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The twins visit one of their part-time harvesters and pay her with delicious jelly. They also talk about the strange monster going viral on social media whom they have no idea about.
Meanwhile, Shoma uses his last moneys to buy some gummies. But when he opens the bag, it pops out all over a man who walks by. Shoma passes out and the man takes him to a food truck to buy him some food. Shoma tries the bento and thinks it’s delicious.
Shoma admits to the man that he is broke because he spent all his money on snacks. He shows him his diary of snacks and the man says that won’t do. He buys him more food and says Shoma must eat rice, meat and vegetables instead so as not to collapse again.
The man says snacks are reserved for when you’re a bit hungry or celebrating or feeling down. Then you can eat lots of it.
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Shoma thinks about his mother feeling down and craving snackies. He proceeds to finish the food the man has bought for him.
Shoma heads over to help some construction workers carry huge granite blocks onto a truck. The man is shocked, but asks Shoma if he’d like to help him with a job. Shoma excitedly says yes and follows.
Turns out the person working at the food truck is the part-time harvester from earlier.
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On the other side of town, Hanto shows Boss Soji about what everyone on social media is saying about the Kamen Rider and monsters popping up. But Hanto has found no clear eyewitnesses. He’s still determined to find his mother’s eater.
Boss Soji asks if Hanto even has a plan for when he finds the murderer, which he doesn’t. Boss Soji says as his pseudo-foster dad, he’d like Hanto to not get himself tangled up in strange things like monsters.
In the meantime, Boss Soji has a story for Hanto to pursue. Hanto knows exactly who can help.
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Over at Hapipare, Sachika and Ritsu welcome Hanto Hanty in. Hanto says they’re not close enough to have her calling him nicknames. But Sachika says he’s pretty much a regular now after requesting their services three times already.
Anyway, Hanty would like them to look into the Kamen Rider from social media. Ritsu tells them about her experience from last episode and Sachika wonders if the nonchalant “monster” actually saved her.
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Over at the processing plant, Gurotta appreciates their product, saying the happier the humans are, the higher the quality is for their drug jellies.
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Shoma accompanies the man to a home to check on their pipes. The man fears the owner Yamada-san might have collapsed inside so he has Shoma break the door down. Shoma runs through the home looking for the owner. But the man is actually digging through the office stealing moneys.
Shoma realizes the man is robbing the house so he carries him out while the Gochizos fix everything up like new.
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Shoma asks the man why he is robbing others. The man says he just wanted to repay the man he considers a father who gave him food when he was lost and needed it most. His father-figure’s company has been struggling so the man feels this is the best time to pay him back. But he doesn’t have the money to do so.
The man says he does not care where he gets the money. He tells Shoma to just shut up and do as he says. Shoma does not want to steal from others.
The man regrets helping Shoma and leaves.
Shoma asks a Gochizo to follow and keep an eye on the man for him.
The man returns to the food truck. Seeing it unmanned, he goes in to steal moneys. But this is all a plan by the harvester to lure him in to her trap. Once the man opens the money box, the harvester lifts her shirt and her stomach mouth opens up to use her tongue to grab him.
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Shoma enjoys a soda gummy and has a euphoric experience which ends up producing a new Gochizo in his stomach mouth. Shoma asks the Gochizo if he should’ve helped the man. But he knows he should not commit crimes, especially after he broke free from imprisonment himself.
The other Gochizo arrives and tells Shoma what’s happened to the man.
Shoma hops on his bike and finds the food truck. The harvester gets out and Shoma confronts her. It’s too bad that he enjoyed her bento when she’s just a Stomach Inc lackey.
The harvester vows to have Shoma join the man in a pouch. Shoma quickly henshins as she unleashes her tongue at him.
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The harvester turns into her Granute form and they battle.
Nearby, Hanto wonders if the Kamen Rider might be human since it is possibly killing the monsters. Just then, Sachika calls Hanty to tell him about the Kamen Rider sightings.
Hanty hurries over and is able to start recording video of Shoma and the Granute’s battle. Shoma uphenshins to Chips and then Popping. But he gets thrown around by the Granute.
Shoma then uses the new Gochizos to uphenshin to Punching, giving him a big fist to counter the Granute’s attacks.
Shoma charges the Gochizo up and gives the Granute the ultimatum. The Granute of course refuses to give up the drug jellies. So Shoma finishes him off with a Punchingyummy Punch finisher.
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Hanty is amazed by the scene.
Meanwhile, a mysterious man picks up some of the Gochizo also lurking about.
Shoma releases the robber and asks him to stop doing bad stuff.
Shoma leaves, still henshined, but Hanty confronts him. Hanty asks if he is human. The man who picked up the Gochizo asks if Shoma is a Granute.
While the new man and Hanty are arguing, Shoma bounces. Literally.
The mysterious man introduces himself to Hanty as someone who researches Granutes.
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Elsewhere, the man returns to work where his father-figure announces their company will officially close. He thanks his employees for all their hard work. The man apologizes for not being able to repay him. But the father says he didn’t pick him up off the street for a reward.
The man thinks of Shoma’s words and feels sorry for what he pressured Shoma to do. The father boss urges the man to apologize to Yamada-san.
Meanwhile, the twins are amazed by the footage of a red Gavv.
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Episode Thoughts
A good episode. I think I enjoyed this one the most of the three so far since I guess it was less of a setup-type episode. We kind of get the gist at this point and know enough to be able to focus on Shoma and our other new friends for now.
It was a good episode to add some more details to Shoma’s character. They showed him continuing to learn about Earth and understand his mother’s situation a bit more.
Through his fish out of water period, we were also able to get a little more about Hanty/o and Sachika as well. It’s nice that they have a pre-existing relationship. So I think that can help for when they eventually link up with Shoma full time.
The MOTW plot was also good, especially in the way they weaved together many of the emerging plot threads to form this week’s episode.
The story of the man who helps Shoma was really great. Shoma learned a bit from him and his experience, while the show also did not give the man a neat little ending. It was a grounded and realistic way to tell that story. And I think that bodes well for the way this season might go about telling their story as we move through the year. Very interesting.
Very small tidbits from the twins and the other Stomachs. And that’s okay. I think focusing on Shoma right now is the best move as, again, we pretty much have the basic gist of the overall dynamic for now. And that’s enough to keep us interested in coming back next week.
Overall, a good episode. The season is working its way forward. And this one had a nice, more balanced tone which I appreciate more compared to the first two episodes.
I can already tell that the Granute researcher is quite… suspicious. Grabbing a pair of Gochizos and then later making it look like he just arrived on the scene? Shady. It wasn’t stated in this episode of course, but his name, according to the Producer’s Blog, is Kenzo Suga, and he’s gonna be a regular character going forward. He’s played by the same actor who voiced Juran in Zenkaiger. I’m guessing he’s gonna be the genius who gives Hanto the means to become a Kamen Rider using those Chocolate Gochizos he snatched. Basically, he’ll be Hanto’s “tech guy.”
And, this might be a wild guess of mine for now, but I can’t help but think that this guy might be the mysterious Wolf Granute Hanto’s searching for. The one who’s very likely a half-human like Shoma judging by the Red Gavv in Hanto’s drawing (and his stomach being conveniently hidden from sight in the flashback indicating an obvious twist later on). If so, like with Shoma, his human form would be “legit” and not just a disguise like with the other Granutes. Perhaps he’s using the glasses and the cane he carries around as a way to look “unassuming” in the eyes of the humans who’d fear him and the full-blooded Granutes who’d look down on him for his human half.
It’d make for some DELICIOUS irony later on if it turns out Hanto just encountered the person he was searching for in such a random manner, even having a harmless little scuffle with him. Double the irony and potential drama and sadness later on if he and Hanto end up befriending each other as Kenzo develops equipment for him and acts as an ally.
Elsewhere, I’m really enjoying the charming contrast between Shoma’s naïveté surrounding matters of the human world and his knowledge and competence regarding matters of the Granute World. It makes sense that he has an overly optimistic view of humans due to his mother being the only human he’s ever known. And, even though it hasn’t been explicitly stated yet, it’s heavily implied at the moment that the amount of familiarity he has with Stomach Inc and the Dark Sweets is because he’s the Stomach Siblings’ little brother, whom they rejected for being part human.
And speaking of the Stomach Siblings, I’m guessing they’re gonna do something similar as to what they did with the Greeed at the start of OOO. Y’know, where each sibling gets an episode or two to act as the main threat and command a lesser Granute. The twins get this episode and presumably the next one, and then we get the chance to focus on the other three. Once we’ve gotten a proper “feel” for each sibling, we’ll probably then get answers regarding the mysterious wolf and his true identity/nature.
Very interesting to see the mama drama for both Shoma and Hanto play out. Especially when it comes to the Granutes. And maybe even with the Stomach Sibs.
And yes, I saw that Shoma’s last name was Stomach. I think officially already. And of course him stopping himself from saying that. So it will be interesting to see more about him escaping that prison and how it relates to the Stomachs.
Besides Shoma refraining from mentioning his real last name and going with his mother’s last name instead, there was also the conversation the twins had where they said “that woman” was “finally out of the picture,” presumably referring to Shoma’s mother. From that, it can be gathered that the Stomach Sibs weren’t exactly happy that their dad became “close” with a human. Lol.
I really like that the season’s already established a core theme of family. That theme’s most certainly going to reflect in Shoma and Hanto’s dynamics/potential dynamics with the villains as well. Shoma’s of course strongly hinted to be related to the Stomach Siblings and likely nurses quite a grudge against them for taking his mother away from him. Similarly, Hanto is connected to the mysterious Wolf Granute through the “incident” with his mother. I’d be surprised if the wolf doesn’t show up as a major villain later on, perhaps acting as a compelling rival for both Hanto and Shoma.
I’m also looking forward to seeing how this theme of family plays out with the Stomach Siblings. I’m curious to see if they actually do care for one another like a normal family would. And it’ll be interesting to see who the “worst” sibling of the bunch turns out to be, the one who doesn’t care for any of them and places no value on their family bond.
Just wanting to note now, in case you aren’t paying attention to casting notes and such, of the twins the guy is the one wearing the dress, while the other is a girl.
Yes, when I looked up which twin was which, I saw that Jeebh is male. At first, I thought it was just one actor/actress playing both characters. lol
A bit of a slow burn it seems.
Look after a slow burn is much better than a show that burns through all its good material in the first act.
*cough*Revice*cough*
That would be nice!