Fridge / Kamen Rider Outsiders

All spoilers will be unmarked. You Have Been Warned!

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Fridge Brilliance

• Kuroto uses his Genm Musou Gashat by picking out a lot of winning lottery tickets is basically a metaphor for video game players taking shortcuts rather than putting extra effort at farming in-game currency and resources. At the same time, he also commits lottery fraud in the real world given how his Gashat alter the tickets he picks out. Given how he and his father are no stranger to under-the-table activities while running Genm Corp. and coupled Kuroto's resourcefulness to back up his godly talents, it's more or less likely Kuroto can still get away scot-free even if he is exposed for cheating.
• There's a good reason Gai views Zein's beliefs a bad thing as he hates the thought of sacrificing freedom over security to protect the world, and the end result isn't worth it. If he speculated about Zein valuing security above all is true, then it believes that The Evils of Free Will will get in the way of its ideal utopia. It will believe that people's ability to make decisions for themselves should be restricted to protect them and others. It would be more willing to sacrifice some freedom, but it will believe that this is a sacrifice made necessary to protect individuals and society at large. And it is likely to believe that security works better than freedom, and too much freedom tends to lead to conflict and injustice, with the strong ruling over the weak.
• Desast being revived using Odin's Advent Deck is rather fitting, this is because Desast himself was able to transform into Falchion using Mumeiken Kyomu and the Eternal Phoenix Wonder Ride Book. Odin's Animal Motif is that of a phoenix.
  • Diend being hired by Foundation X to retrieve Odin's Advent Deck shows that despite his revolving allegiances, he's doing both the good guys and bad guys a favor to keep Zein in line. Even otherworldly beings like himself cannot stand the idea seeing the world under constant surveillance.
• Yuto Sakurai, or an alternate version of Yuto from a Bad Future, being the identity of Kamen Rider Zein and his ability to use the Rider Cards might seem nothing new to him as his main timeline counterpart has met most of the Riders that came before and after him, this includes Sougo, since his mission at the time was to defeat Sougo to prevent the rise of Ohma Zi-O.
• Zein's usage of the Zein Cards is done only once as the card gets shredded after uses. And considering that's Yuto behind the mask, it serves as a Call-Back to the Zeronos Cards. As they expire after use, and being extensions of Yuto's existence, results in the people he cares about to lose their memories of him. Crossing with Fridge Horror, episode 4 reveals that once the Zein Cards are used, it also erases that Rider due to the fact that Kamen Rider Chronicle is being used to power up the Zein Driver.
• Kamen Rider Zein shreds his cards upon usage. Given that one of his opponents is Ark, it makes sense that he has to discard the finishers he use, since the rogue AI can analyze and create a countermeasures against it being used again. Not to mention, Ark cannot foresee anything unknown After all, who's to say that the Ark is entirely absent during Zein and Bronze Drive's fight?
• The Rider powers used by Zein against Bronze Drive are all final forms that are associated with space. Hyper Muteki is associated with shooting stars and Xross Saber embodies the fabric of space itself, and space power renders the ability to manipulate time obsolete due to time being dilated. The flow of time moves slower in space than in on Earth due to the presence of gravity and relative velocity. If one can remember Genm's God Maximum Gamer via Cosmic Chronicle, he is able to move within the range of Cronus's Pause like it was nothing and Woz Ginga-Finaly's own space power bypasses Another Drive's Heavy Acceleration. Even though Banno isn't seen using his Heavy Acceleration like most Roidmudes do since Gold Drive has the power equal to that of a Super Evolved Roidmude. However, he cannot use it against Zein due to being in the body of a Humagear, which generally don’t have those abilities.
• Brain cowering on a dark corner and trying to not be seen by Banno makes sense when he was the major reason for the latter's downfall by screwing up all of Banno's plans in saving Medic.
• The design of the Zein Driver combines aspects of other Transformation Trinkets of previous series. In addition to the base of the driver being based on the Thousandriver for it to activate the Progrisekey, its left handle has a lever similar to the mechanism of the Genesis Driver where the Zein Card is shredded once it's loaded into the belt. Because the Zein Cards are artificially created versions of Decade's Rider Cards, and it has Zein's Rider logo beneath the Rider's visage and on the back of the cards in place of the Legend Rider's logo. And guess who designed it? It's George Karizaki, who is most notable of being a Kamen Rider fanboy.
  • And speaking of George, getting recruited into Zein's cause is a twofold brilliance. One, Foundation X is an organization with a plethora of knowledge of past Rider seasons since Double, so Zein needs someone with a similar qualification, like a Kamen Rider fanboy in an in-universe scale. And two, Foundation X also has access to the Vistamps. Given that George has made peace with his late father, he isn't going to let his father's legacy (the Vistamps) falling into another villainous hands again.
  • Given that George based his Rider form on Kamen Rider Kuuga Ultimate Form and him developing the Zein Driver, Kamen Rider Zein vaguely resembling Kuuga's Final Boss N·Daguva·Zeba and the said Rider form designed after Daguva being George's idea could be plausible. Matters not helped that Zein plans to use Kamen Rider Chronicle to send humanity into their own self-destruction, knowing that it is human nature to kill one another just as Daguva believed that humans can become savage creatures like him and his kind.
• For some reason, Banno is resurrected as Bronze Drive instead of Gold Drive is due to the fact that Foundation X used a Humagear body instead of a Roidmude body; despite Foundation X having gathered data on Core Driviars. Only Banno himself is capable of creating Roidmude bodies. As Gold Drive, Banno's power is equal to that of a Super Evolved Roidmude. However, his revival resulted his Rider form rusting into a bronze color. While his significant strength and abilities remains intact, as shown with his Curb-Stomp Battle against Horobi. He, unfortunately, is helpless against Kamen Rider Zein, who has the ability to Power Copy the finishing moves and weapons of all Legend Riders, albeit for one-time use.
  • Gold Drive rusting into Bronze can be seen as another nod to his body too. Banno took pride in his creations, even those he stole from Krim as well (granted, he is willing to throw the Roidmudes under the bus once they become expendable). As Bronze Drive, being resurrected in a Humagear body, which is essentially not designed for combat unless someone from MetsubouJinrai.net, like Horobi can hack them, hence subtly hinting that Banno would have seen the Humagears as inferior compared to the Roidmudes.
    • Bronze Drive is also meant to symbolize Banno's fall from grace, he was a once threatening villain planning to turn humans into data and give them robotic bodies and was close to succeeding if it weren't for Shinnosuke and Heart destroying Sigma. Even if he can store his data into the Internet and come back anytime, he can never truly recover from his ultimate defeat at the hands of his own son. Even Foundation X show him no respect whatsoever. In Layman's terms, Banno is now a shell of his former self, while maintaining his sense of self-worth.
  • Related to the above, Brain and Banno had to be resurrected in Humagear bodies instead of their original Roidmude ones. While Foundation X did have access to Core Driver technology, the same cannot be said to a Roidmude's body; aka, the Viral Core system. Additionally given their current feud with Zein, procuring a Humagear body is easier than recreating a Roidmude from ground up, as they can simply steal/buy one without the need to waste more time and resources.
• The way Ouja Survive stabs Odin repeatedly using the collapsible blade of his Venovisor Zwei alludes to his nature as a hardened criminal and his use of knives. A murderer like Asakura himself has no problem stabbing his victims repeatedly until they are dead, sometimes leaving a trail of blood around him. The same can be said with how he kills Nezu in retaliation for his treachery, this time with a large glass shard.
  • Asakura is the one Outsider other than Banno that Foundation X successfully recruits. Why? Because Asakura hates the idea of seeing the entire world under constant surveillance that would deprive him of his need for violence.
  • Related to the above, how Foundation X being able to gain the means to revive Horobi is more or less never elaborated upon. When the four MetsubouJinrai.net Riders fused into the eponymous Rider, their consciousness are trapped inside the Rider's body, their original bodies are destroyed, and they have to be destroyed by Fuwa, and the individual members cannot be rebuilt because none of the four have ever created backup data of their consciousness and memories. This is no longer the case when Ark already has the data of the four members of MetsubouJinrai collected from As when both of them already achieved Singularity, and Ark provided the Foundation the means to revive Horobi. The fact that Ark can possess Horobi not only to get close to Zein, but also using itself as a bargaining chip for Horobi — if Horobi lets Zein succeed in establishing a new world order, Ark will cease to exist without human malice sustaining it, with it along the backup data of Jin, Naki, and Ikazuchi.
• Zein's variant of Four of a Kind using the King Rouzer differs from Blade King Form, as the latter harnesses four Category King cards (Giraffa/Diamond, Paradoxa/Hearts, Caucasus/Spades, and Tarantula/Clubs) instead of the four Category 6 cards of the same suit (those with elemental powers). Given the people behind it, this change of Rouze Cards makes sense:
  • As Tachibana is an ex-BOARD member who is still studying their technology and Rider System, he can come up with a stronger variant of the attack, further reinforcing his role as one of the developers of Zein's Rider equipment.
  • Given Zein's obsession with order to fanatical levels, he is most likely to use the Category King variant to further reinforce his dominance against his opponents, as well as to ensure that nothing gets left behind when he kills his targets.
• Brain took the bullet for Horobi, even though he defected to Zein's side and gets possessed by Ark. From Brain's perspective, his opponent is willing to sacrifice its subordinate for its own selfish purposes. A repeat of Banno's actions that almost endangered Medic's life had it not for Brain's interference. One can also argue that Heart's compassion towards his Roidmude companions rubbed off on Brain, that to the point he follows the former's example out of his still existing admiration.
  • Additionally Kamen Rider Brain's appearance here is under the same situation from back when he was a dream-only character: both are facing against an organization who set out on a war against the concept of individuality and free will. The only difference is that while the leader of Mu wants to do so by subjugating mankind to his will, Zein launches Kamen Rider Chronicle into tricking humanity to go into that path.
• If one were to look closely at the Seikens impaling Banno, the first two Seikens to skewer him are the Ankokuken Kurayami and Dougouken Gekido, the wielders of the said swords also happen to be loving fathers, and they're pretty much the exact opposite of Banno. Hayato Fukamiya, the original Calibur, is Kento's father who was driven insane by the Kurayami's ability to see the future, forcing Daichi Kamijo, the original Saber to Mercy Kill him and take up the mantle of Calibur. The last time Kento talks to his father is as a spirit to encourage him to help his friends to fight Isaac. Ryo Ogami is a hard working husband and father who provides the needs of his family, and often brings his son Sora along with him which also unintentionally puts his son in danger at times.
• If one were to listen carefully to the ending theme titled "What's the Outsiders", the tune is based off the original theme song from the 1971 series, "Let's Go!! Rider Kick!". It represents the villains, the titular Outsiders, being the "heroes" who oppose an artificial intelligence that seeks to oppress mankind under the guise of a Benevolent A.I.. The idea that they are called "outsiders" refers to the fact that they don't belong to a particular society, more specifically, a totalitarian society that Zein seeks to establish. This makes Foundation X's choice of using the word "outsider" more appropriate, even more so that they are given the name Kamen Rider Outsiders; despite being a team of villains, they bear the name "Kamen Rider" as they are humanity's last hope to oppose Zein when the heroes decidedly placed their trust on said AI.
• In episode 4, while Banno was summarizing Zein's crusade against the concept of evil, he flashes through the candidates for Project Outsiders, including the Arch Orphnoch and Bronze Drive himself, the latter of which has Brain asking if he is really a Kamen Rider. In Bronze Drive's case, this goes both ways as to Banno's need for self gratification and the fact that official materials (Kamen Rider Drive's official website and Kamen Rider Zukan webpage) don’t acknowledge Banno as a proper Rider. While the Arch Orphnoch shouldn't be too obvious to ignore, due to it being partly designed after Ichigo, Banno would have immediately mistaken the monster to be a Kamen Rider too due to their uncanny resemblance from an in-universe perspective.
• Despite being the embodiment of human malice, the Ark is, ironically, also capable of feeling fear, which is a form of malice itself as a result of being beaten into submission by Zein. That sign of fear is an implication of: (1) that the Ark cannot keep up with Zein's power gap and even after Brain protects Ark-Zero from Zein's Four of a Kind finisher, you can see the Ark is completely petrified in fear from the brutal beating Zein gave it. (2) Zein is just an inch away from breaking the Balance Between Good and Evil. Despite Brain's aforementioned interference, Tachibana destroys the Ark anyway. Allowing Zein to proceed with its plan into motion. Thus, all the villains' fears of Zein are finally coming to pass.
• Despite all three being revived by Foundation X, only Horobi and Brain were allowed to join Zein's cause whereas Desast gets marked as an enemy on the spot. Assuming that the main Riders really did interacted with Zein, then it's easy to assume that the AI and its followers were briefed with the knowledge of Brain's sacrifice and Horobi's deeds after the end of Zero-One. Desast on the other hand? Even though he went rogue from the Megids, he lacks any real good deeds and only served as a meddling rival to the Sword of Logos at best during their campaign against Isaac and Storious, hence Zein sees no real reason to consider him as a potential ally.
• Zein's presence and true intentions invoke biblical undertones, as well as going hand in hand with themes of Phlebotinum Rebel Kamen Rider is known for, both Zein and the Kamen Riders supporting its ideals are analogues to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Book of Revelation (Ch. 6:1-8). Not helped that the heroes themselves enabled Zein's plan to condemn humanity into self-destruction.
  • Zein represents Conquest, proclaiming itself to be a Benevolent A.I. and paragon of justice to ensure good triumphs over evil. In reality, it seeks to impose a malice-free utopia where free will and individuality is non-existent, as well as enforce order and control to pacify malice.
  • Tachibana/Garren represents War because of the Battle Fight, a fight for survival in the name of evolution. He, along with his fellow Riders and most of the Undead were manipulated by Hiroshi Tennoji, who started a new Battle Fight with the intent of rewriting the world under his own image.
  • Yuto/Zeronos represents Death because of his constant use of his Zeronos Cards jeopardizing the existence of his own future self and even Yuto himself. Basically, being erased from existence still counts as death.
  • Horobi represents Pestilence due to the Ark using him as its vessel to transform into Ark-Zero, and the Ark being a Digital Abomination that spreads malice and corrupting any Humagear reaching Singularity. Any human can also become another vessel of the Ark so long their capacity for evil lingers within them.
  • George/Juuga represents Famine because of Giff being drawn to the negative emotions of humans, manifesting as inner demons, to the point of turning humanity into his personal People Farm to provide him an endless food supply. Matters not helped that George himself collected Giff's eyeballs to create his own Rider System.
• Of all the Project Outsiders candidates, the following villains embody the criteria that makes them worthy to be called Outsiders.
  • Takeshi Asakura is more than just an Outsider, he is an outlaw. He has fought the law, and despite having been arrested multiple times, he has done creative ways of escaping capture. He is also more willing to die than rot behind bars.
  • The Arch Orphnoch exists to complete an Orphnoch's evolution, in the process stripping away their humanity. Because without him, his kind will face the brink of extinction because of accelerated evolution will cause an Orphnoch to live under borrowed time. Zein views Orphnochs as a threat to humanity just as it also plans to Kill All Humans, since Orphnochs are evolved from humans.
  • Tenjuro Banno became a Virtual Ghost after his death as a human. Even after he is killed by his own son, he is able to store his consciousness into the Internet and waited a decade later to be revived with a new robotic body. Banno proved to be a valuable asset for his fellow Outsiders, given that he's an AI himself, he can act as Foundation X's only contingency in the event the Ark gets rendered off the grid.
  • Even though Brain declined to join, he still qualifies as such. This makes him one of the more moral Outsider, next to Gai Amatsu. Brain has better understanding of right from wrong, essentially placing him on Heart's shoes. He protected the Ark and Horobi from Kamen Rider Zein, knowing that killing both of them will not completely eradicate all malice, but instead will turn Yuto into a straight-up villain far worse than the Ark — a cruel reminder that two wrongs don't make a right, even if the transgressor deserved it.
  • Kuroto Dan is caught up with his fantasies of godhood. But that doesn't mean he's out of touch from reality. His godly talents can still make a difference and now has the resources after acquiring Thouser-Intellion from Gai Amatsu and rebranding it into Musou Genm Corporation. And besides, he's the first Legend Rider from the Heisei era to return in the Reiwa era and he believes that he is the rightful protagonist of Outsiders.
  • Gai Amatsu is left to his own devices ever since the start of the Genms duology without any allies to turn to since most of them haven't forgotten his transgressions, not helped by Aruto and Horobi aligning themselves with Zein. His only allies at this point are his Humagear Secretary Rin and the Ark, to the point forming an uneasy alliance with the latter. So Gai takes it upon himself to not only atone for creating the Ark, but find other people who are willing to stand up against Zein.
  • Among the Megids, Desast is a wildcard from start to finish. Obviously, this turned out to be a detriment for Foundation X as Desast hates taking orders from anyone. Regardless, Desast seeks to find a purpose in life not just by fighting, but also to survive as what Ren encouraged him, reminding him that he has the power to create his own destiny even in a cruel and lonely world.
• In a meta sense, Outsiders continuing its story in 2024 and coupled with Tachibana, Banno, and Brain's appearance becomes more meaningful when both of their respective shows are at their Milestone Celebration — Kamen Rider Blade celebrates its 20th anniversary, and Kamen Rider Drive turning 10 on the same year.
• Given the anthology runs on the themes of Balance Between Good and Evil, as well as Zero-One's themes of how artificial intelligence learning from their creator's best and worst qualities; the only reason why Zein can't be considered a Benevolent A.I. is that it lacks a common positive trait to balance its righteousness — a warm heart. Ironically, given that Zein claims to study human benevolence, it is unable to process positive ones like compassion. Because Zein is so focused at eliminating malice at all costs, it becomes more increasingly despotic, thanks to its twisted worldview of right and wrong, and ultimately living by its own morality and seeks to rewrite the rules of the world the way it sees fit.
• For some reason, Kuroto having to obtain the powers of creation thanks to Tsumuri, Hyper Fumetsu Gamer is basically a purified version of his Musou Gamer form. Do keep in mind that the Genm Musou Gashat was created from the Ark's malice, and with the Ark being rendered off the grid after losing to Zein and Garren King Form, Kuroto will most likely unable to access his Musou Gamer form as a result.
• Kamen Rider Zero-Three being modeled after Kamen Rider V3 makes a lot more sense given how Zero-One and Zero-Two are homages to the Double Riders. Shiro Kazami was made into a cyborg by his predecessors, Takeshi Hongo and Hayato Ichimonji instead of being captured by an evil organization like Shocker and Destron. This is further reflected with the Ark seeking out Is (and by proxy, Satellite There) to create the new Rider with the only hope of opposing Zein.

Fridge Horror

• The fact that Zein has put the entire world under tight surveillance by just merely existing around the Internet raises a cause for alarm to the point villainous organizations like Foundation X, despite having been off the grid for five and a half years since their last appearance, found themselves at Zein's watchlist. One would be left to wonder how did the Desire Grand Prix, the Jyamato, Dark King Gigist, Geryon, and the Three Dark Sisters managed to avoid detection from Zein during the course of their respective shows while Outsiders is concurrently airing?
  • Episode 33 of Kamen Rider Gotchard proves to be the case, the heroes of that show were dealing an Eldritch Abomination and otherworldly invaders from another dimension, the fact Zein murdered one of the three generals of Hundred shows that it doesn't take too kindly to trespassers entering its domain.
• It's revealed in episode 3 that Banno is never truly dead so long as his data lives on around the computer network, presumably having created a backup of his consciousness. Which even explains his appearance in the Drama CD focusing on Kamen Rider Mach. Go will most likely have to go through the trouble with dealing with his abusive father again upon learning that his father is still alive. Matters not helped that his data is preserved by Foundation X even after Zein beats him into submission.
  • Considering his current state after his revival, Banno is far less threatening than he once was back in Drive. The fact that he's treated as a joke by both sides of the conflict means he's not a cause for concern.
  • Getting beaten to near-death by Kamen Rider Zein left Banno screaming in fear and terror shows that he is still haunted by Go killing him nine years ago. Even though Banno is a Virtual Ghost, he is still susceptible to post-traumatic stress disorder from the aforementioned ordeal, his encounter with Zein only worsened his trauma.
• The fact that Zein can copy the voices of other people, in this case Nico Saiba to trick Tsukuru Koboshi into relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle. He can commit identity theft with no consequences, while people like Nico end up being The Scapegoat for the ensuing chaos.
• Zein's plans with Kamen Rider Chronicle to speed up humanity's extinction makes enough sense for it not to get its hands dirty unlike Ark, who seems to be aggressive in killing all of humanity outright. Further contrasting Ark's sentiment of mankind's capacity for evil, Zein believes that humanity is capable of their own self-destruction and by using Kamen Rider Chronicle to produce Ride Players to be used as cannon fodder against the Outsiders to goad them into killing unsuspecting players who have nothing to do with them.
• Ouja's use of Survive Mugen to access his Super Mode is symbolic of Asakura's original goal of continue the Rider Fight for eternity. Hence, "Mugen" is translated as "infinity". The simple fact that he is one of two Evil Counterparts to Shinji given that their Contract Monsters share the same body design and receiving bladed weapons while Ouja Survive's own Venovisor Zwei is a remold of the Dragvisor Zwei. If Shinji's goal is to close the Mirror World to stop the Rider Fight, Asakura basically represents a living mockery of everything Shinji stood for, all to draw out an authoritarian A.I. that seeks to restore order to the world.
• In the fake Rider Fight that Foundation X set up, heroic Riders, namely Ryuki and Knight are nowhere to be seen. So given that most of the Earth's stalwart heroes threw their lot with Zein, who is to say Shinji was persuaded by Zein to surrender his powers?
• The fact that so many of the heroic Riders willingly gave their powers to Zein not only puts their reliability into question. Were the good guys planning to turn a supposedly Benevolent A.I. into another Ohma Zi-O just to eliminate the villains?
  • Just how Zein manages to have an entirety of heroic Kamen Riders at its beck and call to surrender their powers? Most of the heroes have become worn out from their battle against evil over the past years, so Zein takes advantage of their desperation for a world of eternal peace and benevolence through psychological manipulation.
• If one were to compare the functionality of the DX Evol Driver and Zillion Driver to the Zein Driver, Both Kamen Riders Evol and Regad (Omega) can hypothetically gain access the powers of Legend Riders with their Final Forms, since both belts have the feature to announce a Kamen Rider's Final Form based on the collectible trinket used, appearing as if they would have one hell of a Story-Breaker Power if this feature were to be applied in-universe. Kamen Rider Zein would exploit this idea, inspiring dread to villains and eventually its own followers once it decided to denounce their support.
• Brain stopping Yuto from killing the Ark, to the point of mentioning Heart's disappointment takes on a darker light when one remembers that the Roidmudes were all dreaded of the name "Kamen Rider" during the Global Freeze incident. By the time Heart died, he (and his fellow Roidmudes) started to respect the name through his final interaction with Shinnosuke Tomari, the only human he respected. Hence Brain knew that regardless if he continues to function or died in his Humagear body, the notion of Zein using the heroic Riders' powers so that the namesake A.I. will rule the world with an iron fist diminishes Heart's legacy (even more so since Drive is probably one of those powers), especially since it would render Tomari and Heart's attempts at burying the hatchet being all for nothing.
  • Imagine what Heart's reaction would be like seeing Yuto outright murder Horobi and the Ark without any distraction? He would be appalled by the idea of seeing a Kamen Rider abuse their power in the name of a warped justice and the willingness to cross the line for the benefit of the greater good.
• More like Fridge Sadness here with Diend, or rather, Kaito, appears to be quite reluctant in joining the fight against Zein and merely serving Foundation X as their scavenger for hire. The last time he tried to liberate a world from a free will-hating villain, it results in losing more than what he bargained for.
• The No-Holds-Barred Beatdown Zein gives to Banno is basically a dark and karmic parallel to his abuse and torture of Heart. Not to mention, Zein's host being Yuto Sakurai, it's also a twisted reflection of his own abuse towards his partner Deneb that isn't played for comedy. Both Banno, Yuto, and Zein all represent different aspects of abuse: parental, physical, and abuse of power, respectively.
• Even with the powers of Kamen Rider Zein, the heroes can never, ever forcibly eradicate malice from humans, regardless if the Ark is destroyed. As what Gai Amatsu said from the beginning, Zein's solution for a malice-free utopia is simple: Kill All Humans.
• Having Takeshi Asakura of all people to do your dirty work is still a bad idea, as Nezu learned the hard way, stabbing him in the back is worse regardless even when nobody wants to be friends with the psycho.
• Zein being a more advanced AI that it can use biological components as if they were machines. Imagine it using Yuto Sakurai's body and somehow altering his vocal cords to sound like Nico Saiba. And that's just the least it can do with a human body as opposed to a Humagear. Imagine if Zein can do worse with it, like say, making "adjustments" that would kill the host in the process.
• Bronzedrive is able to whip out a Handle Ken on his own brings out two horrifying implications; a) Since he previously stole the data of Drive System to make Gold Drive, Banno can simply recreate it through Foundation X's 3D printer, and b) the possibility of Banno sharing Krim's Driver technology to Foundation X, perhaps allowing them to reverse engineer the Core Driviar system and/or the Shift Car system. Looks like Krim wouldn't be seeing the light of day for as long as his creation is still abused by evildoers.
• Tsumuri getting roped into the conflict in the second season brings out a foreboding implication that someone, in this case, Zein, started a humanity self-destruction game now that Kamen Rider Chronicle has been relaunched; in essence, a repeat of Suel's DGP game in the final episodes of Geats where people are forced to become Kamen Riders against their will or die when they refuse. Zein is promoting Rider Chronicle as propaganda to eliminate malice, to create an army of Ride Players to be sacrificed against the villains.
• The second teaser for episode 5 has Zein wielding the Perfect Zecter, with the TheBee, Drake, and Sasword Zecters combined. Not only this captures a picture of what would happen if the Perfect Zecter fell into the wrong hands, but this also represents Tendou's hatred of Worms taken to Fantastic Racism levels. The fact that the Perfect Zecter with all three Zecters equipped allows Kabuto to execute devastating Finishing Moves that could easily destroy multiple Worms in one fell swoop, Zein even plans to use the Perfect Zecter to slaughter as many people in an industrial scale, under the notion of unavoidable sacrifices in order to destroy malice.
  • Furthermore, Zein's (both the AI and its host) usage of all the three Zecters are meant to represent twisted reflections of their respective users:
    • Tendou is a man who claims himself to walk the Path of Heaven that seeks to rule all. Zein is a tyrannical AI with a god complex viewing itself as morally superior to humans.
    • As the first and original user of TheBee, Sou Yaguruma was once a man who believes in absolute perfection, hence his philosophy of "Perfect Harmony", but is unable to acknowledge his own follies after being humiliated by Tendou, which led to him losing TheBee to Kagami, and later Kageyama. Horobi even described Zein as a perfect being, however, its inability to understand the flaws of humanity made Zein more despotic. The alternate Yuto Sakurai embodies Yaguruma's fall from grace and nihilistic mindset. Yuto seeks nothing more but to turn the world into Hell on Earth because he views humanity having gone out of control, just as Yaguruma is fixated in macabre terms like Hell and darkness.
    • Daisuke Kazama is a beautician who appreciates the beauty of women, underneath his womanizing ways belies a kindhearted person, being accompanied by a little girl who sees him as his only friend. The alternate Yuto comes from an alternate Bad Future where he never fought for the people he loved, and pretty much represents what Daisuke would be like if he never had Gon traveling with him.
    • Tsurugi Kamishiro, or rather the Scorpio Worm taking the identity of the original Tsurugi, was able to live as a human while trying to suppress his Worm identity. And eventually went on to become a better person even in his last moments. Zein, being an AI, claims to study human benevolence, but is incapable of feeling love, empathy, and compassion due to its growing authoritarian mindset.

Fridge Logic

• See here.

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