Or it means that the integral part of her character as a rhythm game bugster - she was created for friendship and peace. Though then again tbh I dislike on how people equate sweet b̶o̶y̶ girl with being pacifistic with letting themselves being used as a punching bag.

Like Saber Trio of Deep Sins, this one establishes how someone approaching you in a two-faced way should be looked in positive light regarding the brief and fabricated "warmth" they gave to convince you that it's genuine, uhh dunno about another move of giving villains a slap in the wrist outcome here. While Mitsuko Fujimoto a.k.a Ms. Titan is the main culprit, Yuriko would still be complicit as well - and Aguilera in the main series has stated that she wants to face the consequences of her actions against Orteca's virtue signaling. Though it's clearly a tease joke, Sakura claiming that she's the big sis cuz she's taller, that's my fear in real life of having younger people mistreat me due to height. A̶n̶d̶ ̶A̶y̶a̶k̶a̶ ̶I̶m̶o̶t̶o̶,̶ ̶S̶a̶k̶u̶r̶a̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶r̶e̶s̶s̶ ̶(̶b̶o̶r̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶2̶0̶0̶3̶)̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶u̶a̶l̶l̶y̶ ̶o̶l̶d̶e̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶n̶ ̶D̶a̶i̶j̶i̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶c̶t̶o̶r̶ ̶W̶a̶t̶a̶r̶u̶ ̶H̶y̶u̶g̶a̶ ̶(̶b̶o̶r̶n̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶2̶0̶0̶4̶)̶.̶

Shieri Ohata is Tsukuyomi's actress, who disappeared from trace since April 2022, with her agency site and social media account got closed, of which the filming takes place in February, thus explaining the worry. I still don't get if Time Mom is supposed to be something of praise or mockery, considering I thought the view of female characters that aren't moms (unlike Yukimi) but has maternal qualities are bleak here. And regarding Tsukuyomi, she has shorter hair here, but you haven't followed another media that features her in-between last Zi-O time and this one.

Yeah... the reason why Kanon isn't a Rider here, though IRL reason was due to the Kanon Specter suit being disassembled and used on parts for other suits, the explanation in-series here is patronizing and misogynistic to have Makoto just being overprotective on her for an account of being girl, despite her contradicting it by showing that the guards changing into not making much difference to her (and Sawa). Zero-Two was a final form, and it's lowkey downgraded to stand on an equal footing with other base form female Riders.

It almost instantly obliterates any character growth Tamaki had. I hate that haircut!

I mean, Yuriko was as much a victim here as Hana, since she was being controlled by Miss Titan. We're in a story about how bonds can develop in weird and unexpected ways, so I think it's okay for Hana and Yuriko to find a kind of sisterhood inside this villainous scheme?

I actually enjoyed seeing the Deadmans trio back together for an encore, reminded me how much I missed them (sans haircut). I only wish it was for more than just a fight scene and they had more interaction. Like Tamaki and Olteca clearly have some beef they need to resolve. It's impressive how Tamaki had a spare outfit prepared for Aguilera as well, since she burned her original one. I have to praise his dedication to making their return as authentic as possible.

I guess the Zero Two humiliation is.... Never Over

And that's how you know it's not Aruto.

Well, enough people have commented, time for part two of my post, featuring cast trivia and the skit for the movie.

Starting off with the villains, Azuma is played by Kane Kosugi, who was previously Kenichi Kai, star of the American produced Ultra series (which ironically, was too expensive to air in America) Ultraman: The Ultimate Hero, and Jiraiya/Ninja Black of Ninja Sentai Kakuranger. With this, he was the first actor to transform in all three franchises (while two more have since attained that status, they’re still beaten out by the actress who played Sawa in Build, since she also had major roles in Ultraman and Metal Heroes, in addition to a Sentai guest spot)

Chic is voiced by Shingo Fujimori, the voice of ALMOST every belt and stamp in Revice. Which, considering he’s the demon born from the two guys who built most of the Revice Rider gear, it makes sense.

And Minami, the one female among the hired help, is played by Meiku Harukawa, one of Sakamoto’s regulars over in Ultra (she was a villain of the week in Ginga S, a supporting character in Trigger and one of the bad guys in Regulos)

In addition, to Kosugi, we have two more Kakuranger alumnus in Birth of Chimera, in the form of Teruaki Ogawa (Sasuke/Ninja Red), who plays Dr. Soutomi while he’s alive and in control (after Chic takes over, so does a new actor) and Satomi Hirose (Tsuruhime/Ninja White) as Nozomum (a joke that works best for Brits). Taikawa is also an alumnus, by technicality of having suit acted Ninja Red.

And speaking of Taikawa, his whole family appears in this. His wife Rie (who incidentally, was Ninja White’s suit actress) is one of the fleeing extras, while his son Shinta (previosuly the younger version of one of the Hell Bros from Build) is the poor sod who tries the Chimera Driver offscreen and turns into a demon.

And for the movie itself, the pregnant woman I maligned is Haruka Tateishi, who may be better known as Amu /ZyuohTiger from Doubutsu Sentai Zyuohger (and considering that the Donbrothers movie also had a former White heroine and a former Ninja warrior in the cast, I may have commented on the similarity somewhere).

And now, the Movie skit.

Chic: It’s Chic and…

Azuma: (unmotivated) Azuma’s…

Both: Stamp Navi!

Azuma: Do I really have to do this?

Chic: Yes. All of these features have had two hosts, and Tony, Hakim and the other lady already turned me down. So let’s get on with the talk about this stamp. Giff! (Laughs) My voice sounds a lot like the Vistamps, don’t you think?

https://youtube.com/watch?v=m2fqMZ5x8AU

Azuma: This Vistamp is the original, containing Giff’s DNA. Centuries ago, it sealed him away and granted me immortality. It was later used as the basis for all other Vistamps.

Chic: Of course, this isn’t the real Giff Stamp. Just a copy we made with the genes we extracted from the Igarashi kids. We’re going to use it to turn more willing converts into Demons.

Azuma: I thought our plan was to create an army of immortal Kamen Riders using the Chimera Driver.

Chic: Oh don’t be silly, we need Giff’s DNA to grant people immortality.

Azuma: Yes. And we have his DNA, with the Giff Eye in the Chimera Driver. You told me it would restore my immortality.

Chic: Did I?

Azuma: Yes. In that special where I killed that Nozomu kid’s parents.

Chic: It was so long ago…

Azuma: It was last week.

(George turns the video off)

George: Well, this diversion with these two was amazing, but ultimately a waste of time. The Igarashi kids got got a new form, but barely tapped its full potential. And that Nozomu kid gave up his goal with way too much ease. Anyway, it’s time that I move ahead with the culmination of my work.

(He reveals the Chimera Driver, which he attaches a yellow screen to)

Juuga Driver!

George: Next time, I’ll show off the Ultimate Driver, one that doesn’t use the power of Demons Daddy was so proud of.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Q5c7xn-zvgI

Credit to En-chan for suggesting I do the Giff stamp at this point.

Oh lord, FALCON-CHAAAAN was in this movie? Did she have more than one line of dialogue?

Hey, you're forgetting the OFFICIAL KAMEN RIDER WEBSITE STATISTICS FOR NERDS which offcially prove Kamen Rider Poppy is a final form level threat. Zero-Two should be glad to be in good company.

His need to keep from disappointing Hana is greater than his need to wreak vengeance on Olteca, apparently!

I appreciated both the copious amounts of trivia, as well as the second skit! Thanks!

I know I'm late but something I DO LIKE is how they did NOT Redeem Olteca just because he had a sympathetic backstory this was a trend rider shows have been doing really bad as of late(I mean technically it started in Ghost but I Feel like Adel's backstory is the ONE THING that show other than designs did right IMO) but Ex-Aid is where it became a problem IMO Kuroto and Parado IMO DID NOT Deserve to be redeemed, and I'm told Zero One is WORSE in this regard but I do wish they just simply made Olteca the main villain because as I said when this show was airing I've never seen any show less interested in it's main villain (Giff) than this show while I DO LIKE how the 2nd half isn't just everyone getting the shit kicked out of them by the main villain unless they have a new toy to debut(BUILD) but by god did they fumble it

Guess Azuma being another giff acolyte explains how he can go toe to toe with Chimera while unmorphed. Not as flashy as Akaishi's showings in ep. 33, but he's not a normal human. What I think was that, who tf he is to have a right to judge humanity, what makes him above them to think that he's while all humans doing this are foolish. Ikki actually addressed this in the actual movie. Felt more like Azuma's grief of losing his loved ones was also shoehorned at the end of their climatic fight (though maybe it shapes his apathy towards the casualties, being lazy to take them into consideration to endanger passengers just to get Igarashis), that his conflict with Ikki was about how Azuma dismisses the casualties in the name of greater mission (m̶a̶n̶,̶ ̶d̶u̶n̶n̶o̶ ̶i̶f̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶t̶a̶l̶k̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶G̶e̶a̶t̶s̶ ̶o̶r̶ ̶R̶e̶v̶i̶c̶e̶ ̶B̶a̶t̶t̶l̶e̶ ̶F̶a̶m̶i̶l̶i̶a̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶e̶), while Ikki thinks every little thing like few lives or happiness is important (the right way), with the pregnant woman (portrayed by Zyuohger's Haruka Tateishi) only being done to prove this point.

I really only wanted this to explain how George can change from being a mad scientist and potential villain to someone nice and helpful to the heroes. The excuses just contradict and is made up on the fly like first was "just following orders" to Akaishi, then they retconned that by introducing Chic. Guess perhaps how Chic worked is about being mad scientist and possessing others, but still doesn't explain how George discarded this behavior in middle part of the series. And Nozomu's story doesn't have really big role either to just use him to shill the Igarashi family in comparison. The Giffamilia Reunion, though Orteca's not redeemed, this still just doesn't explain why tf Orteca would agree to help others here, though still don't want this to be used to explain that he can/should be redeemed, because villains can do good thing/not do bad thing if it's the best decision they have and benefit them - villain pragmatism.

It's brief, but something that doesn't addressed is that, franchise-wise, Ace confronts the other, earlier Azuma here. After watching Geats up until now, forgot to feel that here Ace's genuineness isn't that clear yet watching him fight here (this one's first watch though). And where as you said here regarding Igarashi family being part warm and heroic, yeah this one shows that both Genta and Yukimi are concerned with others in general like the passengers, not strictly their family, with the latter already being Japan's #1 busybody as Vail Legacy established, though the former wasn't this as Junpei - the one that is similar to most secondary Riders for this franchise, only cared about revenge but not others' well-being (not both at once) u̶n̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶N̶o̶z̶o̶m̶u̶.

Though Kamen Rider Igarashi was not used for climax, albeit it does have good showings regarding his abilities being a combined of the 3 Igarashi sibling Riders, it was only used to fight off some (albeit tougher) mooks while not involving Azuma or Chic. And dunno why the characters don't use their final form like Revi and Vice, or Live, only saving it at certain moments, I don't think there's drawbacks on final forms here. Though it was going to come back against Chic, but Chic doesn't feel as powerful as I thought, albeit it does involve Dadstream who's by default more powerful base Rider. This is quite an asspull that Yukimi also has an inner demon, even though she's not a Giff descendant unlike the others.

Man I guess jokes aside this sounds fair enough. This is a cross comparison between different series, not main series! Thus Ex-Aid Riders should be all superior to most other franchise Riders!

I'm not going to wade into any discussion about Ex-Aid villain redemption, but I will say that, yeah, it's nice that Olteca is still viewed as merely a means to an end for Team Revice, not anyone that's welcomed with open arms.

I think they just wanted to show off as many suits as possible in the movie? There's always a tendency in the movies to run through as many old suits as still exist, mostly as a thrill for fans. I think it's neat!