[DreadBringer]

The start of the new DGP season "Scheme", and fitting to the name now the DGP staff start to make their own move.

Fitting the "Punk" part of Punk Jack, Win is a punk rocker who is the total opposite of the silent role he had to take in Encounter DGP, so far the loudest character in the series in him being narcissistic and attention-whore to the point of making singing solos when talking. Win shows how a "musical" characters look/sound like... in a non-musical setting. Otherwise, with him being assigned to defeat Ace, Win also seems to be a worse version of Ace, both Win and Ace are casanovas, but Win takes up his lecherous behavior to Tsumuri to higher levels than Ace. Win and Ace are also tricksters, but Win lies to get a player outright eliminated (thus killed). So far Win'd be an anti-hero (if he's good guy) at best. Ace seems can't really stand him, or likely being 'matched' that Ace seemingly bought into Win's lie about going to the toilet, would Win be someone that is the catalyst for Ace's character development?

The 2 newly introduced Riders, Yukie and Tanba, are quite identical in how both are really inept and fearful in playing DGP, with Yukie having shorter screentime than even Taira/Ginpen. So they're making Tanba to be really an example of a regular old guy being thrown into battle, instead of being an old master or something, with his wish being turning himself younger. While Yukie is a celebrity fangirl whose wish is based on that like being insecure of her weight. With Keiwa and Neon gone, both are also kinda stand-ins for them, with Tanba getting Ninja and having his Buckle taken by others (Michinaga taking Zombie), and Yukie h̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶r̶t̶ ̶h̶a̶i̶r̶, getting Propeller and having a wish that also revolve around love, but in a more one-dimensional way of just marriage. But Yukie died in this episode with Neon returning, while Tanba survived with Keiwa still nowhere in DGP. I wonder though if Beat and Ninja are stronger than Magnum or Zombie, they seem to give better output than the more basic latter 2.

Michinaga seems to be less hostile this time around, he doesn't seem to view those 2 as his enemies here that he only harshly forces them to fight and trying to make them come into terms with their Kamen Rider status, the moment they wrote their desire which they should fight for, though he's still abrasive and rude like speaking ill of Yukie for her death, though it's not due to Kamen Riders being his enemies but about her way of playing.

As usual, they made Neon's development since ep. 4 consistent to have her act as DGP's trump card, being called to deal with the Jamatos that are growing stronger beyond Giroli's expectations, with her triumphantly saving the day including Tanba with Beat Buckle. Starting as a returning veteran, Neon also had a more standout presence among (few) DGP contestants, being an inspiration and 'guide' for Tanba, and while Keiwa's stance on DGP is teamwork, Neon's stance on DGP seems to be about friendly rivalry (with Michinaga taking toxic rivalry type), focusing on winning but making sure each contestants are at their best to compete, thus her assisting Tanba and also disapproving of dirty tricks.

Internally, now Ace reveals his secret to Neon only, about his goal (while he still confidently asks Michinaga to wait at the end of DGP for his wish). Other than that, Ace at the beginning claims he hopes Keiwa is having a good time, likely at least putting his on equal spot with Neon, but dunno if it's a lie (albeit dunno the purpose of lying there).

This episode rule talks about contestants being chosen by Game Master, of which Ace uses a wish to make him a permanent participant of DGP which explains the reason he's always chosen. Giroli outwardly seems to be more accepting of Ace making him his family compared to Tsumuri, but dunno if secretly Giroli hates that (with possibly another reason to be annoyed with Ace) thus he makes a scheme to eliminate him using Win, and likely the reason why Michinaga keeps getting chosen too. Giroli also had a scene where he asks someone regarding Jamato's growing power, and then the scene is about Neon's father Kousei Kurama inviting Tsumuri and also encouraging Neon to get her wish. That'd mean Kousei is likely a DGP staff who keeps secrets to his family but seems to be a better parent than Irumi. DGP seems to be more suspicious though to eliminate the best player to fight off Jamatos in Ace, of which they... fail that of course Ace can clear up the Jamato horde after Win tried to left him for dead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by henshinzero

Sucks Neon and Keiwa forgot about meeting Ace from before.

I guess I was thinking too hard regarding how Geats proceed with the character. It's actually quite simple that they simply just return the memory of the participants the moment they're chosen as a Rider, so the DGP and interactions in it would always continue character developments. Otherwise, so it's shown that the finalists also forget their DGP memories including Michinaga, like what I thought when others talk about contestants being eliminated with the exception of the finalists. And as others said, seems that the DGP losers don't only lose their memories, but also their desires, with the main Riders except Ace being OOC in Keiwa not donating lottery/not favoring tanuki soba, Neon enjoying her wealthy life, and Michinaga being at least neutral to Ace. I'd say though that, Irumi still had some controlling abusive tendencies here by planning an arranged marriage to Neon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Ace finally confesses his true desire to Neon, maybe he feels like he can confide in her due to their similarities, as even though Ace always wins, he still can't get what he really wants. It's nice that he can have someone to talk to about this, as Tsumuri is doing a pretty bad job at the whole big sister thing.

No offense but, this kinda sounds inconsiderate for Tsumuri to "criticize" her for doing a bad job at being an onee-chan. Tsumuri basically had her life being turned 180 degrees all of a sudden and being forcefully controlled by someone else to act certain way without Ace considering her feelings. Or you view this as a responsibility for her working for DGP? (of which it's unknown too how she got into DGP like not being told everything or such). I know Giroli is accepting of this (and at least outwardly) but still...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Oh good. I know that the "nice guy who doesn't want to fight" is a classic archetype in tokusatsu, among other places, but there's something about Keiwa and/or Geats that just robs me of any patience for him.

Keiwa is specifically made to fit tanuki motif (anyone in Geats do) so it's a given that he'd be simple-minded, but I'd think that for others nice guys shouldn't be always made as incompetent as a result of not wanting to fight.