[Zolda]

The opening scene is almost completely identical to the ending scene of episode 17. I've just realized that during the opening scene @ 00:15, Shouma/KR Gavv is surprised that Lage 9 has a Gavv and a Gochizou. It makes sense for Shouma to be surprised when he sees the Doppudding RG, an unknown Gochizou that he has never created. But why the heck is he surprised to see a Granute with a Gavv? It makes sense for him to say "What the heck is that Gochizou!?", not "A Gavv and a Gochizou!?".

The Vrastum Gear looks really nice. Can it use regular RG's, not just tubular shaped ones like Doppudding and Purujelly? That doesn't seem to be the case. If it's true, then the DX Vrastum Gear could have a very limited playability, like the DX Sclash Driver, albeit looking much better than the DX Henshin Belt Gavv and DX Build Driver.

Nyelv appears @ 05:19 and introduces Lage 9 as KR Vram. He says that it's a Rider System based on Shouma's red Gavv. Just when I think that KR Vram is about to kick Shouma/KR Gavv's and Hanto/KR Valen's asses, Nyelv and Lage 9/KR Vram casually walk away from the battlefield, and Shouma/KR Gavv and Hanto/KR Valen just let them go, haha.

Shouma/KR Gavv mentioning Nyelv's name @ 05:41 should be the dead giveaway to Hanto that Shouma is connected to the Stomach family. In the scene @ 06:53, Hanto asks Shouma to confirm whether Shouma knows Nyelv's name. Hanto asks whether Nyelv is Shouma's enemy, and Shouma only nods his head. Hanto then straightforwardly says that Shouma is hiding something from him. I was like, "Well, Shouma is hiding something from you, Hanto. And what he's hiding from you is the fact that he's half-Granute, but he already showed you that he's half-Granute when he showed you in episode 14 @ 07:26 that he could read the ransom message in Granute alphabets written by Shita's and Jeebh's agents. If that scene can't knock some sense into your thick skull, then nothing will." Heck, even Shouma himself elaborates the fact about Stomach corporation as a family business that sells snacks in the Granute world, and he then mentions the names of all 5 of the Stomach siblings. If Hanto has common sense, then he should ask Shouma how the heck a mere part-timer at Sachika's shop is able to know the details of an otherworldly organization that invades the Earth. If Kenzou knows too much, then Shouma knows 2 times more than Kenzou does. If Kenzou is asked by Hanto how the heck he's able to know too much, then Kenzou can simply use his "I'm a Granute researcher" excuse. But what about Shouma? What excuse is Shouma gonna give to Hanto? Yep, this scene should tell Hanto that Shouma didn't come from the Earth, but from the Granute world. The very very very stupid thing is, instead of concluding that Shouma is a Granute, Hanto is thanking Shouma for stopping him from entering the Granute world in episode 16 because it would've been very dangerous to go there. Heck, even Hanto himself says @ 08:57 that Shouma knows too much. Hasn't he ever asked himself how the heck Shouma (who he thinks is just a human whose mom was kidnapped and killed by a Granute) is able to know sooooooooo much about crucial information? Hasn't he ever asked himself that perhaps Shouma is backed by a benefactor, just like he's backed by Kenzou? Don't know! Hanto is supposed to be an extreme, staunch Granute hater, but when all facts point to Shouma being a half-Granute and or came from the Granute world, all of a sudden Hanto's IQ drops 100 points and loses all forms of common sense. Gosh, how dense Hanto can be? Hanto is easily the worst second Rider in the history of this franchise. Hanto's stupidity is only matched by Sad Boi Keiwa's stupidity. *facepalm

In the scene @ 10:11, Kenzou is impressed by the Vrastum Gear. He's also very enthusiastic when he sees Lage 9 who he says is the first living Granute he sees in a safe environment. Nyelv says that he's also a living Granute, but Kenzou says that he considers Nyelv to be a fellow researcher. Soooooooooooooooo, my hypothesis in the episode 15 thread here is confirmed to be correct in this scene. Kenzou has known about Nyelv's identity as a Granute in human disguise for a long time, very likely since the first time the met. The weird thing is @ 10:57 where Kenzou unplugs Lage 9's Mimic Key to see him revealing his true Granute form. Why the heck is Kenzou soooooooooooo excited in this scene? Has he never seen Nyelv unplugging his Mimic Key? What's so exciting about unplugging a Granute's Mimic Key, when the person you've been working with for a very long time is also a Granute? Don't know! Kenzou's excitement in this scene makes no sense at all. Meanwhile, Lage 9 looks very disinterested in being treated like a freak show, haha.

Nyelv confirms his ongoing cooperation with Lage 9 @ 11:30. He authorizes Lage 9 to defeat KR Gavv and KR Valen. Based on his suspicious smile @ 11:49, it seems like he's planning something big by manipulating Lage 9, Kenzou, and Hanto/KR Valen. It's very likely that he'll gain something crucial from the conflict between the 3 Riders. So yes, like I hypothesized in the episode 17 thread here, Lage 9 could be the first pawn who'd get the short end of the stick from his cahoots with Nyelv.

The (bird?) Granute of the week aka the woman with red scarf is trying to ensnare a potential victim @ 11:54, but the victim is immediately scared and runs away when he sees her. A highschool girl and boy also do the same when they see her. It turns out that the (bird?) Granute of the week aka the woman with red scarf's human disguise has been exposed in social media as a dangerous person. Like I elaborated in the episode 8 thread here, episode 10 thread here, and episode 13 thread here, if changing a human disguise is as easy as changing clothes (like Kenzou said in episode 8 @ 04:52), then why hasn't Lango/Stomach provided their part-timers with an infinite number of human disguises to prevent them being detected by humans, except for only one time in episode 8 for Iwashimizu/fake art dealer who only had 1 alternate disguise? Don't know! The (bird?) Granute of the week (and the previous ones) would been much much much harder to identify by humans had they simply changed their human disguise after committing each crime. If Granutes can change the appearance of their human disguise as easy as changing the wallpaper on my smartphone then the only thing that makes sense that Lango/Stomach should already do is supplying their part-timers with infinite number of disguises. That would've greatly reduced the risk of being detected by humans and Shouma/Hanto. Then again, this story is sooooo sloppily written, so I won't expect anything that follows logic, rationality, and common sense, haha.

Sachika also finds the social media post about the (bird?) Granute of the week aka the woman with red scarf @ 12:29 and confirms that it's the same person she saw yesterday. It turns out it was Hanto and Shouma who posted the drawing of the woman with red scarf in social media. Surprise, surprise. Sachika then tells Shouma and Hanto that the (bird?) Granute of the week aka the woman with red scarf's modus operandi involves a strong wind that blows her scarf to lure her potential victims, to which Hanto then concludes that she's able to control wind.

In the scene @ 14:06 the (bird?) Granute of the week aka the woman with red scarf is pissed at how no one falls for her trick anymore. She moaned about not being able to get Dark Snacks. Lage 9 then conveniently asks her @ 14:09 if she badly wants Dark Snacks, to which she replies and describes the effects of Dark Snacks on her body and psychology. Didn't Lage 9 already know about this? This scene is a convenient scene to enable the writers to insert a flashback scene @ 14:39 that shows Lage 9 arguing with a female Granute who is also a Dark Snack addict. One of my hypotheses in the episode 17 thread here about Lage 9 having a personal motive is confirmed to be correct in this flashback scene. He could be a civilian Granute or a police spy Granute with not only a professional motive, but also a personal grudge that could have had something to do with Stomach's crimes in the past. As shown in the flashback scene, perhaps that female Dark Snack junkie Granute was one of his family members, friends, or relatives, and she could've been a victim of Dark Snack fatal overdose that could've killed or at least severely damaged her physically and mentally.

In the scene @ 15:13, Sachika finds several social media posts about the (bird?) Granute of the week aka the woman with red scarf's current crime where she's creating a strong wind to catch several humans. This is not the first time a Granute doing a huge damage in a public place. Heck, even Shouma, Hanto, and Lage 9 are transforming in the open in a very public place like this. If the police are still not doing anything to investigate and deal with the Granutes' threats, then this story is not only an idiot plot, but also a second order idiot plot. Once again: Congratulations, Gavv's writers and producers! *facepalm *slow clap

Lage 9/KR Vram debuts his weapon, the Vram Breaker. And yes, it's very ugly, haha. Hanto/KR Valen asks Lage 9/KR Vram whether he's a member of the Stomach family @ 22:07. That simple question manage to break Lage 9/KR Vram's concentration and create an opening when he's managed to be punched by Hanto/KR Valen. Lage 9/KR Vram breaks his calm demeanor @ 22:22 and enters the rage mode, so yes, like I've elaborated above, it's very likely that he has a personal grudge against the Stomach family. Hanto/KR Valen is defeated by Lage 9/KR Vram and is seemingly badly injured, so he'd likely demoted to the substitute player's bench in episode 19 because Lage 9/KR Vram will need to get his backstory told, haha.

Next week:

Lage 9/KR Vram finds out about Shouma/KR Gavv's identity as a half-Granute. He'd likely give a hint about his sob story to Shouma/KR Gavv in this scene, haha.

Kenzou meets Shouma, likely in the scene where Shouma brings the injured Hanto to Kenzou's crummy office/lab. Kenzou reveals that he also knows that Shouma is KR Gavv, likely told by Hanto or via his own observation or info from Nyelv. Does he also know that Shouma is a half-Granute? I think so, since Nyelv would gain no benefit from hiding Shouma's identity from Kenzou. Kenzou could also likely already know about Shouma's secret as a half-Granute for some time, whether via his own observation or info from Nyelv, but he'd say that he wouldn't tell Hanto in order to make Shouma feel like being on the edge of his seat because his secret could be leaked by Kenzou at any time, haha. There's even a possibility that Kenzou is planning to manipulate Shouma by using Shouma's secret identity as a leverage to further his own plan, which could be developing a secret upgrade/weapon for Hanto/KR Valen or even developing a brand new Driver without Nyelv's knowledge. Kenzou could very likely already know that he's been manipulated by Nyelv, so he knows that it's finally the time to prepare a secret trump card by developing a new upgrade/weapon/Driver without Nyelv's knowledge.

Where is Jeebh? He was last seen in episode 16. I think he'd be sidelined for several more episodes to build momentum, and would finally reappear in between episodes 20-25 with a brand new look and a brand new Driver and RG.

Mmmaaayyybbbeee...