Wow, I really don't feel like that's the case? They're not saying she's a wimp, they're saying that her need to be strong is holding her back. Being strong isn't the solution to every problem; Ikki shows that by going to Sakura not as a stern Kamen Rider, but as a loving and supportive brother. By allowing herself to feel all of her emotions, she's able to stop worrying that they're holding her back,.

I don't think it's a double-standard? Mom Igarashi only tells Ikki that it's his responsibility to protect people after he'd already become Kamen Rider Revi. Sakura's not a Kamen Rider, so it makes sense that her mother would want her to stay out of battles she's completely underequipped to fight.

Oh, I thought that was actually a really funny gag. The randomness of it was fine, but Daiji's confusion as to why this was happening right this second was hysterical. Hiromi very much wants to his soldiers to know his deal, because he loves them very much!

I... don't think that's right? The show heavily implies that the doctor is dragging his feet to get the mother to work for him, and the final scene has Ikki noting that Fenix is taking over the kid's care. I think he's going to be fine?

It's amazing to me that I started this phase of the project with Yurusen, an infuriating part of Ghost, and I'm ending it with Lovekov, the best thing Toei ever made. What a ride!

It's such a good gag!

Ok, opinion time.

This episode feels tailor made for me. I love seeing strong, female Riders in those shows, hell, I like writing them. The message focuses on accepting your mistakes and growing because of it, which is a message I adore and my writing often ends up being about and Sakura is a martial artist, which makes me relate more?

So, why did I hate it?

Low key, this was the episode Sakura and mama Igarashi started to become two of my least favorite characters in the show.

Let?s start with mama. I get what they are going for, but it just rubs me the wrong way. In general, a lot of ways she conducts herself read incredibly toxic to me and it feels she is at the heart of almost every emotion turmoil the family faces. So yeah, I do not like this woman.

As for Sakura?

She feels like early stage Ren from Saber, a character I quit like, but where Saber made it pretty clear Ren was immature and in need of growth, but with Sakura here, it feels the show is praising her worst aspects.

And it all comes down to how the moral and growth resolves. The show calls her overconfidence childish, so when she starts talking about how she now realizes that she was weak, it feels completely antithetical to that message when she adds right after: "But now that I realise my weakneses, I'm invincibile"

No, you are not invincible, you learned nothing at all!

You are back to square one with your problems and overconfidence with believing yourself strong!

This one line turns the meaning of the arc meaningless and undermines it entirely, because now she is praised for not growing in the slightest!

This character just grinds my gears to such an extent that not even Lovekov being super adorbs can fix it.

So, yeah, did NOT like this!

Incredible fight though! Cudos to the action team!

Geez am I the only One who likes Sakura? So much hatred.

Yeah, I definitely didn't have that read on it? I don't think the show is addressing her overconfidence, because she's not overconfident, she's too determined. (She actually is anxious and scared, which is a big point of this episode!) Her determination makes her unable to sit back and say Holy Shit I Almost Got My Brother Killed, and that's going to keep her from any sort of actual heroism. Power has to be balanced with humility -- an understanding that power has to be wielded with both purpose and reluctance -- or it's never going to get you what you want. By acknowledging her anxiety and fears, by recognizing the burden of what she's doing, she's reached a level of power that eluded her before.

I like Sakura quite a bit! I hope I've made that clear!

I get that, but it still reads as someone who?s core problem is the idea that she has to be invincible. That her acknowledging her weakness makes it go away.

Her approach hasn?t changed. She still sees herself as someone who should be invincible, missing the whole point.

Her strength and power aren?t wielded with purpose or aim, they are wielded to not be weak. And that hasn?t changed, at least to me. That is why I feel this episode?s moral utterly contradicts itself. If she really understood her problem, she wouldn?t have said that.

I guess we just have different reads on what Sakura's doing at the end of the episode? I think Sakura's arrival at the end of Episode 12 is diametrically opposed to her arrival at the end of Episode 11: now she's been humbled, and she isn't here to defeat some adversary or prove her worth. She's here because she wants to help, and she knows what it's like to feel powerless; just like the woman she looked up to who needs her power to rescue her from a villain.

I feel like the moral is clear and compelling? To me, at least?

Agree that that is likely what they were going for, but to me at least, the execution simply reads different and doesn’t really line up with the intent here.

Very much a case of subjective interpretations differing.

Glad you enjoyed it though.

Well here we are, at what a lot of people think is Sakura’s only good storyline. Though that’s more of an opinion than a fact, so I’ll let you make decisions later on.

Also, fun fact: The writer Hanta Kinoshita is primarily a novelist (Revice is his first crack at a tv show, so I’m slightly more forgiving of some aspects than others will be), with one of his series also featuring a character named Sakura Igarashi as the main hero. Just something to bear in mind.

Also Lovekov. She is a marketable plush with the voice of Miku Ito (previously the newsreader from the 01 movie who snowballed into a meme template, later the Scream Dopant in Futo PI and Spicah in the Japanese version of Ultraman Regulos). Moving on…

As for the Libera Driver, this would be the “least favourite belt” I mentioned back after episode 7. Mainly because of its interactions with the Vistamps being very generic (you could revise this Driver to function with any other gimmick without changing the basic design) and the female vocalist (I have no idea who it is) sounding way too harsh for my liking. It very much feels like something the show-runners thrown in at the last minute (especially since, so far, it’s got the only belt jingle with no rhyming or alliteration).

Sakura: It’s Saku and…

Lovekov: Love’s…

Both: Stamp Navi.

George: I can’t believe you both went for nicknames with that announcement. And who said you could do the segment?

Sakura: I’m a Rider now, I should have full access to your lab and permission to do the segments.

George: This isn’t my lab, it’s your karate dojo. You just put a desk in the middle of it. But I’ll concede your second point only so I can talk about this Vistamp.

Cobra!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OMaAw0E6hjU

Abracadabra! Can’t see ya! Cobra!

George: Before I scrapped the Cobra Vistamp, I intended it to be a Genome that specialises in hand to hand combat. To maximise effectiveness, it would need to be combination of hard and soft weaving. In other words, it’s perfect for karate girls.

Sakura: Nice to see that someone knows my tastes. And now that I’ve accepted my current limits, I can go beyond them.

Liberal Up! Ahhh! Going My Way! Kamen Rider J-J-J-Jeanne!

Sakura: In the form of Kamen Rider Jeanne, I’m one step further to achieving my dream of being unbeatable. I don’t need my brothers anymore.

George: That’s nice, dear. (He turns to a man in a suit and sunglasses, sporting a fedora and whispers) 1000 on her not lasting until the last episode. (As the man leaves, he speaks up) Now then, let’s look at today’s actual Vistamp.

Kujaku!

Stage Hijacked! Heavenly Devil! Peacock! Impact, flash, blast!

George: I didn’t make this stamp, but it seems to utilise feathers for sharp cutting action and increased power. Perhaps you’d like to test it out.

Sakura: Alright, let’s see what new form me and Love-chan unlock with this.

(She inserts the stamp into the Libera Driver and presses the button on top)

Restyle! Weaponponpon (ponpon)! Weaponponpon (ponpon)!

Sakura: Buddy Up!

(She releases the stamp)

Rebuddy Up! Ahhhh! (Kujaku) Dadadadaan!

(Lovekov then changes into a pair of hand fans that fly into Sakura’s arms)

Sakura: Really? I don’t get any form changes. Ikki-nii gets animal based forms, Dai-chan gets Rider based forms and all I get are these hand-me-down props?

George: Don’t blame me, I scrapped the belt before I could decide on a form change aesthetic. Anyway, it’s time for today’s Legend Rider…

Showa 15 Rider Lockseed: ZX!

Ryo Murasame: Henshin!

George: Ryo Murasame, who was captured by the evil secret society "Badan", was remodelled into a cyborg soldier and became their servant. However, when he regained his will in the wake of an accident, he began to retaliate against Badan, who took his sister's life. In a lonely battle, ZX met 9 Kamen Riders who fought to protect people's freedom, overcame his revenge and headed for a decisive battle with the Great Leader and Kurayami Taishi. And with that, the 10th Kamen Rider, ZX was born!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vYgIU6f3bQo

Sakura: Wait a sec, did you just say that he had a DEAD sister?

George: Yeah, I’m told Ishinomori drew from his own dead sister, who was the only one in his family who suppor-

Sakura: (exploding with rage) What kind of sick b@stard thought this was an appropriate Vistamp to give me as a weapon? I mean, who does that.

George: While I can’t speak for Sakura’s emotional state by then, I hope you enjoy the next instalment. (Sakura then punches him out)

Self-production notes: New key. Anything in bold is a belt sound, any dialogue in italics indicates a character is speaking English. Any lengthy sections in italics indicate a flashback/vision.

Few things to unpack in this one for me.

First of all, Lovekov is love(kov); Lovekov is life(kov?).

Second, I am absolutely in on the point of the story being Sakura realizing that acknowledging and embracing her weaknesses makes her a more complete person than trying to pretend that they don't exist.

Thirdly, Jeanne. Holy shit, Kamen Rider Jeanne. I fucking love everything about this character. The suit is an absolute masterpiece, especially by the standards of a show that has such a large gulf between its good (Jeanne, Demons, spoilers) and bad suits (almost everything Revi/Vice-related). Black and blue with orange accents? Perfect. Lithe and flexible for a snake-themed melee fighter? Perfect. That helmet? Absolute perfection. Is it my favorite Kamen Rider suit of all time? Probably not. Is it in my top ten? Absolutely. Top five? Quite possibly, but I'm not going to sit here and run the calculations.

On top of the suit, though, is the premiere fight. A running theme in my response to action scenes in more recent shows is that I miss the days when they actually felt like fights instead of scenes where suit actors wave around props and throw CGI at each other. Jeanne's first battle is probably the most intensive martial arts sequence we've seen on Kamen Rider in ages and it is glorious. It is so nice to see actual punches and kicks being used again after so long. This was my favorite action scene of the entire year (I doublechecked my annual thread to be certain).

You are not. Best character on the show who isn't a giant cobra plush.

Objectively wrong.

And finally, a quick throwback to a meme I made back when this episode first aired.