Kamen Rider Gotchard Episode 43- "Love, Sorrow & All? The Power To Erase Hate!"
 

Houtaro is charged with protecting the Laboratory- and learns some secrets about the origins of the Chemys.

This episode begins with Minato also getting entangled in the same freezing liquid mishap that happened to Rinne and Renge. And the solution to this mishap as shown @ 21:25 is simply using Kesuzo to erase the freezing liquid from the victims. If Sabimaru already knew the solution, then why didn't he immediately do it in the previous episode? Don't know!

I've just realized that there's something weird in this episode and the previous one. Rinne said in episode 2 @ 11:40 that there's a one-in-a-million chance that inorganic, non-living matters will create an organic, living organism. If so, then how could 2 mere novice alchemists (Kid Kenichi and Kid Sabimaru) successfully created a Chemy (Kamedoon) on their first attempt, simply by following instructions from text books? If the creation of Chemies are true outlier results of experiments that are very very very hard to replicate, then how could they instantly create a Chemy without trial and error? Even the likes of Minato, Kyouka, or Spanner have never been able to create a Chemy. Not even Fuga has been able to create a Chemy, because it's implied that he was not the one who created Nijigon.

In the scene @ 13:16 it's shown that Glion transmutes Kenichi's copy of the Isaac tablet into a Dreadriver which is then he commands to transform in KR Dread and fight Sabimaru. My hypothesis in episode 42 thread here was quite correct. It explains the stiff movement of this particular KR Dread. Glion then says that this particular KR Dread is the Dread Trooper, an AI-controlled doll that moves according to the commands from a copy of his soul inside the Dreadriver. Hmmm? Aren't The Sisters and his other homunculi are, in a sense, AI dolls with their own sentience? Perhaps The Sisters and his other homunculi are sentient automata, but are not directly connected to and or controlled by Glion's soul, which creates the risk of defection, like what happened to Lachesis. In the scene @ 22:45 Glion transmutes his favorite golden Rubik cube into a Dreadriver that creates a network of interconnected Dreadrivers (which is an obvious allusion to neural network), so the Dread Troopers are directly connected to each other and controlled by a copy of his soul stored inside each Dreadriver unit, creating zero risk of defection. The Dread Troopers are basically a legion of soldiers over which Glion has absolute control. Glion's soul-copying technique likely works similar to Fuga's surrogate bodies, which also contain copies of his soul. Could the Valvarad Troopers (?) work in similar way, maybe even reuse Kenichi's AI technology and combine it with Fuga's surrogate technology?

There's another weird thing in this episode. If Glion is already a master (maybe even the master) at creating numerous amount of homunculi, then why doesn't he simply copy his soul into the bodies of blank homunculi, effectively replacing the homunculi's souls with his? He already managed to copy his soul into his favorite golden Rubik cube that was used by Atropos to revive him in episode 41. If Glion has already mastered the soul-copying technique, then why does he need a meandering plan in this episode to steal Kenichi's Isaac AI technology, which is also another technique at copying a human's soul? Don't know!

There's yet another weird thing in this episode. In the scene @ 18:11, Sabimaru manages to destroy the Dread Trooper using the X-Gotchalibur and Kamedoon RCC. If that destroyed Dread Trooper was created by transmuting Kenichi's copy of the Isaac tablet (which contained the AI technology) into a Dreadriver, then how can Glion transmute his favorite golden Rubik cube into a network of Dreadrivers that still contain Kenichi's AI technology? Isn't Kenichi's AI technology supposedly to be also destroyed when Sabimaru destroyed the Dread Trooper? Don't know! TLDR: That Dread Trooper is destroyed = AI Dreadriver is destroyed = Kenichi's Isaac tablet is destroyed = Kenichi's AI technology is also destroyed = Glion doesn't have it anymore. So, chronologically, the scenes @ 13:16-18:36 should happen after the scene @ 22:45. It seems like the writers didn't properly storyboard-proof their script.

Based on what Houtarou says to Kenichi @ 16:24, what Glion whispers to Mami @ 15:36 is likely "I've never loved you." Haha. She was likely also involved in the creation of The Sisters and Glion's other homunculi, or at least in developing the technology. So, in that sense, she could be viewed as The Sisters' mother.

Next week:

Something strange is seemingly happening to Kajiki's memory due to being Neuralyzed several times by Minato. It seems like the erased memories resurface and confuse him and create a problem in his relationship with Hijiri. Kajiki's resurfacing memories could be a set up to prepare for the full reveal of Houtarou's manipulated memories, which I think very likely have something to do with Houtarou's dad and the circumstances of his disappearance, the identity of the the Alchemist of Dawn, and the possibility of the connection between Houtarou, his dad, and the Alchemist of Dawn.

Malice of the past is reawakening. It seems like several Malgamized humans will return in episode 44, thanks to Clotho. Because Houtarou et al has possessed all 101 RCC's, are the new Malgams created from the Repli CC's? And is Clotho secretly colluding with Gaelya to sabotage Glion's plan?

Keiichi Hasegawa returns to writing duty and will likely write all remaining episodes. KR Gavv was announced this week and will begin broadcasting in September 2024, very likely on September 1st, like Gotchard that began broadcasting on September 3rd 2023 and all previous KR series since Build that began broadcasting in the first week of September. If my prediction is correct, then there are 7 episodes remaining (44-50) that are all written by Hasegawa. He has a gargantuan task of cleaning up the mess created by Hiroki Uchida and Akiko Inoue. I wonder how he will resolve several logical anomalies that have appeared in this story. I'm also curious as to how he will resolve the circumstances surrounding Houtarou's dad and the possibility of the connection between Houtarou, his dad, and the Alchemist of Dawn like I mentioned above. The circumstances surrounding Houtarou's dad (and the the identity of the the Alchemist of Dawn) have been set up since episode 1, very likely as a plot twist. I hope it's resolved well as a proper plot twist. If it's poorly handled, then, instead of being resolved, it will end up as an asspull and as a cheap "Gotcha!" moment that will potentially break the story into pieces.

Well, the solution to the brothers’ conflict turned out to be that they are too similar. Both are talented alchemists, but closed people with a sense of inferiority. That’s why they couldn’t discuss their conflict earlier, or even figure out that Kamedoon was a common creation. I have to admit that the episode really let the actor Sabimaru shine, releasing all the emotions that his character had been holding back. His clumsy but passionate sword swinging was more compelling than many far more effective fight scenes. Also, how often does an untransformed character defeat a rider in hand-to-hand combat? By the way, the fate of the trouper was predicted for Valvarad, but it turned out that it was intended for Dread. This character has an interesting path.By the way, his appearance as an empty shell is quite creepy.
Geryon does what he does best: being an absolute villain. As a result, he gets what he wants, tortures whoever he can and sets the laboratory on fire. Also, either out of gratitude, or (which is more likely) to strengthen her loyalty, he already calls Atropos a daughter, and not a doll. And here is the answer to the question why there were no sisters in the previous episode: they were looking for the throne for the newly-made king.
Spanner had the opportunity to be a hero-savior, and not just a gloomy lover of a fight. Well, the clowning with characters not involved in the plot continues.
And the next episode focuses on Kajiki, a character with a truly unique position in the show.I wonder what outcome his story will come to?

Most likely, Glion copied everything in advance onto his cube or even just onto a flash drive immediately before setting the laboratory on fire. And he took the tablet out of a banal desire to make fun or, in his language, to conduct an experiment.

Turns out it's not strictly females, Minato was trapped by the plot too so he can't intervene. If Minato got that treatment due to his mastery, I wonder what Rinne or Renge has that they need to be 'nerfed'.

Houtaro finally told Sabi to speak his mind and it does wonders. Kenichi's cold act still puts a misunderstanding that the issue was never known until now that Kenichi has inferiority complex to Sabi for being able to create Chemies while wanting to protect him from Geryon. Though Sabi knows that Kenichi's ring also glows means he also contributed.

Sabi also now achieves what Supana did in ep. 21, to defeat a threat as a civilian, though armed. His leg throw move was also sick. Despite overcoming his past trauma by defeating Dreatrooper, he still wants to keep Isaac. Geryon still wins by obtaining a copy of Isaac for said Dreatrooper though.

I don't think Mami gets a proper conclusion when Geryon revisits other than Geryon caressing her a bit. About KameDoon being an important secret between the brothers, Renge wanting to force Sabi to reveal it out of spite is just handwaved too with some laughs.

Alumi was trapped inside a fire with Valvarad saving her. Obviously Alumi's opinion of him will change, but Rider powers will make going through fire a non-issue unlike a small child, albeit he had Isaac's help to find her location.

With Geryon still continuing his atrocity as ever, and Atropos still supporting him, I wonder about Atropos' promise, maybe she really was just pretending to keep the promise but she doesn't, though wonder if that can be changed later, Atropos' always the most callous among the Dark Sisters.

Remember the old adage: Show, don't tell. Moreover, the Isaac AI is not just an ordinary software installed into ordinary iPad/Samsung Galaxy/etc tablets. It's a specialized software which is supposed to only work with alchemically-altered tablets. This story has an alchemy theme, right?

Even if the story had shown Glion copying the Isaac AI software out of Kenichi's tablet, it still made no sense. Glion is already a master at copying his soul into inanimate objects such as his favorite golden Rubik cube, which is functionally identical to Voldemort's Horcruxes. I'm not sure if he's able to create infinite copies of his soul, but if so, then he's virtually immortal. The point of using AI to control the Dreadriver is to eliminate the need of a human/homunculus user. An AI, seemingly having a "soul" or "mind" of its own, is supposed to eliminate human/homunculus users. If he's already able to copy his soul into inanimate objects, which should also include the Dreadriver, then he's already able to create artificial "souls"/"minds". He's already able to create a legion of Dread Troopers without the need for the Isaac AI.

And like you said, if the Dread Trooper in this episode contained a copy of Glion's soul/mind, then how could it be destroyed by Sabimaru, a mere untransformed human, although wielding the X Gotchalibur? It should've been far more competent than that.

Oh, and now that Glion has acquired Germain's power, he's also already able to create virtually infinite number of Golems, which can then also be infused with copies of his soul. So, he already has not only one, but two(!) methods of creating a very powerful army. Once again, no need for the Isaac AI.

Gotchard has the bad habit of showing a great, grandiose premise and then executing it in a half-hearted, underwhelming manner. This story's got huge amount of potential, be it from the internal logic or the plots/conflicts/intrigues, yet 50% of them are underwhelming and 30% are completely wasted. I'm not sure what the writers are trying to pull here. The more I watch Gotchard, the more I see the writers shoot themselves in the foot. It's very very very unfortunate.

It is possible that Glion does not need copies of his soul in the bodies of Dread Troopers. I mean, these will be individual Glions, and not a sleeping consciousness in a golden cube. Given the nature of the original, he may well have feared a clone rebellion. The AI ​​will still be more obedient.

Huh, you're right. I rewatched the cold open of Episode 42 and Sabi is totally useless here. Oops!

Poor Clotho though. She was just looking at Geryon hugging Atropos and feeling left out. It's terrible how Geryon neglects his younger daughters like that.

As I understand it from the previous episode, Isaac uses an alchemy-based system to interface with the user's soul and read their thoughts, so he can talk and act according to their will. Actual soul-splintering is surely a dangerous technique, so yeah, I think the Isaac method for mass-producing the Dreads is safer and less taxing on Geryon's soul.

It's kind of difficult for me to defend Rinne against her haters when the show does stuff like this. Honestly, I was hoping her contrived chemically-enforced absence would only be limited to the previous episode, as I would've liked to see Rinne's reaction to Kongo Laboratories. Besides, we know her ring needs to be recharged every few episodes, so why not just stick with the same reason to omit Majade if necessary, instead of omitting Rinne entirely? Oh well.

Houtarou even said the Infinite Potential thing! Seems like communication is the theme for this 2-parter, with Isaac being created for that purpose and yet the lack of communication drove a wedge between the Tsuruhara brothers for many years, as they tried to protect each other in a misguided way by hiding the truth and carrying all the burden alone. Houtarou has the right idea here. After all, before you can try and understand Chemies, you must understand humans a little, especially your own brother. I'm glad that Sabi and Kenichi were finally able to make up.

I love how Sabi's arc is concluded here with him confronting Dread, who's not only the manifestation of his past trauma, but using his beloved Isaac for evil as well. Truly an enemy worthy of this occasion. Sabi is totally bad*ss in this fight scene, as he and Kamedoon work together to destroy Dread, using the same X-Gotchalibur that beat Dread the first time.

I think eliminating the risk of defection/rebellion is one of Glion's rationales for not using his homunculi as the users of the Dread Troopers. Lachesis has defected, and Clotho is starting to show signs of rebellion as well, so he doesn't fully trust his homunculi, except maybe Atropos. The only person he trusts is himself, thus he uses the copies of his mind/soul as the Dread Troopers. I already elaborated on this point in my first comment in this thread. The simplicity (and maybe even the banality) of his sole goal of turning the El Dorado myth into reality is what enables him and his copies to think monolithically. Moreover, he has already had Germain's body and powers, while his copies are only put inside Dreadrivers.

Even if his hypothetical non-Isaac AI-equipped Dread Troopers eventually decide to rebel and defect en masse because they've finally found Jesus (haha), he still has the ability to create Golems, which have been shown to be more competent and powerful, as shown in this episode and previous episodes where they managed to withstand the attacks from both KR Valvarad and KR Rainbow Gotchard, compared to the Dread Trooper itself which could be destroyed by a mere untransformed human. Intelligent-wise, the Golems are similar to the Dread Troopers, maybe even smarter. Unlike the homunculi, the Golems being transmuted from inorganic matters make them obedient and easily controlled, so they don't present the risk of defection/rebellion. If he needs them to be converted into Dread Troopers, then he'll simply equip them with Dreadrivers, or even transmuted them from Dreadrivers. The Golems are the optimal solution to his need of a legion of soldiers.

My point is that the last 2 episodes are unnecessary and only make the story and its internal logic more convoluted. If the goal is to create a legion of obedient soldiers, then the story has already had the optimal solution. Of course, it's a completely different story if Glion is still in his human form and hasn't acquired Germain's power of Golem creation.

I've mentioned several times in my previous comments and in my first comment above that Glion's golden Rubik cube is functionally identical to Voldemort's horcruxes, but I think I was a bit incorrect. Voldemort's horcruxes used soul-splintering process which did damage his soul and made it unstable, but so far, Glion's golden Rubik cube has never shown any negative effect on his soul. My conclusion is that Glion's horcrux works by copying his soul (which is safer to the original soul), not by splitting his soul (which caused irreparable damage to the original soul).

And, even if Glion's soul-copying technique is proven to be damaging to him later in the story (albeit already very very very late), he still has Germain's power of Golem creation. Golems can do almost everything KR Dread can, except being KR Dread. Like I said above, if he needs them to be converted into Dread Troopers, then he'll simply equip them with Dreadrivers, or even transmuted them from Dreadrivers. The logical weirdness in this episode came from the fact that Glion already has the optimal solution to his need of a legion of obedient soldiers, without involving anything revealed in the last 2 episodes. The Isaac AI is a redundant element in the control chain, and the last 2 episodes are unnecessary and only make the story more convoluted.

Another logical weirdness in this episode is, if the Isaac AI tablets interface with the user's soul and read their thoughts, then why does Sabimaru's tablet read his thoughts but have Kenichi's soul/personality? Why doesn't it have Sabimaru's soul/personality, while Arumi's tablet has Arumi's soul/personality and Glion's tablet has Glion's soul/personality? Moreover, Sabimaru's tablet was given to him by Kenichi before he resented Sabimaru, so it should have Kenichi's normal behavior/personality, not his resentful personality after his rift with Sabimaru. The reveals in the last 2 episodes make the snarky, rude personality of Sabimaru's Isaac tablet (which has been firmly established since the beginning of the story) make even less sense. These reveals only make the story contradict itself.

This is what I meant by a convoluted story.

It's 100% plot-induced stupidity aka idiot plot. If I were Rinne, Renge, or Minato, I'd be really pissed off at Sabimaru, haha. Making smart characters do stupid things merely to create a cheap comedy is the worst type of comic relief.

I think perhaps the writers have no important lines/scenes for Rinne, Renge, or Minato in the last 2 episodes, but they couldn't make them absent like they did to Lachesis and Kyouka, who were completely absent. So they decided to keep them at the AA by making them entangled in a stupid mishap. Had Minato had an active role in these episodes, he would've been able to better protect the Kongou Lab, Mami, and Kenichi, so Glion's plan to snatch Kenichi's tablet would've been harder to execute. Smells like an idiot plot!

I've got to say, allowing Sabimaru to deal with Dread with the weapon that helped save his life alongside Kamedoon? Real great stuff. Another Rider series would have probably made this his big debut fight as a Kamen Rider but nope, we get a satisfying usage of an older weapon by an ally character.

That said, Spanner's little shenanigans with Arumi in these episodes and it ending in him saving her from the fire kind of like how Kyoka saved him from his own black flames is a cute and touching bit of writing they decided to do.

Just in general this two-parter was rather cool since we're addressing older characters in the lead-up to the endgame which I'm guessing will start on Episode 46. Speaking of though, I was already enjoying the prospect of Kajiki getting a focus episode to address everything, but we're also making it a sequel to the Kyoto episodes? Now that's pretty cool.

Soul-copying is essentially the same thing as soul creation, which would be a crazy high feat even for the Alchemist of Dawn. This would imply that the Geryon who assimilated Germain isn't actually the same as the Geryon who was eaten by Germain, as you'd have to address what happened to the original soul. Like, we know humans created 99 out of the 101 Chemies, but that's not exactly the same thing as giving them a soul. Humans also create humans, but the soul comes from elsewhere, right? Life creation is a mysterious process. I suppose Golems would be viable candidates for Dread users though, but could Geryon mass-produce them on equal or greater scale to his Isaac-powered Dreads? We shouldn't dismiss the power of soul-reading technology.

Soul =/= personality. If Isaac had Sabi's personality, then Sabi would have no need for him anymore. I think the appeal of Isaac as a "character" is that his interpretation is different from how Sabi would say it. This is the appeal to Sabi as well, that Isaac is part of Kenichi and a reminder of when the brothers were close. Basically, Isaac is the Gotcha-N-Go between Sabi's soul and Kenichi's personality, which is what distinguishes him from your average translation AI. Only Arumi's Isaac is shown to use direct interpretation, since the user has literally no lines, unlike Sabi.

How did you come to the conclusion that copying is creation? Copying is copying, not creation. Copying is converting the chemical configuration of object B into an identical clone of object A, be it matter-wise and or information-wise. If I copy all the Lord of the Rings books with a photocopy machine, then does it mean I create TLOTR? Of course not. The creator is still J.R.R Tolkien. I'm just creating a clone of the texts. I'm not creating anything new. I'm just changing the chemical/informational configuration of several sheets of blank papers to look like the texts from TLOTR. Another example: If I copy, aka playing a cover of the guitar tracks from the song Metropolis Part 1 by Dream Theater, then does it mean I create those amazing rhythms, leads/melodies, and solos? Of course not. The creator/writer of those amazing guitar tracks is still John Petrucci, not me. I'm just trying to copy his performance. I'm not creating any new performance. Now, if I write a new lead guitar track or a solo guitar track over the rythm guitar track, then I'm creating something new, though I'm sure the quality won't even reach 10% of Petrucci's tracks, haha.

Glion's soul-copying technique is basically converting the chemical configuration of some (or all) parts of his favorite golden Rubik cube into a clone of a part of his body he considered to be a soul. This works similar to Fuga's surrogate bodies, which are likely identical homunculi injected with copies of his soul. Like Germain said, when he ate Glion, Glion's original soul might've been really destroyed along with his body, so the original Glion did indeed die in the same scene, and the currently resurrected Glion is copy #1. So far, the story shows that the copied soul inside the golden Rubik cube is a 100% perfect copy with no deterioration, kinda like a copied file in a computer that is 100% identical to the original file with no corrupt bits. It'd be interesting if it's shown that the copied soul is actually imperfect, corrupted and thus slowly deteriorating, proving that the fundamental laws of nature cannot be bent without serious consequences.

And, isn't conversion and manipulation of matters the core of alchemy, like stated in episode 2? That's the core idea of transmutation in alchemy as recorded in history: Converting and manipulating matter A into matter B/C/D/etc, with one of the main goals of converting lower value matters like copper, lead, or tin into those of higher values like gold or silver. This is why the story often shows Houtarou/Rinne/Minato/etc and all alchemists changing the shape and or chemical configuration of an object into another object, for example in episode 3 @ 17:10 when Minato transmuted a metal drum and changed its shape into a rectangular shield. With adequate skills that drum could've been converted into another shape and or matter. Another main goal of alchemy is converting inert, inorganic matters into organic matters which is the main goal of homunculi creation, and also Chemies in this story. The creations of elixir (the liquid of youth/immortality) and panacea (the ultimate, universal remedy) are several other main goals of alchemy.

The power of Golem creation is a power possessed by the Gods (the Unholy Trinity), so Golems should be easier to mass-produce and should perform much better compared to mere AI-enhanced Dread Troopers, which are mere alchemical technologies created by humans. How could mere human technologies beat the power of God? It makes no sense at all! If Glion's target is the AU, then he should have little problems. He's gonna have a serious problem when the target is the other members of the Unholy Trinity and or KR Rainbow Gotchard, and maybe also the Alchemist of Dawn.

If what you mean by humans creating humans is the real-life example of the birth of human lives, then I'm afraid you're wrong. Humans do not and cannot create humans. The one creating humans is the universe, not humans. One day, I will have children, and I'm 1000% sure that my children come through me and my future wife, not from me and my future wife. My children are the gifts from the universe to us, the parents. Humans are mere rivers that give way to the next generation, and the fountain is the universe. Humans are mere nanoscopic, replaceable cogs inside the colossal machinery known as the universe. The mystery of souls and lives is one of the biggest mysteries of the universe, which I think could be an eternal secret only known by the universe. It took billions of years and millions of species, generations, and painful trials and errors for the universe to give rise to sentience and souls, and I dare to claim that my peanut brain can create souls in 100 years? The audacity! Haha.

Why would Sabimaru have no need for the Isaac tablet anymore if it had Sabimaru's personality? The proof of the bond between Kid Kenichi and Kid Sabimaru was the Isaac AI, not the personality of the Isaac AI. The existence of the Isaac AI right at Sabimaru's fingertips is more than enough of a proof of Kenichi's support. Why would Kenichi make Sabimaru's Isaac tablet speak like Kenichi (or rather, the distant, resentful Kenichi), not like Sabimaru's real personality, only with louder voice? Isn't the point of the Isaac AI is to bridge communication? How would an AI create an effective communication if the personality of the user, which is a huge part of the dynamic in a communication, is hindered and instead overridden by the programmer's personality? Isn't that a form of deliberate distortion in communication?

If Sabimaru's Isaac tablet had had Sabimaru's personality, then several serious miscommunication problems could've been avoided, for example in episode 12 @ 12:38 where Sabimaru complimented Houtarou, but his Isaac tablet just kept silent. People think Sabimaru is rude, while he's actually friendly and even shy, and the one that's rude is his Isaac tablet. Its rudeness isn't even the dynamics of Sabimaru's inner ego-super ego-id at work. It's rude just because. If anything, the rudeness of his Isaac tablet only created misunderstanding and confusion. We should thank God that Sabimaru has never encountered street thugs in narrow, lightly-dimmed alleys. A mere "excuse me" from Sabimaru would be grossly blown out of proportion by his Isaac tablet into "make way for me, you slackers!" and severely misinterpreted by the thugs as casus belli, and would very likely result in Sabimaru being beaten into a pulp, haha.

I think Arumi having no lines could've been a hint that she's very likely mute, not mere socially awkward like Sabimaru. The witty, sassy responses made by Arumi's Isaac tablet reflected her actual personality. If Arumi's Isaac tablet successfully created an effective communication between a mute person and normal people, then why did Sabimaru's Isaac tablet create misunderstanding and confusion instead? Being witty/sassy is one thing, being rude is a whole different thing. Instead of making the rudeness of Sabimaru's Isaac tablet the appeal, the writers should've made it extroverted and cheerful, to contrast with Sabimaru's introversion/shyness.

Another weird thing I forgot to mention is the fact that the Isaac AI is a communication AI. How could a communication AI be casually converted into a military AI? Kenichi himself has never used it for other purposes, let alone apply it in a military setting. How could Glion be so sure that it'd work as he intended? What if Kenichi only programmed it strictly as a communication AI, not a general-purpose AI? My girlfriend joked that the Dread Trooper in this episode could be defeated by a mere untransformed human because it's a communication AI that's force converted into a military AI. What Glion did was basically forcing a translator to be an army soldier. No wonder it was so incompetent! I'm imagining an unintentionally funny scene where Glion, due to his hubris, doesn't even bother to field-test the mass-produced Dread Troopers and immediately deploys them into battlefield. When Glion shouts the command "Attack!", the Dread Troopers will instead speak out his inner monologue en masse in a rude manner similar to what Sabimaru's Isaac tablet did when Sabimaru was sleeping. Glion will be really pissed off and yell "Damn you, Zolda!". Haha.

I'm only talking about material property in this case, not intellectual property. If you copy something, then what used to be 1 becomes 2. Germain hasn't shown or mentioned any ability to destroy souls, a feat equal to creating them. Only stated that he ate Geryon, which would typically separate the soul from the deceased's body. When a phylactery or "horcrux" is involved, then the splintered soul returns to that place, such as the engoldened cube.

I think Fuuga's doppelgangers use soul-transmission, as his true body is shown to be unconscious when Clotho invades his base, in the same way that Phillip's body is unconscious when becoming Double and how the entire Ganma Eyecon system works. I think it seems relatively logical to apply the same concept to Geryon, with the only difference being that the greater fraction of his soul was transmitted after his death.

True that this is a fitting subject for the theme of alchemy. There are many things that can be researched and experimented on, like elements and the physical body. Even the creation of gold is a simple task in the world of Kamen Rider Gotchard. The true mystery is in the properties of objects and forces we don't understand, which is the ultimate truth that alchemy seeks to learn. The composition and origin of the soul being at the top of that list. The fact that Kongo Laboratories have invented technology to even read the soul is a miraculous breakthrough.

"Mere alchemical technologies" kind of underestimates what they're capable of. The Dark Kings aren't omniscient after all, unless we consider Gaelijah's yet unseen mastery of astrology. Geryon has gained the power of Germain and 33% of the Philosopher's Stone, in addition to his education with the Alchemy Academy. If he acknowledges the value of "mere alchemical technologies" enough to try and claim it for himself, then perhaps there are things about alchemy that even the Dark Kings can learn from humans, if only they weren't so egotistical to deny that. This is Geryon's major advantage over his stupid predecessor, that he doesn't underestimate humans and would seek to exploit that power against them and his competition.

Agreed. I was only using the term "creation" loosely, in the same sense that "humans created Chemies" is mentioned in the show. If we attribute the creation of a sentient lifeform to the being or force that provides the soul, then we actually can't say for certain who created humans or Chemies, only that humans and the Dark Kings facilitate the creation through chemistry, both natural and synthetic. But if Geryon can copy his soul, then Geryon can create another Geryon, so I doubt your suggestion of him having this ability, due to copying ultimately being a form of creation.

All the more reason why Arumi would need the Isaac with her personality, if she can't verbally convey her personality on her own. Of course, Sabi doesn't have this problem, so we already know what his personality is like and I don't recall anytime that his Isaac has severely misrepresented Sabi's intentions or put him in danger. Isaac is rude, but he knows when to shut up. He could've been programmed with a cheerful personality instead, but then you'd need to find someone other than Kenichi. If Sabi had a problem with the personality, then he simply could've modified Isaac himself, having had the opportunity to do so during Episode 28-29. There's also the possibility that due to Sabi's shy temperament, an Isaac with his personality would be equally shy, which is not an ideal trait for a communication AI. Anyway, don't you think it's pretty weird to hear your own voice coming from outside your body? Personally, I would feel uncomfortable with my personality being copied like that.

I'm afraid you've misunderstood how alchemy works. In alchemy, when I copy 1 object, that 1 object does become 2, but the copy/the second one is not created out of thin air. It's not created from nothingness. It's created from another existing object that is transmuted into a copy of the original object.

Ex. 1 - How alchemy works:
1 spoon + 1 fork -> 1 spoon + 1 spoon
1 apple + 1 orange -> 1 apple + 1 apple

Ex. 2 - Not how alchemy works:
1 spoon + thin air -> 1 spoon + 1 spoon
1 apple + thin air -> 1 apple + 1 apple

This is the most fundamental difference between alchemy and magic/wizardry/sorcery/witchcraft. Magic is the creation of something out of nothing, like example #2 above. Alchemy is the creation of something out of something. That's why creation in alchemy is called transmutation. The trans- prefix implies a fundamental change (mutation) from an existing object/matter/state into another object/matter/state.

This internal logic has been consistently applied, and was likely violated once in this episode @ 22:45 when Glion transmuted his favorite golden Rubik cube into a Dreadriver that created a network of interconnected Dreadrivers out of thin air. The story did once mention the creation of something out of nothing when Rinne described the definition of alchemy to Houtarou in episode 2 @ 10:50, but that was it. It wasn't followed up because the writers probably realized that the creation of something out of nothing is closer to magic, which had been used in KR Wizard.

Alchemy does have its own "creation of something out of nothing" mechanism involving aether (the fifth element) which is often combined with prima materia (prime matter). Aether usually has something to do with natural forces like gravitational forces, electromagnetic forces, etc, while prima materia usually has something to do with the basic building block of matters in particle physics like atoms, sub-atomic particles, quarks, strings, etc. Aether and prima materia could be incorporated in Gotchard's story by combining it with Nijigon's power. Aether and prima materia would make the alchemy in Gotchard much richer, and even nicely touch several phenomena in modern physics like dark matter/dark energy, string theory, gravitational wave, etc. Aether and prima materia would allow alchemy to complement modern physics/chemistry. That's how big the potential this story has. Very unfortunate!

I also thought that Fuga may use transmission technique, but the story has never elaborated on it, mainly because he's almost always absent from the story. But wasn't Fuga's lotus position a process/ritual to restore his damaged body?

I don't think chrysopoeia (the creation of gold) is a simple task in this story. Only SSS+ class of alchemists like Glion (and very likely also Fuga) are able to transmute lower value elements into gold. That's why their Rings have golden shanks, not silver like those owned by lower ranked alchemists like Minato and Kyouka. If the creation of gold is a simple task, then Renge would've already been a trillionaire richer than Elon Musk, since making money is her main goal (or maybe sole goal) in studying alchemy. The global economy in Houtarou's world would've collapsed due to the oversupply of gold. And even Glion himself can only perform limited degree of chrysopoeia. If he could easily turn everything into gold, then his obsession of creating the El Dorado would've already been fulfilled, at least in a small region. He would've already created a golden apartment complex, haha. If Glion could perform infinite amount of chrysopoeia, then he would have no need for the power of the Unholy Trinity, which does allow infinite amount of chrysopoeia because they're the ones who created alchemy in the first place.

This is why making the most powerful character in your story (God) the villain like I mentioned here is a very very very bad idea.

When I claim that I'm God, people expect to see me do Godly things, for example: creating a second moon by pointing my finger to the sky, reviving dead people and make them appear in the blink of an eye, making the stars fall from heavens by waving my hands, replace a city with its older version 2000 years ago, travel to the past, transmuting water into wine like Jesus did, etc. I can basically do the impossible and manipulate (or even violate!) the laws of nature. It's impossible for a human to win in a fight against me the God. Making God the villain will initially make your story look artificially exciting, but if you want your hero/protagonist to defeat him, you'll eventually be forced to severely depower him by making him incompetent, make irrational decisions at crucial moments, make stupid mistakes not even a rational human would do, etc. You'll be forced to humanize a God, which is something laughable. Basically, you'll be forced to drag him down to the level of your hero/protagonist.

Not to mention that it will also create many logical anomalies that are almost impossible to resolve, if not actually impossible. Over time, these logical anomalies will crop up and accumulate, and will eventually wreck and turn your story into an illogical, irrational, incomprehensible mess that make little sense.

After watching several stories that feature this faulty trope, nowadays, everytime I see a God-level villain, I can almost guess that the hero/protagonist will defeat him not because the hero/protagonist is strong nor shrewd, but because the God-level villain is dumb. The God-level villain will make one or several stupid but plot-crucial mistakes at several plot-crucial moments that will conveniently move the plot in favor of the hero/protagonist and allow himself to be defeated by the hero/protagonist.

So, will Gaelya and or Gigist (and very likely also Glion) make stupid mistakes like Germain did that will allow them to be defeated by Houtarou? I see a 80-90% probability that they or at least one of them will.

TLDR:
A God-level archvillain = Crappy writing may very likely be lurking behind the facade of artificial excitement.

Why did you say that we can't be certain of who created humans? The Unholy Trinity themselves implied that they created humans and stated that they created alchemy, and very likely also created everything in Houtarou's world. The Unholy Trinity created alchemy, and Chemies are created via alchemy, so the Unholy Trinity are the creators of Chemies, not humans. Humans merely transmuted matters into creatures called Chemies. Even Gigist himself said in episode 36 @ 16:21 that he directly created the first 2 Chemies. The Unholy Trinity didn't only create Houtarou's world. They also created the law (alchemy).

Can Glion (or other alchemists) transmute an object into a 100% perfect copy of himself? Maybe he can, maybe he can't. Maybe it's possible, maybe it's impossible. The story has never shown nor hinted at it. What's been shown so far is that Glion is only able to copy his soul into his golden Rubik cube. So, Glion can copy his soul into a homunculus and transmute it into another Glion, but it's not a 100% accurate copy of Glion.

In alchemy, copying is not creation. I've already elaborated this point in my first point above.

Why do only Arumi have the need for accurate communication channel, but not Sabimaru? Both Arumi and Sabimaru have speech impairment, so they need accurate communication channel. Their intentions should be 100% accurately conveyed by their Isaac AI tablets, in verbatim, word for word, letter for letter, with no distortion. No more, no less. Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet with 100% accuracy will convey his true personality, including his shyness, albeit with a normal, louder, clearer voice.

I think you conflate the information that we (the viewers) have and the information that the characters have. Of course we (the viewers) already know Sabimaru's true personality because we know almost everything in the story, but are all the characters in the story know Sabimaru's true personality like we do? Do strangers know Sabimaru's true personality? Of course not. Strangers would still need accurate communication, which should be the main function of the Isaac AI tablet. Even Houtarou still needed accurate information about Sabimaru's true feelings and intentions, which were grossly distorted by his Isaac AI tablet. So, why does everyone in the story have accurate communication, but not Sabimaru? Why does his Isaac AI tablet distort and obfuscate communication, instead of facilitate accurate communication? The answer is clear: Because the writers made it so.

Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet has never put Sabimaru in danger because the story has never shown it. But remember, the internal logic of a story should be consistently applied to all possibilities, including hypothetical scenes, not just to scenes shown on the screen. In a hypothetical scene where Sabimaru encountered street thugs, the rudeness of his Isaac AI tablet would definitely put him in danger. About Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet severely misinterpreting his intention, it was already shown when it grossly distorted Sabimaru's compliment to Houtarou into a total silence. I already elaborated on this in my previous post.

Even without accounting for the logical anomaly about Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet grossly distorting his intentions, there's still another logical anomaly about Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet having Kenichi's resentful personality, while it was shown in the previous episode that Sabimaru's Isaac AI tablet was given to him by Kid Kenichi while their relationship was still good. Kid Kenichi (before he resented Kid Sabimaru) had normal personality, not resentful, so why was the Isaac AI tablet he gave to Kid Sabimaru has had rude, resentful personality? This is what happens when your story is too convoluted. It will eventually make you confused.

And why is it weird to hear my own voice coming out from outside my body? When I use a sound amplification system, my voice is captured by the microphone and comes out of the loudspeakers. What's so weird about it? That's one of the functions of the Isaac AI tablet: A mind-reading AI tablet with a built-in speaker to help those with speech impairment. It's not like the Isaac AI tablet is a homunculus that is a copy of myself. Now that is weird, haha.

My point of criticism is:
These 2 episodes were convoluted and largely unnecessary. It answered 1 question, but created 5 new questions and logical anomalies. It's a hallmark of plot convolution.

I think I gotta stop here. I've already elaborated too much in this thread, haha.