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Another duality thread, this time focusing on our loveable Demon King. Because this revision is about duality, I'd like to go over the definition of yin and yang, which is the fundamental concept of duality and has a lot to do with this thread.
[BIG NOTE]: Big thanks to Jamesthetaker who help me prepare the thread
The focus of this revision, however, will be on Tokiwa Sougo and his mirror counterpart, Ura Sougo. They meet for the first time in episode 20 when Sougo is struggling with his darker side, and two episodes later, Sougo understands that he and Ura Sougo are the same person, with both the nicest and most wicked sides being true. This is further emphasized in the novelization of Kamen Rider Zi-O, when Sougo encounters Ura Sougo again and the latter defines himself as the yin (darkness). When the yin and yang are combined, there is no sense of evil or good; they coexist, establishing the dualism of Tokiwa Sougo. Therefore, we can conclude that the series acknowledges and incorporates several aspects of the yin-yang concept into its own lore.
Now we will go over the tangible evidence of this yin-yang thing. Once Sougo accepts his inner darkness, he gains the Zi-O II Ridewatch, which he uses to transform into Kamen Rider Zi-O II. With his newfound power, Zi-O rewrites the past to prevent Geiz's death, then predicts the past and future and uses it as an advantage to defeat the enemy. Sometime later, we found out that predicting the future isn't the only thing Zi-O can do; he can literally create a new future as he desires. This caused Sougo to create an alternate future, which in turn created Kamen Rider Kikai in 2121 based on what he had previously believed to be a dream. So, by understanding the two aspects that govern reality (past-future), Zi-O was able to take control of them freely and "transcend time".
To continue, we will delve deeper into the past-future duality. Let us recall Sougo's statement, in which he mentions not only past and future but also dark and light, evil and good, inside and outside, and so on, all of which are dualities in the world. Regardless, the past-future takes precedence, and Sougo will eventually use it to control time. This is supported by WoG, which claimed that only when Sougo can govern all aspects of reality will he obtain the power to control time. Another Zi-O II is an example of this, as he has the same abilities as Kamen Rider Zi-O, such as precognition, rewriting the past, and even the ability to overwrite the whole timeline. This is where Chinese philosophy and Kamen Rider lore intersect: in this context, "time" refers to the entirety of reality, and "past-future" alludes to the yin-yang, which is the most fundamental principle that upholds all aspects of reality. To conclude, Zi-O power allowed him to govern "past-future," the duality that precedes all aspects of reality; as a result, he can control "time," or the reality from which the duality originates.
In the third section, we will look at the statement "transcend time." The term itself is ambiguous because it can refer to a variety of things in general, hence we'll deduce the context behind it. That being said, there is something you must first understand: the Ohma Advent Calendar, a book that chronicles all of the events that led Sougo to become the Demon King Ohma Zi-O. While the book's content may alter as a result of a series of events, the outcome of Ohma Zi-O is unchangeable. This bring us back to Another Zi-O II from before, in which he overwrote the entire timeline and erased other Riders from existence in order to overthrow Zi-O. Despite his changes to history, the outcome of the Ohma Advent Calendar stays the same: Sougo's uprising as Ohma Zi-O. For those reason, Zi-O is unaffected by any alteration in "time" or "past-future." As a result, we can legitimately believe that Zi-O not only governs all aspects of reality, but that he is "above" them and immune to the consequences of those aspects.
[BIG NOTE]: Big thanks to Jamesthetaker who help me prepare the thread
Introduction
So, most people here understand the fundamentals of yin and yang, a concept in Chinese philosophy that represents opposing yet interconnected forces. The receptive principle is yin, and the active principle is yang, which may be seen in our everyday life as woman and man, cold and warm, negative and positive, and so on. According to the principle of yin-yang, seemingly opposing or opposed forces tend to balance each other out, which creates the harmony of the universe.Explaination
So, how does this relate to Kamen Rider? Well, Kamen Rider has a fair amount of influences based on this idea. One of these is Kamen Rider Ryuki's Mirror World. It's a world you can travel around using mirrors because it's a reflection of the real world and where the Kanzaki brothers, Ura Shinji (Mirror World Shinji), Ura Sougo (Mirror World Sougo), and the Mirror Monsters live. It exists as two sides of the same coin as the real world and mirrors reality's own laws. The word "ura" (裏) here means inside, while "hyoo" (表) is outside. So, you get the idea behind these words. Simply put, Mirror World is the yin to the yang of the real world.The focus of this revision, however, will be on Tokiwa Sougo and his mirror counterpart, Ura Sougo. They meet for the first time in episode 20 when Sougo is struggling with his darker side, and two episodes later, Sougo understands that he and Ura Sougo are the same person, with both the nicest and most wicked sides being true. This is further emphasized in the novelization of Kamen Rider Zi-O, when Sougo encounters Ura Sougo again and the latter defines himself as the yin (darkness). When the yin and yang are combined, there is no sense of evil or good; they coexist, establishing the dualism of Tokiwa Sougo. Therefore, we can conclude that the series acknowledges and incorporates several aspects of the yin-yang concept into its own lore.
Now we will go over the tangible evidence of this yin-yang thing. Once Sougo accepts his inner darkness, he gains the Zi-O II Ridewatch, which he uses to transform into Kamen Rider Zi-O II. With his newfound power, Zi-O rewrites the past to prevent Geiz's death, then predicts the past and future and uses it as an advantage to defeat the enemy. Sometime later, we found out that predicting the future isn't the only thing Zi-O can do; he can literally create a new future as he desires. This caused Sougo to create an alternate future, which in turn created Kamen Rider Kikai in 2121 based on what he had previously believed to be a dream. So, by understanding the two aspects that govern reality (past-future), Zi-O was able to take control of them freely and "transcend time".
To continue, we will delve deeper into the past-future duality. Let us recall Sougo's statement, in which he mentions not only past and future but also dark and light, evil and good, inside and outside, and so on, all of which are dualities in the world. Regardless, the past-future takes precedence, and Sougo will eventually use it to control time. This is supported by WoG, which claimed that only when Sougo can govern all aspects of reality will he obtain the power to control time. Another Zi-O II is an example of this, as he has the same abilities as Kamen Rider Zi-O, such as precognition, rewriting the past, and even the ability to overwrite the whole timeline. This is where Chinese philosophy and Kamen Rider lore intersect: in this context, "time" refers to the entirety of reality, and "past-future" alludes to the yin-yang, which is the most fundamental principle that upholds all aspects of reality. To conclude, Zi-O power allowed him to govern "past-future," the duality that precedes all aspects of reality; as a result, he can control "time," or the reality from which the duality originates.
In the third section, we will look at the statement "transcend time." The term itself is ambiguous because it can refer to a variety of things in general, hence we'll deduce the context behind it. That being said, there is something you must first understand: the Ohma Advent Calendar, a book that chronicles all of the events that led Sougo to become the Demon King Ohma Zi-O. While the book's content may alter as a result of a series of events, the outcome of Ohma Zi-O is unchangeable. This bring us back to Another Zi-O II from before, in which he overwrote the entire timeline and erased other Riders from existence in order to overthrow Zi-O. Despite his changes to history, the outcome of the Ohma Advent Calendar stays the same: Sougo's uprising as Ohma Zi-O. For those reason, Zi-O is unaffected by any alteration in "time" or "past-future." As a result, we can legitimately believe that Zi-O not only governs all aspects of reality, but that he is "above" them and immune to the consequences of those aspects.
