[DreadBringer]

The episode without opening, the conclusion of the show's 2nd arc.

The reason for Hanto's distancing from Shoma is finally revealed: he feels he has dragged Shoma down and is guilt-ridden over snapping at him. Hanto doesn't cause harm to others, but he has an unhealthy coping mechanism that leads him to blame himself for everything that happens, occasionally looking for someone to blame, and resorts to using the Chocold, despite the harm it causes him, believing it will prevent him from dragging Shoma down further, which are self-destructive moves.

It was Shoma's experience when he revealed Sae's death, as he apologized to Hanto for something that was not his fault. But Shoma now gets over it to encourage Hanto to break free from this cycle of sadness and only thinking about what-ifs, that one should move forward rather than being stuck in the past. The scene of Hanto being so despondent that he lets thugs he bumped into beat him up reminds me of Yakuza 0's cutscene of Majima letting punks beat him up for bumping to them.

Dunno if they intentionally included false Kamen Riders who don't use belts, as seen in Suga's creations in both Valen and Bake. Under Dente's hands, Valen's henshin trinket eventually become a belt, staying true to the Kamen Rider spirit. Valen's first upgrade, Frappe Custom, involves ice-based combat, but he focuses more on hand-to-hand fighting than Gavv Blizzardsorbet. In addition to Shoma, Hanto has accepted help from another Granute, the well-meaning scientist Dente.

Suga's pretty much this show's Dr. Tenma from Astro Boy. Both have lost a child during infancy, which drives them to madness and a desire to create the ultimate lifeform while refusing to be called "father" by their creations. Otherwise, it's also common for other mad scientists in media to look down on humans and seek to create something superior to humans. In this episode, Suga meets his demise, although his body remains intact. Nyelv mourns his death and seeks to continue his research.

Rakia confronts Suga, facing a Bitter Gavv in the process. Suga's research facilities include a tank designed for conceiving life forms, which, if broken, releases liquid, like on Steve's Tekken 5 ending. I wonder if Vram could potentially burn down Suga and Nyelv's entire lab by this though. Rakia remarks on Suga's monstrous nature as a human, yet Shoma does not react further to the idea that humans can be as evil as Granutes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

The thing is, while I'm banging on about the specific belt Hanto is now wearing, none of that is more important than the overall visual symbolism of Valen now having any transformation belt, or the imagery of Hanto on a motorcycle, for that matter. The whole story is essentially graduation day for Hanto, with him finally breaking free of everything that's had him shackled to become a true Kamen Rider in a way he maybe wasn't before.

What made him wasn't a "true Kamen Rider" before? As even though a sense of worthlessness was what Shoma felt earlier on, he should already be a "true Kamen Rider" since the beginning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

And those shackles are about more than just Suga's literal manipulations, too! There are so many layers to this episode I'm struggling to organize my thoughts on it. There's also this whole thing where it's this very Gavv theme of Hanto overcoming a sort of deeply internalized... like, is a lack of self-worth an accurate thing to call it? It's a lot like what Shouma was going through really early on the series, where Hanto's life experiences have pushed him to this place where he can't see his own value -- can't see how it can be okay for him to even just... be, and the heroic triumph in the end is also about forgiving himself for things he wouldn't even be hung up on if he weren't so obviously a good person who deserves the chance he eventually takes to continue pursuing happiness.

This was what Suga manipulated Hanto into, about Hanto's lack of self-worth, which allows Suga to lead Hanto into seeking more power in Chocold, and refusing to accept help from Shoma, even if it's self-destructive. What have you done, fanbase, to clown on Valen for jobbing? This is what happens .