Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 21- "Too Bitter Gavv" Discussion
 

Hanto is furious upon learning Shoma's secret.

Lage 9 stands awkwardly while Hanto hits Shouma after he and Hanto are given the very very very convenient reveal (read: infodump) by Glotta when she calls Shouma the youngest of the Stomach family. She's never considered Shouma to be a part of the Stomach family, and in this scene she conveniently calls him the youngest of the Stomach family? Why does she reveal it in this scene (and at the end of episode 20 last week)? Why didn't she reveal it in earlier episodes before 20? Dang, what a very very very convenient coincidence! If I were Glotta, I'd have smeared Shouma's reputation right at the moment I first encountered Hanto/KR Valen in episode 7. No need to wait and let Hanto/KR Valen worked together with Shouma/KR Gavv for 14 episodes from episodes 7-20. If I were Glotta, I'd have destroyed their potential cooperation before it had even begun. Heck, I'd even have gone full Kusaka mode and manipulated them like Kusaka did to Takumi and Kiba in KR Faiz. Based on what she did to Shouma's mom's Hito Press in the flashback scene in episode 04 @ 14:27, she's steadily shown the signs of a cruel, sadistic personality like I mentioned in episode 19 thread here, though her manipulation skill may not be as good as Nyelv's.

In the scene @ 00:37:
Hanto: "Shouma... You're a Granute?! What do you mean you're Stomach's youngest child???"
Me: "No shit, Sherlock! You're 7 episodes overdue, bruh. Where have you been, Hanto?"

In the scene @ 01:40 Hanto that when he's injured in episode 20, he accuses Shouma of cooperating with Lage 9 to make some Dark Snacks, and Shouma tries to explain to him that Lage 9 has a true reason for working for Stomach. Naturally, Hanto immediately dismisses Shouma's attempt. Lage 9 says to Shouma @ 02:09 that this time he needs to hear Shouma's sob story. Shouma finishes his sob story by @ 03:46, and Lage 9 concludes it by saying that he also hates Stomach, but unlike Shouma, he's pretty much apathetic toward humans. He thinks that he doesn't need to work with Hanto and other humans due to them being weak. He thinks that working with Hanto (and other humans) will only slow down his pace and cause problems. His reasoning here is kinda weird. If he wants to destroy Stomach ASAP, then the only thing that makes sense is gathering as many allies as possible, be it Granutes or humans. He says that Hanto is a weak like other humans, but the fact that Hanto is able to transform into KR Valen should be more than enough for him to conclude that some humans are stronger than the others, and Rider humans like Hanto are the people he needs to ally himself with. In the short term, he considers saving humans from being Hito Pressed by the Stomach part-timers is an unnecessary task, but if it could gain the sympathy from Hanto and other humans, then he should consider it a very good prospect in the long run. Mmmmmaaaaayyyyybbbbbeeeee Sachika is the person who would make him finally change his tune? Haha.

Also, the Doppudding and Purujelly RG's are shown @ 03:47 and @ 04:58 to get along just fine with Shouma's RG's, which means that they're all able to communicate with each other in a normal manner. The Doppudding and Purujelly RG's are indeed not one-use trinkets like I hypothesized in the episode 16 thread here, so they're superior to the ones created by Shouma. So, like I hypothesized in the episode 17 thread here, how did Nyelv create the Doppudding and Purujelly RG's?:confused: He has no human DNA in his body nor he has a human-Granute hybrid pawn whose Gavv could be modified into another Henshin Belt Gavv based on Dente's blueprint, so how did he do it? Aren't Gochizous supposed to be created by Shouma (a unique human-Granute hybrid) via his Gavv after eating human snacks, not something that can be artificially created (and likely mass produced as well) from a sample of human snacks in Stomach's lab? Aren't Gochizous supposed to be a black swan to Dente, Nyelv, and the whole Stomach family as well? Or perhaps he does have a human-Granute hybrid pawn whose Gavv could be modified into another Henshin Belt Gavv based on Dente's blueprint, and he used that poor pawn as a living manufacturing plant to create the Doppudding and Purujelly RG's (and perhaps other unknown RG's as well)?:confused: Nyelv can't just conveniently create the Doppudding and Purujelly RG's without a human-Granute hybrid pawn, right? Right? Right? This is still unanswered and I hope it'll be answered after KR Bitter Gavv's has finished his advertising tenure, haha.

Hanto is being angry and grumpy at Kenzou's office due to his latest infodump @ 05:02, and Kenzou is just playing dumb. Kenzou says that he's been already thinking that Shouma is likely a Granute, but he says that he's never heard of Shouma being a Stomach family member. Is he saying the truth or is he still just playing dumb here? Haha. And @ 05:27 Hanto doesn't seem to be suspicious of this statement by Kenzou. At this point, Hanto should've marked Kenzou as the most untrustworthy person, so if he still takes his word by face value, then could it mean that Hanto's next major conflict would be him finally confronted with the truth that Kenzou has been working with Nyelv and manipulated his circumstance and Mr. Shioya's death, and he's just Kenzou's disposable pawn whose only purpose is being used as a lab rat in Kenzou's experiment for creating the ultimate transformation device for human that would likely be used by Kenzou himself. Perhaps Kenzou is indeed the rumored KR Bake whose transformation device is said to look like the Valen Buster, or even the perfected version of the Valen Buster. I just hope that KR Bake will use completely new helmet/inner suit/armors/etc., not a kitbash costume. Kenzou is adding fuel to the flames of conflict between Hanto and Shouma @ 05:39 by pointing out the fact that Shouma cooperated with Lage 9 in episode 20. He also says that Shouma informed him that Lage 9 was the culprit who was responsible for the mass disappearance cases in a court room in episode 15 and a movie theater in episode 16. He's trying to frame Shouma as having an ulterior due to not telling Hanto about Lage 9's crimes.

In the scene @ 06:16 Kenzou's monitor on his computer is still showing the same videos of cells. Perhaps he's indeed growing something (or rather, someone) in his lab to be used as the newest puppet. Perhaps those cells are the cells of a homunculus clone of Shouma (who is mentioned on KR Official website simply as Dark Shouma) that's been cultivated from a strand of Shouma's hair that he conveniently took in episode 19. Also, Hanto is shown to be right in front of that monitor @ 05:20. Doesn't he even have the curiosity to ask Kenzou what the heck are those cells for? If he knows that Kenzou is doing a cell cultivation experiment, then he wouldn't be surprised to see the appearance of an unknown person that looks just like Shouma, especially after Kenzou is playing dumb and adding fuel to the flames of conflict between he and Shouma. He wouldn't think that Kenzou is cultivating the newest breed of mutant grapes and strawberries, right? As usual, Hanto is made dumb by the writers.

Glotta is reporting to Lango @ 06:21 that Lage 9 has defected to Shouma's side since episode 20. She also calls Lage 9 the 3rd Granute Hunter. Like I said in my latest post several hours ago in episode 20 thread here, why does Glotta call KR Vram a Granute hunter? He's never killed any of Stomach's part-timers. Heck, he even acted as a bodyguard for the (bird?) Granute of the week in episodes 17-18 when she was confronted by Shouma/KR Gavv and Hanto/KR Valen. So why, Glotta? Why? Are you behind with the news that badly, Glotta?:confused: Glotta says that Lage 9 aka Lakia Amarga is the older brother of Komel Amarga, a part-timer who once worked under Glotta's supervision. So yes, Glotta did have a connection to Komel, although the person who assassinated Komel was not necessarily her. The possibility that Komel having been assassinated by another member of Stomach corporation, not Glotta, is also implied by Nyelv when he says @ 06:39 that Komel's data does exist in Stomach's database, but someone eliminated him a long time ago. Nyelv eyes that look cautious @ 06:54 and @ 07:21 and his slightly nervous attempt @ 07:24 at playing dumb and trying to deflect the blame could be the signs that he's as equally surprised at Komel's unknown cause of death as Lango and Glotta are, and has just realized that there could be another member of Stomach corporation who has been operating in incognito mode all this time, and that member is definitely not Lango, Glotta, Shita/Jeebh, nor Shouma, let alone the grunt part-timers. That gesture seems to imply that Nyelv the manipulator is starting to cautiously suspect that all along he himself may have been manipulated by another manipulator who has been surfing behind everyone's back, and that person's track has been (almost) perfectly buried that not even Lango the stupid CEO villain is able to dig it.

Perhaps Komel was assassinated by a fellow grunt part-timer or a higher-ranked part-timer, not Glotta nor her agents? Or perhaps he was assassinated by Bouche's or even Dente's agents/mooks, or even by Dente himself? Dente's last appearance was in episode 16, and he hasn't even shown his human disguise, so Dente is definitely not off the table. Dente has been living as a dysfunctional, useless bum in the human world for almost 2 decades? Nah, I don't buy it. Dente, being the creator of the Hito Press process, the Mimic system, the Stomach's Drivers, and Shouma's Henshin Belt Gavv is the only character so far who has the most knowledge in this story, so it makes sense if he could have the necessary knowledge to modify his Gavv into the God mode version of the Stomach's Driver that would allow him to disguise himself as *drum roll* *wait for it* *drum roll* another Granute. Dente could be the mastermind and the ultimate manipulator who has manipulated Shouma, Lango + Glotta (who manipulate Shita and Jeebh), Nyelv (who manipulates Lage 9 and Kenzou who in turn manipulates Hanto). Heck, even Bouche's death (which did look suspiciously sudden) was perhaps orchestrated by Dente as well. Now it makes sense why Dente left almost all his data on the experiment he performed on Shouma's weak Gavv in Stomach's database. Almost? Yes, almost. You read that right. He could've left only all the necessary data as a subtle calling card to incite Nyelv's plan. After all, Nyelv was Dente's protege. So, Dente only left the data that he wanted Nyelv to see, and censored the rest of the ultra-crucial data from anyone in Stomach, including Nyelv's prying eyes, let alone Lango the stupid CEO villain. There's a culinary term in Italian: Al dente, which literally means 'to the tooth'. It's used to refer to perfectly-cooked pasta with the right degree of firmness, basically meaning the perfectly-cooked dish. So yeah, he could be the one who eats everyone in this story. My hypothesis is that Dente could be the Evol of this story. I think he could be the Al Capone of Stomach corporation.

It's still unclear what the heck Dente's been doing during his permanent residence on the human world. Heck, during his almost 2 decades of being 1000% AWOL from Stomach corporation, he could've had at least an offspring with a human woman, and the offspring is *drum roll* *wait for it* *drum roll* *wait for it* *drum roll* *wait for it* *drum roll* *wait for it* *drum roll* *wait for it* *drum roll* *wait for it* *drum roll* *wait for it* Sachika. It's not outlandish if Dente found a mechanism to hide a human-Granute hybrid's Gavv, which would allow that human-Granute hybrid to live as a normal human. Heck, she could be another homunculus, just like Dark Shouma. Like I pointed out in my hypothesis in episode 19 thread here, she's the only protagonist among the main trio who has virtually no back story (at all!). Unlike previous KR heroines, she's a 100% complete stranger to all the protagonists and or villains. Perhaps her utter lack of backstory could be a sign that her backstory would reveal something surprising, or even shocking(!). I see a 70-80% chance that the writers likely went full Yuuya with her. Perhaps her backstory (and Dente's!) would be hinted, teased, or even revealed after KR Bitter Gavv's debut. Perhaps there's indeed a connection between the utter lack of Sachika's backstory and Dente's utterly empty life who has been living like a solitary vagrant inside a cave. They're the only 2 main characters with the least amount of backstory, especially Sachika who has literally no backstory. I'm smelling something here! TLDR: The utter lack of backstory = The very high probability that the writers went full Yuuya is just around the corner, haha.:lol

In the scene @ 07:30 Lango has just ordered Nyelv to increase the security level of Stomach's doors, and ordered Glotta to check factory's equipment and inventory. He's just realized that Stomach's doors, especially the ones that lead to the Door Room are pathetically, laughably unguarded after all this time? Yeah, he's patently stupid. His IQ points is probably only 10, which means that he has a disturbingly profound mental disability.

In the scene @ 07:51, Sachika and Shouma are celebrating Shouma's hard work for recovering Takeshi and the other Hito Pressed humans from Stomach's factory. Shouma is eating a piece of blue macaron, a well-known French cookie @ 09:04. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooo, why doesn't he produce a Gochizou based on it?:confused: Shouma is reflecting that he should've straightforwardly told Hanto about his true nature as a human-Granute hybrid. He also fears that Hanto might tell Sachika about it. He's almost telling Sachika about it on a whim, but decides to not do it and instead chooses to go outside to buy several more pieces of macaron. When he's walking outside, he's suddenly having a blackout and collapsed @ 10:40. What happens to him there?

Hanto is scrolling through social media @ 11:07 where he finds out that the people kidnapped by Lage 9 have returned, and reluctantly concludes that Shouma was the one who got them back. He (correctly) thinks that Shouma managed to persuade Lage 9, although he still sees Shouma as a member of the Stomach family. He's finally starting to connect the dots between Shouma's fight with Shita/Jeebh and Shouma's confession in front of him in episode 14 @ 09:31. Just as he eagerly decides @ 12:33 that he'll listen to Shouma's whole sob story, in a very very very convenient coincidence he sees a mysterious person that looks exactly like *drum roll* *wait for it* *drum roll* Shouma. He thinks he's just mistaken another person for Shouma, but he decides to follow the Shouma look-alike anyway. Meanwhile, the Shouma look-alike is starving and eats the foods from a ramen stall nearby after knocking out the owner. Although he has eaten quite a lot of foods there, it seems like he's still hungry, likely because those foods can't satiate him.

The next day @ 14:24, Hanto wonders whether the Shouma look-alike he saw yesterday in the previous scene is really Shouma. When he enters a restaurant to have breakfast, there's a crowd of several people there. It's conveniently revealed that the owner/steward of that restaurant is interviewed by a police. The owner/steward says that he got into a fight with an unknown person last night. A man in the crowd tells Hanto that the owner/steward was attacked by an unknown person last night, and he shows Hanto the video of the attack, which reveals that the attacker was the Shouma look-alike that Hanto was trying to follow last night. Hanto scrolls through social media and finds several posts that confirmed that the Shouma look-alike was indeed creating ruckus last night there. Hanto immediately tells Sachika about the Shouma look-alike, and concludes that this is the real Shouma's true nature. He even blabs to her that Shouma is one of the Granutes, the monsters who have been disguising as humans and attack humans. He warns Sachika that Shouma is dangerous and tells Sachika not to let him in when he comes. Then off he goes, haha. Hanto does the right thing when he tells Sachika that Shouma is dangerous, since it'd be bad if the Shouma she encounters is the the look-alike, not the real one. Better safe than sorry. This is one of the very few instances where he makes actual sense, haha.:lol

Lage 9 is trying to operate his Stomach smartphone @ 16:07, but since he revealed himself to be a traitor in episode 20, that smartphone is not only out of service, but also 100% bricked, haha. It's now gained a new feature as a fancy paperweight from the other world, haha. He's trying to use it to see what the other part-timers are up to. So yeah, his only source of information is now completely shut off due to him revealing himself as a traitor too early last week. How's he gonna find out about Stomach activities now? Also, if he could gain more crucial information about Stomach, then he could leverage it by threatening to leak it to the Granute law enforcement. He could use it to blackmail Stomach and play his own game, instead of being locked out like this. Although, as implied @ 17:11, this situation could force him to find a job in the human world and force him to mingle with humans, and as a result his apathy toward human would gradually decrease and make him more empathetic to humans who he's seen as an inferior species. He would likely have a journey similar to the one experienced by the obocchama Tsurugi Kamishiro/KR Sasword in KR Kabuto who was completely out of touch with the common people. Tsurugi fell in love with Misaki during his journey, so mmmmmaaaaayyyyybbbbbeeeee Lage 9 would end up falling in love with Sachika? Haha.:lol

The Shouma look-alike robs a candy store, eats several different types of candy, and then beats up the owner @ 17.25. He also eats a pack of Sparkin Gummy candies. Sooooo, the Sparkin Gummy RG is actually created from candies of the same name, not from ordinary Poppin Gummy candies that are corrupted by the Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv. So yeah, like he says @ 18:18, it seems like his gluttony can only be satiated by candies and snacks, not full, complete meals like the ramen last night. That scene also shows that he's just found out that his gluttony can only be satiated by candies and snacks, so it's clear that he's not the real Shouma, but a fake one. The most cringe-inducing scene is @ 17:43, when it shows a man(!) nearby is only recording the fake Shouma beating up the store owner without even trying to do anything to restrain him. That man just let the fake Shouma get off scot-free. That's a very bad attitude to have, especially by men! That's the worst example in a TV show where the target demography is children. Of course, the writers made that man behave that way in order to portray Hanto (who very very very conveniently appears out of nowhere @ 18:33) as the hero who saves the day. That scene is the ultimate facepalm. Gosh, how blatantly manipulated this story can be? Just because this is a story about vigilantes fighting otherworldly invaders doesn't mean that the police (and the civilians) can do nothing to at least try to stop them. They still have normal, healthy, and well-functioning logic, rationality, and common sense, right? Also, in this context, the civilians still have honor, dignity, and courage, right? Right? Right?

And of course, that cringe-inducing scene is required so that the plot can have a fight between Hanto and the fake Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv @ 18:49. Hanto thinks that the fake Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv is the real one gaining new power. The fake Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv breaks his right elbow when he's punching the untransformed Hanto(!) @ 20:06, although he can restore the broken limb. It seems like it's broken because he's basically just a cheap counterfeit of the real Shouma. His weak bones are likely due to him being a clump of homunculus cells cultivated in Kenzou's lab(?), although that weak aspect is likely offset by raw power. I'd be interested to see Hanto/KR Valen and the real Shouma/KR Gavv to go full Deadpool on him and break all his bones, haha.:lol But, if the fake Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv has a Deadpool-esque regenerational ability, then does it mean he can be mutilated into small pieces, and those pieces would grow into a new individual? Gulp! If my hypothesis is correct, then the cells cultivated from the fake Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv could definitely behave like virus, or perhaps like the Symbiote did in Spider-Man that created Venom and Carnage, and also has the ability to corrupt normal Granutes and transform them into KR Bitter Gavv like I hypothesized in my latest post several hours ago in episode 20 thread here. It means that KR Bitter Gavv could be any Granute, or worse, any human. Strangely, his right elbow when he's punching the untransformed Hanto(!) @ 20:06, but when he's punching Hanto who has transformed into KR Valen @ 21:01, his limbs are perfectly fine. Weird.

Lage 9/KR Vram also very very very conveniently appears out of nowhere @ 21:55 when he's strolling, probably looking for odd jobs, haha. Perhaps he could work at Sachika's store? Haha. He decides to join the fray because he still needs to shill the DX Vrastum Gear. Comically, he concludes @ 22:09 that he'll encounter this kind of scene if he just walks around Tokyo, haha.:lol

Well, at least KR Bitter Gavv Sparkin Gummy looks better than KR Gavv Poppin Gummy. The colors of the Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv also look much better than the gaudy red of the Henshin Belt Gavv. The combination of black, red, and purple, combined with the shape of the helmet makes him look like a Rider from KR Kiva. Coincidentally, KR Kiva was named so after the word kiba, which means fang, haha.:lol

Jeebh is still absent after his last appearance in episode 16. He doesn't appear at all since then, not even 1 frame. The fact that Jeebh is still nowhere to be seen could mean that he'd likely transform into the 5th Rider or the 6th Rider, since there has been a rumor about Kenzou transforming into KR Bake. Perhaps Jeebh would be one of the normal Granutes who are possessed by Dark Shouma's cells and gets his Gavv corrupted, or perhaps he's the final user of the Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv. That, or he's simply forgotten by the writers due to the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, haha.:lol Jeebh is supposed to be the person who has the most problems with Shouma due to Shita being killed by Shouma in episode 14, so he should've been consumed by revenge and *wait for it* bitterness. He should've been searching frantically for Shouma to exact his revenge. He should've ordered his agents to search for Shouma and attack him at first sight. Heck, he could've even decided to play dirty by using Sachika as a hostage to lure Shouma out. But that didn't happen. Instead, Jeebh has been completely gone from the story. So yeah, perhaps he's simply forgotten by the writers due to the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, haha.:lol

Next week:

Dark Shouma formally introduces himself as KR Bitter Gavv and challenges the other Riders. It seems like he's getting cocky, haha.

Lage 9 is straightforwardly asking Kenzou whether his loyalty is indeed with Stomach. Maybe yes, maybe no. Perhaps Kenzou's loyalty is given to those who can provide the most amount of financial support and resources for his endless pursuit of developing the best Driver for a human. So yeah, his motivation is likely similar to Ryoma Sengoku's in KR Gaim. He could likely imply and or hint at the possibility of the existence of such Driver (the Bake Gunner?) in this episode. Or perhaps Kenzou is just playing dumb as usual, haha.

The real Shouma/KR Gavv is teaming up with Hanto/KR Valen to defeat Dark Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv. Yep, my hypothesis since episode 19 here about KR Bitter Gavv being Dark Shouma, a clone of the real Shouma/KR Gavv is finally proven to be correct in this scene. Since KR Bitter Gavv is this season's KR Gotchard Daybreak, could it be the case that Dark Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv would later contribute to the creation of the RG for the recently leaked KR Blizzard Sorbet? Perhaps a small portion of his cells would attach themselves to Shouma's body, strengthen it, and give his Henshin Belt Gavv a new feature of RG creation ability. Perhaps that's the reason why the top jaw of the DX Henshin Belt Gavv is removable.

Mmmmmaaaaayyyyybbbbbeeeee...

Humans are such weaklings, always needing help? Lakia, the only interaction you've had with humans is by drugging and kidnapping them. You haven't helped a single one. Sure, you may be stronger than a human being but you have only just begun to turn against the Stomach corporation.

It is sweet how Shouma hasn't given up on Hanto.

Oh my god, Suga, you immoral casuap! You are evil for using the truth like that.

I wonder how many hitopresses did Shouma recover? It can't be all of them, of course. But will the show be brave enough to destroy hitopresses again? Like, killing off innocent civilians?

And of course, Shouma is now reluctant to tell the truth to Sachika about his nature. I like how maturally the show handles the isolating nature of super-heroism.

Aaaaand now Shouma has super evil hungry side, which is probably hungry for huma flesh. Way to ramp up the tension and drama.

Lakia, why do you still have the Stomach Inc. company phone? Don't you know that could act as a beacon and lead part-timers and minions to you? Maybe even Glotta?

Lakia immediately figuring out that Shouma wouldn't be the type to fight his friend and shooting him is that kind of pragmatism I desire.

And that's the end of the episode. They show regular Shouma in the next episode that means that Bitter Gavv is not Shouma's split personality but probably his doppelganger.

Was asking myself how they would implement Lakia into the opening - and he's chilling at Hapipare! I wonder if this is a bit of foreshadowing, I bet Sachika would gladly welcome and teach him about human culture.

Might it’s just formatting for the sake of fitting him in though, but I like seeing him chill with the others regardless.

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

So as far as this episode goes - the drama is ramping up quite a bit now that Hanto first got a bit more levelheaded but then Dark Shouma shows up - and now Sachika also knows about Shouma being a Granute. Especially after Shouma tried to tell her himself but failed to do so - that sucks. At least this seems to be cleared up next week; I like the main trio and their dynamic so I'm sad to see them broken up.

Enter Bitter Gavv! I wasn't quite sure what his "flavor" would be, given that the name is "bitter" and his minions look aggressive, so I assumed it's these prank gummies, the ones which taste spicy or bitter.

But he's cola flavored actually! I quite like that, because all my life I’ve been snacking on those cola bottle gummies from Haribo, they’re really good!

https://i.imgur.com/qPWa1a9.jpeg

His fighting style and general nature make me assume he is a clone after all. His demeanor seems childish yet sinister, and while fighting his limbs actually break or are malformed, and he bends them back into shape. Like his body isn't quite set yet. That’s rather brutal and unsettling but quite fitting for a Dark Rider.

Great stuff from this show as usual. And about how they will properly clear up Vram / Lakia’s crimes, well...

:lol :lol :lol

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

You're saying this as if stuff like this didn't happen in real life?

I looked. Well, I myself didn’t fully believe my words, but it seems that those who predicted Hanto’s dark arc were really in a hurry (at least at this stage of the show). He again proves that he is different from the typical aggressive secondary obsessed with revenge and already in the first third of the episode he logically realizes the correct state of affairs. And the preview of the next episode promises his reunion with Shouma, which means all (or at least most) misunderstandings between them will be resolved. At least until more information comes to light about his mother's fate.
I was thinking about criticizing Hanto for getting Sachika involved in what was happening by telling her that Shouma was Granute, but in fact, here he did the most correct thing.It’s too dangerous to leave her in the dark, plus Hanto didn’t say a word about the riders. If they decide to leave Sachika in the dark, then we can simply blame everything on Bitter Gavv.
Lakia takes the news of Shouma's nature even easier. Apart from the reason he gave, I would also like to point out that Lakiya lost his younger brother, and Shouma is hated and despised by his older siblings, so they subconsciously need each other.
Yes, Vram is still dismissive of people, but that’s it for now. Plus, he advised to forget about Valen at the beginning of the episode and at the same time he himself comes to his aid at the end. The victims of his kidnappings seem to have really decided to bring everyone back, although I have no idea how the people from the trial survived. I can only assume that due to the high quality of the product (aka lucky victims), it was intended for the VIP line, and it is not designed for large volumes.
It's funny, but his own fears and conscience hit Shouma much harder than the resentment of his allies. At first I thought he just couldn't create Gochizo when he was unhappy, but it seems to have something to do with Bitter Gavv since it came down to fainting. Or maybe it’s a coincidence, and because of all the excitement, Shouma forgot to eat properly again.
Regarding the darkest rider, I can say that since Kabuto, the evil counterparts have become much more impressive. He is truly a dark reflection of Shouma in both behavior and ability. The costume is beautiful, the special effects are both disgusting and exciting. But so far little is known about him, we are waiting for the next episodes.
And I think it's time for interim results. This time my opinion is not too different from the majority. The show is good. So good that, if something doesn’t happen, it will objectively become my favorite.
This is the ideal golden mean between his two G-predecessors, one of which solved problems faster than the viewer could realize them, and the other frantically tormented its characters even at the expense of logic and fascination. In general, with its perfect balance, Gavv reminds me of W, which is not the best at anything, but is good enough at everything, which ultimately makes it the best (subjectively). And although I have some concerns about the future of Gavv, I have hope for Komura. In any case, I'm already too attached to these characters to follow their future with interest.

Most likely, this is what he hoped for. Still, except for Glotta and (possibly) other Stomatch, Granute Vram has no rivals. So they should be afraid of him. Or the poor man from the world of Granute, who works with a pickaxe, really doesn?t understand sophisticated technology.

Yes, I already noted it. All I can say is that Stomatch Inc. there is definitely a need to increase production capacity, because the Hito Press from the courtroom has been cover with dust. Still, Zolda?s claims that Lango is a stupid director are not so groundless.

There is a lot going on in real life, but not all of it deserves to be converted into art. For example, in reality, sworn enemies can spend a long time preparing for the final battle, but before it one of them chokes on a cherry pit with fatal results. It?s unlikely that you will highly appreciate such a plot, right?
The point here is not that such behavior should not be shown. But since they decided to show it, they need to condemn it.Otherwise, we run the risk of something like this happening again in real life. Here it is worth remembering that by copying real life, art simultaneously inspires it and justifies it. In order to impress the viewer, who is bombarded with news from all over the world every day, the author is forced to constantly go beyond the line and thereby push it further. Of course, what is shown in Gavv is far from this very line, but for some it is the first step. The characters of Game of Thrones should only inspire disgust in a normal person, but for some reason the modern viewer wants to watch exactly this show of moral ugliness.

Of course there are people who do exactly what that man does. Duh. My point was at least please show one human, just one normal human (not Hanto!), who stands up to Dark Shouma's petty crime in that scene. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but my peanut brain can't find a single scene in this story where the Tokyo police department are even responding in a proper manner to the threats of Granute invasion, except in this episode when a policeman interviews one of Dark Shouma's victim.

Bruuuhhhh... Stop assuming my intention. Just stick to my points of criticism, and try to refute it. There are a gazillion of logical anomalies you can choose from in this pathetically, laughably, indefensibly lazy, cheap, sloppy, and atrocious story, haha.:lol

I've never claimed that Lango is a stupid CEO villain. I show all the evidence that Lango is a stupid CEO villain.

The drama escalates but will quickly come to a resolution in the next episode.

Rakia still lacks complete virtue; he has no attachment to humans, as demonstrated by his advice to Shoma to abandon Hanto, viewing humans as mere burdens. He fights only for revenge and not to protect, unlike Hanto. Seems they give Rakia a zero body count, the way to make it easier for the audience to accept his redemption. People would see him as worse and irredeemable if his victims couldn't be saved, though he still committed the same crime regardless of the outcome. However, just because his actions led to victims doesn’t mean he is irredeemable (which means permanently evil).

Shoma fears revealing his secret to Sachika, but he knows that Hanto has intense hatred for the Granutes, which he expressed to Dente earlier. Shoma views Sachika almost like an angel for taking him in. Naturally, Hanto also cares about Sachika, leading to the inevitable situation where Sachika discovers from Hanto that Shoma is a Granute, warning her not to let him in when he returns home. Even if Shoma tries to hide this truth, others may expose him.

Hanto plans to end his conflict with Shoma upon learning about the news of the disappearing people returning. He thinks reasonably, like Shoma convinced Rakia and his feud with the Stomach family. However, a doppelganger of Shoma is going around stealing food and attacking anyone who tries to restrain him. Consequently, Hanto genuinely believes that Shoma is evil based on his doppelganger's actions, but it's that the next episode will feature both Gavv and Bitter Gavv in the same location.

The show has to some point connect between Sachika trying to make other people happy and Granute part-timers (used to be Rakia's "colleagues" and what he still did to infiltrate) trying to make other people happy. And Sachika learning that Rakia can just instantly make people happy... by injecting neurotoxin. I wonder if you or others'd expect Sachika to never know about Rakia's previous crimes (rather like Fumi in Ghost dealing with Alain), I rather hope she does and still welcomes/forgives him.

So, it appears that Shoma's emotional state is also essential for spawning a Gochizo, as he fails to produce a new Gochizo while eating a macaron in a down state.

https://i.imgur.com/u3CxqEn.jpg

The most bitter part about this whole episode for me is having to accept that it's the first episode of Gavv not to have PoppinGummy anywhere in it.

Of course, outside of the shots from last week, it's *also* the first episode to straight up not have Gavv in it, which makes the absence a little more pointed and purposeful than simply forgetting to have the base form in there. Instead, the Gavv we know steps out of the spotlight to introduce us to his more Bitter counterpart, who, admittedly, leaves a good impression right away. While the specifics of what his deal even is are far from clear, I'm liking the vibe that this isn't simply an evil version of Shouma, but a sort of cracked mirror image -- broken, at least as much as he is malicious. It comes across both in the performance of Hidekazu Chinen, who does a pretty impressive job playing such a twisted version of Shouma's usual enthusiasm for discovering new things to eat, and in Bitter Gavv's fight against Valen, where Satoshi Fujita continues to impress as action director by letting the characters inside the suits color the choreography so well. Rather than just stomping on Hanto as the cool new bad guy, Bitter Gavv's unfamiliarity with his own abilities creates a much more complex and interesting scene where beats like him straight up dislocating both his arms help to paint a picture of what this guy is like while also simply being unique and fun ideas to make the fight stand out.

And on the subject of impressive directors and new faces to this show, this episode and the next are by none other than Ryuuta Tasaki, squeezing in between Gotchard and Gozyuger to treat us all to the sauce he decided to bring to this one. He directs so many pilots because he's just kinda reliable that way, you know? In this case, not only do you get all the usual clarity he brings, but a couple flashier touches that definitely stand out from the way other directors probably would've handled the same script.

The choice to emphasize how deeply those specific words from Hanto at the start hurt Shouma by having the plain text of the line be the only thing on the screen for a moment worked brilliantly. It feels outside of this show's usual style, but seeing those words literally hang over Shouma for that brief instant, isolated in a black void, I think it definitely helps get the impact of what Shouma is feeling across to the viewer.

It's a good episode for the characters in general. It's pretty heartbreaking how it also builds on the established symbolism of the Gochizo to further stress how Shouma's fear has left him disconnected from the warmth and happiness that usually accompanies sharing food with someone he cares about. And then there's Hanto, who despite his aggression heading into the episode still lives up to basically every nice thing I've ever said about him? I've talked before about the way Sachika's presence has such a visible positive impact on Shouma, but I'm not sure I've given due credit to the fact that Hanto had someone like that in his life too, even if we didn't get to know him for very long. It's rather touching that Hanto's experiences as a freelance writer allow him to keep such a clear head even in situations like this. In real life, it can be pretty hard to put personal passions aside and focus on finding out the facts first, and as the secondary hero in a Kamen Rider show, regularly failing to do that is basically outright expected. Time and again, though, Hanto is always actively trying to be a better version of himself, and I seriously respect that about the guy.

One wonders if Dark Shouma showing up just as Hanto was changing his mind about Light Shouma was a coincidence, or Suga making sure that his puppet crosses out the g and changes the a to an I when discussing his secretive friend’s seeming alignment.

I might've overestimated Nyelve last week, since he looks as surprised as his older siblings about Lakia's betrayal. However, I find it pretty incredulous that Lango is trying to hold Nyelve partially culpable for conducting the Granute remodification surgery, even though that's literally part of his job. He wasn't even involved in hiring Lakia. While we know that Nyelve is totally to blame for creating Vram, Lango doesn't, so the accusation is weak and petty.

Takeshi, a victim of Granute Chooul, was among the Hitopresses that Gavv and Vram rescued from the factory, so we must give credit to Lakia for helping to save at least one person who he hadn't abducted.

Lakia thinks he's too cool to join in their dance. :lol

I enjoy cola-flavored stuff as well, so Sparkingummy looks a lot more delicious to me than Poppingummy.

Good point. While it's unfortunate that Hanto's sudden confession may cause misunderstanding between Shouma and Sachika, I can accept that Hanto was acting based on information that seemed to incriminate Shouma, so prioritizing Sachika's welfare was the correct choice at the time. I guess that's why the Bitter Gavv impostor arc seems like it'll conclude quickly, since the real consequence will be Sachika dealing with the truth. She seems to be a decent judge of character, like figuring out Niwa was a catfish, so I think she'll realize that Shouma's goodness is genuine.

Shouma was right to presume that it would only be a matter of time until Sachika found out his secret from somebody else, but alas, he still couldn't bring himself to properly explain his situation and now it looks even more incriminating for him due to being framed by Bitter Gavv. The critical problem for Shouma is that he worries about not being trusted, so he doesn't trust his friends with the truth either, which makes him look even more untrustworthy and now he's experiencing the consequences of his lies and half-truths. He seriously needs to confess about everything now.

Yep, that was my deduction as well. Even the highest quality food tastes weak when you feel terrible inside.

Shioya would surely be proud to see Hanto calmly and sequentially put the pieces together like a real journalist. It's rewarding that Hanto consistently proves our faith in him is totally justified, making him another reasonable Secondary like Geiz and Nago who also realized on their own that their Primary was not evil.

Sachika is a friend of Hanto as well, and they don't interact in one-time manner, albeit Shoma's the one living on Sachika's place because he has no place as a newcomer Granute unlike Hanto as a regular guy.

Then again, this conflict would be resolved in next episode.

Well, what'd you think that a primary Rider type of character are expected to do, if they're told that something they know well turns out to be evil? Sachika should be obviously like them, as someone who wants to make everyone happy, she should have the type of compassion similar to people like Eiji or Houtaro.

About the praises like Hanto being reasonable, this can be used to compare against for example, something like Kusaka never realizing that Takumi and Yuuji are good Orphnochs and still viewing them as threats that must be wiped out like the others. That something like Nago or Hanto are the right way to write a character to think rationally and Kusaka is just written in a contrived way to perpetuate/escalate conflict.

Still, Kusaka is a slightly different type, since his main motive is to remain the only close person for Mari. And Kusaka began harming Takumi long before he found out that he was Orphenoch. Again, Kusaka collaborated with Smart Brain, so his hatred of the Orphenochs is not particularly strong. A more appropriate example here would be Ryusei, who ignored all evidence of the power of friendship and followed his original plan, while being Tachibani's puppet and, albeit temporarily, killing Gentaro.

I have an elaboration for one of my points above:
- I asked in my first post above about why Shouma doesn't produce a Gochizou based on the blue macaron he eats @ 09:04. If it's because Shouma is upset/unhappy due to his strained friendship with Hanto, then how could Shouma produce the Poppin Gummy, Punchin Gummy, and Kickin Gummy RG's in episode 1 @ 06.48 after he was given a pack of gummy candies by Hajime the kid of the week? If Shouma requires hApPiNeSs in order to be able to produce Gochizous, then it means that he was in a happy state of mind, just several hours after his mom was brutally murdered by Glotta right in front of his two eyes. If his strained friendship with Hanto, a person he barely knows, is already enough to make him unhappy, then the sight of his mom brutally murdered by Glotta right in front of his two eyes should've made him unhappy beyond belief. He should've been ultra-depressed and shell-shocked for at least a month. He should've got a severe case of PTSD, not hApPiNeSs!

Gavv 01 @ 06.48
https://i.imgur.com/WBJS6iF.jpeg

These were the first sweets in his life. The new vivid sensation created a short-term effect of euphoria. But the more we consume food, books, sports, everything, the more our taste dulls and the more difficult it is to get the initial effect from it. The macaroni is delicious and worthy of being turned into Gochizo, but not all that unique to Shouma's sweet tooth. That's why it didn't have the same effect. Plus, it's quite possible that the creation of Bitter Gavv also had a negative effect on Shouma.

Wouldn't it be like Ryoutarou telling Airi to stay away from Yuto? Not that Yuto is evil or anything, just Ryoutarou not wanting Airi to suffer from learning his identity.

Hanto is the healthy version of Kusaka.

While Hanto, Geiz and Nago value the truth, Kusaka only values his feelings and will manipulate the truth to inconvenience people in his way.

Even Kusaka has his limits though, as he refused to hand over the Gears to Smart Brain, fully knowing it meant giving up on bringing back Mari. They can take away the one he loves the most, but he will still fight to protect humanity, even though he's otherwise a terrible person.

The first sweets in his life? Vivid sensation? Short-term effect of euphoria? Seriously?:eyebrow What about the vivid sensation of seeing his mom being brutally murdered in a cold-blooded manner right in front of his two eyes only several hours before?:eyebrow:eyebrow:eyebrow His mom was brutally murdered right in front of him, and his nervous system still had neural connections for euphoria from eating candies?:eyebrow

PTSD and shell-shock are what happen to a person who experienced intense level of distress, very often due to seeing and or being subjected to intense abuse, violence, and other forms of severe traumatic experience, especially life-threatening violence and physical abuse. Have you seen people with PTSD? Have you seen videos of war veterans with shell-shock? When presented with pleasure, they usually only respond with a brief moment of little smile at most, and then return to depression 95% of the time. Some war veterans with shell-shock are even showing signs of disturbing behavior similar to schizophrenia. Unless they've received intensive, very long-term psychotherapy, people with PTSD have difficulty experiencing pleasure and happiness, let alone euphoria. It's pretty much the opposite: People with PTSD have severe difficulty in enjoying simple things, let alone enjoying things that they previously really enjoyed.

But Shouma doesn`t give birth to Gochizo within 12 hours. "Brief moment of little smile" is enough to get first minions. Regarding PTSD and veterans, I seem to live in a country that is at war on its territory. And I can say that all people are different. Someone hasn?t left the basement for 10 years, and someone during an air raid is more worried about the lack of public transport and huge prices than about the possibility of death due to a drone or missile. And by the way, I can confidently say that during an air raid, fewer and fewer people are hiding in shelters, although the likelihood of death has not changed much. So a person gets used to everything. With large individual exceptions, of course, but still.

Catching up to Gavv after having not watched it for (checks calendar) five months. Bitter Gavv's amazing debut aside, I gotta wonder how filming for that day went down lol. Like, they really just gave the actor the script and went "For this scene you have to beat up an old lady."

That old lady was suit actress Kamio Naoko! She can endure much worse beating than that.

Oh that's awesome. I love it when suit actors play cameos.

My favorite, Jiro Okamoto as the dojo master in a Den-O episode.