[Tokumonkey]

I appreciated that Jeebh was given a unique snack theme for his Rider form, even if it's another Bitter Gavv rework. I'm very curious as to where they're taking Jeebh's story.

So far, it feels like Jeebh's story, following Shita's death, has simply been "descent into revenge-madness," and he flat-out disappeared for how many episodes before that? If that's all there is to it, I'd have expected him to die in this episode, but we're explicitly shown that he survives Over-Gavv's attack, suggesting Shouma spared him on purpose.

Have we ever really dug into Shouma's own feelings about having killed his little sister? I gathered he didn't especially want to kill her to begin with, but the twins were trying to murder him at the time, and he wasn't yet powerful enough for mercy to be an option. Shouma has usually been portrayed as kind to a near-fault, and the closest thing he has to a catchphrase is the bit where he offers mercy to Stomach operatives if they'll agree to give up Dark Candy.

OH! I just worked out what's bugging me about Jeebh's story: Lango is responsible for putting the twins in harm's way, and he'd be the obvious target of Jeebh's revenge if that revenge could be directed at a more appropriate target. Given that Lango died a couple of episodes ago, where can Jeebh's rage be directed if not at his shitty older brother?

All I can think of is Stomach's Dark Candy business. It's the proximate cause of all the misery in this episode. Jeebh and Shouma have a common enemy (as do all the show's still-living Riders), which could be the basis for an at-least-partial redemption arc, or at least a reconciliation. Shouma's family may be awful, but it's also all the family he has. The two of them working together would require Jeebh to be able to perceive that common enemy, though, and IIRC, he's never been portrayed as mature enough.

We don't have many more episodes for this stuff to play out. I just can't quite see the shape of where Jeebh's story is headed, beyond that the show isn't done with him, and seems to be keeping its options open regarding the actress who plays Shita.

We may have seen Kenji's death at the end of the episode coming from miles away (the scene with Glotta was NOT subtle), but it still feels wrong. Violently removing the person whose existence poses a complex ethical question is a very toku thing to do, but this was a story about navigating ethical gray areas and coming to peace with our decisions. Hanto's decision felt good. Kenji being killed just kinda sucked.