Kamen Rider Revice 16 Review: Deadman Infighting

Kamen Rider Revice, Episode 16: Desire to Protect - Time of the Three Igarashi Siblings!

Episode 16 is a bit of an interesting one, especially how it resolves the cliffhanger from the previous episode. I do really like that the Deadmans immediately resolve down into squabbling and infighting -- Olteca gives this huge speech about how Aguilera is just a puppet for their cultists to rally around. Julio gets absolutely angry and fights Olteca and "Yujiro", and I do find it fun! Again, it'd be nice if we saw Julio's backstory instead of him ranting about how Aguilera 'saved him' and gave him a purpose and stuff, but it's nice that these bad guys do get some characterization. Aguilera, however, out of nowhere pulls out her own transformation stamp -- and unless I'm forgetting something, this is the debut of her Queen Bee Deadman form. It's pretty neat. Aguilera rampages and shoots needles everywhere, but it's also kind of clear that Ikki's far more devoted into trying to get Aguilera to calm down more than anything. 

There's a neat acknowledgement of the deaths of the Sabertooth and Planarian Deadmans, and how the triple rider kick is, indirectly or not, one of the causes of their demise. Ikki and Daiji have a pretty well-done conversation in the bath, with Ikki trying to shoulder the burden of essentially killing these Phase 3 Deadmans... but Daiji insisting that he's also enough of a warrior to do so. It's a nice little acknowledgement of mortality for a franchise that has spent a fair amount of time either handwaving it or making death feel really cheap due to A.I. backups or ghost magic. 

There's a bit of a running thread in episodes 15 and 16 of Mama Igarashi being not at all pleased that Sakura is off fighting monsters, and goes around hiding her driver... until Hiromi comes and explains how the Igarashi siblings are super-special since not everyone can effortlessly transform like they can. 

We get to check in with the Deadmans after this, and I do really like how the villains are given ample time and being made a bit of an ensemble cast themselves -- one of the biggest weaknesses of recent shows like Saber and Zi-O is that their villains really do feel very flat, or pretty identikit. Julio's basically just being a supremely loyal follower of Aguilera, who herself is just frustrated that Julio's concerns actually do make sense. We get to hear "Yujiro" give his little speech about how he hated himself and his true identity, and Olteca... well, Olteca just wants to rule the world. Kind of the most basic villain motivation, but the fact that the rest of the villain ensemble do have something going on for them does hopefully mean that we get some backstory or depth to him in later installments. 

"Yujiro" attacks the Igarashis as they're out buying beef, and... well, in a less kid-friendly show, Mama Igarashi'd be completely dead. Instead, she just gets knocked out in a locker room and "Yujiro" didn't have the time or the mind to stab her with the knife that he's about to use on Ikki. Hiromi also helped, having put guards on the Igarashi parents -- I guess the point of this episode is to have the kids show off in front of Mama Igarashi and have her realize both the necessity of her children becoming Riders, as well as the capability of their children. 

The fight against the Chameleon Deadman is pretty cool, with him going invisible and stuff. We also get to see the Eagle, Kong and Mantis forms get an outing. Daiji gets a brand-new form, the Ex-Aid based Jackal-Live form... which feels kind of understated, I feel? He just uses it to blitz through some of the footsoldiers and that's it. I am also not the biggest fan of how they dealt with the Chameleon Deadman, who just gets kicked and blown up without any huge character moment -- not even catharsis for Daiji and Hiromi, or any resolution to the 'I hate myself' monologue. A bit weak in that part, I feel, especially since the Chameleon seems to be the primary focus of this episode. 

The episode closes with a double cliffhanger -- apparently Papa Igarashi has no heart? Who knows what the fuck is up with that. And Sakura goes to one of her classmates' house to find a mysteriously glowing and empty house. 

A bit of a slower episode and I do honestly feel like the Chameleon Deadman's story could've been extended more, but I actually am a bit excited to see what's going to happen with the three primary Deadmen. 

Random Notes

• The previous episode implied that Fenix arrested a lot of the random clubbers that are identified as cultists, but the episode noting that Aguilera is necessary for cultists to gather around really does confirm that all the footsoldier monsters that were killed before were created from these guys who willingly turn into monsters, huh.
• Hiromi, showing signs of wear and tear last episode, ends up straight-up collapsing in the opening act. Maybe him taking the 'sacrificial tertiary rider' role will actually happen...
• He does get a fancy cape to come with his new position as Fenix commander, though!
• It's kind of understated since I did a double-episode review last time, but I did enjoy how Yujiro/Chameleon's actor gets to really snap between pretending to be a serious character and a hammy bastard that's the Chameleon's true identity. 
• Oh, we actually do get to see what the Chameleon's true face is, briefly, before he disintegrates. 
• Okay, I get the creepy exposed muscle and the eyeballs, but why does a chameleon monster have a giant insect abdomen hanging off his ass?