Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 18 Recap and Thoughts

We are now heading to Episode 18 of Kamen Rider Gavv! Last time, we saw another mass disappearance of humans in a school for the elderly while some minor human kidnappings happen thanks to Granute Chooul. Nyelv offered Lage-9 a secret job to beat up the red Gavv and Valen. When Gavv and Valen are about to beat up Granute Chooul, Lage-9 showed up and started beating up Gavv and Valen.

Recap

Continuing from the last episode, Gavv transformed into Caking form and summoned Whip Soldiers to help take care of Vlam. But not until Vlam used Pudding Crush to quickly dispose of the soldiers. The soldiers looking at each other before they got finished is so funny though. I really liked their expressiveness.

While Gavv contemplated on which side Vlam is on, Valen noticed that the bird Granute was missing. Then Nyelv appeared and introduced himself and Vlam to the duo. Nyelv also met Valen in person for the first time. After the introductions, both Nyelv and Vlam left the scene.

Following the incident, Hanto probed Shoma, intrigued by Shoma’s familiarity with Nyelv. He pressed Shoma to reveal what he knew, sensing that Shoma was hiding info from him. Shoma then revealed the truth about Stomach Inc., the nefarious company responsible for human abductions and the production of addictive Dark Treats. He also revealed the identities of the five siblings who ran the company: Lango Stomach, the CEO; Glotta Stomach, Hanto’s adversary in Episodes 7-8; Nyelv, the scientist they had just encountered; and the twins Shitta and Jeebh. However, Shoma kept his own connection to the Stomach family a secret, fearing Hanto’s vengeance would also be directed at him. Fortunately, Hanto understands why Shoma didn’t want him to go to the Granute world as he might have a really hard time fighting the Stomachs by himself, especially when he’s having a hard time beating Glotta and Vlam. Shoma explained that he wants to focus on saving the people who were attacked by Granute Chooul. Hanto also asked if Shoma was there when the Stomach family took his mother. Shoma tried to feign ignorance, but Hanto understood that it was a traumatic response and apologized as well.

Meanwhile, Nyelv showcased the Vlam system, a revolutionary technology that he had developed, to his colleague, Suga. Suga was also astounded by Nyelv’s ability to create artificial Gochizos as well. Aside from that, Nyelv took Lage-9 with him. Suga was delighted to see a Granute up close without danger. Nyelv also remarked that he is also a Granute, to which Suga replied that he sees him more as a research buddy. He also played with the Mimic Key, a USB-like device that added human disguises to Granutes when inserted into their Gavvs to blend well into human society. Suga was really thrilled about the discovery. Also, the twisted sound used in Nyelv’s interactions with Suga is really cool. It’s distinctly different from the OST of Stomach Inc. It shows how weird this relationship is as Nyelv and Suga created transformation devices that are used against one another as the users are enemies. After the visit, Lage-9 asked if he could execute Gavv and Valen to which Nyelv give the go signal, if he can do it.

Granute Chooul returned, attempting to lure humans. However, they quickly realized she was dangerous and fled. Hanto, under an alias, drew an image of her and shared it on “Twitter” to warn others. Despite his imperfect drawing skills, Hanto’s art was proving to be helpful. Meanwhile, Sachika was browsing ‘Twitter’ for updates about the mysterious woman. Hanto asked her if she noticed anything unusual about Chooul. Sachika pointed out that the wind blew just enough to keep the scarf flying.

Meanwhile, Chooul gets increasingly frustrated about her not getting her Dark Treat fix. Lage-9 asked why she’s so worked up and why these treats are to die for. Chooul explained that it’s the best food on the planet, while acting like a real junkie who can’t get enough of these addictive foods. This explanation reminded Lage-9 of someone close to him who is also addicted to Dark Treats. Because of this frustration, Chooul resorted to attacking humans physically by blowing huge gusts of wind to drive people closer to him. As Shoma and Hanto caught wind of the news (heh) due to a live post of the odd disaster happening, they were also caught in the strong winds. Shoma thought that riding the wind will bring them closer to him so he lets go of his hand holding the railing to bring themselves to Chooul.

Fortunately, Shoma’s instincts were correct, and the winds led them to Chooul.As Hanto and Shoma prepared to fight Chooul alone, the latter told them to not be cocky as he has Vlam to protect him. Vlam responded that he was the cocky one and he shouldn’t be as he prepared to fight Gavv and Valen.

Just like in their first encounter, Vlam still dominated the fight. The image shows how Vlam is both badass as well as disrespectful pose to show off his dominance. I saw some Twitter posts on the fight and it’s interesting to learn that Vlam’s movements are fluid like a jellyfish (which is where Lage-9’s Granute form is based on) or pudding (Vlam’s motif).

To prevent Chooul from endangering more humans, Shoma opted to go after him. Vlam tried to stop Shoma using the Vlam Breaker, a bow-like weapon, but Valen stopped Vlam from further damaging Gavv. He also urged Shoma to go after Chooul as he will take care of Vlam himself.

Luckily, Valen was successful in distracting Vlam. Shoma used FuwaMallow to fly and go after the flying Chooul but the mallow onomatopeia was shot, landing him into the ground. Shoma then switched to ZakuZakuChips for ground combat. One of the cool moments is throwing the ZakuZakuChip Blade to hit Chooul, the chip blade breaking, and then reforming again to hit him again. That was so good! Gavv tried to finish him in this form but Chooul used his gusts to cancel the finisher and blow the chips away. Chooul tried to fly again, but he switched to Caking form to shoot him from afar, then finally finishing him for good after one last warning to stop eating Dark Treats. Gavv managed to rescue the victims, but noticed Takeshi was missing.

Meanwhile, Valen and Vlam continued fighting. Vlam continues to dominate with his immense skill and his Granute abilities. He also did a cartwheel to dodge the Valen Buster shot. Vlam noticed that his skill was far above the Granutes he usually fights, so he asked if he was a member of the Stomach family. That question angered him enough to get stunned and allowed Valen to land a punch. Vlam then finished him off as Shoma watched Hanto take all the arrow hits at him, leaving him severely wounded.

Final Thoughts

This episode showed more developments about Nyelv and Lage-9. First off, I’m curious to know how Suga and Nyelv first met and what piqued his interest on Granutes. What would be his role as the story progresses? The mad scientist in him might teeter into antagonist territory later down the line, but time will tell. Also, it’s great to get to know more about Lage-9 and his personality. I initially thought he was an undercover cop, but it seems like he joined Stomach Inc. to enact his personal revenge. Here’s to hoping Shoma will convince him to join them to prevent more human casualties and to have one more ally in his cause to stop Stomach Inc.’s schemes. Also, I think that Lage-9’s actions might be excusable as within the point of view of a Granute, humans are food ingredients. I mean, do we have that kind of sympathy towards animals? I’m willing to bet only vegans do. So it’s not fair to impose that kind of morality to a Granute when we do the same thing.

That’s all for now. See you next week!