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Minato-sensei is shocked when the Alchemy Association is passive about the entire situation after he explains what’s happened. The hooded higher ups don’t seem to believe anything he’s saying and even go so far as to suggest he and the Academy just give up and saving a student like Sabimaru is hopeless.
Outside, Supanner tells Minato that it is no use talking to useless people like this and that he will take care of Dread himself.
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In the middle of English class, Houtarou has a terrible nightmare about Sabimaru as Dread rampaging and ending with him dying by his own hand.
At the Academy, Rinne thinks about what Atropos said about her being at fault. She wonders what she can do about it. Houtarou comes in with ExGotchalibur and says he saw a new form when UFO-X gave it to him. So he knows that is the key to saving Sabimaru-senpai.
At the park, Renge sits with the Isaac tablet hoping she can speak with Sabimaru somehow.
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But Sabimaru is sitting on the ground in the Sisters’ lair. They mock him as being near death and agree that he most likely won’t even survive the next henshin as Dread. Atropos says they’ll just gather as much data as they can until he dies.
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Next day, Houtarou is a bit out of it as he helps his mother serve their customers for breakfast. Noticing he is troubled by something, Mama Ichinose encourages him with some words Papa Ichinose used to say: Instead of worrying, try looking. The answer’s out there somewhere.
Mama Ichinose says Houtarou should just go out and find his Gotcha like always. Houtarou agrees and perks up before heading out for the day.
Ryo comes running up to Houtarou to tell him about UFO sightings increasing in recent days. Houtarou finally realizes what they have to do.
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He hurries to the Academy to tell Rinne, Renge and Minato-sensei that they can summon UFO-X like they did with Sabimaru. Then he can ask UFO-X directly how he can properly use ExGotchalibur without hesitation this time.
The others are feeling a renewed hope. But the alarms sound when the Sisters begin attacking the school. They hurry over.
The Sisters summon Sabimaru and Atropos taunts them by saying that he loses a little of his life for every second that he is henshined as Dread. Clotho and Lachesis tell them to just watch him wither way and die in a couple of minutes.
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With a tear running down his face, Sabimaru quietly tells them he is sorry as Atropos forces him to henshin.
Ryo comes running up and is shocked to see a dark Rider. Houtarou is horrified to see his nightmare start to play out in real life. He hesitates to henshin. That’s when Spanner arrives and henshins instead, taking on Dread himself.
Minato-sensei tells Houtarou to go do what he has to. Houtarou, Rinne, Renge and Ryo head up to the rooftop to try and call for UFO-X. Minato fights the sisters, but steps in front of Spanner when he is about to deliver a finisher at Dread. Minato tells Supana that Houtarou and the others are working to find a way to save Sabimaru. While Supanner says there is no hope of saving Sabimaru, Minato says he has faith in Houtarou and the others.
Spanner and Dread take their battle up to the rooftop where Houtarou and the others are calling for UFO-X in the sky. Ryo gets knocked out after being thrown to the wall by Dread.
Being close to Isaac, Sabimaru is able to express his desire to also meet UFO-X.
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The Sisters bring their fight with Minato to the roof as well. They continue to mock Sabimaru’s impending death. But Houtarou, Rinne and Renge continue to call for UFO-X. Minato-sensei cheers them on.
Suddenly, UFO-X appears through a wormhole in the sky. The Sisters are in shock as UFO-X beams Houtarou up and flies away.
Houtaru finds himself in the mysterious Chemy land where he first met Papa Kudoh. He asks UFO-X how he can properly use ExGotchalibur to save Sabimaru. UFO-X nods and Houtarou has a vision of exactly what he has to do.
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Houtarou thanks UFO-X. He holds out a blank Card and UFO-X gladly flies in.
They return to the rooftop and Houtarou is able to lock in ExGotchalibur to his Drive to henshin using the UFO-X Card. He is now Super Gotchard. The Sisters are shocked since they believed Level 10s couldn’t be controlled.
But Houtarou says he did not take it under his control. UFO-X merely acknowledged Houtarou as his friend.
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Atropos again controls Sabimaru, but Houtarou is able to use ExGotchalibur to safely separate Sabimaru from Dread. Rinne, Renge and Minato-sensei hurry over to him.
Houtarou then delivers a Shining Fever finisher and takes care of Dread.
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The Driver falls to the ground, much to the Sisters’ shock. Atropos picks it up and tells her sisters they can leave now that they have collected enough data.
Houtarou hurries over to Sabimaru and the others. Sabimaru-senpai thanks Houtarou. But Houtarou says it is thanks to UFO-X. UFO-X also acknowledges Sabimaru’s feelings.
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Renge cries as she tells Sabimaru that she was worried sick about him. Sabimaru also begins to cry as she hugs him.
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Minato-sensei tells Rinne that perhaps Houtarou truly can become a big-time alchemist after all. Supanner leaves, thinking about the idea of hope. And Ryo wakes up, not knowing what is happening, but feeling very emotional as well.
Houtarou tells Sabimaru they should get back to searching for Chemies. Sabimaru via Isaac says of course. They wouldn’t be able to without him.
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Episode Thoughts
Wow! What another wonderful episode. I love how serious and dramatic the episode was. It struck the right tone. And I think that’s something that Gotchard has done quite well so far. They know when to turn off the comedy and get serious when it needs to be. They know how to balance the amusing humor and the legitimately emotional moments. Really great.
And this episode is a good example of that. Though of course you can easily chalk up Houtarou being told exactly what to do by UFO-X as the typical out of nowhere deus ex machina-type of situation, I think it is just a piece of a larger picture. That is, basically, to further the idea that Houtarou offers a different energy to the alchemy world norm. Not only shaking up the long-held and potentially outdated ways of the alchemy world, but providing a new hope for both the alchemy and human world too. And of course how both interact with Chemies.
Though I wouldn’t go so far as to say Houtarou is some kind of transformational leader who will usher in some grand revolution in the alchemy world or something as grand as that. (But maybe they will eventually get to something like that. It’s possible!) At the very least, Houtarou’s positivity and hopeful nature is opening everyone’s eyes to the possibilities that perhaps were not easily seen before.
It’s a very simple idea. But the show has done a great job of laying the foundation for it to be able to produce wonderful results like we’ve seen so far. I think every MOTW/Chemy of the Week story has been so effective in furthering the overall story of the season. They’ve provided the necessary details to help with world building. But each story has also allowed for each of our main characters to have a firm and solid foundation of their own.
And this episode was also a wonderful culmination of that development. Already establishing a great bond between the AA4 plus Minato-sensei and even Supaner plus Ryo. I am very happy with them as a core group so far. And again, that dynamic between them all has made these two episodes effectively impactful.
Usually, these episodes could just be simple new toy introductions. But aside from debuting a new potential action figure, it presented a legitimately good story as well.
Meanwhile, the show has done a great job with the way they’ve slowly, but surely unfurled the Sisters’ true, sinister and downright cruel nature. I think the show taking their time with them has been very good. Seeing how flippant they were about Sabimaru’s life is quite shocking and infuriating. And I think I might not be able to truly feel that way if the show had just immediately shown that right off the bat.
In a similar way, I like how the show is slowly sowing the seeds for whatever the mystery is regarding Papa Ichinose. And in the meantime, we get more wonderful moments between mother and son.
I loved getting some scenes showing the great bond between the not-twins. And I also loved Minato’s scenes speaking with the useless hooded heads of the Alchemy Association. The darkness and then later dim lighting outside with Minato and Spanner was a great visual and nice contrast to of course the more bright, hopeful nature of Houtarou.
All of this comes together for what is just a fun, feel-good and exciting season so far. And I am so thoroughly enjoying it. Gotchard has made me excited to watch Kamen Rider every week once again.
You shit on Kingohger and jack off on Gotchard. Fuck.
That’s not true at all.
One of the things I find refreshing about this season so far is Houtarou’s status as an underdog deviating away from “traditional” alchemy methods and creating his own way of doing things. He’s not the brightest guy in the traditional sense and has everything going against him in terms of how most of the more senior alchemists view his way of doing things. It’s a nice contrast to Ace, who never really had his confidence shaken or a Break the Haughty moment and always seemed to have a plan for everything. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if, down the line, Houtarou is revealed to have a special and interesting reason as to why he seems to so easily bond with Chemies and communicate with them.
I’m also looking forward to the development of the Dread storyline. Right now, he’s definitely reminding me of Vail from Revice when he inhabited the Demons Driver (though let’s hope Dread is utilized better as a character than Vail was lol). Especially since this episode did confirm that he is indeed sentient as he still tried to keep fighting even after losing his host. Though, like a Symbiote from Marvel is without a host, he’s pretty much useless on his own. I assume that the Sisters’ collecting of data is meant to make him smarter. It probably won’t be long before he starts talking and becomes picky regarding who his “partner” is.
I don’t think Dread’s eventual permanent user will end up being one of the Sisters though, given that next episode’s preview shows them rotating usage of it. My guess is that it will probably be a new villainous character who we haven’t seen before that will be able to draw out the Driver’s true potential and work perfectly in sync with Dread. Sorta like a Venom/Carnage-esque dynamic. Or, to relate the comparison back to Kamen Rider, it would be like when Olteca obtained the Demons Driver in Revice and was able to be significantly more powerful than Hiromi due to him and Vail “meshing” better.
Just my personal theory!
Yeah, I definitely expect Houtarou to be “special”. But they have done a good job in slowly setting him down that path to the eventual revelation.
With Dread, I suppose it will eventually be used by the Final Boss or something like that. And also a way to show how Chemies and alchemy can be used for evil purposes. Thus contrasting with Houtarou and Friends and their more positive relationship with alchemy and Chemies.