[Paladin]

Germain appears before the Riders while Nijigon has an encounter with a dancer.

[Sunred]

Real big cameo this episode. Like I shared previously, Masaru Yamashita and Koichi Nakayama, who played Ryoma Kagawa/Fire/Knight Fire and Daiki Nishio/Sol Braver respectively, had a meeting with Koichi Sakamoto who directed this episode some time ago. And as expected, they had a cameo spot as the two middle-aged workers who Nijigon helped and I lost my shit when both of them took off their helmets sweat flying.
Also, the boxes in the background say Masaki Tokyu, a nod to their respective shows and their commander Masaki portrayed by Hiroshi Miyauchi.

[Zolda]

The berserker Clotho is beating Spanner into a pulp and it seems like there's no chance for Spanner to win the fight. Gigist then appears and restrains Clotho, and is reattempting to sway Spanner to his side by telling him that he doesn't know how to use his black flame power. Gigist offers a proposal that he'll teach Spanner how to properly use and control his power. Spanner, of course, refuses this unfunny joke. If Spanner keeps refusing Gigist's offer, then it's very likely that he'll be ultimately forced to use his black flame power in a berserker/uncontrolled state, which could grant KR Valvarad's final/berserker form. Gigist counters Spanner's refusal by challenging him to see whether he could defeat Germain with his current ability. Gigist reveals that since the Unholy Trinity is trinity (duh), if Germain is defeated, then his power will be absorbed by Gigist. This is a weird reasoning by Gigist. How can he be so sure of that? Why isn't it absorbed by Gaelya instead? Why isn't it distributed evenly to both Gigist and Gaelya, and maybe to Nijigon as well? Why was the uber-demon's power split into 3 members in the first place? Was it split when the uber-demon was defeated by the Alchemist of Dawn (which was why the uber-demon was portrayed as a single entity in the alchemists' folklore, not as a trinity), or was it already like that since the beginning of time? Man, this feels more and more like a retcon. Sigh. And I'll reiterate the point I made in previous threads for the umpteenth time:
"And the most crucial question is still unanswered:
How could the Alchemist of Dawn (who was very likely a mere human) defeat the Unholy Trinity (Gigist/Germain/Gaelya) (very likely a God) in the first place and scraped 1% of their powers to form the Nijigon egg? It seems like this chicken-or-egg logical anomaly will be left unanswered."

Lachesis holding Spanner's jacket @ 03:42 could be the sign that my girlfriend's dream of shipping Lachesis and Spanner will very likely come true, haha.

Kajiki thinks that Nijigon could be an invasive species from space or a genetically engineered organism @ 11:46, haha.

As expected, Germain does get his ass kicked in this episode. In the scene @ 21:19, Atropos put Glion's golden Rubik's cube inside Germain's golden sphere, aaaaannnnnddddd... Glion is instantly resurrected after taking over Germain's body. So, Glion now possesses 33% of the total powers of the uber-demon. My hypotheses in episode 37 and 38 threads here and here regarding Glion's resurrection are proven to be correct. My hypothesis in episode 27 thread here regarding Glion's resurrection method having something to do with his favorite golden Rubik's cube, which could be some kind of Horcrux in which he stored a part of his soul, is also proven to be correct. Once again, this proves that Gotchard's main villains (Gigist/Germain/Gaelya aka the Unholy Trinity) is basically Gifu v2.0. Orteca with Gifu Stamp was far more dangerous (because he could create Gifftarians which killed their human hosts permanently) than Gifu (who supposedly ate Orteca alive but as it turned out actually only imprisoned him inside a pocket dimension). Similarly, Glion with his mere alchemical powers could kill Spanner's parents, Suzuya (Minato's friend) and other alchemists, and commit other atrocities, making him much more dangerous than Germain who is supposed to be an uber-demon-God and supposedly ate Glion alive but as it turns out actually only kidnapped and trapped him inside his body. Gaelya and Gigist could very likely meet similar fates as Germain's as shown in today's episode. And of course, Atropos doesn't keep her promise. Surprise, surprise, Rinne!

The reveal regarding Glion's resurrection in this episode clearly explains the (faulty) reasoning behind Fuga's dumb decision in episode 40 like I mentioned here. In episode 40, Atropos leaked a crucial intel to Rinne regarding the Unholy Trinity's plan to ambush Fuga's place, with one condition that Rinne must defeat Germain in order to revive Glion. If Fuga had moved to a new, safer place far far away from the location shown in the beginning of episode 1, then Atropos would've had nothing of value to offer to Rinne. If Fuga had actually moved to a new location, and the Unholy Trinity somehow found out about it without telling Atropos, then Atropos was totally screwed because her deal with Rinne solely rely on her leaking a crucial intel to Rinne so that Rinne et al could help Fuga at the right moment and protect him from the Unholy Trinity's ambush.

The flow of reasoning in episode 40 was like this:
-> Fuga did the stupidest thing by having not moved to a new, safer location, and instead, having stayed at the exact same location as the one shown in the beginning of episode 1.
-> Atropos had already known Fuga's old location.
-> Atropos had a crucial intel and thus a much higher bargaining position in her deal with Rinne.
-> Atropos leaked the Unholy Trinity's plan to ambush Fuga there to Rinne.
-> Rinne et al arrived at Fuga's location at the right moment and succeeded to protect him from the Unholy Trinity's ambush. Fuga was alive.
-> Rinne fulfills her part of the deal by defeating Germain as shown in episode 41.
-> Atropos puts Glion's Rubik's cube inside Germain's golden sphere.
-> Glion is revived.
-> Atropos' plan succeed.

If, instead of the above, the flow of reasoning in episode 40 was like this:
-> Fuga did the smartest thing by having already moved to a new, safer location, different from the one shown in the beginning of episode 1.
-> Atropos had not known about Fuga's new location.
-> Atropos had no crucial intel and thus a very low bargaining position in her deal with Rinne.
-> Atropos might only be able to leak the Unholy Trinity's plan to ambush Fuga to Rinne, but not the location because she didn't know it.
-> Rinne et al might not arrive at Fuga's location at the right moment and might've failed to protect him from the Unholy Trinity's ambush. Fuga might've been dead.
-> Rinne doesn't fulfill her part of the deal in episode 41 because Fuga might've been dead in episode 40, but Germain can still be defeated.
-> Atropos may or may not be able to put Glion's Rubik's cube inside Germain's golden sphere.
-> Glion may or may not be revived.
-> Atropos' plan may or may not fail.

TL, DR:
Fuga must do the stupidest thing from episode 1 to 40 so that Glion can be resurrected in episode 41. What a great way to ruin Fuga's character. With or without Atropos-Rinne deal, the Unholy Trinity might still be able to find Fuga's new location, Germain may still be defeated, and Atropos may still be able to put Glion's Rubik's cube inside Germain's golden sphere. So, there's no reason to make the plot convoluted by making Fuga did the stupidest thing that ruined his character. Someone would then say, "But at least Fuga was still alive." Yes, alive and got his character ruined. *facepalm

Next week:

The appearance of the rumored 102nd Chemy? I mentioned about the 102nd Chemy in the episode 29 thread here and episode 31 thread here and its connection to KR Gotchard's berserker form, although I was very likely wrong, because it seems like it's KR Valvarad who will get a berserker form. Anyway, there's a suspicion that Glion could be involved in its creation. Sabimaru's older brother (who has a Ring with green gem, similar to Spanner's) is very likely also involved in some way. From the preview, it seems like the 102nd Chemy is a shapeshifting creature that has several different forms, and maybe also abilities. It's very likely a Malgam, but not the result of organic amalgamation of a specific Chemy and a human/homunculus host, but the forced, synthetic amalgamation of several Chemies at once. It's basically an artificial, chimera Malgam-Chemy that is created by manipulating and mixing the genetic blueprints of several Chemies. It does fit Glion's proclivity for creating freaks of nature. A new Rider who will use the 102nd Chemy's power could also appear, similar to KR Juuga who used Juuga Vistamp, a Vistamp powered by a chimera demon. Perhaps the creation of the ultimate, chimera Chemy is the true aim of the Chemy hunting game in the first place? This is exactly the kind of concept of alchemy I've been dearly waiting since episode 1. If my hypothesis is correct, then this is a very interesting concept, but maaannn, revealing it during the last 20% of your story is just too late. What have you been doing, Gotchard writers?

I may be wrong, but I get the feeling that the sudden appearance of several alchemists doing alchemy experiments at an alchemy lab in episode 42 could be the writers' way of responding to my criticisms in this forum. They're probably like, "Let's make a scene showing several alchemists doing proper alchemy experiments in a laboratory setting. That will make Gotchard an official story with proper alchemy setting. That will definitely silence that schmuck Zolda over at Tokunation!" Haha.

Hiroki Uchida is back to writing duty. I'm 80-90% sure the story will show several new sudden reveals aka cheap "Gotcha!" moments, especially the ones regarding Houtarou's manipulated memories, Houtarou's dad and the circumstances of his disappearance, and the possibility of the connection between Houtarou, his dad, and the Alchemist of Dawn. I think these reveals will likely appear between episodes 42 to 45. I'm bracing myself for the cheap "Gotcha!" moments.

Speaking of writing duty, where is Keiichi Hasegawa? It seems like he's MIA. He's said to be the main writer, but so far his contribution is lacking in importance, compared to Hiroki Uchida's, for example in KR Gotchard Daybreak episodes and KR Legend episodes. It feels like Hasegawa's freedom of creativity is deliberately limited by the producers in favor of Uchida's. Contrary to what the synopsis stated, 41 episodes later Uchida feels more like the main writer of this show. Well, perhaps Hasegawa will return in the last 4 or 5 episodes to clean up the mess created by Hiroki Uchida and Akiko Inoue. I'm not really sure how he will do that. Good luck, sir. A friend of mine even suggested another possibility: Hasegawa's last contribution was episode 31 aka the Romeo & Juliet filler episodes, and all the remaining episodes from 42 to 48(?) will be written by Uchida.

[Enchilada645]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Real big cameo this episode. Like I shared previously, Masaru Yamashita and Koichi Nakayama, who played Ryoma Kagawa/Fire/Knight Fire and Daiki Nishio/Sol Braver respectively, had a meeting with Koichi Sakamoto who directed this episode some time ago. And as expected, they had a cameo spot as the two middle-aged workers who Nijigon helped and I lost my shit when both of them took off their helmets sweat flying.
Also, the boxes in the background say Masaki Tokyu, a nod to their respective shows and their commander Masaki portrayed by Hiroshi Miyauchi.

So additional fun fact here. The featured Chemy during the sponsors screen, Doctorkozo and Hiikescue do not appear at all in this episode. But the background they're against is the same truck/boxes that the two cameos have. So we can very much assume the featured Chemy segment was a deep cut reference to the two.

Subs aren't out yet so I can't comment on the episode itself since I only watched it raw. But I thought I'd add to this fun trivia with something else I saw people noticing.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

So additional fun fact here. The featured Chemy during the sponsors screen, Doctorkozo and Hiikescue do not appear at all in this episode. But the background they're against is the same truck/boxes that the two cameos have. So we can very much assume the featured Chemy segment was a deep cut reference to the two.

Subs aren't out yet so I can't comment on the episode itself since I only watched it raw. But I thought I'd add to this fun trivia with something else I saw people noticing.

Nice, that makes sense.

[Enchilada645]

I think it's absurdly hilarious that Spanner's words ended up causing everyone so much trouble. But I do like that it ended up helping Nijigon out in what he wanted to do. It's an oddity to get a sudden minor B-Plot within a two-parter in which it's simple and wraps up rather neatly, but I didn't mind it too much.

Will say I'm glad that Platina's win-streak is still untouched. Was worried last week, but Gotchard and Majade make a perfect tag duo when it comes to coordination. Majade opening the Golem up for Platina and Platina seemingly just exerting so much energy that Gotchard goes back to Steamhopper to deal a glancing blow against Germain? *chefs kiss* Real good stuff.

Geryon is back and I'm curious as to how he'll bounce off our remaining Dark Kings. Admittedly considering his status as the main villain of the movie, I don't see him taking up the final boss spot in the show. I still think Gigist is going to likely snatch that away from Geryon at the perfect moment.

Because as of right now, Gigist is the only one playing it smart. Once realizing he can't exactly command the situation as usual he decides to go for other methods. Whether its getting Spanner to join him or just pushing Spanner to fight harder so Germain can get beaten. It'll be interesting to see how he works in his more diminished role from here on out.

That said, oh man I love Gotcha Brothers. It's a unique take on the 'Rider Clone' concept in that these aren't just mindless suits. These are the Chemies being given a chance to fight. Also once again we get more of the best form in Gotchard, Antwrestler.

Last real note to say, I loved the energy in the fight. Majade and Valvarad speaking their own values against Germain's with Gotchard coming in with the super pumped up "LET'S GO!" at the end was a lot of fun.

[Mesnick]

Gotchard never ceases to pleasantly surprise me. Basically, in this episode we got a bigger version of the beating of Gigist from an episode ago, only with Germain. But at the same time, I still got a lot of pleasure from it. Also, I liked that the trio of main characters could have different motivations without going into anti- territory.
Another unusual detail is that the show not only does not forget about helping civilians, but quite skillfully weaves it into the plot.
Also, the return of Geryon with his crazy fantasy of a golden world. Abyssails Kings are quite good villains, but his presence will definitely add dynamics.
So I'm all for it. And then we have the long-awaited Sabimaru episode, which is also very cool.
P.S. By the way, this is what interests me. Kajiki is essentially the same type of character as Shumpei and Onari. But at the same time, he is clearly much more loved by the audience. Is it because of less screen time or has the public's tastes changed since 2016?

[Zolda]

There's a crucial point I forgot to include in my post above. The main reason behind Fuga's appearance in episode 40 was because the writers needed to retcon the internal logic about the creation of the Nijigon egg. The writers needed to insert the new revelation about the Philospoher's Stone, which had never been shown, stated, implied, nor hinted at all in previous episodes.

Why Fuga? Well, because so far, Fuga is the only character in this story (besides the Alchemist of Dawn who will perhaps appear suddenly without any prior hints) who knows about Nijigon's past, so his presence in episode 40 (and the subsequent dialogue between him and the protagonists) was crucial for the retcon. Fuga must meet the protagonists (and thus, the viewers) to tell them about the retconned internal logic. Since Houtarou had already got Nijigon, Fuga wasn't needed anymore, so Fuga himself had virtually no reason to meet the protagonists. So, how to make Fuga meet the protagonists? The answer is: By contriving the Unholy Trinity's plan to ambush Fuga's place in episode 40. The Unholy Trinity could've ambushed Fuga, no matter where he hid, without involving Atropos or Clotho. So, why was Atropos involved? The answer is clear: To leak the intel to Rinne so that the protagonists could come at the right moment to save Fuga, and also to create the sub-plot in episode 41. If Atropos wasn't involved, then no one would've leaked the intel to the protagonists, and Fuga could've died as the result. If Fuga died, then there was no one left in the story who had the capacity to tell the protagonists (and thus, the viewers) about the retconned internal logic.

TLDR:
Fuga's appearance in episode 40 was crucial for the retconned internal logic about Nijigon. No Fuga = No retcon.

And also, what was the point of the Unholy Trinity's attempt to attack and kill Fuga in the first place? Whether Fuga was dead or alive, it made no difference to them. There was no strategic advantage gained by the Unholy Trinity from Fuga's death. Their main targets were Nijigon and Houtarou. So, instead of directly going after Nijigon/Houtarou, why did they attack Fuga first? Why did they create a convoluted, meandering plan in episode 40? Well, the answer is because the plot needed it to happen. The writers made them do it because the retcon was crucial. The writers basically manipulated the characters' decisions to create the plot.

Another weird thing in this episode that I forgot to mention is the scene @ 14:41 where Minato was able to know that Germain was heading to the concert venue. How the heck could he know Germain's plan? Did someone (whether Atropos or Clotho or Gigist or Gaelya) from Germain's side leak an intel to Minato? None of that was shown, told, hinted nor implied in this episode. Weird! It would've made more sense if Germain wrecked the concert venue and drove Houtarou to anger. Houtarou's internal psyche could've been the X factor that amplified Rainbow Gotchard's power, which enabled him (who had only 1% of the power of the Philopher's Stone) to defeat Germain (who had 33%). This X factor could've been the only thing that was impossible to predict by Germain/the Unholy Trinity.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Real big cameo this episode. Like I shared previously, Masaru Yamashita and Koichi Nakayama, who played Ryoma Kagawa/Fire/Knight Fire and Daiki Nishio/Sol Braver respectively, had a meeting with Koichi Sakamoto who directed this episode some time ago. And as expected, they had a cameo spot as the two middle-aged workers who Nijigon helped and I lost my shit when both of them took off their helmets sweat flying.
Also, the boxes in the background say Masaki Tokyu, a nod to their respective shows and their commander Masaki portrayed by Hiroshi Miyauchi.

I was excited to see such a rare unexpected Metal Hero cameo! Reminds me that they still haven't followed the post-credits of Gavan VS Dekaranger. Hmm, maybe King-Ohger In Space is connected to Space Squad somehow. I hope the franchise can make a comeback sometime this decade.

Not only that, but we even got to see the Kamen Rider Girls as Irise Girls, whose names reference the heroines of their representative shows! Always fun to see them occasionally Pop-Up in KR, like at Fourze's prom.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Lachesis holding Spanner's jacket @ 03:42 could be the sign that my girlfriend's dream of shipping Lachesis and Spanner will very likely come true, haha.

A dream shared by a lot of us. Good to see Spanner starting to reciprocate in a dere way as well, only a few minutes after the tsun way of referring to Lachesis as "Kyoka's experiment" in the previous episode. It's happening!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Geryon is back and I'm curious as to how he'll bounce off our remaining Dark Kings. Admittedly considering his status as the main villain of the movie, I don't see him taking up the final boss spot in the show. I still think Gigist is going to likely snatch that away from Geryon at the perfect moment.

Because as of right now, Gigist is the only one playing it smart. Once realizing he can't exactly command the situation as usual he decides to go for other methods. Whether its getting Spanner to join him or just pushing Spanner to fight harder so Germain can get beaten. It'll be interesting to see how he works in his more diminished role from here on out.

How fitting that Geryon's name starts with the letter G. He basically pulled a Gord Drive on Germain thanks to Atropos, but for this show the Promised Number is 3 instead of 4. His actor never got the flowers, so it was expected that he'd return eventually. I guess this event will connect to the summer movie plot, since Geryon is the main villain in Orange Gotchard's timeline, perhaps leaving Gigist to take over that position for the final arc of the show like you suggest.

Gigist's cognitive empathy is his ultimate weapon here. He couldn't persuade Spanner to join him, nor did he expect to, but of course he understands that reaction. Ultimately, Gigist only needed to give a few taunting words to ignite Spanner's black flame bright enough to defeat Germain, which is exactly the fortuitous outcome he hoped for. He's currently the "weakest" of the Dark Kings, which means he has the element of surprise. He can continue to act behind the scenes at his own leisure, waiting for his opportunity.

Germain was entertaining while he lasted, but his abrupt end was simply the result of his many poor decisions: Dismissing the value of understanding people, antagonizing allies and enemies alike, declaring his intention to eat Nijigon, expecting Atropos to sacrifice herself for him. Yeah, pretty much everybody on both sides had a good reason to want this guy dead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enchilada645

Last real note to say, I loved the energy in the fight. Majade and Valvarad speaking their own values against Germain's with Gotchard coming in with the super pumped up "LET'S GO!" at the end was a lot of fun.

"You're not part of the equation!" was a cool and bad*ss alchemy-related line for sure!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mesnick

P.S. By the way, this is what interests me. Kajiki is essentially the same type of character as Shumpei and Onari. But at the same time, he is clearly much more loved by the audience. Is it because of less screen time or has the public's tastes changed since 2016?

I can't speak for the majority (or vocal minority?) as I'm one of the people who actually likes Shunpei and Onari, but I imagine that Kajiki's favorable reception is, like you said, due to his lesser screentime and perhaps by comparison to Houtarou, who is much louder and goofier.

[DreadBringer]

It seems that the names of the IRISE+GIRLS members are intentionally referencing some of the previous Kamen Rider heroines, OOO, Wizard, and Gaim ones. Mai is particularly strong as previous Mai was also a dancer, Mai's name is a kanji for dance, also claiming to dance to uplift others, and her actress appeared in Gaim as Masako Suzuka.

Nijigon's actions prove Supana's view wrong that Chemies are just tools to fight, in him helping constructors' work, backing up IRISE+GIRLS, and restoring Mai's confidence. Initially, Nijigon rubbed Mai the wrong way, which is my common fear when communicating with others, but it's not solely a Chemy problem. I believe Minato will hinder progress due to his actions of erasing the memories of people who come into contact with Chemies.

Despite Gigist being lower-ranked than other Kings, Germain's the actual first casualty as he is killed off after losing to the trio of Riders and being finished off by Atropos. Some people feel that Gotchard is too focused on the main Rider, but it's addressed here as he steps back to allow Majade and Valvarad to fulfill their vows, but even then he still played a significant role in summoning the Gotchabrothers.

Germain's death is ironic as he previously consumed Geryon, only to be sacrificed to bring Geryon back. Geryon's return also reminds me of Orteca, as I didn't expect them to return after being killed off midway. This indicates that Atropos broke her promise with Rinne. I'm unsure of what she and Geryon will do later.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

I can't speak for the majority (or vocal minority?) as I'm one of the people who actually likes Shunpei and Onari, but I imagine that Kajiki's favorable reception is, like you said, due to his lesser screentime and perhaps by comparison to Houtarou, who is much louder and goofier.

What I wonder is, want to bring up a seemingly more well-received but not light-hearted show, that for Geats, you like Sara but she doesn't seem to get favorable reception or noticed (likely not being noticed is the reason) by the fanbase (not outright vitriol hate, but this can still scream 'mid'). She doesn't get much screentime but I feel it's similar to some comedic-relief supports including Kajiki who just get some occasional spotlights. H̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶K̶a̶j̶i̶k̶i̶ ̶a̶l̶s̶o̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶s̶t̶a̶n̶t̶l̶y̶ ̶g̶e̶t̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶i̶r̶ ̶m̶e̶m̶o̶r̶y̶ ̶e̶r̶a̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶a̶f̶t̶e̶r̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶v̶o̶l̶v̶e̶d̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶m̶a̶i̶n̶ ̶c̶a̶s̶t̶.̶