Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 38- "The Other Side Of Hatred!" Discussion
 

Hanto confronts the Granute who took his mother.

In the scene @ 00:20, Hanto is pissed off at the fact that Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute was the one who indirectly caused his mom's death, and swears to never forgive him. Shouma is trying to be diplomatic and asks Hanto to talk to Kenji with him. Would Hanto still not forgive him, or would he forgive him like I hypothesized last week in my post in episode 37 thread here?

In the scene @ 01:25, Jeebh is using Shita's fixed Mimic Key and wearing her human disguise. Why the heck Jeebh keep doing this weird, nonsensical thing?:eyebrow:confused: Like I elaborated in my post in episode 30 thread here, a Mimic Key is just a mask/clothes in the shape of a human, so, if Jeebh wants to enter nostalgia mode, then why doesn't he reminisce about Shita by looking at her photos or watching her videos that show her real, actual Granute form?:eyebrow:confused: Why doesn't he reminisce about Shita by looking at the photo albums that show all her photos since birth?:eyebrow:confused: That human face is not Shita's real, actual face that he had known since birth (since they were twins), so what kind of emotional connection does he have with that human face?:eyebrow:confused: Heck, even when Shita was killed by Shouma/KR Gavv Caking form in episode 14 @ 19:30, she was not even using her Mimic Key! As shown in the screenshot below, she sacrificed herself and died right in front of him while showing her real, actual Granute face and form, so why the heck does he reminisce about her by using her Mimic Key and looking at her human disguise, which is basically just a mask/clothes?:eyebrow:confused: Very very very bizarre and weird reasoning by Jeebh as usual. Thanks for the nonsensical, atrocious writing, Gavv's writers and producers! *facepalm
Gavv 14 @ 19:39
https://i.imgur.com/CErKdLV.jpeg

In the scene @ 01:38, Jeebh says that Nyelv is planning to modify his body. In the flashback scene, while showing him the Bakibaki Stick RG, Nyelv offered him a chance to fulfill his revenge on Shoma/Aka Gabu by modifying his Gavv and giving him powers that may rival Shouma/Aka Gabu's, something to which of course he begrudgingly accepted. The Bakibaki Stick RG is obviously based on the can of potato stick snack that was given to him by Liselle in episode 37 @ 05:44, so, like I asked in my post in episode 37 thread here, how the heck was he able to convert it into the Bakibaki Stick RG?:eyebrow:confused: In that post I asked whether a pure Granute who equips a Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv (such as Magen in episodes 33-34) is now able to produce RG's as well, even though they have no human DNA. But, as shown in this flashback scene, the can of potato stick snack was converted into the Bakibaki Stick RG before Jeebh had been modified and equipped with a Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv. So who produced it? It couldn't have been Nyelv, since it has never been shown that his Gavv had been modified and equipped with a Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv. It's a violation of the established internal law since episode 1 that human DNA is required to be able to produce RG's from human snacks, so Granutes who are equipped with a Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv are supposed to be still unable to produce RG's from human snacks. I hypothesized that it was produced by Dark Shouma #5 (who only appeared once in episode 27 @ 00:21 and has disappeared from the story ever since) that was somehow captured by Nyelv and has been used by him as an RG-producing machine. I hope that Dark Shouma #5 would reappear in future episode between 40-45 and confirm my hypothesis. Or perhaps the writers violated their own internal logic by adding a new one that Granutes who are equipped with a Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv are actually injected with Shouma/Dark Shoumas' human DNA (like I hypothesized a long, long, long time ago at the end of my post in episode 15 thread here when I was talking about Nyelv's new Driver that would've likely contained a built-in sample of human genetics/DNA extracted from Hanto in order to enable a Granute user to produce RG's) and are now able to produce RG's as well, just like Shouma or the Dark Shoumas are?:eyebrow Don't know! The writers wrote themselves into the corner by giving Shouma (and the Dark Shoumas) the unfair advantage of being the ones who are able to produce RG's, while the Granutes can't produce any trinkets, only agents. Well, this is what happens when the internal logic of my story is uber-convoluted. At one point I'll write myself into the corner and be forced to violate the story's internal logic.

In the scene @ 02:30, Liselle encourages (read: agitates) Jeebh by telling him to be brave and that his value won't change even if his Gavv is modified with a Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv. Yea, this spoiled rich brat really loves manipulating people. She realy really really needs a good spanking or two, haha.:lol

In the scene @ 04:35, Lage 9 visits Dente's cave to get his damaged Vrastum Gear fixed. Dente says to him that he hasn't made the neutralizer/antidote for his hApPiNeSs neurotoxin (which was copied by Lango Mango and his crews in episodes 35-36). I've just realized that there's been something weird with this neutralizer/antidote subplot. If the gas used by Lango Mango and his crews is the the gaseous copy of Lage 9's plot-convenient hApPiNeSs neurotoxin, then doesn't it mean that the neutralizer/antidote for that gas is contained within Lage 9 very own body?:eyebrow:confused: Lage 9 is supposed to be based on venomous jellyfishes, so Dente only needs to check Lage 9's body, extract several drops of his hApPiNeSs neurotoxin (and or blood and other bodily fluids), and then create an antidote based on it. The body of toxic organisms, i.e. venomous animals (such as king cobra, most stingrays, salamanders, venomous jellyfishes, etc) and poisonous plants (such as wolfsbane, poison ivy, etc) contain the antidote for their own venom/poison, so it's laughable if the body of a venomous jellyfish (which Lage 9 is based on) doesn't contain the neutralizer/antidote already. The solution is as obvious as the nose on my face, so why the heck Dente still hasn't even checked Lage 9's body and extracted his hApPiNeSs neurotoxin?:eyebrow:confused: The answer is clear: Because the writer still needed Bocca's subplot of mass kidnapping of humans to happen for several more episodes. As always in this atrocious story: Dumb plot convenience.

In the scene @ 05:30, Shouma, Hanto, and Sachika are visiting Reina's restaurant to talk to Kenji who is in the kitchen making several prototypes of the animal-themed traditional Japanese snacks with Hiroto. Hiroto says that he's optimistic that the animal-themed snacks would be a big hit with new customers. Sachika is trying to divert Reina's and Hiroto's attention away by asking them to talk about the social media marketing for her restaurant, while Shouma and Hanto are confronting Kenji about the truth about his crime of kidnapping Kid Hanto's mom 18 years ago. Kenji tells Shouma and Hanto that he himself used to run a small candy/snack shop in the Granute world that he needed to close due to not going well business-wise. It was the catalyst of his dealing in Dark Snacks and working for Stomach corporation as a kidnapper. Him joining Reina's husband restaurant was initially just a ploy to kidnap humans, but he gradually had a change of heart when he saw people actually enjoying the snacks that he's made. He's begging Hanto's forgiveness for kidnapping his mom and contributed to her death. He says that he's willing to atone for his crimes with his own life, after completing his new prototypes of animal-themed snacks.

Like I've been asking since the end of my post in episode 36 thread here:
- Is Kenji/Rago still kidnapping/Hito Pressing humans, or has he stopped?:eyebrow:confused: At what point in time did he stop kidnapping wholesale humans?:eyebrow:confused: Did he stop right after kidnapping Hanto's mom 18 years ago?:eyebrow:confused:
- Is he still consuming Dark Snacks, or has he stopped?:eyebrow:confused: Or was he just reselling Dark Snacks to other Granutes, even since his days in the Granute world after his candy/snack shop went out of business?:eyebrow:confused:
- If he's stopped kidnapping wholesale humans and or Hito Pressing humans, then how the heck has he been able to to evade Glotta's agents and goons?:confused::eyebrow How the heck has he been able to live a normal live and have a normal job, and not live as a perpetual fugitive that's hunted by Glotta's agents/goons until they're over his dead body?:confused::eyebrow
- The answer:
Don't know! This atrocious story has got a gazillion of instances of logical anomalies, plot holes, bizarre/faulty reasoning, and or just plain stupidity, so what's the harm in adding 10 more? Haha.:lol:lol:lol

In the scene @ 09:10, Glotta and her agent are punishing 3 part-timers for their underperformance. Before being shown the list of underperformers that contains the data about 8 part-timers by her agent, she says that she needs to make an example of punishment. It seems like Kenji/Rago is on the list, and he could be the next example for the other underperformers, after Komel.

This scene also hints that the one who assassinated or ordered the assassination of Komel could've indeed been her. She seemed to know very little about Komel in episode 21 @ 06:21 (when she was reporting to Lango Mango that Lage 9 had recently betrayed Stomach corporation because he joined them simply in order to take revenge on the one who killed Komel about a year ago), although she did admit that he worked under her supervision. Glotta didn't seem like she was playing dumb when she said that Komel was just "a man named Komel Amarga", a mere tiny cog inside Stomach's corporate machinery, because she actually thought that Komel was that insignificant. But then, if this kind of violent, abusive approach is indeed Glotta's #1 modus operandi, then Lango Mango and Nyelv should've known about it, which makes Nyelv's surprised expression in episode 21 @ 06:54 and @ 07:21 looked weird and made no sense at all. He couldn't have been surprised if he had already known Glotta way of getting things done.

In the scene @ 09:34, Jeebh is awaken after getting his Gavv completely modified with a Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv. Finally! I already hypothesized about Jeebh transforming into the rumored KR Bitter Gavv since my post several aeons ago in episode 16 thread here, and in my post in episode 18 thread here, I hypothesized that he would've debuted his transformation into KR Bitter Gavv in episode 21 on February 2. It turns out I was off by 17 episodes, haha.:lol:lol:lol He's laughing because what he's equipped with is not an Aka Gabu/red Gavv like the one on Shouma's Gavv, but a Kuro Gabu/black Gavv. It seems like he's getting his hopes too high and gets cocky, only to be defeated by Shouma/KR Gavv in his Gochipod form Over/Master mode in this very episode.

In the scene @ 10:32, Hanto is having a flashback at the same location where his mom was kidnapped by Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute 18 years ago. He's reminded of Kenji's bold statement several hours ago, and is thinking of giving him exactly what he wants: Atoning for his crimes with his own life. He thinks his mom will be happy with the "eye for an eye" approach. So yeah, it seems more likely that he's actually not gonna kill Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute, haha.:lol

In the scene @ 11:26, Sachika is taking photos for Reina's restaurant's social media marketing, while Hanto is seemingly interviewing Hiroto for his articles. Hiroto tells Hanto that Reina/his mom planned to close the shop after her husband's death, and it was actually Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute who wanted to keep it going. He says that when he grows up, he wants to learn the art of making traditional Japanese snacks from Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute and continue running the restaurant. This scene implies that Hanto is hesitating due to seeing Hiroto is bonding with Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute, and killing Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute would also mean destroying hiroto's dream.

In the scene @ 12:12, Lage 9 is visited by Shouma who is asking his opinion about the situation between Hanto and Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute. He thinks it's okay to let the part-timers who are trying to stay away from Stomach corporation. He also says that he won't spare those who assassinated Komel, hinting at the possibility that Glotta would get her ass kicked in the next few episodes, likely in episodes 39-40, haha.:lol

In the scene @ 13:35, Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute has finished making 6 different prototypes of animal-themed snacks. Sachika think that it's gonna go viral on social media, and Reina is confident that it'll attract new customers. Hanto is seeing Hiroto bond with Kenji over the new prototypes, so it's making Hanto more hesitant.

In the scene @ 14:21, Shouma and Lage 9 are heading to Reina's restaurant, and, as usual in this atrocious story, in a very very very convenient coincidence, inside a tunnel they encounter Jeebh who is challenging Shouma to fight. This atrocious story has a gazillion instances of laughable coincidence like this. Without prior communication/information at all, somehow they meet at the exact same location to fight and move the plot. I bet the writers' excuse was "b-B-bUt jEeBh wAs tOlD bY hIs aGeNts tHaT sHoUmA iS hEaDiNg tHeRe vIa tHe tUnNel!", haha.:lol It's fine if this kind of coincidence used sparingly 4 or 5 times over 50 episodes to connect the most crucial plot points. But if it's used 3 or 4 times in each episode, then it's the surest sign of pure lazy, heavy-handed writing. In fact, I can't even remember just 1 episode in this story that went without this kind of coincidence. Anyway, Jeebh transforms into KR Bitter Gavv Bakibaki Stick form, and maaannn, how ugly it is, haha.:lol It looks like it was designed by Plex when they ran out of ideas. Q: "How do we design a Rider form based on potato stick snack?" A: "Just stick them to the helmet and armors!" See what I did there? Haha!:lol:lol:lol Jeebh/KR Bitter Gavv v3.0 who is armed with the Bake Magnum is obviously overwhelming both Shouma/KR Gavv Poppin Gummy, until Shouma transforms into the Gochipod form. Hey Jeebh, didn't you hear the news that Magen/KR Bitter Gavv v2.0 who used a Driver with pretty much the same specs as yours was killed by Shouma who used the Gochipod form?:eyebrow:confused: It made sense for Magen/KR Bitter Gavv v2.0 to be defeated by Shouma/KR Gavv Gochipod form Over mode because he was the very first punching bag. But Lango Mango and Jeebh? Jeebh (and Lango Mango and very likely Nyelv and Bocca as well) are so beyond stupid because they can't even gauge Shouma's power who has been shown that he's drastically powered up several times since episode 14. Long story short, pretty much like what happened to Magen/KR Bitter Gavv v2.0, Jeebh/KR Bitter Gavv v3.0 is embarrassingly defeated by Shouma/KR Gavv Gochipod form Over mode. Jeebh manages to run away, so he's definitely coming back. He's coming back not only to kill Shouma, but also to kill Liselle when he finally realizes that she's manipulating the Stomach siblings and turn them against each other. I'm so stoked to see that, haha.:lol

In the scene @ 16:05, meanwhile, Hanto is facing off with Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute. Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute has actually left a thank you/goodbye note to Reina and Hiroto that he's going on a trip. Hanto is trying to punch Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute, although he's doing it before he transforms into KR Valen, not after, unlike I hypothesized last week in my post in episode 37 thread here. On the other hand, like I hypothesized in the same post, yeah, Hanto/KR Valen refrains from finishing off Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute at the last minute because he realizes that it'd mean destroying the bond between Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute and Hiroto, and destroying Hiroto's dream as well. Surprise, surprise. Haha!:lol This episode marks the resolution of Hanto's revenge subplot.

Shouma says @ 22:14 that Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute has returned to working at Reina's restaurant... Only to be executed by Glotta several moments later due to his underperformance, like I said above. So yeah, episodes 39-40 are likely gonna be the resolution of Lage 9's revenge subplot where he finds out that it was actually just Glotta who executed Komel due to his underperformance. Oh, and this scene shows that Kenji/Rago/wolf Granute is immediately vaporized when he's executed by Glotta. It also shows that he's executed in the human world. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo, if Glotta (or even her agents) was indeed the one who executed Komel, then how the heck was he able to survive that execution and return to the Granute world and fell dying right in front of Lage 9's house and told him about the existence of Dark Snacks (that allowed Lage 9's revenge subplot to begin in the first place)?:eyebrow:confused: The most likely answer: Plot convenience, as always in this atrocious story.

Next week:

Sachika, Shouma, and Lage 9 are making fruit pudding. So yeah, with the recent reveal of KR Vram ? la Mode Mode, this means that the RG (Puddinte RG) that would be used by Lage 9 to access his upgrade/final form would be based on fruit/ice cream pudding, exactly like I hypothesized in my 2nd post in episode 35 thread here. ? la mode pudding is a Japanese-style pudding which are usually served with fruits, ice cream, or both. ? la Mode Mode is also a pun for "armored mode". Peak creativity, I know. Haha.:lol

Also, how the heck is Dente able to freely go out in public places without using his Mimic Key and wearing any disguise at all?:eyebrow:confused: This scene might hint at the growing possibility that Dente could be the actual mastermind and the ultimate manipulator of this atrocious story like I hypothesized a long time ago in my 1st post in episode 21 thread here. The meeting between Dente and Glotta could be a hint that it's still possible that the one who executed Komel was actually Dente or his agents, which means that when Glotta said to Lango Mango and Nyelv in episode 21 @ 06:21 that she only knew Komel as "a nobody part-timer named Komel Amarga", she actually told them the truth.

Yep, episode 39-40 are very likely gonna focus on the resolution of Lage 9's revenge subplot, which means it's Glotta's turn to get her ass kicked. Is she gonna die? I see a 50/50 chance that she's gonna be killed by Lage 9 in his debut as KR Vram ? la Mode Mode. Yea, it takes 2 episodes to eliminate each villain. There are still 4 undefeated villains (Nyelv, Liselle, Bocca, and likely Dente). If episodes 39-40 are reserved for eliminating Glotta, then:
- 41-42 are for Liselle (featuring the return of Jeebh),
- 43-44 are for Nyelv (and might feature the return of Dark Shouma #5 and or Kenzou if I'm gonna make the ultimate, God-awful, Yuuya Takahashi-style asspull, haha:lol),
- 45-46 are for Bocca or Dente, and
- 47-48 are for Dente or Bocca (featuring the return of Lango Mango as a pre-final villain or post-final villain, although I see the possibility that he might return in as early as episodes 43-44).

Mmmmmmmmmmaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyybbbbbbbbbbeeeeeeeeee...

The story with Kenji goes almost exactly as predicted. Hanto is expectedly very hesitant and completely unsure of everything, but (as I expected) the main reason for his decision to spare Kenji is not forgiveness, but the desire to protect Hiroto from losing a loved one. Hanto himself went through this more than once, so he cannot allow others to suffer like this because of him.
By the way, an interesting difference between Gavv and other shows is that here all the worst things happened to the characters before they became riders. This applies not only to the main trio, but even to antagonists like Kenzo and Jeebh.
Speaking of Jeebh. Persuaded by Liesel and Nyelv, he becomes a Kamen Rider and defeats Vram quite easily. Apparently, this is a hint that fixing the driver is not enough and he needs a new form. But still, the breadstick has nothing to counter Gochipod, so Jeebh's suffering will continue. By the way, it's a good location for a battle. I especially remember the tower that Gavv climbed.
Lakia expresses the idea that he would kill Kenji, but Shouma thinks that he is convincing himself. The dialogue is good, but the problem is that Hanto did not hear it. This is similar to the situation with Kenzo, whose motives were revealed to the audience, but not to the riders, and therefore they did not affect our heroes.
It's also interesting that Lakia is the one who suggests checking on Hanto, which shows that despite their constant bickering, he still cares about the reporter.
Anyway, I was right about the other thing too. You can part with your past life and even symbolically kill it, but Kenzo is still listed as a part-time worker at Stomatch Inc. And Glotta couldn't find a better way to increase supplies than by executing the worst workers. So this pastry chef from two worlds didn't survive this episode after all.

Secondary's resolution.

As everyone predicted, Glotta shows up intending to kill Kenji. It has already become clear, especially when Glotta threatens underperforming part-timers, that she was the one who killed Comel. More Granutes want to stop, not just Comel and Kenji, as Rakia pointed out. Still, Kenji’s death isn’t portrayed as something done by the heroes do to justify punishment and evil with evil, but the villain's cruelty preventing people from turning good or stopping their production.

Guess for this one, it's clear that Hanto doesn’t forgive Kenji, despite sparing his life. He remains bitter about this decision, made for Hiroto's sake. Hanto is less forgiving than another secondary character, Terui from W, who makes peace with his family's murderer, Shroud (the one who genuinely regrets their crimes, not Isaka). Kenji’s change comes from memories of his time as a sweet shop owner when he infiltrated Andos. It’s unclear why this realization doesn’t occur for other part-timers, though obviously it's unknown how their backstories are.

It’s obviously that Rakia wouldn't be any better than Hanto when Shoma tries to talk to him about the situation with Hanto. Shoma witnessed Rakia going apeshit to Dente when he learns he's behind Dark Treats. Rakia wouldn't be tested like Hanto, as Comel's murderer is Glotta, who likely would never repent, making her death a necessity. Rakia distinguishes between the loss of his loved one and the loss of others, while Hanto is also angered by Kenji's kidnapping of innocent people.

I initially thought Sachika questioning whether Kenji is bad might encourage Rakia to confess his crimes to her later, seeing how she'd react to it. However, by the end, it seems she remains unaware of the truth; Kenji is indeed Sae’s murderer. While Sachika's call-out to Hanto for demonizing Shoma is valid, she appears to be operating under similar logic when she refuses to believe in Kenji's crimes, assuming that because he cares for Hiroto, he cannot do bad things. I wish she could learn the truth and likely realize that bad people can change and redeem themselves.

Jeebh despises the idea of becoming like Shoma, especially with Nyelv offering him a red Gavv modification. Yet, he becomes ecstatic when he receives not a red, but a purple and black Gavv. Unlike Lango before him, Jeebh seems to show no hatred toward Nyelv, even though he is also a target unlike Glotta. Surprisingly, Bitter Gavv Bakibakistick gives Vram an 'L' faster than Lango did, but obviously, Gavv's strongest form remains the Over/Master Form, so he'd still lose, and putting up less fight than Lango. For some reason, Shoma does not chase after Jeebh when he escapes.

I think at this point, Shoma has more pity for Jiip than anything else and doesn't even really like seeing his brother spiral like this. I think he lowkey wishes they could make amends, if only so Jiip has a chance to move past his obsession and experience happiness.

I don't think Jiip will get a full-on redemption arc, but I CAN see Jiip eventually burying the hatchet and helping Shoma in some way against Stomach Inc. and the Jaldaks. Because to be honest, the only reason Jiip has any real issue with Shoma at all is because of the position his older siblings put him and Shita in and the pressure they felt from Lango. They literally have every reason to be close due to their mutual trauma yet Jiip can't let go of his hate.

The problem is that if you compare Stomatch to their closest analogue in the franchise, the Sonozaki family, it is noticeable that there are far fewer conflicts between Granute than was in the Museum. It is worth admitting that Stomatch was, if not a happy, then quite a stable family and Shouma is really the only factor that destroys their well-being. That is, even the talk about the twins’ wedding only came up after supplies worsened due to Gavv’s activities.

Looks like I was right about Hanto walking the path of Takeru, emphatically not forgiving Kenji while still acknowledging that he deserves to live for Hiroto's sake. It was Hanto's right to decide Kenji's fate and he could've just killed him fair enough, so I'm proud of him for showing mercy and seeing something bigger than his revenge.

Good that Bitter Gavv Bakibakisticks at least won his debut fight against Vram before Gavv brought out his Gochipod and yeah, Eitoku totally deserves credit for bravely standing atop that tall tower.

Glotta's gone too far this time and the worst part is that she seems to immediately forget about Kenji after murdering him. She definitely seems like the most likely suspect in Comel's murder now. In that case, yeah, Lakia's path of revenge should be much clearer than Hanto's.

No, Sae's murderer is still Lango.

Jeep is like Narutaki as a Rider, he only shows up to pester Shouma and then angrily leaves when he gets his a** kicked. This is basically his only purpose in Stomach, showing that his shiny new title of vice president is nothing more than that. Bocca and Liselle are running the operation, Nyelve is making the tech and Glotta is murdering people, while Jeep can only say, "Damn you Red Gavv!". So I think Shouma no longer sees him as a credible threat to bother giving chase. Jeep still doesn't see his hypocrisy of feeling entitled to revenge when he had sadistically watched while Glotta murdered Michiru in front of Shouma, in contrast to the main 3 Riders who understand that other people have their own feelings.

Yes, that's a very apt remark. In comparison, Lakia, when hito-pressing people, knew that he was doing the wrong thing, but he was ready to do it for the sake of finding Comel's killer. For Jeebh, only he and Shita are important.

Jeebh had already antagonized Shoma since he was a child, and the reason Lango put pressure on him and Shita was that Jeebh and Shita had focused on sadistically toying with Shoma early on, rather than completing the missions properly. Pitiful elements aside, the twins are no different from the three older siblings; no reason why they shouldn't be someone who also mass kidnapped and murdered humans for spices as well like those three, and being racist to humans (which is why they antagonized Shoma, just like the three older siblings), which would mean Shoma's enemy.

For referring to Takeru, does that also mean being less forgiving compared to, for example, other main Riders like Touma? Who doesn't seem to hold any ill feelings towards Isaac (a pure evil), to give him a chance to join them again after his final defeat. Otherwise, so pay evil unto evil would be something right to do here, about Hanto's right to decide Kenji's fate? It'd be different for villains who wronged others (like Shinji against Asakura) and villains who personally wronged someone?

This'd be rather kinda like saying that in Tekken, Jin didn't murder Miguel's sister, it was a Zaibatsu member that bombed the church. Otherwise, though not all cases (like Kenji here) people like to think that if a villain didn't kill anyone, then they did nothing wrong, continuing how they think if one did irreversible damage (like killing), then they're irredeemable, while downplaying the crimes which damage can be undone. This episode also points out, via Hanto, that innocent people had died because of Kenji.

Even if he's not a credible threat to Shoma, he's still a credible threat to the normal humans, which he has been attacking before to spite Shoma. Should chase him down not to defend himself, but to defend humans.

https://i.imgur.com/zkPfa5M.jpg

This episode gave me some conflicting feelings that I'm kind of struggling to sort out, which I guess is at least a bonus in the sense that I can more easily identify with Hanto's dilemma here.

Like, I'm about to pass judgment of some kind on this story, and even as I'm writing, I don't know exactly what the overall tone is going to be? There's a lot I have to say that's very positive, and a lot I could say that's going to sound quite harsh. The strangest part is, the thing I loved most and the biggest thing that bothered me directly contradict each other? I think it's amazingly commendable how cohesive the script of this one is, yet by the end, it also felt like the individual pieces weren't working together as well as they ought to?

All the elements are put into place really well. Pretty much everything is feeding into that central theme of people holding grudges, even when it's something like Lakia's scene with Dente, which a much less thoughtful version of the episode might be content to have as a purely mechanical aside that's only there for the purpose of explaining why Vram gets to be in the fight with Jiip. That kind of thing is always great to see. I was impressed by how it felt like all the scenes were actively propping each other up in that manner; how it was all pulling in that one direction the entire time.

But then -- also -- the episode gets to the point where a very smooth transition establishes Gavv and Vram's fight with Jiip and Valen's "fight" with Kenji as this explicitly connected thing, calling attention to the way each of those threads is a reflection of the other, as though it's building to some magnificent crescendo that'll tie everything together as a truly unified statement... only for it to mostly play out as two separate resolutions?

Assuming for a second it isn't a problem with my selfish expectations, I think it might be a problem with how it's all assembled? Narratively, there's still a contrast going on between the empathy of Hanto putting a child's future above his own past and the way Jiip's stubborn inability to truly move forward results in imagery of him burning in the flames of eternal damnation by the end, but especially compared to how things started, I have this nagging feeling the episode missed an opportunity to connect those things using the structure too, using the way it's edited together and paced out and all that to increase the emotional impact?

It's a tough call though, because even as is, the episode definitely has some solid emotional impact! It's less that I'm not satisfied, and more that I feel what's already here could've been polished fairly easily into an unmistakable series highlight level of two-parter? All the beats in the story make sense, there's a strongly defined central theme that lets it explore the characters in neat ways, it moves the overall series story forward too... again, in theory, all the pieces are right there where they need to be. I'm pretty sure my overall opinion on this episode will thus eventually settle into one that's more firmly positive, but in the immediate moment, I can't deny I wanted more out of it, despite all that it was already giving me.