Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 27- "Sour & Sweet To The Point of Burning" Discussion
 

A new weapon and Gochizo combination proves a dangerous threat.

It was likely to happen, but Suga is evil AF for what he did to Hanto's mentor.

Hanto visits Kenzou's crummy office/lab, and, in a very very very convenient coincidence, he sees Kenzou talking with 2 Dark Shoumas. He's obviously pissed off and confronts Kenzou. Kenzou's scheme is exposed, and he's telling the 2 Dark Shoumas @ 00:53 that that's why he told them not to come out. Well, Kenzou, if you're pissed off because your scheme is exposed (like you show @ 01:58), then why the heck do you keep your pets (the Dark Shoumas) at your crummy office/lab and create unnecessary risk of being very very very easily discovered by Hanto?:eyebrow:eyebrow:eyebrow Why didn't you keep them at another place, Kenzou?:eyebrow:eyebrow:eyebrow The answer is clear: Because the writers needed him to do so in order to move the plot. If he had a tiny dose of common sense then he would've immediately kept the Dark Shoumas at another place, safe from anyone's eyes, let alone Hanto's, the very person he's been manipulating.*facepalm Kenzou keeping the Dark Shoumas at his crummy office/lab is identical to an unfaithful man keeping his mistress at the same house he's living with his wife, haha.:lol:lol:lol That's how utterly stoooooooooopid this story is. As usual, this is just another proof (among a gazillion other) of how pathetically, laughably, indefensibly lazy, cheap, sloppy, heavy-handed, and atrocious KR Gavv's story is. *facepalm while vomiting from the cringe-inducing stupidity of this story

Again, in a very very very convenient coincidence, Shouma and Sachika find the unconscious Hanto lying at the side of a road @ 04:02. Yea, without a gazillion of awfully convenient coincidences like this, the convoluted plot wouldn't have been possible at all. Shouma wants to take Hanto to Kenzou's crummy office/lab, but Hanto declines and tells Shouma that Kenzou's dangerous, so Shouma takes him to Dente's cave instead. Shouma is surprised to see the Chocold RG, an RG he has never produced. He tries asking it about what has happened to Hanto, but it stays silent, even after being connected to Shouma's Gavvphone. Shouma then decides to ask Kenzou directly about what he has done to Hanto.

Kenzou is looking at his computer's screen which is showing vital signs for Bitter Gavv at the left side, Hanto at the right side, and in the center is showing a human baby with the code K. What does that code K stand for? Does it stand for his own name (Kenzou), which means that he's creating clones of himself? That could be the case, like I hypothesized several hours ago in my post in episode 26 thread here. Let me repost my hypothesis in that post:
"After seeing how easy it is in this story to clone a person, I see that there's a possibility that Kenzou himself might've been a clone as well. Perhaps he has been secretly creating several high-quality clones of himself (without expedited growth, unlike the Dark Shoumas) as a precautionary measure against Nyelv's betrayal? The Dark Shouma's are basically low-quality clones due to the expedited growth, like the Clone Troopers/the Grand Army of the Republic in Star Wars, and Kenzou's clones could be high-quality clones of himself, similar to how Boba Fett was a normally grown clone human created from Jango Fett's DNA. I see a very high chance that Nyelv would ultimately betray Kenzou, and I'd like to see Nyelv's reaction when he found out that Kenzou has actually created several clones (and even an army of clone Rider troopers) as a countermeasure against his scheme. If KR Gotchard had Glion, then KR Gavv has Kenzou."

Shouma confronts Kenzou and bluntly asks him what the heck he has done to Hanto, and what the black RG (Chocold RG) is. As usual, Kenzou is just playing dumb by saying that he's just trying to make Hanto stronger because that's what both Hanto and he want. Just as Kenzou asks for Shouma's help, to Shouma's surprise, a KR Bitter Gavv (as usual) conveniently appears out of nowhere and captures the untransformed Shouma.

Hanto asks Dente what the heck's wrong with his body, and Dente answers @ 09:21 that the Granute organ that was transplanted into his body that's allowed him to transform into KR Valen becomes too overly active and causes great strain to his heart when he uses the Chocold RG's. He says that the maximum limit that can be withstood by Hanto's body is probably the usage of normal RG's produced by Shouma. Dente advises Hanto to just take a rest and even remove the Granute organ, but Hanto vehemently declines because he's entered his Sad Boi dark secondary Rider phase, so he needs to keep using the Chocold RG's to fight Stomach corporation. Kenzou calls Hanto @ 11:03 to inform him that Shouma is captured as a bait. So this is why a KR Bitter Gavv captures Shouma earlier. Kinda LOL that the hero can be easily captured this way, haha.:lol Kenzou then tells Hanto to come to Nagihama Cinema's underground parking lot because he has something to show Hanto. Dente talks to Lage 9 via Sachika's smartphone @ 12:51 and tells him to stop by his cave before heading to Nagihama Cinema's underground parking lot because he also has something to show Lage 9.

Despite having pain in his chest, Hanto insists on going to Nagihama Cinema's underground parking lot @ 13:27. In my first post in episode 26 thread 2 weeks ago here I hypothesized that perhaps Kenzou would arrive at the parking lot after Shouma and or Hanto defeated a Dark Shouma, and then he challenged Shouma and transformed into KR Bake. Well, I was kinda wrong on that part. It's actually dumber because Shouma was easily captured by a KR Bitter Gavv earlier and in this scene he's mainly a bait that's used by Kenzou to provoke Hanto. Yeah, Hanto should be called KR Bait because pretty much everything in his character arc has required baits, be it his mom, Mr. Shioya, or even Shouma, haha.:lol Another weird thing is that the KR Bitter Gavv that restrains Shouma does almost nothing in this scene. Heck, he doesn't even fight anyone. Kenzou then shows off his newly completed weapon/transformation device (the Bake Magnum) and trinket (the Breacookie RG), boasts to Hanto that it's the upgrade of Hanto's Valen Buster, and then transforms into KR Bake Breacookie form. So yeah, like I said in episode 26 thread, my hypothesis in episode 24 thread here and episode 25 thread here about Kenzou's debut as KR Bake in episode 27 is proven to be 100% correct in this scene. The Bake Magnum looks much better than the Valen Buster (which looks too bare bones due to being a prototype), although KR Bake Breacookie form looks average without anything special. What I got right in my first post in episode 26 thread is Kenzou as KR Bake does challenge Shouma, while at the same time revealing to Hanto that he's been manipulating him in his quest to create the finished, ultimate product (KR Bake Breacookie form). Hanto wonders @ 15:12 if Kenzou also transplanted a Granute organ into his own body, and Kenzou answers that he's able to guarantee a sufficiently high degree of safety due to using Hanto as a test subject, which implies that the Bake Magnum likely allows him to transform into KR Bake without requiring a Granute organ to be transplanted into his own body. So yeah, my hypothesis in my post in episode 22 thread here about the endgame of Kenzou's plan of using Hanto as a test subject for the creation of the ultimate, safest Driver (the Bake Magnum) is proven to be correct in this scene.

Lage 9 lends his Vrastum Gear and Doppudding and Purujelly RG's to Dente @ 16:11. Dente says that if Nyelv was able to develop the Vrastum Gear and Doppudding and Purujelly RG's, then he's also able to develop it.

Meanwhile, Kenzou/KR Bake manages to overwhelm Shouma/KR Gavv, yet Hanto/KR Valen does nothing to help Shouma, probably because Hanto is too dense, haha.:lol Kenzou/KR Bake mocks Shouma/KR Gavv @ 19:06 for not attacking Kenzou due to him being a human. He says that an ambition must be achieved by sacrificing anything. He reveals that there are 8 or so people that have been sacrificed as pawns to fulfill his ambition, and then (as usual in this story) reveals in front of Hanto that Hanto's transformation (and the people around him as baits) and the creation of the Dark Shoumas are parts of a 20-year long research. Aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnndddddddddd... Yep, like I hypothesized in my first post in episode 26 thread 2 weeks ago here, Hanto is shocked and cries when he finally realizes that almost all the deaths of the important people in his life (i.e. his mom, especially Mr. Shioya's death at the end of episode 5) have been mere parts of Kenzou/Nyelv's cahoots all along to turn him into Kenzou's ultimate test subject. Well, Hanto, being dense is not a very good way to move forward in life, haha.:lol This moment will likely drive him further into the stupid, dense, stubborn Sad Boi dark secondary Rider trope. Although the Bake Magnum guarantees a sufficiently high degree of safety to Kenzou, when he detransforms @ 22:41 his right hand is experiencing visible burns, which he says is because the transformation puts a strain on an old man's body.

Jeebh? Yep, as usual, he's still MIA.
# of episodes without Jeebh: 11. He's been missing from the story for 11 episodes straight(!).
My only conclusions:
- The writers wrote themselves to a corner and couldn't do anything to insert Jeebh into the story, so he needed to be sidelined until his advertising tenure begins, very likely after Kenzou reveals himself as the creator of the Dark Shoumas and transforms into KR Bake in episode 27. But the one who will debut in episode 28 is Hanto as KR Valen Frappe Custom form, so it's very likely that Jeebh will still be absent in episode 28. Perhaps he'll return between episodes 30-32.
- There's a possibility that the writers also went Yuuya with Jeebh. Perhaps during these last 11 episodes Jeebh has been searching for Zomb to request his help to strengthen him in order to fulfill his revenge on Shouma for killing Shita. Or maybe not. Who knows what kind of convoluted plot points were crammed into the story next?

I've got nothing more to say, so let me repost my point about Jeebh in episode 23 thread here:
"And hooooooooooooooooooooly crap, Jeebh is still frakkin' absent!!! Where the heck are you, Jeebh???:confused::confused::confused: He's the only character in this story whose transformation I've really really really looked forward into, but at this point all the momentum and all my expectations about him have completely evaporated. He's completely missed his momentum.
The weirdest thing is that the writers still could't even deal with Jeebh's storyline, yet they added a new villain (Zomb) into the story and potentially made the story much harder to resolve. They hadn't solved the previous problem yet they created a new one. Also, Kenzou is starting another manipulation, adding another difficulty in resolving Jeebh's storyline."

Let me repost my point about Jeebh in episode 21 thread here:
"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"

Like I said in my post in episode 22 thread here:
"My only words for Jeebh:
You either die a villain, or live long enough to see yourself become a forgotten villain. The worst fate is not being a dead character, but being a character forgotten by its own writers. *facepalm"

Lango the stupidest CEO villain and Glotta have also rarely appeared during the last 5-10 episodes. This is what happens when you have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many villains. The writers thought they could juggle 10 balls at once, and failed miserably. The writers bit off waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than they can chew, and were ultimately overwhelmed. Combine the oversupply of villains with the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, and you've got the perfect recipe for a pathetically, laughably, indefensibly lazy, cheap, sloppy, heavy-handed, and atrocious story. Congratulations, Gavv's writers (and producers)! *intergalactic hyperdrive facepalm

Oh, and it's already episode 27, yet there's still no sign of activity from the Granute police department. What a giga LOL.:lol:lol:lol

Next week:

Hanto's going crazy in the preview section @ 23:05, haha.:lol

Shouma/KR Gavv Caking form fights Kenzou/KR Bake. Well, instead of using the Poppin Gummy RG, why didn't Shouma use the Caking RG and Blizzardsorbei RG to fight Kenzou/KR Bake in episode 27? Don't know!

Kenzou says that he'll create the strongest creature @ 23:08. Lage 9/KR Vram visits Kenzou's crummy office/lab @ 23:10 and says he's come to destroy "it", likely referring to Kenzou's strongest creature, which could be the code K baby like I've hypothesized above. The code K baby could be a perfect, ultra-engineered human clone(s) that was created from Kenzou's own DNA and is likely able to withstand the Bake Magnum's power without experiencing burns like what happens in episode 27 @ 22:41. Or maybe the code K only stands for just Kenzou himself, not his clone(s)? Haha.:lol

Hanto's debut as KR Valen Frappe Custom form. Like I hypothesized in my posts in episode 26 thread here and here, Hanto's Vrastum Gear is copied from Lage 9's Vrastum Gear, which means that the Frappeise RG is created by Dente as well. Well, besides Nyelv, now Dente is also able to create artificial (tubular-shaped) RG's which means that Shouma's RG creation power is kinda obsolete. RG's are supposed to be unique trinkets created by Shouma due to his unique human-Granute hybrid DNA, but now Nyelv and Dente are able to copy it. If RG's can now be created without involving a human-Granute hybrid, then it means my Dark Shouma #0 hypothesis that I elaborated in my second post in episode 26 thread here is very likely wrong. There are now 4 characters (Shouma, Dente, Nyelv, and Kenzou (via the Dark Shoumas)) that can easily make their own trinkets, which is soooooooooooo awfully convenient for the plot.

Based on Suga's comment about how his current body is unfit for transformation, "K" is probably a new body created solely for the purpose of using the Bake Magnum without the side effects.

Damn.... So Shioya really did get Hitopressed and killed after all. The flashback to his encounter with Otake leaves basically no room for any other possibilities. And even worse, Nyelve had ordered the hit as a favor to Suga, a man who's been manipulating Hanto for who knows how long. Suga claims he's been doing this for 20 years (Asanuma looks so young) and considering how Sae was abducted 18 years ago, could Suga be responsible for every tragedy that Hanto has suffered since the start? Poor Hanto cannot catch a break.

Dente confirms Suga's statement that the Granute organ is required for Hanto to become Valen. However, thanks to combat data on Dark Valen, Suga was able to create the Bake Magnum as a Rider System that can be used by a regular human like himself, albeit with a dehydrating side effect that he wants to find a way to mitigate. I wonder if this is how Sachika might end up as a Rider, with him using her as a test subject. Bake looks awesome in action, but due to Gavv pulling his punches against a human, I guess we'll have to wait to see his full potential. The henshin looks unpleasant from his perspective though, like he's being Baked in an oven.

Shioya was a good and wise mentor and I hope Hanto can get through this despair and avenge him.

Rider and true color reveal.

Guess Sachika has her limits, despite not being afraid of the Kamen Riders or Rakia before. She admits she's a bit scared of Dente, and the fact that Hanto has Granute organs implanted in him shocks her. The story highlights Hanto's refusal to use Shoma's Gochizos, prompting Sachika to question him about it. Hanto struggles to provide an answer. It's clear that Hanto doesn't hate Shoma; he shares with Shoma insights about Suga's true nature, his problem is just him being too reckless.

Suga is flat-out villainous, similar to the other depraved scientists in the KR series. Guess Maki from OOO was another one who started out on the ally's side before defecting later, though he has always declared his intentions to end the world back then. Like typical mad scientists, Suga views others as guinea pigs, despite claiming to thank them—echoing Nyelv's sentiments upon witnessing Shita's death. Willingness to sacrifice anything for his goals, which Suga brings up, is villainous trait.

As expected, Suga's evil nature shocks both Shoma and Hanto, which is nice, as what Suga points out, Shoma focuses on protecting humans, and the people he's encountered have generally been likable. Only Sachika initially raises Shoma's suspicions, which means she holds a higher moral ground. Although Shoma protects Granutes like Rakia as he begins to turn good too. Being human or Granute merely signifies one’s species; sentience allows for the capacity for good or evil.

If Hanto were more knowledgeable about Comel, it might also surprise him that Granutes can be a ray of sunshine too, though now he seems to have moved past his hatred of Granutes here, correcting himself wanting to exterminate the Granutes to the Stomachs instead. However, Shoma didn’t take Hanto’s feelings toward Granutes other than him into account when bringing him to Dente. It’s likely that Rakia offered a similar experience, as he was also initially out for blood against Dente.

Though it's probably because Bake was toying with Gavv, I find the beatdowns done to Gavv Poppingummy unimpressive since it's a base form and previous threats have already dealt significant damage to him. Bake certainly has a distinct character, fighting out of curiosity about what his new toys can do. As usual, nice to have him use the environment, like throwing cars. I wonder if Suga will meet his end in the next episode, given that it has been dubbed Suga and Hanto's final battle.

The Hitopress is used for non-Dark Treats purpose in Soji's murder. Wonder what'd be the difference between using Hitopress or just directly murdering him, perhaps it's just done for meta reasons to have the murder look less gruesome to children, albeit just making one lose consciousness with some blood for death is generally safe to watch too.

Don't really care if this happens or not, but her being used as a test subject rather sounds being a victim, rather than her keeping her agency. I thought it'd make sense if she'd seek Rider powers, knowing how one becomes Rider (at least if she knows about safer option Suga does), as an extension to making everyone happy; the Heisei/other Reiwa way on how one often ends up becoming a Rider (to the other's Showa), having Sachika's goals and getting the power for it. And dunno if Suga would meet his end next episode too, though this'd deprive Sachika's chance to become a Rider if she'd stay a supporting muggle.

Suga is a great villain. So much fun to watch yet so easy to hate. And man did the double down on his despicableness this week. The reveal at the end was so awful, yet so good.

The weird thing is, I realized throughout watching the episode that all of this is basically a side quest, STOMACH isn’t involved in this at all. Aside from Nyelv being mentioned and shown in a flashback, they don’t appear at all.

I wonder if Suga will go down long-term soon or maybe have further involvement in the show. His Rider-suit is very basic, and the armor is already shown to be able to be used by Bitter Gavv. Next week’s plot is rather foreseeable, but I wonder where the story will go after that.

The action was super fun this week as usual too, the choreography is so awesome and the care put into the transformation sequences and effects are fantastic.

Very good episode. This is a nice twist in the plot for Hanto. I was shock that it was Suga who kill his boss well played Toei. Now we got a look at other life forms Suga is working on and his body can’t take bake very well.

Next week final form Hanto frapp debut looks exciting.

So Suga is just comically evil. I figured he was just super pragmatic that he views his actions as justifiable, but he's just evil evil :lol

So the K on Suga's monitor, K for Kenzo, right? Or maybe that one monster who abducted Hanto's mom?

https://i.imgur.com/lVAfC9i.jpg

I haven't ever directly mentioned Suga in half a year, have I?

Goes to show how compact I'm actually managing to keep these posts, I guess, because I actually think he's one of the most compelling presences in the whole series. A lot of that probably comes from the consistently strong performance Shintarou Asanuma always gives in the role.

There's a sort of natural charisma there that makes Suga's superficially friendly demeanor just believable enough to potentially distract a viewer (or Hanto) from his constant refusal to properly engage emotionally with literally anyone around him. Suga treats the other characters in this show as though he himself only thinks of them as fictional characters -- occasionally endearing tools of no real consequence, existing to be moved around in ways that suit his tastes. As such, he recognizes people's feelings within the specific context of how they can be used, but good luck getting him to grapple with the reasons a clone of Shouma he's raising might want to call him dad ...at least not unless he comes up with a way to leverage that to his ends as well. Really, given the emphasis Gavv puts on empathy and sharing and all that, Suga is, in his own way, at least as much of an antithesis to those themes as the Stomach family.

One of the other things that makes Asanuma's performance so fun to watch is all the little touches he always puts into even the smallest scene, and apparently it was even specifically his idea to have Suga forget for a moment what Kamen Riders are supposed to say when they transform, which was maybe my favorite beat in this whole episode. It's such a perfect way to emphasize how little this all means to him. For people like Shouma, Hanto, and Lakia, becoming a Rider was an event that marked the start of a new chapter in their lives, and a commitment to fighting in the name of what they hold more dearly than anything. To Suga, Bake is just another experiment he happens to be occupied with at the moment, and he's only doing the fieldwork himself because Hanto running out left him shorthanded. Rather than feeling unmotivated or underwritten by comparison, it ends up working extremely well as a deliberate contrast to the heroes, all while fulfilling that crucial purpose of moving the story along.

There's still a lot that's mysterious about Suga, but now that he's been forced to become a more active participant in a story he seemingly thinks of himself as being above, that momentum is sure to start shaking things up quickly. Between hints of a specific grander purpose Suga is working towards, Sachika and Hanto meeting Dente so that all Shouma's allies have been properly introduced to one another, and of course, Hanto finally learning the truth of how thoroughly he's been manipulated, it definitely already feels like a lot of the old status quo of the show's first half has been completely uprooted just by this one episode, and that's coming after all the other developments lately that have accomplished much the same. Although of course, one thing that hasn't changed is how fun this show is to watch week after week.

I have several new points:
- I mentioned in my first post above that although the Bake Magnum guarantees a sufficiently high degree of safety to Kenzou, when he detransforms @ 22:41 his right hand is experiencing visible burns, which he says is because the transformation puts a strain on an old man's body. This statement could be a clue to the next step of Kenzou's plan. I hypothesized at the end of my first post above that the code K baby could be a perfect, ultra-engineered human clone(s) that was created from Kenzou's own DNA and is likely able to withstand the Bake Magnum's power without experiencing burns.
I have a new hypothesis:
The code K baby (babies?) could be a baby clone (clones?) into which he then transfers his consciousness via a mechanism similar to the one in Arnold Schwarzenegger's film The 6th Day (2000), and in Kenzou's case, the transfer could be done before the moment of his death. This kind of transfer of consciousness mechanism is required because clones are physical duplicates, and the memories inside those clones are the last known memories during the cloning procedure, so new memories of the original person after the procedure can't be duplicated. It means that the clones/code K baby (babies?) would only have the memories of the original Kenzou due to them being created before the end of episode 26, so those clone(s) could only have his memories up to that point, and his memories from episode 27 onward wouldn't be recorded because the original Kenzou still exists and a clone is still not activated. This kind of transfer of consciousness mechanism has a fatal weakness, that is, it can do nothing if the body of the active Kenzou (be it the original Kenzou or previous clone) is destroyed. If the body of the active Kenzou (be it the original Kenzou or previous clone) is destroyed, then his new memories are also destroyed, and the newly-activated clone's memories are reset to the last state (before the end of episode 26 or any other last state in future episodes). If creating serial clones via a transfer of consciousness mechanism (which is then activated with a dead man's switch like what happened in Tenet (2020) when Sator used it to detonate a nuclear bomb to destroy the past) is indeed the endgame of his plan, then he's planning to make himself effectively immortal.
- It's actually very easy for a clone to know whether he's got new memory transfer or not. Say, if a clone only remembers that the last day is May 16 (the day he was created or the day he got his last memory transfer), but the date he's activated today is May 26, then the obvious 10-day memory lapse means that the original Kenzou or the previous clone died without having a chance to transfer his new memories into the new clone. His previous 10-day memories are basically toast forever, although it can be recorded externally via texts, photos, audio/video recordings, and other forms of documentation, similar to the premise of the film 50 First Dates (2004). I hope Kenzou has a good documentation habit, haha.:lol
- If Kenzou is smart, and more importantly, prudent(!), then, besides creating multiple clones of himself that are likely stored inside his crummy office/lab, he should've also created at least 10 other clones of himself before the end of episode 26 as backups/safety measure, but are hidden in the safest location he can find (not inside his crummy office/lab!). This way, if all of his known clones (inside his crummy office/lab) are ultimately destroyed, then one of the 10 hidden clones will be automatically activated, although it will have a memory reset due to it being created before the end of episode 26 and not getting new memory transfer.
- Kenzou was already able to create at least 8 Dark Shoumas at once, so he should've created at least 10 code K babies. It makes no sense if he only created 1 code K baby. Or, perhaps he was only able to create 1 code K baby due to resource limitation? The Dark Shoumas were able to be created in such a short time due to them being downgraded, low-quality clones of Shouma. So, if Kenzou wanted a code K baby to be a perfect, high-quality, ultra-engineered clone of himself, then his resources could've likely only allowed him to create 1 code K baby, not 10.
- If Kenzou's inability to create multiple code K babies was indeed due to him experiencing resource limitation, then this is just another proof of how laughably heavy-handed this story is. Kenzou, a hobbyist scientist who is not supported by any organization, is able to do cloning, a very complex scientific procedure, in a very very very short time. It's still not clear whether Kenzou's and Nyelv's cahoots also grants Kenzou with huge resource support from Nyelv or whether it's just information/intelligence-sharing. It makes sense for Nyelv to be able to clone a Granute (and also build new Drivers, trinkets, and weapons) due to him getting helps from other Stomach's scientists and misappropriating Stomach's funds due to Lango the stupidest CEO villain's utter stupidity. But, Kenzou's just a hobbyist scientist with no real job, thus no real source of income, let alone resource/material/financial support from a 3rd party, so how the heck Kenzou's able to do everything he's done in this story so far? I hypothesized in my posts in episode 5 thread here and in episode 6 thread here that Kenzou could've been a very rich yet eccentric/one-track minded genius like Dr. Emmett Brown from Back to the Future trilogy, but so far, Kenzou's back story has never been shown unless it had something to do with Hanto or his cahoots with Nyelv. Like I've just mentioned, Kenzou has very little back story, and when he got one, it almost always had something to do with Hanto and or Nyelv, and it never showed how Kenzou had been able to do everything he did without any resource/material/financial support from a 3rd party. When the writers needed Kenzou to move the plot, they gave him unlimited resources/materials/funds, but when the writers needed the plot to move the other way to allow other characters to defeat him, they limited his resources/materials/funds. That inconsistency is a symptom of a very very very convenient, heavy-handed writing. TLDR: It makes no sense for Kenzou to be able to do almost everything Nyelv does without any support from a 3rd party.
- Or perhaps Kenzou won't need to transfer his consciousness into the code K baby? If so, then he'll simply need to activate it, and it will have all his current memories via telepathy, like I elaborated in the 2nd paragraph of my post in episode 24 thread here about Dark Shouma #1's and #2's memories.
- If creating clones with perfect memory to reach immortality is indeed Kenzou's endgame, then, based on the scene in episode 26 @ 12:23, there's a high chance that Nyelv had already known about it and try to copy his plan. There's also a possibility based on the scene in episode 14 @ 20:15 that Nyelv would test his cloning procedure on the pieces of Shita's Mimic Key to revive her.
- Another possibility is that Nyelv or even Kenzou end up using their cloning procedures to revive Zomb, Bouche, or other deceased Stomach top brasses. Perhaps Zomb is the mastermind of the whole story who had a plan to be revived as an immortal clone? Perhaps Zomb was the 3rd party who provided resource/material/financial support to Kenzou? Don't know! Cloning is definitely a very very very convenient way of reviving dead characters. After seeing how easy it is to clone anyone in this story, I see quite a high chance that the cloning procedure could likely play a crucial part in this story after the debut of KR Gavv's final form in episode 38.
- In episode 27 during the preview section @ 23:08 Kenzou says that he'll create the strongest creature, which could be the code K baby like I've hypothesized since last week. So, the endgame of his plan is actually not only creating the ultimate transformation device (the Bake Magnum), but also creating the ultimate human (the code K baby?) that's able to withstand the ultimate transformation device's immense power. It means that KR Bake Breacookie form is likely not KR Bake's ultimate form and that he'd likely use another much much much stronger RG, not the Breacookie RG which would then only be relegated to KR Bitter Gavvs. Based on the preview section @ 23:16, Shouma and Hanto, especially Hanto who would debut as KR Valen Frappe Custom form in episode 28, would likely have a tag team and kick Kenzou/KR Bake Breacookie form's ass. The defeated Kenzou would use the Dark Shoumas/KR Bitte Gavvs as covers to enable him to safely escape, and he'd then start designing the ultimate RG based on the new data from KR Gavv Blizzardsorbet form and KR Valen Frappe Custom form, especially the data from KR Valen Frappe Custom form which is supposed to be stronger than KR Valen Chocold form.
TLDR:
The ultimate transformation device (the Bake Magnum) + the ultimate RG(?) + the ultimate human (the code K baby?) = Kenzou's endgame.
- Speaking of KR Valen Frappe Custom form, it uses the Vrastum Gear as well, so it's probably not safer than KR Valen Chocold form, because in several instances it's been shown that even Lage 9, a normal Granute, has experienced strain on his heart when using the Purujelly RG. If the Vrastum Gear (and the Purujelly RG) is not even totally safe to Lage 9, a normal Granute, then (as implied by Dente's statement in episode 27 @ 16:21-16:33) how the heck is it supposed to be safer to Hanto, a normal human only transplanted with a Granute's internal organ?:confused: It makes no sense if the strain on Hanto's heart subsides when he's using the Vrastum Gear and the Frappeise RG, but the exact same symptom still happens to Lage 9's heart when he's using the Vrastum Gear and the Purujelly RG. If anything, the Vrastum Gear should be much more dangerous for Hanto to use than even the Chocold RG since so far only Lage 9, a normal Granute, has been shown to be able to use it, so the strain on Hanto's heart should be worse. Let's see in episode 28 whether the strain on Hanto's heart does subside when he's using the Vrastum Gear and the Frappeise RG. If it does, then it'll be yet another proof that the writers of this story don't care at all about the consistency of the story's own internal logic. The convenient solution in episode 28 could likely be that Dente would eliminate the danger factors of the the Frappeise RG, which is based on the Chocold RG. Chocold = Choco + cold => Frappeise = Frappe + ice, although as far as I know generic frappe doesn't contain chocolate. Coffee drink that contains chocolate is called mocha coffee/mocha frappe, not just frappe, haha.:lol
- Oh, and speaking of the Dark Shoumas, my question in my post in episode 22 thread here is still unanswered:
How did Kenzou clone Shouma's Henshin Belt Gavv?:confused:
How was Kenzou, the creator of the Dark Shoumas as clones of Shouma, able to create the Henshin Belt Gavv as copies of Shouma's red Gavv/Henshin Belt Gavv?:eyebrow Shouma's red Gavv/Henshin Belt Gavv is a prosthetic device (just like the Stomach Drivers), not an organ, so Kenzou shouldn't have been able to copy it by simply cloning Shouma's cells. Did Nyelv give him Dente's schematics of Shouma's Henshin Belt Gavv? There's no reason for Nyelv to allow Kenzou to access Dente's schematics of Shouma's Henshin Belt Gavv because Kenzou is only responsible for developing the Valen Buster (and manipulating Hanto). So, how did Kenzou clone Shouma's Henshin Belt Gavv?:confused: Don't know!

He was definitely Hitopressed and broken. What we don't know is whether he's actually dead. IIRC, our heroes still have the half Hanto found. We know that when someone is rescued, they have no memory of the intervening time, suggesting they've been essentially in suspended animation. The show has made a point of showing us, more than once, that Nyelv has Shioya's other half. I wouldn't be surprised if, whenever our heroes initially confront Nyelv, he explains that he can re-fuse the halves, at which point Shioya could be safely un-pressed. And then, of course, Nyelv proceeds to use that as leverage over our heroes.

On another note, I still can't get over how much I'm enjoying this series. Reiwa Rider is now up to... what? 3 good-to-fantastic shows and 3 hot messes? (This is, of course, a highly arguable point.) And it looks like they're even more full-steam-ahead with the junk-food theme than Gaim was with fruit arms and somehow making it cool anyway.

Their dedication to pretty visceral fight scenes is also impressing me. It's really easy for toku battles to look samey, but lately, it seems like there's been at least one stand-out-memorable moment per episode.

Now if we can just get a Rider suit for that yellow bubble in the opening credits...

I admire your optimism. I've been wondering if the Hitopress was a fake, so I did lose a little hope after seeing that it was most likely real. But if it's really possible for Nyelve or Dente to repair it and subsequently unpress him, then of course I'd love to see that. Hanto deserves to have something good happen in his life. I guess I'll hold on to that hope for a while longer.

I generally agree with the statement, but yeah, I imagine we might partially disagree on which 3 are which. And that's cool, to each their own.

I'll keep hoping for that until the show ends!