[DreadBringer]

Unfortunately Kekera's right... though it hits someone not in the fault this time but finally getting his taste of karma.

The reason of why Keiwa and Michinaga finally joined Ace's DGP, reminds me of what they declared in ep. 15 against the final boss (minus Neon now). Despite for now losing his means to bring back the victims, Keiwa knows that the threat is still around and he should prevent that happening to present people. While Michinaga has been established as someone who hates anything related to DGP, including the Riders, thus his reason to join is to clean up the DGP's remains in Beroba and the Jamatos. Keiwa focuses on protecting as someone empathetic to people's issues and happiness (though not so much for Mitsume rn...), while Michinaga focuses on destroying as someone who has end justifies the means view that views some people as expendable for that - only that currently Michinaga's main target is the deserving one.

As the next gardener, Daichi displays some contrast to Archimedel that the Jamatos are only Daichi's means to achieve his goal, including even eating baby Jamatos (as human... not as monster), while Archimedel genuinely cares about them and wants them happy but at the expense of humans (unlike Aruto who wants humans and Humagears to coexist). Archimedel also acts as an actual gardener in his Jamato making while Daichi has the more stereotypical scientist lab. Daichi really gets the results of him deciding to become Jamato, as his Jamato form is the high end Marrella Jamato, similarly extinct animal-themed like Archimedel's Dunkleosteus, who can hold his own against Geats IX - thus he doesn't need Nadge-Sparrow anymore, it's left behind anyway like Keiwa's Ninja and Neon's Beat. And at this point, Ace and Keiwa acted like usual allies again, like Ace warning him from Daichi's Jamato nature or encouraging him to go after Sara.

And it seems that, the Orteca of Geats is more of Daichi rather than Beroba who is unapologetically evil, malicious, and petty. As both are the all brains no morals characters, who deliberately targets a main cast's loved ones to make them miserable, like Orteca murdering Yosuke in front of Tamaki, where here he finally gets to lead Sara into her demise by infecting her with the apparently incurable phase 2, after once again posing as her helper due to his knowledge of explaining the phases of the parasite. Sara is ditzy, but it seems that in this situation she has no choice again but to rely on him, for both her sake and the other people she protects, though how much he knows is a red flag that he's the one behind it, albeit luckily she manages to send a chat to Keiwa over meeting him.

Previously, now Sara accepts that her little brother will never back down at a chance of helping others, either donating to charity or fighting as a Kamen Rider, thus now she just adapts to his habits by providing both with worldly needs with looking for more part-time jobs. Of which, as the job she's interviewed in gets attacked by the Jamatos, she once again tries to protect people like she did in Heaven and Hell, including the "helping grandma cross street" move. For more similarities with Gaim, now she makes use of the tools nearby to fight them off, like Akira. After she's seemingly killed later, she outright declares her intention to protect people similar to her younger brother. Her complaining about Keiwa "wasting" his money to donate for charity wasn't her disapproving with good deeds but trying to take all burdens herself and prevent him, but... she also has a better position to donate money as someone with steady job.

And unlike their previous confrontations, of Michinaga gloating over Takeshi's death, joining the JGP, and murdering civilians and Keiwa himself in Heaven and Hell game, as this time Michinaga caused Sara's death, Keiwa goes apeshit and beats him up, as Keiwa consistently gets more riled up when Sara's involved, likely setting him on the path of revenge. Guess actually it's not Neon alone who's a good Rider that temporarily fell, for self-preservance reasons in DezaStar arc, Keiwa is given that too, in form of vengeance - of which it's not a noble trait in someone, and Kekera just corrupts him, depending on how far he can go in the following, and depending on how far he'd go, this also can mean Keiwa is relatively less noble than most of the main Riders (other than Aruto, who has similar path in the end), unless his revenge is closer to something like Sougo did to Swartz.

This time, Michinaga's just a pawn in Daichi's schemes that he inadvertently murdered an innocent, but I'd still think that it's his callous traits that catches him up, seen in how he brutally beats up Jamato Sara before. While the Jamato is the deserving target, he's in general a ruthless person who shows no mercy or restraint (albeit he has some low standards and code of honor) in opposing those he considers his enemies. While here he's not at fault, now he finally faces consequences of his ruthless approach to things, that his destructive ways can deprive of others. Though he admits he killed her, now he actually shows more remorse and horror in his actions, of which I don't want if his indifference previously is just depicted as being numb to casualties for being used to, and likely sets him on a redemption path by realizing the consequences of his actions.

Half-expected this from how she approaches Kanato, but Neon is still patient enough to be concerned of Irumi's well-being, by visiting her to check on her condition regarding Kousei's arrest. Though she can display some sympathy to her abusive mom, I'm glad that so far she still doesn't return to her, as I'd want for running away from toxic family/relatives, even if blood-related to be something tolerated, as her reason is that she wants to respect Sara's promise to help her set up her new house. Once again, she refers to Sara as the friend against Irumi, of which now I'm confused regarding how she gets shocked when Keiwa refers to her as his friend, and her deeming herself as an outsider in Sakurai house. Irumi is remorseful and claims she loves her, but don't believe if she'd change her ways, as in abusive situation, she believes that her controlling behavior was showing love before, albeit now she doesn't dismiss Sara.

Though Kekera's right, he's displayed to act much more malicious and blatantly evil than before, likely to make viewers hate him despite being proven right? Though I'd still consider Kekera not as bad as Beroba, because he's only occassionally cruel to Beroba doing it all the time, this episode displays how he can be worse in some regards like... being fascinated to Daichi's disgusting manners and actions like baby eating, while fucking Beroba instead gets disgusted. And... despite supporting the typical Kamen Rider in Keiwa, Kekera is also interested in Daichi's villainous schemes... the very opposite of it. Seems that all the supporters got some of their points validated like Ziin's investigation, Kyuun saying not all Neon TV watchers are fans, and Beroba pointing out how the Goddess works, now it's Sara's death pushing Keiwa to get Shogun. Kekera fans got what they wanted, and still I don't want for this to justify any villainous actions if the victims bounce back, or as usual, treating kindness as weakness to think that destructive emotions give strength and badassery - it's his new Shogun form that gives power, Keiwa with no restraint using Ninja will do nothing to Marrella.

In the opposite of what happened in Lamentation (JGP) arc, now Beroba instead works together with the DGP. It's consistent in how Beroba opposes the DGP because she wants the Goddess of Creation, but now, Mitsume is gone, and the DGP itself also needs a new one, by hunting Tsumuri, practically making Beroba having similar goal to the DGP now, and form a truce with them, but likely the backstabbing can still happen when one of them gets Tsumuri. I guess now Win is one of another genuinely good Riders in directly opposing the way DGP use people as pawns - with Samas also objectifying Tsumuri as a DGP management property, and not resorting to what Michinaga does for that. Win wasn't just about getting revenge to Girori before. Jit shows his fighting skills to Win, and I feel both are equally skilled, but Jit is physically superior to hurt Win with his elbow block, likely the inhuman nature of Game Masters.