Kamen Rider Zi-O

Kamen Rider Zi-O (仮面ライダージオウ, Kamen Raidā Jiō) is a Japanese tokusatsu drama in the Toei Company's Kamen Rider franchise. It is the twenty-ninth Kamen Rider series overall as well as the twentieth and final installment in the Heisei period. The show premiered on September 2, 2018, following the finale of Kamen Rider Build, joining Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger VS Keisatsu Sentai Patranger and later, the miniseries Super Sentai Strongest Battle, followed by Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger, in the Super Hero Time line-up.
The series has a time travel/multiverse motif while paying tribute to all of the previous Heisei-era Kamen Riders due to being a spiritual sequel to Kamen Rider Decade. The series and related films also feature returning actors reprising their roles from the previous Heisei series.
Sougo Tokiwa, a high school senior born in the year 2000, dreams of one day becoming a king. Suddenly, he meets a mysterious girl hailing from the year 2068, named Tsukuyomi, who comes with an ominous warning: Sougo will become Ohma Zi-O, the tyrannical Overlord of Time. Despite being troubled by his potential fate, Sougo becomes Kamen Rider Zi-O to save the space-time continuum from the Time Jackers, a group seeking to alter the history of the Heisei Kamen Riders for their ends. He is aided in his quest by Geiz Myokoin, a resistance fighter also from 2068 capable of becoming Kamen Rider Geiz who initially intended to kill Sougo to prevent his future tyranny, and a self-titled prophet named Woz, who wants the youth to become the tyrant Ohma Zi-O, who later gains the power to become Kamen Rider Woz. Along their journey, Sougo and his friends meet several Kamen Riders from the past and their allies; earning their trust and obtaining their powers.
Following his high school graduation, Sougo discovers that Swartz, the Time Jackers' leader, is Tsukuyomi's older brother and was manipulating both the Riders and his fellow Jackers in his plan to fuse the entirety of the Kamen Rider multiverse into a single, unified world to destroy it and save his world. Despite their best efforts, Sougo and his allies fail to stop Swartz until the former accepts his destiny and becomes Ohma Zi-O to destroy him. However, instead of taking control of the world as foretold of him, Sougo renounces his powers to undo Swartz's damage; creating a new reality where he lives in peace with Geiz, Tsukuyomi, and the other Time Jackers.
The Kamen Rider Zi-O trademark was registered by Toei on April 12, 2018.
As the show pays tribute to the Heisei period Kamen Riders, each tribute episode title consists of a short phrase related to a particular Heisei Rider series and a year relevant to it. Throughout the series, Zi-O's predecessor, Kamen Rider Decade's, involvement steadily becomes more prevalent, with "*" denoting episodes where his or his associate Kamen Rider Diend's involvement overlapped with another Rider's tribute episode.
Kamen Rider Zi-O made his first appearance as a cameo in the film Kamen Rider Build the Movie: Be the One.
A Movie War film, titled Kamen Rider Heisei Generations Forever (仮面ライダー平成ジェネレーションズ FOREVER, Kamen Raidā Heisei Jenerēshonzu Fōebā) was released on December 22, 2018, featuring the casts of Kamen Rider Zi-O, Kamen Rider Build, and Kamen Rider Den-O. Actor Shunsuke Daitō portrayed the film's main antagonist, the Super Time Jacker Tid, and actor Kenichi Takitō voiced the Imagin Futaros. Aside from Build, actors Toshiki Kashu (Kamen Rider Agito), Takamasa Suga (Kamen Rider Ryuki), Masahiro Inoue (Kamen Rider Decade) and Shun Nishime (Kamen Rider Ghost) returned to vocally reprise their respective roles, while Takeru Satoh (Kamen Rider Den-O) physically reprised his role as Ryotaro Nogami. This film is a shared tribute to Kamen Rider Kuuga, Kamen Rider Den-O and Kamen Rider W.
Kamen Rider Zi-O the Movie: Over Quartzer (劇場版 仮面ライダージオウ Over Quartzer, Gekijōban Kamen Raidā Jiō Ōvā Kwōtsā) was released on July 26, 2019, double-billed with Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger the Movie: Time Slip! Dinosaur Panic. Japanese boy band Da Pump portrayed the Quartzers, the movie's main antagonists, with Kamen Rider Barlckxs portrayed by Da Pump vocalist ISSA while Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger's choreographer Papaya Suzuki and actor Syuusuke Saito portrayed Kamen Riders Zonjis and Zamonas respectively. Additionally, Kamen Rider Drive's Yu Inaba and Chris Peppler returned to reprise their roles. This film is a shared tribute to Kamen Rider Drive, the Heisei era's Showa era-themed Kamen Rider series (Black RX, Shin, ZO, J, and Amazons), and the entire Heisei Kamen Rider Series as a whole. It also introduced the first Kamen Rider of the Reiwa period, Kamen Rider Zero-One. This movie takes place after episode 43 and also serves as an alternate ending to the series.
A Movie War film, titled Kamen Rider Reiwa The First Generation (仮面ライダー 令和 ザ・ファースト・ジェネレーション, Kamen Raidā Reiwa Za Fāsuto Jenerēshon) was released on December 21, 2019, featuring the casts of Zi-O and Kamen Rider Zero-One. This film is a shared tribute to Kamen Rider Zero-One, the original Kamen Rider, and the entire Heisei Kamen Rider Series as a whole. The events of the film take place after the end of the main series.
Kamen Rider Zi-O Next Time: Geiz, Majesty (仮面ライダージオウ NEXT TIME ゲイツ、マジェスティ, Kamen Raidā Jiō Nekusuto Taimu Geitsu, Majesuti) is a V-Cinema release that focuses on a side story starring Geiz Myokoin. The events of the V-Cinema take place after the end of the main series and Kamen Rider Reiwa: The First Generation. The V-Cinema is written by Nobuhiro Mouri and directed by Satoshi Morota and was released on April 22, 2020. Kimito Totani (Kamen Rider Decade), Kōhei Murakami (Kamen Rider 555), Minehiro Kinomoto (Kamen Rider W), and Hiroaki Iwanaga (Kamen Rider OOO) returned to reprise their respective roles. The theme song is "Brand New Day" performed by Triplane.
Kamen Rider Zi-O (仮面ライダージオウ, Kamen Raidā Jiō), written by Kento Shimoyama, is part of a series of spin-off novel adaptions of the Heisei Era Kamen Riders. The events of the novel take place after the end of the main series. The novel was released on July 28, 2021.
Kamen Rider: Climax Scramble, known in Japan as Kamen Rider: Climax Scramble Zi-O (仮面ライダー クライマックススクランブル ジオウ, Kamen Raidā Kuraimakkusu Sukuranburu Jiō), is the seventh installment of the Kamen Rider: Climax series. This game was released on November 29, 2018, for the Nintendo Switch.
The following opening and insert themes from previous series are reused in Zi-O: "BELIEVE YOURSELF" from Kamen Rider Agito in episode 32 and "Kagayaki" from Kamen Rider Hibiki in episode 34.