Recap: Kamen Rider Revice, Episode 16 – Wishes I Want to Protect… The Time of the Three Igarashi Siblings!

Aguilera cries in agony over the apparent destruction of her beloved Gifu-sama. George motions for Fenix forces to secure Aguilera and Julio. Hiromi turns to Chameleon Deadman and demands he renounce the Deadmans. Vice mocks him and Olteca and says they should apologize to their bawling boss.

Olteca scoffs and says Aguilera was just a puppet for the cultists to rally around. Julio is incensed, transforms and attacks Olteca, demanding he get on his knees to apologize to her.

Hiromi tries to henshin, but he is too weak.

Chameleon Deadman transforms and grabs Julio who says Aguilera saved him when he was at his lowest and now it is time for him to repay her. Olteca transforms and kicks Julio until he is forced back to his human form. Julio reaches out to Aguilera who breaks free of the hold of two Fenix officers. She says she never asked to be protected.

Aguilera grabs a Stamp off the ground and transforms into the Queen Bee Deadman. She attacks Ikki for what he did to Gifu-sama. Then she targets everyone in the cave, but they are shielded. Olteca and Chameleon Deadman leave.

Julio grabs Aguilera and tries to get her to calm down. She whisks herself and Julio away.

Ikki and Daiji run over to Hiromi who collapses as he feels dizzy. George congratulates Ikki on a job well done destroying the Deadman base and forcing them on the run.

One week later, George is still analyzing the mysterious Deadman stone. Hiromi wonders what could be inside.

At the spa, Ikki and Daiji are having a soak. They think about not being able to separate the demons from Kudou and Amahiko. But Daiji says at least they saved the world.

Ikki says he will handle Phase-3 finishers from now on, but Daiji says he signed up to fight the Deadmans for a reason. Ikki understands, but adds that he’d rather keep Sakura off such finishers at least.

They finish their soak and head out to the lobby where Sakura is asking Mama Igarashi where she’s hidden her Driver. Mama Igarashi says she won’t need it anymore since the Deadmans are defeated and to just leave the rest to Fenix.

Bad timing for Mama, good timing for Sakura as Papa Igarashi pops in with the Driver which he found in his drawer. Sakura snatches the Driver out of her father’s hand, but it aggravates his strained back.

Hiromi comes in and suggests Papa Igarashi go to Fenix Hospital to get it looked at. But right now though, he would like to speak with Mama and Papa Igarashi about their concerns. He understands where they’re coming from as parents. But Ikki, Daiji and Sakura hold very special powers that not just anyone can have. And the world needs them.

The siblings say there is still much work left to be done and asks for their support for a little while longer. Mama and Papa Igarashi put their trust and belief in their children and ask Hiromi to watch over them.

Hiromi thanks them. Though Vice wishes he had the same support too.

On the other side of town, an angry Aguilera responds to Julio asking her to smile by throwing a water bottle at him. He brings her a suitcase with her dress in it and reports that Gifu-sama appears to be safe as well. Aguilera says the fact that they can still turn into humans is proof of that.

Anyway, Aguilera is eager to storm in and save her Gifu-sama and is tired of hiding. Julio tries to calm her down and says they won’t stand a chance if they go now. Aguilera tells him to leave then so she can change.

That evening, Olteca and Chameleon Deadman are on a rooftop. Olteca asks Chameleon Deadman about having taken a liking to Wakabayashi’s face. Chameleon Deadman says he hated himself so much that he wanted to break every mirror he looked into. So he is very happy to say goodbye to his old self.

Chameleon Deadman asks Olteca why he joined the Deadmans. “To make the world mine,” Olteca replies.

Chameleon Deadman is more than happy to help him with that goal. To do so, he suggests he use the same method as the one he used when he infiltrated Fenix.

Up on the ship, George is updating Hiromi and says the stone is nothing but plain rock. However, it appears to give off a faint set of vibrations that can be heard by humans only if amplified 5000x. George plays it for Hiromi and it sounds like a heartbeat.

Next day, the Igarashis are out grocery shopping to prepare for Papa Igarashi coming home from the hospital. They decide to enjoy some meat for dinner.

Mama Igarashi excuses herself to go pick up some toilet paper for home. But Chameleon Deadman pops out of nowhere to drag her into the backroom. He assumes her identity. But before he can kill her, Ikki comes calling. Chameleon Deadman punches Mama Igarashi in the stomach and meets Ikki.

Mama Chameleon pushes Ikki outside and is about to stab him. But he quickly turns around to shield himself with the pack of toilet paper. Turns out they had set a trap for Chameleon Deadman.

Hiromi had suggested Mama and Papa Igarashi be accompanied by Fenix guards to protect them from whatever the Deadmans might be plotting.

Chameleon Deadman laughs with rage as he transforms.

Ikki tells Mama Igarashi to watch her three children as they henshin.

Ikki, Daiji and Sakura state their resolve as they henshin together for the first time*.

Mama Igarashi cheers on her children as they fight off Chameleon Deadman and just arrived Juniors. Vice asks for some encouragement too and Mama Igarashi wishes him well, though a bit less enthusiastically.

Daiji and Sakura take care of the Juniors.

Ikki and Vice try to get Chameleon Deadman to allow them to help. But the Deadman says he can’t turn back into a human anyway. Ikki decides they have no choice then.

Ikki and Vice use Barid Rex to deliver a finisher.

Chameleon Deadman cycles through his two versions of Wakabayashi before finishing with his original human form and then disappearing.

Up on the Fenix ship, Hiromi has been promoted to Commander and orders his troops to find the three remaining Deadmans.

George congratulates him, but Hiromi feels a bit unwell so he tells him to rest.

A doctor comes in, looking for Commander Hiromi. But instead tells George about the strange findings in Papa Igarashi’s x-ray. He has no heart!

Back at the Igarashis, the family is sitting down for some grilled meat dinner. Papa Igarashi says he was able to recover fast thanks to Fenix. And so now it’s time to celebrate and have fun.

Just then, Sakura remembers Hikaru had something to give her so she hurries over to the Ushijima home. She rings the doorbell and Hikaru tells her to come through. But when she walks in to the dark home, there’s no one around. She finds a strange staircase and she walks down.

Episode Thoughts

After last week’s seemingly shades-of-Saber episode of Revice, this week has everything more back on track. I say that only because I still feel like they did a bit of an unnecessary reset with the Deadmans. I think they could have still went along with the idea of Olteca running the show (which I like a lot) and whatever dynamic Aguilera and Julio have (which has lots of potential too) without (literally) blowing up their whole operation at Episode 16.

With the impression that this feels a bit early, it raises expectations for what kind of danger lies ahead. So we’ll have to wait and see about that.

I did like seeing the little insight on the Deadmans’ motivations. We of course saw Aguilera being “the chosen one” in a previous episode. (Though how does this relate to the memory of Aguilera being chosen by those weird Gifu cult nuns?) So getting a peek at Julio and Olteca’s reasons for joining the cause was very nice. I hope the season can go a bit deeper into those backstories. Especially knowing that they were once human before becoming Deadmans. Each getting a full episode to explore those backstories would be awesome.

Not sure what they’re doing about that Sakura-Aguilera kindred spirits angle though. I guess they’re supposed to be empowered women and girl bosses. But I was amused by them going all in on Julio wanting to serve his queen/unrequited love for her. lol

But the main event for this episode, without question, was FINALLY the Igarashi Sibling Henshin! I was definitely annoyed last week how their first actual henshin together was just brushed off as some passing thing. But I very much like how the big moment here fit with the episode’s plot.

Revice will always come back to family. And this episode was another one that really emphasized that. It was great how the worry from Mama Igarashi built up over a few episodes and culminated in this great episode. Both her and Papa Igarashi worrying about their children, Hiromi coming to speak with them and then proceeding with the plan to trap the Chameleon Deadman; it was all a perfect lead-up to Ikki, Daiji and Sakura henshining side-by-side for the first time. (Complete with awesome new insert song too!)

It definitely helped make that moment be more impactful and emotional. And Mama Igarashi being the proud mama she is was a fun follow-up to that epic moment. I will always love any story centered around the Igarashis. And I definitely loved that scene they had with Hiromi.

So far this season, I’ve been able to avoid spoilers on the Twitters. But not this week! I was unfortunately spoiled about this being Kazuya Tanabe’s last episode. And I was pretty sad about it before watching the episode. I would’ve loved to have seen more of Chameleon Deadman hamming it up every week. Especially now as Olteca’s potential right-hand man. Kazuya Tanabe was so good.

But sadly, that wouldn’t be the case. But Chameleon Deadman’s true identity and the idea that he wanted to escape his former life is another insight into what could motivate people to sign those contracts and take those Stamps. That will be something to remember moving forward as well.

Happy to see Hiromi promoted to Commander. But those COVID-like symptoms don’t look too good! What’s up with that? Neither does George’s continued suspiciousness either. lol

And finally, the two “twists” of the episode. Papa Igarashi has no heart?! What in the world?! And the mysterious Ushijimas? Lots to ponder until the next episode in two weeks!

Overall, a MUCH MUCH better episode than last week. The highlight of course being the Sibling Henshin. Wonderful!

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