It's also interesting that the word Gochizo doesn't appear in the episode at all. Will Shoma come up with a name for it himself or is he not yet familiar with the term?
It is also quite interesting how Hanta will receive his chocolate Gochizo.

And then I remembered how Takeshi Hongo wanted to console the child and almost injured him because of his cyborg power. Classic!

My main issue with Geats's first episode was that I was personally put off by Ace's arrogance. It took a long while for him to grow on me, whereas I'm already more sympathetic towards Shouma as a character.

We also established that the world is reset after every DGP so everyone who was killed, besides the Riders, just came back to life. Unless Gavv pulls some Takahashi-level bullshit out of its ass to bring back people who've been eaten for a long time, I am optimistic that death will be an actual dramatic stake in this show.

But yes, I agree wholeheartedly in Gavv also exploring Ishinomori's original idea of the lead Kamen Rider not being human but choosing to fight for humanity anyways. That's something the franchise has sorely been missing since Philip in W. It's not just the surface level stuff that Gavv seems to be celebrating. If anything, this feels the natural answer to Shin Kamen Rider and Black Sun bringing KR back to its roots, but through the Reiwa lens of more colorful gimmicks and characters.

It's a cute name, and I thought they looked similar even before that particular translation was used :lol

https://i.imgur.com/ujCVJ4c.jpeg

We didn't know that yet when the Jyamato murdered the restaurant owner, that scene was very well done and rather terrifying, especially for the young ones.

The show is are very particular about these acrylic stands wrapped in red goo strings, assuming they are not permanently destroyed, but rather drained over a long period of time when used to make the "Dark Treats" I would think you can always free the people trapped inside still. Of course at some point during the process they might vanish forever, no resource is endless.

But I wonder if freeing Shoma's mother, once he realizes the possibility of bringing her back, will be an important motivation for him later on.

What I find interesting about this is that the core behind that idea is a loss of humanity, something Shoma does not experience. I assume he did however inherit his mothers ideals which he wants to uphold, even if it means being seen as a monster by others.

Even the Granuts snack is reminiscent of Haven from Black Sun.

Well, there are, of course, examples of Wizard in the franchise whose dark side never came to light. But I think that in the case of such a trusting and active hero as Shoma, it is quite possible that he will accidentally try the Granuts snack. It?s not for nothing that it looks like a youkan. And then the question for Komura is whether this will lead to the berserker form, to the dark arc, or both.

Considering that his mom made him promise that he won't eat those snacks, I find it unlikely that he wouldn't know what they look like.

I think everyone else here nailed my thoughts already but....wow, what a fantastic episode! Shoma, the action, the comedy, the music, etc., it's all very much working for me. And Shoma has great chemistry with the kid, I do hope he becomes a recurring character.

This is why they look like yokan. After all, Shoma promised not to eat them, and not similar snacks.

I have a feeling he could also be the equivalent of what that one teenager was to Gokai Red in one of the early episodes of Gokaiger, the kid who briefly tried fighting as Shinken Red but failed. We won't see him for a while but he'll return in a pivotal episode kind of deal.