[Fish Sandwich]

Okay, new year, new episodes... perfect chance to start giving at least some thoughts on this show again? After all, this episode is so good I'm feeling pretty fired up! Or maybe it's so cool I've just gotta talk about it?



Pick your pun, I guess. At any rate, with Sugihara directing, I'm always more excited than usual.

So, most of you all had this conversation already, but one of the quirks Revice has developed is that it's trying to balance the actual Revi+Vice=Revice drama that's meant to be the core appeal with the whole sibling Rider shtick, which has kinda run the risk of making Vice feel like an extra in his own show. That is to say, the risk is there, but especially with both Barid Rex's debut and now this, I think the writing has been managing to do a good job still finding ways to highlight how the two of them need to Buddy Up to get the job done, and I'm happy about that.

It definitely helps that the writing in this show has generally been so darn slick. Like any modern Rider show, it's got an absurd amount on its plate, but there's a ton of strong theming in Revice so far that's allowed the plot to gradually escalate in a way that still feels focused and considered. There's a sort of ugliness to Revice's whole world, especially, that I'm finding really fascinating. The way the villains are cultists preying on everyday people in ways that go well beyond simply attacking them with monsters; the sort of hopelessness Ikki is finding in trying to solve that in a clean, ideal manner; even just the way the show has been subtly shading Ikki's own heroism with that lingering notion that you can't truly call him a selfless person. It fits the original Rider concept of a hero tinged by the very evil he stands against super well, and it's been super interesting to follow Revice in part because of that. It's stuff like Julio's role in this one, too. The themes lend themselves naturally to drawing out and exploring the humanity of the characters, and I always love when that's what drives a story.

Plus, you know, it's still a fun action show that doesn't get too wrapped up in itself, which is important. I also appreciate things like seeing Ikki and Vice doing VR training where they fight Revi a bunch, you know? Neat episode concepts like that are just as interesting in their own right. (And I always appreciate when a base form manages to keep getting meaningful appearances, too!)