Kamen Rider Zi-O

is a Japanese tokusatsu drama in Toei Company's Kamen Rider Series. It is the twenty-ninth television series overall, as well as the twentieth and final series in the Heisei period. Toei registered the Kamen Rider Zi-O trademark on May 5, 2018. 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 a 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.
==Plot==
Sogo Tokiwa, a high school senior born in the year 2000, dreams of one day becoming a king. Suddenly, he meets a mysterious girl named Tsukuyomi, who has come from the year 2068 with an ominous warning: "You will become Kamen Rider Zi-O, the King of Time; the demon destined to rule the world." Despite being troubled by his potential fate, Sogo becomes Kamen Rider Zi-O in order to save the space-time continuum from the Time Jackers, a group seeking to alter the history of the Heisei Kamen Riders for their own ends. He is aided in his quest by Geiz Myokoin, a resistance fighter from 2068 capable of becoming Kamen Rider Geiz who initially intended to kill Sogo 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, Sogo 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, Sogo discovers that Swartz, the Time Jackers' leader, is actually 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 in order to destroy it and save his world. Despite their best efforts, Sogo and his allies fail to stop Swartz until the former accepts his destiny and becomes Ohma Zi-O to destroy him. Instead of taking control of the world as it was foretold he would do however, Sogo renounces his powers in order to undo Swartz's damage; creating a new reality where he lives in peace with Geiz, Tsukuyomi, and the other Time Jackers.
==Episodes==
As the show pays tribute to the Heisei period Kamen Riders, each 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 involvement overlapped with another Rider's tribute episode.
*This series is divided in to 4 arcs:
**Episode 1-16: Birth of Zi-O: This arc introduces most of the main characters and the plot. It also pays tribute to Kamen Rider Build, Ex-Aid, Fourze, Faiz, Wizard, OOO, Gaim, and Ghost*.
**Episode 17-30: Ohma’s Day: This arc features White Woz, who seeks to create Geiz Revive using the power of three future Riders, and the preparation of Ohma’s Day. It also features tributes to Kamen Rider Ryuki and Blade* as well as delves into Sogo’s past.
**Episode 31-40: Road to the King: This arc delves into Tsukuyomi’s past as she regains her memories. It also features tribute to Kamen Rider Agito, Hibiki, Kiva, Kabuto*, and Den-O.
**Episode 41-49: The New Lord: This sees Swartz’s real plan come to light and Sogo becoming Ohma Zi-O. It also features tribute to Kamen Rider Drive and the movie-exclusive Riders.
==Films==
Kamen Rider Zi-O made his first appearance as a cameo in the film Kamen Rider Build the Movie: Be the One.
===Heisei Generations Forever===
A Movie War film, titled 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.
===Over Quartzer===
 was released on July 26, 2019, double billed with the film for Kishiryu Sentai Ryusoulger. 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 Kyoryugers choreographer Papaya Suzuki and actor Syuusuke Saito portrayed Kamen Riders Zonjis and Zamonas respectively. Additionally, Kamen Rider Drives 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.
===Reiwa The First Generation===
A Movie War film, titled was released on December 21, 2019, featuring the casts of Kamen Rider 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.
==Special episodes==
* is a web-exclusive series released on Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club. It accompanies the airing of the main series' episode the day after it.
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*Rider Time is a web-exclusive spin-off series released on March 31, 2019. Each comprises three episodes and are all directed by Takayuki Shibasaki.
**: Released on Toei Tokusatsu Fan Club and written by Kaori Kaneko. It features the of Shinobi, the hypothetical Kamen Rider Series of 2022. Aside from the newly introduced secondary Rider of 2022, Kamen Rider Hattari, it briefly shows four more unnamed ninja Kamen Riders in the third episode's ending. The theme song is "IZANAGI", performed by Sakuramen feat. Hideya Tawada.
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**: Part of the spin-off collaboration with the titular Kamen Rider of 2002. Released on Video Pass and written by Toshiki Inoue, the storyline is a sequel to the original Ryuki TV series, which features the sudden revival of the Mirror World's Rider War. Takamasa Suga, Satoshi Matsuda, Hassei Takano, Satoshi Ichijo, Tomohisa Yuge, Takashi Hagino, and Tsuyoshi Koyama reprised their respective roles. It also introduces Kamen Rider Abyss from Kamen Rider Decade to the main universe and features appearances by Zi-O and Geiz. The theme song is "Go! Now! ~Alive A life neo~", performed by Rica Matsumoto. Even though Kamen Rider Zi-O producer Shinichiro Shirakura says this storyline takes place before episode 21,https://twitter.com/cron204/status/1114576565096996864 it may actually take place between episodes 28 and 29, as evidenced by Zi-O not having Ryuki's Ridewatch until the events of the latter episode.
*#Advent Again
*#Another Alternative
*#Alive a Life
* is Televi-Kuns for Kamen Rider Zi-O. The events of this specials takes place before episode 45.
==Kamen Rider Zi-O Next Time==
 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.https://twitter.com/cron204/status/1214192690310500353
==Video game==
Kamen Rider: Climax Scramble, known in Japan as , is the seventh installment of the Kamen Rider: Climax series. This game was released on November 29, 2018 for the Nintendo Switch.
==Cast==
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*Ziku-Driver Equipment Voice: Rikya Koyama, 
*BeyonDriver Equipment Voice: 
*Neo Decadriver Voice, Neo Diendriver Voice: 
*Narration: 
===Guest cast===
*Resistance captain (1): 
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*Manager (25, 26): 
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*Young beauty (36): 
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==Theme songs==
;Opening theme
*"Over "Quartzer""
**Lyrics: Shuta Sueyoshi, Takaki Mizoguchi
**Composition: MiNE, Atsushi Shimada
**Arrangement: Atsushi Shimada
**Artist: Shuta Sueyoshi feat. ISSA
;Insert themes
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**Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
**Composition & Arrangement: Toshihiko Sahashi
**Artist: Sogo Tokiwa (So Okuno)
**Episodes: 16, 22
*:Theme for Kamen Rider Zi-O
*"FUTURE GUARDIAN"
**Lyrics: Shōko Fujibayashi
**Composition & Arrangement: Toshihiko Sahashi
**Artist: Geiz Myokoin (Gaku Oshida)
**Episodes: 19
*:Theme for Kamen Rider Geiz
*"Black & White"
**Lyrics: Megane Hirai
**Composition & Arrangement: Go Sakabe
**Artist: Woz (Keisuke Watanabe)
**Episodes: 38
*:Theme for Kamen Rider Woz
*"Next New Wφrld"
**Lyrics: Ricky
**Composition & Arrangement: nishi-ken
**Artist: Rider Chips
**Episodes: 40
*:Theme for Kamen Rider Grand Zi-O
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.
==References==
==External links==
*Official website at TV Asahi(In Japanese)
*Official website at Toei Company
*Kamen Rider Zi-O Next Time: Geiz, Majesty website
 
Category:2018 Japanese television series debuts
Category:2019 Japanese television series endings
Category:TV Asahi shows
Category:Crossover tokusatsu
Category:Television series about time travel
Category:ABS-CBN
Category:One TV (Philippines)
Category:GMA Network