[Androzani84]

So, the first thing we saw from this episode was that George would be part of the crowd watching the final fight… which, given that it came before the conclusion to the Juuga arc had aired, made it look like he got away with his actions with little more than a slap on the wrist. Which to be fair, is the way it is with a lot of Rider redemptions, which is probably why some people have grown tired of them (and probably why Geats hasn’t had any redemptions in its entire run, since Takahashi said in interviews that he felt the franchise had become stale and wanted to do something different)



(Though to be fair, when I wrote that comment, I was watching Black Clover, in which the main hero insists that you’re not allowed to be forgiven for your actions until you’ve made up for what you did as a villain and show you’re genuinely remorseful)

And also, I did call Vice being the final boss long before it actually happened. Mostly because I had Yu-Gi-Oh VRAINS on my mind, wherein the same thing happens (and just I think that show did the discussion of humanity’s relationship with AI better than 01, I also think it handled the partner attacking the rest of the cast to seem like the bad guy better, in part because people were not keen on Destream’s second and final TV appearance being him defeated by a farting duck, but also because Ai both had a whole arc to beat the supporting cast and the fact he was doing it for the hero’s benefit was played as a twist, with him seeming to have genuinely turned)



George: Hey, hey, hey! Yo, George Karizaki here. Since Ikki and Vice are having a bit of a spat right now, it falls to me to introduce this segment.

Ikki: Vice, what’s going on? Why’d you attack that old guy who says he’s my Dad?

Vice: Oh, that’s simple. He was the last obstacle I needed to dispose of for my secret master plan. (He pulls out a pair of Ultimate Vice plushies) I’m going to sell plush toys in my own likeness and name.

Ikki: Don’t you think you’re overestimating your appeal?

Vice: Oh no, Ikki. If anything, I’m UNDERestimating it. Once I’ve sold 14 million units, then I just wait for the kiddies and otaku to use the included Vistamps to stamp themselves in a role play moment. And in a few hours, each of them will birth two Vicetarians per stamp. With 4 times as many of my kids as humans, I’ll take over the whole world in a matter of days and clean out the human problem without there being a war. So what do you say? Can I put you down for an order? They make great gifts.

Ikki: Vice, I-

George: Hold up. Do you guys mind putting this on hold for one more of these features?

Ikki: Okay, we’ll do this week’s Vistamp together, one last time.

Tri Chimera!

A Tangled Mollusc! A Horn to Penetrate! A Hundred Rampaging Legs! Tri Chimera!

Vice: This stamp mixes up the powers of the stamps for Drive, Ghost and Kabuto. That makes it three times as versatile as one of our regular Vistamps.

George: Which is probably why my daddy’s demon Chic chose to give it to this guy.

Scramble! Octopus! Kurosai! Oomukade! Kamen Rider Daimon, Daimon, DAIMON!

George: Kamen Rider Daimon, Azuma. One of Giff’s surviving loyalists from his original arrival in the past, he persisted to the present day through the same immortality method as Akaishi, deeming himself humanity’s judge. But following Giff’s resurrection and subsequent demise, his immortality ran out, so he tried turning himself into a Kamen Rider with Giff’s Eye to restore it.

Ikki: Now that I do remember. He didn’t succeed and ended up dying in the attempt. Now then, back to business. (Turns to Vice) Vice, we took down Giff and the Deadmans together. Why would you do this?

Vice: You keep using these words “we” and “us”, as if we were equals. When in fact, if it weren’t for me, you’d be helpless against Aguilera before she snapped. I defeated Giff. You were just the guy to make the story more appealing to an audience of human children.

Ikki: Even if you think that, I don’t think you’d want to destroy everything we fought for. There must be a way to settle this.

Vice: Don’t you see? You have two choices. You can either let me run wild, with your memories as they are, but I’ll be able to conquer this planet and win the war in seconds. Or you can fight me, wipe me out the same way your little bro did with his demon, killing the cells in the Mini-Mes simultaneously, and get your memories back, but you’ll forever live with the fact you have unresolved issues, like he almost did.

Ikki: My issues are fairly long-standing. If they’re unresolved, so be it. I’m going to take you down, stop your plan, and reclaim my life. (He takes out the Giffard Rex Revi Stamp)

Vice: I knew you’d make this interesting. (Takes out the Giffard Rex Vice Stamp) One final showdown between us. Let’s test your luck.

Both transform wordlessly and run in to begin fighting each other.

George: Looks like things are getting heated up here. We hope you enjoy the FINAL instalment.

Self production notes: A lot of the dialogue in this skit is lifted from the Yu-Gi-Oh episode in the screen cap above, such as the “overestimating your appeal” exchange, Vice asking Ikki if he wants to buy his product after describing how evil it is and insisting that he did everything. The most significant change was that Ai was selling androids with copies of his AI rather than plush toys, but both the end result (killing off humanity through sheer force of numbers) and the way to stop them (killing the original) are the same.

And now, I’ll let Momoi Taro preview the next episode.