Recap: Kamen Rider Gotchard, Episode 37 – Hopper1 and the Treasure

Houtarou, Rinne, Renge and Sabimaru hurry Skebows back to the Academy. Kyoka-san arrives to examine Skebows and she finds that Gigist most likely used a special transmutation to cause the Chemy to go berserk on its own malice. So when defeated, the Chemy itself is destroyed.

Houtarou cannot believe it and feels the guilt of having done this to Skebows. Rinne and the others try to say it is not his fault, but Houtarou is just beside himself with guilt. Hopper1 also does what he can, but Houtarou zips him up in his backpack and goes home.

While heading home, Hopper1 manages to sneak out of Houtarou’s bag and decides to go on a quest to The Golden Hills of the old alchemy fairy tale in order to cheer Houtarou up.

Hopper1 ends up getting licked by a dog and getting water thrown on him.

Meanwhile, Mama Ichinose arrives at the restaurant and sees Houtarou looks down. She asks him what’s wrong, but he does not answer. She offers to whip something up for him and she cooks delicious pancakes.

Mama Ichinose says pancakes were his favorite food whenever he felt down. They flashback to his childhood where he was lonely about not having his father at home. That’s when Mama Ichinose cooked pancakes for him and he immediately cheered up.

Back in the present day, Houtarou takes a bite and says it is delicious. Mama Ichinose says even if you lose one thing, you still have a lot of other things to treasure.

Mama Ichinose leaves Houtarou to answer the phone. Houtarou takes his mother’s words and realizes Hopper1 is also his treasure. He goes to open his backpack, but of course he’s gone.

Meanwhile, Rinne heads out to fight the Antrooper Malgam. Renge and Sabimaru try to do what they can as well and manage to also take care of Malgams.

Rinne wishes Houtarou was here.

Elsewhere, Clotho wants to fight, but Gigist says no. The most important thing is the Chemy sleeping inside Houtarou. Clotho is shocked. Gigist says Houtarou’s Driver was transmuted using the Chemy inside him as base. The reason Houtarou is able to transmute with other Chemies is because of the power of the Chemy inside. Houtarou and that Chemy have become so intertwined that even Gigist’s power cannot separate them.

Gigist hopes to engulf Houtarou’s heart in the darkness of the abyss. That will expose the egg for Gigist to grab.

Clotho doubts Houtarou can become a Chemy. But Gigist takes offense to her doubts. Atropos asks if it’s possible to bring Gurion back from the dead. Gigist says he understands Atropos’ sentiment, but that what she is feeling now is a pale imitation of a soul.

Atropos glares at Gigist under her breath, so to speak.

Back in town, Houtarou searches for Hopper1. But she hears Rinne screaming nearby and runs over to find her, Renge and Sabimaru being attacked. Houtarou runs and is about to henshin.

But Houtarou hesitates, remembering what he did to Skebows. Antrooper knocks Rinne onto the ground and she is forced to dehenshin. Houtarou begs Antrooper to stop. But he has to henshin anyway and they battle.

Hopper1 arrives and gets caught in the crossfire, knocking him out of the tree. He lands on the ground and finds a mound of golden flowers. He thinks this is it.

Antrooper prepares a finisher at Houtarou who again hesitates. But suddenly, Supana and Minato-sensei arrive and finish off Antrooper for good. Minato-sensei says he prioritizes his students’ lives more than Chemies.

Supana delivers the final blow and Antrooper’s Card goes black, Houtarou runs over, distraught at another dead Chemy.

Hopper1 hops over with a flower on his head. But Gigist and the two sisters arrive. Gigist engulfs Hopper1 in Meikoku and he levitates off the ground in flames.

Hopper1 suddenly turns into Crosshopper and Gigist says that the brightest light casts the darkest shadow. Hopper1 transmutes into a Malgam and knocks Houtarou around.

Hopper1 seems to be struggling. Houtarou believes he is in pain. Supana steps forward to finish off Hopper1 himself if Houtarou cannot. But Supana just gets knocked around as well until he is forced to dehenshin.

Houtarou runs over and wraps his arms around Hopper1, trying to snap him out of his Malgamism. But Hopper1 just knocks Houtarou around.

Houtarou tells Hopper1 to just go ahead and kill him. But Hopper1 seems unable to do so.

Just then, a little boy comes running up to grab his toy he dropped earlier in the rush to evacuate the area. His mother holds him as Hopper1 turns his attention to them.

But as Hopper1 runs over to the mother and son, Houtarou quickly henshins and delivers a finisher. Hopper1 explodes. Everything is silent as Minato and Rinne hurry over to get the mother and son to safety.

Houtarou runs over to a white Hopper1. When Houtarou picks him up, the yellow flower on his head falls to the ground. Houtarou remembers the fairy tale and realizes Hopper1 just wanted to help cheer him up.

Houtarou remembers all the wonderful memories with Hopper1 and that only drives him even more into despair. Houtarou screams.

Gigist is excited to see Houtarou engulf himself in Meikoku. Suddenly, however, Houtarou is engulfed in an egg instead and then teleports to a warehouse area.

As it starts to rain outside the egg, Houtarou is inside, distraught at killing his friend Hopper1. Suddenly, Houtarou hears someone call his name and it is the egg.

Episode Thoughts

Wowow! What a wild episode. Honestly, that entire scene starting with the mother and son about to be killed by Hopper1 to the moment when Hopper1 exploded and everything was muted before Houtarou begins screaming; that has to be one of the most dramatic moments on Kamen Rider in a while.

Like, many other moments in the past few years have been done in an overdramatic way to varying degrees of impact and success. But this moment was a combination of that juicy overdramatic presentation with, again, actual depth and foundation to the actual story and characters involved.

Of course, it’s understandable that Houtarou would feel guilt at essentially killing his friends. But when it comes to Hopper1, when we absolutely know they have some kind of special connection, really brings home this emotional despair that Gigist seems to revel in in order to get what he wants.

We know Houtarou and Hopper1 are as close as can be. And since he was a kid too. So the idea of Houtarou killing him in order to save innocent civilians is very heavy. And it works so well here. Emphasizing the bonds that have been formed and of course easily broken (at first) by evil forces.

Other highlights from this episode include Renge and Sabimaru being so badass in their own action scenes and Mama Ichinose trying to cheer Houtarou up.

All of this comes together to deliver what is truly impactful and emotional moments with characters we care about in stories that have depth and precision unlike other seasons that try to do too much with very little foundation.

Gotchard‘s solid foundation is paying off big time. And it is has continued to be so engaging and exciting to watch.