A Betrayal's Depths, How a True Buddy Accepts.
- Original Airdate: January 9, 2022
Written by: Hanta Kinoshita
Directed by: Teruaki Sugihara
Summary
It's been a while since the Deadmans have disbanded. However, the current whereabouts of Aguilera, Olteca, and Julio, their top executives, is unknown as the search for them continues! Meanwhile, Ikki comes to see George Karizaki in his lab. Haitani, Kudo, and the man who pretended to be Wakabayashi... None of them were able to separate themselves from their demons, so Karizaki attempts to find another way to free humans from the contracts of Phase 3 Deadman! George says it's time to master the Volcano Rex Genome, an evolved version of the Barid Rex Genome from before! To master this new form, Ikki and Vice start to train themselves in a virtual simulation designed by George!
Meanwhile, a client returns to Happy Spa after a long time away! The man, who calls himself Yosuke Okuda, wants to help his former best friend, Gō Tamaki. According to him, Tamaki is not a bad person; he's simply been led astray! And just then, the TV monitor before his very eyes shows Julio now on the run...!
Tropes
- Big Damn Heroes: Ikki arrives in the nick of time with the Volcano Vistamp when the other Riders were overwhelmed by Olteca and the Gifftarian.
- Cliffhanger: The episode ends with Revi Volcano Rex Genome charging at an untransformed Olteca after the former learns that destroying a Gifftarian doesn't leave a person behind.
- Demon Popsicle: How Vice suffers the effects of Volcano Vistamp's backlash. It's Harmless Freezing while in the virtual reality training room, though.
- Human Sacrifice: Unlike their predecessor Deadmen, the Gifftarians instead are born from a person being sacrificed to the Giff Stamp, as the episode shows in graphic detail.
- Lampshade Hanging: Sakura asks Yukimi whether it's normal for people to have a really long stairwell into the basement without mentioning that it was the reason why she bailed out during her visit of the Ushijimas at the end of #16. That and the kryptonite green glow, of course.
- Man on Fire: How Ikki suffers the effects of Volcano Vistamp's backlash while in the virtual reality training room.
- That Man Is Dead: Julio claims to not know his former best friend Yosuke when Sakura informs him of the former's attempts to reach out to him.
- Meaningful Look: George and Fenix' director share a conspiratorial look, presumably to indicate they're in cahoots with each others for reasons unknown.
- Moving The Goal Posts: Ikki looked up to the Volcano Vistamp as a chance to solve the Deadman crisis without any more deaths as it can be used to defeat Level 3 Deadman without killing them. Olteca renders it a moot point at the same time by introducing Gifftarians, who are beyond saving.
- My Greatest Failure: How Yosuke views his peer pressure motivated betrayal of Tamaki/Julio, even more so after finding out that it might have led his former friend into a cult and becoming a terrorist.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Ikki goes off the deep end after finding out the true fate of Gifftarians and getting mocked by Olteca for believing he can save them.
- The Unreveal: We don't get to see what was glowing in the Ushijimas' basement, as Sakura chooses to leave rather than continue investigating.
- Villain Takes an Interest: Olteca obviously has something in store for Hiromi in connection with Demons Driver, which he tried to go for in the chaos of battle, but was interrupted by the other Riders coming in.
- Virtual Training Simulation: George subjects Ikki and Vice to one, facing off against a virtual copy of Revi, to determine if they could handle the power of the Volcano Vistamp.
