Soichi gets tired from running and takes a seat, allowing Sento to catch up. Soichi says he had to do what he needed for his grand plan. He adds that he still has two FullBottles to collect.
Soichi transforms into Blood Stark and Sento quickly henshins to Octopus Light. They battle, but Soichi picks up Pandora’s Box and it glows a bright light, blinding Sento and sending him back, forcing him to dehenshin.
Soichi picks up the FullBottles and leaves.
Sento heads back to the cafe and breaks the news to Ryuga and Sawa about Soichi. They decide not to tell Misora just yet. Instead, they will try to retrieve the FullBottles themselves. Sento asks Sawa to look into Soichi’s past. In the meantime, Sento will use some residual material from Pandora’s Box he was able to collect to try and find a way to counter Blood Stark with a Power Up.
Soichi has brought Pandora’s Box and the FullBottles to Nanba who wants to use the energy from them to create a military weapon stronger than a nuclear bomb.
Nanba tries finding a Best Match by inserting the FullBottles into a panel, but they all explode. They’re all fakes.
Sento locks Misora out of the lab as he gets to work. He tells Ryuga about setting up Soichi with the fake bottles, that’s why he had locked himself in the lab once Nabeshima told him the truth.
Sento asks Ryuga to use a new contraption to try and find FullBottles with an affinity to the FullBottle of Pandora’s Box element.
Ryuga gives it a shot, but he gets blown up, zapped and hit in the face with diamonds. He finally finds FullBottles with an affinity to Pandora’s Box just as Sawa arrives with information. Ryuga goes to open the door, none of them knowing Misora has awaken and follows them down.
She demands to know what’s with all the secrecy and sneaking around. Trying to throw her off what they’re doing, Sento says Ryuga wants to take her out on a date.
Misora is shocked. She can’t handle this right now. Ryuga is reluctant, but Sento convinces him with a banana and protein drink.
While they’re out on their date, Sawa gives Sento all the information she’s collected on Soichi. He was a likeable guy with a strong sense of justice. But 10 years ago, he tried to force Pandora’s Box open, which caused the Skywall Tragedy. He was sent to a nearby hospital because of his raging.
But that’s not all. On the day of the Skywall Tragedy, Misora was found unconscious in the room where Pandora’s Box was being kept before the welcome ceremony. She was then brought to the same hospital as Soichi and she was in a coma for a long time.
Soichi escaped the hospital within a month, but seven years later he was appointed special consultant on Pandora’s Box. He then quit after Faust stole the panels. They reason that Misora being taken from the hospital is connected.
The question now is Why would Soichi take Misora and run from Faust?
Misora is having fun at karaoke. She says she’s never done it before since she’d been on the run from Faust all the time. Ryuga asks about Misora’s time with Faust.
Misora explains that she was forced to purify FullBottles, but then suddenly could not. To purify bottles, she needs to concentrate. At first, it was easy. But then she found out that FullBottles were being used for evil, so she got scared.
Misora points out Ryuga’s fly is open.
Back at the lab, Sento gets a call from Soichi who says they will meet where he first found him last year. The microwave pops open and Sento leaves.
So much has happened since they first met, Soichi says. Sento asks if everything Soichi has ever told him, Ryuga and Misora a lie. Was the time they spent together a lie?
Soichi says not everything. He sometimes felt bad for deceiving them. Almost.
Sento isn’t having any more of this. He henshins as does Soichi.
They battle.
They get out of the rain and into an abandoned warehouse. While fighting, Sento remembers all the times they spent together. That gives Soichi an opening to attack, forcing Sento to dehenshin.
Sento falls to the ground and says he can’t possibly kill Soichi since it was he who helped make Sento who he is now. “It’s thanks to you that I learned how to be human,” Sento says. “I believed you! You saved me! There’s no way I can kill you.”
Soichi readies and aims a shot at Sento. But Ryuga arrives just in time. He henshins and charges at Soichi. Ryuga is angry and wants to punish Soichi for trampling on Sento and Misora’s feelings.
But Soichi is too powerful and sends Ryuga flying, forcing him to dehenshin.
Soichi then explains that he took Misora from the hospital to get her to purify FullBottles again after she stopped when learning about them being used for evil. She was so determined that they could not even scare her into doing it. So he used Sento as Kamen Rider to make her think she was purifying FullBottles for justice. That is the only reason he chose Sento to become a Kamen Rider.
“You were just playing Kamen Rider.”
Soichi says now that they know they were being manipulated this far, they don’t have the capability to defeat him.
Sento says this sucks, but what they believed in wasn’t an illusion. He and Ryuga both fought to become strength for others, to protect people. Even without Soichi, Sento says, he still has people to protect for the justice he believes in.
Sento pulls out his brand new Rabbit Tank Sparkling FullBottle to henshin to Rabbit Tank Sparkling.
Sento’s new powered up form is just too much, even for Soichi’s Blood Stark. No matter what Soichi sends Sento’s way, Sento is able to counter. He delivers a Sparkling Finish and forces Soichi to detransform.
Sento also dehenshins.
“Just now, the Isurugi Soichi I knew has died.”
Soichi says he never expected Sento would be able to create something like this. Maybe he might be able to complete Pandora’s Box.
Before leaving, Soichi says to watch out for Gentoku since he is Night Rogue. He leaves Pandora’s Box for Sento to take and adds that he can take it back anytime. The most important thing is how much Sento and Ryuga have grown. He hopes they continue to grow and stay strong.
Soichi disappears.
Episode Thoughts
Wow now this was an episode! I definitely enjoyed this episode. And I think they did a pretty solid job in explaining Soichi’s backstory basically.
My only worry going into this episode and then as this episode played out was that they were going to do another fast one on us and make Soichi some kind of double agent or purveyor of justice and that he’s not the bad guy after all. But while this episode held back on making him outright evil, they did establish that he really is some kind of manipulative person who just used Sento, Misora and Ryuga as pieces in his puzzle.
Now of course there’s still plenty of room for either redemption or a twist explaining away all that he’s done, at least as he says. But I really hope that they hold off on either one, if that will indeed eventually happen, because the dynamic that is set up by the realization that Soichi is not who they thought he was has potential for some great material. At least a few episodes worth.
Soichi’s explanations of Misora not actually being his daughter and that overall plan to get her out and manipulate her and trick her into purifying the FullBottles absolutely made sense. There is still mystery as to where Sento came from and why Ryuga was chosen. And of course Soichi seems to legitimately or sincerely be excited about Sento and Ryuga’s development. Maybe because he wants them to truly be heroes of justice. Or if they reach their full potential, he can take back their power and use it for himself. Who knows?
But I really like that this episode was focus completely on them.
Now I also originally thought that maybe Misora knew all of this or that she knew that Soichi wasn’t her father. But if we are to take everything as it was presented in this episode, then Misora is completely in the dark. And she is just as clueless about everything as Sento and Ryuga are.
Now that’s actually pretty great. I am really looking forward to the big moment that Misora learns the truth. Her character development up to this point really helps to build suspense for that moment where she learns that her whole life basically is a complete lie.
Now we still don’t know where she came from of course. She might be an alien. Soichi might very well be an alien. He has strange powers even without being in Blood Stark mode. Maybe his trip to Mars did something to him. The easy explanation would be Pandora’s Box had something to do with his personality change. But we’ve seen that he had already been part of Faust before the Skywall Tragedy. Which is why he was the one who tried to open Pandora’s Box of course.
Sento in this episode was just great. You really felt for him and you understood where he was coming from this whole episode. Just the way they’ve developed Sento and Ryuga’s characters, as I say every week, really help you relate and connect with both of them. Which makes that scene where Soichi is very blunt with them and they realize the truth all the more impactful. The emotions were there and it all fit very well.
It also helped build up the excitement for Sento’s new soda form. The silence during Sento and Soichi’s Henson was also very dramatic.
So overall, I thought this was a great episode. Definitely moves the story along and the revelations were presented in a great an exciting way. Definitely looking forward to what’s next.
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The bromance is too good to ignore with that sign language
That was so great. They’re doing a great job with the bromance. Off the top of my head, Sento-Ryuga is the so far the best bromance/friendship/bond on KR since Eiji-Ankh I think.
Wow! they really made the most out of the reveal that Soichi is Stark. And it seems that they are ramping up the reveals in these last few episodes, and we’re just a fourth of the way through. That both excites and worries me as to how much more they have in store.
I love how the comedy has been unobtrusive on the more dramatic parts this season. Heck, even Soichi’s lighter antics before has now taken a darker turn.
Yeah, they have a good balance of light and dark moments.
And I definitely understand the quick pace so far. Kyuranger for me started off fast like this and I must admit, the late-30s felt like very slow.