Recap: Kamen Rider Zero-One, Episode 3 – That Man, Sushi Chef
Aruto is trying to sell the sushi-making Humagear Ikkan Nigiro to sushi master Uosumi Norio. But in spite of Nigiro’s skill, Master Uosumi decides to cancel the order.
Just then Yua walks in and surprisingly sides with Aruto, saying Humagears have great value to humans.
Over at Hiden HQ, Senior VP Sanzo and Shester are updating VP Jun about Aruto going around meeting Humagears at their workplaces. Including visiting Master Uosumi who is looking for someone to take over his sushi restaurant since he hurt his back. VP Jun says to let Aruto be since either way, it is a win for him. If Aruto gets the contract, it’s good for the company. If Aruto fails, he can use that against him.
Back at the sushi restaurant, Yua shows Nigiro her phone which allows him to analyze her preferences so he can make the perfect sushi for her tastes. Aruto is surprised she is so excited about it. But Yua says in today’s world, you must learn how to co-exist with technology. That’s why it’s up to humans to decide how to live with the Humagears.
Meanwhile, Horobi tells Jin that the revival of their Ark is near. He asks Jin to collect some new data.
Jin heads into town to turn Humagear barber Scissormenz into a Magia.
Nigiro makes a sushi that should be to Master Uosumi’s liking, but he says it’s horrible. He insists robots cannot be sushi chefs because they do not have hearts.
Master Uosumi says he’s heard enough of their pitch and that Magokoro Sushi dies with him instead.
Yua gets a call about the Magia and she hurries to join Isamu and the other A.I.M.S. troops who are already confronting it.
Isamu henshins and battles the Magia. He tells Yua to just sit and watch. But she runs into the van to grab something.
Aruto also henshins and joins Isamu in fighting the Magia. But Isamu doesn’t welcome the help. Aruto gets caught in the Magia’s tentacles he blasts off and that allows the Magia to disappear.
Aruto jumps up to leave. Isamu shoots at him, but only helps take the tentacles off.
Back at Hiden HQ, Aruto is reporting the contract failure to VP Jun.
Shester says this will hurt Hiden’s bottom line.
Meanwhile, Izu is in the Hiden cloud coming up with a new ProgriseKey that will help battle the Magia. She hands it to Aruto as he walks in with Nigiro.
Nigiro asks if a heart can be fashioned out of data since Master Uosumi is looking for a successor with a heart. Izu says that is not possible, but Aruto has an idea.
That night, Isamu finds Yua looking intently at her phone. He asks if she’s found the Magia, but she’s cold to his inquiry and he leaves to go search on his own.
The next day, Aruto, Izu and Nigiro head to Magokoro Sushi. Aruto asks Master Uosumi if he could give Nigiro one more shot. Aruto knows Master Uosumi didn’t hand over the restaurant to any of the pupils he trained.
Master Uosumi says it was because none of them could keep up with him and that their hearts wavered. Nigiro says his heart will not waver since he doesn’t have one in the first place.
Aruto says he asked the Master’s former students and they said Master Uosumi has a special technique in making his sushi. Nigiro learned this technique and demonstrates it for Master Uosumi.
Master Uosumi assumes Nigiro is just copying his technique. But Nigiro theorizes that Master Uosumi makes sushi in this way because it carries his heart’s sincere feelings in his creations.
Master Uosumi says Nigiro must do it 10,000 times. Nigiro says it’s not a problem and Master Uosumi acknowledges that Nigiro is definitely more driven than humans.
Izu does not understand why Aruto is smiling at this since it appears to be a negative situation. Aruto says humans aren’t that simplistic
Up on a roof, Jin tells the Magia to grab more souls. The Magia extends its tentacles around the city, infecting Humagears to turn into Magears, including Nigiro.
Aruto and Izu get Master Uosumi safely outside. But the Magears come attacking. Aruto cannot tell which one is Nigiro.
Yua arrives and says it doesn’t matter since as long as the data has been backed up, a Humagear can always be recreated. Aruto says Humagears are not that simple. They are friends of humanity who connect to people’s hearts. They are not merely tools.
But Yua says they are tools. She whips out a Driver and a ProgriseKey.
Yua henshins to Kamen Rider Valkyrie and battles all the Magears herself.
Master Uosumi now agrees that Humagears are not just tools. And just like Yua said earlier, it’s up to humans to determine how to live with Humagears.
Those words encourage Aruto. He tells Izu to get the Master to safety while he henshins.
Aruto goes up against the Magia and decides to use the new Key to power-up to Biting Shark. With the new powers, Aruto is able to deliver a Biting Impact finisher to finish off the Magia.
Back to Yua, Isamu arrives just as Yua delivers a Dash Rushing Blast to finish off the remaining Magears.
Yua dehenshins and tells Isamu that is how you’re supposed to fight.
Later that day, it turns out Master Uosumi has signed the contract for Nigiro to become his new apprentice, learning everything from scratch.
Aruto says he believes Humagears have hearts. Just like Nigiro who is happy learning how to make sushi and Master Uosumi who is happy to teach someone else.
On the other side of town, Yua is reporting to a mysterious man. She says she had installed a program into Nigiro to enable to use his eyes to spy on Hiden HQ.
Yua says she discovered that Hiden has Progrise Key data thought to have been destroyed in Daybreak. That means the Ark can be brought back. And that Aruto is the key to that.
Episode Thoughts
A good episode.
Yua is of course a very intriguing character. It’s great to have a female Rider right at the beginning and I like that they directly show us at the end that she has her own share of secrets as well. It’s a good other mystery to help with the world building and give purpose to the many characters. This also adds another layer to Yua and Isamu’s relationship/partnership as well.
With the Humagears, we learn a little bit more about Aruto’s feelings about them as well as their possibilities. Aruto really regards them more than just simple household gadgets and I think that will stem from whatever experience he had with his “father” in the past.
But there definitely could be more to the human aspect of the Humagears. In the opening credits, we see a tear roll down Izu’s face. And like last week, this week’s Humagear of the Week exhibits traits that are more than just simple programming and perhaps more “human” in nature.
There’s definitely lots of interesting threads just starting out and even more to come. I certainly hope they’ll be able weave them all together in an exciting way.
So far, so good for Zero-One!
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6 thoughts on “Recap: Kamen Rider Zero-One, Episode 3 – “Try to outrun this demon to get left in the dust.””
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Okay, there was definitely a lot of hype for Yua as the first female main Rider and this ep really delivered on that. What’s more, they actually gave her an interesting narrative.
One intriguing bit here is the irony of Yua’s views that humagears are nothing more than machines and tools. Yet, she herself is very robotic in her mindset and, based on that end scene, is likely nothing more than a tool of whoever that guy in the shadow is. Like I said last time, she kinda feels like a more action-oriented version of Build’s Sawa.
Yeah, it’s a very definitely a very intriguing narrative for her and it does seem like they can do a little more with the story than they should’ve done with Sawa.
I’m very much liking this series so far. It has a good mix of comedy and seriousness. I’m especially intrigued regarding the villains’ motivations and origins? Has anyone wondered why Horobi and Jin’s ears have been completely covered so far? Also, I’m hoping that Aruto’s grandfather is a bigger factor as the series goes on. Maybe he’ll end up being the bigger bad.
Yes, there’s definitely lots of mystery left to uncover. Interesting point about their ears.
Also after the opening credits first aired, seeing Aruto’s grandfather in it (along with his father) made me think they’ll play a big role in the story later on.
The balance of comedy and seriousness really reminds me more and more of Ex-Aid. It had a similar light tone to start and the story soon grew darker and more dramatic later on.
So, this was a lot of focus on Yua. She loves sushi, she isn’t so nervous like Isamu, more calm. But I was shocked when she secretly recorded Aruto behind his back!😲Just who is she working for!?😡And who is this mysterious man in the end of episode?👿
And generally, everyone has own opinion about Humagears and everyone make own decision if want to accept them or not. I personally think, Humagears can help people, but they can’t replace them! In every moment can addle and who later will fix it? So, what do you think?
It will be interesting to see how they develop the humans vs humagear story.