Film
Kamen Rider Build: Be The One
Kamen Rider Build: Be The One escalates the series into cosmic territory—our heroes discover their new government is actually an alien species planning planetary genocide. It's a furious, colorful action film that finds its protagonist utterly alone, fighting former allies while racing to stop extinction. Designed for fans of the show, but genuinely gripping as a science-fiction thriller about isolation and conviction.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you already follow the Kamen Rider Build series and want a feature-length helping of its transformation-driven action, where rivalries and loyalties carry as much weight as the punches.
Skip it if you came in cold with no interest in the franchise, since it assumes you know the riders and their history and does little to explain them along the way.
What it asks of you: An hour and five minutes of nearly nonstop spectacle with little breathing room, so it's a short, loud sit rather than slow-burn character work.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Code Geass: Hangyaku no Lelouch2006
Protagonist gains a superpower, becomes increasingly isolated by his own choices, and spirals into moral compromise. Explores what happens when someone decides they alone can save the world, with gorgeous action sequences and genuine emotional devastation.
But Forty-eight episodes is a commitment, and the back half's pacing gets uneven. Some plot twists land better on rewatch than first viewing.

Fate/Zero2011
A tournament where seven masters and servants fight to the death with reality-bending powers. Gorgeously animated action, morally complex characters with real ideological differences, and a protagonist whose conviction isolates him from everyone.
But It's a prequel, so it ends in tragedy by design. If you need hope or closure, this deliberately denies both.

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing1995
Five teenage soldiers pilot giant robots meant to destroy the government. Features themes of pacifism versus violence, loyalty tested by manipulation, and action sequences that still hold up. Explores what happens when soldiers become targets.
But The 90s anime aesthetic is pronounced. Pacing shifts wildly between introspection and chaos, which works thematically but can feel disjointed.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Kamen Rider Build: Be The One
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story2020
Both feature a protagonist whose power isolates rather than connects them, and both explore the loneliness of being the person who *has* to save everyone, even when allies turn against them.
A deceptively cute magical-girl show that systematically deconstructs its genre and becomes a tragedy about the cost of saving the world. By episode three it's clear that heroism is a trap, and the rest is watching characters realize it too late. Jaw-dropping thematically and visually.
But The art style looks childish—that's intentional and part of the horror, but it means some viewers dismiss it before the story breaks.

More like this (7)
The King's Avatar2017
A master player returns to competition stripped of everything and must fight through opponents and media manipulation to prove himself. Sharp action, genuine stakes, and a protagonist fighting alone against a hostile system with only his skill as a weapon.
But It's a Chinese anime about competitive gaming. If you want grounded realism, you won't find it—the spectacle is the point.

Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08th MS Team1996
A complete tonal shift for Gundam: gritty, grounded war story focused on a small squad's survival rather than the fate of nations. Enemies are humanized, trust is fragile, and actions have lasting consequences. Feels earned and melancholy.
But At twelve episodes it tells a compressed story, and some emotional beats move too quickly to land fully. It's a side story, not the main event.

Demon Slayer2019
A young man fights increasingly impossible odds to save his sister from demonification. Staggering animation, genuine emotional weight, and action sequences that feel like they carry real stakes. The protagonist is tested in ways that leave scars.
But Shonen beats are familiar: training arcs, power-ups, and found-family tropes. If you're tired of the formula, the execution won't change your mind.

Nana2005
Two women named Nana meet on a train and become inseparable—until their different dreams pull them toward conflicting futures. A meditation on how love and ambition can be incompatible, with genuine emotional devastation disguised as a character study.
But It's based on an unfinished manga and ends deliberately unresolved. No catharsis, no final answers—just two people drifting apart in real time.

Ultraman Tiga & Ultraman Dyna & Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace1999
A human hosts an alien being and must balance his identity with his role as Earth's protector. Surprisingly thoughtful about what it costs to be special, with solid monster-of-the-week storytelling that occasionally cuts deeper into the character's isolation.
But Episodic structure means most episodes reset the emotional stakes. The serialized elements don't kick in until late, and the show predates modern production polish.

Space Battleship Yamato 21992012
Both are Japanese sci-fi action about lone protagonists fighting overwhelming odds while systems crumble. Both feature protagonists carrying knowledge that no one believes until it's nearly too late.
Completely reimagines a 1970s anime into a sprawling space opera about humanity's last battleship on a desperate mission. Gorgeously animated, genuinely epic in scope, with characters making impossible tactical decisions under impossible pressure. Feels like watching a real war unfold.
But Twenty-six episodes to tell a complete story. It's patient, sometimes slow, and some character subplots feel overstuffed. Also, it's a remake, so longtime fans might find changes controversial.

Kill la Kill2013
A hero fights a system that has literally everyone on its side, with former allies turned into agents of the enemy. The scale and tone are wildly different, but the structural isolation is identical.
A girl fights her way through a militaristic school with sentient battle clothing, discovering conspiracies that reach beyond just her immediate enemies. Visually insane, aggressively colorful, and commits fully to its absurdist energy while building toward genuine emotional stakes about identity and autonomy.
But It's grotesquely sexual by design—the costume design includes nudity and fetish imagery. If that's a dealbreaker, nothing here will convince you it's 'actually smart.'

People
Cast
Atsuhiro InukaiSento Kiryuu · Kamen Rider Build
Eiji AkasoRyuuga Banjou · Kamen Rider Cross-Z
Kaho TakadaMisora Isurugi
Kouhei TakedaKazumi Sawatari · Kamen Rider Grease
Yuki OchiNariaki Utsumi
Jouji KokuboShinobu Katsuragi
Yukiaki KiyamaTakumi Katsuragi
Takashi FujiiMitsuomi Goubara · Zebra Lost Smash
Rena MatsuiRyouka Saiga · Scissors Lost Smash
So OkunoKamen Rider Zi-O (voice) (uncredited)
Tetsuo KanaoEvolto / Kamen Rider Evol (voice)- Koharu TanahashiYuu Maihara
Directing
- Kazuya KamihoriuchiDirector
Writing
- Shogo MutoWriter
Production
- Katsuhiro TakagiProducer
- Keiji KameyamaProducer
- Osamu TezukaProducer
- Takahiro KodaProducer
- Toramatsu MamiyaProducer
Recommended by
Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy Legends The Movie, Kamen Rider Zi-O the Movie: Over Quartzer