[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER ZI-O EPISODE 26 - “GEIZ REVIVE! 2019”



Ha ha, this was NOT the concluding chapter of a two-parter, but the second chapter of a multi-part story. (Three parts? Probably four?) So we not only don’t get a firm conclusion to the storyline begun last episode, we get a whole bunch more mysteries.

The one I’m sort of least curious about is the Tsukuyomi Killed A Busload Of People mystery, because I just can’t entertain that possibility for a single goddamn second. It’s edited in a way that obscures all but the most incriminating details, for one thing. We don’t ever see who/what Tsukuyomi’s shooting at, so she could just as easily have been shouting for Sougo to avoid (wild guess) Another Zi-O as she could be trying to murder an 8-year old boy. Also, there is no version of this show where Tsukuyomi tries to murder an 8-year old boy and ends up accidentally killing all but two people on a bus, including herself. Like, zero percent chance.

(More interested in the What Was April 2009’s Kamen Rider Doing On That Bus mystery, but there’s nothing specific in this episode besides those capitalized words. Still! More Tsukasa! Yay!)

But none of that’s really the point. The point isn’t about rational decision-making, or personal accountability. This is a story about how a martyr complex and a messiah complex combine into a brand-new dual-mode power-up for Geiz.

Tsukuyomi going back to 2009 (and correctly parking her Time Mazine in a garage, which is the funniest detail on this show so far) to investigate/murder Sougo is a tragedy. Tsukuyomi is presumed dead. All of those families are dead. And to Geiz, this was his responsibility. This is his failure. If he’d dealt with Sougo days ago, Tsukuyomi wouldn’t’ve thought she needed to travel back in time. If Geiz had dealt with Sougo months ago, all of these Another Riders wouldn’t’ve had their lives ruined by the Time Jackers, or threatened by Hiryuu. Every bad thing that’s happened since he got back to 2018 and didn’t kill Sougo, that’s all on Geiz.

And that’s half the reason he can activate the Geiz Revive power-up, the need to be the hero that he should’ve been months ago. But the other half is the part of him that sees the wreckage of Sougo’s (and Hiryuu’s) life and feels the blood on his hands. That bus was destroyed because someone was afraid of what Sougo might become in the future. Every battle Sougo’s been in is because someone wanted him dead, all for actions he might never even take, given the chance. Sougo might be a hero, if the world weren’t trying to kill him for being a villain. A fight now, between Zi-O II and Geiz Revive, will at least settle things. If Geiz wins, the future is saved. If Zi-O wins, then maybe Sougo can be the good king that no one else believed in. Either way, the stress of indecision is just about gone.

This was a nice episode for exploring Geiz’z tortured psychology, and a great episode for a new suit debut. I really like Geiz Revive! The time manipulation powers are pretty clever, and I love the Bulky Orange and Speedy Blue designs. Unlike Zi-O’s melding of light and dark, Geiz’z powers are separate, isolated. I like how it comments on Geiz’z inability to reconcile his view of himself with how the world wants him to be. He’s a Grim Executioner who wants to be a good friend. Even as he’s becoming more powerful, it’s for some purpose he doesn’t really want. Having his powers be a physical shift between forms seems exactly right for a guy who can’t be himself.

Pretty into this Geiz story!