Yeah, it's a conclusion that makes Ikki's trusting nature -- usually a drawback for investigators -- the thing that allows him to see that Kaido's not the culprit, and that Suzu is doing horrible things due to unresolved trauma. He was crucial to this story's mostly positive outcome! (I mean, one guy is definitely still dead, so....)

You don't gotta, but I appreciate the peek behind the curtain! Thanks for the insight!

This is modern day Kamen Rider, he'll be back as a robot or something by the early 30's

While Ikki's sympathy towards monsters isn't always consistent, his moments of sympathy are the best part of his busybody behavior. He knows better than to jump to the prejudicial conclusion of "monster = bad", cause his buddy is also a monster. Suzu committed a terrible crime and deserves to be punished, but she also deserves the chance for rehabilitation and Ikki encourages her to continue Shogo's work after she pays her sentence. I agree, it's a satisfying ending for a Revice story (as most of them aren't IMO), but I'd also say it's a satisfying Double and Drive ending, as those shows also had sympathetic criminals who ended up turning their life around, like Nishihori Reiko.

Hell yeah, Paradise Regained! :D

(and also Tycoon x Shinobi)

This is also rather irrational due to how she focuses on something beyond her control in how it's Shogo losing the competition for a job position, even if it's sickening. George being better isn't something faulty to any side, regardless of George's behavior or Shogo's breakdown afterwards, of which it's unknown if George only got chosen due to the privilege of his father being previously a scientist for Fenix, as it's coming from someone close to them that is full of rage and grief. And Shogo's claimed to want to use his inventions for the better of humanity.... and Suzu claiming that she'd want to carry his will, this time actually the "would they approve of what you did" really fits here to be brought up to her in an attempt to stop her revenge. And I feel that, this isn't touched upon this time, I think there should be a vision of Shogo being disappointed on her instead to use his research to hurt people instead, to get her remorseful. Regarding the research, hers is the opposite of George's Barid Rex Vistamp, as it also uses the power of 10 Vistamps, but made up of the Kaijin Vistamps.

Eh, people shouldn't be absolved from villainy only because they have been abused or hurt in some way. Actually I'd wish if people'd stop measuring how someone's villainous simply by maliciousness alone. While she has tragic story, she has still done bad things while being two-faced about it, so she's villainous by that. But doesn't mean that all villains must be punished by brutally murdering them, and thus characters not getting that isn't villainous or such; it's more heroic for someone to not go into pay evil unto evil territory. And other than Ikki, I'd like if Terui makes a more convincing argument about telling about how bad revenge is because, he underwent through one in his debut. Though still, other than her being handcuffed, I kinda feel that Suzu got away with it lightly with her still being in the good graces of pretty much everyone. While you can deal with them in an understanding way, this can feel like how Ryunosuke (the father Shocker scientist) in Beyond Generations get treated by others, even though he's a worse one (he's when Shogo's desperation leads into actual dark path).

Deceased Scumbag from the Telasa spin-off is the surprise 4th Igarashi sibling!!!

Sure, but Revice is more explicitly about Ikki's focus on individual hardship and suffering (his busybody nature) than anything societal or global, as opposed to Protecting Fuuto or Shinnosuke's vow as a policeman. Ikki's almost always motivated by This Person Needs My Help Right Now, rather than an ongoing job fighting Deadmans or whatever. It's one of the things that drives Daiji crazy about his brother!

I mean, I don't know that Shogo's dream of harnessing monsters into stamps and composite monstrosities ever made any sense as a philanthropic effort. This isn't curing cancer or reversing dementia, this is a guy who's like MONSTERS WILL SAVE US, so it's maybe fair to look skeptically on any claims of humanitarian applications of this technology. They're all crazy in this story.

KAMEN RIDER REVICE: KOALA VS KANGAROO!! CRYING OUT LOVE SMACK IN THE CENTER OF A WEDDING?!

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

A lot of incredibly funny stuff in this HBV: a Build-themed Genome that turns Vice into a tiny baby that calls Revi “Papi”; a fight between two baby-sized puppets against an outback backdrop; Sakura consistently avoiding telling everyone that she’s definitely marrying Aguilera; and Lovekov casually rejecting Vice. Good stuff, all around. But let’s talk smooching.

I will always love this series for hinging a plot in its HBV on – loudly, canonically – how badly George wants to see Daiji and Ikki kiss. That’s it. That’s the top of the mountain for this series. George, long the most background-horny character on the show, contrives a Deadmans-elimination scheme that will hopefully get Ikki and Daiji to smooch, preferably with Daiji in a wedding dress, where George can also record it for later. To gleefully rewatch at his leisure.

It’s honestly pretty great? It could absolutely come off a little gay panic-y, but I think the commitment of the characters (as well as the salacious delight George shows) keeps things from making the joke about two dudes kissing; the joke is in two brothers kissing, and how thirsty George is for it, to a level that would make a Supernatural fan cringe. Ikki, the heroic lead, never once makes it seem like kissing a dude is some horrible sacrifice or shameful action; he’s like Hey Let’s Smooch And Then Go Fight A Monster, smile on his face the whole time.

(Also: Daiji definitely enjoyed both his Ikki smooch and his Hiromi smooch. This is a very queer-positive HBV!)

It’s a special that doesn’t really have a lot to say about family (weddings are where your family grows???) but it’s all in on antagonistic comedy between the Igarashi siblings and bonkers teamwork between Revi and Vice. (Also, the now-requisite comedic humiliation for Hiromi.) This is one of those HBVs that’s just trying to have fun, and I thought it was a bullseye on that count. Its approach to queer romance could be called a failure, but its willingness to get agreeably horny about two young men sharing a romantic moment for George’s duplicitous pleasure was a rousing success.

Glad George could get to see his Ikki/Daiji fic finally come to life!

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

So, this special was written by a writer named Ayumi Shimo. I’m sure if Fish was here, he’d give a long paragraph gushing about her (since that’s what he did with her episodes of Kiramager), but since he’s not here, I’ll mention that the HBV brand of comedy is right up her alley. (Since much of her previous projects generally fall on the “silliness” sided of the sliding scale of seriousness)

Anyway, some highlights from this:

Vice shipping Sakura with everyone, even himself (would that count as incest?)

George having Vistamps ready for all of Build’s main 4. Though in real life, only the Kirin (giraffe) stamp has a chance of being made into a toy (since there’s a sound for it in the Demons Driver), though surprisingly, the ToysRUs exclusive for Revice was a Rex repaint called “Toysaurus”.

Ikki deciding to remove the obvious candidate to play a blushing bride in favour of doing what Ned Flanders’ kids state they intend to do (marry their brother).

It's truly a shame that we didn't get to see the Rogue one in action. That Vice suit!

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 17 - “DEEPENING BETRAYAL AND THE TRUE WORTH OF A BUDDY”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../revice17a.png

A week later, and I’ve pretty much forgotten everything that happened in Episode 16. Lemme scroll up a bit… Oh! Right! The supermarket! And that cliffhanger where Sakura goes into the neighbors’ basement!

Well, we can knock that last one out real quick: absolutely nothing happened. While I admire the Giff-sized balls it takes to resolve a cliffhanger with a character Nope-ing out of any further investigation, I admit to finding it startlingly hollow in practice. It’s… did the producers not have any idea of what was at the bottom of those stairs? Could they not get that family to come back for a guest appearance? It’s something that has basically no redeeming qualities to it as a storytelling move: It’s a raised question, and the answer is just I Forgot What I Was Going To Say. It’s not even an entertaining misdirect! It’s just leaving it behind! Amazing choice, Kamen Rider Revice.

Luckily, the rest of the episode was more thoughtful and compelling.

We’re firmly in Act 2 now, and without a cool new Rider to focus its narrative muscle on – Daiji got plenty of spotlight in Act 1, Hiromi is a disintegrating mess with a big ol’ Ask Again Later flashing over his head, and Sakura is already absolutely perfect – the show smartly decides to start treating the Deadmans generally, and the Giffamilia specifically, as an actual collection of people worth interrogating. Now that their nightclub-church-spaceship is destroyed, and Olteca’s split off from Julio and Aguilera, it’s time to dig into what’s making people Gracias so many Deadmans.

Julio’s backstory kicks us off, and I confess to not previously spending a single second wondering about what drove him to mariachi-inflected monstering. The hair, yes, of course; constant wondering about that absurd bowl cut. But beyond that… I don’t know, I guess I got burned out because of the Book Club from Saber, whose eventual story of kinship tainted by power was thin gruel after a season of inappropriate flips and playing the piano. Julio’s motivation was being a sidekick, and I just assumed that was the extent to which I was supposed to see him.

Instead, we get this heartfelt story about teenage bullying and betrayal, where a sweet kid gets burned by his best friend and joins a cult. I mean, it’s more nuanced than that, but the gist is that Julio felt alone and joined a cult. I don’t mind that, honestly? I like the slow exploration of the Deadmans as something that offered a found family to people who felt punished by a world of villains, and manipulated those people into serving Olteca’s desire for power. Julio needed something he wasn’t getting anywhere else, so he let himself be reshaped by the Deadmans (horrible haircut and all) in order to feel like he was loved and protected.

The larger story of the Deadmans doesn’t really get elevated (it’s just a bunch of deranged cultists with chips on their shoulders; nothing to see here) but in a show about the ways Family shapes, improves, and negates us, I like spending a little time with how people inherently thrust themselves into family dynamics of their own making. I like the idea that the Giffamilia’s bond is weaker than biological family because there’s no societal pressure to enforce it, but maybe stronger than the Igarashis for the same reason. Julio thought Olteca was on the same side as him, and now learned that Olteca was only ever on his own side. Julio’s in a story about when friendships hurt us, and what we owe to the friends that hurt us.

Very interested to see if this one sticks the landing!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../revice17b.png

I still respect Sakura for that choice. Seeing a creepy staircase and deciding to just turn around and gtfo is by far the most sensible response, which is usually the option of last resort on Kamen Rider.