.jpg)
Atropos hands Gurion a newly captured Chemy: Angelead. He is happy that Atropos has lived up to his expectations of her. Lachesis watches them with envy.
Gurion fuses the Card with a Malice Doll to bring about Angel Malgam. When the Malgam mentions that he takes care of matters of life and death, it triggers a memory in Gurion and he decides it’s time to complete the experiment he wasn’t able to finish ten years ago.
.jpg)
Over at Kitchen Ichinose, the KIU4 are together as the restaurant is closed for the day while Mama Ichinose attends a high school reunion for the Yo-yo Research Club. That’s when Kyoka-san comes in and introduces herself as Supana’s alchemy instructor.
She has a favor to ask of them. Kyoka-san shows them her unfinished Gotchardriver for Supana which is designed to run with two Level 6s, DaiOhni and MadWheel. But of course, Minato-sensei took MadWheel.
The other problem, however, are the Black Flames which would prevent Supana from becoming a Kamen Rider.
.jpg)
On the other side of town, Supana is frustrated that he has been unable to become a Kamen Rider, especially with Houtarou and now Rinne with that ability. Suddenly, Supana looks up and he sees his mother and father.
He is surprised to see them and asks if they have completed their special mission. Mama and Papa Kurogane say they are just happy to see Supana has grown into a fine young man. They ask him to update them on what’s happened the last ten years.
.jpg)
Kyoka-san, however, explains to the KIU4 how Gurion had opened the Door of Darkness ten years ago after Papa Kudoh had been branded a traitor. Mama and Papa Kurogane were skilled in combat alchemy and tried to battle Gurion.
Before Kyoka-san can continue, she gets a text from Spanner telling her that his parents are back. She is shocked and tells the KIU4 that this is the worst thing that could happen to Supana because Mama and Papa Kurogane died ten years ago.
Kyoka-san is afraid this is part of Gurion’s plan and she asks Houtarou and Rinne to hurry over and prevent him from meeting Supana.
.jpg)
The Angel Malgam appears in front of the Kuroganes and tells them that he is responsible for resurrecting the dead Mr. and Mrs. Kurogane. They don’t believe it. Supana charges toward the Malgam only to get slammed around and bloodied.
Mama and Papa Kurogane cannot use alchemy as dead peoples. Supana begs his parents to run for safety, but Angel Malgam has them by the neck as they begin to wither away.
.jpg)
Lachesis sneers at Supana struggling as she watches from afar.
Houtarou and Rinne arrive and henshin to take on Angel Malgam. They are able to force the Malgam to release the Kuroganes and they try to run for cover. Unfortunately, Gurion arrives (with Minato-sensei) and ties them up again.
.jpg)
Seeing Gurion triggers horrifying memories in Supana. Continuing to torture Papa and Mama Kurogane, Gurion tells Supana to unleash the darkness within him. Now also chained up, Supana begs Houtarou and Rinne to help him.
Houtarou tries to jump down, but Gurion blocks him and knocks back into the stands.
Supana begs Minato-sensei to help. But it is too late, Gurion fully disintegrates Mama and Papa Kurogane. This again triggers Supana’s memories. And suddenly, a burning darkness begins to engulf him. MadWheel Chemy comes flying toward him, turning him into a Malgam.
“So that’s what you were planning,” Minato-sensei says under his breath.
.jpg)
Supana charges toward Gurion who is happy to see his experiment is finally a success. He is now happy that this immense power is under his control.
Gurion disappears and Supana turns his attention to the others. Houtarou and Rinne try to calm him down, but Supana battles Angel Malgam who decides to retreat as well.
Supana dehenshins and refuses to listen to Houtarou and Rinne who call after him. “That man no longer exists,” he says.
.jpg)
Back at Kitchen Ichinose, the not-twins update Houtarou and Rinne about Kyoka-san returning to the lab, knowing Supana may come to look for her. Renge and Sabimaru try to stop Houtarou and Rinne from hurrying over there. But Houtarou refuses to give up on Supana and wants to save him.
At the lab, Supana confronts Kyoka-san about her erasing his memories from That Day. He asks if these last ten years have been all a lie. Kyoka-san says she only wanted to protect him from Gurion ever getting his hands on him. She explains that ten years ago, she had seen a darkness almost engulf Supana after he witnessed Gurion murdering his parents. That is where she got the scar on her arm when she shielded him.
.jpg)
Kyoka-san says Supana has always been a gifted alchemist, but that makes him susceptible to the Meikoku Abyss. That’s why she erased his memories of that day, even if they still lingered in his mind. She taught him chess in order to teach him how to remain rational and think ahead in every battle. She feels the virtues she taught him serve as his armor. But Supana says that armor caged in his true powers and prevents him from being on the same level as Houtarou and Rinne.
Outside, Houtarou and Rinne arrive at the lab only to be met by Angel Malgam. They quickly henshin and battle the Malgam. But the Malgam says there is nothing they can do to stop Supana becoming Gurion’s tool.
.jpg)
Supana tells Kyoka-san that if he only had this power back then, he might have saved his parents. He thanks her for everything, however he wants to bid farewell to her. He does not want to see her face ever again.
Kyoka-san tells Supana not to be so dramatic, especially when the Driver is almost complete. Though he failed ten years ago, he is much stronger now and she believes in him. She says she will be waiting for him here.
Supana heads outside to join in the battle. He reiterates that the Supana that Houtarou and Rinne knew is gone now.
.jpg)
Episode Thoughts
Wow! This episode was pretty wild. The scenes of Supana all bloodied up as his parents cry out. Crazy! Very emotional. And a nice way to kind of show that this really isn’t child’s play or something. It’s a legitimate threat and danger our alchemy friends are facing. And Houtarou, Rinne and Supana have to deal with and overcome painful pasts in order move forward and defeat these enemies.
I like that it is a two-parter. I think Supanner’s story deserves that. I would’ve liked to have seen Spanner’s story developed more. That is, maybe drop a couple more tidbits in other episodes. But there was still a “Wow” feeling watching this episode unfold and learning more about him and his family.
It was an emotional nitiasa this week! I know Kamen Rider airs before Sentai in Japan. But I watched King-Ohger first today. And I was already in tears after that episode. Now here came Gotchard with its own emotional story!
Supanna watching his parents be murdered right in front of him is definitely a horrifying tragedy. And there would be a lot of potential in exploring those effects on him today. Of course, Kyoka-san erased his memories, so he wouldn’t have grown up with that burden. I liked the confrontation scene and Kyoka-san essentially explaining what’s happened over these last ten years.
Now that Spanna knows the truth, I hope next episode will flesh those emotions out more before he officially gets his Driver and does his first official henshin.
Overcoming that pain and sorrow should make for good material. And I look forward to next week delivering on that. The preview was again really good.
I think the heaviest scene was Supanner calling out to Houtarou and Rinne to help. That moment hits the hardest and is effective because of what he know of him and his relationship with the others. Seeing him have to call out to Houtarou and Rinne shows how helpless he is feeling in that moment. And that made it all the more affecting. Especially with the bloody and bruised visuals of him and his suffering parents. OMG! right?
Meanwhile, it was great to have Supana’s story help to fill in some of the blanks too in the overall arc of the season. We saw Gurion and Atropos attacking the Academy on That Day. And the fact that the Door of Darkness opened right in that classroom too. Those scenes definitely added some new questions such as what happened after and how Gurion’s plan ended up being foiled. I assume!
We got more of Minato-sensei’s interesting reactions. And some nice character moments for our KIU4 showing they care about their friend. You can easily believe that Houtarou and Rinne would jump into action now if one of their friends is in trouble. It’s a strong foundation to have for any story, especially since we’re still at Episode 20.
Overall, another great episode of Gotchard. I loved all the Kurogane Family scenes the most. Very emotional and dramatic moments. And I hope next week’s episode is able to have more of the same too. Will make for Kamen Rider Valvarad’s big debut even more impactful in many ways!
This is a good episode, but it brings up some questions on are all three of the riders ‘experiments’ of Geryon. Also more credence to the Minato is actually a mole theory.
Also, despite loving to ship people in KR, I’m having a hard time shipping Rinne and Houtarou. Probably due to the feeling more like siblings than the entire Revice cast.
lol, yeah I don’t think there is a romantic angle to Rinne and Houtarou. And that would be alright. I think their bond of friendship and family has been good and could play a role in the story later on.
Interesting idea about all three of them being experiments. Though perhaps, going back to the family angle, maybe Houtarou and Rinne’s Rider compatibility and powers come from their bloodline? Lots of possibilities!
Look on the experiments theory, its notable that strong emotions produce a lot of power from chemies (seen many a time), and all three are entwined with the event 10 years ago. So it almost makes sense for Mr. Callous to be pushing metaphorical buttons and jotting down results.
Always something exciting on every episode of Gotchard!
Yes!
Poor Spanner! This was definitely not a good day for him.
But definitely a good day for us watching! Hehe. Looking forward to the next episode and learn more about his story.
Well… I guess this was the Break the Haughty episode for Supana that I was looking forward to. Lol. Coming right off of Geats, it’s a nice contrast to have the “Mr. Perfect” character be steadily humbled by failure over the course of the season. Ace could have used one of two of these moments where he utterly failed with no contingency plan in place, only to bounce back from the experience humbler and stronger than before.
Speaking of Geats, this episode of Gotchard alone was more effective in showcasing why a Rider shouldn’t let themselves be consumed by vengeance, as Supana becomes the exact thing he fights against. Whereas with Keiwa’s arc last season, I honestly had a hard time faulting him on his initial goal of getting payback on Michinaga and Daichi (ESPECIALLY Daichi), finding the scene where he beat the utter shit out of the latter for what he did to his sister to the point where Daichi was begging for mercy quite satisfying.
The episode also was very effective in getting the audience to utterly loathe Gurion (though I hated him since his debut episode for what he did to my favorite evil woman Lachesis. Lol). So far, he’s reminding me a lot of Ryoma from Gaim, being a maniacal and insane scientist with a weird sort of quirkiness and obsession with twisted forms of experiments. I’m looking forward to when an unexpected development and/or severe defeat makes him lose his smug composure.
I too am looking forward to seeing where Minato’s true alignment lies, given that there’s been an ample of indication that he’s not siding with Gurion willingly. I’m thinking he’s either a mole, trying to discover the truth about something big, or trying to keep something worse from happening. Maybe he was a student of Gurion’s in the past or something like that, and that’s why Gurion wants him on his side. I’m also curious if his continued usage of the Dread Driver is going to eventually have a detrimental effect on him, given that even the Sisters aren’t immune to being harmed by using it. I’m still eagerly anticipating who Dread’s Primary User (likely to be someone with a huge amount of malice given that the thing’s basically made out of Pure Evil and is heavily implied to have some form of sentience) will eventually end up being.
Gotchard has as lot of good ideas and I think they have executed them well so far. It helps that pacing has been very good, so everything unfolds in a natural and logical way. While still keeping mystery and excitement and surprise as well.
One of the few criticisms I’ll have is just wishing they maybe did a little more seed planting for Supana’s backstory. But even then, this episode did well to lay out the facts and set up next episode.
I hope the season will add some good depth to the antagonists as it seems like they’re starting to do as well. Especially with the connections they’re making between them and our heroes.