as tools but as individuals.
Fuwa sees ai as threat that needs to be destroyed.
Yua sees ai as tools that can be useful but dont have individual value.
Gai sees ai as valuables that can be sold.

Even the mbjr riders, who all are ais see humanity as a threat, have different ways it can be explored. From Horobis devotedness to Jins naivety and the internal conflicts of Raiden and Naki, they all have different ways they react to their mission

The issue with 01 is twofold.Not only are these values never explored to their fullest, the riders dont really have any meaningful relationships with one another.

Almost none of 01s cast have their values challenged or have the situations show these values in practice. Their mindsets arent explored to their fullest or are explored in a way that feels satisfying

Lets take Yua for an example. Her attitude of seeing humagears as useful tools is not only super fascinating on its own, but also acts as a middle between Arutos and Fuwas inital extremes.

The show could EASILY show us how Yua reacts to humagears , how she treats them compared to the other riders. It could use her mindset to explore her as a character and have it either be challenged or her mindset challenge others.

What does the show do? Instead of exploring her mindset or have it clash with the rest of the cast, shes essentially treated as a tool by Gai, and in a way that isnt executed that well either.

This feels rather lazy execution and wasted potential of someone who couldve been so much better.

And the worst part? Prerty much every character in the show is like this.

Aruto, the MBJR riders, even Gai, all of them feel like the bare minium of what they could have been, what ideas and concepts these characters couldve represented and used to explore.

The ONLY TWO expections to this are Fuwa and Jin (as well as Izu to an extent). These two are the ONLY characters where it feels that the writers put some kind of effort into exploring these topics and ideas, to challenge the characters and their mindsets.

Fuwa and Jin are the ONLY riders who have constantly interesting growth, whose beliefs are challenged in various ways, who continually show some interesting ideas

From Jin slowly gaining singularity (free will), his desire for family and him being replaced with a new model once the old one is destroyed to Fuwas fake memories, these two offer quite a few interesting concepts, no matter how hit or miss said concepts are

This however, leads to my second complaint. The lack of meaningful relationships between 01s riders

In my talk of Blade and Ex Aid, I talked how a big reason those shows work, is due to their casts having integral conflict and meaningful relationships with one another. These relationships are used to explore different ideas, to have the characters worldview be challenged.

Zero one...doesn't do that.

Sure, the show has a few really good moments with its riders and a few episodes where the riders worldviews clash. But overall the show really doesn't build meaningful relationships with its riders.

The characters feel SO SEPARATE from one another and most of the time the relationships feel rather artifical (pun intended).

The riders only interact when the plot needs them to, and in a way that most of the time doesnt fully utilize their value differences

This is why the conflict between Aruto and mbjr (or Aruto and Gai) feels so hollow. Their value differences dont clash the same way Emus did with Parad and Kuroto.

It is just a hero vs villain clash, that feels like its the bare minium of what couldve been much more interesting based on the contrasts between Arutos love of humagears, mbjrs haterd of humanity and Gais cynical, value based view of both.

And the worst part? 01s head writer, Yuya Takahashi, was the head writer of Ex Aid.

The reason I used Ex Aid as one of my examples of what a multi rider show can be was not only because ex aid is one of the best shows using rider relationships and conflicts as a way to enhance its themes, but also due to Takahashi being its head writer.

Takahashi can do better. In fact he HAS done better . The fact that he (along with other writers on 01) only do the bare minium feels very disappointing and makes 01 feel even more of a wasted potential than it already is.

All in all, 01 is not a bad show by any means. In fact, I do think the show has its strengths such as its worldbuilding and how it uses humagears to explore the ideas it has

I just have some issues with the show, with its use of its multiple riders being the biggest of them all.

Heres hoping that the next season, Kamen Rider Saber actually uses its cast of 10+ riders to have meaningful ideological conflicts between its riders and explore interesting themes rather than as an excuse to sell as many transformation gimmicks as possible.

Anyways, thanks for coming to my ted talk on why Kamen Rider 01s riders arent that good

Thread over.