TL;DR: This episode struck a nerve with me and I ended up disliking it immensely.

Fuller thoughts: Episodes like this really showcase the problem with this show's' pacing right now. While I liked a decent chunk of what they were going for, alot of it is marred by things just kinda getting glossed over. Also, I do not for one second actually believe that Ayaka's' mother actually loved/cared for her. Awful parent.

No Line Texts this time since they're very standard in terms of Vice making jokes and Ikki telling Vice to stay focused.

While I know you're wary of the Giffamilia compared to the Book Club in Saber, I can say without a doubt that the Deadmans are a better evil organization, in terms of both flair and singular characters.

That being said... didn't care much for this episode back then and now, and it's mostly because of the mom.

The action sequence is a notable one for me purely because of how bad the CG City they're leaping around in is at points. Also Ptera is Faiz... I guess? Well not like we'll be seeing it that often probably.

I mean, Ptera is the hoverbike and considering Toei's real lax with bike scenes do you really think they'll take the time to do hoverbike stuff constantly?

If the villain stuff works at all in this Throw Monsters At The Wall And See What Sticks stage of things, it's down to the little bits they give Aguilera. They definitely were smart to expand her role!

I don't know that I hated the mom that much? It's a pretty massive swing the episode asks for, and predicating it on Ikki being like What If You Told Your Hostage-Taking Daughter You Were A Jerk (he's a definite busybody!) is kind of nowhere as a turn in the story, but I thought... like, I thought the mom was maybe just not super good at juggling two kids, and probably had more fun with the younger daughter. That's not great parenting! But it's human in a way that the end of this story wouldn't allow for. I think a story where the mom was trying and failing would've been more interesting than What Older Daughter straight to I Would Love You No Matter How Many Siblings You Dangled Off Of A Roof.

The CG is so bad! It maybe somehow got worse from Saber, and that's not exactly how technology is supposed to work? But, yeah, terrible chase sequence. Jesus, terrible.

And it's so weird that they went to the trouble of commissioning an actual hoverbike, then let its onscreen debut consist of CG and composited shots. What is even the point of it, then?! You might as well get the bicycle back from previous episodes!

So to start with, this was an episode I gelled slightly with…

Speaking of what Olteca and Julio are, the designer confirmed that the whole idea behind the Phase 2 Deadmans is that they look like a different animal to what the stated motif is, as a reference to the Judeo-Christian devil, who is supposed to be a lion, but resembles a goat.

And here we go.

Ikki: It’s Ikki’s…

Vice: And Vice’s…

Both: Stamp Navi!

Ikki: And today’s stamp is this one!

Ptera!

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

Updraft! First Class! Pterosaur! Ptera! Flying by! Complete!

Ikki: This stamp allows Vice to transform into Rider Machine Vice. This allows us to fly high and move across vast distances easily.

Vice: So, you can finally call yourself a Kamen Rider. As for me, I’m stuck as a guy with no mask or ride.

George: No-one cares. Let’s talk about today’s Legend.

Desire Driver: Faiz!

Standing By!

Takumi: Henshin!

Complete!

George: Kamen Rider Faiz, one of three belts created by Smart Brain to protect the king of their own genetic successor to humanity, the Orpheus Enoch, or Orphnoch. The main user was a Wolf Orphnoch, Takumi Inui. Though he had no dreams of his own, he fought to protect those of others.

(Vice is now being handed tissues by Auto Vajin)

Vice: I know man, it’s just so painful.

Ikki: We hope you enjoy the next instalment.

I could use this episode to talk about pretty much my biggest gripe with the show and the core of what I think it screws up, but I’ll get plenty of chances for that anyway and seeing it repeat a few times won’t hurt.

So, let me instead talk about something I really enjoy about this episode.

We never knew the Phase 2 was gonna be a thing. It didn’t show up in any Scans or promotional material, so it was a legit surprise! And I loved it when it happened, especially since the Phase 2‘s designs are all great, compared to how meh I am on the Phase 1‘s.

So, yeah, great surprise!

As a show with family theme, now Ikki faces an opposition of, the opposite of how his family get along, which is a dysfunctional family. Though I wonder how actually close Ikki to Ayaka (Oketani, not Imoto) before if Ikki doesn't seem to know fully about her dysfunctional family. I know that the parental favoritism had happened since long ago, though probably it can be Ayaka hiding to Ikki about her family or such. Still though, tfw Sakura's portrayed by Ayaka Imoto, and that she's a karate practicioner, and that she had a friend named Ayaka, and that Ayaka (the character)'s actress Seiko Utsumi was the one that is stated to be able to do karate irl...

So the claim of Ikki protecting family is meant to show that he's the type of the person to not skipping steps, as you said, heroism starts local and builds global. Him prioritizing to protect family doesn't mean that he wouldn't care about others, for his case it's about knowing that he won't be able to accomplish everything, and it's not that all realistic to expect himself or someone to alter the whole world or its interlocking systems altogether. I'd think it's good to show that realistic doesn't mean negative traits, where the right way should be caring about family (or any loved ones) while being ok to be apathetic to any others, probably due to some audience trying to use fiction as fantasy escape, to live freely without regard of society around, wanting to only care just about certain things against the society's expectation to care about others. It's a nice mix of realism and moral, that Ikki is grounded and focuses on what he thinks he can like his family priority, but doesn't mean that he won't have the decency to help others if he can, where he said it himself that he'd be there if Deadman shows up. Kamen Riders aren't omnipresent though, the location of the Deadman needs to be told to him, which Fenix would have more... and that'd mean Genta is.. useful for this!

The strife between Daiji and Ikki did happen, but though you depicted the previous episode of how unheroic Daiji is, and that there were people making dark speculations about him at that time, actually this shows that Daiji is one of the secondaries who is straight up heroic from the start, like Rintaro before. Good guys can be at odds with each other, not that one must be good or bad. Daiji gives me an Ichijou vibe here, he believes in the serious duty of the soldiers (Fenix) to protect the people, which'd mean not letting civilian with no real aspiration get involved, even if they have superpowers. Though that's the reason of him trying to get Ikki join Fenix so he'd be an actual part of the group having a actual public safety role, Ikki has impulsive nature of acting before thinking, and that Fenix is more well-equipped to do the job of fighting off Deadmans and especially tracking them down - while Ikki only goes fighting when he learns of the news, more passive. Ikki now did have more commitment to become the Kamen Rider that would keep the citizens safe, like how Yusuke gains Mighty Form after being more committed, which is how they make amends at the end of the episode.

For Ayaka one, it'd be the opposite, it's about how both sides can share a portion of faults and that not only one side should be held accountable, which can happen to only solely blame the shitty parents, like Taeko, for how the child ends up as ignoring the child choosing to commit atrocities themselves. I didn't expect her revealing herself openly in front of others instead of keeping herself concealed with the shadowy cloaked outfit (outside of the sandals, which she keeps as civilian). Though yeah she has had a miserable life, her actions also have harmed others like those who watch the concert, which means she's still hold accountable for her actions here which are her own choice. Notably Ayaka's the one to escalate the Deadman threat as well of signing a contract, giving the debut of Phase 2 Deadman, with teleporting ability, and it seems that they're more sentient compared to the beastly usual Deadman (and I guess explains Revi holding Kong Deadman Phase 2 in place), and I got what I wanted of Deadmans showing a further corrupted version of the ViStamp users (Ayaka wanting to torment her mom).

Taeko's a grounded take of a shitty parent of her deflecting blames and giving excuses of her actions to Ayaka, instead of a very over the top practice (blatantly abusive) that my country's TV show is rife of (and Yuka's treatment in Faiz reminds me of many of what my country airs instead), doesn't mean she's less despicable of having more subtle abuse (depending on the people, can make them more slimy with her vagueness, even if the over the top abusive one can cause more damage). She's also probably the type to crave fame (standard human... vice) to favor the child that can take her to that, Miharu. Though still Miharu's personality was never really shown, like how, only very small thing like reminding her mom that she'll be late in last ep., probably showing that she's dismissive of Ayaka too, but also takes her idol career seriously (instead of being pressured).

Yeah, Revice has solid first half, but this was the part that I hate the most among it. The resolution is though... uhhhh... the usual extremely quick "everything's instantly fine" due to it not being the focus of the whole series and it only being 2-parter, that Ikki simply convinces Taeko to make up with Ayaka, without any substance (or they show too little via only flashbacks), I mean other than it being done too easily, there are no plausible reason for Taeko to suddenly change for lifetime behavior, when even after the Kong Deadman's rampage, she's still concerned about only Miharu's well-being. It can be to protect herself and Miharu for Deadman's rampage for example, but it's not addressed. And even after they make up, it shouldn't be about how the family's instantly fine now, there should be also the fallout that have to be dealt by them due to the mom's shitty upbringing. It's probably a rather easy choices/solution too of freeing people of being contracted to Deadman just by beating them in battle, when it's presented as something someone can't turn back against (or Taeko convincing Ayaka that she won't care how she looks like, and Ikki previously trying to reason with Ayaka instead too). Though this still shows that George is utterly chaotic, presenting the solution of Rider Kicking them with glee, thriving on violence albeit the end result would prevent further violence. I hope Geats won't go this route with the abusive parents angle.

The one who convinces and signs Ayaka's contract, Aguilera, finally goes to the scene here directly, in a different outfit. I guess they saved her for bigger stuff compared to Olteca and Julio before, of being the one to present contracts and Phase 2 Deadmans. Like the other 2, she also persuades the ViStamp users to do her bidding, and though she carries it in a calm and affable manner like Olteca, there's still obvious maliciousness behind her smile and joy she presents to others. It's a show about how upbeatness can turn someone menacing instead, and it'd portray Aguilera's complete ego to accomplish tasks without much effort, which means she won't treat others seriously, constantly taunting others, potentially to create a demon out of them figuratively, knowing that they won't stand against her power and/or charisma. Seems similar to George's style of speaking, and probably would be the evil counterpart to George in that case, if George is a good guy at the end anyway (him in this episode responds to Daiji's request more seriously, to guide him to update instead of mocking him). She'd even literally step on others (obligatory "I wish it was me in Ikki's place") as if they're not there...

The Ptera form's special ability seems to be the Rider form that provides a huge vehicle, while the Rider itself didn't have many other than hopping around. The CGI's still questionable, but that applies to all KR series. The fight still portrays the monster's menace well though, with the damages from the rampage of Kong Deadman Phase 2 being prevalent. The finisher, again, seems to be the Ryuki type (Alternative's Final Vent) where your vehicle spins rapidly in impact to the opponent. Though the Faiz motif seems to be shown in Vice being a vehicle (like Auto Vajin), not much of Faiz-motif abilities like Mammoth's rail before though, probably the super-speed like stuff to save Miharu that resembles Faiz Axel. Speaking of Mammoth, the AoE capability is used well here to take out the swarms of the Giff Juniors at once.

Thanks for the fun and informative skit!

I... didn't love the Phase 2 Deadman? It's a little Showa in how furry and creepy it is, which isn't my aesthetic. Also, the Phase 1 version was an origami gorilla in a little vest! That's brilliant!

I think it's reasonable to write off some of this stuff without needing to have it explained to the audience. Fretting over a daughter who made a deal with a devil is probably going to take a backseat to fearing for your life and the life of your youngest daughter.

But, yeah, it's not a great episode for really delving into the home life of Ayaka in anything other than broad strokes and darkly-comedic favoritism. We can intuit that the mom was doing a worse job than she thought or intended, but it's still a big leap to get to that finale.

interesting, and hilariously, I feel the same way about the Phase 1.

I like the idea behind origami, but... It kinda doesn't work?

The Phase 1's look like Sentai monsters to me, in the worst way. They look gaudy, fake and just don't feel like actual creatures to me in a way Rider Kaijin usually do.

Even as artificial as the book on the Megid looked, it still felt more like something that fits in that world more than the Phase 1's. When I look at a Megid, I see a homunculi abomination made out of a book; when I look at a Phase 2, I see an eldritch, demonic twisted animal.

The Phase 1's feel like weird, colourful origami awkwardly layered on top of something more primal and subuded. It clashes in the worst way for me.

That's the thing for me, though: I want them to look gaudy and a little fake. Like, I'm not at all disagreeing with your descriptions, but the aesthetic payloads are reversed for me. I way more into a monster suit that looks like a monster suit, rather than looks like a monster. Luckily, this show is giving us both!

I think the differences between Phase 1 and 2 are kinda clever tbh, now that we have the Phase 2's and Phase 1's established I can kind of get into something that I thought of while reading this conversation at work today.

And that's how the paper/origami style to the Deadmen kind of are like almost a cocoon in a way. Each Deadman and Phase 2 both share similar legs, though Phase 2 obviously gives a bit of extra details to show evolution. But in a sense it's like the Deadman itself is shedding off the paper exterior now that contract has entered a more tight agreement. So they gain a more humanoid/demonic appearance as opposed to the Phase 1's more exaggerated looks.

Honestly though, Gorilla Phase 2 is honestly my least favorite in terms of design... it just, feels a bit too generic to me.