[Kamen Rider Die]

REVICE LEGACY: KAMEN RIDER VAIL - EPISODE 5



It’s… it’s not a great ending, is it.

There’s wonderful narrative value in Genta facing off against the darkness inside himself, and Yukimi being the one to pull him back from the abyss of that conflict. This was a story about how loneliness makes us think we don’t deserve happiness, and the reward that comes from putting ourselves out there and fighting for connections. Vail’s the part of Genta that thinks self-sufficiency is the only valuable trait, so it’s nice to get a victory in the shape of Yukimi’s hugs. That whole section of things, including Genta finding the strength within himself to (essentially) defeat his own strength – great. Very fun, and a nice capper to this series.

But then we have to get these characters to exactly how we found them in Revice, and we apparently have to do it within a single scene.

If there’s a key failure to this finale, it’s that. There’s no reason why we have to go from Grim Warrior to Goofy Husband within this episode. Genta can conclude his business with Vail, and we can infer that years of being a husband and father uncorked the goofiness inside him, and he became the vlogging papa that we all know and love. Instead, it happens via yet more Narratively Convenient Amnesia, and that’s such a bummer. It’s too much, too fast, and it makes Genta’s growth seem less like the natural consequence of his decision to embrace happiness and family, and more like he got another bump on the head that turned him into a different guy.

And like… there’s a kernel of an idea in there that I like. Vail was the darkness inside Genta that steered him toward isolation and revenge, but now that weight is gone from him. Maybe he’d’ve been a dork without Vail! Sure! But not only does this all happen too fast, but it also resets all of the growth and sacrifice that Genta spent an episode fighting for. This Genta didn’t make those choices; this Genta didn’t even choose Yukimi, which is the entire point of this series. She’s just like I’m Your Wife and he’s like Oh Okay. It– it’s sort of a weird thing for Yukimi to do? They didn’t get married and he forgot; she’s deciding that they're married now. This is not technically a thing Genta consented to under any of his previous amnesias! And he might not be okay with it in any of his future amnesias! It’s a little creepy!

And that’s sort of what I’m left with, after five episodes of a largely inessential but fairly welcome flashback series. This was a too-convoluted backstory I never asked for, but the characters in the present are so fantastic that I kept finding things to enjoy. Absolutely did not stick the landing for me (those last few minutes! No thanks!), but I appreciate Revice realizing that Genta and Yukimi deserved a romantic origin. I guess I’ll take what I can get!