Recap / Kamen Rider Geats Ep 4 Encounter III Conditions For Victory

Encounter III: Conditions for Victory

Original Airdate: September 25, 2022
Written by: Yuya Takahashi
Directed by: Teruaki Sugihara

Summary

Ready! Steady! Yo! Let's Go!!

Keiwa: Round 2 of the Desire Grand Prix, known as "Zombie Survival Game".
The objective is to defeat all the zombies and survive, while the player with the lowest score will be eliminated.
And if you get infected by a zombie, you will slowly turn into one of them.
If you're watching this, Sis... then I fear the worst has already happened to me.

Having been infected by the zombie virus during the second wave, Neon fears that she may not live past the third. In despair she returns home, only to find that her mother has deleted all of her videos, irrevocably damaging her influencer career.

While Keiwa tries to console her, Ace on the other hand makes light of her fate, seeing her as a prospective target for points. Ace's flippant attitude cause Neon to spiral further into despair; to make matters worse, her body begins to break down from the virus.

As the third wave commences, Ace, Keiwa, Michinaga, and Morio all transform and head into battle to confront the Zombie Jyamato. However, something unexpected occurs...

Tropes

• Bait-and-Switch: Earlier in the episode, Ace remarks that Neon — as a zombie — would be worth a lot of points if defeated. Later on, as Neon's body deteriorates further, Ace activates his Zombie Strike with the apparent intention to make good on that remark, only for him to target the zombies surrounding her instead.
• Calling the Old Man Out: When Neon returns to her home at the end of the episode, she not only catches her mother's slap, but she also declares that she will leave home one way or another.
• "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: Ace points out that if Kanato actually played the game as normal, there would be no reason to end up in last place or become a Doomed Defeatist in the process.
• Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: Kanato's standings reveal that he only lost by less than two thousand points, meaning that his attack on Morio resulted directly in his elimination. Kanato already believed he was going to lose previously, making this a case of Self-Fulfilling Prophecy.
• Didn't Think This Through: While getting bitten meant he'd be immune to being targetted by the Zombie Jyamato in later waves, which makes it easier for him to torment Neon, Kanato's mixed status as a Kamen Rider-zombie meant that while he still gets penalized for attacking fellow Kamen Riders, they don't get penalized for attacking him. Moreover, losing his mind to The Virus ends up instilling an increased impulse to attack the Kamen Riders, ultimately building to his elimination as the last place in the round's final results.
• Doomed Defeatist: Kanato realizes he would never win and tries to drag his competition down with him. This behavior prevents him from earning points, putting him in last place.
• Engineered Heroics: Downplayed. Morio lets a few Zombie Jyamato spot a couple of construction workers so that he could claim the credit for rescuing them.
• Heroic Second Wind: With some encouragement and assistance from both Ace and Keiwa, Neon toughs out The Virus and defeats the remaining Zombie Jyamato, reverting everyone's zombification as well as avoiding her own elimination.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Morio endangering some construction workers just to earn points puts him in the prime position to get attacked by Kanato, which, in turn, docked the two thousand points that ended up putting him dead last.
• Laughing Mad: Kanato laughs as he fades away after leaving the Desire Grand Prix.
• Once More, with Clarity: After Kanato attacks Morio, we're given a flashback showing his meeting with Michinaga from the previous episode, now revealing that Kanato had revealed his infected wound to him, and that they'd struck a deal where Michinaga would help Kanato kill Neon and the other participants in exchange for being able to acquire the Magnum Buckle.
• Pistol-Whipping: Despite acquiring the Magnum Buckle from Kanato as part of their deal, Michinaga decides to use the Magnum Shooter 40X partly as a club rather than as its intended use as a gun.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Ace delivers one to Kanato by admonishing his behavior and stating that a key factor to winning the DGP is having a Heroic Spirit.
• Red Herring: Neon's previously-revealed wish of "A world where [she] meets her fated lover" is revealed to be partially false — her actual wish was "To experience true love."
• Rule of Symbolism: The room in which Neon meets her mother is one decorated with dolls, and during their argument Neon calls out her mother for treating her like a doll.
• Trauma Conga Line: Not only does Neon get infected, she finds that all of her videos have been deleted by her mother, and said mother has placed trackers on her belongings.
• Troubled Backstory Flashback: Midway through Neon's confrontation with her mother, we're given a brief flashback showing Neon as a little girl tied up, and a man calling her parents demanding 300 million yen in ransom, explaining why her mother is so incredibly controlling and abusive towards her.
• Villain Ball: Kanato deciding to take down the Riders rather than defeat the zombies means that he ends up in last place and is thus retired from the game as a result. In fact, attacking Morio gave him the -2000 points needed to put him in last place in the first place.
• What You Are in the Dark: Neon and Kanato respond to being zombified in different ways. Neon ultimately decides to tough it out after encouragement and assistance from Ace and Keiwa, while Kanato decides to double down on his self-destructive behavior which ends up losing him points and thus ends up in last place.

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Mission 2 — Zombie Survival
GAME RESULT
Winners:

Ace Ukiyo/Geats (180,600 points)
Michinaga Azuma/Buffa (136,800 points)
Keiwa Sakurai/Tycoon (92,200 points)
Morio Koganeya/Mary (85,400 points)
Neon Kurama/Na-Go (58,400 points)

Retired:

Kanato Sumida/Da·Paan (56,600 points)

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DGP Rule #4

Participants who drop out from the game will have their qualifications as Kamen Riders revoked.