Kamen Rider Revice Original Spin-Off Drama – Dear Gaga, Page 1
While Ikki agonizes over which sauce to pour over his eggs this morning, Vice suddenly reminds him of Hiromi. Vice says he hopes Hiromi is watching them from above. But Ikki insists Hiromi is still alive. And sure enough, Daiji comes running to say Hiromi has been found.
We see Hiromi walking along a country road to his home in Miyagi Prefecture. When he walks inside, his mother excitedly welcomes him home and asks if he’s here on break. Hiromi nods his head yes.
Hiromi pays his respects to his father who was a police officer when he was alive. Mama Kadota comes in with Hiromi’s favorite yakisoba that he’s been craving.
She says she’ll make him some chirashizushi tomorrow. Hiromi thought that was only for special occasions, but his mother says her son being home is a special occasion. She knows he’ll have a lot of work to return to, so she hopes he can have a good rest while he’s here.
That evening, Hiromi soaks in the bath. His mother offers to scrub his back, but he shyly says No. She jokes that he doesn’t have to be so shy and leaves him a fresh set of clothes.
Later that night while already tucked in for the night, a dog begins barking in the distance. Mama Kadota recalls him being chased by a dog when he was ten years old until he fell in the fields and cried.
Hiromi remembers what actually happened. A group of bullies had chased him and pushed him into the mud. But he doesn’t tell his mother that. Mama Kadota says his father must be proudly looking down at his son having gone from being a crybaby to now a commander.
But Hiromi says he will not be returning to Fenix. He tells her about his fall from the cliff and losing all his memories of his time in the organization. Though shocked, Mama Kadota says what’s important is that he is alive. And she is sure that he will regain his memories soon. Hiromi apologizes.
Next morning, Hiromi is sitting quietly outside when his mother brings in a package that Fenix had delivered to her. Hiromi says it’s okay to open and she finds it’s all of his belongings from Fenix, including his uniform. He says she can throw it away.
Mama Kadota says she couldn’t possibly do that. But Hiromi yells at her to just get rid of it. Mama Kadota is taken aback and Hiromi apologizes. Hiromi gets up, saying he will never wear that uniform again.
Yuki, their young neighbor, approaches them and asks Hiromi how he can become a Kamen Rider too. Hiromi says he is not a Kamen Rider any longer.
He leaves for a walk and runs into neighbor Grandpa Yasu who asks what he’s doing here since he should be out saving the world. Hiromi says he’s quit and Grandpa Yasu then asks if he could help with the thief that has been stealing his strawberries at night. Grandpa Yasu says he tried chasing them, but ended up hurting his back.
Hiromi tells Grandpa Yasu not to push himself too much. But Grandpa Yasu reminds Hiromi of his own words: “A hero is someone who pursues justice and goes beyond their limits!”
Back home, the Igarashi bros have arrived and Mama Kadota offers them some tea. She thanks them for looking after her son. But Ikki and Daiji says it is they who are thankful for Hiromi.
They ask how Hiromi is and before Mama Kadota can tell them, Hiromi arrives home. Ikki, Daiji and Vice are excited to see him. But Hiromi explains that he does not know them, nor does he remember anything from his time at Fenix.
Ikki and Daiji ask Hiromi to return to Fenix as they need him. But Hiromi apologizes and says he will be of no use to them in his present state. He excuses himself.
Listening from the kitchen, Mama Kadota is sad to hear her son speak this way. But she suddenly feels a pain in her stomach.
Hiromi watches as Ikki and Daiji leave.
That evening, the village chief is making her rounds, especially with the strawberry thief still on the loose. She also drops off some profiles of eligible bachelorettes for Hiromi. Mama Kadota says the chief is just being a busybody. Hiromi laughs to himself as he remembers Ikki.
Mama Kadota is surprised when Hiromi says he’ll look at the profiles and is fine with an arranged marriage.
That night, Hiromi gets up and decides to head to Grandpa Yasu’s strawberry fields to look around and perhaps find anything that can help catch the thief. He suddenly sees a figure outside of the greenhouse and yells at the person who starts to run away. But he is surprised to see it is Yuki from this morning.
When Hiromi arrives home, Commander Wakabayashi appears to him and asks why he continues to pretend to have amnesia. Hiromi says he does not want to worry his mother any longer.
Commander Wakabayashi says Mama Kadota is a wonderful mother. However, he knows she is not the only reason. He tells Hiromi not to give in to his fear and adds that deciding to run is a perfectly valid option in life.
“You’ve done well,” Commander Wakabayashi says before he disappears.
Next morning, Mama Kadota comes back into the house after hanging some laundry outside. She falls to her knees as she again feels pain in her stomach. But she notices Hiromi’s dirty shoes.
Mama Kadota asks Hiromi if he went to the strawberry fields last night. He denies it, but she says even though Hiromi has lost his memory, he has not lost his sense of justice.
She wonders if Hiromi is looking through the matchmaking profiles because he had his heart broken at work. Though she wants to have a grandchild, she says there is no need for him to rush. Mama Kadota walks outside to clean Hiromi’s shoes.
Hiromi flashes back to his time with Fenix and as a Kamen Rider. Commander Wakabayashi again appears to him, reiterating that Hiromi can always overcome any fall or failure.
Hiromi decides to come clean to his mother about his memories. But he finds her collapsed and unconscious at the front door.
Episode Thoughts
I absolutely loved this so much. How wonderful were these 15 minutes. (No, not Mama Kadota collapsing of course.)
Let me say once again, I am quite happy that we’re getting Kamen Rider Vail and now Dear Gaga to kind of balance out the meh-ness of the series lately. Though it does suck that Dear Gaga specifically is a Blu-ray miniseries with only two short episodes and four months between the release of both parts.
I still maintain that the events of all these TTFC and Blu-ray miniseries should’ve been integrated into the TV series instead. (The Mystery included.) I’m starting to think the reason the show has lagged in recent weeks is that they’ve shuffled most of the potential story towards all this streaming and Blu-ray exclusive content. And now they’re left with either the scraps or worse, nothing at all and just coming up with things on the go.
I’ll also be clear that Revice is still miles better than Saber on its best day. But that doesn’t mean I can’t be disappointed at the season’s direction recently, especially after their very, very strong start.
Anyway, let’s just focus on this wonderful first part of Dear Gaga. All !fifteen! minutes of it.
I really would’ve loved to have seen more. Perhaps a full-length movie, but definitely a full-length arc in-series. I really loved seeing Hiromi and his mother and learning more about both his past and present life. This feels like such an important story to tell for his character. Especially if they’ll be easing him back into the series.
First of all, I love the rural setting. One reason I loved the Kamen Rider Kikai arc on Zi-O and wish we had gotten some extra content from it was its setting in the Japanese countryside away from the big city.
There is this great feeling of nostalgia and warmth. And especially when the setting is used to tell the story of a great character (and his great mother), then that’s a winning combination. Nostalgia done well with characters that are well-developed and ones that you actually care about is always awesome to have. (Unlike Saber shoving that Luna nonsense down our throats all year.)
(So, setting aside the fact that a perfectly fine Hiromi apparently just stood up and walked away from falling off a cliff, got fresh clothes and even a shower before he made the long journey home…)
There was an immediate connection to Hiromi arriving home and reuniting with his mother. And the way they were able to peel back the layers of both Hiromi’s past as well as his thinking in the present with relation to pretending to have amnesia was done perfectly.
It very much feels like a continuation of his struggles toward the end of his time as Demons in-series. That conflicted feeling of knowing the Driver was eating away at his life, but also his sense of responsibility and justice. Learning a little bit about his childhood being bullied and also wanting to repay his mother for her love and care definitely adds so much to an already well-written and deep character. Add to that his father having been a police officer as well. You can really see now where his personality and principles have grown from.
So Hiromi’s insecurities and defeated spirit is something that fits very well with what we’ve seen from him in-series. And it’s actually quite a common theme on Kamen Rider and Sentai, of course. Needing to reinforce our heroes’ resolve is always an opportunity for great story and great episodes. That’s why these mere 15 minutes were already successful in being that for Hiromi.
I was certainly dreading something happening to Mama Kadota. And I hope she will be fine in the second part of this series. But what I saw with her and Hiromi is what I expected more of from the Igarashis. Especially after the big revelation about Papa Igarashi’s past.
Ikki, Daiji and Vice popping in and out like this kind of reminded me of how the show has kind of wasted the momentum they had with the Igarashis’ story. And even with the siblings’ story, how they were kinda sort affected by Hiromi’s death/disappearance, but not so much that they cared to actually try and look for him.
But anyway, Hiromi is apparently perfectly fine physically. But he’s got some mental and emotional wounds he needs to let heal. And I believe his mother will be a huge part in helping to make that happen. Such a potentially powerful story to tell in-series, but instead dumped on the Blu-ray discs.
Much kudos to Junya Komatsu and Rumi Sakakibara for warming our hearts and getting us ready to cry in such a short amount of time. And always great to see Kazuya Tanabe back at Commander Wakabayashi as well.
I absolutely loved this. August can’t come soon enough for part 2.
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6 thoughts on “Recap: Kamen Rider Revice – Dear Gaga, Page 1”
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Yeah! This was really sweet and interesting. I enjoyed it a lot more too.
I definitely want more!
This was really nice. I’d love for it to be a full miniseries too. Not just two short Blu-ray extras.
I don’t understand their strategy this season.
If the Revice TV series was as good as this, the season would be top-tier
Yes!