[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 7 - “THEFT!? SKATEBOARD!? I’M KAGEROU!”

Just to keep me on my toes, this episode’s Ex-Aid-flavored Stamp Story ends up being a thin, boring drag with an abrupt and unconvincing conclusion, while the Fenix/Hiromi/Daiji/Kagerou stuff ends up being the best non-Buu parts of the episode.

George is showing another unpleasant qualities here, though it's not about potentially villainy again albeit it's still petty. Granted Vice is being an asshole as usual with his loud, big mouth tendencies of mocking the Jackal ViStamp, George still directs it to Ikki too. He's a Kamen Rider fan and obviously his passionate creations being bashed wouldn't go well for him, but that... had some shades of the genius scientist's pettiness before (though currently significantly severe, but still perpetuated Cheetah Deadman's actions) like Ryoma, who's livid over Kouta having Kachidoki Lockseed or about his efforts being rendered futile when Helheim gives the last crushing card to him in form of Lord Baron, and Kuroto who attacked Emu as a child, Tsukuru, and Burgmon for "imitating" (where ofc plagilarism can feel like a disrespect.. but this is Kuroto) his creations (game design or gashat). Albeit, even George still answers to Wakabayashi, who is more subdued in this episode, including to Hiromi, now debuting as Kamen Rider Demons, albeit George still got his payback by turning Vice into skateboard. Though still, albeit a good outcome, the birth of Demons comes from another one of George's unpleasant quality (though supported by Wakabayashi as well), being manipulative to guilt-trip Hiromi that Kagero's creation is his own doing, which succeeds because of his sense of justice... people who are selfless are less to deflect blame on others and can blame themselves as it's putting others above themselves. George takes advantage of Hiromi's sense of justice, as well as keeping the secret of him being actually Kagerou.

The mockery Jackal receives resembles the controversy regarding the designs of the Rider series that form it's based on, Ex-Aid. I wonder if George knows the receptions and discussions of the Rider serieses if it's treated as a thing in Revice's world. Speaking of Ex-Aid stuff, another part of it is incorporated in this episode as well with the appearence of Tekken 7, played by Hitoshi Maezono. Other than Ex-Aid nod... I wonder if the inclusion of Tekken 7 is intentional as a contrast to this series' theme being a mostly harmonic family, in a game about a family full of violent feuds with one another, appropriately featuring said family members Kazuya and Heihachi in the gameplay, maybe symbolizing Koji's father dominating his life and future career in Kazuya losing to Heihachi. I think Cheetah's super speed isn't really conveyed well here, compared to some other series such as W's Smilodon, the Cheetah just mostly about dodging attacks but at normal speed. And as usual, though of course there's merchandising and that wielding skateboard as a weapon can produce unorthodox fighting (albeit the finisher's kinda uninspired by just a kick with skateboard), the hunt for Jackal's kinda unnecessary when Revice already got Ptera Genome, with Faiz Axel's super speed. This'd fall into my usual complaint of Riders forgetting their powers, and probably it will happen to Demons too... That aside, Ikki's criticism to Vice has softened that he only warns him to not blindly charge ahead, but Vice somehow doesn't complain about Ikki riding him as a skateboard...

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

(I just… I really like the investigation scenes at Happy Spa? They’re so characterful and specific. I’d prefer if it was with Mom and Dad, but I’ll accept Buu as the token Weird Adult.)

I guess Sakura continues to show that she's more mean to her family but probably generally softer (not to criminals) otherwise, in apologizing and helping the male opponent she accidentally hurt in a sparring session, and tolerating 'newbie' Julio barging in awkwardly. Accidental injury aside.. is she portrayed as the best of her dojo? The intro did have her winning her match without problem, but there are several black belts as well there including her opponent, though ofc not all black belts are of similar capability. And at long last, Yukimi will return after a more 'realistic' take of an injury sustained by a monster victim to non-fighters. Buu-san somehow gets much closer to Igarashi family than just a regular customer to act as informant... but for now he's still secretive about himself, probably him volunteering to be Igarashi family's informant can be related to that.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The Stamp Story… I mean, as an Ex-Aid fan, I appreciate the little touches: a career in medicine, a videogame being played over the episode's title, a gang of three people (sorry Kiriya). I don’t know if other episodes tossed in as many signifiers for their homage – I think the curry one was after the Kuuga stamp’s debut episode, even though the Kuuga stamp was used in the finale – but I liked seeing it here. It’s a nicely subtle way to homage these different series. But the story is dumb. It takes forever to get going, the kid’s backstory never comes across (He was maybe accused unfairly! But the principal says he’s definitely guilty! But then he for sure was robbing places! But for no established reason!), the dad makes a deal with a demon to get his kid back on track but only ever seems to harass cops and Fenix… it’s just a mess. This is probably the dumbest Stamp Story this show’s done yet. There’s no one to care about here! The kid and the dad have no dimensionality to them, no discernable motivation. The conclusion to this alleged story of helicopter parenting is the kid trying to atone for his criminality while the dad’s like Whoops My Bad, and I don’t believe either of them for a second. If you thought Ayaka’s mom deciding via flashback to repent her inattention was sudden and underexplained, this episode’s finale would like you to hold its beer. Neither the father nor the son exist as anything other than a bland stock character type to move through a dull superhero investigation. It’s barely worth writing a paragraph about, so let’s move on.

Said Hitoshi and his suspended gymnastic team is another red herring Revice did after Daiji and Kagerou before for them being thieves, of which the true Cheetah Deadman being revealed to be his dad Koji, another one that made a contract, after the principal reveals that one of them went abroad for his parents, making the current gang only 3. The temporary characters this week again displays another family handled badly (just like the game Hitoshi played), with Koji being overprotective father that deflects his son's blame even if Hitoshi and his friends would turn themselves in, as well as forcing him to take up medicine just like him (another Ex-Aid nod, the father being a doctor), which is an authoritarian take of raising the children which isn't good way either. Though I think this episode didn't show much of the impact of the bad upbringing, only showing Hitoshi and his friends being thieves at the start (unknown if it's related with Koji's forceful attitude) and Koji forcing Hitoshi to take up medicine. In the opposite of the Oketani family (good build-up, sloppy resolution), I'd think this one's handled poorly in the build-up, but with okay-ish resolution. Koji shows other slimy qualities such as trying to bribe the Fenix members too who tries to detain him.

Koji is one of the reasons why I don't think that being caring about family (being forceful aside, he tries to make Hitoshi escape custody) makes one a good person, like the people who are victims of the gang, unlike ikki, who while prioritizes on his family, will come to the aid of others if he can. And Ikki in general utilizes familial bond as well to guide others into the right path, I admit that it somewhat convinces me more about the importance of familial bond, which of course, it has to be done right unlike some of the misguided family he had come across, not that you just simply 'love your family'. The episode had Daiji coming back to his senses, being confused and unaware of his actions as Kagerou... Kagerou wants Ikki to cease to exist, but while Daiji still has his coinscience, Kagerou has absolutely none of that, actually acting on those desires to get rid of Ikki. And now their relationship has been dented a bit again with Kagerou's hostile reaction to Ikki going after Cheetah Deadman.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The Daiji/Kagerou plot is brought up again, and given a little more detail for those who were uncertain of the initial reveal’s dynamic (Kagerou is Daiji’s inner demon, an expression of Daiji’s resentment towards Ikki and desire to be a powerful hero), but it’s mostly just more of the same in his appearances as Evil. It’s the Hiromi of it all that salvages this episode from being a complete misfire, which is kind of a surprise to me? He’s not a dude who made an impression at all prior to this, even in the story where he was being teased as Fenix’s traitor. (Again: who in the world would care if Fenix had a traitor? They’re all assholes!) But this time out, he’s this intriguingly empathetic-yet-focused captain, committed to pulling one of his soldiers back from the brink of demonic-possession, even if he has to personally Rider Kick the demon out of him in a skate park. Hiromi’s reaction to Daiji’s possession and rampage has so many cool notes to it: embarrassment and shame at his Deadman outburst putting Daiji on the path to summoning Kagerou; fiery resolve at his responsibility to keep his men safe, no matter the risk; grim acceptance at what unlocking his own potential might result in. It’s a million miles away from George and General Fenix’s disinterest at Daiji’s plight, or how Kagerou’s existence might affect literally everyone they depend on. Hiromi’s point of view is not only dramatically compelling, it makes sense. (It's a the more interesting echo to the Stamp Story's version of protecting your children, that's for sure.) In a show that has a really weird time attaching recognizable/relatable motivations to more than one character per episode, Hiromi is a sign that we can maybe get two from now on.

As usual, a Rider's debut will be portrayed well with utilizing their power (I still think Brave's Taddle Fantasy is the best at that though), going full Spider-Man against Evil with the red/white/blue colored spider-motif design as well as web-shooting abilities including hanging upside-down. Wasn't the first time a Rider is based off on an influental superhero, where there's Knight from Ryuki who resembles Batman... with Dispider as his first seen enemy. Probably a meta twist as well to incorporate spider as one of the heroic force, as spiders are often featured as the monster in the first episode in many Rider series. A little more of the Deadmans, at least Aguilera is revealed more that she kinda have an 'Adam and Eve Plot' type of a goal of repopulating the world with her and Giff's descendants. Olteca currently only follows upon Aguilera's goal. Julio apparently sees his awkward barging in as a successful attempt on his scheme....