Recap: Kamen Rider Gavv, Episode 4 – More Marshmallows Please!

Shita visits his siblings who keep from him that they are trying to find the red Gavv. They try to pass it off as them trying to find their missing part-timers. Shita was here to check their modified part-timers, but perhaps he should review his blueprints instead.

Shita leaves them and wonders if the twins have “caught on.”

Though he is hungry, Shoma has no money left for food. He stumbles upon a farm thinking the vegetables are free. But the farmer and his wife hurry out to stop him. The farmer mistakes him for someone named Makoto, but his wife says that’s impossible considering Makoto is…

Shoma’s stomach growls and they take him inside.

The farmer shows Shoma a photo of their son Makoto who passed away 20 years ago. He and Shoma look exactly alike.

The farmer’s wife brings Shoma some of their leftovers to eat and he is grateful to be treated such delicious food. He asks them to describe each dish so he can write them down.

He tells them that he and his mother could only eat what was around them and they feel sorry about that. The farmer and his wife welcome Shoma to stay with them for a while. They believe it is Makoto who brought him to them. Shoma thanks them for the offer.

Elsewhere, Hanto visits the lab of the mysterious man that had interrupted him and Shoma last episode. The researcher is Suga Kenzo. And Hanto wastes no time asking Suga-san about these monsters they are both interested in.

Suga-san explains that these monsters are beings from another dimension called Granutes whose objective is to abduct humans to use as spices in their addictive treats known as Yamigashi or Dark Sweets. The Granutes compress live humans into that flat pouched form to make them more convenient to transport. And a large number of missing persons cases are probably Granute abductions.

Suga-san says those treats must be delicious, but makes clear he’s never tried them before.

An emotional Hanto realizes his mother must have also been eaten by a Granute. He explains that he saw it happen with his own eyes. Suga-san says that her being eaten without being pressed means that the Human Press process must be a more recent development.

Instead of pressing Hanto further, Suga-san says he’s been researching a way to counter the Granutes. And coming across the Kamen Rider has given him the breakthrough he needed. He shows Hanto the Gochizos he’s caught, knowing that the Kamen Rider used them against the Granutes.

Suga-san is sure these things could give someone like either of them the power to fight the Granutes.

Back at the farm, Shoma effortlessly helps the farmer and his wife with planting and laundry. They take a break after work and they give him some of their son’s favorite marshmallow treats.

Shoma excitedly tries marshmallows for the first time and it’s another euphoric experience. He loves them! And he quickly writes about them in his notebook.

But Shoma again feels his stomach mouth rumble and stealthily catches the Gochizos that pop out.

Hanto meets with Boss Soji to tell him about Suga-san. Boss Soji thinks he’s a bit sketchy knowing all those things. Hanto says Suga-san’s just been researching these things for a long time. But Boss Soji says Hanto’s been looking into these things as well, but knows nothing.

Boss Soji advises Hanto to keep an eye on him before fully trusting him.

Speaking of keeping an eye, a hooded Agent has been watching them all this time.

Other Agents, meanwhile, target Shoma who is shocked to see them here. The Agent kicks Shoma into the farmer and his wife and they get knocked down.

Shoma apologizes and then runs off, knowing the Agents are after him and no one else. He leads them away from the farmer and his wife and into the forest.

Just then, the twins appear and say they thought Shoma was already dead. Shoma is surprised to see his “Shita-neesan” and “Jeebh-niisan”. The twins taunt Shoma and say the two happy humans he was with would make for some good spice.

Shoma thinks of the kind couple as the twins explain that they knew the “monster” taking care of their part-timers was him. They say it’s a shame he couldn’t even become a spice because of the red Gavv.

Shoma tells them to stop. But they continue to mock him and say he wasn’t even able to die with his mother because he isn’t even human.

Shoma flashes back to the other dimension when he and his mother were taken to the manufacturing plant to face his siblings. Lango says their father who had been hiding them is finally dead. So it is time for the family to be rid of humans who are only good for being spices.

Mama Michiru begs them not to harm her son. The other siblings say the two wouldn’t make for very good spice at their present emotional state anyway. So they’ll just have to be used for the cheap candies.

The siblings transform into their Granute forms as a tongue emerges to eat them both up. Mama Michiru pushes Shoma out of the way and she gets caught in the tongue.

Mama Michiru tells Shoma to hurry and run. But the tongue wraps itself around him too.

As Mama Michiru gets pressed, Shoma is released from the tongue, much to the Stomach Sibs’ surprise. Agents grab Shoma who can do nothing but watch the Stomach Sibs crush his pressed mother.

Back in the present, the twins continue to mock Shoma and say Mama Michiru is probably in a Granute’s belly right now. Since their siblings were unable to bury him, they will do it themselves.

But Shoma henshins and battles Agents. The twins are surprised Shoma is able to fight, especially with his kenzoku gummy friends.

The Agent has Shoma in a chokehold. But he uses the happy feelings of the people he’s met so far in this world to power him up. He pushes the Agents off him and uses the Fuwamallow Gochizo to uphenshin and better fight them.

Shoma uses a Marumallow Gochizo to power a rolling finisher to take care of the Agents for good.

Shoma warns the twins to leave the humans alone or he will beat them down. The twins remain defiant and tell him to watch his mouth before they leave.

That evening, the farmer couple are waiting for Shoma. But they just pray that he is safe wherever he is.

Shoma knows they must be sad. But he knows him being around them will only endanger them since the happier they are, the more valuable spice they will be.

Shoma collapses as he’s run out of gummy energy. But a shadow approaches him.

Episode Thoughts

Oh! No question, this was the best episode of the four so far. I wasn’t expecting them to give us all the stuff about the siblings and Shoma’s mother so soon. But I think it’s a good spot to do so after a solid first three episodes. Those episodes did enough to lay the groundwork for the big reveals in this one. And made this episode that much more impactful.

I don’t know that I would be as excited or satisfied by this episode had they not done enough in the first three weeks. And they did so with as little exposition-y execution as possible.

Sure they just showed us exactly what happened. But I think this episode was structured in a very good way with Hanto getting the basics of the Granutes from Suga-san while talking about his mother’s death and then moving on to revealing Shoma’s relationship to the siblings and what happened to his mother as well.

The episode worked to both fill in the details for our main characters as well as continuing to establish the world our friends will be inhabiting in the coming year; laying out the rules and framework, stuff like that.

So that’s the biggest takeaway from the episode. Making clear the tragedy Shoma and Hanto have both experienced at the hands of these predatory beings.

Having to overcome those tragedies and establishing a foe that is, for now, quite reprehensible and evil, it really goes a long way to building up our heroes’ stature and reason for fighting. (I mean, these Granutes are killing people to produce drugs and then getting others addicted to drugs so they make money(?) I guess. That’s as evil as you can get!)

Hanto has had good development so far. But it was really exciting to see Shoma as a character here. The sincerity he showed with the kind couple as well as remembering the people he’s encountered so far on Earth, I think, is a strong foundation for him moving forward. He was a fun guy in the first three episodes, but I think he was most endearing in this one.

I think that’s the biggest reason I enjoyed this episode the most so far. And the episode really helped to foster the strongest positive feelings I’ve had for the season so far as well.

His interactions with the kind couple were very emotional. And it would be great if he has many more interactions like that through the season. I would be interested in the idea of him meeting different people and bringing them smiles. And I guess working with Sachika and Hanto at Hapipare will help facilitate that in the future. (I hope!)

And of course the scene with his mother was very emotional. I’m looking forward to more flashbacks with the mother and son. And also more of the siblings basically being disgusted by or belittling Shoma as a half-human.

Definitely still a long road ahead for the season. But this episode raises my expectations and excitement for the potential of what’s to come. Really great episode.