[Mesnick]

Dente's death hits all of our heroes hardest, but it hits Sachika the hardest, as she's never had to deal with death up close before. Shouma keeps his grief to himself, caring for others, which shows both character growth and a reversal of his relationship with Sachika. But this altruism backfires on him, as he forgets to fill out the Gochipod.
Lakia also suffered greatly. Dente's death reminded him of his brother again and evoked feelings of helplessness and anger at himself. However, this tragic event turned out to be the necessary decisive push for Lakia to transform from an avenger into a hero. He realized that the best way to honor Comel's memory would not be to avenge him, but to save people. And the fact that his new form creates a shield emphasizes his new status as a defender.
Glotta, in her desperate self-delusion, is nostalgic for flashbacks of not-so-happy events. It would be almost funny if it weren't so sad. She also, hating Zeludak, is eager to complete their task, because it was the last thing Lango did. And she uses Lakia's toxin for this. I liked that in their second battle, their strengths were almost equal.
Yes, Lakia is dominating and showing off some cool moves, but Glotta is still actively fighting back, rather than turning into a punching bag, which often happens in new form debuts. He also has the help of Shouma, whose intervention is not necessary for the victory, but emphasizes that for Lakia, defeating Glotta is no longer personal. We also learn that Lango is alive and dreams of reviving the power of Stomatch. Quite reasonable, considering that Bocca kept them on a short leash. It seems that those who were disappointed in the elder Stomatch were a little hasty and he can still surprise.
Judging by the preview, the next candidate for defeat is Nyelve. This is encouraging, considering that all his secret projects, which are long overdue to come to light. Although I am a little tired of dark riders on the topic of baking.
P.S. Valen's pipe did come in handy in battle.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwami

I will never forget.

Oh wow

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwami

[I]
I'm not leaving our plane of existence until I get this figure. I shall outlast the Earth and search for a new world if necessary.

One option (that's quite the challenge) remains. Become the major shareholder.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

Judging by the preview, the next candidate for defeat is Nyelve. This is encouraging, considering that all his secret projects, which are long overdue to come to light. Although I am a little tired of dark riders on the topic of baking.

It's quite amazing how much of a tribute the Bitter Gavvs have been to the Shocker Riders.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

While it doesn't stand out in a gimmicky way, its debut does bring back the casual pinpoint movements of those early Vram fights, showing how he's no longer lashing out in anger and has risen above the wicked Glotta, both as a person and a fighter.

Exactly. Trying to defeat Glotta with violent attacks is pointless, because she absorbs other people's anger and responds with even more anger (both figuratively and literally). But as soon as Lakia stopped playing by her rules, victory was his.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

It's quite amazing how much of a tribute the Bitter Gavvs have been to the Shocker Riders.

Then go ahead and make Liesel a pink frosted cake rider. I'm waiting for the scene where the resurrected dark riders, backed by Shouma clones, surround the main trio. Maybe that's Nyelv's master plan.

[Androzani84]

I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess, based on the toy sounds, thatt Glotta WASN’T Comel’s killer, and that it will turn out to be Jeep. His Granute form did have knives which could’ve plausibly inflicted a similar wound.

Also, I’ve given up figuring out how Shoma’s Gochizo creation works. I don’t know why it only works with sweets, why some are immortal and some aren’t, or why despite being born to fit in his GAVV, some of them are straight up incompatible with it.

Also next week, Shoma and Hanto on the outs. Again.

[Mesnick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

I?m gonna go out on a limb and guess, based on the toy sounds, thatt Glotta WASN?T Comel?s killer, and that it will turn out to be Jeep. His Granute form did have knives which could?ve plausibly inflicted a similar wound.

For that matter, we still don't know what kind of weapon Nyelv uses. But if your version is correct, I think they'll play out "This is your brother, Shouma, and you decide his fate" to show Lakia's change. And so that his statement about giving up revenge in this episode doesn't turn out to be a blatant lie.

[Sentai King]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwami

I've been looking at this picture for 3869 days straight. Ain't no way I won't recognize that shield



And yes, I'm curious to find out if they will include it with Lakia's new figure, should it be made, and if maybe that's an insensitive to get Seihou Mars made. Might as well, right?

They have to give us Seihou Mars Gaim is very popular been waiting to long for that Figuart.

[Fish Sandwich]

Okay, between A La Mode Mode (brilliant name by the way) and Frappe Custom, I think I might've finally figured out the rule -- there *are* power-up debuts in Gavv I like as much as Caking's, they're just about other Riders, and also happen to prominently feature Caking Form.

(Brutal as it was to see that cruelly beautiful shot of all those poor Gochizo chopped in half, I of course *seriously* appreciated the excuse to have Shouma bust out both Caking and BlizzardSorbet in one episode. Great to see the show actually taking advantage of the Gochipod's shtick that way.)

I really adored this episode. I feel bad about opening by implicitly throwing some other episodes under the bus to make that point, when I obviously like those ones just fine too -- more than fine, even -- but... it's sort of a gut reaction thing I can't deny? Even Master Mode's debut, which turned a simple smile from Shouma into a series-defining moment I'll be thinking back on forever, even an episode that good still has an editing choice I found jarring enough to pull me out of it for a second. With something like 14 or 28 or, indeed, this one, though, the difference is that there isn't even that one second. Not a single moment I'm not totally engrossed by everything going on in the episode, and how satisfying all the decisions it made are, and how exciting they are to watch play out.

The action alone this week is already a huge showcase of nearly everything that makes fight scenes in Gavv such a joy. You don't have anyone weaponizing comic book sound effects, admittedly, but there is the unrestrained creativity of Valen helping save the day through the unintentional tactical use of the straw sticking out of his back. There is the outside-the-box wild and aggressive choreography throughout, like that entire sequence with Vram falling off that ledge, which has so much going on I could probably dissect just that for at least a solid paragraph. There is the aforementioned balanced use of suits both old and new, all made to look properly cool.

And there is, perhaps most importantly, an insanely strong story providing strong context to that action, and making it all the more engaging as a result.

What surprised me most here was how it's not just the focus on Lakia that leaves an impact? It's already sad not to have Dente around, but to highlight that by having the eternally upbeat Sachika be hit harder by that loss than anyone starts to make it feel truly soul-crushing. But then it's not only sad, but also smart, because it lets Shouma show how much he's grown by having to be the one cheering her up, and because knowing that pain lets Sachika feel for what all three of the Riders in this show have been through more deeply, which is itself very relevant to this particular episode, where Lakia has to move on from that trauma. And that's just one thing! And it so easily and so naturally spins off into all those other great things in this episode!

The drama with Lakia himself impressed me with how much his whole internal struggle isn't portrayed in a particularly on-the-nose way, yet still comes across very clearly? He doesn't spell out what he's feeling all that directly in dialogue or anything, but the nuance of the episode itself and the way the show has built to this turning point across many previous episodes makes it land so well. It's Lakia finally reaching his version of a chapter in the shared story of this show's Rider trio, where he triumphs not only over a major antagonist, but over a deeply internalized sense of guilt and self-loathing, in order to push towards a better future. He's able to finally shake it off, as it were, which is why it feels appropriate they waited until now to give this series a rousing insert theme of that caliber. Because it's an anthem not merely for any one of those three characters, but for all of them, in celebration of them accepting their own worth.

Meanwhile, in contrast, Glotta's whole thing in these ones is an absolute refusal to grapple with who she is, tying into the story much more meaningfully than only being the target of Lakia's revenge, which probably would've still gotten the show a passing grade? The only complaint I was even kinda worried I might have is that she might just get blown up before they're able to tie a nice bow on her end of the episode, but no, sure enough, Glotta gets that really nice melodramatic sendoff with Lango at the very end, which pushes the plot forward, yes, but also allows her those precious few extra lines to resolve her own arc in a perfectly pitiable way. Again, this episode just refused to miss a chance to absolutely crush it.

[Eclipyon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Soooooooooooooooooo, Shouma the stupidest protagonist is indeed able to produce tubular-shaped RG's/Vrastum Gear RG's as well. Aren't the tubular-shaped RG's/Vrastum Gear RG's supposed to be artificial RG's created by Nyelv's proprietary technology, not produced by a human-Granute hybrid like Shouma the stupidest protagonist? Don't know! The writers very likely wrote themselves into the corner and were unable to insert the creation of the Frappeise RG and Puddinte RG as artificial RG's into the super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot, so they were probably like, "Ah, screw that! Just make Shouma the stupidest protagonist produce it!", haha. This is what happens when your story is super duper hyper mega ultra convoluted plot. It almost always ends up hurting you, not helping you. Well, thanks for the impressively atrocious story, Gavv's producers and writers! *facepalm

I said it once and I'll say it again.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eclipyon

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).

[Mesnick]

Since we're talking about the creation of Gochizo, whether you compare it to childbirth or shitting, it's not strange that it takes different amounts of time in different cases. Honestly, it would be much stranger and more unrealistic if it always happened the same way.