[Paladin]

Shoma helps in a basketball game but finds one of the players has disappeared...

[Zolda]

Kenzou/KR Bake was unceremoniously defeated by Hanto in his debut as KR Valen Frappe Custom form last week in episode 28. Kenzou had carefully planned his schemes for almost 2 decades... And was defeated in just 1 episode. He didn't even get to fight Shouma/KR Gavv in his strongest form (Blizzardsorbet form). What a sad loser Kenzou is. Oh, and I forgot to ask last week: Why the heck didn't Kenzou create several clones of himself as a safety measure? Even if the clones he created had been imperfect, at least he could've used several of them as secret surrogates to do his daily works, while his real self was hiding in a safe place far away from the conflict to protect himself from harm. If I were a villain who is able to clone humans as easily as Kenzou did, then obviously the first thing I'd do is clone myself and create several clones as surrogates, or better, diversions. The fact that Kenzou didn't create any clone of himself (but did several stoopid mistakes like keeping the Dark Shoumas at his crummy office/lab, not at another safer location far away from Hanto's eyes, etc.) just showed how pathetically, laughably, indefensibly idiotic KR Gavv's story is. A villain had an easy solution to fool virtually all his enemies and protect himself from harm at the same time, yet he didn't use it simply because the writer wanted him to be defeated by the hero. Wow, that's just peak lazy writing! No more, no less. Or perhaps the writers did pull a Yuuya and resurrect him in future episodes while revealing in the most asspull manner that Kenzou did create several clones of himself and the one defeated by Hanto in episode 28 last week was just one of them.

This episode's happening one month after the event in episode 28. Shouma's mental health has restored and he's now able to produce RG's again. Lage 9 is now living at Kenzou's crummy office/lab. If I were him, then I'd immediately investigate Kenzou's computer and other files/resources to see if I can connect the dots between Kenzou's/Nyelv's cahoots and Komel's assassination. If I were Nyelv, then I'd be really concerned about my secret data/information being accessed by Lage 9/Shouma/Hanto. Heck, Lage 9 might as well become an investigative journalist and leak those data/information/resources to the public in the Granute world, and Stomach corporation's reputation would be damaged beyond repair. Naaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh, that's too hard for Lage 9 to do because it needs common sense on his part. This story has virtually zero respect for logic, rationality, and common sense, so Lage 9 ends up being a mere lazy squatter at Kenzou's crummy office/lab. What a great characterization you have there, Lage 9! Haha.

Jeebh had been going nowhere in the Granute world since episode 16. It's very very very weird to see him having nowhere to go, considering he's one of the children of Bouche, one of the most successfull businessman in the Granute world, and no one bothered to give him an accommodation or at least help for 3 months? Yea, plot convenience, as always, or rather, laziness, because the writers needed him to be like that so that the scene @ 02:46 could happen where he met a new villain, Liselle Zeludac, the daughter of Bocca Zeludac, the president of the Granute world. And he met her just like that? In a very very very convenient coincidence, she met her when she saw him holding Shita's Mimic Key which she mistook for a broken doll. Like shown later @ 17:23, what's even weirder is that Jeebh doesn't even know that Liselle Zeludac is the daughter of Bocca Zeludac, the president of the Granute world. It'd be better if they had already known each other through their parents' mutual connection, but naaahhh, that would make sense, so, because this story is completely insulated from logic, rationality, and common sense, then the writers just made them meet in the laziest way possible, haha.

In the scene @ 03:11 it's shown that Shouma's producing 2 Frappeise RG's to be given to Hanto. Yep, like I mentioned in my post in episode 28 last week here, Shouma is now able to produce artificial/tubular-shaped RG's as well. What a very convenient (read: lazy) way to move the plot. Hanto asks Shouma what's the name of his mom (Michiru Inoue), so he's likely going to investigate several people with the same surname (Inoue) to find her remaining families and uncover the circumstance around the time she was kidnapped by Stomach part-timers about 2 decades ago.

In the scene @ 06:45 Glotta is complaining to Lango the stupidest CEO villain about the declining stock of the Hito Pressed humans. Lango the stupidest CEO villain says that he had already ordered his part-timers to deal with that. It seems like Lango the stupidest CEO villain is really really really behind with the news. What the heck are the jobs that he does everyday that he can't even pay attention to the declining stock of the Hito Pressed humans? It's episode 29 already, yet it's never shown how busy his daily routine is. Next, he's asking Nyelv about what's the plan to deal with Shouma/the red Gavv, and Nyelv is only giving an excuse that he's been a bit busy lately, which makes him suspicious of Nyelv. Whaaattt??? You've just now become suspicious of Nyelv's activities, Lango? It's episode 29 already, but you've never bothered to check on Nyelv's performance during these 6 months since episode 1, Lango? You've never bothered to check whether Nyelv's has actually delivered his promises, Lango? Even the busiest people in the world like presidents or CEO's still have time to evaluate their employees' performances and measure it against their company's goals. Any bad performance would've immediately stuck out like a sore thumb, let alone an abysmal performance by a high-ranking general like Nyelv. This level of laughably underwhelming performance by Lango the stupidest CEO villain himself means that he's either uncommitted to the Dark Snack project, and or lazy, and or just stoopid. So yeah, Lango the stupidest CEO villain has very likely never really bothered to evaluate his employees' performances. He's not only stoopid, but also lazy. No wonder he's soooooooooooo out of the loop. No wonder he's soooooooooooo stoopid. No wonder this story feels soooooooooooo laughably shallow, one-dimensional, and sterile. Shallow villains = Shallow story. Stupid villains = Stupid story. *intergalactic hyperdrive facepalm

Jeebh is finally showing his face before his older siblings @ 07:18. He's boasting that he's already married Liselle. He says that he did it like Lango the stupidest CEO villain said that he needed to marry someone from the Granute society's upper class circles. Glotta and Lango the stupidest CEO villain are wondering who Liselle is, and Nyelv introduces her as Liselle Zeludac, the daughter of Bocca Zeludac, the president of the Granute world, who comes in several moments later. This announcement by Jeebh, of course, shocks both Glotta and Lango the stupidest CEO villain. But there's something very very very weird about this reveal. This reveal makes no sense at all. Jeebh married Liselle Zeludac, the daughter of Bocca Zeludac, the president of the Granute world, but their marriage didn't even make the news? It didn't become the talk of the Granute world? I've never heard someone of that caliber who doesn't announce their children's marriage, which is a legal, publicly-acknowledged social contract. It makes sense if Bocca hides Jeebh-Liselle's marriage from the Granute public's eyes due to Stomach being an illegal business entity that only produces the Dark Snack drugs. But the fact is that Stomach also produces ordinary snacks, which means that Stomach is actually a legal business entity that only does illegal things behind the scene. It means Bocca has no reason to hide Jeebh-Liselle's marriage. What if another rich man approaches Liselle and decides that he wants to marry her? What would Bocca do in that situation? Would he lie about Jeebh-Liselle's marriage and allow that man to marry her because he's intent on hiding his ties to the Stomach family at all cost? Wouldn't that create even more problems? Or what, Bocca? This is why marriage is such an open, publicly-acknowledged social contract. At least it should be acknowledged by several witnesses from both sides. If it's screwed up, then it can ruin 2 or more families, or even society. Gosh, once again, this Jeebh-Liselle's marriage reveal only demonstrates that the most fundamental law in KR Gavv's story applies:
Common sense = 0

Bocca says @ 08:57 that he's paying a visit to Stomach's headquarters. He says that he's just heard that there's a world (the human world) that the Granutes don't know about, and the Stomach family members are able to assume the appearance of the creatures form that world (humans). He says that Stomach has a monopoly on the access to the human world, and he wants Stomach to share that access (and the Dark Snacks manufacturing as well) with him. Perhaps Bocca wants a share of Stomach's access to the human world and the Dark Snacks for his personal gain, likely for his political gain. This is yet another weird thing. Like I already asked in my post in episode 25 thread here: Who created the interworld portal? How the heck were the Stomach family members able to gain the crucial ability to open an interworld portal in the first place? And, more importantly, how the heck no one in the Granute world (not even Bocca!) knew that the Stomach family members are able to access the human world? How the heck is the Granute authority unable to connect the dots about the many missing people (the Dark Snack junkies) during these 2 decades? Those trafficked junkies/part-timers have been mysteriously missing from the Granute society for 2 decades, and the Granute authority can do nothing? If even Granute police/law enforcement authority are still in the dark after 2 decades of Stomach's Dark Snack operation and can do nothing to deal with it, then, like I elaborated in my posts in episode 19 thread here and here and in episode 22 thread here, how the heck Lage 9, a mere ordinary civilian with virtually zero detective/investigative skills, was able to connect the dots and trace the name Dark Snacks to Stomach corporation in just several months? The answer: DON'T KNOW!!!
Let me repost the paragraph about the interworld portal from my post in episode 25 thread here:
"Speaking of Stomach's interworld portal, who the heck created it? Who gave the Stomach family members the crucial ability to open an interworld portal in the first place? None of the ordinary Granutes are able to do that, so that crucial ability must be created by someone before Dente created his Dark Snack recipe and the whole Dark Snack production line (Hito Press process, etc). The Stomach family members can't just conveniently have the crucial ability to open an interworld portal and trafficked humans and Granutes. The fact that even one member from the Granute police department has never appeared in this story, except when Lango the stupidest CEO villain said in episode 5 @ 04:53 that he was concerned that the Granute government might've cracked down on Stomach's illegal drug operation, is more than enough proof that no one in the Granute world, not even the Granute police department, know that the Stomach family members have the crucial ability to open an interworld portal. I hope this convenient, crucial ability to open an interworld portal will be addressed in the next 10 episodes. This story already has a gazillion of logical anomalies and plot holes, and if it's left unaddressed until this story ends then it will be the ultimate proof that the writers and producers of this story didn't really care about logical consistency."

Liselle says @ 10:11 that she wants to have a villa in the human world, and Bocca is ordering Lango the stupidest CEO villain to prepare a villa there for her and Jeebh. This seems like Jeebh's way of gaining the upper hand over Lango the stupidest CEO villain, like what he said @ 15:30 that Jeebh is selling out Stomach's trade secret to the most powerful person in the Granute world.

Skip the basketball scene, haha.

Jeebh is cucked by Liselle @ 15:06, haha. Like Liselle says @ 18:07, it seems like she's a typical spoiled brat archetype who considers Jeebh to be her doll. The motto she lives her life by is probably: Boys are toys. Haha.

What I've just realized is the fact that no one in the Granute world has asked the Stomach siblings about Shita's whereabouts. Shita is one of the children of Bouche, one of the most successfull businessman in the Granute world, and she died in episode 14, and no one in the Granute society has looked for her? Very very very weird!

I was gonna completely skip writing about the fight between Shouma/KR Gavv and Lage 9/KR Vram vs the Granute of the week at the end of this episode, but in a very very very convenient coincidence, Liselle manages to arrive at the fight scene out of nowhere @ 22:52, haha. This atrocious story has a gazillion of moments of convenient coincidence like this. Ngl, that scene of Liselle appearing out of nowhere in that forest totally undetected by Shouma/KR Gavv and Lage 9/KR Vram and the Granute of the week reaaaaaaaaaaaaally cracked me and my gf up, haha. It makes her look like she has a very convenient, plot-sensitive teleportation ability, haha. It's just so pathetically, laughably, indefensibly bad.

Next week:

Shita is seemingly revived in the preview section @ 23:12. It's probably just Jeebh who is using her fixed Mimic Key. A Mimic Key is just a mask in the shape of a human, so why doesn't Jeebh reminisce about Shita by looking at her photos or watching her videos that show her real Granute form? Weird reasoning by Jeebh.

[Blade Fang]

The popcorn bombs are very funny

Popcorn is my favorite snack.

I really want Gavv to have a Popcorn-themed form.

[DreadBringer]

Little recap, new villains.

It seems that Suga was the main antagonist in the previous arc, the one behind the Bitter Gavvs. With his demise, they feature the Stomachs again. Now there's another side of them when the Jardac family comes. They are the rulers of the Granute World, and even Lango fears them, willing to observe the human world at Bocca's command for the sake of his daughter, Liselle. The Stomach family has been humbled now, including Jeebh’s marriage to Liselle.

Jeebh actually harbors clear contempt for Lango, and his motivation for marrying Liselle appears to be a way to get back at him. Conversations between Glotta and Nyelv suggest that Jeebh has a contempt for them as well. It seems that Glotta may not genuinely love them despite showing affection and reprimanding Lango for banishing them, particularly with her rather cold comment upon Jeebh's return.

The Stomachs have issues with authority, but it seems the rulers of the Granute World and their family are also evil. While they do not hunt humans like the Stomachs, they view the human world with curiosity and seem indifferent to its inhabitants' suffering, just wanting to do whatever they want. They also abuse their status against the Granute citizens. Dunno if the Granutes would be like normal citizens by this.

Jeebh claims he only intends to use Liselle as leverage against Lango, given that she is the president's daughter, yet they appear to be quite affectionate. Liselle seems to genuinely like him. After Bitter Gavv's demise, guess Liselle's someone to fill that void. Much like Shoma, she is fascinated by the human world, but she seeks excitement, even picking fights by the end of the episode. She resembles a darker version of Shoma, similar to the Bitter Gavv.

Sachika plays a role in the basketball match, but despite capturing the Gochizo in the previous episode, she struggles to perform well. Shoma and Rakia obviously would easily win since they are Granutes, though Shoma can be oblivious and even attempts to score in the wrong basket. During the confrontation between Shoma, Rakia, and Ochiru, popcorn functions like mines. I expected Vram to break the tree with his swing, but the popcorn’s function was highlighted instead.

Sachika tells the Jieis’ team that she would help as long as they pay, something she finds shameful to admit to Shoma, but boasts about to the team. This doesn't sound like genuinely being helpful outside to the main cast, though something like Shotaro is also getting paid to resolve the problems reported to the Agency, albeit perhaps Sachika’s quest to find the missing Jieis may not strictly be part of her job.

Hanto now embarks on a journey to investigate Michiru's family background. For a series that embraces the spirit of Showa, it seems that everyone else’s actions must relate to the main protagonist’s issues. In the initial recap, while Hanto makes peace with the Granutes, such as Rakia and Dente, he can still be hostile—especially towards Rakia for eating rocks—but remains courteous with Dente.

[Eclipyon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

In the scene @ 03:11 it's shown that Shouma's producing 2 Frappeise RG's to be given to Hanto. Yep, like I mentioned in my post in episode 28 last week here, Shouma is now able to produce artificial/tubular-shaped RG's as well. What a very convenient (read: lazy) way to move the plot.

This criticism does not make sense at all! You're talking as if Shoma hasn't ever produced Gochizos with different shapes before (Caking and Blizzardsorbet).

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Jeebh claims he only intends to use Liselle as leverage against Lango, given that she is the president's daughter, yet they appear to be quite affectionate. Liselle seems to genuinely like him.

You really think so? To me, the way Liselle treated Jeebh is more akin to a pet, and the latter is only putting up with her for the sake of his revenge.

[Fish Sandwich]

I found myself particularly impressed by how good this one is at setting things up. There's a whole lot of extra pressure when an episode has to build up not only the back half of a two-parter, but anywhere between the next quarter to the entire back half of the whole series. But I guess when you're a series as reliably careful in its construction as Gavv has always been, something that hard suddenly looks easy.

This episode has a few very clear themes that tie everything together nicely, even when the individual threads aren't actually intersecting yet. Whether it's Shouma being confronted with the notion that he might have relatives out there or Jiip having a chance encounter with someone who changes his fortunes, there's the idea of meeting new people. Whether it's shooting hoops, fighting monsters, or making political power plays, there's the idea of cooperating to achieve a goal. On the broadest level, it all comes back to relationships, to maybe sum it up with a word. It scales all the way down to a friendly game of basketball, and all the way up to a marriage of convenience shaking the foundations of an entire soceity, but it's ultimately all about different ways individuals exist as parts of groups.

There's probably a small moral about teamwork coming in a week that'll probably be heartwarming and cool, but for the long-term, it's also a great fit for the start of a new chapter that wants to reorient the status quo of the existing cast while also greatly broadening the scope of the story with new characters.

Far from the lonely Kamen Rider he started out as, Shouma is now surrounded by people who all know and accept him for who he is, and who all also know each other now, on top of that, so it makes a ton of sense to let that really sink in by making time for scenes like Hanto handing out thank-you gifts to the Granutes who have helped him out. We're coming off an arc that left the heroes as much more of a unified force than they ever were, and evidently, the show wants to take advantage of that as quickly as possible to create situations that simply wouldn't have been possible even a few months ago.

And of course, while for the good guys, all these changing relationships suggest a brighter future where everyone works together to accomplish things they never could have alone, the bad guys, in turn, get a really dysfunctional, twisted version of that, where there's the chaos of different factions clashing and people who are more concerned with how they can use each other to accomplish things they can't on their own.

Pretty flawless structure, I think. The idea of new villains barging in all of a sudden actually had me a little uneasy, so for me, the biggest victory of this episode -- if it isn't just the continued love PoppinGummy gets, anyway -- is probably making me feel so optimistic about the new direction so quickly.

[Eclipyon]

Apparently the Jardac's designs are Lovecraftian inspired. No wonder Bocca's head looks like a winged octopus...

[Matrixbeast]

So a month has passed and Shouma can finally make Gochizos again. That's nice. Lakia moved into Suga's old place, but uhh...Who's gonna be paying for the lights? A part-timer at an odd jobs place probably isn't making the big bucks

Anyway, Shouma has to make more Frappe Gochizos, so it seems they're not indefinite. I'm fine with that. Never want to see a cool form spammed so much you get sick of it.

Finally, we get Jeep returning with a wife. Their dynamic is very...Confusing. What's her name is basically doing things on a whim, while Jeep is using her to get back at his family. I'm curious who is gonna pull the rug first.
Rango continues to be aware of Gavv, but still uninterested in being the main antagonist, so it seems we got Mr President now (And Nyelv firmly cementing himself as the actual final boss).

[Leo Novum]

How does Rakia get to just move into Suga's old haunt? Doesn't he like, have to pay rent and stuff? And wouldn't he need good references for the landlord or lady to let him move in? Good to see the OP changed with Rakia joining in the dance shenanigans though.

Jeebh's fiancee is a lot more psychotic seeming than even Jeebh themselves. And Jeebh is a Stomach, for candy's sake! Who else looks at body parts (Shita's body parts in Jeebh's possession) and zombie movie posters and smiles like that? Props to the actress though, they really sell that slasher smile.

It's so nice of Shouma to make Frappe Gochizos for his boyfriend. And for his boyfriend to offer to search for any of his mother's family. It's understandable for Shouma to be scared.

Wait, Jeebh's wife is the Granute president's daughter? Talk about social mobility! I wonder how Lango would feel, no longer being the top dog in the room. Oh wait, he chafes! Of course he chafes! The President has correctly pointed out that the Stomach family's real power isn't the candy they make or the Dark Treats they deal. It's interdimensional travel.

And Jeebh marrying Lizel just made him immune to Lango's retaliation.

Oh look, President Bocca Zeludac took Lango Stomach's seat. Talk about a power move. Nyelv doesn't seem as bothered by all this as Glotta is. I am guessing that Glotta and Lizel are going to fight in the future.

And of course Rakia would be great at basketball. Actually, it is kind of unfair for the humans to go against two Kamen Riders. And now that I think about it, Hanto is really a workaholic, isn't he? Like, seriously, he relaxes so infrequently. I guess that's one of his positive points.

Guys, something tells me that Jeebh may have gotten himself married into trouble. Oh and now I see why Nyelv was so unbothered. He was the first official point of contact with the President. I don't know if Myelv is actually unbothered or is he putting up a facade. Considering how the evil dude families are messed up and considering the meta history of Kamen Rider, I am willing to bet Nyelv is going to betray his own family. On a much bigger scale than Jeebh. And Nyelv is correct about one thing: Lango did betray Jeebh first by threatening to separate him and Shita.

"I even got you! The most adorable doll of them all." Yup, that confirms it. Lizel is a sociopath who doesn't see her fellow Granutes as people.

Ok, that's the fastest they have ever come across a Granute. And the funniest way as well.

And of coruse Lizel would find where the action is. She needs more dolls to play with, afterall!

[Tokumonkey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blade Fang

I really want Gavv to have a Popcorn-themed form.

Yeah, I'm a little bummed PopBurn is only an attack Gochizo, but I guess we've passed the point in the series where we'll see new snack-themed forms. Presumably, everything will be final-form-oriented from this point out, so we likely won't get new forms from the other newly-solicited "standard" DX Gochizos.