[Paladin]

Hanto finds himself caught in a romance scam.

[Zolda]

Shouma/KR Gavv has encountered Hanto/KR Valen several times, yet he's never wondered how and where KR Valen gets his Gochizous from. Shouma is the only person in the story who is able to produce Gochizous, yet he's never questioned how several of his Gochizous could end up in KR Valen's possession. Even after KR Valen revealed in the end of episode 10 last week that he got his Gochizous from another person (Kenzou), Shouma's never questioned how his Gochizous could end up in Kenzou's possession. And like I elaborated in episode 7 thread here, Shouma's never wondered how there could be a Granute (KR Valen) who has no Gavv at all, not a mere subnormal/dysfunctional Gavv like his own red Gavv. This story has a very weird reasoning.

Shouma brings in 2 new clients named Emi (the victim of the week) and Hana, her younger sister. A guy named Niwa who is said to be Emi's internet boyfriend is said to be a shady love bomber. This Niwa guy stole Hanto's photo and uses it as his profile photo. Convenient. Instead of using the stolen photos of real people, he should've used AI-generated photos, like many internet scammers actually do. Also, Emi must be a first day on the internet kid. She looks like she's veeery incompetent in even the most basic internet research because a reverse image search on many search engines like Google, Bing, Yandex, etc will reveal where the source of an image within 3 seconds. In Google Chrome she simply needs to right click and then choose "Search image with Google" and 99% of the time Google is able to show the links to the pages that contain that photo. I bet if Niwa the scammer guy says that he's the prince of a wealthy, ancient dynasty in Korea who owns a private land and 20 bank accounts in Swiss banks she'd actually believe it, haha. I get it if she's a naive high schooler, but she's a grown up woman! Haha. And for that simple task she and Hana need to use Sachika's shop's service. Sooooo, it seems like they're both the first day on the internet kids, haha.

In the scene @ 06:40 Lango is officially firing Shita and Jeebh, and from now on he himself will supervise the Hitopress procurement task. His next plan for them is preparing and arranging their marriages to some random wealthy Granutes to consolidate Stomach corporation's position within the Granute society. It seems like they don't like Lango's plan, and will likely do anything to sabotage it, maybe by making themselves look unattractive and uninteresting to the wealthy Granutes, which will likely result it several mishaps.

In the scene @ 11:34 Emi decides to meet up with Niwa the scammer guy anyway to see what kind of a real person he is since his words are able to make her fall in love with him, so yes, she's a naive, gullible, easily manipulated person indeed, like the title of this episode suggested. Hana, Sachika, and Shouma arrive at the meet up location at a cafe where Hanto has already been waiting for an hour without seeing Emi nor Niwa the scammer guy. Hana is unable to reach Emi's phone, and Hanto is very conveniently reminded of the event when Mr. Shioya was killed by the Granute of the week in the end of episode 5. Shouma is also very conveniently reminded of a strange kid who he bumped into several seconds earlier when he was walking upstairs, and he thinks that the kid somehow knows something about Emi or Niwa the scammer guy? Very convenient chain of events. Also, Hanto said earlier that he had been waiting for an hour, but the strange kid had only made his move 1 or 2 minutes ago. That's a very long window of time.

Sachika sees Lango when he's walking among a crowd of humans and feels a creepy aura around him. But why are there a random group of people looking at him and even a random guy taking photo of Lango @ 14:13? It's not that he's wearing a gaudy, conspicuous attire, haha. And Sachika is the only person who is feeling Lango's creepy aura, while everyone else feel nothing.

Shouma finally finds the strange kid @ 14:34. He sees a Stomach agent is waiting for the kid and thinks that the agent is about to harm the kid. Shouma realizes that the strange kid is holding a Hitopress bearing Emi's face, and it's revealed that the strange kid is actually Niwa the scammer guy aka the Granute that licked Emi and Hitopressed her. So yeah, Niwa the scammer guy is actually an online predator, quite literally. Haha. Oh, and why did the scammer Granute need to rush and run away from the crime scene and raise suspicion? He's disguising himself as a harmless kid, so there's no reason to act suspicious after he Hitopressed Emi. The answer: Because the plot needs it. Or maybe he's just a novice kidnapper, haha.

What I've just realized is how convoluted the Hitopress collection system is. Instead of using agents (who look sooooooo hilariously conspicuous since they have no human disguises) to collect Hitopresses from the Granute part-timers, why doesn't Lango/Stomach rent several places and create several drop point locations supervised by Shita and Jeebh where the Granute part-timers submit the Hitopresses they've created? Or, why doesn't Lango/Stomach use other Granute part-timers tasked with collecting the Hitopresses and then pool it to the drop point locations? If Granutes can easily fool humans by wearing an infinite number of human disguises, then why does Lango/Stomach use the conspicuous, gaudy-looking, obviously non-human agents and create a huuuuuuuuge risk of being discovered by humans (and or the Granute police/law enforcement like I hypothesized in episode 6 thread here)? Why bother using human disguises if the Stomach family's agents are still involved at the most crucial point in the Dark Sweets production chain (the collection of Hitopressed humans from the Granute part-timers in the human world)? Isn't using agents defeat the main purpose (or maybe the purpose) of using human disguises in the first place? Why use a subpar solution when a much easier, better solution exists? The Hitopress collection system makes little sense. It only makes Lango look incompetent. This is another symptom of the very very very lazy and heavy-handed writing of this series.

Another very convenient scene happens @ 19:08 where the scammer Granute manages to run away from Shouma/KR Gavv, yet he's still in Granute form and forgot to put his human disguise on, so Hanto can see him easily. If he put his human disguise (the strange kid) on, then he'd be able to fool Hanto and run away safely since Hanto never saw the strange kid, so it's impossible for Hanto to recognize him in that disguise. Dumb Granute.

Aaannnddd... My hypothesis in episode 10 thread last week here is proven correct where in the scene @ 22:37 KR Valen is indeed detransformed after getting a considerable amount of damage from the scammer Granute's attack, and Hanto is revealed to be the man behind KR Valen's mask. So yes, Shouma does find out about the real identity of the person behind KR Valen's mask not via deduction of his own, but simply via a convenient circumstance when KR Valen is detransformed due to sheer damage. Yep, Shouma/KR Gavv and Hanto/KR Valen are equally dumb. This story has no need for common sense, reasoning, and simple logical deduction. This story only needs manipulations, coincidences, and conveniences by the writers. Congratulations for the lazy, heavy-handed writing.

Next week:

Hanto doesn't like the fact that his real identity has been revealed in front of KR Gavv. Kenzou is asking Hanto to rely on him. What does it mean? Does it mean that he secretly knows that Hanto is slowly forming an alliance with Shouma?

Shouma and Hanto will transform together for the first time. How will Hanto discover the real identity of Shouma as KR Gavv? Is it via convenient coincidence like in episode 11, or is it via deduction? Perhaps Hanto will be low-key asked several vague questions by Shouma which raise his suspicion, but I doubt that he'll discover it via deduction.

The debut of KR Valen Doumaru form.

[Eclipyon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

If he put his human disguise (the strange kid) on, then he'd be able to fool Hanto and run away safely since Hanto never saw the strange kid, so it's impossible for Hanto to recognize him in that disguise. Dumb Granute.

But he did.

[DreadBringer]

Finally exposed identity for the Riders.

Scamming is one of the tactics employed by the Granutes to raise human happiness, and indeed scammers can use a convincing picture to lure their victims, and once their job is done, their contact numbers become unreachable. This time, however, everyone around Emi—Hana, Sachika, Shoma, and Hanto (whose face was used as the profile picture of the child-looking Granute Early)—alerted her to the scam, but Emi still decided to visit "Niwa" and fell victim to the scam, resulting in her being compressed, though Shoma claims that he would have done the same and sought the truth if he were in Emi's position.

I wonder what Sachika will do as she joins Shoma and Hanto while telling Hana to stay behind, as she's currently a normal human. So far, she has only felt goosebumps upon encountering Lango. Sachika has a bizzare outfit of a skirt with pants. Now, Gavv knows that Valen is actually Hanto, thanks to the Riders de-henshining when defeated. This situation is safer for Shoma since he should face no issues with his human ally also fighting as a Rider, unlike Hanto, who holds a grudge against the Granutes. The preview shows them henshining together, but the claim is that their bond will be tested.

Dunno if by this, Shita and Jeebh can receive a redemption arc for their victim status, which has become even more pronounced with Lango forcing them into an arranged marriage to boost Stomach Inc.'s social standing. They are clearly against this arrangement, despite their respect for Lango, while Shoma expresses sympathy for their plight after Lango fired them, realizing he is not alone in experiencing Lango's abuse. Lango also gaslights Shoma that the current situation is his fault for running away. Outside of their victim status, Shita and Jeebh are just as vile as Lango and Glotta, victim status isn't a positive trait of someone.

Gavv claims that Lango's Agents are tough, but I expected them to pose a real challenge to Guruchan's form, particularly since they come from the current big bad, but Guruchan still breezes through them. Gavv’s fight against Lango's Agents is dynamic yet sloppy, making extensive use of the environment around them to avoid or inflict damage. If the vending machine had snacks or Gavv worked on drinks, there could be even more innovative strategies at play. Granute Early has yet to be defeated; I wonder if he will surpass Granute Yard in power for the next episode.

[Kiwami]

Huh, I wonder what will happen to Shita and Jeebh. Will they set up their own system outside of Stomach Inc. ? Or flee to Earth and go rouge? Interesting twist, I did not expect this to have consequences for them. Although maybe they will just get another chance or something.

I really enjoyed the dynamic between Gavv and Valen, but all good things come to an end and now the secret is out. I'm curious to see how this will shake things up.

Action was really fun too; love the focus on small sets like the alleyway here.

[velencourte]

Lango's "Huh, yeah, that checks out." expression was pretty good :V

[Kiwami]

Quote:

Originally Posted by velencourte

Lango's "Huh, yeah, that checks out." expression was pretty good :V

"Oh he's a Kamen Rider. That’s why we're losing so badly. No one told me about that. Damn."

*Sigh*

"Time to think about some cool tunes I want to put into my own belt."

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Hanto said earlier that he had been waiting for an hour, but the strange kid had only made his move 1 or 2 minutes ago. That's a very long window of time.

Hanto is clearly a patient and focused dude, as he once waited like a whole afternoon doing nothing outside Masako's house until his lead showed up. 60 minutes to us is probably like 6 minutes to him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Sachika sees Lango when he's walking among a crowd of humans and feels a creepy aura around him. But why are there a random group of people looking at him and even a random guy taking photo of Lango @ 14:13? It's not that he's wearing a gaudy, conspicuous attire, haha. And Sachika is the only person who is feeling Lango's creepy aura, while everyone else feel nothing.

They must've mistook him for some kind of cosplayer.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Congratulations for the lazy, heavy-handed writing.

Congrats on your 300th post!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Scamming is one of the tactics employed by the Granutes to raise human happiness, and indeed scammers can use a convincing picture to lure their victims, and once their job is done, their contact numbers become unreachable. This time, however, everyone around Emi?Hana, Sachika, Shoma, and Hanto (whose face was used as the profile picture of the child-looking Granute Early)?alerted her to the scam, but Emi still decided to visit "Niwa" and fell victim to the scam, resulting in her being compressed, though Shoma claims that he would have done the same and sought the truth if he were in Emi's position.

"Niwa" is more clever wordplay from Komura, as it's Wani with the syllables reversed, meaning crocodile. Which sounds similar to Wana, meaning trap like the catfish scam. In goroawase, you get 2 (ni) and 1 (wa) which add up to 3, the amount of mouths that Granute Early has. Catfish in Japan are also blamed for causing earthquakes (like Oonamazu from Hibiki), comparable to the strong hit that caused Valen to dehenshin. Man, there's like 4 different hidden meanings in this one guy, it's crazy! Keep it up, Komura!

Despite being the older sister, Emi is naive for sure, going to meet her crush even after finding out he was using Hanto's picture. Like, even if a Granute wasn't involved, that's still a way to end up abducted, assaulted or killed. While romance is good and healthy, it shouldn't be used as a substitute for street smarts.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Gavv?s fight against Lango's Agents is dynamic yet sloppy, making extensive use of the environment around them to avoid or inflict damage. If the vending machine had snacks or Gavv worked on drinks, there could be even more innovative strategies at play.

Between this fast-paced acrobatic fight and the explosive CGI fight from last week, the action has been seriously awesome recently!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kiwami

Interesting twist, I did not expect this to have consequences for them. Although maybe they will just get another chance or something.

Failure must have consequences! Lango has already given those two liabilities enough "last chances" and like he said, they couldn't even deliver on their own damn terms, so they've proven that they are totally useless at their jobs.

P.S. This is my 2300th post!

[Fish Sandwich]

(I really appreciate that the ending sponsor segment for this one is Chocodon playing dead, by the way. Great attention to detail, and 100% my sense of humor.)

This one worked on at least a few levels, as is typical of Gavv. One of those levels is sort of outside the actual episode itself, which is that it puts the previous two-parter into context as a sort of last hurrah for secret identity shenanigans on this show. If that story was an opportunity to just play around with that shtick one last time before a big change in the status quo, then it's all the more fair it wasn't focusing on any big sweeping character development or thematic depth or anything like that.

This one is also Kazuya Kamihoriuchi's first time getting to play around with *everything* in Gavv, which I think is pretty apparent in a lot of places. The way the Gochizo were worked into the first scene at Hapipare particularly stuck out to me in that regard. That establishing shot's composition, with the actual room all blurry in the background in favor of focusing on the little puppet skit going on in the foreground, yet off to the side of the frame... I mean, leave it to Kamihoriuchi to find an artsy way to go about a quick sight gag with the mascot characters.

It comes off like he was having a lot of fun getting to mess around in Gavv's particular sandbox, and while this part is less solely in Kamihoriuchi's hands, I think Gavv's fight scene in that back alley has a lot of that same kind of energy. It makes sure to get in the basic gimmicks like PoppinGummy's breakable armor and the belt spitting out the sword, and even does something fun and new with the little bike in the same shot the big bike also nearly drops right on the two Agents, which really beautifully captures how intense it must be to fight one of these wacky modern Kamen Riders with their endless arsenals of goofy toy gimmicks. You look away for a second and suddenly Gavv is a big robot dude with a gatling gun. If he weren't so colorful and heroic, he'd probably be pretty scary!

Although I guess Gavv is scary to a lot of people in-universe anyway, isn't he? It feels a bit weird to say it's "nice" to see that emphasized again, but you know what I mean. Especially given how we're touching on the idea of secret identities getting revealed and all that, reminding the audience of the main reason Shouma keeps his own identity secret definitely strikes me as something relevant to have here.

As hard as it is to put my finger on it exactly, details like that are probably what I usually see in Gavv that I didn't feel as much with the previous story -- it's when there's those couple of big ideas going on in the plot, and then a ton of little smaller things that act in support of big ideas from past, present, and future episodes alike. Even a quick shot of two of the antagonists holding hands can count for a lot when it's put in the rich dramatic context of both ongoing character dynamics and social commentary revolving around things like big business and the upper class and... like, I usually leave a *lot* out when I'm talking about Gavv, and that sense there's so much to dig into every week is one of the things that draws me to it so much.

[Leo Novum]

So Karakida gets his identity revealed. About time as well.

And that fight choreography in the alley was top notch.