Recap: Kamen Rider Gavv, Episode 2 – Happy Zakuzakuchips

A young woman Amane Sachika, finds Shoma in the park and once he wakes up, asks if she has any food. She helps him up and brings him to her home which is also her office for Jack of all Trades Hapipare for which she is the president.

Sachika tosses Shoma a towel to clean up with. He initially thinks it’s cotton candy and tries to eat it, but she tells him to use it to take a shower.

Meanwhile, the Stomach Siblings of Stomach Inc are having a virtual meeting regarding what’s happened. The siblings include President Lango, head of manufacturing Glotta, head of development Nyelv and twin Shita and Jeebh, co-heads of procurement.

Anyway, they move on to securing more humans to use in production for their Dark Confections. Lango hopes they can target more rich humans.

After they hang up on the call, Jeebh points out Shita left out that one of their part-timers went missing. Shita says they walk out all the time though. They decide to investigate more.

Back at Hapipare, Shoma comes out of his shower and is excited by the table of food Sachika has prepared for him. He first eats some gummies and a few Gochizo, the little snacks from his stomach mouth, pops out of his shorts. He eats some of the bento box, but nothing happens.

Shoma opens up a bag of potato chips and enjoys them. Feeling some Gochizos about to pop out, he discreetly pulls a bucket by his legs so they can pop right into it.

As Sachiko gets a call, Shoma collects two of the Gochizo that popped out earlier.

Sachika says she is heading out to help a friend and Shoma offers to help. He says he is pretty confident in his strength. But first, Sachiko wants him to brush his teeth.

Soon, they head out to help Sachika’s friend Ritsu move in to her new apartment. Afterwards, they enjoy some lunch and while Sachika and Ritsu have some noodles, Shoma is happy with his potato chips. That snack produces two Gochizo.

Meanwhile, Hanto pursues sightings of the monster and that leads him to Hajime’s family. Though Hajime’s mother eagerly tells Hanto about their experience, Hajime is careful not to say much in order to protect Shoma.

Back at Hapipare, Sachika gives Shoma his pay for today. But she is amused that he seemed more excited about the snacks than the money. She wonders if there’s any reason for that.

Shoma says it’s probably because of his late mother. She always used to tell him stories about the many tasty things she used to eat, like potato chips. Shoma remembers how she was always at her happiest when talking about these snacks.

Sachika gives Shoma a diary for him to write down all the good foods he enjoys as well as things he doesn’t want to forget. Shoma appreciates the diary and thanks his president. Sachika says it feels funny for him to call her that and tells him her name instead.

Shoma introduces himself too, but stops short of saying “Stomach” and instead says “Inoue”.

Sachika invites him to stay here if he needs to. Shoma asks why she is being so generous to him and why she doesn’t think he’s suspicious. Sachika says part of her name means “happiness” and she believes everyone deserves happy times. That’s part of why she started this Jack of All Trades business in the first place so she can help random people in need while also getting paid, she laughs. Sachika acknowledges that’s pretty big talk for a small timer like her.

But Shoma says that’s not true. She was able to make Ritsu very happy earlier and she looked cool being so eager to help bring her that joy. Sachika is very flattered and thanks him for those words.

At Ritsu’s apartment, the Gochizo pop out and leave. But they come across Ritsu being targeted by a Granute who captures her.

The two Gochizos find Shoma and they lead him to the Granute. Shoma sees that the Granute has Ritsu and he demands he let her go. The Granute turns into his true form and Shoma henshins. The Granute is surprised to see a red Gavv.

The Granute tells Shoma they can split the Hito Press. But Shoma is fired up and says human happiness is not food for them.

Shoma is able to take Ritsu back and he eats the chip Gochizo to uphenshin. He is able to get access to new Pringles weapons that helps him slice everything in sight, including the Granute.

Shoma gives the Granute an ultimatum. He drops the Dark Confections or he beats him to a pulp. The Granute laughs so Shoma decides to finish him off.

Shoma cuts Ritsu out of the Press and that returns her to her normal self. She is freaked out by Shoma, thinking he’s a monster. He apologizes for startling her and hopes she does not run into anymore monsters from now on. He drives off.

Meanwhile, Hanto is by the water. He is so happy to have finally found a lead on the monster after 18 years of searching. He flashes back to his childhood when a monster ate his mother.

Just then, Shoma flies over Hanto and he tries to chase after him. Hanto is even more excited that he has finally seen one with his own eyes.

Next morning, Sachika gets back home and finds a note. Shoma thanks her for everything and says he wants to become someone who can make others happy like her. He promises he will keep his diary.

Sachika doesn’t understand why he’d leave.

Episode Thoughts

Alright! The season continues establishing the Gavv world. Definitely still the early days of the season. So a lot to get to for them.

Like the beginning, for example, meeting the Stomachs. Like, if I didn’t look it up, I wouldn’t know they were actually siblings. That whole Stomach Zoom meeting was kinda overwhelming lol But at least now, I get a bit of the picture of what Shoma is up against.

The whole drug candy part of the plot is very interesting. It’s basically Shoma needing to go up against a criminal business venture that is specifically tied to their peoples’ very being. Stomach mouth eating and all that. So with humans specifically in danger to feed that hunger, it’ll be a very interesting dynamic to explore moving forward. Both for Shoma and as we learned here, for Hanto as well.

What I enjoyed the most in this episode is that moment during the battle where we see a very different Shoma. Like a darker side of him, especially compared to his more positive, somewhat clumsy kind of personality with the snackies. It will be nice to see those two sides play out all season. And the opening credits certainly imply that will be the case.

We saw Shoma saying goodbye to Sachika at the end, but of course that’s not going to last long as she’s one of the main characters of this season! Lolol She makes a good first impression, as Shoma and Hanto did in the first episode. So I’m looking forward to seeing her relationship with Shoma grow. And seeing how her relationship with Hanto will play out as well. At least, based on the fun scenes in the opening credits.

Speaking of, nice J-pop theme song. Reminds me a bit of Ex-Aid which, at this point, I kind of see a similar vibe with Gavv right now in this early point. We’ll see if that continues to be the case.

Overall, a solid episode two.