[DreadBringer]

This episode also apparently solved Vice's existensial crisis of being a demon, and this pulls the "Vice is Vice" reassurement seen in numerous Rider series like Inoue written ones. About how Ikki reassures Vice that he only needs to act according to Vice's wishes, to fight alongside Ikki and/or having fun by enjoying his freedom (including being free from demon's expectations too), not what's expected of a demon. While this is good for Vice and that acting outside of other's expectations can be used, this kind of invalidates other demons, as there are other demons that aren't malicious like Lovekov (though she's an asshole too like Vice). While this part of the story helps Vice, this won't help other demons against, for example, Masumi's racism towards them (also suggesting that separating Ikki from Vice is the best outcome regardless of their friendship now), as this is about differentiating Vice to other demons and thus, other demons still has the expectation of being evil and manipulative like Vail expects them be.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Hana treats Tamaki about the same as Sakura treated Ikki originally, or how Daiji treated Sakura originally: like a sibling. It can come off abrasive or even cruel, but it's someone who is such a huge part of your life, and that can sometimes be a nuisance. Hana treats Tamaki like shit because he's pissing her off, and that's how brothers and sisters can behave.

I get where you're coming from here, but I'd also like to differentiate better here between which one is actually a banter or if someone actually mistreats others.... including regarding when they regularly mistreat those they have personal connection with but can occassionally help them at peril, which can still only mean that they draw some lines in mistreating them. I thought this also based on Aguilera's general behavior to others (sans Sakura ofc) like how she reacts to Ikki attempting to save her, not strictly Tamaki, though it's mostly during her villain stint that, she does spent most of her time in that role, just recently redeemed.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 35 - “THE UNKNOWN THREAT AND ROAD HUMANITY MUST TRAVEL”

It is a bold strategy to start an episode with a villain belittling the effectiveness of our heroes, and end the same episode with the villain being proven correct. It’s not… y’know, it’s not great, as far as watching these episodes to see heroes overcome insane odds and cleverly defeat terrifying threats goes. On that level? Sort of a miss. But its commitment to making our entire group of Kamen Riders look like ineffectual chumps is actually kind of neat!

Seems that this is the most appreciated plot for many people, to make the villain being proven correct, which will fulfill the favored "both sides have a point" plot they want (though I feel that many are just biased towards villains for this), and that these kind of plot will be considered a trend-setter that "tries something differently from usual cookie cutter generic shit", and many do think that realistically heroes will never win, and it'd be like, and bad guys getting ahead is what's realistic and reasonable outcome, thus making the story like that is the right way. If the villains aren't proven correct, people'd actually criticize the writings for being incompetent in handling them, instead of their actual actions or acknowledging the holes in their views.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I liked how much this episode nailed down its conception of Daiji as a guy whose inflexibility and righteousness is starting to become a drawback. He’s destroyed the part of himself that doubted himself, and now he’s a guy fighting to retain the honor of an organization that never did anything good for anyone. He’s always saying he’s going to get Fenix “back to what it was”, and it’s all anyone else – myself included – can do not to laugh in his face. Fenix was comically inept until it was hopelessly corrupt. There’s nothing in it to save, if there ever was. But Daiji lacks the flexibility and self-esteem to abandon the literal sinking ship of Fenix. Ikki’s in a story about Vice needing to look past a label that doesn’t apply to him in order to see the strength of his uniqueness, and here’s Daiji, clinging to his honor and duty when the guy who founded Fenix is laughing at his despair. Daiji’s so desperate to make things conform to his own sense of right and wrong – with Fenix being Right – that he can’t see how hollow and pointless those labels have become. He’s trapped himself in his own righteousness.

Daiji now specifically doesn't want to sit and watch, but now acting on his 'righteousness', but not that it's a good stuff, as Daiji went completely reckless, acting without thinking, despite being told by various characters like Ikki to stick together as a family, or George to balance his 'good' and 'evil' side on his own without Kagerou. He ended up only playing into Akaishi's plans, though at least he realized. Contrary to popular opinion regarding Daiji and Hiromi, for me Daiji shows some similarities to Hiromi here, but about his flaws, Hiromi's someone who tried to act dutiful and composed, but is actually emotionally fragile and breaks down easily. While here, Daiji's someone who is the uptight, stern, and taciturn one in the family, apparently portrayed as the 'mature' one to the wackiness of other Igarashis (Sakura as the other exception, that she regards Daiji the highest), but turns out here that Daiji is more impulsive than outwardly and if pushed into a brink he'd be the most irrational. Ironically, it seems that the Weekend has similar case to Daiji for their inaction, to have Masumi announced that Weekend would move from its shadows this late.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Alongside that, the whole Akaishi Hypes Giff battle was pretty entertaining, if only for how over-the-top Akaishi’s cowardly plea for humanity’s capitulation was. (In much the same way that Fenix’s military power and reach seems to ebb and flow alongside the budget for an episode, I sort of don’t understand its political power? How is Akaishi given carte blanche to commandeer live TV and beg all of Japan to surrender their free will to a mute deity? Seems like there should be someone in the Diet that’s like Could You Run That By Us First.) Akaishi has, appropriately, zero respect for the transparent stratagems of the Igarashi family, and he’s clearly having a blast watching Daiji get impotently apoplectic as the trap is sprung. It’s a dumb plan from Daiji, and it probably took Akaishi about eight entire seconds to figure out how to spin it in his favor.

As his plan was to plunge humanity into despair to make them submit to Giff, the only way he see for humanity to survive, expectedly it'd involve broadcasting Kamen Rider's failures to fight Giff or his henchmen (including Vail). But other revelations about it was that, Akaishi seems to be fine killing anyone else for his schemes other than the Igarashis, as seen in the unnamed Fenix soldiers. It's now explained fully here that Akaishi won't kill those he considered "family", where the Igarashis are Giff descendants, even threatening Vail to sever their partnership if he did that. So the Igarashi's special status, other than how they're the ones who can become a Rider, extends to even the current baddie as technically their family. But as for now, Akaishi acting to be hopeless here is too forced, has too much overreacting. And seems that, reckless as he might be, Daiji doesn't notice about Akaishi's obvious forced overreacting. I hope that there'd be more on Akaishi's overreacting other than just Revice declining in quality and treating Akaishi's acting as actual darkest hour situation, in-universe explanation btw, like for starters, about how Akaishi never felt hopeless (as Giff's partner) so he doesn't know what it actually feels like, or it's also a part how Daiji didn't notice as he went reckless.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It sort of helps the team that Hikaru shows up as Over Demons, and all of this plotline felt undercooked even by Weekend standards. Hikaru has never felt like anything other than a distraction in the Sakura/Hana storyline, so him proving his worth by taking two good suits and turning them into one okay suit… who was asking for this? This is a real Mihara Is The New Delta-level shrug of a plot, where the least-relevant character becomes the powerful new Rider. I’d rather it be Tamaki! Or Buu! Or Mom Igarashi! Hikaru is a weird imposition, and now I’m going to have to begrudgingly pay attention to him. I even had to learn his name this episode! That sucks!

Hikaru becoming a Rider, and a strongest one at that, does give me a Mihara-Delta vibe too (but it's Faiz so...), for someone who doesn't stand out being given one of the stronger Rider forms (though Over Demons only has slight increase to regular Demons). IIRC, the speculation of Over Demons before was about Hiromi's comeback or probably George, but it turning to be Hikaru instead seems to be purely done for a shock value. Though not fully as Hikaru does want to become a Rider before, but probably not something that seems to be really plot-important like Over Demons that has Vail motif in its design too, while Hikaru is nowhere near as plot important. Tbf, George too was someone who had one-time stint as Demons (so far), so Hikaru can be like that too as Over Demons, but it was also an important event to display George's change. And that Hikaru wasn't using the Rider form too bad, albeit not beating anyone in a fight but just saving anyone (and Akaishi won't kill them anyway). Tamaki now realizes about how useless he is so far, and the preview apparently has him transforming.... earlier than Aguilera, someone who has shown to be a fighter before does (still admiring her girlfriend, is she ironically the new Tamaki now but to Sakura only despite her disgust?).

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

All that said, I did enjoy this weird episode of Hiromi-esque failure and fumbling. I like the way Daiji’s decision to execute Kagerou – a thing I never enjoyed or agreed with – is now exposed as an error with dire ramifications for the entire world. We’ve got no real avenue to fight the evil running rampant, and the only glimmer of hope is that a group of revolutionaries with a troublingly large budget for gaming chairs and fishnet can find a way to emerge from a shadowy basement and protect humanity. I’m not feeling great about those odds, but I’m feeling pretty good about this show.

Regarding George's ad-vice here to balance good and evil as rightneous alone isn't enough to overcome evil, I'd disagree to elevating evil (not literally) personally, as this can be (mis)used to further glorify cynical and cold-detached traits, disguised as right belief, strength, and effectiveness when it's probably spite and vindictive-based. You've said before regarding how you disagree with Hiromi's recklessness, which I do too, and, there are some people who claim at this point Daiji becomes "too heroic" here for his self-destructive approach and that gets on my skin. Even though it's true that Kagerou is needed here to balance out Daiji's traits, but if it's about Kagerou being calm and calculating, then it'd not be an evil trait, it's just using rational thinking, good or evil depends if it's used for strategy against bad guys or to scheme. And if it's about finishing off the necessary bad guys, killing a bad guy that has no other way out is different to killing innocents or even someone bad that isn't enough to justify killing, such as normal human criminals. It's actually one of the misguided takes that can be used to villify heroes to make villains look good with the reason that "they're also killers or such".