Recap: Kamen Rider Geats, Episode 7 – Chance Encounter VI: Last Boss and Kicking the Can

Ace is sitting on a rooftop looking at a coin which was given to him by his mother who told him he’d be happier if he forgets her. He wonders where she could be today.

Meanwhile, Keiwa’s diary entry for today deals with the mechanics of eliminated players going back to their normal lives while killed players are dead for real. Sara walks in on him and thinks he’s watching porn. He denies it, but she says it’s normal for a young man like him.

Sara has found an old letter Keiwa wrote to himself ten years ago. Little Keiwa hoped older Keiwa would grow up to be a wonderful adult strong enough to protect world peace.

While Neon tries to outsmart her two bodyguards, Jyamato begin suddenly attacking the city. Tsumuri quickly calls the four remaining players. She apologizes for the last-minute notice, but the city needs protecting. That means the Final Round begins right now.

The four players quickly henshin to fight off the Jyamato. Keiwa ends up claiming a Boost Buckle by defeating a Jyamato without being spotted. But they also face the Final Boss who at first is mini-sized. Tsumuri explains that the Final Boss eats humans to collect their energy and grow bigger. The players will need to literally kick the can in order to drain the Final Boss of that energy and then have a chance to defeat it.

That’s easier said than done as the four players get slapped down before the Final Boss escapes.

Back in the greenroom, the others are a bit surprised by Ace’s more reserved personality. He explains that it was this Final Boss who killed all the Rider players of one DGP tournament as well as every human within the radius of that final battle before disappearing. Ace says that tragedy, which happened before he started playing, has been erased from all human memory so they can live happier.

Keiwa asks how long Ace has been playing. Ace answers since 1 A.D. and adds that he’s serious.

Michinaga wonders why Ace is still playing if he already won and asks what he wrote down. Ace says it’s definitely not world peace, love or crushing all Kamen Riders.

Michinaga demands Keiwa hand over the Boost Buckle since he’ll be able to use it better than him. Keiwa refuses, though Michinaga tries to guilt him into giving it up. Girori tries to calm them down and tells everyone to go home until the Final Boss pops back up.

Neon asks to speak with Ace privately and she invites him to dinner. She is unsure of what to do. With the world in danger, she feels that fighting for her love wish seems a bit selfish. Ace says they already are risking their lives to protect the world. The wish is merely a reward for their trouble.

Ace adds that being able to stand and fight is something to proud of on its own.

Keiwa and Sara come in to the restaurant and Sara immediately fangirls over Neon and Ace. The siblings join them for dinner.

As Keiwa picks up their order, he remembers when the owner Fukuoka-san was killed after the first Jyamato attack he ever experienced. Keiwa vows to never let that happen again.

While eating, Sara tells Neon and Ace that she and Keiwa are very close because since their parents died, they’re all each other’s got. Ace says that must be very tough.

After dinner, Neon says she’s kind of jealous of Ace and Keiwa’s great sibling relationship. Neon chases after Sara after she gets shy.

Ace thinks he understands why Keiwa wishes for world peace now. Keiwa knows what it feels like to lose family, so he doesn’t want others to experience that pain.

Keiwa asks Ace about his family, but Ace says he doesn’t remember them. Ace compliments Fukuoka-san’s food and smiles as he pats Keiwa on the shoulder to say all they have left to do is to save the world.

After Neon and Ace leave for the night, Sara comes running back to her brother, excited about having dinner with her two idols. She fears that will be the one and only time. But Keiwa says she’ll get more chances as long as the world is at peace.

Next day, Final Boss grows huge and Tsumuri sends the four of them off for this round of play. Keiwa henshins with the Boost Buckle for the first time. He tries to speed toward the can, but Final Boss slaps him away and out of his henshin. Ace henshins and runs to shield Keiwa from a guaranteed finisher. And with that, Ace is able to complete a secret mission and claim the Ninja Buckle.

Ace thanks Keiwa for putting himself in danger in order for Ace to complete the mission which was to save a fellow player from the Jyamato. Keiwa can’t believe Ace’s encouragement from last night was just a ploy to use him. Ace says Keiwa is just that gullible. Anyway, he will protect the world and will get his wish fulfilled when he wins as well.

Ace locks in the Ninja Buckle and uses stealthy ninja moves to wear the Final Boss down enough to give him the chance to kick the can. Once he does, the Final Boss shrinks back down to mini-size.

Tsumuri teleports the players back to the Temple to confirm that the game is not over. They must kick the can out of the Jamar area otherwise the Jyamato can take it back.

Michinaga asks Ace how he knew of the Ninja Buckle’s existence. Ace says he just knows the game better than all of them.

Ace turns to Keiwa. “Don’t give me that face. I’ll save the world, don’t worry.”

Keiwa, thinking back to Ace’s lies, vows that he will no longer trust him. He collapses. Michinaga and Neon glare at Ace who just smirks.

Episode Thoughts

A good episode. It feels kind of freeing that we only have our four main Riders to focus on this week. And over the last few weeks, I thought they would continue eliminating them until perhaps only two were left. But I guess this makes sense too.

I think I just keep thinking too much about Squid Game. lol

That might be why I was a bit confused about the death elimination mechanics last week. lol Thanks to some friendly people clueing me in last week as well as Keiwa’s latest diary entry, I now understand that if you are eliminated because you suck, you will go back to your old life. But if you are killed by Jyamato (or other players like in the case of Michinaga’s broski) then you are actually deads. You’re not automatically killed and incinerated like in Squid Game if you simply get eliminated. lol

Of course, I don’t expect any of the Final Four to be killed off anytime soon. Though judging from many other Kamen Rider seasons, they are not afraid to prematurely kill off good characters. lolnotlol.

Anyway, I was definitely suspicious of Ace’s seeming change in personality. I think that first scene of him thinking about his (dead?) mother definitely helped to sort of make Ace’s softer personality more believable. But I think that moment he seemed to encourage Keiwa, I knew he was full of BS this whole time.

First about his mother and also being a DGP veteran. That first scene when Ace flashes back, I legit said out loud: “Oh no! WTF is Sophia doing here?” Memories of Saber came flooding back for a few seconds and it was frightening. Lol

Interesting though to add Ace’s mother as a piece of his past. It would seem Ace is in search of something, which is why he is playing the game. Whether it’s his mother or something else, we’ll just have to wait and see. But I guess that’s all part of Ace’s mysterious aura for now.

I was actually relieved that Ace was just playing Keiwa. If he just suddenly switched up, I’d probably be ranting about it. lol

I know Ace isn’t 100% selfish or whatever. But I also know he isn’t going to be the most benevolent, caring person. I honestly think Michinaga is probably a bit more empathetic than Ace even. lol I mean, he has to be if he cares so much about his best bro. And of course, him helping out Keiwa last week. It’ll just be a slower crawl to peel back Ace’s layers. And Episode 7 is definitely not the place for Ace to reveal his whole self just yet of course.

I very much like the last scene as it seemed to imply that the others are finally on the same page when it comes to Ace being a cocky, mysterious, game-loving competitor. It was like an enlightening moment for them, especially Keiwa and Neon. Maybe more like a confirmation for Michinaga. But it felt like they all acknowledge that Ace isn’t just being quirky and playing up this façade. And that yes, he might actually be an asshole. An asshole with some secrets, sure. But an asshole nonetheless. lol I do think there were some moments when the real, not-jerky Ace sneaked out a bit. But we can never be too sure. lol

Anyway, I’m still mostly looking forward to seeing this tournament season end so we get to see the transition to the new world. (And then start the next season of this reality show of course.) I really think that will answer a few questions and really take the story to the next level once we get to fill in some of the blanks more.

Oh! And I’m actually disappointed we didn’t get a random 30+ second jazz break this week! Should’ve done it when Ace drove the Final Boss away lol