#Natsuki Hana

[t-u-i-t-c]

Toku Pride Month Challenge│Ships

Hana Natsuki & Sakura Igarashi

[zakurincho]

W E E K E N D

[emotionallychargedtowel]

That post about Higuchi Kouhei and his cat got me thinking about some other tokusatsu-to-BL pipeline actors that are on current or recent BLs, so I thought I'd do a screenshot post about Kamen Rider Revice, a recent toku series that features two lead actors who star in current BLs, plus an actor in a smaller role who was part of a side couple in a BL series that recently completed a second season.

The main character of Revice is Igarashi Ikki, played by Maeda Kentaro, currently playing Ohara Yamato in I Can't Reach You. His siblings are very central to the story as well--by the end of the series, the story is centered around his whole family. Ikki's younger brother Daiji is played by Hyuga Wataru, currently playing Yamasuge Ryuiji in If It's With You.

Here they are having a bath in the opening credits for the show (the Igarashi family runs a public bath house).

I should say at the outset that I can't entirely recommend Revice, especially to folks who don't already have some tokusatsu-watching under their belts. It's a hot mess in a lot of ways. But it does have some really outstanding highlights. The best aspects of the series, in my book, were:

Kagerou (Daiji's demonic alter ego),

George Karizaki (my beloved),

Igarashi Sakura/Kamen Rider Jeanne (the most formidable female Rider I've seen in any series in the franchise), and

the relationship between Sakura and Natsuki Hana (a rare example of a convincing Sapphic ship in a franchise well known for "heated drama between men").

I'm not going to get into 2 and 3 here, as tempting as that would be, but I'll include as much of 4 as time/space permits.

It might seem weird that I'm not recommending a series with some of my favorite characters in the entire Kamen Rider franchise AND a relationship between girls that is a hair's breadth from being canonically queer. It's just too much of a trainwreck to endorse as a whole. But as I said, the highlights are really something.

One of the biggest issues I had with Revice was that Ikki, the protagonist, just isn't a very compelling character. As a result I don't think Maeda Kentaro really got to show the range of his acting abilities in this series. (This just makes me more curious to see him in ICRY. From the excerpts I've seen so far, it seems like he shows a really different side of himself.)

Maeda appreciators might still enjoy the many determined faces and creepy smiles he gets to dish out in this series. Here's a sampling.

It's possible they'll want to look away when he starts doing things like this, though.

Fans of both Maeda and Hyuga might enjoy some of their scenes fighting side by side, including doing their various henshin poses (the moves they do before they transform into their masked Rider forms).

Or when they do things like this bonkers flying kick.

Thankfully, Daiji is a more interesting character than Ikki, so Revice gave Hyuga some more challenging things to do. I thought Hyuga also just really made the most of every opportunity the show presented to him. He was seriously impressive. This is the reason I was sold on IIWY the moment I saw the announcement about it based solely on Hyuga's involvement.

Here's a sampling of Hyuga as Daiji.

In addition to playing Daiji, Hyuga also played Kagerou, Daiji's aforementioned demonic alter ego. Kagerou was formed from thoughts and emotions that Daiji repressed. The biggest of these was his resentment toward Ikki. But apparently Daiji had also been repressing a desire to be a somewhat gender non-conforming goth, because that's Kagerou's other raison d'etre.

In some ways, it's hard to imagine a character more different from Ryuji. If they have anything in common, it's the fact that they both place a high value on honesty.

One other thing that's worth noting about Hyuga's work on Revice is that he was only 17 when the show premiered. He showed major dramatic range in this part, not only playing two very different characters but doing everything from low-key nuanced scenes to bombastic high drama. Not to mention the stunts! Doing all of this at 17 is seriously remarkable.

Now for our bonus dude! There's a secret evil-fighting organization called Weekend that secretly keeps tabs on the Igarashi family for years before coming out of hiding to join the big central battle of the series. One of the Weekend operatives is Ushijima Hikaru.

Look familiar? Maybe not, he didn't make faces like this on his BL series.

How about now? Yep, it's Oku Tomoya, who plays Hanabusa Asuka on both seasons of Minato Shouji Coin Laundry.

Oku has some big scenes and interesting moments in Revice. He does some romantic pining, goes through big-time loss, does quite a bit of martial-arts sparring, gets seriously injured, and more. He even gets to henshin a few times. Here he is getting ready to do just that with Sakura and Hana. Those Weekend uniforms are pretty hardcore in a 70s flight attendant sort of way, but I feel like Oku really sells it here.

While we're on the subject of Sakura and Hana, I feel like I can't mention their relationship without including some moments where their story came particularly close to tipping into full-on yuri.

If you're going to do an enemies-to-lovers story, why not make them full-on superhero nemeses?

The word "date" might not technically get used by the characters, but there's no mistaking that the amusement park hangout Sakura invites Hana on--while she is still a fully-functioning bad guy, I might add--is definitely a date.

Most of the time when a Rider beats their nemesis for the final time they don't hold each other tenderly in the sunset.

By the end of the series, they're in a big tub together at the Igarashi's bath house.

There are tons more examples but you get the idea. If this isn't borderline-yuri I don't know what is.

[incorrectreiwakamenriderquotes]

Hana: Why do you let me win when we race up the stairs? You’re the faster one.

Sakura: Erm... it’s nice see your smile when you win!

*later*

Hana: She’s probably just staring at my ass, isn’t she.

Tamaki: Yeah, probably.

[genderqueerfuri]

Day 2 || Going on a Trip

Drawn for Revice Summer Week 2024!

[asknarashikari]

Crack-fic/headcanon, stick with me here

Hana, having been raised in a cult and being told her whole life that she would be married and devote her whole life to Giff. Believes that marriage is when two souls promise to devote their lifes to each other. However, she was also confused and believed that the whole wedding ceremony was a thing only the cult did. All this to say, after confessing to each other, Hana is lead to believe her and Sakura are married, and she would often refer to Sakura as her wife. This goes on for about a few weeks before one of the Igarashi's finds out and corrects her.

...I can see it happening lol

I can also see Ikki being the one to correct Hana, but in the most dramatic way possible. He canonically does not like the idea of Sakura getting married (see the 1st Hyper Battle DVD, where the idea of Sakura being fake-married sends him spiraling and Daiji's the one who ends up in a wedding gown). He'd probably have a conniption over Sakura being referred to as anyone's wife.

Sakura on the other hand likes it and tells Hana to keep calling her that lol.

[hidengifs]

Kamen Rider Revice (2021) ↳ Episode 34: “The Demon Is Calling the Demon”

bonus!

[kanelune]

[Kamen Rider Revice as Text posts 14/?] My favorite Deadmans kids

[wardingshout]

old thing I didn’t like but now I want it out of my folders ig

[cephalopistol]

revice textposts

[whimsicallifestyle]

One of my friends made this. I think it would be a good image format.

(blank version under cut)

Here's a blank version:

[t-u-i-t-c]

"But I don't have anywhere to go..." "You've got me! Let's have fun again sometime, Hana."

[takeru-tenkuuji]

revice pocky day

[phantomraidou]

[incorrectreiwakamenriderquotes]

Yukimi: If you were to take a shot for every bad decision you’ve made, how drunk would you be?

Sakura: Buzzed.

Ikki: Inebriated.

Daiji: Dizzy.

Hana: Sloshed.

George: …dead.

[genderqueerfuri]

HanaSaku Week 2023:

Day 1: Summer

Transcript:

Hana Natsuki | 54 Mins | Instagram Out here living my best life.

[Photo of Hana and Sakura at the pool. Sakura is hugging Hana from behind while Hana kisses her cheek. Tamaki is drowning behind them.]

Comments: Hikaru Ushijima: Tamaki is drowning Hana Natsuki: This ain't about him

also crossposted to my twitter!