Recap: Kamen Rider Zero-One, Episode 33 – Are Dreams Important to You?

At ZAIHiden HQ, Gai tells Yua that this is her final chance and orders her to eliminate Isamu. If they can eliminate Isamu, Naki will have nowhere to go and will return Isamu to his original state. Yua does not understand, but Gai says it’s time he tells her about Isamu’s true past.

Meanwhile, Aruto reactivates tennis coach Love-chan who Isamu found on the street. Love-chan was contracted by a mother in order to coach her son Keita. Love-chan says his dream is to turn Keita into a pro tennis player. But who could have thrown him away?

They meet with Keita who admits he threw Love-chan away because his girlfriend thought he was a creeper. He couldn’t return Keita because his mother is the contract holder and didn’t want to tell her. But Keita says he really does like Love-chan.

Love-chan says it’s okay. All they have to do is rally and continue to pursue his dream of making it to the Grand Slam.

Later, Keita says he is willing to give it another try with Love-chan. But Yua and a pair of A.I.M.S. goons arrive to eliminate Love-chan and Izu.

Aruto and Isamu henshin and take on the goons. A hesitant Yua, thinking about Gai’s revelation to her, henshins and faces off against Isamu.

Isamu tries to get Yua to come to her senses. But she can’t stop thinking about what she’s learned. She tries yanking Isamu’s Driver from him and says he should have never become a Kamen Rider. He pushes her off him, but she repeats that it is all her fault.

Isamu is able to force Yua to dehenshin and asks her how long she will remain a ZAIA tool. She arrives back at the A.I.M.S. van, but the two A.I.M.S. goons turn on her.

Isamu hurries over to save her and asks her what’s up. He says he doesn’t regret becoming a Kamen Rider. He is able to force open Keys and overcome the chip in his brain. Now, he has a strong desire to destroy ZAIA.

Isamu declares feelings and emotions can overcome any technology.

Yua asks Isamu what would happen after ZAIA is destroyed. Isamu says he didn’t know the answer to that for a long time. But now he knows what his dream is.

Over in Daybreak, Horobi tells Jin they need MetsubouJinrai to raise the Ark. But Jin says they need to find another way to free Naki from Isamu.

Gai calls Yua and says her mission is to eliminate Humagears. He will take care of killing Isamu himself.

Over at the tennis courts, Keita is exhausted from Love-chan’s training and he runs over to Hiden Manufacturing. Love-chan follows him, but Keita tells Aruto that he wants to return him. He wants to enjoy playing tennis. But Love-chan is making that impossible even if he is very passionate.

Keita admits he doesn’t even have a girlfriend and only lied as an excuse so his mother wouldn’t reactivate Love-chan.

Love-chan says it’s okay for Keita to feel the way he does. But he encourages Keita to keep his dream and work hard for a good future. Keita thinks that’s an impossible dream.

Both Love-chan and Isamu say no dream is impossible. Yua listens to the entire thing from around the corner and grows frustrated hearing people talking about dreams all over the place.

Gai pops up and says Yua is far too naive. He thought telling her the truth about Isamu would get her head back in the game. But instead it’s taken the opposite effect.

Isamu asks what the hell he’s talking about. Yua tries to keep Isamu from hearing the truth, but Gai says it anyway.

Isamu’s memories from the day of Daybreak are all a lie. Gai had implanted the memory of Humagears attacking a middle school into Isamu’s chip.

Yua says she never knew that either. But Gai did it to provoke a hatred of Humagears in Isamu as part of his keikaku and dream.

Isamu cannot believe it. Gai mocks him as having succumbed to being his tool. That word triggers Yua.

Yua says she may not have a dream, but she has her conviction as an engineer. She believes that technology should bring people together, not be used to play with people’s dreams.

Yua says she can never forgive Gai for what he’s done. She henshins to Rushing Cheetah and Gai henshins as well, saying he must punish her.

Aruto henshins to deal with the two A.I.M.S. goons.

Yua and Gai battle. Isamu’s words to her resonate in her mind as she tries to fight off the control chip inside her head.

Isamu gets over his initial shock at the revelation and henshins to Rampage. He and Yua tag-team it against Gai.

Isamu knocks it into Gai’s head that the memory he’s always known does not matter to him anymore. He doesn’t need that hatred because he now has a dream. And that is the dream of a Kamen Rider that is of Gai’s own making.

Gai insists Isamu is still a tool with no right to dream. He says technology can defeat any emotion. But after Isamu wears down Gai just enough, Yua delivers a finisher and says she hears feelings can overcome any technology.

Gai is forced to dehenshin. He scrambles for his ZAIASpecs to get Yua under control. But she fights it.

Yua tosses her blaster aside and punches Gai clear across the face. She says to consider this her resignation. She rips off her ZAIA pin and tosses it to the ground.

Later, Love-chan says he has decided to compete in the Grand Slam himself. But Izu points out that Humagears are not allowed to compete in sports.

Instead, Keita arrives and hands him a flyer looking for tennis coaches for children. Love-chan decides he will support young players and their tennis championship dreams.

On the other side of town, Yua aimlessly walks down a bridge where she is met by Horobi and Jin.

They ask her to join them in their quest to free Naki.

Episode Thoughts

This was a good, solid episode. I must say, I was a little underwhelmed by this “climax” for Yua’s story. I expected something much more dramatic. At least something close to Isamu’s big climactic episode. Instead, Isamu even took a bit of the spotlight from Yua this episode with the whole fake memory plotpoint.

I would’ve liked to have seen Yua struggling a little bit more. We’ve gotten a little bit every week. But seeing her struggle and think back to everything she’s done and has been a part of while being Gai’s tool would’ve made her knocking Gai out even more satisfying. It should be interesting to see what her working with Jin and Horobi will look like. And perhaps there’s still more to her enlightenment to come.

Speaking of, the preview teases Horobi making his move. It would be great to see Horobi really get back into the driver’s seat. But not necessarily diminishing Gai’s control over the madness or Jin’s role as the new savior of the Humagear friendship that he’s become.

It was definitely a surprise twist to learn Gai implanted that terrifying, painful memory into Gai. But there’s two things about this revelation.

One, while Isamu was indeed consumed with hatred and vengefulness against the Humagear before, he’s already gotten over that. He’s literally taken off and leapt toward a dream. No longer is he intent on ridding the world of Humagears. And that’s in part thanks to Aruto who was able to help guide Isamu towards where he is now in terms of his feelings for Humagears.

So seeing him breakdown for a moment was interesting. I guess it was just his realization that he wasted so many years on that anger and especially when he became an A.I.M.S. officer. But he’s moved on and has a new focus in life. A better focus too.

Second, if Isamu’s childhood memory was fake, then what’s his real backstory all about? I certainly hope there’s more to that moving forward. Like, there’s some other big secret in Isamu’s past. Did the fake memory replace the truth? Was Isamu just a regular ol’ kid? Or is there something more dark and sinister in his past? I hope it’s the latter. Isamu’s gotten the best story and character development and it would be wonderful to see that continue with more surprises from him.

The Humagear of the Week was a good story. It could’ve even filled an episode on its own without the Yua stuff. The idea of a parent forcing a Humagear on their children and the pressure of doing well in school or in a sport is ripe for a great, emotional story.

Overall, this was a good, solid episode that could’ve been a little stronger. But good nonetheless.