Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 17 Recap and Thoughts
Finally, the first episode of the new year! Kamen Rider Gavv enters a new arc with a new poster featuring Kamen Rider Gavv’s Caking form (which debuted in Episode 14), Kamen Rider Vram, Kamen Rider “Bitter Gavv” and Kamen Rider “Dark Valen”. Vram will debut this episode, which will be used by Lage-9, one of the newest part-timers hired by Stomach Inc. Meanwhile, “Bitter Gavv” and “Dark Valen” will make their appearances in the future (as of writing this post). Theories suggest that Hanto will succumb to the dark side due to his thirst for vengeance against the Granutes and become Dark Valen using the Chocold gochizo, while the user of Bitter Gavv might be Jeebh due to his hatred of Shoma. And yes, Jeebh is a guy and is cross-dressing as a female. Bitter Gavv will use the Sparking Gummy gochizo. By the way, gochizo are sentient little minions Shoma creates when he eats snacks. Shoma also uses them to transform into Kamen Rider Gavv. However, it would be interesting to see where the gochizos used by Dark Valen and Bitter Gavv come from. Can’t wait for their debuts!
Recap
So anyways, let’s talk about today’s episode, Episode 17. The episode starts with Shoma and Sachika helping in the community mochi pounding. They also ate the mochi they made in the event. To be honest, I was shocked that Shoma didn’t create any gochizo after eating the mochi since I thought it’s a snack. Sachika overheard two ladies talking about Takeshi who hasn’t returned home from work. Apparently, he was a good person so they were worried. Due to her worry and Takeshi also living in her neighborhood, Sachika asked for more info from the women. My first thought is that he was one of the many people who are affected by the mass disappearances last episode due to Lage-9. Meanwhile, the Granute Chooul, the Monster of the Week (MotW), is delivering the pressed humans to Lango’s Agent. Nyelv sees this as an opportunity to debut his newest invention, the Vramstumgear.
While Sachika is searching for Takeshi, Shoma shares intel about Takeshi’s disappearance, while Hanto shares the news about the mass disappearances in the previous two episodes. Then, they head out to their specific agendas: Hanto looks for more info about the mass disappearances while Shoma helps Sachika search for Takeshi. Meanwhile, Lage-9 continues harvesting people in a seminar for the elderly. His jellyfish abilities to stun humans and give euphoric feelings come in handy when harvesting happy humans for the addictive Dark Treats. Lage-9 was getting impatient as he thought about how many humans he would need to press to get Stomach Inc.’s trust. When suddenly, Nyelv showed up and offered him a secret job in exchange for either Dark Treats or a personal request. The mission is to use the Vramstumgear to hunt Gavv and Valen.
After some time, Shoma called Sachika, who was going to Sunlight Hill Park to search for Takeshi, when she was interrupted. Then, Hanto called Shoma and exchanged updates. Hanto found out about a guy working in the same theater as the one in the mass disappearances. While he was not in the mass disappearance, he was still missing. A worker told Hanto that the missing person was a polite boy who wouldn’t leave suddenly. Shoma also heard of a good girl who went missing, which made Hanto realize that good people were getting targeted by a Granute. Shoma, worried about Sachika, rushed to find her as she might be the next target.
On the way to Takeshi’s house, Sachika helped a young woman retrieve her scarf that the wind had flown away. After retrieving it, Sachika would get attacked, as it was the Granute’s modus to capture humans. However, Shoma arrived on time, prompting the Granute to run away. Hanto also arrived at the scene and realized something was off about the woman. He also subconsciously asked, “Why aren’t you going after her?”
Meanwhile, Shoma is stuck, as I thought he was not ready to reveal his identity to Sachika. Hanto tried to chase after the woman but failed to do so. Then, he berated Shoma for not going after her. Shoma lied that he didn’t chase after her, fearing her attacking Sachika. He assured Hanto that he sent a gochizo after her. However, it was revealed that the main reason is that he’s not ready to reveal his true identity to Sachika. I was right. Meanwhile, Hanto can’t help but sense something suspicious with Shoma lately, especially from what he warned him about not going to the Granute world. It’s interesting how this growing suspicion and his hatred for Granutes will lead him to.
Meanwhile, Lage-9 met up with Chooul, who was about to press him after the latter helped her get her scarf. However, Lage-9 was also a Granute. Thus, he was unaffected. Sometime later, Shoma and Hanto found Chooul and fought her together. One of the cool moments was Gavv’s KickingGummy form stepping on Valen’s Bushel form’s axe to launch Hanto in the air and ground the flying Chooul. They were about to finish off Chooul when suddenly, Lage-9 showed up in his human form, forcing them to cancel their attacks.
They were initially worried about his safety until he transformed into a granute, got a moving Doppudding gochizo, and transformed into Kamen Rider Valen. The suit actor for Vlam, Eitoku, really did a good job acting by showing how Vlam is a chill but skillful fighter. The way Vlam sat on Valen reminded me of Kamen Rider Ouja, which is amazing. The episode ended on a cliffhanger, showing how Gavv and Valen were having difficulty dealing with Vlam.
The year started with a bang with Vlam’s introduction. The flan/pudding motif is executed well, especially with Vlam having spoons as antennas. This season hasn’t beat the Build 2.0 accusations, as while the cranking mechanic of the Henshin Belt Gavv looks a lot like Build, Vlam is a copy-paste of Grease’s mechanic with the lever. I was shocked that my friend told me this season is a lot like Kiva, where Wataru and Shoma are both part-monster, Valen and Ixa are humans, and Vlam and Saga are full monsters.
Final Thoughts
This episode also continues building up the rift between Shoma and Hanto. It’s interesting to see the eventual fallout between the two, as it is really inevitable as long as Hanto still harbors his bloodthirst against Granutes while Shoma still isn’t ready to reveal his true identity to Sachika. And when will Sachika grow enough suspicion about Shoma to the point where she tries to find the truth about him herself? It’s also interesting that Nyelv has a little hint about Vlam’s true motivation and why he worked for Stomach Inc. I guessed he was an undercover cop, but we’ll wait and see. I hope the show still maintains its consistency as some good seasons get worse by the middle, for example, Kamen Rider Zero-One and its competition arc.
That’s it for today and see you next week!
