Recap: Kamen Rider Revice, Episode 8 – Family Rest, Heaven and Hell!?

The Igarashis have arrived at Minakami Onsen for a weekend getaway celebrating Mama Igarashi’s discharge from the hospital. They are surprised to see the Ushijima Family is also here for a getaway trip. Papa Ushijima says it’s great to see Mama Igarashi is doing well.

A hostess comes to take the Ushijimas to their room, but the woman is actually Aguilera in disguise. Vice tells Ikki that the woman looks familiar, but Ikki tells him to just stay put.

Just then, Julio (who Sakura knows as Tamaki) pops up as a porter to take their bags. He tells Sakura that he’s just here for part-time work. Papa and Mama Igarashi think Tamaki might be Sakura’s boyfriend, but she denies it and says it’s nothing like that.

A concierge brings Ikki and Papa Igarashi to the front desk to check-in. Then she approaches Olteca with a “Gracias Deadmans.” Kagerou notices the familiar faces lurking about.

After settling in, the Igarashi men get naked and head to the hot springs where they are surprised to see George (who tastes the “delicious” water) and Hiromi already soaking. George says they’re here to relax. Kagerou smirks.

While soaking, George approaches Papa Igarashi and asks to have a drink together later. George says he would love to find out how he was able to raise two wonderful sons like Ikki and Daiji.

The Deadmans meet in secret and say they are excited to see Kagerou’s moves against the Igarashis.

The Igarashis head to their room after their soak. Papa Igarashi whisks Mama Igarashi out of the room so the siblings can plan tomorrow’s surprise for her in secret. What they don’t know is the Ushijimas have wiretapped their room and are listening in.

Papa Ushijima says it’s time and tells his wife and son to get changed into their yutakas.

Meanwhile, Hiromi is eager to take Daiji down. But George tells him to calm himself and says Papa Igarashi’s continued streaming and posting on YouTube is a more intriguing matter at the moment.

That evening, everyone heads to dinner. George, Hiromi and the Ushijimas all keep an eye on the Igarashis.

Aguilera serves drinks for the family’s celebration, but has poisoned Ikki’s glass. Vice warns Ikki of something fishy going on. But Ikki doesn’t care.

They raise their glasses for a toast, but Kagerou knocks Ikki over and he spills his drink before being able to take a sip. Kagerou excuses himself and Hiromi follows.

In the backroom, the Deadmans are meeting again. Olteca warns Aguilera of their deal with Kagerou. Aguilera poisoned Ikki’s drink, but Kagerou made it clear that the Deadmans will not lay a finger on Ikki as he is his prey. Kagerou is intent on getting rid of Ikki in as cruel a way as possible.

A henshined Kagerou appears and grabs Aguilera by the throat before hurling her at Julio and Olteca, reminding them of his intentions. Kagerou would like to drop the Igarashis into hell when they are at their happiest.

As the Deadmans run away, a henshined Hiromi appears. But Kagerou easily slips away too.

While Papa Igarashi, Sakura and Daiji are sleeping already, Ikki and Mama Igarashi have a chat. She asks how saving the world is going and he says it’s okay even if it’s a lot of work.

Mama Igarashi asks if Ikki is happy, but he says that can wait. He’s fine as long as his loved ones are all smiling. Mama Igarashi says his happiness should come first. To ensure other people’s happiness, Ikki must first be the happiest of them all.

Daijerou listens as Mama Igarashi says Ikki is the most like their father in the way they neglect themselves. She says she had always wanted to take care of him and that’s how she fell in love.

Later in the night, Kagerou slips away to the bathroom where he is able to speak with Daiji. Daiji demands Kagerou return his body, but Kagerou just laughs at him and tells him to enjoy the show tomorrow.

Back in the suite, Vice sneaks out of Ikki’s body and makes his way to George’s room where he is able to talk to him through a new device. Vice says he’s a little on edge, but Ikki won’t talk to him. George says Vice is very perceptive for a demon, but that Vice will just have to step in if Ikki ever needs the help.

Next morning, the Igarashis surprise Mama Igarashi with a special celebration by the pool. The Deadmans, still dressed as onsen workers, help with the flowers and banner.

Seeing the family at their happiest, Kagerou believes this is the perfect time. He grabs Ikki and punches him.

The Deadmans reveal themselves as Kagerou walks over to Ikki on the ground and kicks him in the face.

The Igarashis watch in horror as “Daiji” henshins to Kamen Rider Evil.

The Ushijimas watch from their room above, also surprised by the shocking turn of events.

Kagerou steps on Ikki’s chest and Papa Igarashi runs over to try and hold back the young man he thinks is his son. Kagerou whacks Papa Igarashi into the pool.

Sakura runs over to help her father as Mama Igarashi begs Daiji to stop this.

George and Hiromi arrive on the scene. Hiromi henshins. Julio and George also transform to keep Hiromi busy and away from the main event. Hiromi is later able to drive Julio and Olteca away using his Batta Vistamp.

With Papa Igarashi safely out of the pool, Sakura turns her attention to Aguilera. Sakura tries to take her on, but Aguilera punches her once and she falls to the ground. Aguilera says they will have to play together next time.

Papa Ushijima nods at the developments.

Kagerou picks up Ikki by the collar and says a public execution in front of his family would be lovely. Kagerou hurls Ikki into monobloc tables and chairs. Vice convinces Ikki to henshin and together they battle Kagerou.

Ikki, Vice and Kagerou take their fight to the river. George tosses Vice the new Osutoderuhammer50 and directs them on the different ways they can use it.

Ikki asks Daiji what’s going on. But Kagerou says Daiji can’t come to the phone right now and introduces himself as the demon inside.

Ikki demands Kagerou return his brother to them. Ikki uses the Jackal Stamp and Kagerou uses the Kong Stamp for their respective power-ups. But the canceled-out attacks force the Vistamps out of their Drivers. Now, Ikki uses the Kong Vistamp and Kagerou uses the Jackal Vistamp to uphenshin.

George is excited to see this unexpected development.

Ikki and Vice are able to force Kagerou to downhenshin to his base form.

Ikki and Vice combine into their Kong form and their attacks are enough to make Kagerou retreat for now. Kagerou says he looks forward to their next throw down.

Ikki returns to his parents and sister who are still reeling from what’s just happened. Ikki falls to his knees as Mama Igarashi asks him to save Daiji for their family.

Episode Thoughts

What in the world is going on? Lol

So before we get to the Igarashi Family drama, we were presented with two new questions this week. First, who are the Ushijimas and why are they wiretapping people? I thought they were just a nice family from the neighborhood who enjoy baths. Coupled with Bu-san, we might have some secret agents living undercover in the area. Or the opposite, some nefarious criminals. Lol That was definitely unexpected, but if they actually do get some story other than being recurring bathhouse customers, then I welcome it!

Second, George specifically pointed out Papa Igarashi’s YouTube videos as something to be looked into. What’s Papa-san hiding, if anything? And why would George be interested in it? Plus, are Kari-chan and Vice communicating with each other without Ikki knowing?

Interesting questions we can set aside for the future. But of course, the main event was the big reveal of Daiji… actually Kagerou being the dark Kamen Rider Evil to the Igarashis.

Though I would’ve liked to have seen them drag it out a bit, I’m intrigued in seeing where they go with the story. Do we see Daijerou be some sort of fugitive for a few episodes. Or will Daiji and Kagerou get separated sooner rather than later? I also hope to see them maximizing the family drama.

The setting was definitely perfect for such a reveal even if I still feel it was a bit early. The set-up reminded me of some good ol’ soap opera big events where they gather all the characters in one place for a bombshell to get dropped.

Kagerou’s plan to make Ikki (and the family) suffer when they are at their happiest is definitely a good idea (from a story perspective of course lol). Though I certainly wished we got a bit more shock and horror from the family at that moment. I feel like it was a bit rushed in this episode, aside from being rushed in the grander scheme of things. Though the preview teased a bit more fallout for next week.

I did like seeing each member of the family having that one moment in the spotlight to kind of illustrate their feelings after the reveal. First, Papa Igarashi trying to hold back Daijerou and then getting hurled into the pool. Even if they did play it off with a bit of slapstick. Then Sakura taking on Aguilera which seems to have set up a rivalry between the two which I hope the show will pursue in a big way. And finally Mama Igarashi begging Ikki to save Daiji. Which of course came after her telling Ikki to think about himself more rather than their family.

Family is the #1 theme of this season, or at least Ikki’s character. So they will definitely need to continue and build that aspect of the story up well. There’s so much great potential, they have an opportunity for big moments. And I think they kind of missed one of those opportunities this episode.

One of the nice moments they did have was Ikki and Mama Igarashi’s late-night talk. Those are great character moments that help to make scenes like the big reveal have more impact.

Moving forward, other than Kagerou rampaging, they will still need to address Daiji’s feelings and why they may have awakened Kagerou to a point that he has become quite threatening even to the Deadmans.

Kagerou had no qualms about grabbing Aguilera by the throat. And the Deadmans backed off very easily at that moment. Aguilera says she doesn’t like being bossed around, yet she allowed just that with Kagerou. It’s very interesting to see. And because of that, Kagerou will have to become some kind of major character on his own rather than a quick first arc plotline. Otherwise, what will be the point?

A bit of a sidenote, is Olteca actually supposed to be “Ortega” considering Aguilera and Julio’s names? But then the official Kamen Rider Instagram posted a pic with the character name spelled “Orteca,” so who knows. lol

Anyway, just looking back at the episode as a whole, it really did feel rushed. I think it could’ve benefited from slowing things down a bit. The episode didn’t give everything room to breathe and they certainly had enough material for at least two episodes.

Still, it was an exciting episode with a lot of developments, new questions being posed and nice action.

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