That scene with the mirror was awesome.

I never even thought that their disguises could be used by others but it makes sense, and man was that done well.

Wow.

https://i.imgur.com/f8RcWHN.jpg

I once described the precision of Gavv's storytelling by likening its style to "crossing t's and dotting i's", and I think this episode pair stands out as a stronger than usual example of what I mean by that.

The whole mission here was to sketch out the shape of a new status quo for the series, and while the broad strokes of new antagonists and active collaboration between our heroes are the part that accomplishes that goal, it's the level of fine detail around all that which makes it into something impressive.

It's everything that's *in* the episode, from Sachika's little reactions to things that are still new to her, to the slightly less obvious seeds being planted for the future, and it's even in the stuff this episode seems to deliberately *avoid* doing here and now, like holding off on some big scene of the three Riders transforming together to unite against a common foe. After all, this is only the story establishing the bold new era of everyone working together, so you don't need to rush into that before we've even had, say, a proper Valen/Vram team-up. It's the consideration you get with Gavv, you know? It's never been afraid to take its time finding the right moment for things, even if that sometimes means it takes over half the show for those little robot arms on Gavv's Gochizo holder to finally serve a purpose in a fight scene.

It ended up being a very cute moment, though, right? Given my established obsessive desire to see Rider shows not forget about old toys as they go along, it probably isn't too surprising to find out one of my absolute favorite parts of this whole episode was simply that, among all the crazy new stuff being layed out, it also reinforces how the protagonists are back in a place of stability by landing everything on some truly classic Gavv action. Gavv and Valen teaming up to take on a monster of the week, leading off with their base forms... multiple suits getting their own cool moments in there... it's pretty much everything I could personally want. Plus, you know, it's got all the usual creativity to how it's put together. It's maybe a bit short on written sound effects, but then, it *does* have a flashback happening within a thought bubble, which still fits the bill for comic book styling. Definitely plenty enough going on to wow a viewer, even before getting to the double ice combo that's hypothetically the main draw of the scene.

And while Vram is still off in his own (also cool) fight scene, the episode does choose to underscore the teamwork theme by having Gavv's catchphrase evolve into the plural form, because, you know, Hanto is finally in a place where he can also distinguish between someone who's a monster and someone who's just a Granute! Kinda the perfect moment to represent the overall episode, really -- a balanced blend of comforting familiarity with a thrilling new twist mixed in.

Regarding the theory that the candy store owner is Shouma's human blood relative, I can definitely see Shoma's reunion as well as acceptance by said relative as the key to unlock his final form.

Yeah, that's a theory I can see the writers go with.

That makes more sense.

Jeep did just luck in to meeting Liselle while at his lowest point after all, but nevertheless, he managed to make his point to Lango that he could accomplish something, even if he had to make the whole family government tools in the process. Regarding the sympathy, yeah, I think it's weird how those people are comparing the family like the difference is anything more than negligible. Ultimately, they are all mass murderers for profit (or science for Nyelve) and Jeep is a massive hypocrite for acting entitled to special family treatment and the right to seek revenge while denying Shouma those same rights. While Lango pushing arranged marriage against his siblings' will is bad, it's pretty far down on the list of evil deeds the family have collectively committed. If you take out the evil stuff, Lango's logistical choices are pragmatic and applicable to real life companies. Like with Bouche and the baseless SA accusations, I think people are trying too hard to find reasons to hate these characters, when there are already perfectly valid reasons in front of them since the premise.

Ryuki has been Time Vented so many times that it seems futile to dissociate between continuities. Either way, I believe it's possible to acknowledge something trivial like a character's attraction separately from the controversial plot written around it, since it's not like there's anything in Ryuki media that would contradict either of those traits, just that they only happen to become relevant in spin-offs.

Oh yeah, I was wondering if that holder mech would ever serve any purpose. Gavv has a lot of things like that and the sword vehicle that have extremely situational functionality, so it's good when they actually pay off.

It is also possible that the positive high-ranking Granutes will not appear in the show and their world will face not just a change of power, but a full-fledged revolution. After all, this is the first show broadcast continuously in China, which seems to be very important for Toei. So it is possible that in the end, even Lakia will become the new leader of Granutes.

I guess it makes sense given that their human forms are pretty much avatars. Yeah, the mirror scene I can see being brought up in those Japanese variety ranking shows years later from now, say a 60th anniversary special.