[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER REVICE EPISODE 29 - “CRANK-IN! MEMORIES OF HIROMI!”



Hiromi’s alive, apparently! And he has amnesia, because this is Kamen Rider Revice, a show whose sign reading It Has Been X Days Since Our Last Narratively Convenient Amnesia is constantly being reset to zero! So we’ve got to bring him back to the team the only way our heroes know how: A good old-fashioned CLIP SHOW!

It’s basically an HBV, but with a little extra epilogue for the last arc around the edges. As hard as I laughed at the many brilliant gags, the part I liked best was how it all became a goofy blow-off for the Igarashi siblings, right before they split off into slightly-siloed storylines. Daiji’s got to reform/destroy Fenix, Sakura’s got to take her next steps with Weekend, and Ikki’s got to keep Happy Spa safe for them all to come back to someday. Sure, as Ikki notes, they’ll never be too far away from each other – they’re still family, and still teammates in the fight against Giff – but this does all have that sunset-lit feeling of a completed chapter, even if this group doesn’t really strike me as readers. It’s See You Soon, rather than Goodbye, but it still conjures up a wistful feeling.

Beyond that, it’s just incredibly funny?

The basic idea, that the Igarashis and George decide to make a recap video to get Hirmoi to take up arms again, is sublime in its manic energy. (I like that they mostly pivoted away from Remind Hiromi How Cool He Is into just recapping the last 28 episodes, since there’s literally no way to edit previously-aired footage enough to make Hiromi look like a successful Kamen Rider.) The way each attempt at a video reflected the editor’s biases and failings made even dull original footage (or frustrating reminders of stuff I don’t care about) into entertaining explorations of the first half of Revice: Vice, turning his video slowly but surely into a hype video for him and Ikki; Daiji, making a somber and serious tribute to Hiromi that eventually becomes a vehicle for Daiji’s rage and resentment toward George/Fenix/Whomever; and George, mostly making a workout video so he can show off his physique and minorly flirt with Hiromi. Each segment is just recapping stuff we already knew, but the way it’s recapped kept cracking me up. It’s easily the best version of this show’s story to date.

Nothing bad to say about this one! All the old information was presented in a fun way, the “new” information (Giff at Fenix, Ikki disappearing from a photo) was either easily predicted or technically old information that just hadn’t been brought up in a while, and the use of all of this reminiscing as a way to give the Igarashis a feeling of closure was really sweet. It’s so fun, that I forgot until this sentence how angry I got at Hiromi having this show’s 11th or 12th case of amnesia! JESUS CHRIST! Everyone on this show should be wearing helmets at all times!