[Paladin]

Shoma tries to help Hanto recover from a devastating loss.

[Eclipyon]

Jeebh is back next episode, and is apparently married to the daughter of the Granute World's leader behind his sibling's back!!!

[Zolda]

Hanto says in the opening monologue @ 00:05 that Kenzou has used him as a lab rat in his experiment. He also says @ 00:12 that Kenzou was also the one who orchestrated Mr. Shioya's death at the end of episode 5. It's episode 28 already, and you've just realized about it, Hanto? I already elaborated in my post in episode 6 thread here that the very very very convenient fact (which I called Minority Report's "orgy of evidence" meme) that the culprit (the mushroom Granute) very conveniently left all pieces of incriminating evidence in the crime scene of Mr. Shioya's death at the end of episodes 5 (with the obvious intention of having them being easily found by Hanto at the beginning of episode 6) was solely done to provoke him into transforming into KR Valen at the end of episode 6. It was sooooooooo obvious that someone set him up to be the patsy, with Mr. Shioya's death as the bait. Heck, I even already pointed out that there was quite a high possibility of the connection/cahoots/conspiracy between Nyelv and Kenzou in my posts here, here, and here several aeons ago in episode 6(!) thread, which as the time goes, has been proven to be 90-95% correct. Anyone who isn't dense could've already read the writing on the wall. Well, Hanto, being dense is not a very good way to move forward in life, haha.

Based on Hanto's expression @ 00:37, he's very likely blaming himself for Shouma's mental health issue due to his strained friendship with him. Well, Hanto, you're being dense again, aren't you? If you didn't blame Kid Shouma (who was obviously just an innocent bystander/eyewitness) for your mom's death, then you would've had no reason to antagonize Shouma, right? If you didn't antagonize Shouma, then your friendship with Shouma wouldn't have been strained, and Shouma wouldn't have had a mental health issue, right? But, of course Hanto, you couldn't do that, right? You couldn't be not dense, right? Because if you hadn't been dense, then all the subplots about you antagonizing and staying away from Shouma, you allowing yourself to be manipulated by Kenzou and vehemently using the Chocold RG for not wanting to be reliant on Shouma, and also the subplot about Shouma having a mental health problem and could only eat ice cream to produce the Blizzardsorbei RG wouldn't have happened, right? In other words, you're programmed to be laughably dense, stupid, and irrational by the writers of this atrocious story, Hanto, simply for the sake of creating the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot. If Hanto (and virtually all other characters, including Shouma) hasn't been dense and stupid, then 95-99% of the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot wouldn't have happened, and the story's length would've shrunk to just 5-10% of what's been shown so far. TLDR: This pathetically, laughably, indefensibly lazy, cheap, sloppy, heavy-handed, and atrocious story is 95-99% nonsense/hot air, and its super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot can only be propped up by the programmed stupidity that its characters does at virtually every turn. *intergalactic hyperdrive facepalm

Dente is shown consulting a highly-detailed blueprint of the Vrastum Gear @ 01:14. Whaaattt??? The Vrastum Gear was designed, engineered, and manufactured by Nyelv alone, without anyone's help (be it Dente's or Kenzou's help) at all, so how the heck Dente is able to acquire the blueprint of the Vrastum Gear??? It can't be Lage 9 who is supplying the blueprint, because Lage 9 is just an end-user, not technician, so Nyelv had no reason to give him the blueprint of the Vrastum Gear. It'd make zero sense for Nyelv to supply anyone with the blueprint of the Vrastum Gear since it was supposed to be his secret magnum opus. No frakkin' way Nyelv would've wanted to share his trade secrets! So, how come, Dente??? Gosh, this scene makes no sense at all. It'd only make sense if Dente is disassembling and reverse-engineering Lage 9's Vrastum Gear, which means that Dente should only be able to take an educated guess on how the Vrastum Gear (and the Doppudding and Purujelly RG's) works, not directly consult the actual blueprint of the Vrastum Gear. The blueprint made by Dente should look very basic, rough, and incomplete with very minimal detailed information, since he's just guessing how the Vrastum Gear works. Just because Dente once taught Nyelv doesn't mean that Nyelv has never received new knowledge/information from other sources, right? It's almost 2 decades(!) since Dente went AWOL from Stomach, so it's just natural for Nyelv to expand his scientific horizons by independently exploring other sources of knowledge and not solely rely on knowledge taught by Dente. 2 decades are more than enough time for Nyelv to gain new knowledge from other sources, while Dente is living as a vagrant in the human world. Oh, and if Nyelv is prudent, then he should've booby-trapped Lage 9's Vrastum Gear to prevent tampering or reverse-engineering. This scene is sooooooooo convenient, and demonstrates that the writers of this story really really really didn't care about common sense.

Lage 9 suspected that Kenzou was as dangerous and unethical as Nyelv, and now he's planning to pay a visit to Kenzou's crummy office/lab to beat him up. It'd be hilarious if instead of Kenzou, he's the one that would be beaten up, haha.

In the scene @ 02:18 Hanto is visiting his old office to reminisce of what Mr. Shioya has said to him in the past. He's blaming himself for what happened to Mr. Shioya and wishes that he never looked for monsters. He's also blaming himself for what happens to Shouma. I get that this scene is meant to elicit sympathy for Hanto, but I find it's hard to be sympathetic to someone who is dense and makes stupid decisions almost all the time. Instead of sympathy, the emotion it elicits is cringe, a combination of pity, embarrassment, bewilderment, and amusement. It's peak cringe comedy. It's human to make 1 or 2 big mistakes, but if I make 100 big mistakes that everyone with common sense could already see from miles away, then it means I'm just a giant idiot.

Sachika finishes tidying up Dente's cave @ 05:21. I still don't understand why a genius scientist like Dente is living a sad, dysfunctional life like this. I still don't understand why he a scientist of his caliber has never prospered in the human world. Heck, I still don't understand why he never uses a Mimic Key to integrate with the human society like the part-timer Granutes do. Who knows what the answer is.

Shouma buys 2 cups of frappe for himself and Hanto @ 05:50. Shouma thinks it's ice cream, and Hanto only disinterestedly replies by saying that he doesn't like sweet drinks and that frappe doesn't contain ice cream, and wants a hot drink instead. Then they're talking about moving on from blaming themselves for being the victims of other people's schemes. The weird thing in this scene is that Shouma doesn't produce any RG, while he himself said that the frappe he drinks does taste like ice cream @ 06:40.

The computer screen in the scene @ 08:42 shows Kenzou's name as a specimen. A Dark Shouma asks Kenzou what's that data about, and he says that it's the research for creating the strongest creature. He says that no matter what happens, he'll never die and he'll live longer and stronger than any other people. So yeah, my hypothesis in my 2nd post in episode 27 thread here about Kenzou's endgame is pretty much confirmed in this scene. Kenzou's indeed planning to create the ultimate, immortal creature as a clone, or even fuse himself with it. Lage 9 arrives and he's planning to straighten him, but he tells Lage 9 to play with a Dark Shouma, and then unplugs his flash disk from his computer and get out of there. Lage 9 asks the Dark Shouma whether the other Dark Shoumas are still there and he'll finish them off. Yea, Kenzou stores all the remaining unactivated Dark Shoumas inside his crummy office/lab, not in other locations that no other people know. So stupid!

As usual in this story, Kenzou is able to conveniently finds Hanto and Shouma @ 09.48. He provokes Hanto to fight him, but Hanto, with his newly found resolve not to rely on him anymore, declines his provocative invitation, so he fights Shouma/KR Gavv Caking form instead to keep provoking Hanto. Shouma/KR Gavv Caking form lends the Vrocanbuggy bike to Hanto to allow him to escape from Kenzou/KR Bake's provocation. Shouma still has the Blizzardsorbei RG, so why doesn't he use it to fight Kenzou/KR Bake in this scene? Don't know! It'd very unfortunate if KR Bake Breacookie form has never fought KR Gavv Blizzardsorbet form, KR Gavv's current strongest form. He even has never fought Lage 9/KR Vram, let alone KR Gavv Blizzardsorbet form.

It turns out Hanto is not escaping, but going to Dente's cave to ask for a new RG/Driver to help Shouma/KR Gavv fight Kenzou/KR Bake. He finds the Vrastum Gear and the RG that's been completed by Dente. Dente says that it can be used by Hanto because he's improved it so that puts less strain on the user's heart. So yeah, like I hypothesized in my 2nd post in episode 27 thread here, the convenient solution in this episode to allow Hanto to use the Vrastum Gear is that Dente has simply eliminated the danger factors, although what he improved is not the Frappeise RG's danger factors, but the Vrastum Gear's danger factors.

Hanto returns to the fight scene @ 12:29. He attempts to transform using the supplied tubular-shaped RG, but he's unable to transform because that RG is just a dummy RG. Dente admits to Sachika @ 13:05 that he's unable to copy Nyelv's proprietary tubular-shaped RG's, which he wonders is due to a gap in his knowledge, a difference in talent, or a generational change in science. The untransformed Hanto is desperately trying to beat Kenzou/KR Bake up, but fails miserably and is mocked by Kenzou/KR Bake who says that Hanto will be the foundation of the creation of the strongest creature. Aaannnddd... At the most crucial moment, the Frappeise RG is very very very conveniently produced by none other than Shouma, very likely based on the frappe he drank several minutes ago. Soooooooooooooooooo, now Shouma is able to produce tubular-shaped RG's as well? Aren't the tubular-shaped RG's supposed to be artificial RG's created by Nyelv's proprietary technology, not produced by a human-Granute hybrid like Shouma? Don't know! Heck, now it's able to speak in human language, haha. The writers very likely wrote themselves to the corner and were unable to insert the creation of the Frappeise RG into the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, so they were probably like, "Ah, screw that! Just make Shouma produce it!", haha. This is what happens when your story is super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot. It ends up hurting you, not helping you. Surprise, surprise! This is just another evidence (among a gazillion others) of how pathetically, laughably, indefensibly lazy, cheap, sloppy, heavy-handed, and atrocious this story is. Congratulations, Gavv's writers (and producers)! *intergalactic hyperdrive facepalm

Meanwhile, Lage 9/KR Vram destroys a Dark Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv and all the remaining unactivated Dark Shoumas inside Kenzou's crummy office/lab @ 17:31. This particular Dark Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv is so weak since it can be destroyed by Lage 9/KR Vram alone, while in previous episodes a Dark Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv is much stronger and often needs to be defeated by 2 Riders. Perhaps this weakness happens because KR Bitter Gavv's advertising tenure is almost over, and the producers ordered the writers to speed up the Dark Shouma/KR Bitter Gavv arc in order for them to shill new toys (for a new Rider?) for episode 32-33 onward, so KR Bitter Gavv Bakibaki Stick form and KR Bitter Gavv Breacookie form would likely debut in episodes 29-32. The room where the other Dark Shoumas are stored is filled with photos of a baby, which could be Kenzou's deceased child.

KR Valen Frappe Custom form looks okay, though a bit better than KR Bake Breacookie form. And yeah, like I hypothesized in my 2nd post in episode 27 thread here, Kenzou/KR Bake is defeated, although only by Hanto/KR Valen Frappe Custom form, not via a tag team of Hanto + Shouma. Heck, in my post in episode 23 thread here, I even correctly predicted the route of the writing and the fact that Hanto in KR Valen's upgrade form (and or final form) would finally turn the table and kill Kenzou/KR Bake(?) and complete his revenge. What I didn't expect was that Kenzou/KR Bake would be defeated this early. Kenzou debuted as KR Bake in episode 27, and in this episode he's already unceremoniously defeated. This gotta be the shortest time between the debut and the first defeat, haha. Even a Dark Shouma had it longer. No wonder KR Bake Breacookie form looks very basic. KR Bake Breacookie form is just an easy kitbash of KR Bitter Gavv Breacookie form. This is likely due to there are still many RG's/forms (or even Riders) to shill, so the story needs to debut and retire a new form/Rider as quickly as possible. It also explains why KR Gavv Blizzardsorbet form, KR Gavv's current strongest form, rarely appear.

Nyelv visits the defeated Kenzou @ 22:30. He mockingly tells the unconscious (or even dead) Kenzou that he'll take care of the rest. Based on this statement by Nyelv, it seems quite likely that Nyelv is planning to use Kenzou's body as a test subject for his new experiment, so there's some truth in my hypothesis in my posts in episode 22 thread here and in episode 23 thread here where I mentioned that the cells from Kenzou's dead body would be claimed by Nyelv to be repurposed/recombined with other experimental cells in an experiment to create an unknown product, likely Nyelv's own ultimate Driver. This scene is quite similar to the one in KR Saber where Master Logos/KR Solomon was defeated, killed, and got his WRB taken by Storius who was Master Logos' co-conspirator. Kenzou = Master Logos; Nyelv = Storius.

Jeebh? Yep, as usual, he's still MIA.
# of episodes without Jeebh: 12. He's been missing from the story for 12 episodes straight(!).
My only conclusions:
- The writers wrote themselves to a corner and couldn't do anything to insert Jeebh into the story, so he needed to be sidelined until his advertising tenure begins, very likely after Kenzou reveals himself as the creator of the Dark Shoumas and transforms into KR Bake in episode 27. But the one who will debut in episode 28 is Hanto as KR Valen Frappe Custom form, so it's very likely that Jeebh will still be absent in episode 28. Perhaps he'll return between episodes 30-32.
- There's a possibility that the writers also went Yuuya with Jeebh. Perhaps during these last 11 episodes Jeebh has been searching for Zomb to request his help to strengthen him in order to fulfill his revenge on Shouma for killing Shita. Or maybe not. Who knows what kind of convoluted plot points were crammed into the story next?

I've got nothing more to say, so let me repost my point about Jeebh in episode 23 thread here:
"And hooooooooooooooooooooly crap, Jeebh is still frakkin' absent!!! Where the heck are you, Jeebh??? He's the only character in this story whose transformation I've really really really looked forward into, but at this point all the momentum and all my expectations about him have completely evaporated. He's completely missed his momentum.
The weirdest thing is that the writers still could't even deal with Jeebh's storyline, yet they added a new villain (Zomb) into the story and potentially made the story much harder to resolve. They hadn't solved the previous problem yet they created a new one. Also, Kenzou is starting another manipulation, adding another difficulty in resolving Jeebh's storyline."

Let me repost my point about Jeebh in episode 21 thread here:
"Jeebh is still absent after his last appearance in episode 16. He doesn't appear at all since then, not even 1 frame. The fact that Jeebh is still nowhere to be seen could mean that he'd likely transform into the 5th Rider or the 6th Rider, since there has been a rumor about Kenzou transforming into KR Bake. Perhaps Jeebh would be one of the normal Granutes who are possessed by Dark Shouma's cells and gets his Gavv corrupted, or perhaps he's the final user of the Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv. That, or he's simply forgotten by the writers due to the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, haha. Jeebh is supposed to be the person who has the most problems with Shouma due to Shita being killed by Shouma in episode 14, so he should've been consumed by revenge and *wait for it* bitterness. He should've been searching frantically for Shouma to exact his revenge. He should've ordered his agents to search for Shouma and attack him at first sight. Heck, he could've even decided to play dirty by using Sachika as a hostage to lure Shouma out. But that didn't happen. Instead, Jeebh has been completely gone from the story. So yeah, perhaps he's simply forgotten by the writers due to the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, haha."

Like I said in my post in episode 22 thread here:
"My only words for Jeebh:
You either die a villain, or live long enough to see yourself become a forgotten villain. The worst fate is not being a dead character, but being a character forgotten by its own writers. *facepalm"

Lango the stupidest CEO villain and Glotta have also rarely appeared during the last 5-10 episodes. This is what happens when you have waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too many villains. The writers thought they could juggle 10 balls at once, and failed miserably. The writers bit off waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more than they can chew, and were ultimately overwhelmed. Combine the oversupply of villains with the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, and you've got the perfect recipe for a pathetically, laughably, indefensibly lazy, cheap, sloppy, heavy-handed, and atrocious story. Congratulations, Gavv's writers (and producers)! *intergalactic hyperdrive facepalm

Oh, and it's already episode 28, yet there's still no sign of activity from the Granute police department. What a giga LOL.

Next week:

Lage 9 is trying to play basketball, and he easily slays, haha.

The writers finally remembered that they had a character named Jeebh Stomach, haha. He's revealed to having married Liselle Zeludac, the daughter of Bocca Zeludac, the president of the Granute world. Bocca, as shown in the preview section @ 23:15, seems to have a kraken motif (similar to Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series), seemingly to allude to his tentacles of power and connection within the Granute society. Perhaps he's the financier, the one who has been financially funding all of Stomach's business ventures, be it the legal or the illegal ones, like I've hypothesized since my dinosaur-age post in episode 6(!) thread here.

What I don't like about this reveal is: Why didn't the writers reveal Jeebh's marriage in a gradual manner, not in an abrupt way like this? Why did they erase Jeebh for 12(!) episodes straight? Jeebh could've got several important character developments during those 12 episodes, since he was supposed to be the person who has the most problems with Shouma due to Shita being killed by Shouma in episode 14. Ah, nevermind. The writers inserted too many villains into this story and were overwhelmed. Strangely, instead of working with what they already had, now they inserted not only 1, but 2 new villains (Liselle & Bocca)! I see a higher chance that Lango (the stupidest CEO villain) and Glotta would be even more sidelined in the next 10 episodes, likely until the debut of KR Gavv's final form in episode 38. And, like I mentioned in my post in episode 17 thread here, why haven't Lango, Glotta, or Nyelv married themselves off to wealthy and powerful Granutes? They're much more powerful and smarter than Shita and Jeebh, so they should be better candidates to represent the Stomach family in the upper class circles of the Granute society. Why Shita/Jeebh, not Lango/Glotta/Nyelv? The answer: Don't know!

[Leo Novum]

Just wanna say that when Shouma is carrying Hanto, Hanto says "I am definitely fond of you."

But the Japanese word he uses for fond is suki (好き) which in this context, can be interpreted romantically.

And considering how strong a bond these two have, it is quite possibly romantic.

[Eclipyon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Jeebh? Yep, as usual, he's still MIA.
# of episodes without Jeebh: 12. He's been missing from the story for 12 episodes straight(!).
My only conclusions:
- The writers wrote themselves to a corner and couldn't do anything to insert Jeebh into the story, so he needed to be sidelined until his advertising tenure begins, very likely after Kenzou reveals himself as the creator of the Dark Shoumas and transforms into KR Bake in episode 27. But the one who will debut in episode 28 is Hanto as KR Valen Frappe Custom form, so it's very likely that Jeebh will still be absent in episode 28. Perhaps he'll return between episodes 30-32.
- There's a possibility that the writers also went Yuuya with Jeebh. Perhaps during these last 11 episodes Jeebh has been searching for Zomb to request his help to strengthen him in order to fulfill his revenge on Shouma for killing Shita. Or maybe not. Who knows what kind of convoluted plot points were crammed into the story next?

I've got nothing more to say, so let me repost my point about Jeebh in episode 23 thread here:
"And hooooooooooooooooooooly crap, Jeebh is still frakkin' absent!!! Where the heck are you, Jeebh??? He's the only character in this story whose transformation I've really really really looked forward into, but at this point all the momentum and all my expectations about him have completely evaporated. He's completely missed his momentum.
The weirdest thing is that the writers still could't even deal with Jeebh's storyline, yet they added a new villain (Zomb) into the story and potentially made the story much harder to resolve. They hadn't solved the previous problem yet they created a new one. Also, Kenzou is starting another manipulation, adding another difficulty in resolving Jeebh's storyline."

Let me repost my point about Jeebh in episode 21 thread here:
"Jeebh is still absent after his last appearance in episode 16. He doesn't appear at all since then, not even 1 frame. The fact that Jeebh is still nowhere to be seen could mean that he'd likely transform into the 5th Rider or the 6th Rider, since there has been a rumor about Kenzou transforming into KR Bake. Perhaps Jeebh would be one of the normal Granutes who are possessed by Dark Shouma's cells and gets his Gavv corrupted, or perhaps he's the final user of the Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv. That, or he's simply forgotten by the writers due to the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, haha. Jeebh is supposed to be the person who has the most problems with Shouma due to Shita being killed by Shouma in episode 14, so he should've been consumed by revenge and *wait for it* bitterness. He should've been searching frantically for Shouma to exact his revenge. He should've ordered his agents to search for Shouma and attack him at first sight. Heck, he could've even decided to play dirty by using Sachika as a hostage to lure Shouma out. But that didn't happen. Instead, Jeebh has been completely gone from the story. So yeah, perhaps he's simply forgotten by the writers due to the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, haha."

Like I said in my post in episode 22 thread here:
"My only words for Jeebh:
You either die a villain, or live long enough to see yourself become a forgotten villain. The worst fate is not being a dead character, but being a character forgotten by its own writers. *facepalm"

Seconds later....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

The writers finally remembered that they had a character named Jeebh Stomach, haha.

[Fish Sandwich]

Yeah, the belt is going to take some getting used to. From a merchandising perspective, it's convenient for Valen fans who are also Vram fans, I guess, but on a visual storytelling level, I'm still having trouble accepting it. In terms of the show's lore and all that, it admittedly more than checks out, but I can't help getting a little hung up on how Hanto's new transformation device is a straight copy of something made by the other mad scientist responsible for Valen's tragic origin. Or, heck, wait -- maybe that's actually better than if it was something completely new? Gonna have to think on this one some more!

At any rate, everything else about this episode is pretty much perfect.

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.

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.

Plus, all that of course dovetails with the way the rift between Shouma and Hanto finally resolves, and *that's* more brilliant than I know how to even dig into as well. Shouma giving Hanto this big pep talk and Hanto -- as true to this show as possible -- has the empathy to immediately realize that the pain he's currently feeling inside is pretty much exactly what Shouma has gone through, and how that's sort of the big key that lets him finally move on from the revelations of his mother's death in a way logic alone couldn't accomplish. So then we get this big climax where a scene that would usually be the character getting the power-up helplessly tackling the newest bad guy by themselves instead has both of them getting smacked around by Bake untransformed, because the lesson for Hanto here is so much about being able to lean on the people who care about you.

It's the imagery once again doing so much to emphasize the story being told, and just as much as the story itself, I was constantly being impressed by that throughout the episode. I lead off by questioning the belt, but I mean, the new Gochizo being two brothers is kinda more perfect than the people who came up with that as a fun toy gimmick probably realized at the time? Even just Hanto's hair is underscoring the way this one sorta peels away his whole exterior to show you the man underneath down to his core. Man, and I'm not even gonna get to dig into Suga's whole side of the story right now! With all the hidden motivations and the way he basically ruins his body without a second thought just because of how much those goals mean to him, and like... the Vram/Bitter Gavv scene is one of the best parts of this whole episode, and it doesn't even have to do with Valen!

Again, they really nailed this thing to the wall, as far as I'm concerned. I'm probably not doing a great job explaining any one thing here, but that's because it's like half a year of plot threads and narrative themes all culminating so beautifully in an end-of-a-chapter type episode that lands everything back at Sugihara once again evoking the final shots of the opening, and the friendship between the main characters associated with it. Like I said back when that happened at the end of 8 -- it's hard to keep a post snack-sized when there's this much going on in a story! This was a very thoughtfully constructed episode of a generally very thoughtful series!

[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 .

[Matrixbeast]

Pretty good episode. I love seeing Hanto and Shouma pulling themselves out of this funk. Shouma helping nail in that things happen, and to move forward, and Hanto to finally stop blaming himself for everything that goes wrong.

Frappe is a neat form. I dig the look of it. Very fitting that both Shouma and Hanto's super modes are ice based.
Also, since it seems Hanto is back to relying on Shouma for Gochizos, he'd better hope the Frappe Gochizo is indefinite, otherwise they'll have a big problem. Chocolate frappes get expensive

Nice to finally see a little more on Suga. Seems he was planning on not only creating the ultimate lifeform, but also re-creating his son.
Also, do we ever know where Hanto's father went? Maybe it was Suga all along? lol

Also, what's her name is finally back. Neat

[Eclipyon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

Also, what's her name is finally back. Neat

Are you referring to Glotta?

[Matrixbeast]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eclipyon

Are you referring to Glotta?

Nawh, that one twin. Jeep or whatever.