Blade Joker!? 2019

is the twenty-ninth episode of Kamen Rider Zi-O. It is the first part of the Kamen Rider Blade tribute arc. Thus, it features the return of Kazuma Kenzaki, Hajime Aikawa, Amane Kurihara, portrayed by Takayuki Tsubaki, Ryoji Morimoto, and Hikari Kajiwara, respectively. It also counts as a post-Decade tribute due to the return of Daiki Kaito, as portrayed by Kimito Totani, and the full debut of the NeoDiendriver. It also features a glimpse of the Zi-OTrinity Ridewatch at the end of the episode.
==Synopsis==
The decisive battle between Sougo and Geiz has reached the conclusion that Sougo had imagined! They all welcome back Geiz and Tsukuyomi to 9 5 DO alongside Black Woz! But who was to suddenly appear, but none other than Daiki Kaito! His aim: To steal the treasures of this world, the Ridewatches! Meanwhile, White Woz, who has lost his power to transform into Kamen Rider Woz, has gone dark, and has now allied himself with Swartz!
==Continuity and Placement==
*Kamen Rider Blade: Chronologically takes place 14 years after the end of the season finale.
==Plot==
Swartz gives White Woz the Another Blade Ridewatch, which Woz asks if he can use to his liking. Swartz says he can but gives him advice: there are two types of people in this world, those that are used and those that control. Those that control dedicate themselves to higher aspirations in ways that the used cannot begin to comprehend. He asks which type of person White Woz is and walks off, angering White Woz.
Amane Kurihara, now an adult, is working at her mother's cafe Jacaranda as a waitress, having moved back in to live there. A customer asks her how she is doing and if she has gotten over that man she was with as a child. Amane says it wasn't like that as he was older than her and she viewed him more as a surrogate father figure. But pictures of her as a child with Hajime Aikawa decorate the cafe.
After closing, Amane cleans up for the night and for a brief moment thinks about Hajime. White Woz enters and forces the Another Blade watch into her, manipulating Amane's feelings for Hajime to bring out Another Blade. Elsewhere in a woodland cabin, Hajime is at his photo studio fixing his camera with the Spirit card reacting to the birth of the Another Rider.
At 9 5 DO, a drowsy Sougo comes down to breakfast. Geiz says he overslept but Sougo reminds him he doesn't need to go to school anymore as he graduated, so he fails to see the problem. Tsukuyomi asks what Sougo is going to do now that he is out of high school, to which he gives his usual response: he is going to become a king. Black Woz asks that they all eat up to keep thier strength as White Woz and Swartz are still out there. Black Woz then insults Geiz by treating him like a servant, asking for condiments, extra portions of food and the morning paper to be brought to him. The three of them are impressed with the large spread of food prepared for them and wonder why Junichiro would prepare all this. When Tsukuyomi asks, Daiki Kaito appears and answers that it is a small gesture and to enjoy their meal before leaving, with Woz recognizing him. The boys soon realize that they have been robbed, as all the Ridewatches except for Black Woz's are gone.
They chase after the hospitable intruder and try to face him after avoiding being shot by his gun, only to realize that the Zi-O and Geiz Ridewatches were pick pocketed off of them by Daiki. Black Woz arrives and tells Geiz and Sougo that they man who robbed them is Kamen Rider Diend, an ally of Decade. Daiki is surprised and amused, asking if they have met Tsukasa already. Geiz orders Black Woz to get their Ridewatches back, but he doesn't seem interested in helping. Sougo orders him to do it, as Woz needs his master to have his Watches to achieve his goal. Black Woz reluctantly agrees as he is correct and becomes Kamen Rider Woz while Daiki becomes Diend. At first, it seems Woz is winning when he changes into Futuring Kikai form and knocks several Ridewatches off of him to be recovered by his robotic arms. However, Diend gets the upper hand by summoning Kamen Rider Baron and Knight to gang up on Woz. He tells Woz that they can have those treasures back and uses his Attack Ride: Neo Invisible card to get away. The summons of Baron and Knight vanish soon after.
Sougo counts how many watches they recovered and discovers that Geiz's Revive Ridewatch, his Zi-O II Ridewatch and the Geiz Ridewatch are gone. Geiz argues with Woz, saying that he should have got them back. Black Woz says that he isn't his servant and the boy should be the one following orders. Before things escalate further, Tsukuyomi arrives and tells them that Another Rider is attacking.
At Photo Studio Ushieru, the employees are assualted by Another Blade, who keeps asking them where Hajime is. Sougo arrives and becomes Zi-O and during their struggle with each other, Black Woz notices something odd, the Another Rider's date on its back is 2019 when it should be 2004. Another Blade becomes enraged and prepares to fire an electric blast from her abdomen, but Zi-O shields the people in the line of fire and takes the full force of the electric shock as Another Blade escapes. Black Woz tells Sougo without the Zi-O II Ridewatch, he will need to find the real Kamen Rider Blade and gain his Ridewatch to defeat Another Blade. Since the creature was born in 2019, they have no need to go back in time to find Blade, they must simply search for him in the present. Sougo decides to split the gang up, he will go with Tsukuyomi to find Blade and Geiz and Black Woz must track down Diend and recover the remaining Ridewatches. Geiz objects to this, but Sougo leaves before he can protest.
Outside, Tsukuyomi stops Sougo and thinks that that was a bad idea, as Geiz and Black Woz hate each other and won't work together. Sougo knows this, but he feels he needs them to be forced to be together to at least grow to tolerate each other and eventually be friends. Tsukuyomi doubts his logic, but he then asks why the two hate each other so much. Tsukuyomi explains that Black Woz was part of the Resistance with them in 2068 and the team captain of their tactical squad. Woz claimed he was going to infiltrate Ohma Zi-O's palace as a spy and bring back intel for them, but it turned out he was a spy for Ohma Zi-O doing the reverse, giving intel to his master so he could locate and smite the entire Resistance army. Because of Woz's betrayal, Geiz hates him as his actions cost the lives of their comrades in arms. So no matter how hard Sougo tries, they will never accept each other as allies. She then asks how they are going to find Blade, but Sougo was so distracted by thinking about Woz and Geiz that he didn't think of a plan. They hear screams nearby and see Another Blade attacking a photo developer called ColoLab, interrogating one of its employees about where Hajime is. Sougo tries again to combat the Another Rider as Zi-O.
At a substation, White Woz meets up with Daiki, having been the person who ordered the theft of the Ridewatches. He is upset when he doesn't see his Woz Ridewatch among the stolen items. Daiki says he only steals treasures that interest him and he wants for himself, smack talking to White Woz saying that if he wants his treasures so badly he should get them himself. Insulted but unsettlingly calm, White Woz manipulates reality so that his Black counterpart stumbles upon Daiki and fights him again. As Black Woz and Geiz walk several feet apart from each other, Black Woz falls under the Future Diary's spell and is forced against his will to come towards where Daiki is. Geiz then figures out what is going on and follows him.
Zi-O uses his basic Rider Kick on Another Blade, but she absorbs its energy and gets back up. Zi-O is forced to brace for impact as Another Blade charges at him.
Daiki and Black Woz meet up and after discussing how each were manipulated by White Woz, transform and fight. Geiz confronts White Woz, who says he is running out of time as the Day of Ohma draws near and both of them must correct history to their path. Geiz isn't interested in White Woz's future and he himself is no savior. White Woz is disappointed and tells Geiz in that case, he will annihilate the world to prevent the rise of Ohma Zi-O.
Zi-O tries to fight back using GaimArmor to counter Another Blade's sword, but this eventually attracts the attention of Hajime, who believes Zi-O is hurting Amane and changes into Kamen Rider Chalice to defend her by attacking Zi-O.
Diend and Woz continue their battle, with Woz changing into Futuring Shinobi to outmanuver Diends gunfire and put him in a hold so Geiz can take back his watches. Geiz refuses to help out of stubbornness and Diend breaks free, summoning Kamen Rider Accel and Birth. Diend uses his Tesla Bands to speed up and strike Woz, followed by Accel changing into Bike form and ramming Woz into the air while Birth barrages him with Cell Burst shots. Diend aims his Diendriver after loading his Final Attack Ride Diend Card, making a perfect shot just before Woz touches the ground. But it turns out what Diend was facing was a bunshin dummy, as Geiz says the real Woz is a master of deception and lies. Woz appears behind Diend from a puff of smoke and slashes him, knocking out the Geiz Ridewatch from Diend's possession. Geiz knew that he was merely a distraction, but takes his Ridewatch back after Woz tosses it to him and he prepares to transform to tag team against Diend.
Chalice is fighting Zi-O GaimArmor, but the fight is shortlived as Hajime's Undead strength through his Spinning Dance Rider Kick knocks Zi-O out of his GaimArmor and sends him flying several feet. Before Chalice can continue, he senses a familiar presence and stops, seeing that Kazuma Kenzaki is walking towards him. Kazuma is disappointed in Hajime, as he promised he wouldn't transform again and that he sealed his own power away as the Joker Undead for Hajime's sake and the sake of the world. Angry and feeling he has no choice, Kazuma transforms into Kamen Rider Blade to fight Chalice. Despite this, Hajime knows what will happen if they fight and begs Kenzaki to stop.
Geiz and Woz face off against Diend and defeat his summons of Accel and Birth using a Rider Slash/Kick combo attack. They demand Diend to hand over the Revive Ridewatch and Zi-O II watch, but Diend says he does not have them anymore and tries to escape.
White Woz is walking away, and pulls out the two Ridewatches, which react to each other and his body by glowing from the remnant energies of his Woz Ridewatch. White Woz doesn't understand what this means and is disturbed by it but then sees that a new Ridewatch is being slowly created from the energies of all three.
Chalice and Blade continue to fight and the episode ends with the two of them clashing their weapons against each other...
To be continued...
==Cast==
*: 
*: 
*: 
* & : 
*: 
*Ziku-Driver, Ridewatch Voices: 
*Ziku-Driver Voice: 
*Beyondriver Voice: 
===Guest Cast===
*: 
*: 
*: 
*: 
*NeoDiendriver Voice: 
*Female Customer: 
===Suit Actors===
*Kamen Rider Zi-O, Kamen Rider Birth: 
*Kamen Rider Geiz, Kamen Rider Chalice: 
*Kamen Rider Woz: 
*Kamen Rider Blade: 
*Kamen Rider Birth: 
*Kamen Rider Diend: 
*Another Blade: 
==Forms and Collectibles Used==
===Ridewatches===
*Watch used:
**Zi-O
***Zi-O, Gaim
**Geiz
***Geiz
*Rider Armor(s) used:
**Zi-O
***GaimArmor
**Geiz
***N/A                       
===Miridewatches===
*Watch used:
**Woz
***Woz, Kikai, Shinobi
*Futurering(s) used:
**Woz
***Futurering Kikai, Futurering Shinobi
===Rouse Cards===
*Cards used:
**Blade
***Change
**Chalice
***Change, Float, Tornado, Drill
*Forms used:
**Blade
***Default
**Chalice
***Default
===Rider Cards===
*Card Used:
**Kamen Rider Diend
***Kamen Ride: Diend, Knight, Baron, Accel, Birth
***Attack Ride: Neo Invisible
***Final Form Ride:
***Final Attack Ride: Diend
Summoned Knight & Baron.png|DiendKamen Ride: Knight & Baron
Summoned Accel & Birth.png|DiendKamen Ride: Accel & Birth
==Errors==
*When the summoned Birth uses his Cell Burst attack, the Cell Bullet Pod on the Birth Buster is still attached to its base.
*Cross-Z and Genm did not appear when all Ridewatches were assembled after being retrieved from Diend.
**It is possible that they were with Geiz (or perhaps Sougo) all the time, since OOO Tajadol Ridewatch, the Ride Gadgets and the Ridestrikers were also not shown.
==Notes==
*As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside episode 3, .
*Viewership: 3.6%
*Closing Screen Ridewatches:
**Kamen Rider:
**Ridewatches:
***Zi-O: Zi-O II, Zi-OTrinity (brightened)
***Geiz: GeizRevive (Goretsu)
Trinity CS 1.png|The energy lines of the three Rider powers appearing by the side of the screen...
Trinity CS 2.png|Before flashing to the normal closing screen, teasing the formation of Zi-OTrinity.
*Count at episode end
**Watches in Zi-O's possession: Zi-O, Build, Ex-Aid, Ghost, Drive, Wizard, Fourze, Gaim, Kodama, OOO, OOO Tadajol Combo, W, Decade, Phone, Bike, Faiz, Ryuki, Kuuga
**Watches in Geiz's possession: Geiz, Cross-Z, Genm, Knight, Phone, Bike
**Watches in Tsukuyomi's possession: Phone, Taka
**Watches in White Woz’s possession: Zi-O II, GeizRevive, Zi-OTrinity (Incomplete)
**Watches in Black Woz’s possession: Woz, Shinobi, Quiz, Kikai
*This is the last episode title to use the title followed by the year format. Starting next episode, the episode's year is placed before its title.
*This episode shows of Sougo officially graduated from high school.
*The shot of the camera zooming past Hajime's photos towards his Spirit Rouse Card, transitioning into the opening sequence, references the opening shot of the Rouse Cards at the beginning of every episode of Kamen Rider Blade.
*Daiki uttering Tsukasa's line "I'm just a passing through Kamen Rider" in this episode is referenced to what he uttered in the World of Hibiki arc episodes in Kamen Rider Decade.
*Daiki Kaito returning in the Blade tribute episode could be a reference to his first appearance in the World of Blade and his homeworld being inspired from Blade's summer movie Kamen Rider Blade: Missing Ace.
**Also, Daiki Kaito cooking for Sougo and his company in 9 5 DO is similar to what he did to Tsukasa and his company in Hikari Studio during his official debut in the World of Faiz arc.
*This is the first time since their respective debuts Sougo does not assume Zi-O II, as well as Geiz into GeizRevive due to their respective watches being stolen by Diend.
*Daiki Kaito's summoned Kamen Rider has their own respective relation:
**Knight and Baron: Both are European knight motifs and using a spear, fight against Woz who is also a spear user. They are rivals to their respective main Riders.
**Accel and Birth: Both are police officers (although it's the second Birth, who is the police officer)
***Interestingly, Daiki Kaito was formerly a police officer in his homeworld before becoming Diend.
***Both had fought against Pteranodon Yummy in Kamen Rider × Kamen Rider OOO & W Featuring Skull: Movie War Core.
***Both Accel and Birth are somehow foreshadowing their return in Kamen Rider Zi-O NEXT TIME: Geiz, Majesty, but Akira Date will appear as Kamen Rider Birth instead.
*Geiz's refusal to help the Black Woz/Kamen Rider Woz while the latter was restraining Diend is a reference to the episode 1 of Kamen Rider Blade when Garren simply stared a helpless Blade fending off against Locust Undead. Both scenes involve Woz and Blade calling out their respective partners for simply standing there staring at them.
*The Attack Ride: Invisible announcement uses the one from the CSM Diendriver rather than from Kamen Rider Decade.
*The Ryuki Ridewatch is seen in Sougo's possession. The Ridewatch was obtained in the 3rd episode of Rider Time: Kamen Rider Ryuki along with the Knight Ridewatch.
*This episode reuses footage from the eleventh episode of Kamen Rider Decade and Kamen Rider Blade: Missing Ace.
*Final TV appearance of Zi-O GaimArmor.
*When Kenzaki transformed into Blade, his Blay Buckle flew towards him and wrapped itself around its waist. This was previously seen during his transformation in the first episode of Blade.
*The color of Blade's discolored helmet (previously seen in Kamen Sentai Gorider) was adjusted in the teaser trailer to make its appearance look more similar to the original TV series quality.
**Producer Shin-ichiro Shirakura explained that due to the way Blade's helmet was made, its colors change uncontrollably under various lighting conditions.The mask of Blade was made more delicate than our assumption. We can't control how it looks under the condition of various lightings. - Shin-ichiro Shirakura's tweet
**In addition, the undersuit is purple around the abdomen instead of dark blue.
==External links==
*TV Asahi's official episode guide for ブレイド・ジョーカー!?2019
*Heisei 20's official episode guide for ブレイド・ジョーカー!?2019
==References==
ru:Блэйд Джокер!? 2019
Category:Crossovers