[Paladin]

Hotaro struggles to control the latest Chemie.

[Zolda]

As expected, last week's "every Chemy has its own weight" logic goes out of the window in this episode.

Renge said @ 04:49 that she (or Sabimaru) had captured Dokkirimajin, and Rinne captured Pilets @ 06:54. So, other members of the Alchemy Academy do capture Chemies as well.

Why did Rinne use a Chemy Riser to capture Pilets? I thought one only needed a blank RCC to capture a Chemy. I think Chemyriser is a swiss Army tool that makes the capture process safer for novice alchemists.

Looks like each Chemy has its own way of testing Houtarou. If he manages to gain their trust, then he'll be able to fuse better with them.

Renge turned out to be goofier than I thought she was. She's like the JK of this show, while Sabimaru is the Tomoko. Tomoko also frequently carried an iPad around. It'd be interesting to see who could be the Ohsugi of this show. Ohsugi is my favorite comic relief in the whole Kamen Rider franchise.

Spanner channeled his inner random Orphenoch when he demanded the Gotchardiver from Houtarou. His debut was a bit too early. He should've debuted in the next episode. This episode could've been better with a cliffhanger ending. Gotchard will get the VenoMariner form next week, so I guess the DeepMariner Malgam aka Rinne's stalker will be defeated early in the next episode.

The most interesting scene is the Sisters' one @ 01:30. They were observing the MOTW's antics from afar and spoke of humans derisively. Are they humans? Or are they formerly humans? The Sisters (and their superiors) could be rogue alchemists of the ancient times that abused the power of alchemy and fused themselves with some kind of Proto-Chemies. Or could be they several victims of ancient alchemical experiments gone wrong? Sheer number of experiments end in failure, so it just makes sense that some of them resulted in unnatural creatures that defy natural order.

[Sunred]

The weapon name Gatcha Tornado and the use of Kamantis put together is an unexpected reference to Kamen Rider Chalice.

[DreadBringer]

Yeah right... not feeling it for this episode.

Hotaro here acts loud without situational awareness, like what I feared, in almost all of his interactions, with him just consistently yelling to anyone he meets. With him not being established as that (feel more grounded) in first episode, I don't think that it's really needed to be done to give him some reality check of the Chemies and fighting as Kamen Rider where you can lose and fail to save people. Otherwise, yeah now there's Gentaro vibe of him wanting to befriend everyone.. Chemies in this case.

Rinne is cold and distant through the episode, albeit still rather supportive, though this seems to be setup as her dealing with certain daddy issues problem (or this'd explain her aloofness contrasting her child self) rather than continuing her first episode portrayal. She shows some physical movement in her facing Malgams.

Spanner is the typical edgy rival who talks down Hotaro regarding just anything, though as usual he'd have a point about Hotaro sticking his nose in without knowing his limitations. Though Hotaro can fight back, he didn't really get good showing of his physical abilities too as an established jock with him mostly getting kicked around. He seems to think that Kamen Rider needs power alone to force Hotaro giving up his Driver. Seems to be a setup about acknowledging other traits than just power, like Hotaro's compassion. As said in W, said "weakness" is what's crucial, to make Kamen Riders a force of justice, not a tool of destruction.

Spanner claims the reason Chemies must be captured is them disrupting natural order, still setup. Hotaro proved Spanner wrong of using Chemies as tool though with Hopper1 defending him, and later Apparebushido befriending him after he shields Hopper1. Other approach so far is (at best) pet-like approach of Renge selling Chemies to Hotaro, which Hotaro shows his view of them as friend to refuse using them for profit.

The MOTW part do highlight the human malice more in them latching on the miserable humans who wish harm upon others and giving them the power to act upon it. I don't know why there has to be an MOTW that just exists to be creepy towards Rinne though, won't look good for the series image.

[Enppu]

I just do not care for the philosophical arguing between Hotaro and Spanner (can't believe that's his name) this early on in the show. Part of that is absolutely due to their personalities, but I also know next to nothing about them, their world, or the Chemies.

So far Hotaro and his goal of befriending all the Chemies has just come off as annoying. At least Fourze had such a goofy and lovable lead in Gentarou, that you just couldn't help but believe in him.

[Sh Ranger]

Yo, Nippon Ichi!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zolda

Renge turned out to be goofier than I thought she was. She's like the JK of this show, while Sabimaru is the Tomoko. Tomoko also frequently carried an iPad around. It'd be interesting to see who could be the Ohsugi of this show. Ohsugi is my favorite comic relief in the whole Kamen Rider franchise.

Weird how Renge and Sabimaru here make Houtarou look like the sane one of the three. Renge is randomly dressed like Alain, while Sabimaru is even more shy than Daishinji. With these people as peers, I can kind of understand why Rinne is often exasperated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sunred

The weapon name Gatcha Tornado and the use of Kamantis put together is an unexpected reference to Kamen Rider Chalice.

Nice observation!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

The MOTW part do highlight the human malice more in them latching on the miserable humans who wish harm upon others and giving them the power to act upon it. I don't know why there has to be an MOTW that just exists to be creepy towards Rinne though, won't look good for the series image.

Human malice would naturally include behaviors like lust, so it makes sense that a Malgam similar to Spider Fangire would exist.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enppu

I just do not care for the philosophical arguing between Hotaro and Spanner (can't believe that's his name) this early on in the show. Part of that is absolutely due to their personalities, but I also know next to nothing about them, their world, or the Chemies.

Yeah, the philosophical conflict here needs to be a little deeper to intrigue me. Spanner (a name perfectly befitting his motif) reminded me of Isamu before, but now he reminds me of Makoto in early Ghost, where he would just show up to bully Takeru, insult his idealism and attempt to steal his Heroic Eyecons. However, while Takeru and Makoto are childhood friends/cousins, Houtarou and Spanner are total strangers, so their dynamic is pretty weak so far. The scene does show off more of Houtarou's athletic skills though, so I like it for that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enppu

So far Hotaro and his goal of befriending all the Chemies has just come off as annoying. At least Fourze had such a goofy and lovable lead in Gentarou, that you just couldn't help but believe in him.

Lovable is subjective, but I don't think you can say that Houtarou isn't goofy. He's got to be the goofiest Reiwa Primary Rider yet. His goal of befriending all the Chemies is good, but the main problem as explored in this episode is how he doesn't think about getting to know them properly first. Maybe that makes him a little annoying sometimes, but you know, that means he has room for character development, whereas Gentarou didn't change much since he was already a friendship expert, he already found his "Gotcha".

[Sunred]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Nice observation!

After I noticed this it had me thinking if this will be a recurring thing. We already have his main form be a tribute to Ichigo somewhat and then this, so right now I am thinking of observing a few more episodes because this show could be a nice easter egg show much like LuPat or Revice.

[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Weird how Renge and Sabimaru here make Houtarou look like the sane one of the three. Renge is randomly dressed like Alain, while Sabimaru is even more shy than Daishinji. With these people as peers, I can kind of understand why Rinne is often exasperated.

Yeah but... randomly dressing or being shy aren't traits that are deserving of scorn. Though it's true that someone can have feelings to be exasperated, but those who'd take it out to them due to something harmless but they personally dislike (no offense, but something like Misora to goofy Gentoku - saying this as someone who don't like Gentoku's goofy direction after his redemption) would be intolerant meanies. Bullies often lash out at those who have traits that they don't consider "acceptable" (and they'd be irked by those) like not being good at sports, enjoying reading, being a nerd, not caring about fashion, socially awkward, etc. Otherwise Sabimaru gives me Kyuun vibes, in his hair color, expression, and prefer using other medium to communicate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Human malice would naturally include behaviors like lust, so it makes sense that a Malgam similar to Spider Fangire would exist.

Not denying that it can exist, but for the series itself to feature these type of malice that seems to have no purpose other than putting Rinne in a sex object role... thought it may not be good for the series or Toei image.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Yeah, the philosophical conflict here needs to be a little deeper to intrigue me. Spanner (a name perfectly befitting his motif) reminded me of Isamu before, but now he reminds me of Makoto in early Ghost, where he would just show up to bully Takeru, insult his idealism and attempt to steal his Heroic Eyecons. However, while Takeru and Makoto are childhood friends/cousins, Houtarou and Spanner are total strangers, so their dynamic is pretty weak so far. The scene does show off more of Houtarou's athletic skills though, so I like it for that.

Takeru and Makoto being childhood friends in this dynamic would be the exception, not the rule. I'd wonder what differentiates between other goofy primary and edgy secondary dynamics as they're also strangers at the start. Otherwise, Spanner talking about the necessity in sealing Chemies to clash with the lead Rider also reminds me of Den-O's Yuuto who seem to be the standoffish secondary who talked (pushed) about something of importance most often.

[Switchblade]

Hotaro is at an 11 and I need him to be at like a 6.

Kinda weird pacing this week. It feels like this was a two-parter condensed into one episode, which is probably better than the opposite but still kind of a mess.

If this show doesn’t do some kind of crossover with Build it is going to be a huge missed opportunity. Sento and his science mixed with Hotaro and his pseudo-science bullshit practically writes itself.

[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Yeah but... randomly dressing or being shy aren't traits that are deserving of scorn. Though it's true that someone can have feelings to be exasperated, but those who'd take it out to them due to something harmless but they personally dislike (no offense, but something like Misora to goofy Gentoku - saying this as someone who don't like Gentoku's goofy direction after his redemption) would be intolerant meanies. Bullies often lash out at those who have traits that they don't consider "acceptable" (and they'd be irked by those) like not being good at sports, enjoying reading, being a nerd, not caring about fashion, socially awkward, etc. Otherwise Sabimaru gives me Kyuun vibes, in his hair color, expression, and prefer using other medium to communicate.

Of course, Renge and Sabimaru can do whatever they want as long as they aren't causing harm to others. At least, I think Rinne is tolerant of their quirky behaviors, as a professional who seems averse to unnecessary confrontations, even though she may find them exhausting to be around for too long. But I kind of wish that Sabimaru designed his AI with a little more character.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Not denying that it can exist, but for the series itself to feature these type of malice that seems to have no purpose other than putting Rinne in a sex object role... thought it may not be good for the series or Toei image.

I mean, the Deepmariner Malgam is clearly depicted as wrong for having that reductive view of Rinne, so it's not like Toei are endorsing his behavior, rather they're setting him up to be appropriately punished.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Takeru and Makoto being childhood friends in this dynamic would be the exception, not the rule. I'd wonder what differentiates between other goofy primary and edgy secondary dynamics as they're also strangers at the start. Otherwise, Spanner talking about the necessity in sealing Chemies to clash with the lead Rider also reminds me of Den-O's Yuuto who seem to be the standoffish secondary who talked (pushed) about something of importance most often.

Knowing the reason for the edgy character's edge would be a good start. I imagine Spanner does have some kind of sad childhood or tragic backstory to explain why he acts antagonistic, but so far, I haven't learned anything new about him that wasn't already in his bio. Next episode is going to be a Rinne focus, so it might be a while before we see more sides of Spanner.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

Hotaro is at an 11 and I need him to be at like a 6.

But Houtarou needs to be at 10 to become Gotchard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

If this show doesn?t do some kind of crossover with Build it is going to be a huge missed opportunity. Sento and his science mixed with Hotaro and his pseudo-science bullshit practically writes itself.

Throw in Wizard and you get the whole magic-science spectrum. They all have names ending in "d" as well.