Kamen Rider Gotchard Episode 10- "Kyoto On Fire!" Discussion
 

The search continues for missing Malgam & Chemies.

The mysterious guy is Hijiri's older brother, Tsurugi. He transforms into Battery Malgam by using Raidenji, which is curiously already in card form. He must be given the Raidenji RCC by Clotho. After Lachesis was shown in episode 8 to be having Happyclover in card form, not wild form, this only increases my suspicion that the Sisters have their own stocks of Blank RCC's that are probably supplied by a mole/spy inside the AA. Back to Tsurugi, his reasoning for his intention to getting rid of Hijiri is kinda weird. It's due to the stress and burden of being a good older brother and role model for Hijiri put on him by the people around him. The poor one in this episode is Raidenji. It's managed to be separated from Tsurugi by Houtarou, only to immediately latched onto Hijiri. This makes Chemies akin to evil spirits that can jump from one person to another. So far, no grunt-type Chemies/Malgams appear. It'd be a big problem if the villain begin mass-producing generic Chemies that can be released into society like a virus and wreak havoc.

Minato's civilian attire continues to look hilariously unkempt. His Neuralyzing job is getting harder in this episode due to many people seeing their sword props flying. It's shown that his Ring can recharge the students'. And how come Minato is unable to put out the fires using his alchemical power? It looks like his power does have some kind of limitation.

Kajiki finally sees Kamen Rider in person. He even realizes that Houtarou is the guy behind the mask. Is the sentence read by Kajiki and Hijiri @ 18:03 actually referring to the Ouroboros world? Kajiki and Hijiri finally sees a UFO, that is the UFO X Chemy... and get Neuralyzed shortly thereafter. It's not a total heartbreak for Kajiki, though. At least he gets another chance to rekindle the spark and reenact the fateful encounter with Hijiri at the end of this episode. Oh, and it looks like Hopper1 is a huge (or small, haha) Kajiki fan.

The police van scene is actually taken at Toei Studio, very likely done in the same day with a similar scene from the previous episode.

Goldmechanicer looks nice. The tires on the forearms remind me of Lazer Level 1. The bike-as-armor approach reminds me of Specter Houdini Damashii. I wish this approach will be used more often on future designs. It's a very potential toyetic approach for gimmick lines. On the other hand, Hiikesrose looks very mediocre. The forearm armors are slightly modified Venomariner's, and the shoulder armors suspiciously look like its modified from Burninggorilla. C'mon Toei. It's only episode 10, and you already resort to kitbashing? Well, this is what happens when you have 50 forms in a 50-episode series. And why does Flayrose's voice sounds like a seductive woman? Haha.

Clotho secures two pieces of Jungle Malgam and Battery Malgam, and immediately captures the UFO X Chemy with a Blank RCC, which makes my suspicion in paragraph 1 even more founded. I thought the UFO X was going to be harder to capture due to being a stronger Chemy, but I was wrong. Clotho easily captures it without breaking a sweat.

The unpainted Driver (?) that Atropos is working on is clearly shown on-screen in the preview, along with her attempt to approach Rinne. Is she actually working on a Driver for Rinne? The most mysterious character so far must be Glion. His name was only mentioned once in the beginning of episode 5. I mentioned that he was probably this season's Niram or Rose Woman, but I think I was wrong. Seems like he's higher in rank than they were.

Spanner, Lachesis, and Atropos do not appear in this episode, probably to save momentum for a big reveal in the next episode that has something to do with a spy in the AA. As I've suspected, there's a spy (or spies) in the AA that supplies the Sisters with RCC's and other tools. Next episode will feature two investigators from the Alchemy Union, AA's parent organization: Licht Kugimiya, a stern man, and Shiori Harima, another cutie (yay!). Shiori Harima looks like she could be this season's Reika Shindai, while Licht Kugimiya could be this season's Toru Hojo. Who is the rumored spy? For minimum impact, it would be Minato, which was mentioned in the synopsis as a possible pseudonym. For maximum impact, ummm... I don't know. Renge? Sabimaru? Rinne? Although they're only students, as long as they can smuggle their Blank RCC's and tools to the Sisters, they should be suspected as spies as well. Or perhaps Licht or Shiori themselves? I don't think Blank RCC's and other tools are only available to the AA members. The AU members should have access to them as well, even better access than the AA members do.

Episode 11 will also be the debut of Lightingjungle, a very top-heavy form. It's still episode 10, and I've already forgotten 80% of the forms. It seems like Minato's Neuralyzer spell also has off-screen effect. Haha.

Seems like Chemy influence amplifies the worst side of humans, as I doubt either Hijiri or Tsurugi would've wanted to kill each other under normal circumstances. Of course, there are people who are unhinged even before they become Malgams, like the hosts for Venomdake and Gorillasensei, but I think this episode shows that even suppressed malice can be unleashed by Chemies, who sadly have no choice in the matter either.

The plot twist of Raidenji being sucked in to Hijiri was surprising, but then I realized there was still another half an episode left. This episode felt especially climactic compared to previous ones, which is pretty appropriate for the last instalment of what Minato (the producer, not the character or King-Ohger's writer, so many Minatos this year) refers to as the first arc of the show. Ironic how Gotchard and his alchemist friends used swords (tsurugi) to defeat the second Raidenji Malgam. I was wrong about AppareSkebow and EnergyMaru, but at least Apparebushido made an appearance for the finisher.

Weird how the memory loss spell actually made Kajiki and Hijiri forget about each other, since before it was only shown to affect people's memories of alchemy stuff. Fortunately, they were able to have their fateful re-encounter, but it's even more reason why Chemy law seems bad, now that it's capable of interfering in human-human relationships as well. Like, who else may have had their lives potentially made worse by Alchemy Academy?

With Kajiki and Hijiri getting back together, I have to wonder if Hijiri will stick around as a recurring character. These 2 episodes did a good job at making me invested in the ship and I want to see what else the show can do with them, like finding out about the secret Alchemy Academy and all the Chemies, especially those in the Occult category that they're interested in.

I would've expected that out of 101 Chemies some of them would be female, but actually hearing Flayrose caught me off-guard. A lot of male Chemies have female VAs, but yeah, this one's totally a girl. Makes me curious about the other female Chemies, as I have a few ideas for who they might be.

Anyway, since next episode marks the start of a new arc, I guess I'll use this opportunity to mention that, contrary to the criticism I'm often seeing from people (mostly Geats fanatics) on other sites, I'm actually enjoying Gotchard a lot so far. The plot is simple yet mysterious and the characters and action are keeping me consistently entertained each week. I'm intrigued to find out what happens next with those suspicious executive guys showing up at Alchemy Academy, like specifically how it might affect Houtarou's and Rinne's loyalty with the organization.

They had us in the first half, then I realized "wait, this episode feels very short..."

So anyway, I figured that was her brother, and the twist with her becoming a Malgam was definitely welcome, especially how Kajiki got to really play a role her. Heck, everyone got to pitch in (Even every Shinsengumi Sword Replica in Kyoto)!

I really do love Gotchard's suits, and I really hope they don't become sidelined like these forms usually tend to be (something I say a lot, but I can't help it when they look so good), especially Gold Mechanicor, love the bulky robot look!

Also, a sweet ending with Kajiki reuniting with Himeno. Wonder if the UFO Chemy really was the same UFO Kajiki saw...

Next Episode: It's Bring your Boss to Work Day!

Same here! As much as I loved Geats, I'm glad Gotchard is more light-hearted and simpler, since it feels like the previous Rider shows have been edging to dark and complex (some more than others, but you get it) a bit.

I watched episode 10. Basically, the whole episode is one big action scene, but it's so epic, beautiful, inventive and also very heartwarming that I don't mind at all. I especially liked the trick of the alchemists with swords. Also these black tears are very creepy. GoldDash also follows in the footsteps (or rather the wheel tracks) of Battle Hopper, taking the initiative and saving Houtarou. The show also argues that memory erasing is not an obstacle to happiness. Naive, but optimistic, and this show suits it. Although, it seems to me, Minato could not erase his memory so radically.
In the next episode, a renewal of the cast is expected, judging by the form, from alchemists of the same status as Minato. And also talk about a spy.
I have conflicting feelings about this. On the one hand, I like Minato and I would prefer that he remain the soft commander that he is now. On the other hand, if Master Gilion turns out to be someone new, this will be a very unpleasant association with Akaichi.

Alchemy is the transformation of one thing into another. Apparently, there was nothing in the warehouse that could be changed and put out the fire with it.

I'm betting on Isaac. After all, the screenwriter worked on Saber, and the name is not so common as to be repeated. And this tablet interprets Sabimaru?s words quite freely.

She lives and works in Kyoto, so it would be strange if she unexpectedly moved to Tokyo. I would bet that she will either appear in passing and briefly; or will be added to the main cast after five to ten episodes, when you can pretend that something in her life has seriously changed.

I think it is too early to judge whether the bright atmosphere that has begun is the calm before the storm. After all, Clotho selects very dangerous scumbags for the Malgams.

I concur. It seems like any kind of malice, whatever the cause, will be amplified by any nearby Chemy. In this context, the malice didn't necessary come from the host's intention, but the stress experienced by the host. Tsurugi's burdened (and obviously very maladjusted) psyche was transformed into malice by Raidenji's raw power. It might've also distorted his view of his relationship with Hijiri.

This is interesting, because if any Chemy can amplify even the tiniest bad intention in a person's psyche, then the AA/AU members should be very well trained to restrain their mind to avoid getting bonded with a Chemy. It'd be very funny if Spanner, Rinne, Renge, or Sabimaru is unintentionally transformed into a Malgam when handling an RCC. Haha.

It could be because they encountered Hopper1 and UFO X together. Perhaps those encounters were so vital to their bonds and memories of each other that erasing those two Chemies from their minds also erased one from each other's memories altogether. Fortunately, their second encounter didn't involve any Chemies, only mutual interests. Or, could it be that Kajiki and Hijiri were Neuralyzed to forget their first encounter because they were alluding to the existence of the Ouroboros world?

You asked, "Who else may have had their lives potentially made worse by Alchemy Academy?". The answer is probably Houtarou and his mom, like I mentioned here. Their lives could've probably been messed up by AA/AU way before the story even began. The writers still have not revealed Houtarou's dad's face and name. This could be another potential plot twist, probably revealed in episode 20-25 to build up the debut of Gotchard's super form/second upgrade form in episode 25-27. No, not Super Gotchard. Haha.

Male Chemies that are voiced by female VA's are usually the childish/boyish type, while the manly type are voiced by male VA's. I think Chemies have a certain masculine/feminine traits/tendencies. The next female Chemies seems to be Bountybunny (Animal 5) and Buglesia (Plant 8). I predict that Bountybunny will have a foxy/cunning personality, which actually suits Flayrose's voice better. Buglesia seems to be a motherly type Chemy. Ninetail (Occult 9, the one that I predicted would be used by Rinne) and Kinkiravenus (Cosmic 2) are several other candidates. Kinkiravenus could even be a Chemy in the form of an actual beautiful woman (Yay! Another new cutie!), because a Chemy can take the form of anything. Anything, including humans. It'd be better if she could actually speak like humans do. +1.000 bonus points if a human character (Sabimaru? Or, preferably, the most unlikely one: Spanner) become infatuated with her and become this season's Tsurugi Kamishiro. Haha.

Geats fanatics (or rather, cultists) loves a chaotic, convoluted, neurotic narrative, even at the expense of logic, rationality, common sense, and even the consistency of its own internal logic. If my memory serves me well, I think I remember reading a comment in a review of a Geats DX toy on Youtube, where a user kinda correctly guessed that Ace's world was a program, digital simulation, or something in that vein, as early as episode 5 or 6! Geats tried so hard to be complex and unpredictable, yet ended up being convoluted (not complex) and predictable. Miserable.

So far, I haven't seen anyone on the internet or real life, in all the languages that I can understand, that has been able to guess the major direction of Gotchard's story. Gotchard's main plot is still a complete mystery to me. Or maybe there's a viewer that is able to guess it yet do not share his hypothesis with the public. I think that that's the time-tested beauty of simplicity: Complex structures and unpredictability do not necessarily come from bloated components, complicated rules, and convoluted planning. It's pretty much the complete opposite: Complex structures can rise organically from very few simple rules that interact with each other.

Regarding the newly introduced AU elites, it's very possible that their presence will create a tension in relationship, not only between Houtarou/Rinne and the AU, but among the AA members themselves, similar to how Reika Shindai drove a wedge between Touma and other SoL members. Minato's leadership capability might be questioned and challenged as well.

I thought it was gonna end like Gentaro Kisaragi's love story in Movie War Mega Max, but turned out it was quite a happy ending.

Kotaro Minami only has one bike, that is Road Sector. I've always considered Battle Hopper to be a pet, not a bike. Battle Hopper might as well make a cameo as Hopper1's older brother or distant relative. Along with how Houtarou considers Chemies to be partners, this could be an interesting crossover, at least for side contents like Hyper Battle DVD. C'mon Toei, what are you waiting for? It's a very low hanging fruit. Haha.

Minato should at least try. He could at least transmutate the kerosene into water, soap bubbles, or other fire retardant materials, or transform the empty barrels and other metallic stuffs there into a giant fan, etc. It could probably give the viewers several hilarious scenes. Transforming the shape of one item into another shape is an easy feat. Even Renge and Sabimaru could do it, like they did in the beginning of episode 7. I get that the writers wanted to show off Gotchard Hiikesrose's abilities, but at least give the side characters their chance to shine and let them do their best.

Isaac's artistic interpretations of Sabimaru's words are usually used as comic relief. An AI-assisted speech synthesis program that turned out to be a spy is quite a stretch. And wasn't Isaac created and programmed by Sabimaru himself? If Isaac's behavior is intended to deceive the AA/AU members, then it must've been programmed that way by Sabimaru.

She could be Kajiki's co-investigator that keep getting Neuralyzed. She and Kajiki, plus a third character (A police? A detective? A military officer?) could be this season's ORE Journal.

I think the storm will form once the Driver(?) that Atropos is working on is close to completion. If it is indeed intended to be used by Rinne, then the plot will begin its first major move. The early bright, cheerful encounter episodes from episodes 1 to 11/15 could be a mere false image to mislead the viewers into thinking that Gotchard is just a Kamen Rider version of Pokemon/Digimon story.

Latepost due to being ill before.

This episode honestly to me, shows that people aren't pre-determined to be always/innately good or evil, everyone has a capacity of evil. Hijiri displays that. While in comparison to previous Malgams that are all horrible people (including Tsurugi) and are obvious targets for malice, good people like Hijiri can still harbor malice, in this case, due to rage that her brother turns out to be a real scumbag that directly went after her after having belief in him.

It's natural that those turning events will leave someone enraged over actual slight, so this shows that people shouldn?t get complacent just because somebody seems like they?re alright or has done visible good. Albeit it also shows about the dangers of putting someone in pedestal as well (Hijiri's view of Tsurugi, obviously, to not believe that a good caretaker can be a bad guy overall), for the opposite.

I don't think that Hijiri and Tsurugi should be placed similarly (which is how I'm fed up of the treatment of dark shows, as in below). Tsurugi, though likely he doesn't start as one, is an actual scumbag like previous Malgams, even if the process of him becoming a scum is more elaborated than the previous ones, he only took care for Hijiri out of preserving his image and it's an explanation of him turning to life of crime overall. Hijiri is more of something like Yuusuke being so enraged to Jaraji and temporary succumbing to malice by that.

Wow, even if the outcome for this one is good (and relieving), you can still find arguments on why it'd be bad (which I agree), and generally, people'd only care about lives being saved and not about how they live their life which is why people'd support extremist villain's plans that'd kill many for "greater good". I actually thought the opposite of where, the relationship may won't last even without Chemy law due to Hijiri likely being one-off, so there should be a reason for them to break off (I'd be afraid that it'd be just lowkey "loser" Kajiki not being on Hijiri's league.... for Faiz, I'd prefer if Keitaro heard about Yuka's death rather than acting as he's being dumped... at least it doesn't feel like it's Keitaro's fault for being cut off from Yuka), which'd explain about (albeit latest episode had Kajiki approaching Hijiri to talk about the UFO).

I already know that Geats fanatics who do that are those who subscribe to quite popular take that a show must be dark and angsty to be good, and lighthearted & "childish" stuff are bad. Though the ones who like Gotchard are also those who mercilessly dunk on Geats while also generally prefering lighter shows like Saber as well, typically the ones who bring up about "spirit of Kamen Rider" the most.

I know dunking on Geats feels more like punching up rather than being done on Gotchard, but honestly, might be a hot take but I'm also against the Geats hate by liking Gotchard, as perhaps those who complain about Gotchard not being dark already got people speaking up against those (and I agree with those that light or dark doesn't determine the quality of the show, also occassionally got involved but, no need for me to speak up as much, other than perhaps, children's show doesn't mean low quality or shallow - which is usually the reason people want their shows to be perceived as "mature").

I'm against the notion that moral and lessons can only exist in lighter shows where darker shows are just edgy and horrible for the sake of it, even if it's something appreciated for Gotchard fans who hate Geats. Like even if characters display similar behavior, there's a double standard view of different mediums, between lighter and darker stuff. They excuse bad behavior from the former as a "good moral" show and do everything they can to make the darker ones, "senseless depraved fantasy" look bad.

Like for example, about characters being pushed to do unpleasant things, there's double standards like, for actions like killing people in war in defenses, if it's done by superheroes (typically seen as "childish" light shows, unless if they're excessively edgy), it'd get overlooked (e.g. there's still complaints about superheroes "always pure innocence" regardless of that), but same actions done in darker show will have them being demonized as morally grey or equally terrible as others for doing that, even if he/she in said darker show are also very kind otherwise.

From above, typically lighter shows are seen as always/inherently black and white, while darker shows are always all grey, judging stuff only by stereotypes and preconceived notions. The cast can be seen as good or bad merely by if they're on the same page (typically on lighter shows) or at odds with each other (typically on darker shows) - like, seems that Woz can be viewed as good just for benefitting Sougo (and his schemes as his quirk), while for Geats, one can be viewed as bad just for being competitive and thus getting ahead of someone (not talking about underhanded stuff, but, as you said it's DGP's system of denying someone what they want), with the exception of Keiwa as to those, his wish is seen as the best and most worth winning. When, virtuous characters are present too in darker shows, and it's not rare occurence (for KR, the only one seen as such seems to be those of idealistic butt-monkey archetypes - like Keitaro is viewed as one but perhaps not many view Kiba as good in Faiz). There are also more morally grey/asshole good guys in lighter shows too, such as the Taros in Den-O (except Kin) at the start, and Philip in W also suggested pragmatic, extreme solutions at times.

Overall, The thinking that kindness and morality are only shows walking on eggshells, where the stereotype is that lighthearted works for general audiences tend to have simplistic plot and devoid of dark subject, and there's assumption that kind characters are made only to think of the children and/or keep tame ratings, but darker works tend to feature grim and uncomfortable subject, and either marketed for, or feels more mature - people are either inherent bastards and or the kind ones serving as victims, both to show the bleakness of the world. I feel like, ironically, those who hate Geats and like Gotchard can help the notion of kindness and morality as childish stuff to outgrow, particularly for those who are purists who seem to forbid any grim or uncomfortable subject on KR (not that I'd want for KR to always feature that, but it's still the opposite extreme to the Geats fanatics to force KR to be always happy, hopeful, and peaceful).

Though previous 2 Reiwa shows are actually lighthearted? Both Saber and Revice, though Revice had some brutal showings like Orteca's murders.

For these two, there is no need to come up with any special reasons for parting, because they literally live in different cities. Plus, Hijiri is an adult woman, and Kajiki is a schoolboy. In principle, nothing shows that there is something more between the two of them than the simple joy of meeting someone who shares a passion that is very important to them.

I think this is definitely not a problem, because the writers of the riders do what they want as long as they can sell toys. And in general, if the franchise listened to overseas fans, the shows would strive to resemble Faiz much more.



In Saber, Kento suffered for fifteen years because of his father's betrayal, then he suffered in a more diverse way, and after eight (already six) years, his broken heart awaits him again.

Yeah, I can imagine her appearing briefly in a few episodes to remind people that she exists and hopefully develop her relationship with Kajiki, depending on whenever she has time to visit Tokyo. But I guess long-distance relationships are more viable in Japan, due to bullet trains.

I presume the sealing function of Ride Chemy Cards also prevents Chemies from accidentally leaking in to their emotions. We did see Bolt merge with Hawkstar though, so it seems that the alchemists do need some level of restraint around unsealed Chemies, hence why the Alchemy Academy are so strict about the rules.

This is certainly more plausible now that we know exactly what the memory loss spell is capable of. It's possible that the father even erased their memories personally to protect them from whatever dangerous secret alchemy he might be involved with.

Yeah, I was thinking Bountybunny as well. I see her as kind of like Kiryu Sento as a girl. :lol Buglesia also makes sense, as the petals resemble a long dress. Hard to judge the Chemies we haven't seen yet, but it's true that Kinkiravenus' namesake (well, the namesake's namesake) is a Greco-Roman goddess, which would also apply to Gaiard, so I could imagine them as potentially female depending on how they look. If there's a human-shaped Chemy though, I think they'll be #101. Might even be Rinne.

Agreed. Takahashi always has an ambitious vision for a big story, but never for a long story, which is required of the KR format. For some reason, Toei have allowed him twice to write a whole show without any secondary writers, even though it's pretty clear that he doesn't have the stamina of Inoue. Behind the scenes, even Takebe was like, "dude, slow down!", when Takahashi's vision for Keiwa's arc was moving too quickly. Hasegawa has experience carrying a story with Saber, while Fukuda was tasked with writing Trio of Deep Sin, so I have faith in Gotchard's staff to maintain the momentum.

Welcome back.

I'd hope that Kajiki wouldn't be dismissed anymore as a loser just for being a nerdy high school student, since he was still popular enough to get his name in Chojo Wakusei and remembered by Hijiri. But yeah, it's sad what happened to Keitarou. He deserved to know the truth about Yuka, but maybe that would've made him suffer even more than thinking he got abandoned. I don't envy Takumi being put in that position and Shoutarou and Haruto have also lied about a loved one's death, believing it was the lesser of two evils.

The part about bringing up the "spirit of Kamen Rider" totally sounds like me, haha. Generally though, I think I'm pretty fair to Geats, giving it both praise and criticism where I deem appropriate. Even the show itself disagrees with Geats fanatics, like those who proudly identify as Kekeras and support his ideals without a hint of irony, while selectively ignoring the other sponsor-related aspects of their personalities. Fortunately, these are likely a vocal minority, as I know there are many healthy Geats fans who like it for the right reasons and if some of them happen to dislike Gotchard, at least it can be for their own reasons instead of jumping on the "it's not Geats" bandwagon. I agree that it's okay for people to like (or even dislike) both, instead of the absurd concept that you can only like one or the other.

I do think some dark shows can fit the "senseless depraved fantasy" description. But like you brought up before, my favorite Faiz and least favorite (before Revice took that dishonor) Gaim were both dark, so it's all about the execution. I don't mind if a show is light or dark or whatever, as long as the tone is consistent and the characters' actions maintain my suspension of disbelief, regardless of the plot. Despite being lighthearted, Gotchard can take itself seriously when necessary and I like that. You also mentioned before that bad behavior can be dismissed as schadenfreude, like Reika's abuse in Saber which I called out as I don't want to see sympathetic characters put in danger of severe injury unless the show treats it seriously. I want the action to be proportionate to the character receiving it. Anyway, this shows that even black comedy, usually associated with dark, can also show up in lighthearted works.

Revice has dark topics like abuse and loneliness, but depicts them in a "lighthearted" way that trivializes the emotions. The characters get over their problems too easily, due to the Igarashi siblings yelling at them enough times, as Kinoshita likely doesn't care enough to focus on inconvenient things that slow down the plot.