[DreadBringer]

So Ace also had his lows here while also developing, and that the DGP exposes itself more as something up to no good.

The Musical Chairs round of the DGP seems to be the hardest so far, if someone hypercompetent like Ace actually finally bleeds, as the game forces you to face the Jamatos in human form, and other than immortality, Ace still has normal human physical stats outside Rider, of which when the Driver is used by Jamato, it's a near auto-lose condition as it's near-impossible for humans to stand up to Jamato Riders, one of the stronger DGP opponents so far (definitely the strongest non-boss). Not much yet seen about the hide-and-seek Jamato though. Previously I said that here only players can henshin, but here it's revealed (in a rule too) that the Driver actually can be used by anyone, just that the ID Core is locked, but it's used to devastating degree of a game where Jamatos and/or Red Hat Girl steal their Drivers as Jamato Riders are a thing now.

Girori (a.k.a "glare", not only in his KR name) seems to cement his status as a villain here, as now it's confirmed that what he's concerned is protecting the DGP's secrets, to ensure DGP's longevity. It may sound good to keep the longevity of something that combats the Jamatos to protect the world, but here it's also shown that Archimedel is truly Girori's workmate, albeit there's a divide between them, with Girori complaining about the Jamato results coming from him, and Archimedel talking about giving stronger foes for Riders, implying that Jamatos truly are DGP's creations for Riders to fight, and DGP feigning itself as a world defender. About why the DGP are doing this is obviously, another mystery for this show. And of course there's Girori stepping in himself as Glare (same Rider name as user name), of which he's shown mistreating Punk Jack.

Though obviously Ace would retain his confidence faced with his hardest challenge yet, I kinda like on how Win tries to rub it in on Ace's face, even if it obviously doesn't work, that Win kinda makes a sound point that, Ace's victories and achievements are provided by the DGP, like the wishes, and by extension the only way that he can keep participating and uncover them, and most importantly the Desire Driver and ID Core. But trying to uncover DGP's secrets means picking fights with them and they can retaliate.. by trying to eliminate him at all cost. Ace is a capable fighter as a human but it's limited into taking care of Pawn Jamatos only. But Ace's remark is also neat with the DGP also deserve to be questioned as well, other than Ace risking his life in his 'war' with DGP.

A new plot set up for Neon too, seeking the truth about her secretive father which in turn would also expose more of the DGP. Yeah now Kousei sounds suspicious here. So after Ace, Michinaga, and then Neon, Keiwa's the one who hasn't gotten into uncovering DGP conspiracies yet. Looking forward to see his reaction when DGP isn't actually world savior of which likely would force him into saving the world in his own terms. Otherwise, that should be the good reason for the 4 main Riders to work together against DGP conspiracies later (or even for Ace to make a wish like, letting the DGP retain certain player's memories), of which the main trio has gotten into it with Michinaga obviously harshly rejecting that idea, but it's addressed here.

After spending most of her time as wacky but supportive sibling, Sara's core principles is shown here about how people needs others in their lives and can't do everything on their own. I wonder how far that has influenced Keiwa in his life. That principle would be carried on throughout this episode, like Neon using her influence to track down the Red Hat Girl and Keiwa retrieving both Drivers. Keiwa's fighting against the Jamatos still seem sloppy compared to Michinaga's, but well it's still effective enough to retrieve his and Neon's Driver so... Not said but their teamwork brought them ahead, while Ace, Michinaga, and Win are hostile with one another, thus now.. the former 2 are the ones getting protected by Keiwa and Neon, the “extras” according to Michinaga. I'd also say that between this and next episode preview, they seem to pair up Keiwa and Neon to 'compensate' for handful amount of Ace and Neon pairing so far among the main trio.

Apparently since Schemes DGP Neon truly is about teamwork now, not only here for agreeing on Keiwa's suggestion but at the beginning to Ittetsu (and other players she can talk with) too, as in Encounter DGP she can reject teamwork suggestion if it can blatantly let other players win. Dunno if that there are differences between teamworks necessary for survival and blatantly sacrificing teamworks, or that she recognized the consequence of dying in DGP better (Ittetsu talk happened before Labyrinth game btw). Later it's shown more on how she agrees on teamwork because surviving and losing is better than being outright killed, as she points out to Michinaga, who rejects all form of teamwork and help no matter what, which is suicidal at this point when he’s stuck in human form fighting Jamatos here. Yeah, he's still really hostile to Keiwa as shown here even if he holds him in slightly higher regard than other Riders. Ace can be distant, but has shown himself to be a team player, so it's expected that he'd agree on those 2, though well... funny that he's someone prideful and talks about how overconfidence can be one's downfall...

I've felt that Ace seems softer and more considerate in Schemes DGP, and so by here he does really change for the better, where he actually keeps his promise to Keiwa after borrowing his Desire Driver. Though unfortunately, now he’s on losing position due to that with Michinaga taking the Desire Driver for himself. But well.. a bit of hot take but I have problems with this of them seemingly regressing Keiwa back (even if I know they're back on better terms after Keiwa's elimination) to highlight Ace's change. After also growing enough backbone to stand up for himself when Michinaga tries to guilt-trip him in Encounter DGP, now he just agrees to give Ace, a known trickster, his Driver again without second thoughts? This part is just either being na?ve or being pushover (when he knows), and yeah, one of the common mistaken view is viewing kindness as synonymous with being na?ve or pushover, but nah, it’s ok to set up boundaries and it doesn’t reduce your kindness. They’re developing Keiwa to be someone having more clear purpose, and if they want to keep his kindness (so far), it’s actually ok to make him more (or keep him) wary, I personally don’t see idealism and/or trusting others as an inherent part of being good anyway (like naivety or pushover above).

Not much can be said yet about the new characters, Niram (a.k.a "glower") and Samas (a.k.a "awaken") as they have little screentime in this episode. Samas so far displayed Ace’s (other) weakness being flirting…. as if him bleeding here isn’t enough. Niram established that there are some infightings in DGP too, between Niram’s stronger sense of fair play as a Board of Director by handing the targeted player Command Twin Buckle against Girori who primarily cares about DGP’s longevity to the point of sabotaging other players. Regarding the Command Twin Buckle, it has a charge system that the player needs to use the Raising Sword to charge up the Command Cannon Buckle and activate it, and the form does look cool, the color aesthetics remind me of another Takahashi series Ex-Aid’s Mighty Brothers XX. The fight is cool but straightforward, and finally the Jamato Rider is beaten.