Recap: Kamen Rider Gotchard, Episode 29 – The Village Weeps

The villagers run out and find a person with legs up in the air, buried in the ground. They quickly dig him out and it is the village chief. Rinne checks and he is still alive.

Suddenly, they hear a scream and they run over to see one of the land sharks tied up in a field, also unconscious. Ryo goes overboard and says they have a serial murderer on their hands and the culprit is among them. Rinne insists that they are just unconscious.

Ryo points the finger at Hoshino and says that he had just pretended to be spiritually connected just to gain control over the village. Nana and the villagers scold Hoshino and they drag him and Ryo away to lock them in a dark shed.

Houtarou, Rinne and Renge don’t believe either Ryo or Hoshino are the culprit. Renge asks Rinne to stay with Nana and the villagers while she and Houtarou go look around outside the village.

Nana is worried about Renge, but Rinne assures her that everything will be okay. Nana says Renge had always been such a scaredy cat and she has protected and cheered her up since. No matter how old Renge gets, she will always be Nana’s little girl.

Just then, another scream ripples through the valley.

Renge vows to take down whoever has disrupted the peace of her hometown. She loves this village, thanks in large part to her kind Nana. That’s why Renge is determined to protect it. Houtarou understands that this is her Gotcha.

They suddenly get a call from Rinne, so they hurry back.

The other land shark is found half naked in a strange pose on a rock. This proves Ryo and Hoshino are not the culprits. They hurry over to check on them in the shed, but they are also in a strange position. Houtarou screams in agony, but Rinne again reminds him that the victims are not dead.

Just then, Rinne sees Atropos lurking about outside. Rinne goes after her.

Though Atropos does not deny she turned the two Chemies into Malgams, she has no idea about the strange incidents in town.

Atropos asks what reason Rinne has to live and what goes on inside her head. Rinne says that if you can forgive your past, you can go on to live a full life.

Atropos says this just proves why she hates Rinne.

As Atropos leaves, a strange kitsune appears and comes face to face with Rinne. Houtarou and Renge arrive and Houtarou quickly henshins. He calls on Skebows and AppareBushido to help, but the strange kitsune is very agile and able to stealthily escape.

Renge thinks she knows where the kitsune has come from. She tells Houtarou and Rinne that all four victims were pointing in one direction. She leads up the stairs to the shrine.

They are surprised to see Nana already there. Nana says she is here to pray to the kitsune to continue to watch over the village. Especially since people have not been coming to pray to it lately.

Suddenly, the kitsune again appears. Houtarou henshins to Platinum.

Rinne helps Renge and Nana to safety as Houtarou battles the kitsune. Houtarou realizes this not a typical Malgam. Just then, the kitsune traps the Renge, Nana and Rinne in a dark smoke.

A strange eye yokai appears inside the smoke. Rinne tries to henshin, but her power has not recovered yet.

Houtarou asks for a bit of help from his Chemy friends and he and the Malgam take their battle into the sky. Houtarou manages to get the Malgam back to the ground, but it just laughs as it avoids the attacks.

Inside the smoke, Nana steps forward and tries to cast the yokai away. But it does not work. Renge remembers all the times Nana was able to protect her growing up.

Renge steps forward and faces off against the yokai, saying she is not afraid of it. She puts on her ring and uses alchemy to protect Nana. Nana is amazed at her little girl.

Renge asks for help from the Cosmic Chemies. Together, they are able to fight against the yokai, freeing them from the smoke.

Renge tosses Houtarou the five Cosmic Chemies and he is able to uphenshin. Suddenly, the Malgam tells Houtarou to go ahead and do it. Houtarou understands and delivers a Platinum Shoot finisher at the Malgam.

Houtarou Gotchas the Chemy. And they all realize that the NineTail Chemy was not possessing a person, but the kitsune in the shrine.

Just then, a hot spring bursts out of the mountain. Turns out the door to hell that Hoshino had prophesized was this hot spring.

This is what NineTail Chemy had been trying to let everyone know about. The kitsune borrowed NineTail in order attack the villagers and lead them to it.

Houtarou thanks the Cosmic Chemies for their help.

Later, Minato-sensei comes to the village to finish up the case here and clear memories.

Ryo and Hoshino decide to become detectives.

The villagers are grateful for the hot spring as it will potentially bring more people to visit. And this will save it from being taken over by developers. The villagers thank Houtarou for their help in revitalizing their village.

Nana is proud of how much Renge has grown stronger. But she will always be her little girl. Renge asks if Nana remembers what happened. But she doesn’t.

Renge tells her grandma to get on her back, but she can’t carry her. They instead walk hand in hand. Renge says she is sure the village will be fine now especially with someone as kind and warm as her taking care of it.

Episode Thoughts

I wasn’t the biggest fan of last week’s episode. But this week’s episode was amazing! Definitely needed last week’s set-up though to make this one that much more impactful.

A wonderfully emotional and heartwarming episode. I just loved the scenes with Renge and Nana. From the childhood flashback to most especially the moment Nana sees Renge go full alchemist; I definitely started tearing up! Gotchard has done that to me many times this season already! And we’re only halfway through!

I think the show did a great job in being able to add some welcome depth to Renge’s character while also using her story to further add to the Chemies’ own character development as well. It was another example of how Chemies are able to help people. And vice versa. And actually, not only just people. But deities protecting villages too!

All of this of course helps to further Houtarou’s ultimate goal of a world where humans and Chemies can live peacefully together.

It also further pushed the contrast which was Atropos taking something so “good” and twisting it into something dark and malicious. The season has done very well with every episode providing examples for this basic conflict, while also furthering all the stories and characters.

This episode was also another one where it found the perfect balance between the funny and the dramatic. I mean, it was hilarious how they played how everyone was so distraught over the not-dead victims with Rinne being the straight man to the more over-the-top reactions of others. Though at the same time, I guess with all the strange things happening, it’s reasonable to be afraid lol

And what an image to start the episode with the village chief’s legs and feet up in the air like that! lol

You got funny stuff like that alongside the more emotional and dramatic moments too. I really liked Renge leading Houtarou and Rinne up the stairs to the shrine. It was a scene that went on longer than I would’ve expected. But I loved every second. It was a wonderful, quiet scene that definitely worked so well within the episode.

And it all came together for what felt like a very, very full episode. Didn’t even feel like just 20 minutes. It was a full episode, but never felt rushed or too much.

I loved Houtarou’s battle with the Malgam as well. Some great explosive action and fun CGI as well.

Overall, another excellent and impactful episode. Gotchard really knows what it wants to do and does it so well.

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