Ha ha, again, not quite how I'd describe a character (I feel like "Mary Sue" isn't really engaging with either the character or the story?), but I get that Sakura does not have 100% of the Kamen Rider fanbase on her side.

My problem isn't that Sakura's strong my problem is she on numerous times does things the show at one point or another demonstrates to be impossible

I am pretty sure you're describing heroism!

I think that is a good point but my issue with that episode is that we're told that if you sign an advanced level giff contract (BTW I HAVE ISSUES WITH GIFF TOO BUT WE'LL GET TO THOSE WHEN WE GET TO HIM, THE SECOND HALF OF THIS SHOW WAS ROUGH TO WATCH WEEKLY like it might be reccency bias but I genuinely think the second half of Revice(Save for the episode where Genta defeats Vali, I had the usual second half Revice problems with last episode but the fact we didn't have to put up with Akashi anymore made it all worth it) is worse than Ghost) and are defeated your dead or get turned into a Gifftarian(so still dead). Their are numerous times where Ikki and Daiji and Hiromi try and fail to do this. Sakura feels pitty for Hana and wants to save her so badly so she literally pulls a weapon out of her ass that let's her do this

So episode 43. Neither Akaishi or Karizaki Sr. were actually perma-dead last time, but this time, it seems to stick. Now normally, I’m not a fan of resurrecting bad guys with perfectly serviceable deaths to give them more generic deaths (see my thoughts on Hurricaneger 36-37, my thoughts on Go-Busters 43 and 47 whenever I get around to writing those up, and next episode of this show, when we get there). But given how anticlimactic Akaishi’s previous end was, I’m much happier to see Hikaru do a full Genomix to cripple him. Even if I wished that had killed him, rather than Daiji coming in to shoot him.

And before Karizaki Sr. dies, he adds a DIFFERENT retcon for George!s behaviour to the “just following orders” explanation. It’s about as popular (read: not at all) as the previous debut, especially since the idea that demons can be transferred like crypto has never been brought up before, and this seems like an even more blatant explanation for the sudden shift. Especially with Karizaki saying “It might’ve influenced George’s earlier behaviour”, even though that isn’t how any of the demons in this show, Igarashi-born or otherwise, have worked that way.

Ikki: It’s Ikki’s…

Vice: And Vice’s…

Both: Stamp Navi!

Ikki: And today’s stamp is this one!

Komodo Dragon!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2MWqrQTkIyM

This World! Oh my God! This World’s Dragon! Komodo Dragon! If You Don’t Fight, You Won’t Be Alive!

Ikki: The Komodo Dragon Vistamp grants a Neo-Burst for the Demons System in the form of the Komodo Dragonic Heat, allowing for a burst of fire to be unleashed.

Vice: Jesus Christ! And I thought the Lion Vistamp was super hot.

George: Speaking of things that are “super hot”, today’s Legend is… this one.

Desire Driver: Ryuki!

Shinji: Henshin!

George: Kamen Rider Ryuki, Shinji Kido. A journalist who stumbled into the Rider Battle in the Mirror World and contracted with the monster Dragredder. He fought to end the battle once and for all, but only managed to make it worse by dragging it out. But he won out, as the whole thing was wiped from history when the Mirror World was closed.

“If you don’t fight, you won’t survive.”

Vice: Hmm, if the Mirror World was closed, then how come you know so much abou-? (Zoom out to reveal George is now dressed in 18th century styled clothing) What the? When did that happen?

(Enter Tsumuri, wearing a red and black Lolita dress, with her hair worn down)

Tsumuri: (presenting a pair of Mission Boxes, one Bikkuri, one Hatena, to Vice and Ikki) Congratulations. You’ve been accepted into the Desire Royale. Starting today, you’re a Kamen Rider.

Vice: B-but, your show hasn’t started yet. And we’re already Kamen Riders…

(But Ikki has already opened the mission box, and donned the…)

Desire Driver!

Ikki: I’m boiling up now. Henshin!

(He inserts his I/D Core)

Entry!

He transforms into a DGP Rider, with Revi Rex Genome’s usual head, sans teeth.

Ikki: Vice! You too.

Vice: (clearly confused and distressed) We’re not supposed to reference the Geats Movie War until we’re living it. (Takes his own Desire Driver out of his Bikkuri Box and inserts the I/D Core before donning it and taking out and inserting the Raise Buckle in the Hatena Mission Box) Let’s Henshin!

Monster! Ready, Fight!

Ikki: Right. Let’s do this. (He takes out and uses his own Raise Buckle to transform)

Beat! Ready? Fight!

Announcer: What will Ikki and Vice do with their new belts? What does this have to do with Ryuki? Find out in Kamen Rider Geats/Kamen Rider Revice: Movie Battle Royal, coming soon in this watch. But for now, we hope you enjoy the next instalment of Stamp Navi.

Yeah, there's a vague Sins Of The Father thing going on, but the fact that even the guy doing the confessing can't clearly articulate why this ever seemed like a good idea (A DEMON AS A PARTING GIFT?! WITH EVERYTHING YOU'RE GOING THROUGH WITH NOAH?!) renders this revelation more comedic than dramatic. At least it made me laugh?

Oh, and thanks for the fun skit! It was a real highlight!

Yeah I'd also consider her one of the best parental figure characters in the franchise. But still though, the non-mom female characters that has maternal traits...

Regarding the Karizakis, Masumi had spent most of his time trying to atone for what he did, and it seems that actually despite his constant self-depreciating, he had won the others' approval, like Aguilera (who Masumi forgot, was someone worse than him) for giving her a place, and even from Sakura too, who now see the good in him injecting Genta with Giff cells while Masumi still saw that as despicable, the opposite of their first encounter. Though of course it's because he hadn't tell others yet about what he considered his biggest sin (and probably it really is), of injecting his own demon into George, which claimed here to be influencing his personality. And probably his relationship with George is strained again though others would support George at his behest.

The explanation, man, now this seems like an asspull, because George has no supernatural indicator at his mad scientist days, and this created further plot hole that when and how George did lose Masumi's demon inside him (must be on the late 20s of Revice when he became an ally)? Granted, the previous explanation wasn't good either like him being 'forced' under Akaishi's will, when he gleefully throws everyone under the bus for his research instead of being someone like, Yua to Gai in Zero-One, but this is also contradicting to the previous explanation where this one implies George has no control, while previously George had control by being 'forced'.

So Deadman Aguilera had a competitor in whose the biggest Giff simp, Akaishi himself. He too, had his downfall being desperate for Giff's further assistance (slapped for Aguilera, contract terminated for Akaishi). Akaishi had been implied to be biased against Giff before, but it's now clear here that he's only serving Giff, fuck with anyone else. Like, if Giff wants him to keep humanity, then he does so like before, but if Giff wants to eradicate humanity as for now, then Akaishi would also do that. Akaishi's misantrophic and dunno if he wasn't fully agreeable with keeping humans before of which he sees as the real demon to his object of worship Giff.

His new form Gigademos doesn't really return him to his grace before, though it finally had Over Demons (other than Hikaru's training) showing its proper ability, in combining the Genomixes to overwhelm Gigademos. It's finally there, though after Demons (both base and Over) successor came in Destream. Perhaps what makes it inferior is about how utilizing its power takes the toll to the Rider and its user. Akaishi still held Daiji in high regard even when Daiji is killed, looking forward to his next moves. Actually that's something like Steven Armstrong too, to die, but still proud of finding who he can view as successor.

Daiji's still like before, Genta's word only made him conflicted to the extent, still not an instant step in bringing him back. Or it seems that his situation is irreversible even if he listened to Genta, that Kagerou had died. Him killing Akaishi is the same move as what he (attempted to) does to Ikki, offing anyone who can't save humanity. Only that Akaishi is a valid target unlike Ikki, but still doesn't mean Daiji is redeemed here, as he attempted to make a deal with Giff. He's an (anti-)villain killing another villain. And Giff himself doesn't seem to be much superior than Ultimate Revi/Vice too here! Hiromi once again, finally loses his cool and breaks down like at Wakabayashi's death, for Daiji's decision. Not much for Ikki here other than his memories losing again that he's apparently ok if others still remember him, and about him having big bro approach to Hikaru.

To be fair, this is just Daiji's take on the situation; whether or not Kagerou can be brought back seems like the sort of thing that would take actual investigation by an expert, rather than Daiji just deciding that Kagerou's gone for good. Daiji is not the most reliable judge of what's possible on this show!

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 44 - “DEVOTING IT ALL, THE RESULTS OF HIS DETERMINATION”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../revice44a.png

If there’s a throughline to Daiji’s character, it’s his almost pathological inability to take responsibility for his actions. I could point out specific instances, but, like: we both watched this show. Nearly every Daiji storyline is shifting the blame onto someone else, or refusing to allow for alternate viewpoints, or doubling down on misguided choices until he’s pointing a revolver in his brother’s face. He’s a guy that can’t see why everyone is screaming at him to stop being such a screaming lunatic about things. He’s… he’s this, for virtually the entire second half of the series:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/daiji.png

And yet, there’s something sort of charming about Daiji’s fragile ego and almost instinctual self-sabotage. He’s got all of Hiromi’s penchant for screwing up, but without the self-awareness and sheepish warmth that makes Hiromi such a lovable loser. (Hiromi's fan-favorite catchphrase, now retired, is all about how each fight almost killed him!) Daiji’s got a prickly dismissal of anything even approaching a good reason to stop being a weirdo, and his insistence on staying the course – even when the course is The Giant Monster Just Said He Was Definitely Going To Destroy All Of Humanity, That Is What You Are Agreeing To Assist – is one of the most infuriating aspects of this series. I love this show, and I love Daiji, but it’s a fair criticism at this point in the show. Daiji refuses to change.

But, yeah, I like that? I like Daiji getting to the deadest of dead ends and being completely bewildered about how to turn around. Like, that’s his one and only flaw, if you want to get back to it: Daiji doesn’t know how to say he screwed up. (And he studied under Hiromi! Hiromi screwed up teaching Daiji to be okay with screwing up! AMAZING. Hiromi!!!) Everything that comes after that initial mistake – killing Kagerou or joining Akaishi, take your pick – is just rationalizations to keep from having to own his mistake. He pushed away his family, when all they wanted him to do was admit he was wrong, because that’s impossible for him. They tried to give him space to figure things out on his own, but that only led to him digging a deeper hole.

So of course it’s a weepy Hiromi speech that turns Daiji towards self-analysis and admission of guilt. Hiromi’s a guy whose whole outlook is that he’ll screw up and try to do better next time, even if he technically hasn’t screwed up yet. He’s the guy that’s going to root for Daiji to acknowledge his error, because Hiromi knows that true strength comes from seeing your flaws, owning them, and using them for good.

As such: Kagerou.

Not a great episode, arc-plot wise (I do not want to talk about Giff this time), but a thrilling conclusion to Daiji’s series-long mental breakdown. I don’t know that I love the idea that Kagerou was waiting for Daiji to hit rock-bottom before giving him a hand up, but it’s a return delivered with so much charm and swagger that I sort of don’t want to be skeptical about it. I just want to appreciate this story of a boy who realized he needed the worst part of himself back, because the best part of himself wasn’t capable of compromise. The strength in Revice characters is all in weakness: Vice’s boisterousness, Lovekov’s cuteness, and Kagerou’s self-loathing. Daiji needs that to even himself out, just as his siblings need their own counterbalance. Kagerou’s disgust offsets Daiji’s conviction, creating a mindset where uncertainty is healthier than self-righteousness. Kagerou lets Daiji see where he’s going wrong, and that’s just as valuable as a new form change. (Which I do like!)

Can’t imagine this episode’s gonna be for everyone, because I remember the last few months of Daiji discussion, but I thought this one wrapped up his story in a nice, coherent way. A few odds and ends that I don’t care a ton about, or didn’t matter to the main plot – the death of Karizaki Sr! WHO CARES – but a very solid Daiji story that (I thought) successfully laid out his psychology, and firmly redeemed his character. I’m sure you’ll let me know if you disagree!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../revice44b.png

So, gonna comment on the last two at once.

First of all, I reiterate. What was their goal with Akaishi?

Because somehow he ended up the personal antagonist of two characters and it feels like no one noticed till his exit and they scrambled to give both closure and screws it up in the process.

Hikaru gets to beat him and fight him to take his revenge, but gets undercut by Daiji who skips all the interesting steps off beating him, his goal for pretty much half the show.

It’s maddening how this is the worst of both worlds.

As for Daiji‘s final to his arc.

Kagero? You do know this entire mess was YOUR idea? You can’t just show up again and complain Daiji took so long when this entire thing goes contrary to you last actions!

What a mess of an arc that feels like they shifted gears several times and the result is a character that’s both sevirly undercooked and massively overstuffed.

As for the George retcon, laughably bad. It raises so many questions, doesn’t really work as an excuse for what it’s meant to smoth over and just puts into question who George even is.

George was fine as a careless scientist and even if that kind of character has no room in the show, it’s just another sign of not planning things through.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...B19A072DC.jpeg

This is an episode which most people liked, even if they didn’t like the arc leading up to it.

I like neither.

Namely, because, as Layton pointed out, the show is trying to retcon episode 26 very brazenly, to suggest Daiji sealed Kagerou away out of spite, rather than killing him in self defence after trying to appeal to a better nature his demon was shown not to have. And the conclusion to that episode suggested that Daiji would be stronger and more ruthless given that he was willing to kill a part of himself, but that was quietly forgotten purely to push us to this arc. Also, like with Vail, the idea that everyone would welcome back Kagerou with open arms… requires them to. Pretend he was always a firm ally, and not a sociopath trying to ruin Daiji’s life and kill his family.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...3/IMG_3587.PNG

And now for EvilytyLive - I really hate everything about it. I hat the name, I hate the concept, I hate the colours of the stamp, I hate the sounds for the stamp (“Wings for the future” is not only not as catchy as “Wing to Fly” but it’s clear they only made one recording of the line, as opposed to Wing to Fly having low and high temp versions). About the one silver lining is that the mods to the suit were designed to be temporary, in case Toei wants to bring back Holy Live.

Also, Hiromi seems like the wrong person to bring Daiji to the state of reviving his demon. Given that Hiromi’s own demon was destroyed way back in the first episode. By the logic this arc is pushing, he should be crazier than Daiji. Heck, every villain of the week, Tamaki and Hana should all be crazy, going by the “you need a demon to be complete” logic. But none of them went through that (besides maybe Olteca). And after Daiji refused to listen to literally his whole family, the fact he does listen to a guy who already gave this speech unsuccessfully and has far less of a leg to stand on is… off.

Also, Karizaki Sr dies again. At this point, why should we care? He’s died three episodes in a row, so for all we know, he’ll be back next week.

Daiji: It’s Daiji and…

Kagerou: Kagerou’s…

Both: Stamp Navi.

Ikki: It’s great that you finally have Kagerou back.

Vice: Why? He tried to kill you. A few times. Over the course of weeks.

Sakura: We’ve missed having him around.

Vice: Look Kinoshita, just because he’s a fan favourite, you can’t whitewash that this guy is, in the nicest possible words, a douche.

George: I agree, this whole plot point about Kagerou being alive and it being necessary for him to exists for Daiji to grow is as bullsh*t as them turning me from a mad scientist to an ally of justice with multiple massively dumb excuses. (Turns to the screen) You’re a hack, Kinoshita. A hack. And I won’t stand for it. I’m getting out. (He turns to leave)

Daiji: Wait, we need you to explain about today’s Vistamp.

George: (sighs) Fine. But after that, I’m not helping you do this anymore. And Daiji, because you ruined one of my works to create this, you’re now on my blacklist for potential shows for this feature.

Perfect Wing!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=nUYBP3xTEVA

Fly High! Perfect Up! Hehehe-Hahaha! Kamen Rider EvilytyLive! I’m Perfect!

George: Daiji Igarashi transformed with the Perfect Wing Vistamp! With the harmony with the revived Kagerou, the mind, technique, and body are all highly-revered, perfect superheroes! I guess it means that you have finally completed your own two-sided system. Spread the wings of light and darkness and fly in this dangerous worl- (sighs loudly) This is cliched crap. This whole idea of demons being necessary for humans has a basis in damn near nothing we set up. I hope you enjoy your new suit, Daiji. Because the stickers aren’t going to stay glued on for very long. (He then storms out)

Kagerou: Someone’s cranky.

Ikki: I’d say “we hope you enjoy the next instalment”, but something tells me George won’t.

I don't hate it, but yeah, sure would be nice if Toei could bring back Holy Live someday, without reducing it to the "self-righteous idiot form" again, cause it deserved better than that. Even if they wanted Evilytylive to be a thing, there was no reason why they had to literally murder the Holy Wing Vistamp to make it. I can totally understand why George would be upset about that, even though I can also kind of tolerate the exchange to bring back an entertaining villain/occasional antihero like Kagerou.

Instead of making Evilytylive as a 2-in-1 equivalent to Kamen Rider Revice, I think it would've been cooler and more fitting if they gave us Holy Live and Unholy Evil as a duo.

Evilytylive is possibly my favorite gibberish name for something in all of tokusatsu. Top five, at least.

Kagerou's the contrary asshole version of Daiji's "contrary asshole but he means well"! Of course Kagerou's going to show up at the 11th hour and belittle Daiji!!!

Mentioned this to another viewer, but I think it's neat that a storyline that concludes with Daiji learning the value of admitting your mistakes is itself an apology by the show for sort of bungling Kagerou's "death". Symmetry!

Beyond that, I'm okay with Kagerou coming back? That storyline concluded in the exact opposite way of the show's themes and other plotlines -- specifically ignoring how much the show is about acceptance and self-care -- and the subsequent horrifying spiral of Daiji was a nice way of adding stakes to that original oversight. To me, they managed to salvage that earlier failure, and create something better because of it. But I get that that's not the commonly held opinion!

And thanks for the fun skit!

It's really top tier. I didn't think anything was going to beat "Cross-Z = Claws" for me, but Evilytylive is straining so hard that I sort of can't think of any other form names from Revice.

Ok, here is the thing.

I 100% agree that Daiji making buddy with Kagero is the better, more fitting, and just right resolution for this show.

The problem is in how the show presented this arc.

Daiji killing Kagero was, at least to me, in the episode's subtext, seen as something good. There were no signs Kagero had any ulterior motive or that this was something shown as a bad thing. This makes Kagero's reappearance feel utterly out of character at best, and like straight-up a story fail at worst.

And here is the thing: the showrunners admitted in a blog post that, yes, Kagero was supposed to be permanently gone. Daiji killing his inner demon was supposed to be seen as a good thing, potentially to parallel with Vail, but that is just speculation.

I agree that this was a bad idea and doesn't fit the show at all, but the way they rewrote this chunk of the show is sloppy and doesn't smooth over the rough edges. I don't mind story changes like these in general; you just need to do them well. This one wasn't one of those I think.

That all said, I find it bleakly amusing that when the show gives me what I originally wanted, it still does so in a way that makes me disappointed xD

That's a first I admit :D

For me, the only real competition it has is the linguistic hoops Ultraman Taro leapt through to make the acronym ZAT work.

It stands for "Zariba of All Territory," for the record.

I think we can agree to disagree on this one. We both liked the intent, but found different amounts of enjoyment in the breakdown of Daiji and the return of Kagerou. Which is totally fair! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts!

Revice is the series that gave us Nest Of Anti-Human, so I feel like tortured English phrases are as much a thematic cornerstone as Family and Julio's Bowl-Cut.

This week on things that would've been perfectly acceptable if it hadn't been padded out for so goddamn long because we made a story that was good for 25-30 episodes stretched to 50 we have Daiji's arc. I think the idea of a secondary rider who starts off arguably more of a good guy than the MC but is thrust in a situation where sometimes the seemingly morally wrong thing to do is the only sensible choice(unless your the writer's favorite character and can shit out reality bending weapons to get what you want) and thus the dynamics are flipped is genius. The problem is all it takes is Akashi making it look like Iggy/Sakura killed Akemi and he's evil now you'd think he would at the very least talk to his family about it first. I would again not mind the idea of a heroic character becoming jaded and asking "Can we really win this fight?" but it feels like the wrong way to handle it IMO he should've thought he could take on Giff directly got his ASS Beat and that been what set him on this path. My biggest issue with this arc however is it's WAY TOO DAMN LONG I feel like it needed 3-5 episodes not nearly 10. Now onto my problems with Giff I've never seen a show less interested in it's supposed main villain than this show is he kinda just sits around until this episode. As I said in the weekly threads the only thing about this I'm HAPPY about is every episode from 30- is just the bad guys jobbing to the main villain unless Someone gets a power up (I'M LOOKING RIGHT AT BUILD HERE) but otherwise this arc is ugh/10. Like I UNIRONICALLY Think this arc is worst than Saber's initial arc because at least that arc was just them shilling toys while hinting blindingly obvious reveals it's bland but it's nothing these shows don't do

I don't... think that's what's going on here? Akemi's death is a brief rift that ends with Hiromi showing up; the larger issue is and always has been that Daiji resents Ikki's success and the support it engenders in others, while Daiji's moral certainty and pragmatism only gets him deeper into darkness.

Ah, right! That reminded me of something I wanted to say.

Yeah, no.

The scyth does, in fact, not bend reality. It is based on a previously established ability George himself made, Volcano Rex, just adapted into a weapon. That form could separate Phase 3, which Anna was at that point, and higher Deadmans.

So, yeah, the show, for once, doesn't break its established logic.

That said, it has issues, primarily the fact it completely disappears after this narratively and really only exists to solve this without shoving Ikki in here.

It's not made for others, which would make sense given how useful such a weapon is, or leads to any significant plot points later. It just disappears, which I find very disappointing.

But the existence of the weapons in itself is not a thing I can hold against the show.

Other than self-righteousness, Daiji here is also about someone who felt that he had come too far, thus he's left with nothing but to continue his self-righteous path. So Genta's words did reach him, but after he's crossed the line like being ready to sic monsters to civilians. This may result in another part of how this conflict can be dragged, but "I've come too far" is a common outcome for someone who had realized what they did is wrong, like feeling they've come too far to deserve redemption, pointless to turn around at that point, or due to realizing that everything they sacrifice was for nothing unless they sacrifice even more to reach their goal which requires to go through with it. In Daiji's case, it's about how he copes with his previous failure, of which the lesson here, other than to forgive yourself before, is about how failures aren't the end of the world. It seems that Daiji, being the most serious, achiever-oriented, and uptight of the Igarashis, has an upbringing that forbids failure, which gotta have Hiromi convince him that failure is ok and you should just try again. It's something that gotta be taught from early on, and me myself also had some of this failure-intolerant feelings too.

Daiji almost making a contract with Giff had Ultimate Vice being absorbed through Giff portal, and turns out that Giff's voice/language can be heard in his own dimension. Now this is a proper introduction of who Giff personally is and what he'd want. It seems that Akaishi had some truth about how Giff like how he wanted to keep humans alive and saw the Igarashis as his family, thus Akaishi also refrained from killing humans or especially Igarashis, until his defeat at ep. 41. I wonder if Giff terminated Akaishi's contract due to his decision to kill off the Igarashis to take Daiji for himself. But of course the motive is full on malicious, he wants them as his food source by producing devils. And what changed his mind was how the Igarashis bonded with their devils and the other humans can self-destruct in their devil producing, thus he'd want to kill all humans except Igarashis and repopulate the world with those derived from his blood. Previously there's Tasuke using Nazi salute... and, the real Nazi here is Giff who only wants a world with his bloodline.

Now it's clear the old, complete Daiji is back, and without being blinded by self-righteousness, he'd process the current situation differently, he's tactical like the reliable younger brother Ikki knew, he'd think up ways to deal with problems like Giff, even as Ultimate Revi informs that basic attacks don't work on Giff, of which if it's Kagerou-less Daiji hearing it, it'd further increase his vow to eliminate Ikki as. Shows that resigning into cynical perceptions of reality isn't the level-headed way many think (including Kagerou-less Daiji mocking Ikki), level-headed is finding solutions towards problems. For Kagerou's return, so far he treats it casually, and being really prideful to know that Daiji depends on him. I'd have to see it later if Kagerou's redeemed here but keeps his unpleasant personality, or that Kagerou still needs to be kept in check (but had easier solution now like the curry).

Hiromi's back as Demons, and he now fights to survive as well, successfully. He of course still fights to help the Igarashis, in not letting Ikki and Sakura carry all the burden and bringing back Daiji, but as Daiji said long ago, self-preservance is important as you can't save anyone when you're dead. So Hiromi gotta think of surviving, which'd be done if he beat (or in this case, tied) his opponent into submission so that he can u̶s̶e̶ ̶t̶a̶l̶k̶ ̶n̶o̶ ̶j̶u̶t̶s̶u̶ convince them better without being threatened. If it succeed, would be a good outcome for all parties involved. I guess this scene rather worked despite of lack of onscreen interaction between Hiromi and Daiji when they're at Fenix, as the focus is about Daiji's remaining problem of being failure intolerant and Hiromi gave appropriate words as well as having right experience to deal with him.

Though despite the above, the fight between Demons and Holy Live is perhaps more impactful than Over Demons' fight as Hikaru was like an extra muscle for Weekend and the Ushijimas in general are wasted, which'd include the 'rivalry' against Akaishi/Gigademos. But in terms of performance, I would say previous Over Demons fight is leagues better (for those who's still underwhelmed to Over Demons, due to suit or particularly Hikaru hate), it was the time Over Demons finally showed its abilities. Though of course Hiromi didn't have Genomixes for Demons here but the fight with him too is a standard hand to hand beatdown, other than the finisher, albeit with context Hiromi'd make it great that it goes against Holy Live (who beat another Demons - Orteca before in his debut).

I know that people'd only want to talk which matters to the main plot, but the other stuff is ok to be brought up, of which I also can want to do that. The other fight which is the showdown against Giff, other than Over Demons, I'd say that finally Ultimate Revi and Vice also shows off their capabilities in rather satisfying way here, Giff's ability they inherited here plays an important part, that they can create portals like Giff does (that trapped Ultimate Vice before), and with Evilytylive (what a mouthful name, but the suit looks sick, better than Holy Live), working together (Vice still being attention whore, or being 'possessive', regarding handshake between Ultimate Revi and Evilytylive to celebrate the return of the real brother) to seal Giff, of which ofc it'd not be the end of Giff (dunno why they think so), as Giff can create portals himself, or... Orteca's return, as the reveal of Giff sacrifices being trapped in a bubble, would play a part on it. Hopefully Orteca doesn't return to be redeemed.

The George and Hiromi part showed a difference between how George (as in, the demon-influenced George, according to ep. 43) previously dealt with him, and how he does it now. Instead of gloating about Hiromi being a guinea pig, he now solemnly warns Hiromi over his body condition. Instead of guilt-tripping Hiromi over Daiji, now he just asks if Hiromi would be successful in changing Daiji, the question shows some doubt but isn't used to offend him but hoping for the best for this situation. Instead of mocking Hiromi's heroism (despite being a KR fanboy), he now tried to make Hiromi promise to not throw his life away carelessly. Someone treating another cruelly shouldn't be disguised or romanticized as 'caring deep down', and if they make excuses, it shouldn't be easily bought by people (the audience especially). What George did here is, actual showing of being caring, albeit stern, to Hiromi, but not when Hiromi's in Fenix. Though perhaps the part of George being given Masumi's inner demon now gave stronger proof that George wasn't good before, as sloppy the execution was. Though George felt betrayed by Masumi again, it seems that his words aren't as harsh as I expected, only "senior citizen", and was phrased more like pragmatic time dividing.

Sure! By all means! If there's ever anything from an episode I didn't bring up -slash- didn't care to discuss, feel free to talk about it in the thread.

I'm surprised nobody brought up the absolutely amazing payoff for Hikaru. Literally everyone in his family (and foster family) were killed in some way by Akaishi, and he trains himself to do something never done before in Revice: Use four Genomix at once. Seriously, Hikaru goes through so much throughout this last arc and gets so powerful on his own that he is able to defeat the main general of Giff nearly by himself.

Along with Hiromi's zeal, Hikaru's determination and selflessness really feels like a love letter to Ishinomori's early works. Pretty fitting for the 50th anniversary season. This episode really sealed Hikaru as the absolute GOAT of Revice.

Neat! I'm not really a Hikaru guy, but it's nice to see he's got some devoted fans out there. I don't know if I'd go along with the GOAT assertion -- pretty sure Lovekov still exists, at the very least -- but I'll agree that Hikaru grudge match against Akaishi was nicely conceived and intensely cathartic. I hope Hikaru knows I feel this way! I know he needs praise!

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 45 - “NEVERENDING NIGHTMARE, PROTECTORS AND THOSE THEY PROTECT”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../revice45a.png

Late! Tired! Revice!

I did not love this episode, despite a massive amount of Lovekov. It immediately undoes the end of 44 in a way that makes Daiji’s heroic plan seem obviously flawed and insufficient – Let’s Throw The Guy Who Lived In A Portal Into A Portal To Stop Him – while renewing Giff’s onslaught via old suits and a little too much action. There’s not really a ton of story in this episode, and what’s here is left slightly too undercooked for me.

Beyond the general housekeeping of an epilogue to last episode’s definitely absolute victory, and Olteca’s reappearance that goes nowhere, we’re left with Ikki’s prophetic misgivings, and a slim story about protection.

I mean, I’m for sure interested in this story. It’s a theme that spins nicely off of Sakura’s desire for strength and need to defend the helpless, while looping in underserved characters like Tamaki and Lovekov. I don’t know if I’m that into this story happening with only six episodes left, though? It’s a bizarre time to boost up Lovekov and Tamaki, even if it’s fairly clear that this story is more about Sakura’s emotional endgame instead of either of her sidekicks. It just feels weird, like we’ve blown past the actual ending of the show, but here’s some V-Cin-esque exploration of the marketable supporting cast.

Still! Despite the incongruity of Lovekov’s In Danger, I think it’s fun to play around with the frustrations of protecting people who won’t stop putting themselves in danger, and the frustrations of those being protected by people who won’t stop putting themselves in danger. In much the same way that Daiji’s story concluded when he was brave enough to admit his mistakes and ask for help, we’re clearly in a story where Sakura needs to let go of the reins a little bit, and Tamaki needs to be okay with letting people care for him. This is one of those stories where it feels like all of that is going to be in Part 2, though, because Part 1 is just raising a question and surrounding it with fight scenes.

And the fight scenes… they’re okay? It’s not my favorite mode, the endgame stuff where it’s swarms of enemies (literally, in this case) and a boss that just no-sells everything. It’s all old suits, and nothing phases Giff, and the entire fight just feels like we’re stalling for time. It’s frustrating to watch, because you know that it doesn’t matter. It’s, again, not my fave!

Which is sort of my main thought on this episode. There’s a concept in here I like, but it’s crowded out by a bunch of disconnected subplots (George going to his Daddy’s grave!) and a big, irrelevant fight scene. Hopefully I’ll find more to like in the concluding chapter! Or, at the very least, I should be more awake!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../revice45b.png

I don’t have a lot to say here. I first watched this on some rough wi-FI out in the Middle East and it kept buffering, which didn’t allow me to fully form a first impression, So I’ll just share my usual things.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...77CE9118C.jpeg

George: Hey, hey, hey! Yo, George Karizaki here, with my charming assistant Hana Natsuki, to present this week’s Stamp Navi.

Hana: Since when am I your assistant?

George: Your screentime’s been pretty low since you became a Rider, be grateful.

Hana: You’re only bringing me on for this because you’re severing ties with the Igarashi siblings after a mix of both the stuff you complained about last time and all the abuse you’ve suffered throughout these segments, aren’t you?

(George thinks, bringing up flashbacks to previous segments.)

Vice: (flashback) Hey, Kari-chan. Why is this the only Vistamp you’ve made where the Rider motif actually fits the animal?

(Evolt emerges from the Kangaroo Vistamp and knocks George out)

(An angry Sakura punches George out)

(Chigusa slaps handcuffs on George)

(Kivat and Tatsulot slap George in the face)

(Vice shakes George to the point of unconsciousness)

(Jun and Oiwa punch George out)

(Yukimi backhands George off a cliff. Flashbacks end)

George: No. Anyway, let’s get on with today’s Vistamp.

Crimson!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=2fXlw-n9Gmo

Crimson Up! Transform! Deep! Red! Crimson Vail!

Hana: It certainly is a red version of Rolling, isn’t it? (George looks at her and raises an eyebrow) Hey, I have no emotional investment in this.

George: Okay then, moving on…

Crimson Up! Crimson Vail!

George: The appearance of Genta Igarashi's demon Vail changed due to the Crimson Vail Vistamp. This further enhances the function of the Rolling Vistamp, which seems to sublimate the heinous power of Vail at once, making it possible to continue fighting in extreme conditions. Even though Daddy created it to liquidate the past, I can't help but think that it was the end of the sad devil who became a mass of grudges.

Hana: So it merges Vail with Genta without any ill effects. Got you.

George: It’s given me some notes I’ve been able to use to complete my own passion project. Along with the aid of Ms. Suzu Saionji, and these. (he holds up two stamp-like cuboids)

Hana: (confused) What are those?

George: These containers absorb the unique ‘Fusion Energy’ that Revice and Live generate when they use the Thunder Gale and Perfect Wing Vistamps. I’ve collected it as part of stage one of creating my ultimate. After all, if they can combine humans and demons, then nothing states they can’t combine two Vistamps (he takes out two Vistamps and activates them)

King Crab!

Crocodile!

He then stamps both down on a machine, before pressing down the two cuboids, with a beam of energy flowing through a tube into an Orange Vistamp, which gains the images of both animals on it.

King Crab! Crocodile!

George: Great! I’ve succeeded in proving my hypothesis. But next, I’m going to have to go a lot bigger than this. (He picks up the newly created stamp and opens a case, which Hana sees inside)

Hana: Is that… your Vistamp simulator?

George: It was. (He places the Vistamp in the case and closes it) But now, it’s part of something greater. But I don’t want anyone else knowing about this. (He injects a needle of red liquid into Hana, rendering her unconscious) You won’t remember this. Goodbye. (He then turns and leaves as the camera runs out of battery)

Understandable! Thanks for the fun skit!

For the beginning, I like on how the crimes done by the Deadmans are taken more seriously, in how others immediately arrest Orteca (golden chance of him without powers or connection currently), as well as Aguilera acknowledging that she's (and Tamaki) someone need to be punished for that, but waiting after their battle is over. Watched in anxiety for this regarding how Orteca survived and a chance of him to be redeemed instead, but so far Revice doesn't take the crimes made by them lightly, unlike something like Zero-One where Gai gets away scot-free. And after all this time, Tamaki still holds a grudge against him to instantly resort into beating him up the seconds he find him. That'd be the latest display of the furious Furio after so long.

After Tamaki's return of display of fury, later the set up seems to be about characters others are protective to, but doesn't want to be like that (and are insisted to stay at Weekend base). Though Tamaki's hella repetitive in this, Hiromi once again seems to be a relatable solution to another character, about how both him and Tamaki are now the non-Riders in the group, Hiromi too was an underdog who got bullied, not only in childhood but also by early George and Chameleon Deadman in Fenix at the beginning, his failures aside, as well as being once the weakest recruit, but Hiromi did become the top graduate and later got his Commander position back, so perhaps he's the one that can make Tamaki feel useful as a non-Rider. Other than that, yeah, of course a nicer Aguilera would directly tell him that they'd want him safe, rather than acting bitchy to drive him away like ep. 23. Sakura should take notice of at least her becoming more honest to her feelings.

Then there's Lovekov who Sakura keeps in the base or at safe place especially after noticing her injuries, and it seems that Lovekov had enough of being protected and seems agitated by Sakura giving her similar treatment as the brothers (and Yukimi) gave her earlier, thus she rushes into battle. Luckily for her, Giff wants the Igarashis at his side, so not even the Gifftarians attack her at middle of battlefield, but that still causes a miscommunication in Sakura focusing on protecting her instead of hearing what she wanted to tell. Perhaps the next part would have Sakura, someone who doesn't want to be over-protected (by her family) to learn to not give others that treatment too.

After leaving the Happy Spa in good terms with others, George claimed about Vice being weird for a demon as he doesn't feel like one, which he credited to Ikki. Which Vice is another him and representation of his.. vices. Gotta wait for the next ones or the upcoming movie (again, separating...) if there'd be more explanations about how a demon's personality works (seems that Vice changed for the better when Ikki stops being resentful for himself and found better purpose in life?). And the rest are questions about why Vice can be a vessel for Giff, and how Giff freed himself from the sealing before (my guess can be about how Giff can simply make a portal back to the world, which'd mean Ultimate Revi/Vice's portal was useless and shortsighted). Now Giff does have clear upper hand to the heroes, finally, in how their finishers don't work on him. Wasn't Ikki the one who said that? Perhaps they're just desperate at this point.

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 46 - “THE COURAGE TO FACE IT… WHAT MUST THEY PROTECT?”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../revice46a.png

No one wants to feel like they need to be saved.

It’s a thing that Kamen Rider’s franchise-wide empathy makes it almost uniquely equipped to deal with in superhero fiction. You’ve got a show full of superheroes, saving people on a weekly basis. Sometimes they’re even saving the same people, again and again. They’ve got a supporting cast that generally exists to be either inquisitive or imperiled, depending on the episode’s demands. The structure of the series is escalating heroism, mixed in with spotlight salvations. But how do the people being saved feel about it all?

As incongruent and unnecessary as this Sakura Learns To Let Go storyline looked in the previous chapter, this one does a great job of setting the lesson she learns alongside every lesson this show has taught, to let Sakura’s growth become the proof of this show’s thesis: We become better people by confronting and embracing our weaknesses, rather than hiding them away. Sakura’s story is Daiji’s story is Ikki’s story is Hiromi’s story is etc. This wasn’t a story about Sakura, it was a story about Kamen Rider Revice.

That said, still a pretty great story about Sakura?

It’s nicely filtered through Lovekov’s perspective, which is hilarious when you think about how easy it would’ve been for this show to never bother treating Lovekov as anything more than an adorable mascot to get surrounded by Giff Jrs. But no! We get this nuanced and emotional story about how relentlessly protecting someone from the world robs them of the ability to face challenges and grow, while refusing to let someone protect you risks never getting to lean on someone and find your deepest strength. Like, this isn’t a story about NEVER PROTECT ANYONE or whatever; it’s a story about how protection is a group task, and everyone needs it. Safety isn’t a thing you give or accept, it’s a condition you exist in. Allowing everyone to participate in the maintenance of that condition lets people feel connected to one another and individually discover their heroism.

And while Sakura more elaborately benefits from that discovery via Invincible Jeanne (my new favorite suit on the show), we also get Tamaki becoming Over Demons to both protect Hana, and to follow in her footsteps towards redemption. He’s grown enough to want more than just to shield Hana from harm; he wants to be a man that learns from her example to become as strong as she is. It’s not nearly as solid a plot as the Sakura/Lovekov version, since Hana and Tamaki somehow do not have as robust and fruitful a relationship as Sakura shares with a frequently-intangible mascot, but it’s fine for what little went into it. Tamaki’s actor, as always, does a lot with any screentime, creating genuine resolve and joy out of Tamaki smiling as he finally Henshins. It’s definitely a story beat that has the Why Not feeling of the final episodes in any series, where the production team can rest easy knowing they won’t have to tell months of stories about Tamaki’s fight against monsters within and without, but it’s still a charming development. I already care more about this version of Over Demons than any of the preceding ones!

All that’s left is to talk about the destruction of Giff, a thing I was almost planning on skipping over.

The only time Giff (the ambulatory one) was coherent or thematically relevant to this show was in this episode, just as he’s being detonated by the combined self-actualization of the Igarashi siblings. He’s good as a guy that can be leveled with the full force of a speech encapsulating this show’s themes, less good as an entertaining villain with cool powers and/or views. His objectives never really came into focus, since they were mostly interpreted by minions who had their own goals, and what we get here feels as indecisive and random as any other shift in Giff’s demands. Getting the Igarashis to destroy a humanity that won’t stop destroying itself? Sure! Whatever! He’s a pointless villain that never seemed to have the support of the writers on this show, but I’m glad he could at least be the catalyst for a thrilling speech about how only the complete versions of ourselves, weathered by adversity and humbled by failure, can meet the challenges of a chaotic world.

It’s a very good episode, and not even just because it’s got so much Lovekov!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../revice46b.png

I was kind of expecting to see Lovekov herself transform in this episode, like the form we've seen up until now is more of a chrysalis and something else was going to emerge from it. That didn't happen and honestly I'm not upset about that.

Invincible Jeanne is a nice suit for something that was made when Toei had already moved on to filming Geats and Bandai didn't care anymore. That's no slight against it, but it definitely feels more kitbashed than Eviltylive.

Yeah, Lovekov's design is lightning in a bottle. Trying to create a more marketable version of that character is asking for the few remaining Revice fans (like me!) to turn on the show. Better for her to just form armor instead of a weapon, which thematically ties in with this episode's story.

So, this is where the show feels like they definitely didn’t start out with a fifty episode plan, considering that we not only get a new suit kitbashed from Poppy for Jeanne (and confirming she is the real main character, she gets it in time to defeat the big bad).

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...B378CA14B.jpeg

And Tamaki becoming Over Demons, which hasn’t been confirmed as such, but I’m assuming that it was only done as a set up for him being Over Demons in the movie, given that we’re debuting two different things in the same episode, something that’s never been done for any non-base forms. Which unfortunately, has the effect of both feeling very rushed, since there isn’t a lot of space for both get any real arc

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...17FCC6226.jpeg

And the show finally comes down to the finale with Gif, 4 episodes before the end (to quote Tom Servo regarding A Case of Spring Fever, “Shouldn’t this be over?”)… and the big ideological argument falls apart, because it’s clear they changed their mind on what the moral of the show was halfway through.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...0/IMG_3586.PNG

Ikki: It’s Ikki and…

Daiji: Daiji’s and…

Sakura: Saku’s…

All: Stamp Navi!

Sakura: But, it looks like Kari-san hasn’t shown up for this, and someone’s stolen the Vistamp Simulator.

Ikki: In that case, we’ll use my Revice Driver as a substitute. It works almost exactly identically.

Daiji: Makes sense.

Ikki: So without further ado, today’s Vistamp is… this one!

King Cobra!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=w2eMOmBsD8k

True Shininess! True Invincibility! King Cobra!

(Following the transformation, Ikki now appear to have Lovekov’s eyes, with a headscarf resembling her snake head, and her pouch where his Vistamp holder would be.

Lovekov: By infusing myself into the Cobra Vistamp, Sakura and I can finally fight together as one warrior. (Separates from Ikki, reverting the transformation) Wow, that was weird.

Ikki: Agreed. Let’s never do it again. Now, let’s move on to this Vistamp’s real use.

Hyper Liberal Up! Ah! We are! We are! Kamen Rider! Invincible! J-J-J-J-J-J-Jeanne! Haa! Ha!

Ikki: An invincible guardian who tore the shell was born. Its name is Kamen Rider Invincible Jeanne! When Sakura and Lovekov recognised each other as true buffs, it became possible to fuse with the evolved King Cobra Vistamp. With the iron-walled defence by Lovekov, my precious sister's skills are even more clear. I think George would call it. “Revolution Girls!”

Daiji: So, the battle with Gif is finally over because of this Vistamp. But why has Nii-san forgotten that we live in a bathhouse?

Ikki: No wait, I think I recall having been in one. Was it a recent move?

Sakura: Ikki-nii, we’ve lived here for all of you-

The video then cuts out, revealing George in a lab

George: Hey, hey, hey! Yo, George Karizaki here. Thanks to Karate Girl following her brother’s footsteps and screwing up my - admittedly, abandoned - hard work, I now have a greater amount of Fusion Energy. How do I know? Let me demonstrate by merging these three stamps.

Octopus!

Kurosai!

Oomukade!

George presses down all three Vistamps on the machine, which funnels them into another orange Vistamp, which gains a purple image on the front.

Octopus! Kurosai! Oomukade!

George: And now that the two tests are done, let’s move onto my Magnum Opus.

He replaces the three stamps with a smaller stamp with no visible animals. He then presses it down.

Rex! Megalodon! Eagle! Mammoth-MAMoTH-mAMmOtH (the stamp in the centre fizzles and explodes)

George: Goddamn! Looks like I lack the necessary Fusion Energy to create that. But, I’m at the first stage of my “Humans as Kamen Riders” project, and I’m ready for the field test.

He holds up the Vistamp Simulator and places it next to his waist, causing straps to emerge and wrap around him.

Chimera Driver!

George: Tune in next time for a glimpse of my great transformation. (He holds up the first of his fused Vistamps, activating it)

Twin Chimera!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=4Kccy2MVb8U

I mean, she's also the only Igarashi sibling to never get an upgrade suit, so I think that could also be it? She's the last one to the party!

And thanks for the fun skit!

Though Sakura's someone who despised Ikki's treatment of her previously and to a lesser extent, her other family members for preventing her going to the battlefield, turns out that she herself can invoke similar treatment, to Lovekov. This can be a reminder to be careful about evaluating others, before evaluating yourself (many'd be guilty of this, like me too), and probably in subtle way, is shown in the part where Ikki tells Sakura to leave the fighting into her 2 older brothers as she resolves her problem with Lovekov, and Sakura noting that it's been a while since she felt Ikki's busybodiness, which she's pulling on Lovekov herself. And other than that, to be hellbent on protecting Lovekov, other than preventing to make use of her abilities as weapons, Jeanne ended up becoming a liability herself just like Lovekov, with Aguilera noting that others have to focus on protecting Jeanne as well like what Jeanne does to Lovekov.

Extreme obsession can lead for them becoming what they don't want to be after all (protecting the "weak", becoming as much as the protected), and now Aguilera's the one to help Sakura again, to remind her about how others want to protect their loved ones too, not only Sakura, leading for her to finally get to know Lovekov better than her representation of weakness who she babied. Like Ikki to others earlier on, even though it's something you cherish (as Sakura accepted her weakness to become Jeanne), not believing in them can be an unintentional insult to them, Lovekov being viewed as weak and ineffectual by Sakura, even if it's well-meaning (protecting the weak instead of degrading them). Due to that Lovekov wants to prove herself as well as protecting Sakura herself, which is something Sakura needs to acknowledge instead of "Lovekov lives". Sakura's overprotectiveness also led for her to make irrational assumptions that Lovekov was hurt, when it was her molting for growing up, now as her new upgraded form Invincible Jeanne (Muteki name AND a long hair weapon? Blatant reference not only in name)

So it requires patience to see Tamaki fighting as a Rider, as Hikaru was actually someone whose role was to just make use of Over Demons until he's out of commission, handing the belt to Tamaki for that. Still not a good role for a member of another established family though. Actually like expected, I wouldn't expect Tamaki becoming a Rider to have that much of an impact IMO, only being an extra muscle, but it seems that unlike Sakura with Lovekov before, the setup of Tamaki being another non-Rider supporter to Hiromi and them relating is dropped, like how in previous episode Aguilera stated the Weekend wanted Tamaki to stay alive. Her response here is unrelated to that.

For the final fight with Giff, it certainly lasts longer than Anomalocaris Deadman and Akaishi/Giffdemos, but it's not that overwhelming of a threat, which actually I liked that Ultimate Revi/Vice lived up to the claim of it using the same power as Giff, and proving Kagerou-less Daiji being wrong and irrational before. I'd also admit that the fight did have decent speeches relating into humans' flawed nature and the cast's development of making up with their inner demons, but Giff's potential seem to be just wasted, despite him being 'free' after Orteca's defeat at ep. 28, he still only acted for 4 episodes (ep. 43-46), and only about explaining his motivations at that. He's just a bit more than the likes of Arch Orphnoch or Sigma. Aguilera didn't get a proper chance to settle things with Giff after his betrayal, or how Giff felt about the Deadman cult isn't shown, etc. The idea of Giff being only an idea for multiple faction's motivation to fight is good on paper, but if he's intended to be a more active antagonist, then he's handled badly.

Speaking of Daiji, it's good that he shows here (as a difference to him without Kagerou), being jaded and pessimistic isn't necessarily being more intelligent, actually being intelligent (and some optimism added in) is the drive to try finding solutions against problems, instead of resigning to the cynical perception of reality. Even when Giff becomes more of a threat in their eyes after discovering more of its powers, he still thinks through the ways to deal with him, and he succeeded in that to figure out that that the dimension Giff is in isn't merely another dimension, but rather akin to his stomach, which can be dealt by destroying the statue to remove Giff's invulnerability. I gotta say too that it's this late, but here they highlighted Daiji's tactical self well, he's a standout compared to his siblings here like he's portrayed as.

Yeah, the show's real smart in how Daiji's uncertainty and reflection -- realized through Kagerou's return -- are what gives him the drive to look for solutions. When he was certain and self-righteous, he refused to see how anything could change or be better. Not anymore!

KAMEN RIDER JEANNE & KAMEN RIDER AGUILERA WITH GIRLS REMIX - EPISODE 1

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/girls1a.png

I have been waiting for this day since Girls Remix was announced.

My favorite thing in any Kamen Rider series tends to be the stories they tell about women, because they’re so rare. Stories about sons, fathers, brothers, male friendships… that shit’s as common to the franchise as amnesia is in Revice. You can’t turn on a random Heisei episode without seeing a father trying to reconcile things with a son he neglected, or seeing two skinny boys who probably won modeling awards battling over a shattered friendship. It’s the meat of this franchise, for better or worse.

But women? God, the number of the stories that center a female perspective, or value a woman’s story? Minuscule in comparison, and that’s counting the ones that are so misguided as to make me shout an Ikki-esque I’M BOILING OVER at whatever stupidly patronizing resolution is put forward. This franchise has carved out some great female characters, and memorable arcs for them, but they exist in such weird, siloed isolation. Pathos and passion, floating in a sea of testosterone.

So to learn that there’d be a TTFC series that starred Akiko from W, Poppy from Ex-Aid, guest-starred Rinko from Wizard, and co-starred a bunch of new women I was sure to love – spoiler, I absolutely did – was an incredibly exciting development. Yeah, it’s a TTFC thing, instead of an actual TV series; and yeah, it was bound to disappoint my fevered imaginings of high production values and insightful commentary about how a woman’s narrative has to conform to a man’s perspective; but just the fact that it existed was enough to have me waiting for the day I’d get to experience it. And we did it, gang. We got to the point where I’d get to watch Girls Remix.

It’s okay.

Best bit, by far, was watching all the energy of Poppy, Sakura, Izu, and Reika play off of each other. Them talking about how they came up with their Henshins? Glorious. Worth the wait, if I only got that. I knew Rinko was a cameo, and that Valkyrie was voice-only, so I’m not disappointed that they weren’t in the rest of the episode. (God, how I wish they were! Akiko's fun, but can you imagine Akiko playing off of Yua?!) But that little scene of female friendship, where it’s these characters from shows where they never had another woman to talk to, let alone talk to them about Kamen Rider stuff? That’s… I just feel like that’s too unique to squander in the middle of an episode, and then surround it with a mystery procedural about trying to get Hana inducted into her third cult.

And, like, I get it: This is a Jeanne and Aguilera series, with Legend Riders. It’s The Mystery, but the Ladies Night edition. We’re not really here to tell a story about Akiko or Reika or Poppy, we’re here to explore Hana’s thoughts on family, and Sakura’s inability to patch things up with a pissed-off girlfriend. (Most relatable moment: A perplexed Sakura trying way too hard to be upbeat to defuse the tension, and her girlfriend getting more pissed-off at how fake it is. I have been there, Sakura!) It’s all sort of dumb, the mysterious sister/family that Hana never mentioned before, or why/how that sister found her in the first place, but it’s easy to forgive those plot concerns when you’ve only got 15 minutes or so to kick off your story. (In the same boat is How Did Akiko Find These Women And Why.) The special foregrounds the Hana/Sakura relationship at the expense of its Legend Riders, but at least I like the Hana/Sakura relationship. This special could’ve been about way worse things than that.

It’s not, though. It’s built around good characters, and I want to applaud that. It’s not what I was hoping for, but almost nothing Toei made would’ve been. What I got was a stylishly directed episode (I assume Sakamoto held Toei management at gunpoint, filmed from a low and tilted angle, until he was allowed to direct this) that gave little moments to a half-dozen of my all-time favorite characters, and also Akiko from W. It’s not especially deep or insightful, but it’s at least warm and enjoyable. It’s a start!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/girls1b.png

I was really excited for this one, too, for fairly similar reasons. I've probably mentioned by now that Sakura and Hana were my favorite characters on Revice and getting something that focused on them, plus several returning female Riders on top of that, was very much up my alley. I think that the miniseries is pretty good by the standards of web miniseries, which is to say that it is both fun and pretty unessential.

I definitely agree that the high point is having this mix of characters interacting with each other. Is it weird seeing Sabela hanging out with other Kamen Riders when she was usually more of an anti-hero in Saber? Kinda. Does it stretch credibility that Akiko could organize... anything, really? Yes. Does it still work anyway? Absolutely. If nothing else, we get Poppy and Izu in the same room with each other and it never, ever fails to be brilliant.

We also get the ending theme, Riot in Bloom, which is a stone cold banger.

I have one real gripe about the series, but we'll get to that in a couple days.

The first episode of this aired around the same time that the uncomfortably horny Kamen Rider W cartoon started airing and I remember feeling that it was really surreal going from animated Akiko to 12-years-older real life Akiko. Fun, though. My stance on Akiko mellowed a lot over the years and I'm actually really fond of her now (this is thanks in no small part to Kamen Rider having introduced several comic relief characters that were far more intolerable).

So if you haven’t realised, Black Satan are from a past series. Namely, they’re the antagonists for the first half of Kamen Rider Stronger (which has all but been confirmed to be Sakamoto’s favourite, given how he gave Stronger’s shemp a prominent role in Megamax and the climax of the first Ultra Galaxy Fight is an admitted homage to Stronger’s finale), with the Electro-wave Human being an evil version of Tackle and Miss Titan being a gender flip of their iconic member, Mr. Titan (that was his real name)

In terms of guest stars, Yuriko, the woman claiming to be Hana’s birth sister, is played by an actress known as Ayane, who was previously the Ill-fated Micott in Ultraman Orb: The Origin Saga. The fact the character has the same given name (Yuriko) as Tackle should tell you where this is going.

As for the special itself… all I’ll talk about for now is the theme song, Riot in Bloom. It’s probably one of the best parts of the special.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JhdQqxk7IPo

Bloom for you! Riot in bloom!

Tie it tight! Want to love!
You and I! Family ties!
Tie it tight! Value of my existence
Hate lies! I give it later!

I don’t match with anyone. I’m a thorny, innocent, lonely girl
(Tie it tight! Want to love!
You and I! Family ties!)
In my grasp but just out of reach. Every day no answers. Let me down!
(Tie it tight! Value of my existence!
Hate lies! I give it later!)
In this superficially vivid broken world
I can’t forget that glimpse of a shining blossom
I looked up and saw the Sakura in the sky

(You give me love, I give it later)

That’s why I’ll stay who I am. I can’t stop believing
I’m strongly drawn to you with your roots in the ground
I know I have no wings to keep me living, but still
I’ve decided to care for the little flower that’s blooming
The flower petals wafting down have taught me about warmth
A new me is blooming. Riot in bloom!

We girls… don’t underestimate us
Do not order me around
We girls… cannot be broken
We get ties like sisters

A lonely girl who’s lost her reason to live and place to belong
(We girls… don’t underestimate us
Do not order me around)
Understanding everything is impossible, but a tough girl tried anyway for me
(We girls… cannot be broken
We get ties like sisters)
I try to push you away by saying I don’t need you and I hate you
Before I know it, the blossom by my side is laughing with me
I looked up and saw the Sakura in the sky

(You give me love, I give it later)

That’s right! I will stay who I am. I can’t stop believing
I’m strongly drawn to your shining, beautiful, gallant form
I know I will keep living just as that Lily will never wilt
My blooming flower doesn’t need anyone else’s colours
Since I know the warmth and gentleness of the light…
I will bloom vividly. Riot in bloom!

For sure! We won’t cry. My way!
How are you? The best! Feeling so good
Muy bien! This is no fleeting thing
Up or down we’re fine. We’re really so cool
We’re already family! Always buddies
Smile style! Ring a gong!

Our hearts are connected even without a contract. The flower blooms

(You give me love, I give it later)

That’s right! I will stay who I am. I can’t stop believing
I’m strongly drawn to you with your roots in the ground
I know I have no wings to keep me living, but still
I’ve decided to care for the little flower that’s blooming
The flower petals wafting down have taught me about warmth
A new me is blooming. Riot in bloom!

Gracias!

I weirdly find Akiko to be more competent and compelling as a married character, despite her relationship with Terui to be the most hilariously implied and handwaved romantic subplot in anything, ever. The two of them had zero chemistry, and Akiko comes off like -- and is treated like! -- a pre-teen with a crush, instead of an adult woman in a consensual relationship with an adult man. As she's gotten slightly older, and the various Terui Legend Rider appearances have built her up to be the boss in their marriage, I feel like I get her more? She's grown into the role she was jokingly given in W, that of the person who wrangles Kamen Riders into something approaching an effective force for good.

Long story short, I think this is maybe the first piece of content where I thought Akiko was a benefit, rather than a hindrance.

Yeah, Riot in Bloom is pretty great! The performance by Hana's actress over the end credits feels a little distracted and tentative, but the song is very fun!

I feel like I knew that was the same actress, but I had definitely forgotten.