Recap: Kamen Rider Build, Episode 9 – The Trap of Project Build

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Katsuragi’s video explains how Project Build is a Rider System intended to be used for defense purposes and with infinite potential.

Soichi says he stole the Driver, FullBottles and the Pandora panel from Faust with the intention of using them himself to protect Misora. But he could not henshin as he did not meet the requirements. Sento explains that you must exceed the Hazard Level to be able to do so.

Hazard Level refers to one’s level of resistance to Nebula Gas. Hazard Level 1 are people like Ryuga’s girlfriend who died almost immediately. Hazard Level 2 are those who become Smash. Anyone with a Hazard Level above 2 will retain their human form even when injected with Nebula Gas, like Sento and Ryuga.

Ryuga remembers Blood Stark being amused by his rising Hazard Level. Sento says according to Katsuragi’s data, one can use the Driver at over Hazard Level 3. That’s why Katsuragi had been doing human experimentations, as he wanted to find someone who would be able to henshin into Build.

Ryuga is upset at how Katsuragi regarded human life so low as to use people for experiments. Sento says while Katsuragi ignoring the side effects of Nebula Gas and rushing into human experimentation is questionable, he sees what a huge achievement Katsuragi’s development of this system means for science.

Ryuga can’t believe Sento would defend Katsuragi, especially after so many deaths cause by his creation. He points out Build might have become a killing machine had Soichi not taken it from Faust. Sento contends that it isn’t the fault of the scientist if their research is used wrongly.

As Ryuga and Sento get heated, Misora pops out with another FullBottle done. This time it is the Joumae FullBottle. Ryuga continues to be annoyed by everyone’s lack of urgency.

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Meanwhile, Gentoku’s bathhouse time is interrupted by Nanba Heavy Industries President Nanba Juuzaburo.

Nanba asks if Gentoku has already convinced Papa Prime Minister about using the Rider System. Nanba wants a return on his big investment in Faust immediately, otherwise he will take the technology to the other two districts as well.

Gentoku says that won’t be necessary. But Nanba makes clear that his time is running out.

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Over at the Institute, Sento expresses his dilemma over Katsuragi and his research to his fellow researchers Kuwata Shingo and Kawai Eita. Kuwata is a HUGE fan of Katsuragi and his work.

Nariaki comes by and says the three prime ministers will be coming to the Institute to observe Pandora’s Box. He asks Sento to compile his research results for presentation tomorrow morning. Sento says that would be impossible, so Nariaki suggests he do an all-nighter. Sento calls Nariaki a “cyborg.”

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Back at the cafe, Ryuga asks Misora if she intentionally popped out with the FullBottle to stop his and Sento’s fight from blowing up. Misora contends that it was just a coincidence.

Anyway, Ryuga asks if Misora ever wants to go outside. She does, but she would get caught. Ryuga has a plan.

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Ryuga gets him and Misora in disguise as basically Gentaro and Yuki from Fourze. They arrive at the store Misora has always wanted to visit and she immediately becomes excited. She tries on some outfits with Ryuga taking video of her. After shopping, they enjoy steak and ice cream and a round at the batting cages.

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As they’re walking, a trio of fanboys recognize Miitan’s voice. Ryuga and Misora hurry and run away to keep Miitan’s mysteriousness intact.

Misora is having a lot of fun. She’s never had this much fun before. Ryuga says surely she’s had a boyfriend or two to have fun with. But Misora says she was in a coma for seven years starting from the day of the Skywall Tragedy.

She doesn’t remember what happened, but she does remember collapsing and when she finally came to, she was already wearing the strange gold bracelet on her wrist which she can’t take off. It’s because of the Golden Bracelet that she can purify FullBottles. And before Sento developed the contraption at the lab, purifying a Bottle meant sleeping for a week.

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Misora sees two girls up on the path enjoying their day. She wishes she could be a normal teenage girl. She asks Ryuga if he went on lots of dates with Kasumi. Ryuga says Kasumi took him to many places.

Ryuga remembers her and says he feels like she is with him anytime he holds his FullBottle. “You must have really loved her,” Misora says.

Ryuga says that’s why he can never forgive Faust, nor Katsuragi, for what they did to Kasumi. He can’t understand why Sento would defend Katsuragi like he did earlier.

Suddenly, the two of them are surrounded by Guardians. Ryuga tells Misora to run away. She calls Sento to tell him what’s happening when suddenly Night Rogue appears.

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Night Rogue says he’s let Misora roam free for a long time, but now he wants her back. He corners her and she starts having flashbacks of her time at Faust, causing her to collapse.

Ryuga arrives and tries taking on Night Rogue, but only gets knocked aside. Blood Stark jumps in and warns Night Rogue not to act behind his back. Ryuga gets up and quickly runs over to Misora, picks her up and takes her to safety.

Blood Stark blocks Night Rogue from chasing after them.

Guardians surround Ryuga and Misora, but Sento arrives just in time to fight them off.

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Over at Faust, Blood Stark understands Gentoku is feeling the pressure from Nanba. Gentoku believes the Rider System will save Touto from collapse, so he must do everything he can to prevent Nanba from distributing it to the other districts.

Gentoku plans on stealing Pandora’s Box from the Institute to provoke war between the three factions. His father will have no choice but to turn to the Rider System.

To help with the heist is Katsuragi fanboy, researcher Kuwata.

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Over at the Institute, Sento is sprawled out on a bench after pulling the all-nighter. He then notices Kuwata walking by with a gas canister and follows.

Kuwata has sprayed sleeping gas in the security room of the Institute and when Sento comes in, Kuwata pours a FullBottle on himself to turn into a Smash.

Kuwata smashes out of the room and Sento henshins to Hawk Gatling and pursues.

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Back at the lab, Ryuga is relieved to see Misora finally wake up. She asks where Sento is and Ryuga realizes she called him. He says he did show up, but just left without saying a word.

Misora can’t believe they’re still fighting, but Ryuga says he and Sento were never friends in the first place.

Misora says Sento saved her. Because of her power, Faust forced her to purify elements into FullBottles. Even after her father saved her, she was afraid and couldn’t use her power. Sento thanked her because the FullBottles helped him become a Kamen Rider and enabled him to save people.

The little dragon comes flying in and Misora points out that Sento created it to help Ryuga find his way. Misora flashes back to Sento saying his responsibility isn’t just to clear Ryuga’s name, but to guide him down the right path. Sento feels that is his way of atoning for not being able to save Kasumi’s life.

“It wasn’t his fault,” Ryuga says.
“That’s Sento for you,” Misora replies. Sento believes in the power of science, that’s why he can’t blame Katsuragi. So instead, he wants to make the most of the reality that’s emerged from a wrong path.

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Sento and Kuwata are still fighting. Sento Builds Up to Lion Cleaner and delivers a Vortec Finish to take care of Kuwata.

Sento collects the Smash elements. Kuwata is disoriented, but he realizes he must have accomplished his objective. That is, to keep Sento away from the Institute.

Turns out fellow researcher Kuwai is also working with Gentoku. He shuts down the security system. Gentoku gives Blood Stark the go signal to take Pandora’s Box.

Across town in a fancy car, Nanba is pleased there is finally movement from Gentoku. His assistant hands him new photos and information on Build.

His assistant is…
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TAKIGAWA SAWA?!

Kuwata has another FullBottle and pours it over himself. But he has one last surprise for Sento… Katsuragi Takumi is ALIVE.

Episode Thoughts

So this was definitely an eventful episode.

Even with everything that happened my favorite part was Ryuga and Misora’s date. It was a very nice character moment for both. And it definitely was enough to get me on the shipper train. lol. But really, it was a nice way to learn more about Misora especially.

But I also felt Ryuga sincerely wanted to do something nice for Misora despite his frustration at the beginning of the episode. Also, he did acknowledge how she interrupted his fight with Sento before it got any bigger.

I definitely feel Ryuga when he gets frustrated by everyone around him at the cafe. Like at the beginning of this episode where Sento and Misora give this look that I still don’t understand. So when he reached out to Misora, I thought it was a nice gesture as well as a necessary one that allowed him and us to kind of get into Misora’s a little bit. Usually those shopping montages on Sentai or Kamen Rider are very annoying and worn out. But it actually worked very well here since it’s the first time we are seeing Misora out of the lab. She just wants to be a normal teenage girls despite her unique power.

The biggest bit of information story-wise, was Misora revealing that she had been basically in a coma for 7 years. Who knows what happened during those seven years? And that certainly adds even more suspicion about Soichi’s true intentions. Or whatever he’s hiding. At the very least, Misora seems less suspicious for me now. I originally thought that both she and Soichi were hiding something bigger. But right now, I believe Misora’s explanation about her life story basically. It was certainly expository, but it worked and it made sense in the moment.

Gentoku’s shadowy movements under his father’s nose is very interesting. And the introduction of Nanba definitely adds more dimension to what Gentoku is doing. But omg! So that’s why Sawa is not with the gang in the opening credits. I thought it was either she had to be an early death or she really wasn’t part of the main gang. And it turns out she is working for what we have to assume right now is the enemy. I guess we don’t have to jump to conclusions yet. For all we know she might be working undercover too. Who knows. But it’s definitely an interesting twist either way.

It was certainly not a surprise that Katsuragi is (possibly) alive. He’s a candidate to be Blood Stark. But at the same time it still could be anyone. The hints and clues are pointing to Soichi, especially after this episode where he basically saves Misora and Ryuga. But I still think it’s open to anyone.

I must say Toei loves that bathhouse location. lol.

And I am very amused by Sento’s hoots whenever he gets excited…

Overall, a very good and exciting episode. An nice episode also for the cliffhanger with the break next week.

2 thoughts on “Recap: Kamen Rider Build, Episode 9 – The Trap of Project Build

  1. Wow! This episode just had so meny twists. I was a bit spoilered about Sawa’s true allegiance. But, damn, that still adds a lot of intrigue to the plot.

    Yeah, that little Banjou-Misora date was fun. But Im kinda worried. The OP pretty much teases Misora as having a much larger part in the plot. And in this episode, it looks like they’re setting her up as Build’s version of Wizard’s Koyomi. We all know how that went the last time. Oh, and this episode really strengthens my hunch that Soichi is Blood Stalk.

    1. Yeah, I definitely hope there’s more to Misora’s part in the greater story. I think part of that might depend on what Soichi’s real part in the story is. And of course, there’s definitely still lots of questions about her time in the coma and why she was chosen to get that bracelet thing of course. Koyomi was just sort of there as part of the gang until they decided she’s be the focus of the story in that final arc. lol

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