The continuation of... Revice Legacy: Kamen Rider Vail! No wonder this one's so good. As that bit is one of the last good Revice stuff lately. Though that also opens up the series fault for putting those in separate media instead of being in the main series.

Daiji had really few lines this episode, but it seems that finally the others rubbed off on him, with him having stronger reaction to Akaishi caressing him. Quite the parallel here that Akaishi is being the creepy dad that got rebuffed by Daiji, while the actual dad Genta is more welcomed by Daiji, and actually had his points considered. Probably because of how Akaishi and Vail are trounced by Ultimate Revi/Vice before with less problems than expected (and Revi/Vice doing it again to Akaishi here), which'd mean Giff's enforcers' opinions and views are less valid in how they're not the 2nd to Giff like how they see themselves as. Still kinda might makes right view, the process on how Ultimate Revi/Vice got on that level should also be acknowledged, when facing defeat.

This part continues about Akaishi's downfall, including being turned into dust at this episode, and Giff finally making his move cements Akaishi ending his role as central antagonist, though likely kept around by Giff in the previews. There has been some mockery of Holy Live being weaker than Jeanne due to the latter being writer's favorite, and... this is proven true in this episode in Jeanne besting Holy Live. This can be inconsistency (and bias for favorite) as before Holy Live swats away the girl Riders, or Daiji losing his will to fight (Holy Live still not invulnerable to attacks from weaker Riders). Good stuff for Jeanne using her fences at her henshin to block Holy Live's way though.

The family, of which what Revice should be about, took center stage again. Due to how all families are involved, this had Yukimi actually taking a stand for Genta, directly praising his worth to others instead of just showing that she treats him nicely compared to the others ("she spoiled him too much"), though for this one the children don't look down on their father, but actually was concerned. And it seems that, Yukimi is just mandatory for events that actually involved whole family in this series, always had something to say that is, while small, it's impactful. Now her latest bit is about how everyone had different kind of life, and thus it's not set in stone and there's no such thing as definitive normal life. What's important is living the life that makes you happy, which Genta does for her.

This can be applied on more than just how you live your life, there are far more stuff that is deemed as objective in being "good" or "bad", but is actually subjective. Like how you'd want to write something lighthearted or dark. Though doesn't mean this is limitless though, like if something is poorly written then it is (and that should be the one used to evaluate something being "good" or "bad") though still not 100% certain, like how in life, if you live your life purposely at others' expense, that'd be the wrong one to do. Not that she's completely perfect though, like one time in her overprotectiveness to Sakura, and this also shows that parents can learn from child too like Genta's solution below...

And later about Genta's debut as Destream to settle things with Vail, other than the even match and a nice use of his powerset (which sadly wouldn't be done again later, like Akaishi), at first was pretty bummed about just forgiving Vail like that and overlook his atrocities he had done before (perhaps the 2nd worst person behind Orteca so far in the series), but later it's actually more meaningful and well-thought when he approaches Daiji later. Continuing on how demons are inseparable part of yourself, Genta had to forgive himself, and it's done here by forgiving Vail, due to how, even if he wasn't malicious like Vail, Junpei was still someone with dark traits that he only desired revenge, and was someone destructive and unstable as a result.

Forgiveness actually should be applied on yourself too, which is self-forgiveness, and it's important to do so for mental health, such as someone like Genta who did have empty life as Junpei, and his life with Yukimi and the Igarashis are probably only temporary escapism from that, it's a matter of time until Vail returns, unless Genta finally make amends with himself, and thus includes Vail as another part of himself, and finally letting go from his past tragedies and dark traits which is the way to live a more fulfilling life he seeks. And don't know if Vail can be actually redeemed, entering the body of Genta who had forgiven himself despite his parting words, of which that'd mean for Genta too, the solution is as usual, is literally accepting the demon as a part of yourself, and likely would explain too how Vice became malicious at the beginning of Revice, of which Ikki was in a resentful and self-loathing phase, making Vice more untamed and selfish compared to childhood.

The men behind that fight (and pretty much any supplies as toku scientists), the Karizakis, other than them benefiting one another, is practically having their scientific abilities tested too which George wins, and is given a flashback about how they were like in the past as a parallel to their current situation too. Despite him being surpassed though, Masumi had improved himself too to create something that can seal Vail better, despite that it'd make Vail a stronger fighter, finally atoning for his vailures as he collapsed. So apparently Masumi was a good dad to George (with George returning it), encouraging him for his science's failures and successes. Still unknown how Masumi parted away from George that led for George to hate him, but this can mean there's unreasonable part in George's side, as no way he'd hate him for what he did in NOAH, as George only cared about his researches and violence or chaos before, and the hate continues after he's no longer shady. Still though the part of George being KR fanboy is still forgotten... give something on how he became KR fanboy too (and as usual, him rehashing KR's lessons as he became a better person now). Regarding George's past, it seems that there's some parallel to Sakura's too, who used to adore Genta in the past, but at the present series became mostly condescending towards him until crisis came.

She's the best part of this series! The best part!

ok 42 is good but the rest of the show is ooff sorry if I haven't been commenting been busy with work and stuff

Not a problem! I appreciate the feedback!

I have returned! And now we're further ahead in Revice where I can talk about some of the meat of this show.

So, I'm sure everyone has made jokes about Akashi's weird facial expressions and mannerisms, and with the added knowledge of his origins, I think it's very fitting for him, it gives him this sort of "trying to be human" sort of aura. Which is neat, but also, the moment we saw him, we all collectively thought, "he's definitely evil." I don't mind the fact that he wants to make Daiji his family, as it again, melds into the whole "family" theme this show has been aiming for, buuuuuuut...

Okay, so before I get into that, I'm going to go over some of the other bits in between as best I can. So, Ikki's losing his memories in exchange for his contract with Vice, we had a feeling that there was something up with him disappearing from photos, but I feel like this could have been shown earlier in the show, as it became forgotten and then brought up after the Aguilera, reawakening of Giff, and Weekend's introduction had to get weaved into the story. What's a little surprising is that in the middle of the show we get Ikki's backstory about his Soccer buddy and background and his handling of that, which is very similar to Haruto's backstory from Wizard and at almost the exact same time (unless I'm misremembering both of those). It's kind of amusing how Vice's voice actor cameos into the story with a connection to Ikki, but I felt like it was a two parter that would have been in the first or second quarter of the show, as it felt like it took out the steam of the show.

Weekend, the most suspicious looking group in the entire show, led by the fake family (you could call them The Forger Family! Hah!) and George's daddy, whom George has issues with. At first, I was expecting a three-way conflict when they got introduced and I was wondering what their beef was. So many things that seemed at first but turned out to just be me overthinking. We also have Hikaru taking the mantle of Over-Demons, which at first I wasn't a fan of, but I grew to like it, and Hikaru, who I will proudly proclaim is one of my favorite characters and I was perfectly fine with him being Over-Demons. Especially after the war arc of Revice commences.

Aguilera's "redemption," I thought was a nice storyline (though a little dragged out and rough it was), with the bottom line being "you can't erase your sins, but you can still make amends" which I think is a great line of thinking. And we also have Tamaki with the Weekenders now, which is also nice for how he wants to be of help but gets sidelined by everyone else. And the fact that Aguilera names herself Hana Natsuki makes me laugh knowing that it's not far off from Hanae Natsuki, a Japanese VA famous for his role as Kamado Tanjiro in Kemetsu No Yaiba and the Walrus Taxi Driver in Odd Taxi.

Daiji... Alright, so this is probably my least favorite arc in Revice, for more reasons than you might think. So first off, there's Akemi, someone close to Daiji in his days at FENIX whom Akashi Demons in front of him then setting up Revice to kill her, the thing that bothers me is that Daiji then agrees (albeit reluctantly in some parts) to aid Akashi even with the knowledge that he's done this to many other people before and used FENIX to allow this to happen, and sure, there's also the fact that he baited everyone into creating this whole situation and destroying FENIX to show how powerless everyone is against Giff (please tell me someone sent that one meme about Touma running up the light ladder to Giff while Akashi's shouting "ah! Look at that!"), but with everything that went down, I still feel like Daiji wouldn't be so willing to join him, even if he's been broken too much to reach this point. He just overcame Kagerou to unlock Holy Live (Wings to fry!) and it's a great suit, but even after all this, my main reason for not liking this arc is that it feels like something that would have worked better in earlier Revice like second quarter, maybe making Akashi less blatantly evil to make his revelation as one of Giff's lackeys and destroying FENIX more impactful.

But in spite of it all, the resolution to that arc with Destream vs Vail was beautiful. The fight, the music, all tied up to make it a great fight. Which leads me into one of my issues, I guess you could say, about Revice thus far, the resolutions are good but the road to reach them are very rough and sometimes unfocused. The idea that this arc was about the family falling apart (something that seemed to be building up when we were still sketchy on Weekend) was inevitable and fitting for a story about family, and the resolution was very nice, but the in-between was something I sort of didn't look forward to as the show was airing, because it felt sloppy and didn't fit, at least for me.

The war arc reminded me of Build's, the series felt bleak, uncertain, like an actual war, something rare to see in some media. Weekend's leaders putting their lives on the line to protect everyone they could but still chose to prioritize their son, fake though he may be, it was some of the best moments in Revice, and made Hikaru front and center, unlike his role as the setup for Weekend.

Now for some suits, Revice: I like the design, the addition of a fan on the ViStamp as a reference (or at least to me) to the Showa Riders, specifically Ichigo, but the colors feel a little too garish to me. I don't mind out there color schemes, it looked great on Ex-Aid, but here, it just doesn't work for me, like with Elemental Dragon in Saber, though I that one didn't bother me as much here. Holy Live: Beautiful (wings to fry!). Giff Monster Form: Reminds me of Cthullu, which is great, but he's just kind of... there (more on him later). Destream: Great! Though, I'm kind of sad it came at the cost of Century. Vail: Nice detail with him being just a red Vice without the mask. Crimson Vail: I love Jack Revice, so naturally I love this.

It's definitely a series that has a tough time letting plotlines meld into each other in organic ways. It's more like a stew, where different chunks get ladled out at random. We'll not see someone for a while, and then they'll become super important for an episode, and then they'll disappear for a bit; alternately, a detail from a dozen episodes ago, or a separate mini-series, becomes crucial to the newest storyline. I like all the bits they tossed into the pot, though, and I think the broth -- the overall tone and themes -- help everything taste right.

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 43 - “THE EVERLASTING ENDING, AND BEYOND REGRETS”

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Highs and lows, baby.

The low point of this episode narratively was also the high point comedically: Karizaki Sr casually informing George that, in the midst of his regret about putting Giff cells in Junpei, he… put an entire demon inside his toddler, as a going-away gift. It’s preposterous, and not even the incredibly forgiving room of fawning Weekenders can formulate any response to counterbalance George’s somewhat subdued JESUS CHRIST DAD WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL. There’s literally nothing to be said about Karizaki Sr’s whole My Bad attitude about putting a demon inside a child (!!! [!!!!!!] !!!!!!!!), which makes the ensuing conversational shift away from this nightmare of a confession – into an apology for Weekend, which I will graciously accept – so goddamn funny to me. We’ve spent, like, a couple dozen episodes being force fed the Karizaki Sr Redemption Arc, and then on his deathbed he’s like Wait Did I Never Mention This. It is glorious. That family is beyond psychotic in their attitudes towards science, and I could not possibly think of a better final twist for these two clowns.

Meanwhile, we’ve also got Akaishi and Daiji to deal with.

The Akaishi part… sort of feels like the show’s lost the thread with this guy? His stated reasoning for serving Giff – if we’re to take Akaishi at his word – is that servitude to Giff at least keeps humanity alive, while resistance would see humanity utterly perish. Except, it’s Giff: as the Giffamilia found out firsthand, Giff treats contracts as more like… suggestions. He’s decided to set the world ablaze instead of enslaving humanity, discarding Akaishi as well. So far, I’m okay with it. Giff’s motives have always been opaque and implied enough to weather any number of mood swings, so him being like NOPE ENDGAME to Akaishi’s long-term strategy is fine with me. But Akaishi debases himself to get back in Giff’s good books, giving up humanity and his own immortality in the process.

I don’t get this part, at all. Literally the only two reasonable motivations that Akaishi’s ever had are 1) preserving humanity, despite its willfulness and selfishness; and 2) living forever as Giff’s lieutenant. In this episode, he gives up both of them at once, in return for becoming a red repaint. I don’t get it? At all? It’s the character pulling a 180, just in time to die for it, without even being given a speech to try and clarify what the hell’s going on. At least if he’d been killed in 42, he’d’ve gone out with some coherence to his character; here, it feels totally out of character and disappointingly rushed.

That said, at least it gives Daiji an amazing story.

That execution shot! GODDAMN! So cool, and perfectly in character for Daiji at this point in the series. He’s learned a lesson, but not quite the one anyone wanted him to learn. Far from feeling regret over how distant he’s grown from his family, or how he might’ve found a better path with Kagerou in his life, Daiji’s only learned one thing: you have to own your choices. Kagerou died so Daiji could be strong, and that means making sure your convictions have weight and clarity to them. He’s not lashing out at Ikki anymore, which is good, but it hasn’t changed his perspective on the battle. He’s got his convictions, and he’s going to do what he thinks is right – not to shame his brother or taunt his detractors, but because he wants to help. Sometimes that help comes in the form of a finisher to the face, though!

Very excited to see what form the rest of Daiji’s new outlook takes!

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This is also the best episode of Revice for ONE REAOSN AND ONE REASON ONLY THE WORST VILLAIN IN THE FRANCHISE IS DEAD Akashi is 50% of the reason Revice's second half sucks he's a bad villain imo because he's a twist villain who the reveal concerning is BLINDINGLY OBVIOUS and only wins because of deus ex machina's or the good guys in this show are idiots. the other 50% is because it feels like they wrote a story that was meant to be 25-30 episodes long but it's stretched to be 20 episodes longer and thus every time the writers didn't know how to fill an episode they just make either Vice look suspicious as hell for 20 minutes or make Daiji the biggest idiot in the franchise for 20 minutes or both

Ha ha, I don't know if I'd boil Akaishi down to quite so mean of a description, but I appreciate that he's not for everyone!

Also my other big problem with Revice(Ok I'll go more into Daiji soon because the episode that's appropriate to talk about him is coming up) ok so not gonna lie when the first batch of episodes aired I was on board with Sakura and found her relatable. The problem is here she becomes a Mary Sue everytime she wants something the characters struggle she shits out a new power that makes the problem solved like 2 seconds and literally breaks a Deadman's contract that was set to kill her even though that type of contract kills it's user. I don't know if I said this yet but when the guy who writes this show was signed he wanted to make it about a young woman who protects her family from demons it really feels like at times he wrote episodes feeling like Sakura's the main character (it's fine to make arcs built around characters that aren't the main character I'm rewatching Breaking Bad and there's multipart episodes that are centered around characters not named Walt but we see he is still important to what's happening in these episodes during that batch this becomes the Sakura creates a weapon that let's her rewrite the rules of the series show)