It seemed to me that those who died before henshin were equated with civilians and then also resurrected without memories. And only those who have their belt and core broken are completely erased.

Oh good. I know that the "nice guy who doesn't want to fight" is a classic archetype in tokusatsu, among other places, but there's something about Keiwa and/or Geats that just robs me of any patience for him.

By the way, DGP riders are awarded points. For some reason, they were forgotten about in this round. Or in the last game, too, the first round was a qualifying round to reject unsuitable candidates. In any case, I don't think Geats is in first place yet, because he started this DGP, he is not very effective.
By the way, due to scoring and adding riders during the game, I had a question. Is it possible that the winner will not be the one who defeats the final boss? That is, for example, it will be a rider added only in the final round and someone who survived from the very beginning will eventually get more points. Or the same riders who killed Michinaga's friend could have missed out on the win due to a penalty.

The start of the new DGP season "Scheme", and fitting to the name now the DGP staff start to make their own move.

Fitting the "Punk" part of Punk Jack, Win is a punk rocker who is the total opposite of the silent role he had to take in Encounter DGP, so far the loudest character in the series in him being narcissistic and attention-whore to the point of making singing solos when talking. Win shows how a "musical" characters look/sound like... in a non-musical setting. Otherwise, with him being assigned to defeat Ace, Win also seems to be a worse version of Ace, both Win and Ace are casanovas, but Win takes up his lecherous behavior to Tsumuri to higher levels than Ace. Win and Ace are also tricksters, but Win lies to get a player outright eliminated (thus killed). So far Win'd be an anti-hero (if he's good guy) at best. Ace seems can't really stand him, or likely being 'matched' that Ace seemingly bought into Win's lie about going to the toilet, would Win be someone that is the catalyst for Ace's character development?

The 2 newly introduced Riders, Yukie and Tanba, are quite identical in how both are really inept and fearful in playing DGP, with Yukie having shorter screentime than even Taira/Ginpen. So they're making Tanba to be really an example of a regular old guy being thrown into battle, instead of being an old master or something, with his wish being turning himself younger. While Yukie is a celebrity fangirl whose wish is based on that like being insecure of her weight. With Keiwa and Neon gone, both are also kinda stand-ins for them, with Tanba getting Ninja and having his Buckle taken by others (Michinaga taking Zombie), and Yukie h̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶r̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶i̶r̶, getting Propeller and having a wish that also revolve around love, but in a more one-dimensional way of just marriage. But Yukie died in this episode with Neon returning, while Tanba survived with Keiwa still nowhere in DGP. I wonder though if Beat and Ninja are stronger than Magnum or Zombie, they seem to give better output than the more basic latter 2.

Michinaga seems to be less hostile this time around, he doesn't seem to view those 2 as his enemies here that he only harshly forces them to fight and trying to make them come into terms with their Kamen Rider status, the moment they wrote their desire which they should fight for, though he's still abrasive and rude like speaking ill of Yukie for her death, though it's not due to Kamen Riders being his enemies but about her way of playing.

As usual, they made Neon's development since ep. 4 consistent to have her act as DGP's trump card, being called to deal with the Jamatos that are growing stronger beyond Giroli's expectations, with her triumphantly saving the day including Tanba with Beat Buckle. Starting as a returning veteran, Neon also had a more standout presence among (few) DGP contestants, being an inspiration and 'guide' for Tanba, and while Keiwa's stance on DGP is teamwork, Neon's stance on DGP seems to be about friendly rivalry (with Michinaga taking toxic rivalry type), focusing on winning but making sure each contestants are at their best to compete, thus her assisting Tanba and also disapproving of dirty tricks.

Internally, now Ace reveals his secret to Neon only, about his goal (while he still confidently asks Michinaga to wait at the end of DGP for his wish). Other than that, Ace at the beginning claims he hopes Keiwa is having a good time, likely at least putting his on equal spot with Neon, but dunno if it's a lie :p (albeit dunno the purpose of lying there).

This episode rule talks about contestants being chosen by Game Master, of which Ace uses a wish to make him a permanent participant of DGP which explains the reason he's always chosen. Giroli outwardly seems to be more accepting of Ace making him his family compared to Tsumuri, but dunno if secretly Giroli hates that (with possibly another reason to be annoyed with Ace) thus he makes a scheme to eliminate him using Win, and likely the reason why Michinaga keeps getting chosen too. Giroli also had a scene where he asks someone regarding Jamato's growing power, and then the scene is about Neon's father Kousei Kurama inviting Tsumuri and also encouraging Neon to get her wish. That'd mean Kousei is likely a DGP staff who keeps secrets to his family but seems to be a better parent than Irumi. DGP seems to be more suspicious though to eliminate the best player to fight off Jamatos in Ace, of which they... fail that of course Ace can clear up the Jamato horde after Win tried to left him for dead.

I guess I was thinking too hard regarding how Geats proceed with the character. It's actually quite simple that they simply just return the memory of the participants the moment they're chosen as a Rider, so the DGP and interactions in it would always continue character developments. Otherwise, so it's shown that the finalists also forget their DGP memories including Michinaga, like what I thought when others talk about contestants being eliminated with the exception of the finalists. And as others said, seems that the DGP losers don't only lose their memories, but also their desires, with the main Riders except Ace being OOC in Keiwa not donating lottery/not favoring tanuki soba, Neon enjoying her wealthy life, and Michinaga being at least neutral to Ace. I'd say though that, Irumi still had some controlling abusive tendencies here by planning an arranged marriage to Neon.

No offense but, this kinda sounds inconsiderate for Tsumuri to "criticize" her for doing a bad job at being an onee-chan. Tsumuri basically had her life being turned 180 degrees all of a sudden and being forcefully controlled by someone else to act certain way without Ace considering her feelings. Or you view this as a responsibility for her working for DGP? (of which it's unknown too how she got into DGP like not being told everything or such). I know Giroli is accepting of this (and at least outwardly) but still...

Keiwa is specifically made to fit tanuki motif (anyone in Geats do) so it's a given that he'd be simple-minded, but I'd think that for others nice guys shouldn't be always made as incompetent as a result of not wanting to fight.

Maybe his self-righteousness, or his cynicism, or his whining?

Michinaga might've softened a little towards his rivals after Ace's pep talk, but yeah, he rightfully expects Keilow and Letter to pull their weight, as their cowardice forced him to protect the flag alone until Na-Go bailed him out. He even quotes Kanzaki, "fight, or you won't survive!", to remind them that they signed up for a death game, which Letter learned the hard way. At least Yukie finally got her desire to lose weight, courtesy of Jyamato. :p Hopefully Tamba will find his courage for the next round, although the competition is so tough that I expect him to lose either way.

None taken, but Tsumuri's situation isn't exactly unique to her. While some people accept the role of an older sibling, like Shinnosuke to Gou, most older siblings gain that role by default through their younger sibling's birth/adoption/marriage in to the family.

If Ace was abusive towards Tsumuri, then I'd understand her protests against him, but so far she just seems cold. Giroli's probably trolling her a little though, considering how Ace's desire to become DGP staff's family doesn't necessarily mean DGP staff should directly become each other's family, yet he still insists for her to call him father. He's also working behind the scenes to get Ace eliminated, so he's not the loving father he appears. It's unfortunate for Ace.

Quite possibly, no, and definitely, respectively.

Don't really recall Keiwa whining in the past episodes, so if you're referring to this episode than I'm not sure if that's indicative of his character, since the episode makes it feels like he's acting out of character now that he is not a DGP participant. Similar to Neon who acted more obediently, at least before she rejoined. It's pretty difficult to tell if they remained the same or if leaving the DGP also deprived them of their desires in a way, so that's something to find out in the future.

Anyway, while I'm a bit disappointed one of the two new Riders died off so quickly, the fact the remaining one isn't very ready to fight makes me wonder if Punkjack will take advantage of it as some point as a way to get Geats to lose? Maybe create scenarios where Geats has to constantly help the old man during fights, as a way to slow the process of Geats earning points?

Or maybe Punkjack will continue to 'fumble' and 'accidentally' put Geats into losing situations.

Yeah, I definitely have a hunch that the DGP riders are gambling away their desires. If they win, their wish is granted. If they lose, they not only don't get their wish granted, but they also no longer have the desire associated with that wish (unless, of course, they're reinvited to the DGP where they'll regain their memories and their desires). Maybe there's even long-term effects to playing cycle after cycle (and losing) that causes more permanent personality shifts (which would probably be most apparent in Azuma since he's lost the DGP more than any other character we know of).


Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if at some point, our main cast comes across Kanato and rather than being the bitter misanthrope that he was before, he's much more of a friendly people-person. Or if they encounter Morio and he's more altruistic, noble and selfless.

I'd feel that Michinaga got softened here due to Keiwa's influence towards him. Likely him encountering a genuinely good Rider (with Morio as comparison) gave him clearer view of which Riders are bad instead of lumping all of them together though doesn't mean he's stops being harsh to them (not only to those 2 but also to Neon at the end), thus instead of only wishing suffering to another Riders, against his 2 teammates who albeit (justificably tbh, being put on real danger without fighting exp) fearful seems decent, he harshly encourages them to fight though this is also so they don't slow him down. I wonder what'd happen if here he got another scummy teammate like Morio before (which he wants to get rid) if he'd scheme to get them killed and revel in it despite being left alone.

I had a feeling that Giroli can be as annoyed as Tsumuri but didn't reveal it outside in his scheme to get Ace eliminated. If it's the case then I also think Giroli has understandable reaction to Ace but his reaction is too far (and contrasting to Tsumuri, who rejects the wish, while Giroli plays by it no matter what while secretly trying to get rid of them). Regarding Tsumuri, yeah, Ace probably isn't really outwardly abusive here, but just saying that what fits into abuse isn't only the stereotypical examples like making sexist remarks, physically beating, etc. it's not only the overly overt ones (f̶o̶r̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶v̶i̶o̶u̶s̶ ̶e̶x̶a̶m̶p̶l̶e̶s̶,̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶r̶a̶c̶t̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶T̶s̶u̶k̶a̶s̶a̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶i̶i̶r̶c̶ ̶T̶e̶n̶d̶o̶u̶ ̶h̶a̶d̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶a̶n̶c̶i̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶a̶b̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶s̶o̶m̶e̶o̶n̶e̶,̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶O̶n̶o̶d̶e̶r̶a̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶m̶e̶r̶).

I don't fully get his issues with Keiwa yet, but it seems that in general many characters who are deemed 'useless' and 'incompetent' often got bashed as 'whiny' by fanbase. If an 'useless' character shows even a bit of angst, the fanbase can exaggerate that trait to the point that it's vewed as the character's only trait which is how those characters can get the 'whiny' reputation (quite lie spreading, for what they do). In contrast, if a character that shows an angst is a badass, they can be praised as being 'human' (though some also can get viewed as 'emo').

In other words, Morio's friendly and approachable nature is genuine this time unlike before. If Morio turned like that, I wonder what'd he do regarding his fugitive reputation, that should be something interesting to see if executed well. Would like to see too how they process Morio's behavior this time with him acting the same but now genuine. Otherwise, this'd seem that the DGP gave good outcome for the world in unexpected ways, intended or not, 'redeeming' some bad people by robbing their wishes and changing their behavior (happens to non-bad guys too but in harmless way).

Oh, this sounds like a likely theory!


Anyways this episode is all just Tsumuri's existential nightmare. Imagine having to pretend to be related to some smarmy guy who you deal with at work all the time and then crazy guitar man Hallelujah Ween starts hitting on you.


I liked this one pretty well, its really interesting to see the show dig deeper into its mysteries and I'm intrigued by the alterations to the personalities of the previous contestants. It's kind of weird that they can apparently just get more Riders to join mid-game and begs the question of why they don't do that more often, but who's gonna argue with the Game Master I guess. At this point I almost feel like Na-Go is the secondary Rider of the show from her dynamic with Geats, which I like.