[Paladin]

Hanto and friends are asked to help save a candy shop.

[Zolda]

A news announcer says @ 00:24 that the Tokyo Metro PD has been reporting several instances of unidentified monster sighting in various places that are suspected to be the culprits of the mass disappearance cases. Finally! Finally! Finally! The Tokyo police department has finally publicly announced the monsters' activities, after more than 20 years! Where were the police when Shouma's mom was kidnapped more than 2 decades ago? Where were they when Hanto's mom was kidnapped more than 2 decades ago? Where were they when whole humans were kidnapped by Stomach part-timers since more than 2 decades ago? Kidnapping whole humans without Hito Pressing them are much much much harder to do and should've definitely left many pieces of evidence and or been seen by many eyewitnesses, so where were the police? Heck, where were they when many people have been posting photos of monsters (and Riders) in social media sites since at least episode 1? The police's inactivity (or rather, incompetence) in this story is just so laughable. In KR Kuuga, KR Agito, KR Ryuki, KR Faiz, KR W, KR Drive, etc, the police has been involved since very early in the story, at least in the background. It just makes no sense at all that the police has just been able to connect the dots right after Hanto disclosed the info about Stomach's part-timers to the public in episode 36 last week. It makes Hanto look like a competent journalist, while the truth is that it's simply the police that are total idiots, haha. It's just sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo unnecessarily stupid. It's dragged on for 36 episodes simply because it's convenient for the uber-convoluted plot, as usual. Oh, and the Tokyo PD is not even the most incompetent, because Granute police/law enforcement authorities have been unable to connect the dots about the existence of Dark Snack even longer than that, yet Lage 9, who is obviously a mere ordinary civilian with absolutely zero detective/investigative skills, was able to connect the dots and trace the name Dark Snacks to Stomach corporation in just several months. The whole plot of this story is just sooooooooooooooooooo stupid. On of the fundamental laws in this story: No stupidity = No plot.

In the scene @ 01:25, a kid named Hiroto Andou visits Sachika's store to request a service for promoting his family's traditional Japanese snack restaurant that's struggling to gain customers. It reminds Hanto of a recent interview he just did.

In the scene @ 04:33, Nyelv is reporting to Bocca that Lango Mango was defeated by Shouma/Aka Gabu. Bocca doesn't look surprised and only says that they need to think of something to get rid of him. Ummm, Bocca, have you ever considered ordering Nyelv to equip the part-timers with Henshin Belt Bitter Gavvs as a weapon against the Riders like I elaborated in the 1st paragraph in my post in episode 33 thread here? Now the Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv can be equipped by anyone, right, so why aren't the part-timers equipped with them? Why did you instead equip it on Magen and endanger him by sending him to the human world? Heck, even any Granute equipped with the Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv is now able to produce RG's, just like the Dark Shoumas were, so it'd greatly level the playing field since so far it's only Shouma (and the Dark Shoumas) who is able to produce RG's. This atrocious story is so heavily manipulated in the favor of Shouma since he's the only one who is able to to produce RG's. Shouma eats human snacks and produce various RG's, yet when the Granutes eat Dark Snacks, they produce nothing. Shouma is able to power up greatly by simply eating cheap snacks to produce increasingly powerful RG's, yet, by eating Dark Snacks, the Granutes gain nothing, only gustatory pleasures. Nothing at all. Nothing. Isn't it the peak of unfair treatment? This is one of the gazillion reasons why this story is sooooooooooooooooooooooo pathetically, laughably, indefensibly lazy, cheap, sloppy, heavy-handed, and atrocious.

Nyelv warns Bocca that the supply of Hito Pressed humans will be cut off for a while. Liselle doesn't accept that fact and thinks that she and Jeebh will fix that problem. What the heck does this spoiled rich brat think she can do? Is she (and Jeebh) planning to take on Shouma/Aka Gabu by herself, or would she just order Nyelv or other goons to take her place instead and fight Shouma/Aka Gabu, as hinted @ 05:44 when she throws a can of potato stick snack to Nyelv? That could be the case, because that can of potato stick snack would be converted into the Bakibaki Stick RG that's very likely would be used by Jeebh in his debut as KR Bitter Gavv in episode 38 next week. The question is: Who is gonna convert that can of potato stick snack into the Bakibaki Stick RG? Is a pure Granute who equips a Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv (such as Magen in episodes 33-34) now able to produce RG's as well, even though they have no human DNA? Isn't a violation of the established internal law since episode 1 that human DNA is required to be able to produce RG's from human snacks? Or is it gonna be produced by Dark Shouma #5 who only appeared once in episode 27 @ 00:21 and has disappeared from the story ever since? Don't know! This is what happens when your story is uber-convoluted.

Jeebh is having an internal monologue @ 06:09 and says that he was actually planning to have Lango Mango defeat Shouma/Aka Gabu in episodes 35-36, but he didn't expect that Lango Mango would've been defeated by Shouma/Aka Gabu. Whaaattt??? Lango Mango was tasked as the supervisor for Hito Press harvest, so sooner or later he would've encountered Shouma/Aka Gabu anyway. So, why the heck did Jeebh disclose the intel about Lango Mango's plan to Shouma/Aka Gabu in episode 36 @ 06:29 and jeopardize the whole operation? Wasn't it due to his petty jealousy because Lango Mango was commended by Bocca in the beginning of episode 36? As usual, Jeebh's decision is just soooooooooooooooooooooo laughably stupid and only serves to move the plot in the next episode where he would likely debut as KR Bitter Gavv.

In the scene @ 06:20, Sachika and Shouma are meeting with a woman named Reina Andou who is actually the owner of the traditional Japanese snack restaurant. She tells Sachika and Shouma that her husband started the restaurant but he died a year ago in a traffic accident, and since then many customers have left. Shouma eats kusa mochi and dorayaki @ 07:03 and produces 2 different RG's based on those snacks. So yeah, like what happened in episode 34 @ 13:57, Shouma is able to prodcue RG's based on traditional Japanese snacks. Soooooooo, like I elaborated in my post in episode 34 thread here, why didn't Shouma produce any RG's in episode 17 @ 00:46 when he was eating mochi along with 2 other traditional Japanese snacks when Shouma and Sachika were attending a mochitsuki/mochi pounding festival? Don't know! This is what happens when you have too much toys to shill, haha

In the scene @ 07:45, it's revealed that the old man highlighted in the preview section of episode 36 last week is actually just an employee/snack crafter named Kenji Saito. Hiroto says that Kenji is able to recreate snacks with the same flavors as his dad's. Reina tells Sachika and Shouma that the restaurant's recent unpopularity is due to Kenji being unsociable, unlike her husband who was also good at sales. Well, if your employee has bad social skills yet has great technical skills, then why don't you let him just do what his best, Reina? Aren't you, the owner, who is ultimately responsible for the sales and marketing, not your technical employee, Reina? He's only an employee, a very technical one at that, so why the heck is he required to be good at socializing and sales/marketing as well? The reason your restaurant is unpopular is not because Kenji sucks at socializing, but because you as the owner suck at sales and marketing, Reina! End of story. *facepalm I really dislike it when a writer unfairly framed and treated a weak character as the bad person who is the source of the problem of the plot, while it's sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo painfully obvious that another character (who is framed as a good person) is the actual source of the problem. It's so unfair. Like I elaborated in the 3rd paragraph above, this atrocious story has a very very very serious problem with fairness. Ngl, I actually start feeling bad for Kenji, haha.

In the scene @ 08:23, Lage 9 looking at his damaged Vrastum Gear due to Lango Mango's sword attack. Just when he's about to go to Dente's cave to have it repaired, Shouma calls him and asks him to contact Koji who owns Kabuto Dance channel in episodes 25-26 to help him promote Reina's restaurant. Dang it, Reina, you even need third-party help to come up with such a junior high school marketing idea as social media marketing? Heck, the one who had the idea to request the service of Sachika's shop earlier was Hiroto, not her. Yep, it's clear: Reina is the sole culprit in episodes 37-38. She sucks at sales/marketing because she has 0 common sense, like 99% of the characters in this atrocious story.

In the scene @ 09:52, Shouma visits the same candy/snack shop shown in episodes 30, 31, & 34 to get some advice from the owner, but the owner doesn't have much to say. He says he started his candy/snack shop recently when he took over a shop he used to frequent as a kid. He says to Shouma that having a clear personality is important, and in his case, he turned his candy/snack shop into a cafe. Along with this episode, this particular character and candy/snack shop have appeared in 4 episodes. Like the one in episode 34 where Shouma bought several types of snacks there for the creation of the Gochipod RG, does this mean that he'll play another important role in the story? Perhaps another final form for Shouma/KR Gavv? That could be the case.

In the scene @ 10:48, Hanto is looking at the drawing of the elusive wolf Granute who kidnapped his mom 18 years ago and wonders when he'll get his chance for revenge. Yea, it seems like Hanto's revenge subplot could be resolved in episode 38 next week.

In the scene @ 11:21, Jeebh is having a nightmare when he's killed by Shita due to failing to fulfill his revenge on Shouma/Aka Gabu. When he wakes up, it's actually Glotta who visits him. She's pissed off because Jeebh's petty revenge on Lango Mango in episode 36 last week resulted in Lango Mango's death, though it was likely just a defeat. Glotta's attitude makes Jeebh become more desperate to defeat Shouma/Aka Gabu. So yeah, Jeebh's petty, yet idiotic revenge on Lango Mango in episode 36 last week was a mere catalyst for his desperation in this episode. Had he not have that petty, idiotic jealousy, then he wouldn't have had the catalyst for his subplot in episodes 37-38. Stupidity has been proven again and again as the best catalyst for creating the most uber-convoluted plot in this atrocious story, haha.

In the scene @ 13:04, Sachika is showing Reina the social media account she's just created for Reina's restaurant. Bwahahahahahahaha, Reina doesn't even have the very basic common sense to create a social media account for her restaurant by herself! Maaannn, the plot in this episode is getting stupider and stupider and stupider in every passing minute. Just after Shouma tells Reina that her restaurant needs a personality boost, Hanto arrives @ 13:43 and points out that the logo of Reina's restaurant is just the letter "a" with a circle/maru, and as usual, the writers used cheap puns of "a ni maru" (the letter "a" with a circle/maru) to associate with animal/animaru. Instead of writing good story with common sense, the writers focused on writing cheap puns instead, haha. They must be hack writers, haha. Naturally, they go to a zoo to give ideas to Kenji for creating animal-themed snacks. This shows that Reina not only lacks common sense, but she also lacks imagination, haha. Oh, and it's supposed to be Kenji who's making the prototype snacks, so why is it Hiroto who is drawing the sketches of the animals? Why doesn't Kenji also take photos of those animals with his smartphone? Heck, if what they need is photos of animals, then why don't they simply browse Google Images?

In the scene @ 14:45, Hanto is interviewing Kenji about his involvement with Reina's restaurant. He says that he was picked by the previous owner, and though he says @ 15:07 that he's not good at talking, @ 15:21 he says that he did something he couldn't undo. He says that the previous owner (Reina's husband) taught him the craft of snack-making while he was lost with his life. I find it's very funny and weird that Kenji claimed to be bad at talking/socializing, yet immediately divulges such a personal information only 14 seconds later, haha. This is basically just another tactic of information manipulation, one of the writers' favorite tools. And one of Jeebh's agents appear at such a public place @ 16:08. Another haha.

Jeebh challenges Shouma/Aka Gabu to fight @ 16:22. Jeebh is getting more desperate due to being overwhelmed by Shouma/KR Gavv in Blizzardsorbet form. This desperation is very likely the catalyst for him being equipped by the Henshin Belt Bitter Gavv in episode 38. As usual, the fight scene is well choreographed, but looks very very very sterile due to the lack of civilians/bystanders around the fight scenes. Jeebh blames Shouma/KR Gavv @ 19:35 for Shita's death and the mess within the Stomach family. He should've blamed Bouche for being psychopathic, abusive parent who also abused Shouma and his mom. When he's about to be finished off by Shouma/KR Gavv, Liselle comes in to protect him and meddle in their fight. Though Sachika, Kenji, and Hiroto were already fleeing the fight scene, in the scene @ 18:38 Hiroto stupidly decides to return there to get the sketchbook he dropped. He does get it back @ 20:31, and as expected, he's endangered himself when one of Liselle's attacks that is deflected by Shouma/KR Gavv hits the bottom of a bridge and creates debris that would fall over him... Until Kenji conveniently arrives at the right time to shield Hiroto by detaching his Mimic Key and showing his full Granute form, whose real name is Rago, which is the elusive wolf Granute who kidnapped Hanto's mom 18 years ago, like everyone expected. So, this is the convenient reason why Hiroto was the one who drew the sketches of the animals, not Kenji, and also the convenient reason why Kenji wasn't photographing the animals with his smartphone. This scene is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo weird! Isn't it already firmly established since episode 8 that human disguises that are granted by the Mimic Keys are merely disguises, not forms? Like Kenzou said in episode 8 @ 04:52, the disguises that are worn by Granute basically function like clothes, so Granutes only have one form, i.e. their natural Granute form, and they are always in that form at full strength. Whether he's wearing his disguise or not, Kenji is a normal Granute that is at 100% full strength at all time, so it makes no sense at all for Kenji to detach his Mimic Key and reveal his wolf Granute form in front of everyone, especially Hanto. And after Kenji's true identity is revealed, Liselle and Jeebh just casually walk away. Sooooooooooooooo dumb! As usual, this kind of violation of the story's own internal logic is required in order to move the uber-convoluted plot of this atrocious story. *facepalm

Next week:

Kenji/Rago is bonding with Hiroto after successfully creating several variants of animal-themed snacks. Yea, Hanto is hesitating whether he should kill Kenji/Rago or not. Based on the preview section, the scenes @ 23:06 and @ 23:17 where Hanto/KR Valen Chocodon form is about to perform his finisher, @ 23:16 where Kenji/Rago wears his human disguise under a bridge, and @ 23:18 where the untransformed Hanto is about to punch Kenji/Rago bare-fisted very likely happen at the same location at the climax of his subplot, and given the fact that Kenji/Rago was not the one who actually killed Hanto's mom, I see a 90-95% chance that in that climax scene Hanto would decide to spare and forgive him at the very last minute, detransform, and punch him in the face with his bare fists, haha. Hanto's mom (and the other victims) were killed by drowning, so perhaps Hanto should blame Lango Mango and or his agents who pushed her into the water tank, or blame the water itself, haha. Like I asked at the end of my post in episode 36 thread here: Is Kenji/Rago still kidnapping/Hito Pressing humans, or has he stopped? Is he still consuming Dark Snacks, or has he stopped? If he's stopped kidnapping/Hito Pressing humans, then how the heck has he been able to to evade Stomach's agents and goons? How has he been able to live a normal live and have a normal job, and not live as a perpetual fugitive that's hunted by Stomach's agents/goons until they're over his dead body?

And yes, Jeebh debuts as KR Bitter Gavv Bakibaki Stick form. Finally, all 4 Riders of revenge have arrived! I like to call them "The Revenge Quartet Riders", haha.

Mmmmmaaaaayyyyybbbbbeeeee...

[Sunred]

Didn't expect things to go like this when I saw the episode preview last week. Man, 2025 is a good year for tokusatsu so far.

[Mesnick]

Finally, it's the turn of the Gochizo wagashi in the show. True, we most likely won't see forms based on them. At first glance, the story based on helping a confectionery place in the earlier period of the show, but, in fact, it helps to remember old connections (Helmet Boy) and develop new ones (the owner of a candy store). It's a pity that, unlike Gotchard last year, Gavv does not bring back the actors.
In any case, the sweet, everyday story is interrupted by an attack from the desperate, revenge-seeking Jeebh. I've become so accustomed to how pathetic he is as Liesel's husband that I've completely forgotten about his impressive fight choreography. However, he doesn't stand a chance against Shouma. As I predicted, Liesel only enters the battle after Jeebh's life is immediately threatened.And this leads to the revelation of the identity of the store employee.
In essence, this pair of episodes follows the same principle as the story of Hanto and Lakia becoming friends. Filler first part, leading to the discovery of important and shocking information for one of the characters, the denouement of which will happen in the second part. I like the confusion of Hanto, who has thought many times about taking revenge on his mother's kidnapper, but ended up in a situation where everything is completely different. Moreover, he can partially turn into the one he hated since childhood, at least in the eyes of the other boy. So the situation is very difficult.
Another interesting thing: Lakia is not in a hurry to fix his driver. This is quite in his character. In extreme cases, he can always fight in his Granute form. Liesel also states that she can ensure high delivery rates without Lango. However, all her actions on this matter boil down to transferring Glotta to delivery.
The announcement also hints that in the next episode Jeebh will try himself as a rider. I don't think it will help him much.
P.S. Also, the creators of the intro finally had the opportunity to make changes to the Stomatch Inc. lineup again, introducing Bocca as the main evil boss. However, I don't think that this guarantees either Lango's definitive death or that President Granute will be the final antagonist.
P.P.S. I also don't really like that the Gochizo now immediately hide in the Gochipod instead of jumping around the table in a crowd. It's understandable that it's cheaper and makes sense, but it still takes away from the atmosphere a little.

[Leo Novum]

Will Hanto choose revenge or forgiveness?


I think I know the answer.

Nice important episode pretending to be filler.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Didn't expect things to go like this when I saw the episode preview last week. Man, 2025 is a good year for tokusatsu so far.

Hell yeah! I hope Zeztz lives up to the current standards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

In any case, the sweet, everyday story is interrupted by an attack from the desperate, revenge-seeking Jeebh. I've become so accustomed to how pathetic he is as Liesel's husband that I've completely forgotten about his impressive fight choreography. However, he doesn't stand a chance against Shouma.

It's especially pathetic that Jeep resorts to begging Gavv to let him take revenge. So pathetic that Gavv won't even waste Gochipod on him. Shows that even with the shiny title of vice president, he hasn't changed at all and Liselle wants to preserve him in that state of perpetual depression she loves to see.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

In essence, this pair of episodes follows the same principle as the story of Hanto and Lakia becoming friends. Filler first part, leading to the discovery of important and shocking information for one of the characters, the denouement of which will happen in the second part. I like the confusion of Hanto, who has thought many times about taking revenge on his mother's kidnapper, but ended up in a situation where everything is completely different. Moreover, he can partially turn into the one he hated since childhood, at least in the eyes of the other boy. So the situation is very difficult.

I'd like to see Lakia contribute to this subplot, since he kind of owes Hanto for helping him hunt down Ripper, a former suspect in Comel's murder. Makes me wonder how he'd react in this situation, if he found out that Comel's murderer sought redemption. He blames himself for providing Stomach the means to replicate his euphoric toxins and considering how Liselle has already delivered 1000 Dark Snacks, that means he's indirectly responsible for those deaths. Damn, so Lakia's hands have innocent blood on them after all, even though he saved his original victims. Maybe he would advise Hanto to hear out Lago, whose name I noticed is Lango without the n.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

P.S. Also, the creators of the intro finally had the opportunity to make changes to the Stomatch Inc. lineup again, introducing Bocca as the main evil boss. However, I don't think that this guarantees either Lango's definitive death or that President Granute will be the final antagonist.

The OP didn't show Lango fizzle out like Theta did, so it seems that he managed to survive offscreen. For now at least.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leo Novum

Will Hanto choose revenge or forgiveness?


I think I know the answer.

Nice important episode pretending to be filler.

I think it could be like my reply to DreadBringer's Lakia hypothesis last week, that Hanto could choose neither revenge nor forgiveness, but rather grant Lago the chance to live and atone for his crimes.

[Fish Sandwich]

I really like the title of this episode.

The absence of any snack-themed word choice probably disqualifies it from being a truly great Gavv episode title, admittedly (even if that hasn't been a hard rule for a long time now), but it does a thing I love where it's sort of begging the question of who it's in reference to. The easy assumption is that it's about how Hanto still desires revenge against the Granute who stole his mother from him, right? But then, Hanto isn't the only character in the story pursuing a vendetta in the name of a lost loved one, now is he? And then for that matter, there's the other implication, the one that only begins to play out here, which is that it's maybe not *just* Hanto who still regularly thinks back on that day from his childhood.

It's a lot going on! Which is also exactly what I like about the episode itself. We're in guest writer territory again, with Mouri handling the script here, but that fact barely seems worth mentioning at this point? It's hard to say exactly how much things will have progressed by the end not having seen the back half yet, but I didn't even slightly feel that disconnect I've often mentioned when talking about episodes of Gavv that don't have Koumura's full attention.

I'm not that surprised by this anymore, but the trademark Gavv density is totally there, where even if you only see a character for a single scene, it always feels like there's something going on with them? I feel like I don't know how to put it into words succinctly, but like, Glotta's bit with Jiip here is a great example of what I mean. All those little details happening off to the side of the main plot, which act as setup to eventually let further main plots down the line be even better than they would be otherwise. Naturally, this very episode also demonstrates the other side of that relationship, in little touches like how Hanto writing about struggling businesses was something that actually came up earlier, or the reference to Mouri's previous story about Lakia.

Even when they are merely little things, the added cohesion is always really nice, you know? It's cool how Gavv episodes build on each other like that, and this week is built on threads ranging from the most recent episodes of the series all the way back to the very earliest. That's something you can say about a lot of other Gavv episodes too, I know, but that's also kinda my whole point. I had it in my head for so long that any time someone besides Koumura is writing the show, it means that the story won't quite contribute to the whole in the same way, even if it's entertaining and interesting in its own right, but that whole theory becomes less true every time this happens. Not too long ago, I was impressed by an Uchida story about Lakia thinking he's found the guy responsible for his formative past trauma, and now all of a sudden Mouri is entrusted to do the story where Hanto actually finds that guy for him? That's quite the escalation! Gonna be real fun seeing how this all plays out next time!

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Hell yeah! I hope Zeztz lives up to the current standards.

Yep, I expected the granute to show up but not guilt-ridden like this because the writing staff could've gone with the wolf in sheep's clothing approach with Saito and I wouldn't have been too disappointed. But by making Saito a remorseful individual, things get interesting narratively, I think. And another yes for hoping Zeztz does as good as Gavv.

[Matrixbeast]

So Lango's death hit Glotta hard, with her confrontation with Jeep. As well, with her out on the field, I can't wait to finally see Lakia's confrontation with her.

Curious how a random human managed to turn a Granute's life around. I wonder if the father was ever aware he was a granute.

And with Jeep now being revealed as the long awaited Bakibaki sticks, I wonder how long he'll last before being axed. Two episodes? Three? Certainly not much longer.

[Eclipyon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Hanto's mom (and the other victims) were killed by drowning, so perhaps Hanto should blame Lango Mango and or his agents who pushed her into the water tank, or blame the water itself, haha.

I'm just gonna leave this here:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eclipyon

Dude, she was clearly shown to be dissolving...