[DreadBringer]

People aren't only aware that monsters attack them, but they also know that they can gain powers by becoming Malgams. There are people who try to steal Chemies from others to become Malgams by purpose. With the existence of power, obviously there will be power-hungry people who jump at the opportunity. This is further proof that Malgams don't corrupt people to do bad things; only Chemies are corrupted, and it's the individuals themselves who choose to do bad things.

I had some doubts before about Houtaro's fighting capabilities, likely due to Clotho by comparison, but it's clear now that Houtaro is a good fighter outside of his suit as he kicks the (multiple) thugs' butts. Though Rinne didn't display any when the thugs confronted them. Kinda surprising that Platinum Gotchard, after Gaelijah stole VenomDrak, puts up a better fight against both the returning Gouriki and the VenomDrak Malgam than Rainbow Gotchard.

As for the continuation of Rinne and Atropos, Rinne still tries to convince Atropos that Geryon can't be trusted. Atropos rejects her plea but seems a bit more vulnerable, claiming that Rinne doesn't understand her feelings (although it's unclear if this is just a guilt trip, given that she likes to mess with Rinne's head). The bond between Atropos and Geryon appears to be even stronger, with Geryon reading her stories, similar to how Fuga did with Rinne.

I forgot that Tacchan, Yua's ex, was Yuzuru's employer, but he reappears, further showcasing how much of a scumbag he can be, where he's outright villainous here as an immoral journalist who prioritizes creating dirt on easy targets. There are also other unseen individuals (not sure if they're Tacchan's cronies) who have attacked Kyoka and ransacked her lab.

It turns out that Supana has turned (anti-)villainous as well. Chemies are emphasized as living beings, and he's targeting innocents just for existing. He's a Chemy racist, even though he has clear reasons for viewing them as a problem and intends to save the world. He would be a well-intentioned extremist. The problem isn't strictly Chemies, but also the existence of bad humans and their malice. Although Supana had a soft moment with a harassed child before.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Rinne haters better start taking notes. Houtarou had to repeat the backbreaker reversal technique many times to get it right and yet Rinne managed to do it perfectly on her first try, purely from memory. They don't call her the Star Scholar for nothing!

Capabilities aren't the primary/only reason for the hatred (I'm not agreeing but still). I mean for the seemingly more well-liked archetype in 'cool evil', Horobi also can be disliked for being perceived as bland or flat despite how cool he can be made up to be.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

When Spanner started his speech, I was like, "yeah, screw the Union!", but the part about disposing of Chemies kind of ruins it. If Machwheel and Daiohni are still on his side though, then I imagine that he has more to his plan than he's telling us. Chemies wouldn't assist in their own genocide. Like, maybe Spanner means to dispose of them in a nonlethal way. Either way, this is an obstacle to Houtarou's dream, so he's not going to stand for it.

The little girl has talent for sure. This scene gives more reason to doubt Spanner's announcement, as that would make him the same as those bullies.

Except if the bullies will give justification for their actions like toughen up the victim or making good use of their power, which can seemingly easily convince you. Supana has never have a high opinion for Chemies, even recently with what he said about Nijigon before, so can't accuse him as being OOC or such to want to dispose them after his warning seemingly is proven right in this episode. About using Machweel and Daiohni, it can just be that Supana is a hypocrite, because he had shown several instances of that before, like how he claims to won't attack hostages yet he does so to Sabi, or that he relies more of Chemies' powers than alchemy despite his disdain for them.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

This was a big reveal! Now it makes sense why Atropos is so loyal to Geryon, since she's all about following the rules. She's like Rinne without any of the character development, which would explain why Rinne is so insistent on redeeming her as well as being able to understand her motivations easily.

Though Rinne wasn't a bad person for 'without any of the character development' like Atropos is up until now. I think Minato is the dark shadow version for Rinne back then when he's the mole for Geryon and even then he wasn't as bad as Atropos.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Not surprising at all. Houtarou is a jock with a strong durable body and those delinquents were threatening his friends. Of course their a**es were getting thrown off that bridge!

It happens to just almost any Rider character who started out beginners where they turned into good fighters as human due to being used to fighting as Rider, like Shinji, Wataru (much later), Eiji, Gentaro, Kouta, Takeru, Touma, Ikki, Keiwa. This is franchise standard. Only Ryotaro from Den-O seems to be exempt from this.