Kamen Rider Revice 14-15 Review: Fight Club

Kamen Rider Revice, Episodes 14-15

Episode 14: The Commander is a Deadman?!

It's been a while, and I'm trying to catch up! Real life got in the way for weekly reviews. Episode 14 is an... interesting one, because of the pretty huge revelation that the previous episode gave us, but mostly it's just because this one revolves around the rest of the cast reacting to said revelation. George gathers Daiji and Hiromi and tells them that he's deduced that Wakabayashi is the traitor in their midst -- though they don't find out about the Chameleon Deadman thing until a bit later on in the episode. Our heroes decide to set up a trap for 'Wakabayashi', and while the audience already knows (or could guess) that Wakabayashi has been replaced by the Chameleon Deadman, it's certainly nice to see less-prominent characters like Hiromi panicking and still being in shock and denial over the whole thing. 

It's also a very interesting way to kill off a character, too. Modern Rider has been very skittish about actually killing off characters -- the most dramatic and well-executed ones end up being reversed at some point in the story. But the real Wakabayashi straight-up got murdered and replaced by the Chameleon Deadman prior to the first episode, so can you really call that 'killing a character'? From a narrative standpoint, not really, but we do get the raising of stakes that the knowledge that the Deadmen actually killed someone. 

The main bulk of the episode, though, is rather lighter affair. Sakura's at school being super-excited that her alter-ego of Kamen Rider Jeanne is proving to be very popular, but she's the target of the vendetta of the Planarian Deadman, whose real name is -wikis- Haitani Amahiko. Did they ever say his name on-screen? There's a small bit of comedy here and there, and a brief bit of trying to set up the secret identity dilemma that DC/Marvel superheroes are known so much for, but... but there really isn't any sort of tension because Sakura just shrugs, goes 'fuck it' and transforms to save the day. It's been a long, long while since public-secret-identities matter in these Kamen Rider shows. 

Ikki, meanwhile, fights against the evil lawyer Kudo Yasushi, who transforms into the Saber-tiger Deadman, another phase two. He just attacks Ikki in the bathhouse, and gives a bit of a dressing-down to Ikki about how he's just helping people to satisfy himself, making himself a nosy jackass, but it's something that I feels lacks a bit of a bite. 

Both Ikki and Sakura beat up their respective Deadmen enemies, but then Olteca and Julio show up to gather the two sacrifices, noting that they had their chance to deal with their 'niggling business'. Meanwhile the Chameleon Deadman steal the Giff stamp, the three other Deadmen get transformed into "Giftexs" (which are ascended Deadmen like Olteca and Julio), and we get the surprise revelation that Aguilera isn't Giff's wife, but the next sacrifice. 

Overall... pretty solid episode, I just do feel like the episode did lack a bit of an oomph. It feels a bit procedural, although it might just be intentional since the senior Deadmen are just letting Amahiko and Kudo get their vengeance attempts out of their system. Still, an overall interesting twist, and I most certainly have been liking where this show is going compared to how Saber had been at this point in its run.

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Episode 15: Eradicate! Showdown! Deadmans!

This one, meanwhile, is a pretty climactic episode that ends up being -- or feeling -- like the climax of the first long arc in Revice. A good chunk of this episode is just a huge brawl between the forces of Fenix and the Deadmans in their underground club. Apparently, "George Karizaki never loses", and he's embedded a chip within the Giff stamp in order to hunt down where the Deadmans' base is. There's a bit of a sub-plot in the first half of the episode of our heroes turning Daiji into Kagerou in order to find out the secret door to teleport into the underground base, but the Kagerou bit really just feels like padding so that the bulk of the action takes place in the second half of the episode. 

The villains are a bit more interesting, though -- particularly the primary trio. We've seen Aguilera be in a position of power for so much of the show that it's actually interesting that the dynamic is reversed. Turns out she's getting cold feet when Giff changes the deal -- she's going to be the sole sacrifice while the other five are simply there to funnel energy or something. Aguilera's been so indoctrinated into the cult that she's willing... but most certainly reluctant. Even more reluctant is Julio, who actually fights the other Giftexs for a bit before he gets subdued by numbers. A villain being redeemed isn't anything new, but I do find Aguilera's situation pretty interesting. 

Of course, a good chunk of the episode is just action scenes. Kamen Riders Revice, Live, Jeanne and Demons, as well as George and a bunch of Fenix goons, charge into the underground nightclub and fight against all the bad guys. It's pretty neat to see so many people in play, and we do get a couple of brief bits of characterization here and there -- Jeanne and Planaria Deadman have a bit of a spat; Ikki and the lawyer exchange words about the 'egoist-kun' title; Hiromi gets a pretty cool sequence of declaring how he'd rather 'struggle than die'. Also, George hams the shit up, and it's approximately twice as funny because of his English. (Oh, we get the random power-ups for Demons and Jeanne, who use the scorpion and turtle stamps respectively)

The Planaria and Sabertooth Deadmen were ultimately dissolved into light particles and absorbed by Giff when they get triple-rider-kicked by the Igarashi siblings. Also, I was most convinced that Hiromi was going to bite the dust, by the way -- he was fighting the Chameleon Deadman and while he did get a cool moment of declaring his resolve, we get to see Julio sneaking around in the background. Nope! Hiromi made it out alive!

Giff ends up... partially resurrecting? The club turns out to be some sort of weird saucer UFO with tentacles that rises up of the ground, and Ikki and Vice stay behind to try and save Aguilera (and also Julio, who's just conked out in the corner). A neat showcase to Ikki's whole 'I'm a busybody' deal, and Ikki manages to blow Giff's saucer up by spending around three minutes summoning his entire roster of CGI yoga animals. I'm... I get where they're going for and I respect them for going all in with the gimmick, but the CGI remix forms give me such a headache. 

Still, with Giff seemingly knocked down, while Aguilera and the rest rescued or arrested, it's a very interesting ending to the first arc of the show. I do wonder where we go on from here -- I feel like a good chunk of this episode is spent on making the villains a bit more distinct from each other, establishing the dynamic between them that made other shows with groups of villains (like Drive or W) so strong. These two episodes do a pretty good job at shaking up the status quo, I must say!

Random Notes

• Always did wonder why they casted a Rider alumni if he's just going to stand around in the background and be wholly unmemorable. 
• It is a nice little handwave that they want to keep the original Wakabayashi actor by having the Chameleon Deadman say that he likes this appearance more than his original one. 
• Really love that the Sabertiger Deadman's design has the eyeball within the jaws of the creature. It's just so weird. 
• The Giff statue is always pretty yonic, but seeing George caress it makes it a bit more obvious. 
• "Wow! GODDAMN!" George gets to speak so much English in episode 15. I love him. 
• The turtle stamp gives Sakura a GODDAMN MISSILE LAUNCHER.