Recap: Kamen Rider Build, Episode 40 – The Final Revolution

Genius Sento takes on a hysterical Nariaki and uses new one side Genius attacks to easily swat him down. Evolto pops in and punches Kazumin in the stomach, allowing him to take his three “Lost Bottles,” the Crows’ bottles. He wants to use them to manipulate humans.

At Nascita, Misora and Sawa intently watch Sento who confirms he is indeed Kiryuu Sento again, cowlick and all. Sento says he remembers everything (including his childhood) except his Devil’s Scientist days after the Skywall tragedy.

Ryuga says he’s grateful Sento is back since Katsuragi hated him. Kazumin, meanwhile, is depressed about losing the Crows’ Lost Bottles. Different from FullBottles, the Lost Bottles were created by humans and make the user more aggressive. But what could Evolto want with them?

Sento wonders where Gen-san is. That is Gen-san’s cue to play “Pomp and Circumstance” and happily walk through the door dressed in an outfit that horrifies everyone.

Sento, Ryuga, Kazumin and Sawa are all careful not to upset Gentoku by insulting his custom-made clothes. But Misora doesn’t hold back. She bluntly tells him his clothes are trash.

He approaches Sento to ask about his memory, but Sento wants to go to commercial.

After commercial, Sento is by himself by the water when Katsuragi suddenly speaks to him. Katsuragi says it was Papa Kats who created the Lost Bottles. He figures Evolto erased the data about them to keep him from finding out.

Ryuga unsuccessfully stops Kazumin from telling Sento he is going to Hokuto where he hopes the Lost Bottles will be. Sento says he will come with so he can search for information at his mother’s house.

Ryuga does not agree with their decisions. But he tosses Kazumi Dragon Jelly as a parting gift.

Later that night, in the midst of a woman screaming from a recycled Ganma pod, Evolto tells Nariaki about developing Lost Smash, their final form. Using a Lost Bottle to fuse them with Clone Smash, he will be able to control them. Greedy humans will instill fear into others and they will all eventually kill each other and destroy Earth.

“So you were after the Kamen Riders to…”

Evolto says the Kamen Riders will become the ultimate Lost Smash. But for now, they have the first successful Lost Smash… the screaming woman, who is…

Next day, Sento and Kazumin arrive in Hokuto and Mama Kats’ home. The entire area has been evacuated. Kazumi says he will take a walk while Sento goes inside. Sento reminds Kazumi not to go attack on his own.

Kazumin says he first fought to save his hometown. Then Nanba took over Seito before getting killed by Evolto. Now they’re talking about space and aliens. He doesn’t know what the hell is going on what to fight for anymore. If his three friends were still alive, then he might have a reason.

Kazumi goes for his walk and Sento heads inside to look for info. He finds a box of Papa Kats’ belongings. Katsuragi again speaks to him saying there’s nothing to be found here. The Lost Bottles are the Devil’s Bottles. They make humans aggressive and susceptible to control. So why would Papa Kats create something like that.

Sento flips through a notebook and finds a photo. On the back is an e-mail address: reika_kine@touto-mail.touto. In the photo is a very familiar person.

Meanwhile, Kazumi has decided to head into Faust on his own. He disguises as a lab worker, but is quickly found out by Nariaki.

Back in Touto, Gentoku has been trying out different outfits to get Misora’s approval. But she thinks he’s a hentai freak.

Sento has sent the photo to Ryuga who remembers Kine Reika is the woman who helped smuggle them into Seito on the boat. Sento thinks it is weird that there is a Guardian in the photo since they weren’t in use until five years after the Skywall tragedy. But Papa Kats committed suicide six months after the tragedy.

While Gentoku tries to get Misora to put on his clothes, Kazumi has just been given a high dosage of Nebula Gas. Now if he is defeated, he is dead and donezo for good. Nariaki cackles, but Kazumi is able to escape.

Sento tries calling Kazumi and hurries over to find him.

Kazumi tries running, but is shocked to see PM Tajimi confront him. She has a Bottle and jabs it in her face, absorbing the two Clone Smash and turning into Kiba/Syokichi’s Smash. Kazumi henshins and they battle.

Kazumin remembers Nariaki warning him about dying for good and realizes PM Tajimi is the same. Sento arrives and Kazumi tells him about her. They can’t just defeat her or she’ll die.

The three of them battle. Nariaki walks down and henshins as well, wanting to turn both Sento and Kazumi into Smash now.

Nariaki delivers an Evoltec Attack at Kazumi. His body starts to disappear and he believes this is the end. He holds the Crows’ dogtags and says sorry this is how it ends.

Sento goes Tank Tank and continues battling Nariaki. He then goes Genius and says they are not puppets, but humans who are ready to sacrifice everything to protect someone.

Sento’s words seem to energize Kazumin who apologizes to his friends again as he won’t be seeing them so soon after all. Kazumin locks in Dragon Jelly and he is powered up and energized.

Kazumin is now able to take on Nariaki with a higher Hazard Level.

Meanwhile, Sento believes he can save PM Tajimi using Genius. He delivers an All Side Genius Finish which appears to safely separate PM Tajimi from the Smash.

Nariaki is shocked. Sento and Kazumin deliver finishers at Nariaki who is forced to dehenshin. He runs off.

Sento and Kazumi dehenshin. Sento realizes the Genius Bottle is able to neutralize Nebula Gas. Kazumi accepts his leveled up power. He approaches PM Tajimi who wakes up and is now free from the influence of Nebula Gas. She is remorseful for her actions and apologizes to Kazumi.

Kazumi tells her to focus on creating a better future for the country. PM Tajimi cries.

Kazumi picks up Syokichi’s Bottle and finds it has lost its color. Evolto appears and says he never expected a Lost Smash could be returned to normal. He demands the Lost Bottle back so he can create a new world.

Ryuga and Sawa meet with Reika. She tells them Papa Katsuragi was on her boat a few days ago.

Episode Thoughts

Hmm… an interesting episode I guess. Its focus appeared to be Kazumi finding a reason to fight, though I feel like we’ve done that already. Several times. Very recently even. So that whole part of the episode’s plot felt rehashed. Though I can get that it had to do with Evolto’s brand new plan to use “Lost Bottles.” And Kazumi still mourning over the loss of his friends is in-character.

Still, now that Evolto has pulled a brand new endgame out of thin air, it kind of lets the air out of what had been a perfectly fine and well-moving tire. The tire was rolling along quite nicely and now things have gotten a little muddled. Even unnecessarily convoluted.

Sure, he still wants to destroy the world. Like, I think a simple plot of Evolto wanting to go around destroying worlds and remaking them into whatever he wants is good enough. It’s a simple premise, but the season’s strengths have been in character development.

Now I almost feel like character development and character relationships have also been hindered by Evolto suddenly taking on such a huge role in the grand scheme of things. Almost every other villain, including Nariaki, have been more interesting and refreshing than Evolto has become. And that’s a shame. But we’ll wait and see what happens.

Evolto just randomly pulling ideas out of thin air and Katsuragi conveniently pointing Sento in the right direction though kind of lessens the impact of what had been successfully building tension and increasing gravity of the situation. Most everything made sense and came from a solid foundation set earlier.

Elsewhere, I appreciate and enjoy random humor most of the time. But I don’t know what to make of the antics at Nasicta at the start of the episode. From Sento confirming he’s back to Gentoku’s “normal” outfit and personality, it was all very awkward in the context of everything else that is happening.

I believe Gentoku’s choice of style is explained in some Blu-ray-exclusive episodes. But it does get annoying when they always use stuff from Blu-rays or even the movies in-series when not everyone watching the series has seen the non-TV stuff.

Overall, an interesting episode. But it’s certainly not been as exciting for me these last few weeks. And I’m starting to worry a little about where the climax is heading.