Being the Unequivocal Gai apologist I am :lol, I really just enjoyed seeing Gai again, putting full circle to his character by giving an Ark-based form. No matter how many times Takahashi seems to beat down Gai, it really just increases my love for his character hahaha.

Sorely disappointing that the sounds are just cut-up pieces of Thouser and Ark-Driver's sounds though.

With the subs and Zein being its own entity and villain (essentially being the Killbus of Zero-One), sad to say that Zein isn't a new form for Gai. I'm still holding out hope though!

https://i.imgur.com/Kqn4RJM.jpg

I think Genta's quest for revenge could be meaningless, since Episode 31 revealed that the red devil is Vail himself, due to Akaishi calling him by name. Of course, that means Genta's only memory of the red devil murdering his parents is impossible, since Vail didn't exist until after Genta's operation. Vail might be screwing with his memories the same way Vice did to Ikki, but this time to further his yandere agenda of presenting himself as the only one Genta needs.

If the negative side of Yukimi's busybody trait isn't addressed in the spin-off, then we can probably assume she experienced her own development for that sometime in the 25 year interval. The only development she got so far was in Episode 17, where she learned to stop being so overprotective of her grown-up children and start believing in them. That's not necessarily a bad thing though, since it shows that Yukimi is already a very emotionally mature and sensible person, to only need that one episode of development. Someone needs to hold that crazy family together. I think this is what makes it such a sweet love story, about a kind girl like Yukimi trying to tame a vengeful devil human like Genta to become the family-loving man we know in the present.

Yeah, there could be up to 70 of those identical rust-colored devils that NOAH are forcing Genta to destroy, all of them his unlucky predecessors in the experiment to create a perfect devil human. Not sure about Olteca but it's interesting you bring him up, since Vail did sense the power of the devil inside him. Just speculating, but maybe his mother was also a partially successful experiment and escaped or something.

Anyway, it'd be still showing that revenge is a wrongful trait, even if indirectly. And that personal revenge is also different to stopping threats from causing further harm even if the outcome might be similar.

I was putting a reminder about how despite that Yukimi is a kind girl, Genta at this point would contribute far more to others, despite that he's a vengeful devil human, because Genta is still a strong Rider that can fight off devils, while Yukimi would be more limited in what she can do. And regarding how taming a vengeful devil human would be kinda like many primary and secondary Rider dynamics. As older self Yukimi is the only one approving of Genta's 'pathetic' traits though, compared to how the 'sensible' childs Daiji and Sakura think about him... So you do have a point about her needing short time to develop, though outside of 25 year interval (so it'd be at 1997? damn modernism in this show setting...) I'd still want to see the maturity and sensibility on the young one, not only old ones because the stigma of the old being viewed as always wiser and more right.

Was bringing him up regarding the Giftarian murders, both Olteca and NOAH/Agariyama had killed humans and turned them into devils. Unlike Deadman contracts that didn't do the same.

Well, yeah, Genta as Kamen Rider Vail is an antihero, cleaning up NOAH's dangerous failed experiments (NOAH are so stupid if they let them escape 70 times without thinking about how to stop that) for the sake of his revenge. So he's able to do more short-term good than Yukimi, but for the wrong reasons. Yukimi still has a strong impact though, since she gives Genta the means to move on from his trauma and live happily and that impact continues in to the future, raising her children to become better people and holding the Igarashi family together as the voice of reason.

Daiji and Sakura looking down on Genta's goofy behavior seems like a typical snobbish reaction from teens/young adults who feel embarrassed by their "lame" parents, especially considering how Sakura is an edgy "invincible girl" who looks down on any weakness in general. I think it's okay that Yukimi finds Genta's behavior endearing. While wisdom can come with age, it does depend on how that experience is used. Older people can also become too stubborn and reject any new ideas due to believing their advanced age makes them always right. I don't think that's the case with Yukimi though, she's great. Daiji seems to have inherited some of that wisdom as well, being the least dysfunctional and most motivated of his siblings.

After around two months of meandering, I'm finally back to where I left off on Kamen Rider Black.

Kamen Rider Revice Legacy: Kamen Rider Vail

Part 3

I was worried before regarding about how the next one was probably going to sideline the deeper development of learning to live or something for just lovey-dovey romance, even though it's obviously going to happen eventually, but actually that's handled fine and better than I expect. There's some relatable traits between Genta and Yukimi to each other that probably is the one to spark the relationship. About how both lost their parents, and both feel a sense of emptiness in their life with Genta losing the meaning of his life by only taking revenge, and Yukimi seemingly accepting of her potential death as NOAH prisoner. And then Genta, with him also being far more honest than I expect, admitting that spending time with Yukimi was enjoyable and likely something that can fill the void in his life, probably Yukimi as well before of wanting to eat together with him.

Now it's clearer why the NOAH captain seem to have more restrain and standards compared to the other NOAH members, because he's actually a spy from a resistance to prevent victims like Genta. This one's not a case of 'not all members from a shady organization (in this case NOAH) is fully bad'. He's also likely the younger Buu-san (the most different look between the cast), which explains his excellence of gathering information, his 'special' occupation was being a former soldier. Before he helped Genta and Yukimi escape he tried to convince Masumi, so that shows he disapproved of Agariyama. Though dunno when did he become a spy of NOAH and if he's already there when the previous 70 victims aren't saved, as it can seem as if the turnaround of the captain was forced in the middle if he's already there for quite a time, and that he did tase Genta. Masumi is also a better person compared to Agariyama, but he's still not a good person overall, then and now, with him refusing to change his ways here that he has sunk too deep despite having limits in what he did.

Actually turns out how Genta is seen as a failure was about his body rejecting Giff cells thus he can also potentially turn into devil. So it's nothing different from previous 70 subjects, but just delayed failure for Agariyama. Obviously planning to kill Yukimi is monstrous too. For the fight here, the stock "your loved ones fuel your determination" trope is used as a reason why Genta can escape (and likely keeps his human self this way)... Other than that, Revice continues to provide bodycount here, and not from Giff-related stuff in the captain firing at his squad members. Which next leads into a rare scene of Kamen Rider directly hitting humans. The soldiers aren't actually reduced into mush for obvious reason (excessive gore even if that makes sense), but likely they died too from a direct blow from Kamen Rider.

Yukimi talking about her backstory was pretty sad, with how easily she was willing to resign to death so she could stop feeling lonely from the loss of her family. Which means he was probably putting on a front to make Genta feel better, another similarity to Ikki in how they both neglect their own feelings in service of others. Totally different from the cheerful middle-aged Yukimi we know in the present, so there's more development for her. Yukimi was clearly a good influence on Genta, but I guess the reverse could also be true, with both of them giving the other something they need to feel whole. I think the reason why this love story doesn't fall in to the trap of cliches could be due to Mouri's writing style, since he likes to put his unique spin on these tropes.

Maybe it has something to do with Genta's mental state that caused his physical symptoms, like how Daiji's envy of Ikki strengthened Kagerou. He seemed to get better when he remembered Yukimi, so his desire to protect her might allow him to attune with his devil side. I'm suspicious of Vail though, since Agariyama reveals that he set him loose on Genta's parents to give Genta a motivation of revenge against devils. So that memory actually happened. But like, when? And how? NOAH don't have a good record of controlling devils, so I'm not sure how they were able to separate Vail from his host and convince him to do their bidding, all of this before Genta had even woke up from his operation. It seems like all of NOAH's plans rely on dumb luck.

I recently saw a translation of the NOAH document Masumi was holding, which mentions the setting of Yukimi's and Genta's escape in June 1996. This would give their romantic relationship more time to escalate before the birth of Ikki.

I'm now up to episode 46 of Kamen Rider Black and I should be able to finish this series around this weekend.

It's a good ending. I really like how the show gets more serialized near the end.

Well, this is it. I'm finally down to the final two episodes of Kamen Rider Black.

EDIT: Just finished the series as of last night. Next up, his battles against the Gorgom may have ended but Minami Kotaro's journey is far from over with Kamen Rider Black RX.