[gashatfreak]

His mother's actually dead! There's no 'they can still be saved later' shtick, she's actually 100% unambiguously dead. And so are the other human victims.

I didn't expect it to be revealed this early in the show tbh. It does give the show some actual stakes so I do enjoy that.

The shot of his mother's lifeless body being crushed to pieces was sadistic, good grief.

[gashatfreak]

Also, something I noticed was that the two emo goth twins call the Gochizos 'minions'. We've heard Shouma call thenm that before but the twins being surprised he has some implies that the Stomach Family have minions of their own.

I guess we know who our villainous Kamen Riders are gonna be this season.

[MKDremare]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gashatfreak

Also, something I noticed was that the two emo goth twins call the Gochizos 'minions'. We've heard Shouma call thenm that before but the twins being surprised he has some implies that the Stomach Family have minions of their own.

I guess we know who our villainous Kamen Riders are gonna be this season.

Actually, I feel like the implication is that the Agents are the minions. They've specified that it was Lango's Agents that were supposed to kill Shoma, and the twins balk in disbelief that he defeated their Agents.

[FairyKing]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MKDremare

Actually, I feel like the implication is that the Agents are the minions. They've specified that it was Lango's Agents that were supposed to kill Shoma, and the twins balk in disbelief that he defeated their Agents.

The way the agents dissolved after being beaten instead of exploding also seems to imply they're not just Granutes in uniforms but some other kind of being, which would fit with them being the Stomach family's minions

[gashatfreak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MKDremare

Actually, I feel like the implication is that the Agents are the minions. They've specified that it was Lango's Agents that were supposed to kill Shoma, and the twins balk in disbelief that he defeated their Agents.

The Agents are voiced by the Gochizos' voice actors so you may be on to something.

[Leo Novum]

Oh my god, Shouma, haven’t you ever seen a farm before? Don’t you understand the importance of property and privacy? You can’t just pull out and eat the crops of hones, hard-working farmers! But at the same time, I like how we are witnessing Shouma integrate himself into human society. I think most Rider shows would literally just skip this part of the story because it is too difficult to write about.

Also, Shouma resembles the farmer’s deceased son Makoto. I wonder if this will be one off thing or will have wider ramifications and consequences?

Nyelv Stomach obviously commands respect. He wears glasses so he must be smart! But also, it’s surprising that Jeebh and Shita Stomach want to recruit Shouma instead of eliminating him. In a sense, that is terribly practical. If This stranger can beat your part-timers then they are obviously strong so why not recruit them? Also, interesting that the Twins don’t want Nyelv to steal their kill/recruit. There is some serious sibling rivalry going round here. But Nyelv knows they are hot on Shouma’s trail. See, I knew he was smart! Those glasses gave it away.

Hurray, the farmer wants Shouma to stay with him!

Karakida Hanto is now meeting the mysterious lab rat! How exciting! Lab Rat Suga is gonna give Hanto the down low. And now Hanto knows that the secret spice of monster treats is human beings! Also, Hanto not seeing his mother get compressed means that human compression is a relatively recent technology in the Granute world. Also, seems like Suga is a stereotypical apathetic scientist type. And he has two Gochizos. Let’s see Hanto suit up then.

Marshmallows!

Shioya is right. This Suga dude sounds suspicious. But since this is a Rider show, it will probably turn out Suga isn’t a bad guy.

Sad that Shouma had to leave the couple like this. But evil is restless and heroism has its costs. And that’s some nice sharp shooting, preventing Shouma from transforming. And oh look, it’s Jeebh and Shita Stomach! Here for pitching their recruitment offer, I suppose. Oh wait, it’s not a recruitment offer. They’re just here to taunt Shouma over his mother’s death. I suppose we needed over the top sneering to seal the Stomach Twins’ villain credentials.

So Shouma’s mother was turned into confectionary spice after Shouma’s father died. Seems like only his presence was protecting his mother. She and her son were never accepted by the rest of the Stomach clan. And Shouma’s Granute heritage renders him immune from compression. That’s nice to know as you watch your mother get turned into candy ingredients. Also, according to Shita, Shouma couldn’t use Gochizos prior to his arrival on Earth? Perhaps that’s why the Stomach family underestimated him in the beginning?

Man, these agents are quite capable, dodging a slash like that. They’re definitely better than random mooks and monsters. They even disarmed Shouma and wrestled him to the ground. In the end, Shouma couldn’t tank all of their hits. But worry not, FuwaMarshmallow is here to save the day! It’s even bouncier than PoppingGummy! And the agents were dispatched with a Marshmallow Rolling. Sorry agents, you may have been capable mooks but this is only episode 4 which is why you were mandated by the plot to die.

So Shouma gave Jeebh and Shita the same choice he usually gives the other mooks but they blew him off and went away. Shouma was exhausted and worried for the couple who had taken care of him which is why he didn’t give chase. But at least he has delivered his ultimatum to the Stomach Twins: Keep your hands off humanity.

As I expected, Shouma has left the couple for their own safety. That way, they won’t have value as confectionary spice. But our hero has collapsed from exhaustion and a sinister shadow looms over him! Will Shouma be able to get out of this predicament? I guess we’ll have to wait till next week to find out!

[Switchblade]

The show is actually sticking with the wandering hero concept for longer than I expected it to. I know that will change, but I'm really enjoying it for now. Also digging the sense of mystery that the show is giving us with the slow rollout of Shouma's backstory.

[Fish Sandwich]

For the record, Fuwamallow Form is totally the non-gummy-related one of Gavv's many looks I was most immediately enamored with when we started seeing stuff about the show revealed. I'm not even a big fan of marshmallows in real life, but the eye-catching stark white on the black/silver undersuit looks great, and the concept of just a big puffy man taking on evil was absolutely the thing that started to get me to understand the appeal of this year's typically Has No Right To Actually Be Cool motif for our main hero.

So I was looking forward to seeing it in action, naturally, and it didn't disappoint. Swinging around on its own sound effects is brilliant; despite the (also typical for Rider) wonky CG, I like that it can also become bigger puffy man to do some major damage; I also *love* that its adorably awkward huge mittens are canonically incapable of properly holding a weapon, which is the kind of thing a form like this would usually go out of its way to avoid demonstrating.

All that being said, I also think Poppingummy got the most interesting action here. The catharsis of those Agents getting almost literally steamrolled by Gavv is as palpable as it is in huge part due to how the fight leading up to that point does a good job emphasizing how simply having two opponents to deal with puts Shouma on the back foot. Between that, a creative use of the breakable armor, and that cool shot of it on that tree for more of that wild appeal, it's an episode where both the base form and the new flavor of the week get their time to shine, which is basically my ideal of how multi-form heroes should work.

The story tying all this together is once again equal parts sweet and sad. The first episode, with Gavv making sure a child can be reunited with his mom, laid out Shouma's heroic motivation as basically giving people the happiness he can't have himself, and after three episode in a row of the people he protects calling him a monster, this one comes along to twist the knife that much more cruelly. Shouma once again finds a place he feels comfortable living, only to have the rug pulled out from under him by the main villains, putting a new level of pressure on our hero by making him feel his mere presence alone puts the people he wants to protect at risk. It's an effective way to start tying the Stomach family into things more actively, revealing a lot about Shouma's past more clearly than before, while also working on an emotional level simply in the moment, because like, I wouldn't mind if Shouma could just be happy living with some kind old folks! I wouldn't mind if Shouma could just be happy anywhere, for that matter! So much like I just said about the balance of different forms, I think this one also did a solid job creating a narrative that exists to push the overall story forward without forgetting to still work as its own thing.

[Sunred]

Marshmallow Guyver FTW

[gashatfreak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

The show is actually sticking with the wandering hero concept for longer than I expected it to. I know that will change, but I'm really enjoying it for now. Also digging the sense of mystery that the show is giving us with the slow rollout of Shouma's backstory.

I hope they stick to the wandering hero for a bit longer. It's a nice change of pace.

Also, I do enjoy how Shouma is actually influenced by everyone he meets in some way. The kid he meets in the first episode convinces him of keeping a secret identity, Sachika makes him start a food diary, and after encountering the thief last week, Shouma's actually tryng to purchase vegetables now instead of spending all his money on junk food.

The character development is subtle, but it's there!