[FreshToku]

I dont think that's how I'd describe what Ryuki was about, and I'm fairly confidant that on the writers side of things they only thought as far as 'ryuki? mirrors!' as far as parallels go, but I like that reading. The whole idea of the next power-up coming from Sougo confronting his darker aspects is a really solid one, and necessary for a show about him possibly becoming an overlord!

It does feel a bit of a Tell, Don't Show to me though, since all the stuff mirror Sougo says about Sougo's vices, it's like... its not that I don't or can't believe any of it, but I think they coule have done with the previous episode more actively and explicitly showing Sougo express this supposed dark side of his. Unless the very existence of his edgy mirror self alone is supposed to convince me of that : P

Probably best not to think too hard about anything else that happens in this episode, like where the Zi-O II ridewatch came from, Geiz killing himself and then getting rewinded, and how any of this relates to the next special.