The Man in Command...is a Deadman!?
- Original Airdate: December 12, 2021
Written by: Hanta Kinoshita
Directed by: Kazuya Kamihoriuchi
Summary
Could the identity of the traitor within Fenix, the one who led the Deadman's invasion of the Skybase, and the Chameleon Deadman truly be... Commander Wakabayashi?! Daiji and Hiromi find this hard to believe, but George calmly decides to set a trap for the Chameleon Deadman who is aiming for the Giff Stamp in the lab, to confirm his identity! Meanwhile, the Deadmans are currently undergoing preparations for Aguilera and Lord Giff's wedding, with the bride anxiously anticipating that the ceremony's sacrifices will be able to resurrect her groom. Furthermore, Kudo, a former lawyer who was released until the wedding ritual was ready, decides to head directly towards Happy Spa to confront Ikki! At the same time, Haitani heads towards the high school that Sakura is attending...!
Tropes
- And Your Little Dog, Too!: Haitani threatens Sakura with turning her classmates into Phase 2 Deadman.
- The Bad Guys Win: The Deadmans manage to retrieve the Giff Stamp from Fenix's base, and Haitani, Kudo, and the Chameleon Deadman all successfully become Gifftexes as well.
- Batman Gambit: George sets up a sting operation to entrap the traitor within Fenix, using the Giff Stamp as bait.
- Broken Pedestal: Both Daiji and Hiromi had deep respect towards Wakabayashi, but when he reveals his true identity as the Chameleon Deadman to them, they're deeply shaken and shattered, to the point they both start to attack him as soon as he reveals his true colors.
- Bullying a Dragon: Haitani thought that enacting his revenge on Sakura will be easy. She eventually loses her patience with his smug face and punches him. A lot.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Sakura has no mercy for Haitani, who turns out to be unable to even throw a punch of his own despite all the big talk.
- Curb Stomp Cushion: Kudo was able to put up a good fight against Ikki and Vice for a good while. Once Ikki gets his bearings together, Kudo is throughly crushed.
- Despair Event Horizon: The Reveal about Wakabayashi reduces Hiromi into a screaming, sobbing mess.
- Double-Meaning Title: The episode title refers to the Chameleon Deadman, who has taken on the identity of Yujiro Wakabayashi, a dead man.
- Foreshadowing: Sakura passes Kudo on the street while rushing to school.
- Hit Me, Dammit!: Ikki asks Vice to hit him and Vice obliges by conking him on the head with the hammer. While that's not exactly what he had in mind, he still thanks Vice for snapping him back to reality.
- I Can Explain: Wakabayashi claims to have an explanation for why he betrayed the organization, but doesn't get past the trope name verbatim before Hiromi starts screaming.
- Irony: Kudo/the Sabertiger Deadman is defeated by Barid Rex, a form based on the Ice Age.
- It's All About Me: How Kudo twists Ikki's Chronic Hero Syndrome to question his motivation and demoralise him. Vice doesn't even initially realize that Ikki fell for that, because to him Kudo was obviously talking out of his behind.
- Locked Out of the Loop: Aguilera and Julio are taken aback by the reveal that the former would be the sixth Gifftex sacrifice, rather than Giff's bride.
- The Mole: The Chameleon Deadman's identity is none other than Wakabayashi, or rather, an imposter who killed the real Wakabayashi and took over his identity in order to spy on and report Fenix's activities to the Deadmans.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Played for Laughs with Sakura finding out that she as Jeanne is actually trending on social media.
- Aguilera's reaction to finding out she's the final sacrifice.
- Out-Gambitted: George's plan to trap the traitor is all for naught as the Chameleon Deadman takes Hiromi hostage, and George is forced to give up the Giff Stamp in exchange for Hiromi's life. In addition, Haitani and Kudo's attacks are all a distraction cooked up by the Deadmans to determine if they would be worthy to become Gifftexes.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Ikki's No Sympathy tendencies get called out once again, this time by Kudo.Kudo: Empathy isn't your strong suit, is it...? You just stick your nose in to help people because it satisfies you, while ignoring the trail of losers and victims you leave behind! Haven't you realized? You're just Japan's biggest egoist!
- The Reveal:
- The Yujiro Wakabayashi we've seen all this time turned out to be the Chameleon Deadman, with the real one implied to be Dead All Along.
- Aguilera herself is revealed to be the sixth sacrifice/Gifftex required to revive Giff.
- Skewed Priorities: Played twice in this instance.
- Ikki's first reaction to seeing Kudo in Happy Spa is to instantly fly into a rage... over him not taking his shoes off in the spa room.
- When Haitani prepares to sic the Planarian Deadman on Sakura, Julio suddenly appears out of nowhere and proceeds to forcefully transform Haitani into Phase 2. He didn't take it well... because his face now became ugly.
- Soundtrack Dissonance: Soft piano music plays on a gramophone whilst the three new Gifftex are born and Olteca reveals that Aguilera is the sixth sacrifice.
- Spotting the Thread: George reveals he had been suspicious of Wakabayashi all along due to the fact that he somehow recovered the Mammoth Vistamp shortly after the Mammoth Deadman's appearance. This got deeper when the Chameleon Deadman came after the Barid Rex Vistamp the previous episode, whose existence was only known between him and Wakabayashi prior to it.
- Strike Me Down with All of Your Hatred!: Wakabayashi invites Hiromi to shoot him if he doesn't trust him anymore. Hiromi can't bring himself to do that.
- Tempting Fate: Vice probably jinxed it when he talked about how peaceful the morning is in the beginning of the episode.
- Three Lines, No Waiting: This episode has around three plots occurring all at once, each revolving around the different character factions.
- Daiji, Hiromi, and George find out that "Wakabayashi" is actually the Chameleon Deadman all this time, assigned to spy and report on Fenix's activities. Hiromi is then taken hostage, forcing George to surrender the Giff Stamp, while Daiji and Hiromi ruminate on what just happened.
- Ikki and Sakura have to respectively deal with Kudo and Haitani in their Phase 2 forms, defeating them after getting through their personal conflicts (Ikki's rumination on Kudo's speech, Sakura being unable to transform in front of her friends). Before they can fully finish the job, Olteca and Julio take them both back for Aguilera's wedding.
- Aguilera is preparing for her "wedding" to Giff, looking forward to what the Gifftex are going to deliver. Unfortunately, she and Julio find out that she is the sixth sacrifice for Giff's revival, something that she is completely taken aback by.
- The Unmasking: Unable to shake off her classmates who keep following her every time she tries to find a location to transform secretly, Sakura Igarashi reveals herself to be Kamen Rider Jeanne towards them.
- The Un-Reveal: The Chameleon Deadman's true human face remains unknown, due to him taking a liking to the late Wakabayashi's form and hating his former self.
- Wham Episode: Not only is the Chameleon Deadman's true identity is Commander Wakabayashi — or rather, an imposter who killed the real one and took his place, he, along with Kudo and Haitani, are transformed into Gifftex during the ceremony, where Olteca reveals that Aguilera is the final sacrifice needed to revive Giff.
- You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Vice alleviates Ikki's worries over Kudo's accusations by telling him that he is fine the way he is, and that a little egoism every now and then doesn't hurt.
