[Paladin]

The Alchemy Academy is warned of a mole within their ranks, while the Dark Sisters prepare a ritual with a powerful Chemie.

[Zolda]

This episode begins with the narrator straightforwardly stating that a terrifying plot courtesy of The Sisters is about to move.

UFO X manages to escape confinement in The Sisters' hideout, yet was able to be easily captured by Clotho without her breaking a sweat. And funnily, Clotho and the other 2 sisters don't even attempt to recapture it. They just stand there freezing as it escapes. Atropos says that it's due to a Chemy rule that states that Level 10 Chemies dislike being dominated. If UFO X is a proud creature (like hippogriffs) that dislikes being dominated, then why did it allow itself to be easily captured by Clotho at the end of episode 10? Moreover, Isaac states @ 11:11 that Level 10 Chemies are the strongest one in each category. The logic just doesn't add up. It's also able to create a dimensional portal to teleport itself to a different place. Can this ability be used by Houtarou to visit the worlds of the previous series? It has a great potential for crossover stories.

Finally, the second mention of Glion's name. Atropos says that Glion is "waiting for you" as she's looking at the new Driver. Does this person he's waiting for refer to Clotho, or the user of the new Driver? If it's the latter, then it could mean that the user of the new Driver may be Glion's puppet. Is Glion somehow incapacitated that he needs a direct puppet to do his bidding? A special puppet assigned with a crucial task that even none of The Sisters can do it.

The scene of the AA students capturing Stagvine looks like the scene of elementary students capturing beetles during a hot summer. Rinne looks cuter when she ends up being the last person to leave the scene and has to pick up Houtarou's capture net.

As I predicted here and here, Spanner finally voices his suspicion about how The Sisters have managed to get hold of RCC's. Minato also finally mentions the fact that a huge number of Blank RCC's have been disappearing from AA's storage and his suspicion that someone from inside the AA/AU may have been stealing and distributing them to The Sisters. I thought that Spanner was gonna use the Dragonfly Malgam fragment to augment his Valvarad suit, but it turns out he only reports it to Minato.

So far, this episode is probably the one with the highest number of transformation when Houtarou transforms into 7 (!) different forms in total: 6 forms during his random maneuvers when he fights the original Spider Malgam (Steamhopper, Bakuontelevi, Stagmirror, Greatsasori, Doctorhebi, and Bunnyparka), and 1 new form debut (Lightningjungle) when he fights the new Spider Malgam at the second half of this episode. Maaannn. So many forms appear, yet only two are actual suits. So many forms appear that I lost count after three. Haha.

The Driver that Atropos has been working on is finally completed @ 09:46. Clotho and Lachesis immediately offer themselves to be the user, but Atropos tells them to take their time. Atropos says that she has to do something "fun" first: A "fun" experiment. The scene then immediately changes to Houtarou curiously watching a seemingly fun experiment being done by... Sabimaru. It's an experiment to create Sabi Riser, a special variant of Chemy Riser to hunt UFO X. Could this be a foreshadowing of Sabimaru being selected as the user of the new Driver? After all, Sabimaru gets heightened focus in this episode, in a quite low-key manner. Furthermore, Houtarou mentions @ 11:30 that UFO X is Sabimaru's Gotcha, similar to Hopper1 being Houtarou's Gotcha. Another important scene is @ 12:41 when Sabimaru compliments Houtarou for his ability to understand Chemies, yet Isaac (which often creates artistic interpretation of Sabimaru's words) doesn't say anything at all and only creates a beeping sound. It seems like Mesnick's hypothesis in the episode 10's thread that Isaac the AI is a silent/passive villain is very likely correct. Could it be that Isaac has been manipulating Sabimaru all along? If Sabimaru's indeed the user, then this could be a very interesting, unpredictable plot development. From a geeky, socially-awkward, Chemy-loving nerd... To a dark Rider who uses (and probably also manipulated by) a Driver created by the villains. Now, I didn't see that coming at all. Nice. Very nice. Very well-played. I'm definitely looking forward to it.

If the Driver does indeed require a human user, then this could also mean that The Sisters do lack something vital that normal humans possess. What is it? If Atropos can create powerful weapons, then why don't she or Clotho or Lachesis use them themselves? Why do they need a normal human as a puppet user? Why don't they take matters into their own hands and immediately get rid of Houtarou and Spanner themselves? It looks like The Sisters have their own severe limitations as well.

Kajiki finally has another chance to see UFO X and gleefully runs to tell Hijiri about it. Will she actually be a recurring character? This also marks his second realization about the important memories that have left holes in his mind. Will he be Neuralyzed again in episode 12? Is there a trick to circumvent Minato's Neuralyzer spell?

Licht Kugimiya has a funny habit of rubbing his Ring with a brush. It seems like he's the kind of a stern person who values excellence, cleanliness, elegance, efficiency, rigor, logic, and discipline above anything, as he points out @ 14:32 that Houtarou's fighting style is inefficient and wasteful and his optimistic view of Chemies is naive and meaningless, much to Houtarou's dismay. Could he be an actual mentor for Houtarou? He also knows that Houtarou got the Gotchardriver from Fuga. This could mean that the AU elites do know about the existence of Gotchardriver, even before being stolen by Fuga and then given to Houtarou. It seems like the top brasses at AU were the ones who created the Gotchardriver, in cooperation with Glion/The Sisters' boss. Quite unpredictably, Spanner voices his suspicion about Licht being the spy and having an ulterior motive, right in front of his face.

Again, Atropos appears at a public place, this time at Houtarou's & Rinne's school, and manages to not attract anyone's attention, despite looking like a creepy child. It seems like she does have mind manipulation ability when it's shown that she's able to make people go away and make them look like walking corpses. She says that she has never had any interest in humans before, so Rinne is very probably the very first human that piques her interest. She also raises a very important question @ 17:03 about who is influencing the change, and immediately states that her pondering makes her wants to destroy "it". Who and what is she referring to? What is the change she's pondering about? Does she mean she's pondering about who (or what) controls the life, the death, the fate of humans? It sounds like she's speaking quite metaphorically, although I think she's asking an open question about the nature of life, death, fate, and change. It seems like her nihilistic response to humans inability to control fate is by destroying lives through chaos. It seems like the questions about life, death, and fate is beyond anyone's understanding and thus a final, satisfying answer will never be found, so she responds to those questions by destroying lives altogether. Her nihilistic mantra for getting up in the morning is very probably "If I can't control it, then I destroy it" or "If I can't make it perfect, then I destroy it with chaos", haha, which is kinda paradoxical, as the intention to destroy is actually identical to the intention to control, only mirrored. Her intention is planting seeds of doubt into Rinne's mind by blurring the very boundary of life and death, the most fundamental tenet of alchemy. Her goal is making Rinne abandon her values as an alchemist that she's strongly held since she was very young. She's not only scheming to make Rinne her ally. I strongly suspect that she could be preparing Rinne for a role even waaay bigger than being a mere Rider, who The Sisters derisively call hounds, very probably an allusion to enforcers, inferiors, tools, or even slaves.

Spider Malgam reappeared @ 19:19, with a different host. Houtarou is sure that Catchula (what a funny name) RCC is inside his Gotchardraw Holder, but when he opens it, he suddenly realizes that it's not there. How come? Houtarou manages to fight it with Lightningjungle, his newest suit. It looks quite nice, although not as nice as Goldmechanicer was. His electric whips remind me of Whiplash from Iron Man (2008). The funny thing is when Houtarou tells UFO X to run (or fly), it dismisses his command and chooses to stay put, although it does help Houtarou defeat Spider Malgam when he (?) tries his (?) luck by attempting to restrain both Houtarou Lighningjungle and UFO X at the same time. Houtarou finally manages to recapture Catchula. Oh, and the "Argh!" voice made by Spider Malgam as it explodes @ 22:06 is kinda unintentionally funny, haha. What happens to UFO X? Well, it casually teleports away after Spider Malgam is defeated.

And the identity of the new Spider Malgam is... Shiori Harima aka the spy, aka the new cutie, who reveals her rotting left hand, probably signaling that she's a member of The Sisters' death club/organization, and proceeds to using her Dimension Cab-clone bangle to casually re-steal the Catchula RCC that Houtarou recaptured just moments ago, directly from his right hand. No wonder she can effortlessly steal RCC's from AA's storage. And of course Houtarou responds to that new piece of information by making a loud scream in full-scale perplexion mode that ends this episode, haha. It's funny and unbelievable at the same time. Is Shiori the only spy inside AU? I don't think so. Glion/The Sisters must have executed their Plan B or even Plan C.

Next episode: The debut of the new Driver and the new foe, Kamen Rider Dread. Dang it, man. Everything about Dread is cool. Everything. The Driver looks cool. It's like a more minimalistic, lower-profile version of Demons/Vail/Destream Driver. It's definitely a P-Bandai release. It seems like the Driver only requires one RCC to transform. The design and color scheme of the Rider is even cooler. It has this somber, dark, sinister, yet artistic aura, which is very nice. It fits the dark alchemy trope perfectly. It tends toward a more organic design, like a fuse of Guyver, Guyferd/Deathferd, and Cooler. Aesthetically, it's the complete opposite of Gotchard that has a more robotic/mechanical look.

I'm not sure what the motif is. Skeleton? Hydra? To my eyes, it looks like a fusion of skeleton and hydra, especially the face that looks like a hydra. If hydra is the motive, then he will use Jamata no Orochi RCC (Occult 8). Yamata no Orochi is an eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent in Japanese mythology. Interestingly, in Ancient Greek mythology, hydra is a multi-headed serpent that can regenerate its head and is very hard to kill. In real life, any dismembered body part from a hydra will grow into a new, separate organism. A hydra is virtually immortal. A hydra perfectly symbolizes something that blurs the boundary between life and death. It symbolizes the death of death itself, haha. Another interesting thing: If you rotate the number 8 90 degrees, it becomes the symbol of infinity (∞).

Some people say that it's a redesign/recycle, but I don't see it, apart from the circle in the chest armor that looks like Zero-One Assault Hopper/Vulcan Assault Assault Wolf. It's a top-tier design. A serious contender for the best design in Reiwa era KR, along with Horobi/Jin, Buster, Vail, and Geats IX. Heck, even the mere name Dread is just too cool. Dread... SHF... Must... Buy...

Judging from the posture, it's obviously a male, so Rinne is definitely out of the question. He's also definitely not Spanner, as it's shown @ 23:13 that it's fighting ValvaSpanner. Then the only remaining candidates are Sabimaru and Minato. Is he Minato? Minato hasn't had any build up, so I'm more inclined to dismiss this possibility. Then it leaves Sabimaru as the only possible candidate. Is the anguished male voice @ 23:08 Sabimaru's? Could he be deep down secretly wishing for confidence and strength all this time? Whose right hand is @ 23:11? I think it's Houtarou's, when he begs Dread for mercy, in shock, disbelief, and sadness after getting his butt kicked by Dread and utterly defeated. From the very brief scene @ 23:16, it seems like Dread has absorption/nulllifying ability that can weaken Gotchard's and Valvarad's power, similar to Genm Level 0 that can decrease any Bugster's power. Oh, and is Dread actually a puppet Rider, albeit a very powerful one, similar to KR Leangle when Mutsuki was a weak-willed teenager? Is Dread somehow connected to Glion through Atropos? Given that mind manipulation is Atropos' forte, and her christening Dread's new "character" (and thus name) the destroyer of darkness @ 23:13, it could very likely be the case. Hmmm... Noice. Very very noice.

Clotho will finally get serious in the next episode. It seems like she's only been in easy/beginner mode all this time. When she gets serious, she's actually more than capable to give even the likes of Minato real pain and hell.

I'm afraid I got a little carried away. This episode 11 review has almost turned into a short story. Anyway, sooo stoked for episode 12. Bring it on, Mr. Kamen Writers!

[Mesnick]

Cool episode. I love that Chemies is getting creative with fishing again, this time turning it into some friendly fun with nets. Also, is Sabimaru a UFO-X fan? If it weren't for the memory erasure rule, he might have become friends with Kajiki. By the way, in the topic of the last episode, many were worried about his relationship with Hijiri. At the very least, this episode shows that the show is definitely not going to forget about her.
As for the inspectors, I was afraid that they would turn out to be boring adults in suits with one bright character trait (or even an object) that had nothing to do with the plot and their role in it. Fortunately, this did not happen. Kugimiya resembles a stern veteran, originally from, if not Showa, then definitely from the early 2000s. He didn't like Gotchard's fight, although, in my opinion, Houtarou showed himself to be cool in the classic confrontation between rider and spider-kaijin. I guess this is a little meta-commentary from the part of the fanbase that doesn't like too many forms. My opinion: yes, there could be fewer forms, but it’s great that Gotchard uses them.
The twist that Malgam turns out to be the benevolent Harima is predictable. Honestly, this story should have been made into a two-parter because the plot is rushed again. However, she is effective in a villainous role and her ability can be very annoying for Gotchard. It also turns out that all the conscious villains in the show so far presented are women.
And given the rumors that Dread will be a puppet of Atropos, as well as Rinne's recruitment attempts, this gives the Abyssal sisters a resemblance to a witch coven, as opposed to the more fantasy-magical alchemists. I wonder if Gilion is also a woman? It's also the first time we've seen Atropos in action since the pilot, although she wasn't fighting at full strength. It seems that flaming arrows are her weapon of choice.
P.S. Hotaro and Hopper are incredibly cute!

[DreadBringer]

Probably the start of a new arc.

Other than finding his gotcha, Hotaro strive to help others find or achieve their gotcha, such as Sabi's UFO enthusiasm. This is ofc to be expected of a boy scout who understands other living being's hearts and strive to help them.

Atropos claims that Rinne wasn't the type to care about bystanders before, while changing for the better now. Though it may be a case in Hotaro softening her up to partly regain her childhood persona (albeit she still mocks his help above as being poet), I guess I still shouldn't take Atropos' words at face value, like what Kyuun did to Neon before in their first meeting.

Kugimiya is Supana, but even worse, both share the belief that Chemies are only tools, and look down on Hotaro for having different belief. Hotaro's companions do care enough for him to stick up for him. Him being worse than Supana is shown in even Supana calling him out, to not focus on looking on the spy. This time, it seems that the fanbase don't take authority's words at face value of Hotaro being incompetent, usually the boy scouts got viewed as incompetent while being carried by plot armor, though this can lead into writing complaint about what's the deal with Kugimiya.

Gotta accept more that sometimes authority figures are just control freaks (like Tasuke in Revice) who impose their will on other people, and that they shouldn't be elevated as who knows best. Applies too to characters like more experienced assholes or villains who look down on the "naive" heroes. Or this may be caused by the show deliberately showing Hotaro utilizing the Chemies like Ghost throwback with BountyBunny + PanpakaParka. Kugimiya's infighting with Hotaro over different belief would be also unreasonable move though to insist that he knows best and take out potential valuable ally and view.

The actual spy is Harima though. Now I'm getting Revice vibe with this, in the middle Fenix arc, if Kugimiya isn't a bad guy, feels as if Kugimiya would be Tatsuhiko, who looks down on the hero (Hotaro, Hiromi), though he's well-meaning, while Harima would be like Chigusa seems to be kinder and more reasonable, to be more concerned about others' well-being, but they're the two-faced ones.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

UFO X manages to escape confinement in The Sisters' hideout, yet was able to be easily captured by Clotho without her breaking a sweat. And funnily, Clotho and the other 2 sisters don't even attempt to recapture it. They just stand there freezing as it escapes. Atropos says that it's due to a Chemy rule that states that Level 10 Chemies dislike being dominated. If UFO X is a proud creature (like hippogriffs) that dislikes being dominated, then why did it allow itself to be easily captured by Clotho at the end of episode 10? Moreover, Isaac states @ 11:11 that Level 10 Chemies are the strongest one in each category. The logic just doesn't add up. It's also able to create a dimensional portal to teleport itself to a different place. Can this ability be used by Houtarou to visit the worlds of the previous series? It has a great potential for crossover stories.

I guess a Level 10 Chemy can be temporarily captured using a stealthy approach, as Clotho did from offscreen, but will always flee when alerted. Seems like Atropos only needed a little Level 10 essence to complete the DreaDriver anyway. Sabi mentioned that Houtarou might be capable of capturing one effectively, as he respects UFO-X's sense of individuality rather than only seeing him as an errant tool. If Houtarou succeeds, this might be enough to make Kugimiya see the error of his ways.

Regarding the hypothetical use of UFO-X's teleportation to visit other worlds, I don't think that's necessary for crossovers, as the actions of Decade and Build basically put most Riders in the same world. Maybe for Sentai, as Twokaizer's crocodile spaceship has this ability.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

She says that she has never had any interest in humans before, so Rinne is very probably the very first human that piques her interest. She also raises a very important question @ 17:03 about who is influencing the change, and immediately states that her pondering makes her wants to destroy "it". Who and what is she referring to? What is the change she's pondering about? Does she mean she's pondering about who (or what) controls the life, the death, the fate of humans? It sounds like she's speaking quite metaphorically, although I think she's asking an open question about the nature of life, death, fate, and change. It seems like her nihilistic response to humans inability to control fate is by destroying lives through chaos. It seems like the questions about life, death, and fate is beyond anyone's understanding and thus a final, satisfying answer will never be found, so she responds to those questions by destroying lives altogether. Her nihilistic mantra for getting up in the morning is very probably "If I can't control it, then I destroy it" or "If I can't make it perfect, then I destroy it with chaos", haha, which is kinda paradoxical, as the intention to destroy is actually identical to the intention to control, only mirrored.

I think the "it" Atropos wants to destroy is referring to the natural order, represented by the Ouroboros. Alchemy is the science of transmuting one thing to a different thing, but this is limited by the natural order, hence why the failures of alchemy are more common than the successes, why there are still blanks in the periodic table and why some elements combust no sooner than they're synthesized. Seems like there are things that only dark alchemy can manifest, things that break the order, but also things that would be potentially beneficial to Rinne, such as turning death to life.

Therefore, I wouldn't be so quick to peg Atropos as another nihilist, despite her resemblance to Storious. She seems to have some kind of twisted ideal for the future, albeit one with severe consequences for humanity. Similar to how Alain was scared of his mortality, since he had lived a long time with an immortal Ganma body to survive under the harsh red sky of Ganma World, so he had to learn how to be okay with being human and weak.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

If you rotate the number 8 90 degrees, it becomes the symbol of infinity (∞).

Proof that humanity has Infinite Potential!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Oh, and is Dread actually a puppet Rider, albeit a very powerful one, similar to KR Leangle when Mutsuki was a weak-willed teenager? Is Dread somehow connected to Glion through Atropos? Given that mind manipulation is Atropos' forte, and her christening Dread's new "character" (and thus name) the destroyer of darkness @ 23:13, it could very likely be the case. Hmmm... Noice. Very very noice.

If Sabi isn't in control, then maybe Dread's pilot is actually the new Chemy, Darkliner, presumably using his own Ride Chemy Card to access this form, considering the title of next episode.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

Also, is Sabimaru a UFO-X fan?

Yep, his favorite Chemy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

By the way, in the topic of the last episode, many were worried about his relationship with Hijiri. At the very least, this episode shows that the show is definitely not going to forget about her.

For sure, good to hear acknowledgement of Hijiri to show that even offscreen, Kajiki is still in regular contact with her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

The twist that Malgam turns out to be the benevolent Harima is predictable. Honestly, this story should have been made into a two-parter because the plot is rushed again. However, she is effective in a villainous role and her ability can be very annoying for Gotchard. It also turns out that all the conscious villains in the show so far presented are women.

The good cop in a good cop/bad cop routine secretly being evil cop does feel like a cliche here, so at least they didn't drag it out. Based on her creepy arm, Harima looks like she's also a practitioner of dark alchemy, thus no longer human. Could've been an interesting hint at Catchula Malgam's identity if she merged with a second Chemy like Lachesis does (maybe Bakuonzemi as a reference to Tarantula Knight), which should be easy to obtain with her ability to Connect Please any Ride Chemy Cards in her line of sight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

And given the rumors that Dread will be a puppet of Atropos, as well as Rinne's recruitment attempts, this gives the Abyssal sisters a resemblance to a witch coven, as opposed to the more fantasy-magical alchemists. I wonder if Gilion is also a woman?

Reminds me of some Showa and early Heisei Tokusatsu that have many female villains, like Sun Vulcan, Spielvan and Jiban.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Probably the start of a new arc.

Confirmed by Producer Minato.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Kugimiya is Supana, but even worse, both share the belief that Chemies are only tools, and look down on Hotaro for having different belief. Hotaro's companions do care enough for him to stick up for him. Him being worse than Supana is shown in even Supana calling him out, to not focus on looking on the spy. This time, it seems that the fanbase don't take authority's words at face value of Hotaro being incompetent, usually the boy scouts got viewed as incompetent while being carried by plot armor, though this can lead into writing complaint about what's the deal with Kugimiya.

Since we know Houtarou as a person, whereas Kugimiya only knows Gotchard and judges him based on skill alone without trying to get to know him better. Unlike Spanner, Kugimiya doesn't even bother to explain his reason properly, only telling Houtarou that he sucks at being Gotchard rather than suggesting advice for improvement or even an alternative user to replace him. Totally justified why the other alchemists and even Isaac angrily call him out for his snobby behavior and misplaced priorities.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Or this may be caused by the show deliberately showing Hotaro utilizing the Chemies like Ghost throwback with BountyBunny + PanpakaParka

Premium Bandai even made merchandise for BunnyParka. You can now wear a Kamen Rider if you want to!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

The actual spy is Harima though. Now I'm getting Revice vibe with this, in the middle Fenix arc, if Kugimiya isn't a bad guy, feels as if Kugimiya would be Tatsuhiko, who looks down on the hero (Hotaro, Hiromi), though he's well-meaning, while Harima would be like Chigusa seems to be kinder and more reasonable, to be more concerned about others' well-being, but they're the two-faced ones.

Kugimiya's and Tatsuhiko's actors have both portrayed Rider villains as well: Isaka and Unicorn Zodiart respectively.

[Zolda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I guess a Level 10 Chemy can be temporarily captured using a stealthy approach, as Clotho did from offscreen, but will always flee when alerted. Seems like Atropos only needed a little Level 10 essence to complete the DreaDriver anyway. Sabi mentioned that Houtarou might be capable of capturing one effectively, as he respects UFO-X's sense of individuality rather than only seeing him as an errant tool. If Houtarou succeeds, this might be enough to make Kugimiya see the error of his ways.

This makes sense. Seems like Dread will finally meet his match when Houtarou gets his Super Gotchard forms.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I think the "it" Atropos wants to destroy is referring to the natural order, represented by the Ouroboros. Alchemy is the science of transmuting one thing to a different thing, but this is limited by the natural order, hence why the failures of alchemy are more common than the successes, why there are still blanks in the periodic table and why some elements combust no sooner than they're synthesized. Seems like there are things that only dark alchemy can manifest, things that break the order, but also things that would be potentially beneficial to Rinne, such as turning death to life.

Therefore, I wouldn't be so quick to peg Atropos as another nihilist, despite her resemblance to Storious. She seems to have some kind of twisted ideal for the future, albeit one with severe consequences for humanity. Similar to how Alain was scared of his mortality, since he had lived a long time with an immortal Ganma body to survive under the harsh red sky of Ganma World, so he had to learn how to be okay with being human and weak.

I agree. The "it" didn't necessarily refer to a sentient, omniscient, omnipotent creator, but rather to the laws of nature that govern the world. The Ouroboros itself is still mysterious af. I'm not sure whether it's a parallel world that is the manifestation of natural order or natural disorder, or whether it should be maintained or destroyed. It could be either way. It seems like the philosophical core of the story is not the destruction of "it", but rather the consequence of changing or destroying "it". "It" can be changed into anything, with their own possibilities and consequences. The most important question to ask is: Are you ready to accept the consequences of the choices you've made? I think it fits nicely with Houtarou's backstory as a high school senior who has no idea of what he's gonna do after graduation.

On second thought, I may be wrong. That particular conversation seemed like it was deliberately written as ambiguous, so I could be misreading the context there. The context was probably simpler than I thought it was. That conversation could actually refer not to Atropos and her philosophy, but to a change that had happened to Rinne since she knew Houtarou and the others, and Atropos was merely curious about what the cause was. I focused too much on Atropos' long-term scheme that I lost sight of the simpler, more obvious possibility and forgot to apply Occam's razor. Haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Proof that humanity has Infinite Potential!

This guy says hi.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

If Sabi isn't in control, then maybe Dread's pilot is actually the new Chemy, Darkliner, presumably using his own Ride Chemy Card to access this form, considering the title of next episode.

Darkliner? A new Chemy outside of the 101 ones? Well, here I am, being proven wrong again. Haha. It'd be nice if Dread actually uses Yamata no Orochi, because I can't un-see the hydra motif from his helmet, haha.

Darkliner could be the evil version of Steam Liner when it's exposed to and corrupted by Dread's power. Or, it could be one member of the whole new (!) group of Chemies created by The Sisters' death club. Although it's been said that there are 101 Chemies, there could be other factions/splinter groups that are still creating new Chemies. It's only a problem of law enforcement within the alchemy society. It doesn't violate the internal logic of the story so far.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

Also, is Sabimaru a UFO-X fan? If it weren't for the memory erasure rule, he might have become friends with Kajiki. By the way, in the topic of the last episode, many were worried about his relationship with Hijiri. At the very least, this episode shows that the show is definitely not going to forget about her.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Yep, his favorite Chemy.

Kajiki, Hijiri, and Sabimaru should be given a happy ending where they enjoy UFO-ria together.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

The twist that Malgam turns out to be the benevolent Harima is predictable. Honestly, this story should have been made into a two-parter because the plot is rushed again. However, she is effective in a villainous role and her ability can be very annoying for Gotchard. It also turns out that all the conscious villains in the show so far presented are women.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

The good cop in a good cop/bad cop routine secretly being evil cop does feel like a cliche here, so at least they didn't drag it out. Based on her creepy arm, Harima looks like she's also a practitioner of dark alchemy, thus no longer human.

I also prefer the spy trope to conclude in this episode and not dragged out, since it's been hinted since 3 or 4 episodes ago.

I think perhaps it's Shiori who will conveniently use her dimension-bending ability to unexpectedly put the new Driver on the desperate Sabimaru and turn him into the Driver's puppet. She can easily steal stuffs from inside a secure, closed storage, so this kind of feat is easy to her. Her left hand is rotting probably due to the overuse of her dimensional-bending alchemy power. In real life, it looks like what happens to a human's limb when exposed to constant heavy pressures. Characters, especially toku ones, who wear gloves on only one hand or never remove the gloves are usually suspicious, haha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Since we know Houtarou as a person, whereas Kugimiya only knows Gotchard and judges him based on skill alone without trying to get to know him better. Unlike Spanner, Kugimiya doesn't even bother to explain his reason properly, only telling Houtarou that he sucks at being Gotchard rather than suggesting advice for improvement or even an alternative user to replace him. Totally justified why the other alchemists and even Isaac angrily call him out for his snobby behavior and misplaced priorities.

Licht could be this season's Oren Pierre Alfonso, an antihero/starter villain that become a mentor in later episodes.

And is Isaac actually sentient? Isn't he just an AI-assisted speech synthesis program that creates an artistic interpretation of Sabimaru's words? It seems like Isaac is not a harmless program as I previously thought.

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Since we know Houtarou as a person, whereas Kugimiya only knows Gotchard and judges him based on skill alone without trying to get to know him better. Unlike Spanner, Kugimiya doesn't even bother to explain his reason properly, only telling Houtarou that he sucks at being Gotchard rather than suggesting advice for improvement or even an alternative user to replace him. Totally justified why the other alchemists and even Isaac angrily call him out for his snobby behavior and misplaced priorities.

It seems that many people also think only mocking someone/something without suggesting advice is a valid move to push others to be better. Such as people mocking "useless" characters being waste of space. For some reason, constructive criticism like advice would be sugarcoating... relentless mocking would be a better push for improvement or such, which is how people being awful can be justified.

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Originally Posted by Zolda

This guy says hi.

Yet you show bleak view of humanity if it's regarding Geats, that humans being selfish and destructive or life being unfair (e.g. give and take) should be accepted and excused as cold fact in life rather than trying hard enough to achieve something better and reach more ideal possibilities. "Life is unfair" (+ "deal with it") is often what people abuse to go out of their way to make things unfair and rationalize their insensitive and unsympathetic behavior, what makes people normalize shitty behavior for those who buy their BS.

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Originally Posted by Zolda

Licht could be this season's Oren Pierre Alfonso, an antihero/starter villain that become a mentor in later episodes.

Common anti-hero term misuse to conflate that with villainy.

[Mesnick]

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

It seems that many people also think only mocking someone/something without suggesting advice is a valid move to push others to be better.

I don't think it applies to this particular case because Kugimiya doesn't even consider the possibility of Houtarou remaining a rider. He saw him in battle and was dissatisfied with what he saw. That is, it is more likely to be a dismissal than a failure of a test that can be retaken.

[Zolda]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Common anti-hero term misuse to conflate that with villainy.

Starter villains aren't necessarily actual villains. They're often shown as major antagonists who foil the protagonists journey in earlier arcs. They can develop into anti-heroes (Heart, Horobi, etc) or even heroes (Chase, Alain, Parad, Gentoku Himuro, etc).

It was clear from the beginning that Oren was a disgruntled old man who thought that Beat Riders were just deadbeat kids who contributed nothing to society. He didn't oppose Kouta and the others out of malice. The actual starter villain in Gaim is Sid.

That could be the case with Licht here. His opposition toward Houtarou could be due to his position as an AU top brass. His philosophy of excellence and his high standards don't fit well with Houtarou's naive optimism, which is displayed in his attitude toward Chemies and fighting style. If his attitude and actions are put into context and combined with Spanner's and Minato's suspicion about the existence of a spy or spies inside the AU, then his attitude and actions do look villainous and more suspicious, for example when he straightforwardly demanded the Gotchardriver from Houtarou. His attitude and actions don't look villainous if there's no suspicion about spies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Yet you show bleak view of humanity if it's regarding Geats, that humans being selfish and destructive or life being unfair (e.g. give and take) should be accepted and excused as cold fact in life rather than trying hard enough to achieve something better and reach more ideal possibilities.
"Life is unfair" (+ "deal with it") is often what people abuse to go out of their way to make things unfair and rationalize their insensitive and unsympathetic behavior, what makes people normalize shitty behavior for those who buy their BS.

Whaaattt??? When and where did I say that "humans being selfish and destructive or life being unfair (e.g. give and take) should be accepted and excused as cold fact in life rather than trying hard enough to achieve something better and reach more ideal possibilities"? Show me exactly where I made that statement. I've never made the statement you mentioned, be it explicitly nor implicitly.

Of course I will help those who can't help themselves.
Of course I will help my families or friends when their rights are violated by criminals.
Of course I will do everything I can possibly, humanly do to help the society oppose a totalitarian dictator.
How did you come to the conclusion that I would let bad things happen to people and just stand here and do nothing? Smh. What a faulty reasoning.

I believe every person has the strength to fight for themselves. I will give help to those who do need help. I will give help to those who can't help themselves. I will give help when it's actually needed. If I give help to those who don't even need help, then it means I'm insulting their ability to stand for themselves. It means I'm treating them like I'm treating weak toddlers who can't defend themselves. An unneeded, unsolicited "help" is the ultimate insult to a person's agency. Normal, decent people have a high standard of ethics, thus they need to consider the whole context before intervening in other people's problems. Normal, decent people don't intervene in other people's petty, mundane problems.

Humanity already has laws to deal with and punish its members who cause problems. Humanity is strong. Humanity can regulate itself. Humanity doesn't need a divine, all-powerful, yet nosy, moralistic, self-righteous busybody like Ace Ukiyo to regulate their behavior and solve all their problems. See the difference? See the stark difference between what I'm saying and what you think I'm saying?

So far, many of your comments exhibit a severe inability to understand context. It seems like you have this naive, childish, petty, I'm-the-hero/protagonist, me-against-the-world, black-or-white mentality. You should watch Kamen Rider Fourze episode 23-24 to see how this type of mentality is not only detrimental to society, but to yourself as well.

If you choose to live your life in accordance with such an extreme, rigid, context-blind, black-or-white mentality, then go ahead. Your life, your choice, your consequence. Let time do its work and let reality be the judge. See for yourself whether society commends you or shuns you. See for yourself whether people are attracted to you or are avoiding you. Don't be surprised when one day, reality comes knocking on your door and gives you a very rude awakening. When it happens, you won't be able to say "Nobody warned me!" because that schmuck Zolda over at Tokunation had warned you several times.

Oh, and that sentence you quoted should be accompanied with an attached picture of Takeru Tenkuji (https://www.tokunation.com/forums/at...1&d=1700950406). I'm not sure why it disappeared. It's probably because I uploaded the attachment in another tab. Let me repost it below.

https://www.tokunation.com/forums/at...1&d=1701270269

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

It seems that many people also think only mocking someone/something without suggesting advice is a valid move to push others to be better. Such as people mocking "useless" characters being waste of space. For some reason, constructive criticism like advice would be sugarcoating... relentless mocking would be a better push for improvement or such, which is how people being awful can be justified.

Sugarcoating implies that sugar is only on the outside, like the garnish on a dish. However, a dish needs to be delicious in both taste and presentation. The opposite problem is also true, that a dish with good taste will be dismissed if the presentation is weak or lacking. While there's some truth to the phrase, "don't judge a book by its cover", I also believe that the book has an obligation to itself to have a cover that properly represents the quality of its content. Ideally, constructive criticism should give advice for improvement, while using tact to make the person more receptive and likely to act upon it. Unfortunately, Kugimiya decided to serve Houtarou a dish with neither taste nor presentation, so it's totally worthless. Malnutritious even, as he expresses no actual intent to make Houtarou a "better" Gotchard, like Mesnick said above.

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Originally Posted by Zolda

Kajiki, Hijiri, and Sabimaru should be given a happy ending where they enjoy UFO-ria together.

That probably sounded way better in your head.

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Originally Posted by Zolda

And is Isaac actually sentient? Isn't he just an AI-assisted speech synthesis program that creates an artistic interpretation of Sabimaru's words? It seems like Isaac is not a harmless program as I previously thought.

We've been told that Isaac is "merely" an AI with artistic language. However, you know what else can be defined as AI? Something that's both artificial and intelligent? Chemies! There are already parallels with HumaGears, considering the "tools or comrades" argument. I feel like Isaac's outputs are a little too quick and independent for the few inputs he receives from Sabi, especially in this episode, which makes me wonder if there's some alchemy involved, not only conventional programming.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Starter villains aren't necessarily actual villains. They're often shown as major antagonists who foil the protagonists journey in earlier arcs. They can develop into anti-heroes (Heart, Horobi, etc) or even heroes (Chase, Alain, Parad, Gentoku Himuro, etc).

A character who commits mostly bad deeds for non-malicious reasons is called an antivillain. They may see themselves as heroes and appear sympathetic in their motivations, but their actions still align them with the villain side of the morality axis. Whether they can be swayed to the side of heroism depends on how conflicted they feel concerning their moral beliefs. In Gentoku's case, he was originally a total villain, until the increasing Hazard Level dispelled the brainwashing effect of nebula gas and he turned antivillain then hero. Moral alignment exists in a state of flux, with many variables mixing to encourage or force change.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

You should watch Kamen Rider Fourze episode 23-24 to see how this type of mentality is not only detrimental to society, but to yourself as well.

I would easily recommend these episodes just for the cute Tomoko/Ryusei interactions.