YMMV / Kamen Rider Outsiders

• Accidental Aesop:
  • Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The fact Zein possessed a plethora of Zein Cards of all the preceding Riders up to Revice; and the way Banno gets beaten into submission, and executed by Kamen Rider Zein is never played in a heroic light. While artificial intelligence can learn the best and worst qualities of their human creators is one thing; but entrusting it with Rider powers is an entirely different story, even a supposedly Benevolent A.I. like Zein can easily become Drunk with Power if left unchecked, making it something even equally malevolent as the Ark. Episode 4 proves to be the case, once Zein reveals its true colors, exploiting every Kamen Rider powers to fearmonger the villains and mankind as a whole all to maintain order.
  • Anything unknown can be potentially terrifying than having already known. Zein itself is the unknown that the villains oppose, and underneath its illuminating presence blankets a much more malevolent intent. Ark has never learned from its previous mistakes, even with all its predictions, it cannot take into full account any irregularities in its foresight abilities, as it never expected Desast to become a Kamen Rider. Rando Joseph's statement in episode 0 that Foundation X wants to make sure Ark's predictions would become the truth only to be proven wrong. Three episodes later, Kamen Rider Zein appears out of nowhere and beats Banno within an inch of his life before killing him, using Rider powers of succeeding Kamen Riders. It just shows that Zein's very existence is just far too beyond Ark and Foundation X's control.
  • You alone are the only one who can choose your own path instead of letting anyone predetermine a path for you. This is the relevant plot point to Desast's redemption, as the reason he chose to defy Ark and Foundation X and his transformation into his namesake Rider form. Being a machine lifeform, Ark has no clear understanding of destiny whatsoever and how all living beings create their own destiny.
• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Zein's ulterior motive has been a hot topic of mixed narratives among the heroes and villains:
    • The heroes believe that Zein is a paragon for all of the heroic Riders that wants to protect humanity and eradicate evil. While the villains, former and current, revile it as a despotic ruler with a Dark Messiah complex and radicalized sense of justice seeking to establish a malice-free utopia, at the expense of taking away humanity's free will and putting the entire world under surveillance.
    • The good guys in Zein's faction, and what made them compelled to join its inner circle? Have they become completely jaded because of the current state of the world, along with newly emerging or returning threats to the world taking a toll on their duty as Riders? Take Horobi for example, being the only member of MetsubouJinrai.net to be revived by Foundation X who immediately defects to Zein's side, wanting nothing more but to eradicate human malice without taking into account the Balance Between Good and Evil being compromised. And the fact Ark can possess Horobi means not only Ark will use this as an opportunity to confront Zein head on, but also warn Horobi about Zein is nowhere as benevolent it claims to be.
    • If taking Gai's speculations about Zein into context about its goal of eradicating mankind to usher a utopia of eternal peace and order, he insinuates that humans have become too chaotic and self-indulgent to prosper so Zein seeks to pacify humanity's negative qualities through totalitarian methods. Given that the franchise's recurring themes that humans have more capacity for evil than the monsters they fight and the neverending conflict of good and evil is inherent because humans will, and always have the capacity for evil. Gai fears that a world without evil and conflict means the world could become a boring place to live, mankind is at the threat of stagnancy because of the absence of something to struggle against, and if Zein firmly believes in The Evils of Free Will, humans might have their ability to make decisions for themselves restricted and/or completely stripped off.
  • In episode 4, the Ark makes a do-or-die attempt to draw out and eliminate Zein by possessing Horobi could be seen as either Ark mocking Horobi for repeating the mistake of blindly following another A.I. that is no less genocidal than itself or genuinely following Gai's example to protect humanity from Zein before it could become a clear and present danger to the world.
  • Long time fans of Kamen Rider Ex-Aid express confusion as to how Bronze Drive lacks a delayed in-universe SFX when Kamen Rider Zein utilizes Hyper Critical Sparking, even less so when it took the Haouken Xross Saber to finish the job. Opinions divided as to either the writers ignored the power scaling (a recurring problem in Rider crossovers) or Zein intentionally holding himself back to torture Banno into far worse execution.
  • Banno here is far less threatening than he was in Drive, hence being reduced into a joke character — not helped by his Laughably Evil moments and his Bronze Drive form being a downgrade from Gold Drive. Even though he can come back anytime so long as he can store his data in the Internet. It's made clear he's now a shell of his former self. The fact he ends up screaming in fear and terror upon getting beaten to near-death by Kamen Rider Zein, it's believed that Banno is still haunted by his son killing him all those years back; and Banno's ordeal with Kamen Rider Zein is basically him having a PTSD episode. The fact that he had to confine himself back in Brain's tablet for most of episode 4, not wanting to relieve such unpleasant memories.
• Anvilicious:
  • Episode 4 drops a heavier emphasis on "two wrongs don't make a right". This is hammered home with Brain protecting the Ark from Kamen Rider Zein, and calling out Yuto for his cold-blooded and murderous attempt to destroy the Ark — just because the Ark is the embodiment of malice and killing it will not eradicate all malice, and by doing so will cause Yuto to instead spiral down into a straight-up villain far worse than the Ark, not caring by the fact that Horobi is used as the Ark's vessel, had Yuto killed Horobi, he could've completely crossed the line.
  • Again, on the heroes' side, the anthology is unsubtle with deconstructing The Power of Trust, as a harsh reminder of trusting the wrong people without doubting their true nature is a serious matter. The simple fact that the good guys see Zein as a righteous Benevolent A.I. that abhor malice and placed their trust on an AI with a Dark Messiah complex. Instead, Zein gave its supporters a false hope by manipulating them into acquiring the means for its Final Solution to eradicate malice in the form of Kamen Rider Chronicle. The moment Zein revealed its true colors, Brain, Horobi, and Tachibana can only react with despair and disbelief upon realizing that Zein was exploiting the heroes' trustworthiness as a means to an end.
  • Outsiders is also unsubtle in using History Repeats as far as crossovers go, and a cautionary tale that good intentions can lead to far worse consequences for one's actions. Gai Amatsu, the Ark, and Foundation X are trying their best efforts to recruit allies in order to oppose Zein, especially on the former two as they want to prevent another rogue A.I. from wiping out 99% of the human population. Meanwhile, the good guys siding with Zein, out of misguided good intentions, unwittingly repeated most of the tragic events in each of their respective series instead of learning from their past mistakes and from their predecessors and successors — ranging from relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle without Kuroto Dan's consent, a game that Kuroto himself spent in his home series working on in the first half of Ex-Aid, until Parado betrayed him and launched the game without Kuroto's approval, and turning said game into a humanity self-destruction game in the same manner as Suel's final Desire Grand Prix game of the Genesis Arc.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Banno's return in the series is dedicated in making his life a living hell that both heroes and villains benefit from his misfortune— from Foundation X ridiculing him, getting beaten within an inch of his life and turned into a Human Pincushion by Zein, and Brain slapping him silly when he's confined back in his tablet.
• Epileptic Trees:
  • The Outsiders version of Ouja Survive being accessed through Survive Mugen is more likely to symbolize Takeshi Asakura's original goal to perpetuate an endless Rider Fight to satisfy his thirst for violence. Hence the reason behind the Adaptation Deviation of said form, when the original SIC has Ouja using Survive Shippu.
  • The fact that George developed the Zein Driver, and how he based Kamen Rider Juuga out of Kamen Rider Kuuga Ultimate Form, it's believed that Kamen Rider Zein is designed after N-Daguva-Zeba and that idea is probably conceived by George himself, more likely to instill dread on Ark, Foundation X, and the Project Outsiders' test subjects. Not to mention George's actor is famously called "Kuuga Boy" given that he was born at the time after Kuuga started airing.
• Fan Nickname:
  • This crossover anthology can be considered as "Kamen Rider Suicide Squad" (or alternatively, "Task Force Outsiders"). Given that Outsiders is compared to the aforementioned supervillain team, the anthology gives the prospect of what if Task Force X were to be ordered fighting a tyrannical AI bent on world domination. It also helps that Rando Joseph, one of the Foundation X members spearheading Project Outsiders, acts as a stand-in for Amanda Waller.
  • "Venoviper", which the fans declared as Venosnaker's Survive form. The name comes from SIC Hero Saga "World of IF" for the aforementioned monster when Ouja transforms using Knight's Survive Shippu. However the miniseries has him using Odin's Survive Mugen and no official confirmation was given whether the term "Venoviper" still fits to this snake monster's name or not.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • Given that Aruto is on the side of Zein's supporters, this makes Gai's attempt at burying the hatchet between the two from their original series being All for Nothing. Additionally, Gai's partnership with Ark is for altruistic reasons, hence putting him in a yet similar situation to the final episodes in Zero-One when his and Aruto's character are rendered in an Hourglass Plot.
  • Horobi's loyalty towards Zein following his revival becomes this come episode 4 once learning the latter plans to use Kamen Rider Chronicle to create a cannon fodder of Ride Players to speed up mankind's self-destruction. Matters not helped with the Ark mocking him for blindly trusting another A.I., much less one trying to eradicate humanity. In essence, Horobi repeated the same mistake with his loyalty to Ark.
  • Smart Brain, along with the Orphnochs being targeted by Zein if taking Mari's statement in episode 0 into account becomes this as the main plot for the upcoming 20th anniversary movie for 555, Kitazaki planning to eradicate all Orphnochs as he runs Smart Brain. Matters not helped by the fact that he attempted to kill the Arch Orphnoch, who appeared in this series, during the endgame episodes of 555.
    • The Arch Orphnoch and Smart Brain's effort at trying to combat Zein and preserving the Orphnochs' existence, to the point where he resorts to stealing Kuroto's Genm Musou Gashat becomes this in Paradise Regained, when Smart Brain has turn their back on the Orphnoch race and call it a lost cause, issuing a complete massacre against them in spite of the existence of benevolent ones who wish to coexist with humans. This also brings to an unfortunate implication that Arch Orphnoch's efforts at preserving his race became All for Nothing and with him nowhere to be seen in the V-Cinema, there's no telling whether he survived or truly died at that point.
  • Zein encouraging its supporters, including the Yuto Sakurai from an alternate Bad Future, to be unscrupulous on dealing with the villains is basically a repeat of Kekera's manipulation of Keiwa into grooming him into his ideal Rider to the point of orchestrating Sara's death. One would be left to wonder if Zein had any involvement with the alternate Yuto Sakurai's Start of Darkness that made him the ideal Rider who is willing to exploit all Kamen Riders' powers so that Zein can Take Over the World.
  • In episode 3, while confronting the Ark, Horobi vows to destroy the latter before being ambushed by Banno. The following episode, Tachibana did him a favor, but at cost of getting badly wounded by Garren King Form's finisher. To make matters worse, not only did Tachibana broken the Balance Between Good and Evil, but this also serves the catalyst for Zein to reveal its true colors.
  • More than a month after the end of episode 4, the concurrently airing Kamen Rider Gotchard would introduce another similar Rider who follows Zein's footsteps: Kamen Rider Dread, whose stint not only possessing a host and sacrificing the cards he uses as his attacks, but is much more transparent in his malevolent goal than Zein ever did.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Kousei Amano would make his debut in Super Sentai as Glodi Leucodium, albeit uncredited just one week before episode 4 of Outsiders, where Garren King Form makes its live-action appearance. Oddly enough, this is not the first time Amano is into portraying a Tokusatsu villain.
    • Four months after episode 4's premiere, Leangle would eventually gained his own King Form, exclusive to the Blade 20th anniversary stage show.
  • As a joke to Decade Complete Form and Grand Zi-O, Yuichi Nakamura photographed himself dressing in a green bodysuit wearing all sorts of the Heisei Riders' transformation devices strapped to his being during his 33rd birthday. Lo and behold, he portrays an alternate universe Yuto Sakurai, who transforms into a Kamen Rider with access to past Rider powers.
  • Kamen Rider Zein's gimmick of shredding Rider Cards is both cool and horrifying in the show. When his Chemy card gets introduced as part of the voters' choice, Zein is represented as a cartoonist paper shredder with a mechanical hand, of all things.
• Ho Yay: A carry over from their interactions in Saber, both Desast and Ren's interactions in Outsiders takes bromance in Kamen Rider to an entirely different level. The fact post-Character Development Desast had to part ways with Ren to avoid getting roped into the Ark/Zein conflict coming across as forcing one's lover out of harm's way.
• I Knew It!: At least some fans correctly guessed that somebody from Geats would eventually be showing up in this project, owing to the fact it's the third Rider show written by Yuya Takahashi.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • The Yuto Sakurai from an alternate Bad Future where he has lost everything; with the fates of the Airi and Deneb of his timeline never elaborated upon. Coming into the present day as the host for a despotic artificial intelligence to become its enforcer transforming into Kamen Rider Zein. This Yuto was nearly an inch away at murdering both Horobi and the Ark which by doing so could've sent him to full-blown villainy had Brain not interfered. Unfortunately for him, Zein possesses Yuto after Tachibana/Garren destroys the Ark, rendering Brain's pleas moot.
  • Horobi also qualifies, especially for all the morally dubious deeds he's done in Zero-One. He's the only member of MetsubouJinrai.net to be revived as part of Project Outsiders, only to defect to Zein's side, believing it as a paragon on justice. He gets subjected to humiliating defeats at the hands of villains who are potential candidates for said project, and finds out too late that he placed his blind faith on a tyrannical A.I. that wants nothing more but to rule humanity with an iron fist.
• Like You Would Really Do It: Episode 4 saw the Ark being unceremoniously finished off by Kamen Rider Garren King Form. However, as the teaser for episode 5 shows that the Ark manages to turn up okay, having barely escaped into the Internet like Banno did in the prior episode.
• Moral Event Horizon: Zein crossed it in episode 4 by possessing Yuto against his will after viewing his hesitation to destroy the Ark (and Horobi) as insubordination thanks to Brain's pleas. And then proceeds to trick Genm Corp into relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle by impersonating Nico Saiba, so it can create a cannon fodder of Ride Players to be used as Sacrificial Lambs against the villains, essentially manipulating humanity into speeding up their own extinction.
• Most Wonderful Sound: The series continues the Kamen Rider tradition of ridiculously catchy standby sounds and announcements, both in returning Riders and new ones from this special:
  • Gaitotsu Ninjaden for Kamen Rider Desast gets a quiet flute solo with drums that perfectly encapsulates a samurai and ninja theme, in line with Desast's own design themes.
  • Kamen Rider Zein gets an orchestral chorus with righteous phrasing, which matches Zein's embodiment of all things positive. However, the tone and delivery instead give a feeling of ominous dread, and rightfully so, given Zein's true personality.
    "Zein Rise! Justice! Judgment! Seigi! Zein! Salvation of humankind!"
• Paranoia Fuel: Zein's very presence invokes this trope. By claiming itself as a Benevolent A.I. that detests malice, but in truth it lulls humanity into a false sense of security all while it plans to speed up the extinction of the human race. Matters not helped that being an A.I. that exists somewhere around the Internet, it even has the ability to put the entire world under constant surveillance to impose its idea of order.
• Realism-Induced Horror:
  • The idea of an artificial intelligence like Zein can put the entire world under mass surveillance by merely existing around the Internet while policing its idea of order raises a cause for alarm. This creates an environment of suspicion and threat, which causes people who are not engaged in any wrongdoing to change their behavior, including the way they act, speak and communicate.
  • The simple fact that Zein can mimic Nico Saiba's voice to trick Tsukuru Koboshi into relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle is this. Zein is an A.I. given in real life that the use of A.I. has expanded to the point of near perfect levels of voice impersonation, that even big companies and entities aren't safe from being duped. And since Nico is Genm Corp's financial backer, the blame for the potential casualties caused by Kamen Rider Chronicle could be pinned on her.
• Rooting for the Empire: The only reason why Kamen Rider Outsiders exists as a series is because of this trope. The main characters of the anthology are villains from previous Rider shows. Fan favorites such as Takeshi Asakura and Kuroto Dan end up being potential candidates for Project Outsiders given their popularity in their home series. After four episodes, fans also want to see other fan-favorite villains that are yet to appear like Evolt that can take on Zein.
• Salvaged Story: While the Ark in Zero-One ended up as a generic Stupid Evil villain, Zein feels like an attempt to recreate what it originally was: a highly intelligent and coldly pragmatic AI treated like a force of nature that seeks to exterminate humanity, or rather by tricking mankind into setting up their own self-destruction.
• Shocking Moments: Episode 4 is already a Wham Episode in and of itself. Other than Zein hijacking Yuto's body, it can even mimic the voice of someone, where it impersonates Nico Saiba and tricks Genm Corp. into relaunching Kamen Rider Chronicle.
• Special Effects Failure: The scene where Asakura stabs Nezu to death in episode 1. The blood is so obviously fake that it sticks out like a sore thumb.
• Suspiciously Similar Song: "What's the Outsiders" by m.C.A.T. basically sounds like a Dark Reprise of "Let's Go! Rider Kick!" from the original 1971 series, as this is most likely meant to represent the villains being the main characters and having to protect humanity from a despotic artificial intelligence.
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: The Reveal that Tenjuro Banno had actually survived his death received backlash from Kamen Rider Drive fans, as Banno is an incredibly despicable villain whose death by Gou is seen as one of the show's best scenes, and bringing him back makes him a Karma Houdini. While he is turned into a Karmic Butt-Monkey in the show, this also wasn't well-received by some out of the belief it cheapens him as a villain and the insane inventor who abused and corrupted the Roidmudes.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Tenjuro Banno is an interesting character to bring back considering in his home series he was an unrepentant Hate Sink and not even an Evil Is Cool villain. Sure enough, in the show he's retooled to be more of a Laughably Evil character, particularly in his interactions with Brain.
  • No one expected that Zein’s human user would be Yuto Sakurai, or rather, his Alternate Self from a Bad Future.
  • Garren King Form is the first final form exclusive to the SIC series to make a live-action debut, as the live-action interpretation of Ouja Survive doesn’t count as this version uses the Survive Mugen card as opposed to his SIC counterpart's usage of Survive Shippu card.
  • The appearances of Tsumuri, Is as Zero Two, and (Kamen Rider) Vice in episode 5 took everyone by surprise, especially considering Geats had little involvement beforehand and that Revi isn't present as well.
    • Kamen Rider Zero-Three, a third-generation Rider part in the same lineage as the Zero-One system. It also helps that the Rider is an obvious homage to Kamen Rider V3.