After Lage9 forces Hanto dehenshin, he is about to deliver a finishing blow to kill him for good. But Shoma jumps in to whisk Hanto to safety.
Lage9 notices an Agent watching from the rooftop and says to himself that he better leave before Lango’s minions figure out who he is.
Over in the Granute world, the Agent reports to Lango, Glotta and Nyelv on the new “Granute Hunter” and the fact that the Hunters were fighting each other. Lango laments the problems continuing to pile up one after another.
Nyelv says humans are a cunning species and just smiles to himself, not letting his older siblings know it was he who created this new Kamen Rider.
Meanwhile, Shoma cannot take Hanto to the hospital, of course. But a Gochizo pops out and leads Shoma to Suga-san’s. Shoma wonders if Suga is a doctor since he seems so familiar. Suga surprises Shoma when he apparently knows he is Kamen Rider Gavv. Shoma remembers the moment they first unofficially met.
Suga introduces himself as a Granute researcher who gave Hanto his power.
Suga says Hanto just needs a little rest and he’ll be up and about again. He points out the blood from the cuts on Shoma’s face and offers him some coffee. Shoma, however, does not realize Suga has just swiped a strand of his hair from his jacket.
That night, Lage9 is in his hideout and receives a message from Agents to all part-time workers. The message warns them about another Granute Hunter being on the prowl. Lage9 is relieved that they don’t seem to know Vram is him yet. That gives him time to continue to suck up to Lango.
Lage9 can’t help but to think of his little brother. He vows to uncover the truth about him and to do that, he needs to get closer to the Stomachs.
Shoma heads to Hapipare and reports that the Kamen Rider has taken care of the scarf monster. Sachika is happy that Takeshi will be able to return home. But Shoma remembers Takeshi was not with the other Presses.
Next day, Shoma goes out to look for Takeshi before he is potentially shipped off for processing. He asks Gochizos to help him search for the distribution checkpoints, but they’re all empty.
While looking around, Shoma spots Lage9 and decides to follow him. Lage9 has chosen to target a university class today and he proceeds to infuse the professor and students with joy. Shoma arrives just in time before Lage9 is able to Press them.
Shoma and Lage9 battle. Shoma asks Lage9 if he really wants Dark Treats that badly. “You’ve got to be joking,” Lage9 says.
Lage9 grabs Shoma by the Stomach and tries to yank it off, but he cannot. Lage9 realizes Shoma is a fellow Granute.
Shoma and Lage9 henshin and continue their battle.
Lage9 says there’s no hard feelings. He just needs to do this to get in the good graces of the big bosses. Shoma realizes his goal was never to get Dark Treats. It was to get at Stomach Inc.
Shoma warns Lage9 that the inner circle of the Stomachs is very strong. Lage9 asks how he knows them and Shoma says he used to work for them.
Lage9 picks Shoma up and pins him to the table accusing him of being the one who killed his younger brother. Shoma denies it. Lage9 slams Shoma into the wall and shoots him down, forcing him to dehenshin.
Lage9 shows Shoma a photo of his brother and demands he admit to killing him a year ago.
Lage9 flashes back to how he and his brother Komeru only had each other. Komeru was the nicest, most kind hearted kid. But one day, Lage9 learned that Komeru had been taking money from their piggy bank and wasting it on Dark Treats. He became desperate for Treats.
After having left home, Komeru returned a year ago. And it was on that day that it happened. Komeru came home bleeding and apologizing that this was all his fault. He does not know what to do with himself after having done something so unforgivable.
Komeru died from the wound that Lage9 is sure was inflicted by someone.
Lage9 again slams Shoma into the wall and demands he tell him if he killed Komeru under Stomach orders. Shoma insists that was not him and that he would never follow their orders.
Shoma adds that Nyelv did not give him these powers. These are his own powers that he only awakened four months ago when he came to the human world.
Shoma understands that Lage9 wants to infiltrate Stomach Inc in order to find the truth about his brother’s death. Lage9 laments how desperate he must look. But Shoma says no he’s not.
Lage9 has been holding on to his brother letting slip the name of the Dark Treats. And from there, he has been investigating and connecting the dots to Stomach Inc. It was when he was undercover trying to buy Dark Treats that he ended up getting recruited as a part-timer.
Lage9 believes that must be what happened to Komeru when he ran away from home. Getting modified, dumped in the human world and having your whole life revolved around rounding up humans just to get their Dark Treat hit.
All Lage9 can do now is to find out who killed Komeru and why.
If Shoma has nothing to do with Komeru’s death, Lage9 says he can just die quickly then to help with his cause. But Shoma fights back. Lage9 cuts into Shoma’s shoulder. But Shoma suggests they work together to look into Komeru-kun’s death.
Why would you help me, Lage9 asks. Shoma reveals that his mother was also a victim of Stomach Inc. The term “Granute Hunter” was a stupid name the Stomachs came up. And Shoma is fighting to reduce the victims of their crimes.
Lage9 says he does not care about victims. He just wants revenge. Shoma points out that it’s all the more reason to stop. He already knows what he’s doing is horrible, going around kidnapping and killing humans. So why would Lage9 continue to use his power to fuel the Stomachs’ ambitions.
Lage9 thinks of his brother and turns to walk away. He dehenshins and ignores Shoma calling after him.
Episode Thoughts
Another great episode!
Two points of focus this time. First is Shoma officially meeting Suga-san and meeting the person who made Hanto’s modification. But also to continue fueling our suspicions of Suga with his sneaking a strand of hair off of Shoma’s jacket. A relatively short scene, but of course very important in furthering the story. Opens up opportunities for that dynamic with Shoma, Hanto and Suga to grow as well.
And the other, bigger focus was of course learning about Lage9/Lakia/Rakia’s brother. It’s a very sad story of course. But what an effective and emotional way to really highlight the harmful ramifications of the Stomachs’ nefarious business.
Of course we’ve seen what their business does to the humans they use as ingredients in the drug candies. But we haven’t really seen, at least in an impactful way, the effects of those Dark Treats and the whole business of it on the Granutes. We’ve seen the druggies working as part-timers. (Which apparently includes them getting modified with the human-skin power.) But obviously Lage9 and his brother is a story we care more about.
Maybe it’s just the way we were introduced to the Granute world, and perhaps it’s even intentional, but I sort of got the impression that all Granutes were bad people. Like, they were all either drug addicts so desperate for their fix that they would kill humans. Or they were on the business side of things like the Stomach Sibs who profit off of the Granutes’ addiction and dead humans.
So Lage9 and his little brother’s story is a perfect way to introduce the fact that no, not all Granutes are druggies or drug dealers or murderers. And kind of expand the Granute world as well beyond the confines of the Stomach family’s castle or compound or factory or whatever the hell that place is they hang out in and kept Shoma and his mother prisoner in lolol
Like I mentioned in previous weeks, it’s so interesting to have the Dark Treats basically act as a stand in for drugs and addiction in a way that is suitable for Sunday morning children’s television. So seeing how Lage9’s brother somehow gets swept up in that dark world is really an amazingly engaging story.
And again, it has the potential to have insight or even consequence on other characters like Shoma or the Stomach Sibs too.
What happened to Komeru? What did he do that he felt guilty about? The Pressing? Who killed him? How did he get wrapped up in that dark world? Who recruited him? Who got him Dark Treats in the first place?
Lage9’s quest to avenge his brother and really also just to uncover the truth is a good story that obviously matches well with Shoma and Hanto’s own personal goals. But it’s another interesting point to have our three heroes have legitimate claims of injustice toward our current antagonists. Whether or not they are truly the ones behind those acts, we don’t know for sure yet. But even without that, the effects of their family business are very clear (murder and addiction!) and I can’t immediately think off the top of my head of another villain faction or group in recent years on either Toei toku series with a similar feeling against them. Redemption is very difficult for these siblings who gleefully murdered Shoma’s mother.
Again, very interesting!
Speaking of the Stomach Sibs, a very short scene with them that is another good depiction of the siblings’ relationship with each other and their own possible goals or interests. Not the least of which being Nyelv pretending not to know about Granute Hunter 3. Lango definitely needs to hire better Agents if they have zero information about Vram lol
Also interesting that Shoma still has not found Takeshi. So we have a MOTW story spanning at least three episodes! How refreshing! Lol. We’ll see how the resolution of Takeshi’s story relates to Lage9 or maybe even to Sachika.
Loved the action between Shoma and Lage9. Some great choreography and refreshing angles and direction. It’s very nice to see Toei trying new things with their action sequences.
Overall, another very good episode from Gavv. Good, strong developments and some badass action.
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14 thoughts on “Recap: Kamen Rider Gavv, Episode 19 – The Secret Bittersweet Flavor of Pudding”
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One thing to note that you apparently missed, is that earlier (like 10 episodes ago) it was stated that Dark Treats were ILLEGAL in the Granute world. So there were at least some hints that it was more Stomach Inc. that was the problem and not the entire race. Also man Lage9/Vram is racing through arcs to a turn for the good guys.
Interesting!
Is it weird that I feel that Kohei Shoji’s Takamichi voice is very much audible those times during Lage9’s flashbacks with his younger brother?
That’s not weird at all! maybe because they were happier in the flashbacks and now, Lage9 is more serious, so he has a deeper voice hehe
Hehe, very much true there. I know you’re more of a K-Drama / Tokusatsu kinda person, dude, but if you’re familiar with Breaking Bad — Gavv truly made me realize just how horribly drug cartels / drug addictions can ruin countless lives. Makes a LOT of Walt’s, Jesse’s, Gus’s, how many characters’ actions even more reprehensible in hindsight. There’s absolutely nothing heroic about it after all
Yeah! I never watched Breaking Bad, but it reminds me how amazingly creative Toei and their writers can be to somehow take serious, heavy and dark themes and make them Sunday morning-friendly. Sometimes Sentai and Kamen Rider can deal with hard topics better than “adult” series. 😅
I think this was the best one yet! So much going on! The main focus was placed on Lage-9, as it should have been. It’s refreshing how the fight between him and Shoma pretty much ended with them talking things out and hashing out the details. And it looks like Lage-9’s gonna be handing in his official resignation letter next week and team up with Shoma against Glotta.
Although, I don’t think them teaming up, even with Shoma using CaKing Form, will do them much good against Glotta (no way in hell they’re killing her off THIS early). The Twins are all but stated to be the weakest of the Siblings, so Glotta will probably be more than capable of handling CaKing. She’s likely gonna open up a can of whoop-ass on them (lucky devils), and the most they’ll be able to do is escape with the Pressed humans. Shoma confronting Glotta for the first time should be interesting though. Glotta’s the only one of the older trio who seems to care for the Twins and was displeased that Nyelv left the Twins to die at Shoma’s hands. Looking forward to some juicy infighting amongst the Siblings in the future.
And y’know, I wouldn’t necessarily rule out possible redemption for any of the Stomach Siblings in the future, especially, since as shown with the Twins, they can have sympathetic qualities while still being villainous. One gets the feeling that if the Twins had shown one ounce of remorse for all they’ve done to Shoma and desire to make amends with him, then Shoma would have accepted and helped them.
As for the second, smaller bit of focus in this episode, it seems like the question of why Suga’s been so eager to meet Shoma has been answered: he needed Shoma’s DNA, which of course is “rare and unique” on account of Shoma being a Granute-Human hybrid. That seems to indicate that Suga knew Shoma was a hybrid the second he laid eyes on him, and he didn’t need Nyelv to tell him squat in that regard. Shoma’s DNA may be the “final piece” toward Suga completing his own “project,” perhaps with his “good buddy” Nyelv being none the wiser. We do seem to, according to upcoming toy releases and images, have a NEW Rider coming soon, who suspiciously seems to look a lot like Shoma AND use a Rider system like his. Suga’s probably gonna be entering the battlefield himself soon. And what makes it extra suspicious is that Suga, a supposed human who’s already had a few full-blooded Granutes in his own home, seems to require a hybrid’s DNA to further his work toward something he’ll presumably be using himself. Hmmmmmm….
Also, I found it quite funny that Nyelv commented on how humans are “cunning” and you can’t let your guard down around them…. Well, it seems like he’s done just that around Suga, who he THINKS is fully human at the very least. I mean, he showed off his “masterpiece” Vram project around Suga and revealed Lage-9 as its user. That may come back to bite Nyelv if Suga decides he wants to pursue other, “greater” partnerships with Glotta or Lango. Once Suga gets what he’s been aiming for, I think he’s gonna break off his “bromance” partnership with Nyelv soon after. “It’s not me; it’s you.” 🤣😅
I never follow the toy updates and stuff, so I have no idea about future Riders or characters. I prefer it that way.
But of course as we learn more about the Stomach Family, there should be room for redemption later on. Though I don’t mind if they’re all horrible “people” to the end. lol That would be refereshing. lol
I do look forward to hopefully Sachika’s bubbles in the opening credits get filled with a Rider image in the future hehe
I understand that. Everyone’s got their preferences. I accidentally discovered that stuff, so I sorta feel “stuck” with it now. Lol.
Nyelv definitely strikes me as being the most “irredeemable” of the Siblings at the moment. Even though he probably had more than enough power to intervene, Nyelv just stood there and left the Twins to die. Although I’m sure Shita’s going to be coming back in some capacity. For all we know, someone managed to pull her away from Shoma’s finishing attack at the last moment. It’d certainly be ironic if Nyelv was the one who killed Lage-9’s little brother. Maybe that revelation would allow Hanto and Lage-9 to come to some sort of “understanding.” Lol. After all, Nyelv orchestrated the death of Hanto’s mentor, not that Hanto knows that fact at this time. But Hanto learning that will probably make Nyelv his primary revenge target in the future. I wonder if Suga will end up “slipping” that little detail to Hanto in the future, since he’s likely the only one who’d know the truth about that incident.
It would be interesting if Suga has a lot of information he can use against the Stomachs. Since the Siblings don’t really seem that informed just like how Lango always seems to be surprised by developments. Though that can suggest the Stomachs aren’t some major power in the Granute world and really just like some mob family with a dark business.
Nice episode with more about Lage-9’s past. However, I’m not sure he will last until the end of the series (his demise might let Sachika becoming a Rider without any experiment).
About the Stomach sibilings, even though I don’t think they’re redeemable (they’ve got blood on their hands after all), they have some shades, especially the twins. Nylev seems to be more individualist (more concerned about his experiments than family business), Glotta may be concerned about her twins, but she killed Shoma’s mother, and Lango could be the Final Boss.
😭Noooo! I would exchange the Siblings for Lage9, tbh 😂 lol
Realizing that the Stomachs are really running some underworld mobster drug empire makes them less redeemable tbh lol especially when we learn more about how many people and granutes they kill to keep their business afloat
True! They’re really some drug cartel. lolol