[Tokumonkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoldenXtreme

A surprise early elimination for Keiwa and some really nice characterization this episode!

The way you phrased this made something finally click for me. I'd focused so much on the "Squid Game for kids" element of the show that it hadn't occurred to me that the show is also leaning hard on elimination-based reality show tropes.

Just a couple of episodes ago, we saw the players faced with a team challenge intended to cause interpersonal conflict; that's definitely a reality-TV clich?. Michinaga is the contestant that gets cast as the villain, which is why he's such a heel rather than feeling like the secondary Rider he appeared to be in the first official poster for the show. (Sadly, this also means we may never be rid of him.) Keiwa being eliminated - in the same episode that "just happens" to demonstrate that someone who's lost their memories after being wiped by the DGP people can regain them - falls squarely into the "shocking early elimination of an audience favorite" trope, which I've often seen followed by "shocking return to the competition of an eliminated audience favorite or villain" trope. (Thanks, Drag Race...!)

I fully expect Keiwa to be absent from the competition - but possibly not the show - for at least two episodes, but I'll be surprised if he doesn't return as Kamen Rider Tycoon. This episode also left me wondering if his sister will get roped into the competition. (Well, assuming that the DGP continues as a framing mechanism.)

I'm loving this show so far, I feel probably due to the absence of an obvious formula, which feels very much like the show Kamen Rider Gaim turned into after the first quarter or so. It's got an "anything can happen" vibe. I hope it can keep it up.