[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 3 - “HOSTAGE TROUBLE! WHAT WILL THE BROTHERS DO!?”

I like how willing this show is to make Daiji unheroic.

It’s not… y’know, it’s not the most upbeat or cathartic viewing experience, but I find it maybe more compelling than Ikki’s franchise-typical hot-headed empathy and unstoppable self-sacrifice. Those are the engines a show like this runs on, but Daiji’s self-sabotage and envy are the scenery that get my attention.

Now, some more screentime with the other family members except the still hospitalized Yukimi, of which she can still contribute via her wiseness, and I do agree that she's one of the best (actual) parental figures in the franchise, but you'd tolerate a role that is confined into maternal streak (seen as more typical female role)? I do thought that this was a hint of Daiji going on the deep end, suspected similar to Micchy, but actually..... So he indeed does have several issues within himself, but it seems as if it's just him feeling useless while also having a fear about turning into Rider based on Hiromi's experience. And even jealousy isn't necessarily a dark trait if it's played up as it making him merely insecure, and he was trying to get Ikki join Fenix like before, but there's an implication of him having negative trait, albeit expressed mildly too, in him blaming others (as Vice pointed out) in Ikki not signing Fenix for having the girls kidnapped.

Like Daiji's inner demon (figuratively), the established Shiawase-Yu being evicted for the town's urban redevelopment project finally appears here. I guess I was too impatient. Ikki's still provoked by Vice as ever to yell shut up at the real estate agents, and this was theorized as Ikki's hidden dark side to have more sadistic thoughts which Vice exposes (to the audience, unfiltered)... a testament about how there's no limit in what's going on your head, humans can think completely unprovoked there. I had a feeling about the real estate agents being the Deadmans from their slimy demeanor, pulling some political shit of claiming their actions as being done "for the future", which'd make them untrustworthy. Shiawase-Yu did have some success if the revitalization plan outraged the customers then.

George stays suspicious, before he gloats on Hiromi's demotion, and now he trashtalks Daiji for trying to henshin with his previous fear of creating more chaos. Bruh, everything is wrong in George's eyes, what should others do other than getting expected result like Ikki, morton's fork situation that if you try you'd be like Hiromi, if you won't try you'd be like Daiji, and either way you got bullied by him. Wakabayashi's the stereotypical professional and rigid type to forbid any personal feelings in the job, the type to see emotions as weakness. But well, open display of emotions can actually be pragmatically useful if used well, like being done on purpose to manipulate others and achieve the outcomes that one is after, such as lowering the guards of their audiences and earning their trust), or reveal a softer side to them in order to achieve their goals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

This episode’s Stamp Story nicely plays into that, with both a parallel for Daiji’s unhappiness and anxiety (Ayaka, trying to get her mother to see her the way she wants to be seen) and a darker version of Mom Igarishi’s moral from the kidnapper: the world is horrible, and we do what we have to with the tools and options provided to us in order to make it something that treats us better. It’s a lesson that’s not quite an inversion of Mom Igarishi’s suggestion of personal responsibility and incremental action, but it still manages to turn a lesson of self-acceptance into a justification for selfishness.

It's a depressing and horrific scene of Ayaka's call being outright ignored by her mom Taeko, who favors her celebrity child Miharu, and she's her idol manager too in Koakuma Rendez-Vous. She even claims she drives Sakura and Ayaka only on Miharu's way. Horrific because she's in a kidnapping scene (well less so with Sakura being there, as a longtime friend she probably must've known her martial arts proficiency), otherwise it'd be just a depressing one. The hooded figure at the Deadman's base, there's a heavy implication of it being her, shown in the jeweled sandals the hooded figure wears, which was the sandals Ayaka took at the mall. It'd be a plot twist, of Yoshida not being actually the ViStamp user, but being an unfavorite child can really take emotional toll on them, which makes sense for Ayaka to lash out in form of becoming a Deadman servant. I guess this is a show of how the cruel world can push someone into that I was questioning before, other than people being hedonistic. Another part of her is still unknown as this episode doesn't feature actual resolution, more of a setup, but I'd wonder if she'd be much more attached to either Ikki or Sakura than it seems, as unfavorite child can easily latch onto anyone that shows them affection.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It makes for a tight episode, and one that kept me emotionally engaged, even as the action sort of left me cold. It’s fine for what it is, but the tactics are really nowhere in this superhero show. Revi and Vice win because Daiji ran and got a new power-up, which just so happens to beat the bad guys. (Well, Blue Mariachi just wanders off, which was considerate of him?) There’s no clear reason why a Den-O flavored beatdown is so much better than a W or Revice flavored one, other than it’s newer and we’ve got merch to move in Q1. I always like it better when these fights have at least a little bit of strategy or cleverness to them, and Revice’s… don’t? They’re flashy, and have some interesting camera choices, but it hasn’t really felt narratively integral to the episodes yet. It’s there, but it’s not much more than that yet.

The Deadmans, or at least Olteca and Julio, finally shows themselves on battle, and their difference in strength is noted by Revi in battle. But despite their strength advantage, they'd still resort into dirty tricks to further increase their advantage by using the girls as hostages (still... would be satisfying if Sakura reveals herself in front of the Deadmans, allowing Revice to beat them up unprovoked), as well as Julio lying to Daiji about their deal. Olteca and Julio seems to be set up as contrasts with the former being calm and collected, and the latter being hammy, waiting for the series to peel more of their contrasts. The Deadman bosses aren't 100% cooperative either, with Olteca teasing Aguilera for not showing tears to Giff and her reacting poorly.

Hiromi shows some ferocity as well not unlike Wakabayashi in the last scene... The ViStamp that Daiji took from Fenix...the Mammoth one, for Den-O themed mammoth form... even the intro still had Vice not replicating Momotaros fully, the Rider suit replicating Den-O less than ep. 2 before! It's nice to see more of the previous Rider's implementation other than aesthetics, of the brute Mammoth form being propelled forward by the rail. The finisher of Mammoth form is also my favorite there, with an attack more than just an energized ordinary attack, the shield teleporting the boomerangs and then stacking up to squash the opponent. It was nice to see more of W's Cyclone as well with the Eagle using the wings to form a protective tornado.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Luckily, yeah, I like this weird, frustrating story the show’s willing to tell about the Igarishi family. Ikki’s fiery compassion and reluctant heroism; Daiji’s stern dedication and constant humiliation; Sakura’s quiet confidence and intolerance for creeps; and the wackiest, most charming parents a Kamen Rider show ever let exist for more than a flashback. It’s a fun little world, set in a monstrous bigger world, and I like how that friction is affecting our cast.

For another Igarashi sibling Sakura, it's seen miles away that she'd kick Namio Yoshida's (the thug) ass due to her being martial artist, though she still got 'kidnapped' at the first place due to the reality that, for a normal human, being a skilled martial artist doesn't make you capable of surviving a bullet to the head (and she's far away from Yoshida that time). I'd wish her escape would be revealed to both of the Igarashi family and the Deadman, especially to blow the latter's ego. Her little tolerance has her father also suffer for it though, and even Ikki sort of... praising him as dependable as if he's probably sort of annoying to her too before (not counting girl friendships like her to Ayaka). Genta continues to be a cringy comedic relief with his latest eccentricity being tissue-pulling challenge, and even the hyped scene of him trying to do something regarding the revitalization plan.... being stamping the contact after a hyped scene of him probably punching those agents. So even at this stage, you don't loathe Genta, the loser dad, like you did at Haima?