Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Revice
 

Hi! My name is Kamen Rider Die, and this thread is “Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Revice”.

After a dozen or so of these Watch threads, I’ve noticed a few trends. The arcs of these projects are mostly joy – the discovery of new shows, characters, themes, stories. And y’know, some slight exhaustion as weeks turn into months, which never overshadows the delight these shows bring me. But there’s a moment in every series where I get a little melancholy. It’s not at the end of a series, typically. (I mean, BLADE, obviously, forever.) It’s… like, it’s around five or six episodes before the finale. The start of that turn into the final arc, when all the supporting cast stuff is wrapped up and the title hero prepares for a last battle against the forces of darkness. When the momentum ramps up, shifts towards the endgame, I get this sadness, instead of the excitement or anxiety I assume I’m supposed to get. It’s this inescapable pull towards the exit; unavoidable closure that signals the end of my time with these characters. It’s having to say goodbye, and it always manages to sneak up on me. I’m into this routine of living in this world with these characters, and then: we’re dotting the i’s of introspection and incident, and crossing the t’s of themes and theses. It’s all about to end, and there’s nothing I can do about it. Show’s over. Story, for all intents and purposes, is finished. Saying goodbye, even if it’s just to the routine and not to the characters – Legend Riders are more eternal these days than Eternal used to be – is hard. It’s tough to let something conclude, even if we don’t have any other option.

Which is maybe another way of saying how weirdly sad it is to write the last introduction for the last of this iteration of Kamen Rider Die Watches.

There’ll be more Kamen Rider Die Watches after this show, Legend Rider-style, so don’t worry about that. I’ve got plans up through the end of this decade, which we’ll talk about more at the end of Revice. But this was all only ever supposed to take me from Ghost, which I was watching in 2019, up to the current Rider series. It detoured into ten extra series and several additional years of work, but, we’re here. This is it. I’m watching Geats more or less currently (maybe my favorite Kamen Rider series of all time), and I’ve watched all the other Heisei and Reiwa stuff I’d meant to. Revice is the last Kamen Rider show I needed to catch up on; the last old one I can watch for the first time.

And that’s… boy, that’s really got me feeling a way. It’s the end of an era, even if it’s only been a few years of this nonsense. I’ll be all caught up on Kamen Rider in just a couple months. It seemed impossible three and half years ago, but I’m nearly there. Weird. Insane. That melancholy feeling from the end of a series is hitting me just as I start Revice, and I don’t know how that’s going to make the show work for me. Maybe I’ll treasure it more, for being the last of its kind. Maybe I’ll resent it more, for the same reason. I don’t know. I guess we’ll find out together, if you’re willing.

As always with these threads, there’re a few ground rules to go over, just to make sure everything runs smoothly and we all have a good time. Unlike in past threads, I’ve only really got two main notes:

PLEASE REFRAIN FROM DISCUSSING ANY REVICE SPOILERS: I treasure being able to discover these shows with as little prior information as possible, so please don’t talk about anything from Revice beyond the episodes I’ve covered. (Also, please don’t use spoiler tags! I see the untagged version on notifications! It definitely spoils things for me!) We get through these shows at a pretty good clip, so anything from a future episode that you’re excited to discuss will be here before you know it. It’ll all be here before you know it. Even if you think these shows will last forever, you’ll eventually watch them all. I don’t like this feeling!

(Tiny subsection of the first note: I’m definitely going to mention stuff from other shows if and when it’s pertinent to the discussion of Revice, so if you’d rather not be spoiled on Kuuga through Saber, maybe come back to this thread at a later date.)

PLEASE DISCUSS ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT REVICE THAT YOU’D LIKE: The thing I’m going to miss about this iteration of these threads isn’t the shows. Not really. I mean, always more shows! Kamen Rider’s at 50 years and in no way seems to be slowing down. But the ability to sit down with all of you and experience these shows alongside your fandom, your jokes, your trivia, your insight, your… alongside you – that’s what I’m going to miss. If you’d do me the honor of continuing to be the best fandom anyone could hope to fall into by chiming in with your feelings about Revice, I’d be indescribably grateful.

That’s about it, other than the standard-ish disclaimer that The Whole Thread Is Going To Be Like This: overwritten, poorly edited, and stupid but heartfelt. I take these shows seriously even if I don’t take the process of talking about them seriously. Hopefully that’s something you’ll enjoy? Also, no gimmick or whatever for this thread, other than me trying to enjoy this show and keep these precious moments with all of you from escaping my tearful embrace.

We’ll be hitting Revice on the usual-for-these-threads Wednesday through Monday schedule (Tuesday is my day off), and trying to cover as much of the Revice content as has been subbed and shared online. This is my roadmap, based on Wiki air dates and some guesses at continuity placement. If anything seems like a potential disaster for a first-time viewer, or anything I’ve overlooked including, please shout at me about it!

Revice 1-3
Revice the Movie
Revice 4-13
Beyond Generations
Revice 14-16
The Mystery
HBV: Koala vs Kangaroo!
Revice 17-28
Special Event
Legacy: Kamen Rider Vail
Revice 29
DEAR GAGA
Revice 30-46
Girls Remix
Birth of Chimera
Battle Familia
Revice 47-50
Revice Anime 1-3
TTFC Revice 1
HBV: Becoming Rider No. 2!
Final Stage
Revice Forward: Live and Evil and Demons

A few things I couldn’t find, but didn’t seem crucial to the Revice experience. If anyone has these subbed or knows where I can find them, please also shout at me about it:
50th Birthday Anniversary!
Transformation Lessons
50x45 Thanksgiving Stage Show
Shocker During the Day: The Movie
TTFC Revice 2
Demons Transformation Lessons
Hiromi’s Karizaki Exercise

These aren’t subbed yet and/or out yet, but I expect they’ll be available by the time we’ve reached the post-show part of the thread:
Geats X Revice
Juuga vs Orteca

I’ll be using Izusubs for the main series, and a hodge-podge of other folks for the side material.

I think that’s all the pre-show stuff covered! Thanks for checking out this thread! Let’s BUDDY UP and watch Kamen Rider Revice!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/revice0.png

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 1 - “FAMILY! CONTRACT! THE DEMON WHISPERS!”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/revice1a.png

Holy crap! This guy’s got an actual entire family! That’s alive! And aware of each other’s existence! And not (currently) attempting to murder one another! And they all survived the first episode! Kamen Rider is breaking new ground for its 50th anniversary season!

Best part of the premise, by far. I like that Ikki’s part of a healthy and supportive (and funny!) family unit. There’s a real weight to his abdication of heroism at the end, since we can see how much love he’s trying to protect at home. There’re dozens of shows where a Kamen Rider is balancing his Call To Heroism alongside a job, or sibling, or the intense demands of being a full-time prickly asshole that hates hot foods. But to see a Rider who both picks up arms in defense of his family, and then puts them back down in service to that family… fresh take! I like it!

Of course, there’s also the thread of characters being afraid of what committing themselves to their ideals might mean for their family – Ikki’s mysteriously abandoned soccer dreams, Daiji’s fear at what using the Vistamp Driver might turn him into – which, alongside the overall motif of We Have To Harness The Parts Of Us We Don’t Like In Order To Be Complete People, is creating some nicely modern takes on the classic Using Evil To Fight For Good theme of the original Kamen Rider series. It’s… I like how much it’s wedding the classic tropes to a more intriguing exploration of how the real battle we all face is how to be the best versions of ourselves; modifying our humanity into something stronger, more honest, more empathetic.

I mean, we’ve still got monsters to detonate and villains to overcome, and I like this show’s antagonists so far. I mean, it doesn’t hurt that the first episode features Special Guest Star – and acclaimed Murder Grandpa of professional wrestling – MINORU SUZUKI as a cast-to-type violent lunatic that generates a rubber-suited monster to menace our heroes. The monster suits… fine? I didn’t think about them much. The animal motifs are legible, and the action is solid. I think I liked the mooks better, honestly. There’s a cleanliness to the whole white and black skeleton whatever look that I’ll always dig. I’d much rather see Revi and Vice beat the holy hell out of fifteen mooks than see them rough up one clumsy barely-articulated monster.

I love the Revi and Vice suits, though. That choice of light pink and sky blue for Revi? Light pink and black for Vice? So good! Revi’s helmet – and its vicious smile of dinosaur teeth – gets this nice combination of slightly terrifying heroism that I think works for how this show treats its powers in Episode 1: Very cool, but slightly unnerving and definitely not fully understood. Revi doesn’t look comforting, so much as a force of nature. Vice, on the other hand, gets this goofy hat that makes him look like a Kamen Rider mascot, distracting from his underlying menace (he definitely was going to eat Ikki’s mom!) in exactly the way Vice’s motor-mouthed gags and fourth wall-breaking antics do. The suits feel like physical approximations of their goals and relationship, which is exactly what I want to see in suit design.

Which is all pretty consistent with how I felt during this episode: kind of exactly how I wanted to get drawn into this world. The overarching plot stuff is present without being distracting; the new villain trio is colorful and at least one of them has my attention; the action has character to it, with an emphasis on tag-team wrestling moves between Revi and Vice; the supporting cast all feel like they’ve got lives outside our main character, and I’m excited to learn more; the mysteries are tantalizing without being frustrating; and the giant villain sarcophagus is only slightly massively yonic. It’s a strong start to the series, and if it misses the tension and cohesion of the Geats premiere, it has a much greater warmth than any premiere since Hibiki.

Gosh, I’m so glad to be watching a fun Kamen Rider show with you guys.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/revice1b.png

Okay, so a few things on my end.

In terms of your watch order, I'd recommend putting Revice Special Event and Origins Vail after episode 28.

I'll be following along with this thread in the same manor I did for the Zi-O thread: Binging a string of episodes at a time to keep up without hopefully getting too far ahead of you as to keep my perspectives as fresh as possible.

Although it might be annoying to grab without the MegaSync tool, I would recommend using GeoSubs for Revice. They're the only group that subs the Line/Text messages whenever Ikki Henshins, which, while they're usually just funny gags, are sometimes very important in terms of characterization, I've found. If you (understandably) don't wanna go through that hassle, I have no problem screenshotting the ones I find the most notable.

I dunno how much I'll actually say in terms of these early episodes, as I feel as though I'd be repeating myself up until like episode 6-ish. Not giving any real specifics, but let's just say that Revice definitely has a formula for its first handful of episodes(atleast in my eyes).

As for episode 1 in and of itself, my immediate first impression was that it definitely reminded me alot of the first episode of Ghost in terms of pacing, although not quite as rushed there. Ghost's' first episode felt like a 3-parter squished into a single episode, whereas Revice's' felt like a 2-parter squished down. I did like alot of the base concepts though.

Speaking as a Latino, I did immediately become drawn to alot of stuff Revice uses in terms of themes and aesthetic right off the bat: The Deadmans being the most obvious bit with their wonderful sense of style, but also the core values inherent in Mexican culture such as the big emphasis on family and respecting the dead. Made me wish they leaned all in on it and had the soundtrack follow suit, but ah well. Not every show can be as great at that sort of thing as Seis Manos, I suppose.

Also, I absolutely loved Vice from the second he showed up. I'd heard comparisons to Venom before seeing the show for myself, and yeah, I can see where that comparison comes from. It helps that his gags are legit funny for the most part, ontop of the show not really taking itself super seriously right now. He and the Deadmans make up my favorites currently, with everyone else just kinda being serviceable. But hey, there's plenty of time for me to grow attached to everyone else too. Especially since, ya know, Spider-Man is in this show, so I'm like, required by law to like him atleast.

Looking forward to experiencing the rest of the thread with those who decide to tune in!

Interesting! I'd wanted to put the Vail stuff after the show, similar to the Rogue and Thouser specials, but maybe it's more necessary than I'd thought? I'd love to hear if this is a consensus choice!

That would be great! Thanks!

Vice is a lot of fun, yeah. I think he's maybe a little more Deadpool than Venom (he's more openly comedic than Venom), but I see where the comparison comes from. Honestly though, he slots pretty cleanly into the Ankh/Momotaros dynamic of Chaotic Helper, where he's going to be as frustrating as he is crucial to detonating monsters. More than that, though, I like how he helps illustrate how much Ikki is maybe not letting out to the people around him? Vice says everything he thinks as soon as he thinks it, while Ikki is determined to be the good son who doesn't make waves. (At a bathhouse, even!) I don't know, just my initial read.

(My favorite characters so far are the mom and the dad. I like how singularly goofy the dad is without being Hiiro's dad from Ex-Aid, and I loved the closing gag of the mom being furious that everyone came to visit her in the hospital instead of keeping the business running.)

Looks like I have my gimmick for this thread then! Here's the exchange from the first episode.

https://i.imgur.com/gM58LFe.png

I'll get to talking about the episode later today or early tomorrow. Depends since I now need to start binging slightly in order to follow along because yes, I am also watching along but going for GeoSubs this time because why would I use the hastily (in less than a day) put out IzuSubs when I already did that for my live watch?

But I'm mostly posting because I need to do some cleanup on that list of yours and throw in my two cents.

It'd be best to just put the first Hyper Battle DVD after The Mystery. Because I noticed where you put it and uh... no, not there, not at all, that's all I can say.

As for Legacy Vail AND Dear Gaga, yes, I am adding to this. And also telling you now, vaguely. You know that thing where Kamen Rider Blu-Ray specials try to fill in gaps from different points of time in series? Revice has none of that.

Legacy Vail is a TTFC Special featuring an original story that helps compliment and give weight to certain episodes in the latter half. I suggest 28 because I feel there's a good segue for it (I was the one who made the suggestion to Dreamsword).

Meanwhile Dear Gaga gets directly referenced in Episode 29, so setting it after there would be good. Because despite being a Blu-Ray special... it is actually not like the usual Blu-Ray specials and instead tells a wholly original story about one of the characters and is probably the best Blu-Ray exclusive content I've seen from Rider.

Anyway, that was me chiming in! See you when I watch Revice again!

Well, it’s my turn to weigh in. I agree with putting the HBV and Dear Gaga earlier, but I don’t think watching Vail during the show is at all necessary. The characters focused on are relatively minor and the special doesn’t tell us anything the show doesn’t (and what it does tell us is… I won’t go into it here).

As for thoughts on the first episode… Well I joined in late to avoid what I felt would be a fairly obnoxious part of the base (it ultimately turned out to be like, the same three people after two blockings on Twitter). And I already wrote up my thoughts elsewhere, so I’ll quote them here.

So a bit of extra information, the mum ending up in the hospital was because the original intent was for her to die from her injuries (mirroring how the author’s father died suddenly when he was in middle school), but the producer vetoed it, so she’s recuperating in the hospital until said writer figures out how to incorporate into the plot.

And now for the part you were probably waiting for.

Ikki: It’s Ikki’s…

Vice: And Vice’s…

Both: Stamp Navi!

Ikki: And today’s stamp is this one!

Rex!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=OUIpnXNrC-A

Stamping! Printing! Rolling! Going! Kamen Rider! Revi! Vice! Revice!

George: With the power of the Rex Vistamp, Kamen Rider Revice are born. Using the primordial power of the T-Rex genes, the duo can destroy any Deadman’s contract.

Vice: I finally have a body! Oh I’m gonna eat so many of this kid’s family members.

Ikki: Is it too late to go back to my soccer dreams?

George: Way too late. That demon of yours won’t go away until you’ve fulfilled the contract you made with him.

Ikki: So, that would be… to protect my family?

Vice:… If you say so. (Turns to the camera) We hope you enjoy the next instalment.

Ikki: Kill me now.

I have written my thoughts on Revice as it was aired, and I hope I can take less time replying on this thread compared to before.... as I'd take what I wrote there and reply to corresponding sections.

So this is a season that takes the place of what Fourze was planned to previously as yearly anniversary season (50th, to Fourze's 40th), I wonder (and hope) how will anniversary season that doesn't involve revisiting previous series go. For anniversary, so many 50 motifs, including the main family's surname Igarashi which means "Fifty Storms".

Ikki's a protagonist with the typical cheerful and bright personality (with his limit being Vice's antics), albeit he's not the type to accept Rider's powers right away and prioritize family more, but at least he returns Revice Driver to George gently. Vice possessing him is really problematic for his daily life as it'd screw him up and others (like his mom) due to no others being able to see Vice. The problem of him causing a mess seems to be solved after fully knowing Vice's nature, but personal problem likely still applies where he still can be seen as crazy for interacting with unseen beings. For Ikki's affinity with soccer, I'd actually hope for soccer-like Rider Kicks, at least he did it a bit with the debris from the Deadman's attack at Daiji's ceremony.

Vice takes the role of more morally dubious but comical monster sidekick like Momotaros. Though of course it's unknown yet if Vice will replicate Momo's success. Like Momo, Vice is loud, loves to fight and show off his strength as well, and a representation of Ikki's inner demon (like how the Taros take up Ryotaro's traits into flaws). He ironically makes the goofy Ikki look serious. Morally dubious because currently Vice fights for selfish reason, only for self-preservance, protecting Revi so he wouldn't die with Revi dying, as well as attempting to eat humans if he's let off of his leash (with him employing tasteless joke by claiming his attempt to eat Yukimi as this, a reminder that jokes can really be misused for that).

The appropriately named Daiji (with 二 kanji as the second son), seems to have prideful trait as he denies the Igarashis being his family when they wave a flag for him. Uhh.. that'd be actually a show of insolence and ungratefulness from a child (and certain folklore have these kind of child being turned into stone for this). Daiji being paralyzed with fear due to Hiromi accidentally unleashing a monster seems to set up his character arc. I wonder if he's the one that's going to be secondary Rider.

Not much seen about Sakura yet, other than establishing her as an action girl, using her karate skills to defend against Giff Juniors. Not to talk down, but humans kicking ass against mooks have been common too, as well, like Taiga battling Bugster Virus in Ex-Aid. She seems to take up Daiji more compared to Ikki, more on serious side like talking down her father for being a weirdo. Still I'd like the series to prove her excellence in mind (as what the series tell). Other than that, her actress is the one to have an appropriate name instead of the character, with her name being Ayaka Imoto, and her character is the little sister.

Yukimi's the one that values their bathhouse the most, reprimanding Ikki for dealing with Vice and the others to neglect the bathhouse. In contrast to Sakura, Yukimi's in complete danger from Deadman's attack. Genta is shaping up to be the comic relief sidekick the series had by focusing on making viral videos. Otherwise, it's an anomaly for Rider series to have the protagonist have a complete set of family, but more than that, regularly lives with them.

The series seems to be the lighthearted and spiritual type (probably a nod for Fourze before too), though the spiritual aspect seems to be at surface, a dark type that it involves a demon worship cult Deadman, contrasting to Ghost's spiritual themes that are portrayed in positive light such as "Heroic Spirits" (albeit it glorifies the likes of Nobunaga and Edison too much). Keep the lighthearted part of the main cast, but I'd like for them to explore more of the world there, like how it ends up centering on a devil cult, which probably can add up bleak elements in the world. Currently the cult members are acting like concert audiences... even despite Julio telling them off to not "pretending to be happy" *cheers louder*. The Deadman's opposition Fenix being scientific already contrasts the Deadman, which should be ok for the darkness to contrast the lighthearted-ness opposite faction.

Aguilera is much more ecstatic and playful than I thought, she's not the type to be calm, distant, and composed like previous major female villains such as Baruba from Kuuga (Aguilera's outfit reminds me of hers somewhat) or Uca Worm from Kabuto.

Revice's chat motif for his henshin worked out better than I thought, the words are that spicy and varied to have the chat continue for long time. I'd want for the chat to have significance of the theme/gimmick too though like Ex-Aid's character select to portray gaming theme. As above, I liked the part where Revice uses nearby debris as projectile. And yet another one of the base main Rider's power being legs that can jump high, like OOO's Batta legs (ironically, Tyra is part of OOO's final form) and Zero One's Rising Hopper. I'd wish the finisher would act like actual stamp instead of projection though, like flattening the opponent.

For those curious, the Deadmans get their entire thing from the Day of the Dead. A Mexican holiday that honors friends and family who've passed away.

Good to know! Now that we've got some consensus here, I'll rearrange some stuff in that first post. Thanks for the feedback!

Good! Her getting killed would've been such a pointless bummer, and probably would've soured me on most of the episode. It is way better if Ikki's motivated by familial obligation and the desire for his relatives to succeed than if he's just All Moms Are Deaded into being a Kamen Rider. No thanks to all of that!

And thanks for the funny Stamp short!

I mean, I'm far more interested in an anniversary season that looks at how Kamen Rider shows have changed and grown over the last fifty years, than I am at another cavalcade of guest stars and callbacks. (That part of the franchise is so ever-present as to be a parallel series to whatever the year's show is.) I like that they went a different way with it?

Possibly, but it's more likely that they're a hidden reference to wrestling faction LIJ, a frequent rival to special guest star Minoru Suzuki's own Suzuki-gun faction.

Happy to be of service.

Anyway, I had watched the episode a couple of hours ago but wanted to give time for a response.

Revice Episode 1... is a fun time. While I know there are some who don't exactly like how fast paced Rider premieres can feel at times, I felt this was the right amount of snappiness that let you get a feel for the world but also gives you something exciting to watch.

It's weird rewatching a show I finished not even a year ago, but... I don't know, I had a smile on my face when I rewatched it.

I love the fact that we've got a very big family in Revice. One that is actively on screen too. Cause even if some Riders escape the parent death curse, you usually don't see the Riders' parents on screen. So giving Ikki two parents and two siblings actively bouncing off of him... it's a refreshing change of pace. Also I'm glad you adore Mama and Papa Igarashi, they're so good!

As a Latino as well, I also must say that I love the Deadmans, they've got a great style and motif to them. Meanwhile our Deadman Monsters... idk I kinda like how quirky they look. Them being very origami-like in structure helps solidify the contract aspect of things and I love their odd design quirks. Though the grunts are rather nice too, some of my favorite designs due to how contrasting the white armoring over the black bodysuits are.

Also Revi and Vice! Definitely a solid base Rider Form, though I don't have much to say other than... I like how shiny Revi's suit is in some shots. There's this nice sheen and new paint feel to the armor that makes it look nice.

The dinner scene is maybe the definitive REVICE scene in the first episode, for how it instantly grounds Ikki's character in a relatable dynamic that still feels like it's got plenty of stories to tell. I loved when Hibiki would spend a scene on dinner with Asumu and Asumum, and this gave me the same joy. Domestic scenes forever!

Hey, it's Revice! This is one of those shows where I think my overall opinion is a bit mixed. There are some aspects of it that I really loved and some that fell flat for me. I'll say from the start that I was absolutely sold on Ikki. I really liked the kind of responsible big brother energy that he brings to the show and I think the actor did a good job of making him come across as very likable.

Vice, on the other hand... I wasn't a big fan of Vice at first. I'm not sure I ever was, honestly. I've called him "Momotaros at Home" a few times now and I tend to stick by that. I'm not a wrestling fan, but I know just enough about it by cultural osmosis to know about the concept of producers trying to put someone over the top. I get a lot of those vibes from Vice. It often felt like the show was trying to force Vice's shtick down the audience's throats instead of letting him grow on us more gradually.

So as far as Kamen Riders with parents and siblings go, Ikki manages to beat out the record set by V3 with his family surviving all the way through the first episode of his show.

The family vibe is one of my favorite parts of the show. It actually inspired me to go back and finish Ultraman R/B, which is another recent series where family relationships are a major part of the show and its story.

One of the most interesting choices in the family dynamic for this show is Ikki's role as the oldest sibling. I feel like other shows in the franchise might've put him as the youngest one (so he could go on a big Growing Up arc), or even the wacky middle sibling. We've had at least a couple of shows where the Rider has an older sibling that has to be a defacto parent to the Rider. (Off the top of my head: Den-O and Gaim.) Making him the oldest one, the responsible and sacrificing one... that's an intriguing choice to drive stories.

It's another neat evolution of Kamen Rider tropes, to weave in the sense of responsibility inherent in superhero stories to something as small as a family unit; the idea of protection as both selfish and selfless.

Ah, we've started Revice now!

*Totally didn't forget I was supposed to write a full summary of my thoughts on Saber...*

Heh.

*runs away*

Thread's still there! Be my guest!

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 2 - “THE DEMON WAS JUST A BAD GUY AFTER ALL?”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/revice2a.png

(Programming note: Turns out that the 50th Birthday and Transformation Lessons files I had were without subs, and I couldn't find any subbed versions to replace them. So, we’re skipping those for now. If anyone’s got subbed versions to share, please reach out! Thanks!)

I thought this was a fine second episode? Nothing exceptional or even necessarily memorable, but a solid one-off that establishes the parameters of our title Riders' relationship.

It’s a story about how two people can want the same thing, but want it in such vastly different ways as to make teamwork functionally impossible. The golfer and the caddie are a nice Monster Of The Week entryway to this concept, since they’re both ostensibly pulling in the same direction; they both want the golfer to win. Similarly, Ikki and Vice both want to detonate Deadmans. But all four characters are defined more by their incompatibility than their similarity.

Ikki’s the one I was most interested in in this story, because his arc is the most thoughtful and nuanced. He’s not just No Heroics until he’s All Heroics, there’s a… he’s got very specific reasons for his wanting to Henshin or not. He initially declines the Fenix offer, not because he doesn’t want to help people, but because the responsibility of answering to Fenix can’t ever take precedence over his obligation to his family. It’s a non-starter for him, that offer. He instantly grabs the Revice Driver when there’s danger, though, because he can’t stand by when people are in danger. He’s got a duty as a Kamen Rider, but a deeper, stronger commitment as an Igarashi. He won’t join an organization that would ask him to put his family second.

His mom clarifies the issue for him, though, in my favorite scene in the episode. (I like when the whole family is in one room together! This episode only did it once! Not a great decision!) It’s not about him protecting the family to the exclusion of the world, it’s about him recognizing that their family exists within the world. It’s also not about him alone sacrificing for his family, but them supporting what’s special about him. If Ikki can save people as Kamen Rider Revi, then the rest of the family will provide him space to do that. He doesn’t have to say no to a part of himself in order to care for his family.

It’s a nice message in this larger story of teamwork, even if it’s maybe not the one the show is keen to focus on.

The big part of the episode is Vice not really getting the whole Protecting People part of superheroes, and if the show glides through the dilemma a little too quickly to really do it justice, well… you kinda can’t have a show until Vice stops trying to eat people every time Ikki Henshins. It’s going to be a bit of a distraction! Sort of a big problem! The solution, to have Ikki basically go I’m Going To Get Murdered By Monsters And You’ll Die Too until Vice agrees to be a helpful, non-eating-people’s-moms demon… it’s okay. It’s way too early in the show to really have a serious, emotional throwdown about Ikki’s dedication to protecting people versus Vice’s inherent selfishness, so this shortcut version is fine to get our two main characters to be effective enough to take down the lowest level of weekly monsters. The resolution is such that we are definitely going to circle back to this (Vice’s acquiescence is more about self-preservation than a deep love for humanity), but it gets our oddball dynamic to at least stop trying to negate each other. That’s a win! Sort of!

And that’s the basic lesson for this episode, through the weird golfer/caddie double monstering: focus on how effective you can be as a unit, and stop trying to blow it up for your own appetites. It’s not an all-the-way-through success of an episode – too little family dynamic, the golfer’s motivation is Chaos I Guess, I don’t care enough about Fenix’s command structure or employees to need to start the second episode off with a guy getting dressed-down and embarrassed, and I absolutely do not like the Remix routines and their accompanying horrible CG. It’s got some stuff I’d’ve maybe corrected on an edit, for sure. But the structure is solid enough, the MOTW plot rhymes with the Ikki/Vice arc, and the cast is pleasant enough.

I can work with this!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/revice2b.png

It's the debut of the Kamen Rider W Genome!

Upfront, I didn't give a crap about the golfer or his caddie. Golfer was a douchenozzle and the caddie had zero backbone in going back to him.

And while Ikki and Vice's' dynamic was fun throughout(like accidentally activating the finisher due to their rough housing), I was actually kinda more on Vice's' side here than I was on Ikki's'.

Like, yeah, Vice is causing trouble, sure, but Ikki is putting even more people at risk, including his family, via the entire "gambit" of giving up the driver. Vice had a point: They legitimately can't fight the threat without his help. But it's kinda just swept under the rug to get the plot rolling.

The biggest takeaway here for me was Daiji, actually, and how this episode pretty much officially kickstarts his arc. Like, yeah, we saw the inciting incident of it in episode 1, but episode 2 is where it starts actually moving forward a bit. And everyone can feel free to correct me here, but I don't recall many Riders missing their shot at being the main one due to very understandably being too scared to act when needed? It's a pretty unique angle, I think.

No Line/Text screenshots today. The two featured in this episode are pretty much the same as those in episode 1, just with a slightly more comedic spin on them. I got a good giggle out of them, but they're nothing super important.

I don't know if that's exactly right? Ikki's fine using the Driver... right up until he a) thinks Vice was going to eat a guy, and b) definitely tipped a guy off to generating a Deadmans that put tons of people in danger. After that, Ikki's refusal is down to his belief that Vice is only going to make the situation worse. Once Vice swears to follow orders, Ikki Henshins again.

I mean, if we're talking about fear as a thing that haunts a Rider, the main one that comes to mind is Tachibana from Blade, which is some pretty good company for a secondary-to-tertiary Rider to land in! (Maybe also Hikawa from Agito? Maybe?) Daiji's (very reasonable!) terror at a monster attack, and his ongoing PTSD around it, is a storyline I'm very much looking forward to.

That's another thing actually, how did Ikki know that Vice did that? Like, did he somehow read Vice's' mind? The way that scene was framed really confused me.

I mean, technically, yeah, true. Though it was more that Tachibana lost the ability to be Garen, rather than lost his shot at being Blade. But close enough I suppose.

Vice just straight-up tells him, because demons can't lie!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/revice2c.png

Episode 2. I don’t have any new thoughts, so I'll just quote myself, do the thing, and then move on.

Ikki: It’s Ikki’s…

Vice: And Vice’s…

Both: Stamp Navi!

Ikki: And today’s stamp is this one!

Eagle!

https://youtube.com/watch?v=TwWtxAV58M8

Rampage! Soaring! Flying in the sky! Eagle! Count up your wings!

Ikki: The Eagle Vistamp grants us the power to soar through the skies, both individually and as a combi.

George: And the Legend who I based it off… is this one.

Desire Driver: W!

Phillip and Shotaro: Henshin!

Cyclone! Joker!

George: Kamen Rider W. When Shotaro Hidari and Raito Sonozaki come together as one, it creates the ultimate 2-in-1 detective. His Maximum Drive has a tremendous power that can destroy Gaia Memories.

W: Now, Count up your sins!

Vice: Hey, Kari-chan, why’d you give us this one as our first form change?

George: Well, you were facing a golf player, so I thought it suitable to give you a BIRDIE.

(Crickets chirping)

Vice: Come on, we can end on a better skit than that.

George: Fine, fine. (Takes the Denden Sensor out of his pocket) Here.

Vice: Aw, wook at the cute widdle… (he touches it and gets electrocuted). Ouch.

Ikki: We hope you enjoy the next instalment.

Vice: Pain.

Brevity is the soul of wit! Thanks for the skit and a recap of your thoughts!

Ah, I see, this is partially a sub thing.

https://i.imgur.com/4qnCImK.png

And then it just kinda cuts to Ikki making a face and a flashback of Vice talking to the golfer with a filter over it. To me it came across as either a mind read or Ikki making an(correct) assumption.

But whatever, it's really not that big of a deal. You are right afterall, devils can't seem to lie in this setting!

And let's get into Episode 2 of my rewatch!

Was not expecting you to skip ahead so suddenly like that, thought I had at least a couple of days. May need to pick up my pace!!!

Anyway Episode 2 uh... it's an Episode 2 tbh, the golfer and caddie story is fine enough, since this episode is mostly about Ikki trying to tolerate Vice, failing at that, and realizing "If he wants to be selfish, I'll be selfish back to make him scared" so they can try and work together without many issues.

It'll make a fun time in getting to see how exactly these two end up becoming a dynamic duo. Especially given the Remix (CG Monstrosities dear god) system. They've got a really cool handshake down pat at least!

Meanwhile W Genome... one of the few Genomes I can actually bother to remember when trying to recall how they look from memory! Some praise Revice's alt forms for not going too wild with the colors and keeping to Revi's color scheme. But to that I say... it gets aesthetically boring and they kind of start to mesh together too much imo.

That being said, something funny that I noticed is that shows that need to advertise toy guns in 2021 decided "accidental shooting" was the way to go. Zenkaiger had a whole set of episodes where the heroes use their gun henshin device to just shoot immediately (or in one case almost blast her head off). Meanwhile Revi here catches his axe in its gun form and immediately shoots when gripping it, taking out a grunt.

Just thought I'd mention that.

It honestly took me about two or three form changes to realize that they were based on past Riders. Definitely the fault of my own lack of attention and not a slight on the very tight and on-point pairing of Rider series and animal motif. Good old W, always eagle-ing everywhere.

Yeah, the animals they chose for each Rider are definitely... interesting, to say the least.

That said, I feel like an Eagle for W atleast makes some sense, given how birds are almost always associated with wind, just as W very much is.

Sorry! Definitely was not my plan!

Ha ha, I don't know if I'd put it that way! There's an astonishing empathy to Ikki, coupled with a yet-to-be-revealed tendency towards personal sacrifice, that makes him 100% willing to go fight Deadmans on his own if Henshining would just unleash more monsters like Vice. Like, it's a little bit of a scheme (Ikki is fully aware of Vice's need to keep him alive), but I don't doubt that Ikki would keep fighting if Vice tried to call his bluff.

Oh yeah for sure, I agree, Ikki is the type of dude who'd absolutely keep on fighting despite everything.

Oh right, just realized and I am curious since we have gotten our title sequence this episode but... what do you think of the OP for the season LiveDevil?

And can I perhaps get your Reiwa OP Rankings since you've watched Geats?

I... mostly did not care for LiveDevil. I don't know that I got a great feel for it, but most of what was there didn't do much for me. Probably my least favorite Reiwa OP. That could change, though! Usually these songs grow on me, and by the end I'm at least humming along with even the worst of the Kamen Rider theme songs. (Ryuki, maybe. Probably Ryuki.)

Assuming Revice's doesn't massively improve for me over the next few weeks, my current Reiwa rankings would be:

1. REALxEYEZ
2. Trust*Last
3. ALMIGHTY
4. The next few decades of openings, until Emperor Naruhito either passes away or abdicates
5. LiveDevil

RealxEyez on top hmmmm

I see you.

I will judge your tastes appropriately now since that Ryuki comment gives me some much needed perspective.

It's that or Ex-Aid's theme, and that one at least finishes strong. Ryuki... I'm listening to it right now, and it just meanders. Not for me!

I will not stand for this Ryuki slander. Mods, please delete the thread.

Oh boy... It's Revice time... Before I even put out my closing thoughts on Saber xD

Still have to do that, but that's for another time.

For now... Revice.

Let's pull off the bandaid off early; this is one of 3 Toku shows I actively hate, not just dislike, but actively hate. This makes this all the more interesting since I have very strong feelings for this show, just in the completely opposite direction than Saber.

It's also the only Toku show that annoyed me so much I decided to write fanfic about xD I really have to get back to that ^^'

That said, episode 1 is ok. It doesn't stand out in and of itself, and from the 3 Reiwa first, it defiantly felt like the most standard. I'd even say it's technically better than Saber's; it just left me with not much originally, which is fine for a first episode. There have been shows that left me cold for the first arc before I fell madly in love with them.

In and of itself, this episode doesn't do anything wrong.

And I really liked the fact Ikki gave up the Driver at the end. It seemed like an interesting direction to take a character.

Which... sadly didn't go anywhere really meaningful in episode 2, which was a shame. But that's more a fact of the story just not being that interested than any actively bad aspect of it.

In general, 2 continues the trend of being very fine. Not much I have a problem with, maybe minus the fact that I'm not a fan of the Revi and Vice suits and sidegrade suits, all looking very samey and washed out, but that is not a fault of the episode.

That said, the huge emotional moment passed me by like nothing, which felt weird for me at the time, given how much I ate up a similar moment in Den-O between Ryotaro and Momotaros early in the show.

I didn't even know why back then. I think I know why now, given hindsight, but I get plenty of opportunity to address that once it becomes more obvious why this didn't work for me.

Besides that, unremarkable, but not in a bad way.

Also, before anyone worries, I'm not here to just rage and make anyone feel bad about liking the show. I'm here to see why people like it, even if I don't.

Oh, I have plenty more Ryuki slander where that came from!

I definitely didn't think you were trying to make anyone feel bad for liking Revice! I think your criticisms are valid and measured, even if there're some that I don't agree with (I really like the suits) or maybe don't account for all the parts I liked (Ikki's choices are clever and distinct throughout; the family dynamic is gold). While I've had a fun time with the first two episodes, I've also described the second one as "nothing exceptional or even necessarily memorable", so I can understand feeling a lack of connection to some of its bigger emotional swings. What's here so far isn't really showing its cards yet, so much as shuffling the deck and explaining the rules. I'm excited to see what I get dealt, but I'm also not quite ready to go all-in on it.

The opening had a nod on Agito with the painting-esque scene at the start, though I don't fully understand that yet, there seems to be an implication of Ikki and Vice switching roles, which'd add up more to their dynamic. Other than that, Ikki's Vistamps is revealed to be able to... speed up a bicycle, which is a gag moment of a bicycle outspeeding a motorcycle easily, but is random too. There's a debut of Revice's another form, the W-motif Eagle Genome (does George just randomly model an animal with past Riders due to enthusiasm?) with count up feathers instead of sins as catchphrase, and to catch up with the flying Kamakiri Deadman. And Revice's seemingly ultimate ability of both combining into 1, shaped in the animal they represent in their current form. Eagle Genome has less stats than Rex one, so using Rex to fight Megalodon Deadman was the more ideal move, with Vice's rex abilities shown to breath fire and slap opponents with big tail too; I wonder if those abilities are exclusive or both Riders can have it.

The finisher of the Rex one is a mere stomp on the opponent enhanced with energy though by jumping high... with the Eagle one being a spiraling kick enhanced with green cyclone like W. There's a drawback that doubles as a gag, with the combination not being actual merging, and Revi can let go of Vice, and Vice's position of the Rex one being directly behind... Revi's butt. Vice should learn what the toilet joke of his can inflict to others in Saber finale from that. And for all the science can provide in a Rider... a simple drone was the tool Fenix use to spy on them!

So it's Ikki for you... instead of George. Though Ikki's family centered, he still has a strong principle of morality where it's more emphasized here. He wants to take care of Shiawase-Yu as his primary job and activity, but despite his disinterest of becoming a Kamen Rider and/or joining Fenix, he'd also jump into others' help as Genta informed the Deadman's location to Daiji, and makes sure Daiji evacuates the civilians, also believing that power is meant to protect people (redundant to mention family too). His refusal to become a Rider later is also something akin to blaming himself, which for me, is also a noble trait as it means they put others before themselves, even if it doesn't produce success. Overall this is an example that wanting something for themselves doesn't mean that they have tunnel vision for their personal wants only, also extends to Geats for this. And I'd say, it's not a Kamen Rider duty as it's he himself who decides to fight for people... where there'd be people who can use the power for evil. Revice's 2 Riders at once trait provides an unique way to punish Vice as well, Ikki turning into Revi just so that he can beat up the materialized Vice.

Yukimi may also turn into his driving factor to become a Rider as she reminds him that they can take care of Shiawase-Yu but only him can take care of the world. Sakura still presents herself as a no-nonsense and dry type of person to snark at silly antics, but I think this time it seems just spiteful to mock her dad's origami. Other than that the opening shows her as a big deal in karate to possess black belt and taking down the competition. Said dad Genta is apparently set up to have a bigger role, which is something good if done; would want to see the family focus not only as to fill in numbers, but making full use of each like a collective meat story about them all while still making them distinct. Aguilera is shown to prioritize Giff like how Ikki prioritizes family first, to the point of not liking others like Olteca interfering. Said Olteca was the one to take the center stage in this episode among the Deadmans, being the one to go outside and corrupting humans, but had pleasant demeanor; prefering his targets to willingly accept Vistamps.

This reminds me so much of Den-O's ep. 4. The story had Vice's lack of moral and ethics causing outright disaster, and Ikki (who's already always annoyed with Vice's antics) cutting off Vice for good, and won't stop until Vice owes up to his mistakes and vow to do good, even when he had to fight Deadmans as human with his (and Vice's) life at risk. Like how Momo uses Ryotaro's body to commit a questionable action that hurts others (even if it's to help Ryotaro), thus Ryotaro cuts him off and fights as the useless Plat Form until Momo apologizes and make a good vow.

Vice did something in this episode that is probably even worse than what Momo did at ep. 4, as at least Momo intended to help Ryotaro, though it caused misfortune upon non-Ryotaro people. Here, Vice didn't have any nobility for his actions, he just seeks conflict due to his love of fighting (a trait Momo also had), tempting Araki to release his inner demon, and his other aim is an even worse one to just eat humans while Ikki is fighting (and thus he gets materialized). Other than that, Vice is somehow significantly more intelligent than the usually mindless demons, and this is how he got to tempt Araki, by faking trying to eat someone. Luckily he's the type of morally unjust comedic character that has restrictions to keep him from going too far, not completely though as this episode showed. like his life depending on Ikki's, only materializing when he henshins as Revice, and otherwise being intangible and unseen spirit, where the extent of the trouble he can cause are annoyance and misunderstandings (as Ikki'd seem like talking to his family, especially worse when he's riled up like to Genta).

Other than their inner demons and how bad cycle of revenge is, Araki and Ibata demonstrates how dangerous the existence of superpower is, as in someone without a strong moral code, there's a big chance of them to exploit the powers to do whatever they want due to less restraint and more freedom provided by the power, and the power would even magnify the damages a cycle of revenge can do. Though luckily the actions of the Kamen Rider (Ikki particularly) made Ibata see the errors in his ways and stop Araki himself. For something not really usual in KR, the guest star of the week coming in pairs mean there's 2 MOTW at once, though for what I said above about Vice being abnormally intelligent among his kind, I wish both of the MOTWs Kamakiri and Megalodon Deadman also play up Araki and Ibata's worst traits as their personality to reaffirm about the demon within; damages from magnified negative trait equipped with destructive power.

Daiji's the other central focus for this episode, character-wise. It seems that here Daiji doesn't have any ill feelings towards Ikki, knowing that Ikki can become a Rider, he's focused on recruiting him as one of the Fenix member to help them fighting Deadmans, even if he won't take the center stage. He's also willingly listens to Ikki's order and later tries to keep Ikki becoming a Rider (especially with his life being at danger), practically relinquishing his role as a Rider to him.

The other characters get even less of the screentime compared to those above, albeit it's probably necessary to build up Revice dynamic: Hiromi disapproves of civilian becoming a Rider and got demoted. George as usual goes fanboying to Revice's Eagle Genome debut, but continues to show dark ambiguous side of him seemingly reveling to Hiromi's failure and the opening with him excitedly looking at the experimented 3 legendary Riders (original, Black, Kuuga) in a tank. Yujiro seems to be the drill sergeant-type character expecting the best and having high expectations to fill, but the strictness goes too far that he'd treat low-ranked members like Hiromi as worthless, insisting others to not listen to talentless individuals.

Hot take, but I'm not into Ryuki's theme song Alive A Live either. :p

I think they manage that in Episode 2, by having the dad be such a YouTube/social media junkie that he was one of the first to know where the Deadmans attack was happening. Hopefully the show continues the trend with the rest of the family!

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 3 - “HOSTAGE TROUBLE! WHAT WILL THE BROTHERS DO!?”

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/revice3a.png

I like how willing this show is to make Daiji unheroic.

It’s not… y’know, it’s not the most upbeat or cathartic viewing experience, but I find it maybe more compelling than Ikki’s franchise-typical hot-headed empathy and unstoppable self-sacrifice. Those are the engines a show like this runs on, but Daiji’s self-sabotage and envy are the scenery that get my attention.

It’s an episode that’s mostly concerned with issues of scale, and how family affects that worldview both positively and negatively. Daiji’s weakness is that he wants to do too much, as his mother (BEST CHARACTER) tries to point out. He wants to be a world-saving superhero, and the weight of that causes him to freeze up and freak out. Meanwhile, Ikki just wants to keep his family safe, and it lets him tap into a reservoir of conviction that Daiji can’t access. A massive motivation like Saving The World… that doesn’t really mean anything, at least not in a way that one person can get their hands around. But even non-Riders can work to keep the people close to them safe, as Sakura’s actions attest. Heroism starts local and builds global, not the other way around. Daiji could be the hero the world needs, if he’d just stop thinking about what the world needs.

And yet, while the show makes that lesson clear, Daiji doesn’t learn anything. I really like that? I like that it’s going to be harder for Daiji to get out of his own way than just coming through in an Episode 3 clutch. His issues are bigger than that, and he’s in a situation where his family’s support and happiness just makes him feel more like a fraud and an outcast. He has a vision of what he wants to be to his family, but that’s not what they want from him. The tension of that, how what’s a treasure for Ikki is a curse for Daiji… boy, I’m really into that.

This episode’s Stamp Story nicely plays into that, with both a parallel for Daiji’s unhappiness and anxiety (Ayaka, trying to get her mother to see her the way she wants to be seen) and a darker version of Mom Igarishi’s moral from the kidnapper: the world is horrible, and we do what we have to with the tools and options provided to us in order to make it something that treats us better. It’s a lesson that’s not quite an inversion of Mom Igarishi’s suggestion of personal responsibility and incremental action, but it still manages to turn a lesson of self-acceptance into a justification for selfishness.

It makes for a tight episode, and one that kept me emotionally engaged, even as the action sort of left me cold. It’s fine for what it is, but the tactics are really nowhere in this superhero show. Revi and Vice win because Daiji ran and got a new power-up, which just so happens to beat the bad guys. (Well, Blue Mariachi just wanders off, which was considerate of him?) There’s no clear reason why a Den-O flavored beatdown is so much better than a W or Revice flavored one, other than it’s newer and we’ve got merch to move in Q1. I always like it better when these fights have at least a little bit of strategy or cleverness to them, and Revice’s… don’t? They’re flashy, and have some interesting camera choices, but it hasn’t really felt narratively integral to the episodes yet. It’s there, but it’s not much more than that yet.

Luckily, yeah, I like this weird, frustrating story the show’s willing to tell about the Igarishi family. Ikki’s fiery compassion and reluctant heroism; Daiji’s stern dedication and constant humiliation; Sakura’s quiet confidence and intolerance for creeps; and the wackiest, most charming parents a Kamen Rider show ever let exist for more than a flashback. It’s a fun little world, set in a monstrous bigger world, and I like how that friction is affecting our cast.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/revice/revice3b.png

Oh Daiji, Daiji, Daiji... I don't think Daiji's my favorite in this show? But he's extremely interesting and he goes some places that's for sure. Very excited/curious to see what you'll think of him as his stuff continues further on. It's an interesting story they'll be able to tell with him, about how he ended up failing and how that's still haunting him, especially since he has to deal with his brother in which their views do not match up in the slightest, at all.

That being said... I guess Den-O worked well cause Vice had the big ol shields? Tbh the normal Genomes don't really do it much for me in terms of variety even though we're pumping them out one an episode so far.

But yeah, a rather nice single story that also helps advance some of our characters... or is it? Given the cliffhanger with the whole Kong Vistamp and our 'mystery' hooded person with the Deadmans.

Speaking of them though, I appreciate Julio's (Blue Mariachi? Wait... his outfit is purple though) drip. I think it's the sombrero that does it for me.

He's the least likable member of the family, which is weirdly what makes him super interesting to me? I've gathered that he's not a crazy popular character (even with the actor who played him?), but I find his locked-in frailties to be kind of fascinating, in how most shows don't really lay it on a character like this, and certainly not as early as this. Like, even Hikawa and Tachibana got a few wins under their belts before they started eating shit at the Everyone Is Laughing At You Buffet. Daiji's main character trait thus far is Abject Failure, and that's a little more appealing to me in a superhero show than Constant Victory.

I guess it's purple? I haven't gotten a great look at it, so I'll defer to your eyesight. Of the two Monster Mariachi, Purple is more flamboyant, for sure. I don't... like, I don't know why there are two of them yet, which has unfortunate echoes of the Book Club from Saber, but I appreciate that they're visually distinct. I can't wait to see which of them flips around, and which plays the piano!