[Zolda]

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

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?

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.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Daikaijuman54

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

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.

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Originally Posted by Mesnick

GoldDash also follows in the footsteps (or rather the wheel tracks) of Battle Hopper, taking the initiative and saving Houtarou.

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.

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Originally Posted by Mesnick

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Mesnick

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

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.

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Originally Posted by Mesnick

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.

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.

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Originally Posted by Mesnick

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 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.