the end of Zero-oneangelion
By Ethan Gurr
edited by Kwame Obiri-Addai
So, normally I would open my reviews with a witty paragraph but i'm going to skip over that because, well,
it's way past time.
If you remember, issue 2 ended with Ragnarok confronting Aruto in his HQ, after pretending to be dead,
transforming a bunch of humagears into minions and then transforming one of them into a big cannon
and firing that point blank at our heroes. Issue 3 opens with Aruto and Izu falling through the now exploded roof
(I guess Ragnarok missed a point blank shot). When they land, Izu calls down Aruto’s bike and the titular Kamen
Rider, kamen rides out of the exploding building to safety with Izu, Fuwa and Yaiba show up for two panels
to complain at Aruto. We then hard cut to Aruto in the exploded remains of his office, being yelled at by his
company’s VP about how the shareholders are upset and this will lead to him being removed as CEO,
(this was a running joke for like the first handful of episodes but quickly stopped.
This here just feels like more characters complaining at Aruto for being attacked - a matter he had no say in)
Izu then pulls out a test tube with a sample of the humagears Ragnarok transformed, runs some tests and
gets a the results that they need to investigate a spot on Mt. Fuji. Aruto and Izu then go find a secret base
and the AI system welcomes them to the “apocalypse reboot system” and goes on to exposit Ragnarok's
backstory.. Oh boy, so basically Ragnarok is a countermeasure created to kill all people with a driver if the
world ends. the base poops out if it detects that the satellite that links to Aruto's Driver ever goes down
because that would mean there's been an extinction level event. But when a solar flare shut off the satellite for
10 seconds while the system rebooted the protocol activated (note this is also information that the base tells
them, so it knows the conditions for Ragnarok haven't been met).
They are interrupted, however, when the test tube samples from before that Izu brought with her up Mt. Fuji
for some reason, reactive turning into more of the guys from before, Aruto transforms to fight them and
Rangnarok appears too, Ragnarok then thought generic sounding dialogue explains that during the fight in the
park way back in issue 1 they faked their death so they can sneak attack Aruto in his home base so they could
fake their death again so Aruto would lead him to the apocalypse reboot system. So Ragnarok appearing to
blow himself up and own themself,was in fact part of their master plan. I should also point out here, “faking their
death and then reappearing later” is Ragnarok's one move, he does it about four times in the last issue alone.
During the fight, Ragnarok reveals that they are there for the Thousand Key - a progrise key that will let them
achieve their all-powerful (and worse looking) final form. Izu yoinks the key out of their hand while Aruto distracts
them. There's a small chase and Aruto stabs Ragnarok with a tree, their special move came off cool down so
they pretend to be dead while Izu and Aruto talk. Ragnarok then yoinks back the key and uses it bringing the
issue to a close with them in their final form.
Ok so, issue 4. It opens right were issue 3 left off. Ragnarok goes to attack Aruto but Fuwa and Yaiba show up
and crash a car into Ragnarok, which they shrug off and rip in two. Fuwa and Yaiba then chastise Aruto, talking
over him as he tries to explain Ragnarok's weakness which he seems to have worked out in between issues.
The two transform and instantly get ragdolled, Aruto then explains what he was trying to say and his plan to lead
Ragnarok to a nearby electrical power plant. Izu then calls down bikes for all three Riders all while Ragnarok just
watches.
This, I will say, is neat. Vulcan and Valkyrie never got their own bikes in the show. The trio ride for about two
minutes before passing the AIMS agents arriving to back up Vulcan and Valkyrie, who decide to stay behind to
buy Aruto time since the AIMS agents are just dudes in tactical gear with guns. Ragnarok starts cutting through
them like they were butter. Vulcan and Valkyrie do 1 finisher, Ragnarok’s special move came off of cooldown so
they pretended to be dead and then one-shot them. Ragnarok calls them stupid and leaves after Aruto, Fuwa
and Yaiba (who lose their helmets in between panels) remark on how they totally did all they can and it's up to
Aruto now.
We then join Aruto and Izu at the hydroelectrical plant. Izu tells Aruto that she's going to need him to buy her
time so that she can hack the plant and make it explode, handing him the Braking Mammoth Key he uses,
summoning his personal mecha.
They fight for a little and Aruto does the braking mammoth finisher before he hops out of his mecha and
undoes his transformation. He then pulls the very cleaver gambit of going “if we keep fighting at this evacuated
building, innocent people will get hurt. If you want to destroy all Riders, you will need to kill the innocent humans
under them”. Ragnarok basically says they don't care and will kill anyone with a driver and Aruto responds “but
if i take off my driver, you’re just committing murder. Can you live with that ?”. They talk a little more just as Izu
sets the final detonation sequence, causing the building to explode. it does so just as Izu gets Aruto outta harm's
way. While Aruto and Izu stand over Rangnarok’s body for one final time, they get up, scream at them and then
turn to dust like a goddamn vampire.
We then cut to Aruto, Fuwa and Yaiba standing around talking while AIMS guys sweep up the remains of
Ragnarok and seal them in a more high-tech container, like it's the end of an Indiana Jones film. Aruto and Izu
explain that Aruto trying to moralize to Ragnarok was to piss them off enough to ignore the clear trap they were
setting for them. We then get one last pun from Aruto (no catchphrase still ) and the final page has the show's
villains talking about how, yes, actually this somehow (????????) helps them in a sad attempt to link to the show
since for some reason, this whole mess is set between episodes 3 and 7 of the show.
Here is the writer confirming that.
And with THAT we are free. Now, what do I think about these two issues I hear you dear reader ask? I think they
capital S, Sucked And Bradon’s a hack. I think this for a number of reasons that I'm just going to bullet point for
y’all now:
.It's very clear that Bradon didn't actually watch past episode 7 by the way, no one is in character.
.The fact It seems like the comics were embarrassed by the source material, Arutos catchphrase and the
lack of a “press” sound effect when Aruto used braking mammoth.
. Just how lame Ragnarok is. A cool first design who spouts generic evil “I will do the bad thing” dialog and
whose only move is “fake being dead, haha you fool, you fell for my master plan now your open for my attack”.
I could go on and on, reader, but unlike the comic series, I respect your time. So let me bring this fight to a close
by saying, when the art isn't tracing things from the show, I think it's pretty cool. The action scenes are neat
because of that. I like Ragnarok's first design, it looks like something you could actually see on the show and
it’s neat they gave Vulcan and Valkyrie bikes. That's everything nice i can say about all four issues/ When my
praise is this limited, you know i must be reaching for anything to say something nice about. Do I
recommend this? God no. As a Kamen Rider fan, this was a monumental disappointment and I hope history
forgets this, and if we ever get anything like this again in the future, I have two hopes -
1. They don't try to connect it to the original series like the Ultraman comics or they set it post series and
2. Someone that actually has watched the show is the one writing it ( hire me, I'm available).
Thank you everyone. Join me next time as I hopefully talk about something less disappointing.
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