Recap: Kamen Rider Gotchard, Episode 5 – Fired Up! Fight! Wrestler G!

Houtarou wakes up early so he can help Mama Ichinose get the restaurant ready for the day since he wasn’t able to last night. She says he doesn’t have to try so hard. But Houtarou says helping her is as important as the Gotcha he was able to find.

Mama Ichinose asks how his new club activity is going and he says he’s made a lot of new friends. She is happy to hear that and tells him about Rinne saying a lot of great things about him the other day, especially how much he was able to help her. Houtarou feels a bit shy about that since he thinks he’s the one who needed help more.

Houtarou flashes back to Minato-sensei explaining to him and Rinne that the Meikoku Sisters want to use forbidden alchemy to open the Door of Darkness which would plunge the world into eternal darkness.

That evening, Clotho finds some ripe malice when she sees a rampaging Goriki the Golem breaking people’s backs downtown.

Next day at the Academy, Houtarou notices that Hopper1 and SteamLiner’s associated numbers are 1 and 9 which equals 10 when put together. Rinne says that’s not news.

When the not-twins come in, Sabimaru realizes that Houtarou and Rinne have the numbers 1 and 9 in their last names (Ichinose and Kudo) which also equals 10. Ringe asks what he’s mumbling about, but he just tells her to return Kamantis. She thanks Houtarou for Kamantis, especially as they were able to catch a lot of Chemys.

Houtarou thanks them for letting him meet Sasukemaru and Energyl as well and he asks if he can see the new Chemys they’ve got. Ringe shows them Gengenchoucho and Bulletbaang and explains that she found them while it was Sabi who caught them. They work well together as a duo like that.

Houtarou excitedly asks if they could teach him their ways. Sabimaru feels flattered when Houtarou calls him and Ringe “senpai.” Ringe wants to charge 10,000 yen, but Sabi via tablet says to forget about that and just come with. Spanner watches them as they leave.

The foursome are able to track a Chemy to a wrestling gym. The owner thinks they are yakuza land grabbers back to harass him. But they convince him that they are just students. Ringe even says they’re interested in wrestling.

Just then, the real gangster thugs arrive. Houtarou says they should hurry and use their alchemy. But Rinne says it is against the rules to use alchemy against other humans.

Suddenly, a Chemy named Wrestler G pops up and knocks the gangsters out. The owner of the gym, Asahi-san, says this little guy is his partner. Kinda of like a tag team partner. Getting two different wrestlers to tag team and learn to trust each other can result in them becoming even stronger.

Asahi-san’s words inspire Houtarou. And when the gangsters pull out guns, Houtarou asks if he can borrow Gengenchoucho and Bulletbaang. Locking them into his Driver turns him into Bulletchoucho Wild gun. Rinne grabs him and shoots, releasing a field of flowers in the gym which drives the gangsters away.

Asahi-san thanks Houtarou. But Goriki appears and turns into a Malgam. Ringe and Sabi are shocked when Houtarou henshins and battles it.

Taking the fight outside, the Malgam ends up breaking Houtarou’s back. But Spanner arrives just in time to help drive the Malgam away. Goriki says he’ll be back for Baby Face Houtarou.

To repay him, Spanner demands Asahi-san hand over the Chemy Card. But Houtarou and the not-twins step up to shield Asahi-san. When Rinne steps forward as well, Spanner backs down, scoffs at their display and leaves.

Back at the gym, Asahi-san puts a Salonpas pad on Houtarou’s back and explains that Goriki the Golem was a former pro wrestler. But when he snaps, he really goes crazy even going so far as to injure audience members. He’s actually already been convicted for such attacks. One time, Goriki paralyzed one of the gym’s rising stars. And since then, everyone has been afraid to come to the gym.

Asahi-san has not had anyone come in anymore, but he refuses to give up. He wants to raise and help train the future of Japanese pro-wrestling. It is his ultimate dream. That is when the action figure showed up, in which he really felt the spirit of a wrestler inside it. Asahi-san says he would like to fight in the ring side by side with Wrestler G even just once. In his youth, he was a well-loved wrestler known as Sunshine Mask.

Houtarou relates to Asahi-san’s dreams and promises to defend this gym. To do that though, Houtarou will need to learn how to counter Goriki’s Windmill Back Breaker moves. Asahi-san feels he is too old to teach him. But the Chemy pops out and jumps into Asahi-san, turning him into a younger version of himself as Sunshine Mask.

The others are surprised to see that Chemys also respond to things other than malice!

Houtarou excitedly gets in the ring to start training. Houtarou has trouble getting the hang of the move. But Houtarou refuses to give up and spends all night getting the training he needs. Rinne, Ringe and Sabi all cheer Houtarou on as Sunshine Mask repeatedly breaks his back.

Next morning, Goriki arrives and is ready to break Baby Face’s back for good. They meet in the ring. But Baby Face H excitedly thanks Asahi-san for letting him borrow Wrestler G.

Houtarou hypes up Wrestler G and Antrooper and with them, he henshins to AntWrestler. Their match begins and they battle in the ring. When Goriki attempts a Windmill Back Breaker, Baby Face H is able to twist his way out of it.

Wrestler G leaves Baby Face H’s Driver and jumps back into Asahi-san. Rinne says his power was too much for the Driver, but Ringe says this tag-team is even more powerful.

Baby Face H, Sunshine Mask and Wrestler G triple-team the Malgam and are able to knock him to the mat. Baby Face H says to leave the rest to him and he delivers an AntWrestler Fever finisher to defeat the Malgam and also catch Gorillasensei Chemy in a Card.

Minato-sensei arrives and says he has erased Goriki’s memories before handing him over to the police.

Asahi-san says Minato-sensei already explained everything about how dangerous it would be for Wrestler G to stay with him here and how his memory will also be erased. Houtarou wishes it didn’t have to be that way. But Rinne says that is one rule they cannot break.

Houtarou is sad it has to come to this, but Asahi-san says not to worry about him. He’ll be okay. Especially as he will not give up, even if he has to start from scratch once again.

Wrestler G flies out of Baby Face H’s pocket and tries to follow Asahi-san back inside the gym. Asahi-san stops him and says this is not the place for him anymore. But Asahi-san also thanks Wrestler G for allowing his dream to come true one more time.

The four students look on as Wrestler G cries after Asahi-san heads back inside the gym.

Episode Thoughts

Oh hell. Gotchard already has me crying and it’s only Episode 5. 😭 This makes me have a great feeling about this season hehehe

Definitely a MaGMCM at the end there. And a wonderful way to close out a really great episode. Obviously it’s my favorite episode of the season so far if I’m crying after watching it. (Both times!)

The piano version of the theme song certainly set the mood. But Asahi-san’s story and just Baby Face H’s wholesome, kind nature really made that final scene work. A bittersweet, but satisfying conclusion to a simple, but well-written story.

So many great things in this episode. Asahi-san’s story definitely at the top of it. I think it is a very relatable feeling. Getting to achieve those dreams that seemed out of reach. It’s a heartwarming story. And the show did well in taking it seriously and keeping it fun without turning it into some kind of punchline or forcing stuff that would be completely unnecessary or irrelevant.

Asahi-san’s story was also the perfect way to introduce the idea that Chemy-human fusions can be positive and not just because of malice manipulation. I suppose this will play a big part in future new toys, I mean, power-ups for Houtarou and other Riders as well. Lots of story possibilities. And adding some more foundation to the idea of Chemys being used for both good and bad intentions.

And then we have the four classmates! Really awesome getting to see them out and about for their first adventure together. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of them out in the field together. Going around Gotcha-ing Chemys and fighting Malgams and Sisters and all that. That of course will lend to their friendship developing and growing. And then maybe in the final arc, the show cashing in on that bond that they will have eventually formed. (Along with Spanner of course, I assume lol)

I would bet on a bond-focused climax for Gotchard to work much better than certain other seasons. Ones that try to center finales out of bonds and close friendships that pop out of thin air and gaslight us into thinking the season actually developed such relationships so as to make any big finale moment work as an emotional climax. _{(*cough*Geats*cough)} lol

ANYWAY lolol

This episode wasn’t all emotional stuff though. Baby Face H is really something else. I could not stop laughing with that sequence of Houtarou getting his back broken over and over and over again. That was absolutely hilarious. It was just so absurd, yet not horribly so that it negatively affects the episode. In fact, it was perfectly suited to the episode. And also to Houtarou’s character as well. He will endure his spine getting broken if it’s for a good cause. Lol And that’s definitely not a surprise from Baby Face H! hehe

Overall, I loved this episode. Definitely my favorite of the five so far. And it’s really making me feel happy and excited to watch Gotchard. It brings me the kind of excited joy that I felt watching Donbrothers every week. The only difference being Gotchard might actually have a deep story to support all the fun stuff. Lolol! (Miss you Donbros!)

ETA: I just realized Donbrothers 5 was also the episode that got me crying first. And I ended up enjoying the season. Gotchard following in its footsteps for me? hehe

Umm… it's only episode 5 and we've only just met the Donbros. Yet Avataro Sentai Donbrothers has already made me cry. I have a good feeling about this season. 🥲#ドンブラザーズ #MaGMCM pic.twitter.com/sa6AxGsJTR

— DryedMangoez (@dryedmangoez) April 6, 2022

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