[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 46 - “THE COURAGE TO FACE IT… WHAT MUST THEY PROTECT?”

It’s nicely filtered through Lovekov’s perspective, which is hilarious when you think about how easy it would’ve been for this show to never bother treating Lovekov as anything more than an adorable mascot to get surrounded by Giff Jrs. But no! We get this nuanced and emotional story about how relentlessly protecting someone from the world robs them of the ability to face challenges and grow, while refusing to let someone protect you risks never getting to lean on someone and find your deepest strength. Like, this isn’t a story about NEVER PROTECT ANYONE or whatever; it’s a story about how protection is a group task, and everyone needs it. Safety isn’t a thing you give or accept, it’s a condition you exist in. Allowing everyone to participate in the maintenance of that condition lets people feel connected to one another and individually discover their heroism.

Though Sakura's someone who despised Ikki's treatment of her previously and to a lesser extent, her other family members for preventing her going to the battlefield, turns out that she herself can invoke similar treatment, to Lovekov. This can be a reminder to be careful about evaluating others, before evaluating yourself (many'd be guilty of this, like me too), and probably in subtle way, is shown in the part where Ikki tells Sakura to leave the fighting into her 2 older brothers as she resolves her problem with Lovekov, and Sakura noting that it's been a while since she felt Ikki's busybodiness, which she's pulling on Lovekov herself. And other than that, to be hellbent on protecting Lovekov, other than preventing to make use of her abilities as weapons, Jeanne ended up becoming a liability herself just like Lovekov, with Aguilera noting that others have to focus on protecting Jeanne as well like what Jeanne does to Lovekov.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And while Sakura more elaborately benefits from that discovery via Invincible Jeanne (my new favorite suit on the show), we also get Tamaki becoming Over Demons to both protect Hana, and to follow in her footsteps towards redemption. He’s grown enough to want more than just to shield Hana from harm; he wants to be a man that learns from her example to become as strong as she is. It’s not nearly as solid a plot as the Sakura/Lovekov version, since Hana and Tamaki somehow do not have as robust and fruitful a relationship as Sakura shares with a frequently-intangible mascot, but it’s fine for what little went into it. Tamaki’s actor, as always, does a lot with any screentime, creating genuine resolve and joy out of Tamaki smiling as he finally Henshins. It’s definitely a story beat that has the Why Not feeling of the final episodes in any series, where the production team can rest easy knowing they won’t have to tell months of stories about Tamaki’s fight against monsters within and without, but it’s still a charming development. I already care more about this version of Over Demons than any of the preceding ones!

Extreme obsession can lead for them becoming what they don't want to be after all (protecting the "weak", becoming as much as the protected), and now Aguilera's the one to help Sakura again, to remind her about how others want to protect their loved ones too, not only Sakura, leading for her to finally get to know Lovekov better than her representation of weakness who she babied. Like Ikki to others earlier on, even though it's something you cherish (as Sakura accepted her weakness to become Jeanne), not believing in them can be an unintentional insult to them, Lovekov being viewed as weak and ineffectual by Sakura, even if it's well-meaning (protecting the weak instead of degrading them). Due to that Lovekov wants to prove herself as well as protecting Sakura herself, which is something Sakura needs to acknowledge instead of "Lovekov lives". Sakura's overprotectiveness also led for her to make irrational assumptions that Lovekov was hurt, when it was her molting for growing up, now as her new upgraded form Invincible Jeanne (Muteki name AND a long hair weapon? Blatant reference not only in name)

So it requires patience to see Tamaki fighting as a Rider, as Hikaru was actually someone whose role was to just make use of Over Demons until he's out of commission, handing the belt to Tamaki for that. Still not a good role for a member of another established family though. Actually like expected, I wouldn't expect Tamaki becoming a Rider to have that much of an impact IMO, only being an extra muscle, but it seems that unlike Sakura with Lovekov before, the setup of Tamaki being another non-Rider supporter to Hiromi and them relating is dropped, like how in previous episode Aguilera stated the Weekend wanted Tamaki to stay alive. Her response here is unrelated to that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The only time Giff (the ambulatory one) was coherent or thematically relevant to this show was in this episode, just as he’s being detonated by the combined self-actualization of the Igarashi siblings. He’s good as a guy that can be leveled with the full force of a speech encapsulating this show’s themes, less good as an entertaining villain with cool powers and/or views. His objectives never really came into focus, since they were mostly interpreted by minions who had their own goals, and what we get here feels as indecisive and random as any other shift in Giff’s demands. Getting the Igarashis to destroy a humanity that won’t stop destroying itself? Sure! Whatever! He’s a pointless villain that never seemed to have the support of the writers on this show, but I’m glad he could at least be the catalyst for a thrilling speech about how only the complete versions of ourselves, weathered by adversity and humbled by failure, can meet the challenges of a chaotic world.

For the final fight with Giff, it certainly lasts longer than Anomalocaris Deadman and Akaishi/Giffdemos, but it's not that overwhelming of a threat, which actually I liked that Ultimate Revi/Vice lived up to the claim of it using the same power as Giff, and proving Kagerou-less Daiji being wrong and irrational before. I'd also admit that the fight did have decent speeches relating into humans' flawed nature and the cast's development of making up with their inner demons, but Giff's potential seem to be just wasted, despite him being 'free' after Orteca's defeat at ep. 28, he still only acted for 4 episodes (ep. 43-46), and only about explaining his motivations at that. He's just a bit more than the likes of Arch Orphnoch or Sigma. Aguilera didn't get a proper chance to settle things with Giff after his betrayal, or how Giff felt about the Deadman cult isn't shown, etc. The idea of Giff being only an idea for multiple faction's motivation to fight is good on paper, but if he's intended to be a more active antagonist, then he's handled badly.

Speaking of Daiji, it's good that he shows here (as a difference to him without Kagerou), being jaded and pessimistic isn't necessarily being more intelligent, actually being intelligent (and some optimism added in) is the drive to try finding solutions against problems, instead of resigning to the cynical perception of reality. Even when Giff becomes more of a threat in their eyes after discovering more of its powers, he still thinks through the ways to deal with him, and he succeeded in that to figure out that that the dimension Giff is in isn't merely another dimension, but rather akin to his stomach, which can be dealt by destroying the statue to remove Giff's invulnerability. I gotta say too that it's this late, but here they highlighted Daiji's tactical self well, he's a standout compared to his siblings here like he's portrayed as.