[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FairyKing

The only answer I can think of is that he's talking about Valen,

I think your assumption is correct, because even folks in Japan were wondering what he meant by it. Some people in Japan seem to speculate that because Shoma saw Hanto as Valen, a chocolate-based rider, use a gun during his debut battle, so he probably thinks chocolate forms and ranged weapons, in this case a gun, are just meant to be within the show.

[Leo Novum]

Shouma and Hanto being awkward guys might be the first time that has happened in Kamen Rider. Both are good at projecting a cool fa?ade though, which is why there Rider names, Gavv and Valen, end up sounding cool, despite having somewhat lame origins. And I am so happy that they still manage to be awkward dorks. And this kind of miscommunication seems believable, unlike other shows.

Nyelv being an amoral experimenter seems on point. Nothing new there. But is he doing this secretly or openly? That is the question.

And I think this is the first time Shouma has been shown to be somewhat incompetent when it comes to helping out. Which is good. Because we wouldn?t want our Gavv out of water to be good at everthing, would we now?

Sister Glotta here to audit ya! And now she is off to the punish the part timers.
Once again, Shouma and Hanto are awkward dorks who only manage to keep their identities secret because the other party is also an awkward dork.

Art gallery Granute go! As usual, Gavv giving him the option to swear off Dark Treats is a nice thing. Give everyone a chance to redeem themselves.

And Hanto had the misfortune of coming across Glotta. Which made me realize that Hanto had never seen how Granutes disguise themselves. Now onder he couldn?t make headway in the investigation for his mother?s killer. He probably thought he was just a Wolf Granute the ran around Japan, probably hiding in the sewers and only coming out at night. He didn?t expect the monsters to wear human faces.

CHOCODAN DEBUT! BITTERSWEET GUNSLINGER COWBOY GO! Although I like the detail of how Shouma actually misses most of his shots. He is a beginner at shooting, after all.

Man, this Suetsugu painter fellow is a real jerk! How dare he throw paint at Sachika just because he is having a hard time selling his paintings?

Glotta wields a sythe. How appropriate.

Next episode, Chocodan X Chocodon!

[Fish Sandwich]

Also for the record, "chocolate bandito" was absolutely my runner-up for favorite form change going into this show. Really, if I didn't rate the colors of Fuwamallow Form so highly, the raw conceptual brilliance of Chocodan Form would probably push it up to the top. I don't think any other suit we've seen in this show yet sells the concept of Gavv as a hero with quite as much immediacy. It might not be the Gavv form I ended up immediately loving the most, but it's still the one I understood the fastest, even above PoppinGummy. You know he's cool because he's a gunslinging cowboy with a spiffy hat and poncho, but you know he's weird and silly and *fun* because all of those things are made from chocolate. His gun is literally just a bar of chocolate.

As I've learned to expect from this show, the execution when it comes to putting that concept into action managed to handily exceed even my already heightened expectations. Especially with Teruaki Sugihara back in the directing role for this episode, the fight scene here is a frenetic delight throughout. Not only is the gun just a bar of chocolate, but it's one Gavv has to take a bite out of to get the shape right, and the projectiles the gun launches are, naturally, also pieces of chocolate. Holding true to what impressed me right from the premiere, there's this simple but striking use of both digital and practical effects to bring the particular candy flavor of the fight to life, making this one into an energetic paintball match, punctuated by all the typical comic book sound effects and cute Gochizo antics. Like quite a few episodes so far, the Rider action is actually a fairly small portion of the runtime, but perhaps for precisely that reason, not a second of that action goes to waste. From the very instant Shouma first transforms, until he lands a finisher, basically every beat has something to it worth remarking on.

There's also like 20 other minutes of show here to talk about, of course, and all that was also living up to the high standards Gavv has been setting for itself. The biggest highlight for me is the Rider non-action at the start, which ended up being great for completely different reasons than I expected. I'm very happy to see a Kamen Rider show taking advantage of the "Kamen" part of the title, in the same way I'm always glad to see any actual Riding happen, but while mysterious heroes with secret identities are cool, I'm also really glad these particular two are also this *hilarious*. Their conversations in and out of costume here take advantage of how Shouma and Hanto have more similar overall personalities than a lot of main Rider duos do, playing up their mutual panic at the thought of being exposed, as well as the very similar-yet-opposite mistaken conclusions they jump to about each other's backstory. It's a quirky dynamic that still leaves plenty of room for dramatic potential on top of the fun gags, and that balance is just one more commendable thing about the way Gavv is written.

[MaskedRiderAsakura]

I just love the idea of Shoma and Hanto getting along well in both their Rider forms and civilian forms, but still not knowing the other's identity and just being total goofballs. I thought for sure we were gonna get a LuPat situation where they're friends as civilians but enemies as Riders, but that doesn't seem to be the direction we're headed in.


And yeah, the intro definitely makes it seem like Sachika will be our third Rider. Her just having an empty yellow bubble after Gavv and Valen just feels too awkward for it to not be some kind of foreshadowing.

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura

I just love the idea of Shoma and Hanto getting along well in both their Rider forms and civilian forms, but still not knowing the other's identity and just being total goofballs.

Hell yes.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

Shoma and Hanto are just

Aka Gavv-sempai and Chocolate-kun.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gashatfreak

I actually laughed when the Chocodon Gochizo just ripped the Poppin Gummy out of the belt and sent it straight to Snack Valhalla.

No, that was Chocodan. The one used by Valen is Chocodon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwami

In my mind I'm seeing her adopted by Stomach Inc. and turned into a puppet at first or something, please no.

That could be interesting.

Quote:

Originally Posted by weedle013ZiO

She still has her conspicuously empty bubble in the OP, and Hanto's has been filled. It looks like they planned to fill in Hanto?s bubble after his debut as Valen?

I hope you're right. Some of us are still a little disappointed about the Kamen Rider Saber ED teasing us with Meispada.

Quote:

Originally Posted by FairyKing

IDK if it was the actual dialogue or just the fan-translators doing something odd, but the subtitles I read had Shouma say something about how "guns and chocolate go together." Is that a reference to something? The only answer I can think of is that he's talking about Valen, but I'm wondering if there's an association between guns and chocolate in Japanese culture, or some other iconic media that links the two?

Chocolate can restore the Dead Eye meter in Red Dead Redemption. Probably not the reference they were going for, but that's my headcanon.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

So Hanto is still his swell self when dealing with humans, like of course his embarrassments above when he interacts with Shoma in Hapipare, still awkwardly laughing with each other. But when he confronts Glotta, he seems to have a prejudice against the Granutes, wanting all of them to die, not exclusively the ones that murdered his mom and mentor. Wonder if he learns that Granutes are a normal society that is threatened by Stomach Inc. too later, or even if he knows Shoma is one too.

I mean, Glotta did just kick Hanto across the room, so I think Hanto's reaction here is justified.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Fortunately for Shoma, one of the patrons Tamaki Tatehori is pleased with Shoma's ability to break stuff. Tamaki's first shot of the location on the statue she's sawing with is insane stuff though.

Tamaki gets it, destruction can be an art as well! And she accepts criticism, so she has strong potential to hone her talent. Iwashimizu has no right to mess with that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

It's a dick move for Suetsugu to splash Sachika with paint for this, but this is also something Sachika needs to work on.

Now we know why Suetsugu's art won't sell, he thinks orange and pink go together.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Gavv has another form debut here, Chocodan, and like Valen, he's armed with long-ranged Chocodangun, but with a different finisher.

Chocodan Gun could be a cool pun as it's pronounced "chokodangan", with dangan meaning bullet, since the bullets are also chocolate. Like how "gan" means both gun and eye for some weapons in Kamen Rider Ghost, which also had a brown cowboy form that debuted in Episode 7 and a belt with a mouth.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Their conversations in and out of costume here take advantage of how Shouma and Hanto have more similar overall personalities than a lot of main Rider duos do, playing up their mutual panic at the thought of being exposed, as well as the very similar-yet-opposite mistaken conclusions they jump to about each other's backstory.

It's a little extreme to claim that Shouma and Hanto have similar overall personalities based on a few comedic internal monologues, when the way they act openly is actually pretty different. I'd say their dynamic as Riders is more like Drive and Mach, with Gavv fighting to protect the innocents and Valen fighting to destroy the evil Granutes. Two sides of the same coin, but still opposite sides.

[Sunred]

What really got me rolling on the floor laughing was when Hanto was like, "Shit! I ended up going with a chocolate-related name! Stupid! Stupid!".

[Mesnick]

Caught up with Gavv. Well, I'm really enjoying this show so far. Good plot, interesting and likable characters, great fight scenes. Still not a huge fan of the costumes, but appreciate making the most of the theme as abilities. The Agents are some of the strongest troupers in the franchise and give me much more of a "Squid Game" vibe than the entire Geats. And from the world of Granuts and the Stomach family I immediately remember Akumizer 3. Also, the number of mad scientists on screen is simply off the scale, which allows you to introduce new toys without pulling them out of poor Shouma. I hope these three get together. So I continue to watch with interest.

[Mesnick]

For the current episode. I like the confusion between Woof and Valen because it's logical and funny rather than annoying. Although there is no point in prolonging it and bringing it to the point of absurdity. I also liked the subversion of expectations when Shouma's superhuman strength causes problems. Shokodan's fight and debut was amazing, spectacular and funny at the same time. I wonder what the cleaners will think when they see a parking lot stained with chocolate and sprat.
If there's anything to criticize, it's not the most successful editing. It would have been better to move Hanto’s arrival to the gallery after Gavv’s victory, otherwise it turns out that he and Glotta silently looked at each other without starting a fight for an indecently long time. But I’m looking forward to the end of their fight, the shooting-chocolate team-up and the development of Sachika’s situation with the irritable creator.