[DreadBringer]

Secondary and tertiary seem to be undergoing a reversal.

Shoma's claim that he has only been eating ice cream lately reminds me of Ankh in OOO. However, the other aspects of Ankh are demonstrated through Rakia being accompanied by the girl who owns the Rider hangout spot helping him act more civilly. Rakia claims to not understand humans at all, and still hope that Rakia will learn about Sachika's own philosophy. Unless this episode quickly wraps up Rakia's journey to integrate with humans in him saving Koji thus he now cares about them already.

Like Shoma before in ep. 23, Sachika also leaves Rakia to manage the humans around him on his own. It's unclear what Rakia did with the injured civilians in ep. 23. Shoma and Sachika's persuasion for Rakia to work for them revolves around providing for his needs on Earth. However, I don't find this convincing enough to turn Rakia into someone as good as they are; being good should mean helping others without expecting anything in return. Besides, rocks are commonly found on the streets, and thus can be eaten without payment.

Shoma claims to intend to go to Rakia’s location when warning him about Koji visiting Kabutodanshi, but the attack from Bitter Gavv causes Shoma to seemingly cancel that plan and instead confront Bitter Gavv. Multiple issues arise: Koji’s potential danger, Bitter Gavv attacking civilians, and Hanto's current state. Granute Le Beet illustrates that the part-timer Granutes aren't necessarily coerced into evil by Stomach Inc.; rather, they are proud to work for them and view Comel as a coward.

For once, Valen performs better than Gavv. Even Gavv's strongest upgrade, Blizzardsorbet, fails to defeat Bitter Gavv due to the form's temporary nature, leading to its quick melting like ice cream left out of the freezer, which de-henshins Gavv. However, Valen, powered by Chocold—who is confirmed to enhance his strength in this episode—successfully defeats Bitter Gavv in a one-on-one battle.

Dunno about blaming Suga for creating a rift between Shoma and Hanto. While it's unclear how long Hanto intends to distance himself from others to process his thoughts, he can easily return to Shoma and the others whenever he chooses, regardless of his reliance on his Gochizos. Ultimately, it is Hanto's decision to withdraw from the main cast, as evidenced by his refusal to contact Sachika. While we don’t know what Suga is getting involved in, manipulating someone doesn’t diminish their agency.