Kamen Rider Geats Episode 6- "Chance Meeting V- Reversal Boost!" Discussion
 

Tycoon is partnered with the strange PunkJack while Morio uses his VIP ticket.

Kamen Rider Geats continues to outdo itself with its characterization and creativity. It's so brilliantly ironic how Buffa was on his way to becoming the thing he hated the most, only to stop short. His tsundere act was also rather adorable, I have to admit.

Also, the fact that they keep showing off different forms, combinations, and abilities in each episode makes all the Buckles so much cooler by adding to their play value. In this one episode, they showed that, yes, two Armed weapons can be equipped at the same time, that the Boost Striker does change animal depending on the user, that Boost only blasts off after using a finisher, and Geats using Magnum with his feet.

One little nitpick is how they waited until after the battle to announce the team swap, but maybe I missed something there. Then again, I loved the backstabbing and courage of Geats to have dialogue-heavy scenes and scenes without any music whatsoever. Really adds to the serious tone of the series. Brilliant stuff.

At this moment, I'm still 100% invested in the series. Haven't been able to say that for a Kamen Rider series in years.

You know what'd be funny if the show killed EVERYONE off but Tycoon and ended with Tycoon using boost

same which has me worried because EVERY Rider show since Gaim(barring Ex-Aid but it does kinda drag/stall during the stretch where Kuroto is "Dead" (I mean they revealed he isn't gone gone but he's effectively dead) so it doesn't overtake the toy release schedule albeit it never becomes as bad as some rider shows when it's at the stretch of episodes between Q3 toys and Q4 toys(I'm GLARING RIGHT AT BUILD/REVICE HERE) either starts off slow but becomes really good(Drive/Saber) or starts off good but becomes bleh(Build/Revice)

(THIS comes with the disclaimer I've not seen Zi-O or Zero-One)

I dig the Boost Striker being buffalo themed when Buffa summoned it. I was a little afraid that only Ace would ever get to summon the bike.

Anyway, decent episode. This one I felt moved a little too quick, though. We got a detailed look into Michinaga's backstory and why he hates Ace so much, we learned Morio's entire deal, and we're finding out that this particular game is about to end.

I'm curious to see what happens. I'm assuming the games may be cyclical. Ace continues to win and restarts the games throughout the series until either the big reveal of the true boss, or someone else finally wins.

Well, our main quartet is left and DGP is coming to an end. I would venture to suggest that all four will survive the final, but in the next game someone will not be lucky. It seemed to me that Mery's rotten insides could have been shown more smoothly. Of course, it had slipped before that the uncle was most concerned about his own skin, but at least they could have revealed him as a crook earlier. Michinaga's backstory is cool, but doesn't it contradict the ban on attacking other riders stated in the zombie episodes? Or does each round have its own rules? Overall, I still love this show.

I think Ace will lose the next DGP or whatever comes after. It's just that the stakes need to be raised and, given that the MC is initially the best, he will have to fall in order to rise.

I don't think it was ever banned. I always thought it was just a point deduction for doing so.
I could just be misunderstanding though.

I guess I just have Kabuto on the brain, since Tendou was the best throughout the series, and others developed around him. He had his lows, but he never truly "Fell."
Granted, Ace and his own demons have been alluded to, so I do want to see what that is all about.

Buffa is being a tsundere

also wow, this round is ending very quickly.

Rock-solid characterization for everybody, just wow. I actually really like how this first DGP round is short, almost more like a tutorial to acclimate the viewer to the characters and mechanics. I'm also getting really intrigued by the mystery surrounding the general setting as it builds up. So good!

Mary being a shady character matches his sheep theme so well. A jerk in sheep's clothing. Funny how the shady charas retire. I wonder if this is really the last we see of him and DaPaan.

guess we are reaching the round end and Geats probably wins?

and yeah. Buffa being a tsundere.

Another villainous DGP Rider is confirmed here, among existing ones.

Morio's reveal as a wanted criminal on the run who used to work as a dealer on shady casino (fitting his name Koganeya, kogane means gold) solidifies his status as a villain. Compared to Kanato though, Morio's a more grounded villain. Kanato's more abstract (helped by DGP's desires) in his massive goal to exterminate all humans, while Morio's a textbook everyday crook who's mainly concerned on escaping responsibilities, including fleeing from the country. Kanato's significantly a worse person though, albeit Morio's slimeball traits can make him more annoying and loathsome.

Morio's following behavior also further displays his criminal nature like stealing Keiwa's Boost Buckle, picking on the vulnerable, as well as how typically bad guys would never confess (for obvious reasons), in him constantly trying to cover up his deeds (with him already putting a friendly facade as well). The moment his background is revealed, his friendly facade crumbles though, with him employing obvious lies (he's not doing his time on prison yet), as well as contradictions (exposing himself as the Boost Buckle thief), to cover himself up. He talks like a gangster when he's eliminated as well.

I'm glad that here they make Ace and Neon notice how Keiwa's in disadvantage as Punk Jack's partner (not only me :p). Not directly helping, but would say Neon's words against Keiwa for capture the Boost are quite supportive, as Keiwa usually puts others above himself and can feel guilty for bringing others down, but here Keiwa doesn't need to feel guilty for "reaping" Morio's benefits as he's wrong and undeserving of that, so he can be more compelled to go all out and take what's rightfully his. Albeit Keiwa's already angry at Morio and disapproves his stealing before. Here Keiwa really wants to use the Boost Buckle but still failed, this time it got unfairly taken away from him as he still lost the fight with Morio, and even then despite surviving this round, Buffa's the one who used it later.

Ace was someone who did trick Keiwa of giving Boost Buckle previously, and him showing disapproval to both Morio and Michinaga's (outwardly) tactics can sound hypocritical... or that it means to explain which line Ace would draw at gaining advantage or even what line you should draw in competitive environment in general? As while people are urged to win and defeat opponents in competitive environment, doesn't mean that any actions meant to win can be excused. Maybe Ace does relatively harmless tricks (and here he gives the Boost Buckle back to Keiwa) in comparison to Morio picking on the vulnerable or Michinaga having no regards of other Rider's lives to win? Seems that Ace can occassionally look down on Michinaga due to disapproval to Michinaga's behavior, instead of being a bully or such.

The preview before seems to paint Ace as the culprit in Toru's death or being disrespectful by laughing, but it's actually the opposite, Toru was assaulted by 2 unknown Riders (happened to be Elephant and... Imperer, quite lazy retool) who robbed his Buckle and leaving him defenseless against Jamatos. While Geats actually saved Michinaga from the following Jamato attacks. Though Geats also tell Michinaga to forget DGP events. Dunno if that's Ace trying to help him too as most of the time he makes sure attack victims are ok, but this'd inadvertently downplay Michinaga's predicament.

Ace's problem may be that as the best man in the world (other than flirting) he can't relate well to people's everyday problem even when helping them, as to him everything's quite easy to the point that he's cocky, likely addressed in Michinaga claiming him as a snob who doesn't understand him before. Regardless, Michinaga's the Rider type that has prejudice towards a group that has wronged him, like Fuwa who's prejudiced against Humagears. Michinaga's like that to Kamen Riders, and his wish is that too, a world w/o Kamen Rider. Man, out of context that can be a 4th-wall comedy potential like Zi-O's ep. 3.5 (blow up Toei Studio).

Unlike many other prejudiced characters that aren't bad guys though, Michinaga's prejudiced against a human group here, which can make him feel more cruel in comparison to be ruthless against other humans, compared to the likes of Fuwa who are mostly killing fictional threats (MOTW), with them having to be restrained the few occassion they target the good ones. Michinaga's vendetta against Riders can make him hypocritical or ironic that this can turn him into yet another cruel Rider type he despised especially if he goes up against decent Riders, as humans can be less inherently evil (likely Toru too) or be given non-violent/lethal solutions to deal with compared to MOTW, albeit obviously evil people can inherently join DGP.

But this episode solidified the 'hero' part in anti-hero better for Michinaga, and as usual, it really played off the characters well. Morio's true nature is revealed as he's written out of the show for now, which is used as the driving force for Michinaga's actions in this episode, as Morio's the very Rider that resembles Toru's robbers (and indirect murderers) which Michinaga hates, despite Morio thinking that his selfishness would be helpful to him winning. Keiwa's genuine selfless nature also has won over Michinaga (who has no faith on Rider's motives) a bit, seemingly becoming his anchor to prevent him from fully becoming what he hates (Toru's robbers) and gave him better focus on which Riders are actually loathsome to eliminate.

For someone usually bullheaded, Michinaga's scheme here is actually clever and cunning, to have him hold the Boost Buckle instead of Morio (..he had belief in his useful teammate), and have everyone left on the dark for his team switch, including pretending to accept Morio, so later Mary spends his time being confused why Buffa stands still... not unlike Punk Jack, until Tycoon fights. His primary objective is to eliminate Morio, but dunno if he knows about Tycoon's luck to draw him in the reroll as it's randomized (that Morio's job gave him advantage in), then if he does yeah he acted tsundere to Tycoon. The jazz break of pausing Tycoon and Buffa destroying a Heart Trump Jamato pair. So for now they're pulling the usual kindness eventually wins over people to save Keiwa here, while Morio got eliminated because his schemes made him disliked.

I honestly find it interesting Kantaro makes it clear to you who he is from the word go Morio tries to hide his nature initially

So long Mary, you really were a scumbag. Not even a particularly likeable, over-the-top one either like Da-Paan, just a prick. It's an interesting choice, choosing to have his fall from grace as a way to further Buffa's plot development (Keiwa getting his respect by virtue of seeming genuinely nice), but I'll take it.

Also, what was up with that 20 second long freeze-frame shot? It was cool, sure, but stretched on maybe a little too long imo.

I forgot to mention that. I get the distinct impression that they did a special camera setup to film that, so they reallyyyy wanted to get their money's worth.

They wanted everyone in the audience to understand that Buffa and Tycoon were hit at the same time.
By the way, given that these 2 episodes are devoted to the disclosure of Michinaga, I did not have enough endings in everyday life, as Neon had. Although maybe this should show that he did not learn any lesson and remained the same as he was. Or will be shown in the future.

Agreed. This DGP lasted only 1/4 as long as the previous one, so the next one could last until Christmas, where I guess either Tycoon, Na-Go or Buffa will get a Mission Failed, complete with a mocking T-shirt by Bandai to commemorate the occasion.

I was glad that the topic of stealing didn't get overlooked here, as the Riders actually discussed whether or not Morio's action was okay. Takebe's previous Rider shows all featured theft as well (IXA Knuckle, O Medals, Peach Energy) but never focused on the distress experienced by victims of theft, only minor inconveniences. DGP forbids acts of violence between players inside the lounge and discourages it on the field, but acts of sabotage seem to be permitted in either setting. However, just cause something is permitted doesn't make it okay.

Morio is willing to take full advantage of the game's permissions, but that results in unsportsmanlike conduct, which like you said, makes the others dislike him, with Michinaga even risking his second place in the lottery reroll just to get rid of him. Now that we know retired players just get to continue their normal lives, there's not even any reason to pity Morio, as even without his desire granted, he still managed to evade the law and enjoy his illegal fortune. He's lucky he didn't end up with a worse fate like Taira.

I don't think that's how Tycoon's luck works. It's an attribute of the suit rather than the user, so it increases the quality of drops he finds on the field, but Michinaga would be relying on his own luck in the lottery. The DGP could've rigged it by adding extra Tycoon cards, but I doubt they'd benefit from that. It had to be Tycoon card though for Michinaga to get the desired outcome. Geats or Na-Go card would put Morio in first, Mary card would keep status quo and Punkjack card would virtually guarantee Michinaga's elimination. Keiwa's not the only one who got lucky there.

I presume that the lottery excludes the card of the chooser, so the first lottery excluded the Geats card as Ace was first pick, so only five cards were in the box, before Punkjack's was added and Buffa's and Mary's excluded in their respective rerolls. This would prevent any redundant results, like someone picking someone who's already teamed up, or Michinaga picking Buffa.

Anyway, since I heard the Monster Raise Buckle is for Punkjack, I guess that means ZombieBoost is essentially Buffa's main form, if Boost really does function as a neutral limited-use item (like Deadheat for Drive and Mach) to complete a Rider's loadout with their own signature Buckle. The way Boostriker changes motif seems to support this idea.

Koji Abe (Morio's actor) has gotten flowers, though for now flowers aren't guarantee of being written out of the show.

Would like to see Kanato doing some "school shooting" shit with Rider gear. Wonder if Morio would don a full-on wolf Rider gear as he drops his facade at the end, or have him doing gangster shit head on later based on his way of talking after being eliminated.

So... regarding this, what do you think differentiates the likes of Ace (who tricked Keiwa into giving Boost Buckle) compared to the likes of Morio or Michinaga (who would bring down other Riders before, doing anything it takes to win) as Ace showed some disapproval for those?

Ace's deception does not harm Keiwa's life and health, but simply allows Geats to remain in the first place. The actions of Morio and Michinaga posed a direct threat to the other riders.
In fact, I really hope the show will someday give Geats a choice between winning and his principles. It is very interesting how he will solve this dilemma.

Basically what Mesnick said above, Ace's deception didn't prevent Keiwa from qualifying for the next round and actually taught a moral that rivals shouldn't be trusted so easily. Tricking someone in to willingly giving up an item is also a lesser evil compared to stealing it from their possessions. The former presents a choice and depends on them choosing poorly, while the latter denies them completely. And like last time where Morio got mauled by a zom-bear after endangering civilians, this time he gets played by Michinaga turning his own tactic against him. What happens to him is karmic.

I'm not surprised Mary was secretly a scumbag.

But enough of a scumbag to make Buffa ditch him is a double whammy for him. Not much to really say about this episode but it's nice to see some more background on our Rider cast, mainly Buffa and Mary. Also, some closure about the defeated Riders not being perma-dead, but just lose their memories and are no longer allowed to return (how much you wanna bet they break that rule somewhere down the road?).

Pretty nice sequence with the freeze frame and Geats/Naago team attack.

I wonder if Buffa's going to win, erasing the Kamen Riders, leading to the power creep of new forms. Either that, or it looks like Tycoon might surprise everyone and his wish might make an even bigger mess than there already is.

Next Episode: Final Boss? Place your bets!

So it's like what I thought about Ace's antics being harmless (I thought losing Boost would reduce your chance of surviving without strong item). Winning by itself isn't a bad thing though, dunno why for some reason some views being nice means backing down for others in competitive setting, or that just being willing to defeat opponents is seen as being ruthless.

Even within the same bad things, it can still be different, factoring in the context of why that bad things happen, which can weigh the scale in either good or bad. This even applies to something like murder; like if it was done in cold-blood or out of self defense.

Wonder if what largely makes this bad is (like you said about Keiwa not being harmed or still continuing the round) not the stealing... but about picking on someone who is helpless instead (Keiwa teaming up with Punk Jack already). As doing something on someone after they're downed that makes it bad isn't only stealing, but also other stuffs like prolonged violence on incapacitated enemy, hunting the wounded outside the heat of battle, etc.

To develop the major characters, the more 'minor' Riders are used... Kanato acting as the opposite to Neon and Morio bringing up Michinaga's trauma to present time.

About the Riders no longer allowed to return, it's dunno (CMIIW) too if it only applies to current DGP (they can re-enter in the future, technically Michinaga should be eliminated with only 1 winner in Ace) or permanently. If it's the former then the possibilities of those 2 returning is real. Or that there could be some other factions using Riders to antagonize the DGP ones or such in the future, etc.

Speaking about the return, for some reason it seems to me that it will be more likely to be Dapan than Merry. He, after the return of memories, may well have a desire for revenge, while Merry, most likely, will not want to mess with this game anymore. Although if in exchange for returning he is offered a power-up...