Kamen Rider started on Japanese TV back in 1971. The show about a college kid who is transformed into a bug-like superhero that rides a motorcycle and fights evil monsters was an immediate hit. The series spawned dozens of new series based around new kids being able to harness the power of the Kamen Rider. In the mid-90s, Saban adapted the series for America as Masked Rider using their same formula as when they turned Super Sentai into Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Masked Rider only lasted 40 episodes on Fox Kids. The lack of huge success in the American market didn’t damper the series back home in Japan. They kept making more which leads us to Kamen Rider Zero-One, the 30th installment of the Kamen Rider saga that aired in 2019-20. The series lasted 46 episodes and a movie. All of the excitement has been boxed up for Kamen Rider Zero-One: The Complete Series with REALxTIME.
Aruto Hiden has spent most of his life denying his birth rite. Instead of being a serious businessman and scientist, Aruto has focused on being a comic. This has led him to performing at a theme park. His family’s corporation Hiden Intelligence is on the cutting edge of robotics and artificial intelligence. They have been leading the way in the development of Humagears that are sort of an android. The revolutionary robot people are all around in society. Which is great until a pack of terrorists reprogram the Humagears to turn them into killers. Due to a death in the family, Aruto finds himself appointed CEO of Hiden Intelligence. At first he has no desire to take the job. But after surviving a flipped Humagear attack, he finds the desire to stop being funny and get serious about stopping the terrorists from turning his family business into the tool that destroys humanity. Aruto leans one of the perks of his position is to become Kamen Rider Zero-One. Kamen Rider Zi-O was the previous person to ride the futuristic motorcycle. He also has a virtual assistant in Is to make sure he isn’t too over his head as both CEO and Superhero. In the midst of this crisis, Aruto discovers a rival company is wanting to outlaw the production of Humagears so that only people can exist in the cities.
There’s quite a bit of depth to Kamen Rider Zero-One. The Humagear element makes this show more than a bunch of people dressed up as superheroes and monsters beating each other up for 23 minutes at a time. There’s a lot going on with the debate about robots with artificial intelligence. There’s quite a bit of action on the screen so it doesn’t turn into a big think piece about the nature of man versus computers. But it doesn’t dismiss the robots as just props. You should come away from this show debating the future of robotics and A.I. and not merely talk about the fight scenes. Kamen Rider Zero-One lets you get into the show even if you’ve skipped the previous 29 versions.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The 1080p resolution brings up the special effects. The audio is DTS-HD MA Stereo in Japanese. The episodes are subtitled in English.
Kamen Rider Zero: REALxTIME (69:45) attempts to tell the story in real time. You see the hour it takes for Aruto to protect the world from a villain who wants to create a paradise on Earth.
Presidential Special Part 01 (23:54) & (23:51) basically recaps the first half of the season as Aruto tells Is his side of the action.
Shooting Special (23:51) has a character lose their A.I. chip and reevaluate their life so far. What’s cool is there’s an opening for Super Hero Time that features Sentai.
Super Work War Battle 1 (23:52) & Battle 2 (23:51) has a terrorist member flip and learn what they can do working with Aruto and Is. They’re basically a clip show.
Shout! Factory presents Kamen Rider Zero-One: The Complete Series with REALxTIME. Starring Fumiya Takahashi, Ryutaro Okada, Noa Tsurushima, Hiroe Igeta, Daisuke Nakagawa, Syuya Sunagawa & Nachi Sakuragi. Boxset Contents: 45 episodes & 1 movie on 8 Blu-ray discs. Rated: Unrated. Release Date: January 25, 2022.
