Kamen Rider Gavv Episode 19 Recap and Thoughts

Last time on Kamen Rider Gavv, a fierce fight happened between Gavv and Granute Chooul as well as Valen and Vlam. While Gavv defeated the Granute, Hanto is in a really rough shape after being put out of his transformation.

Recap

Valen is about to kill Hanto with another finisher, but luckily, Gavv managed to transform quickly into his Gurucan form, as he rescued Hanto from the deadly attack. Vlam also noticed that Lango’s agent saw him, so he left before Lango finds out about his real identity.

Shoma was worried thinking about where to bring Hanto as he couldn’t take him to a hospital due to his Granute physiology. Luckily, a Chocodan gochizo popped out, instructing him to take Hanto to the sketchy scientist Suga.

Meanwhile, at the Stomach mansion, the family (minus Jeebh) delved into the new Granute hunter. Lango’s agent reported the hunters’ internal conflict, prompting Lango to order continued surveillance as he got annoyed by how company problems kept piling up. Nyelv, feigning ignorance about Vlam, warned against underestimating the humans.

Shoma brought Hanto to Suga’s place to heal him from his injuries. As Shoma ate his gummies, he wondered if Suga was a doctor, remarking that he might’ve seen him before. Suga tried to keep his Gavv as he was producing gochizos when Suga noticed and asked if he was Kamen Rider Gavv. He instinctively answered yes, unintentionally revealing his secret to him. That was so funny, as that simple trick allowed Suga to get to know the guy behind Gavv.

Suga was overjoyed to meet Gavv finally. He introduced himself as a Granute researcher and the one who allowed Valen to fight Granutes. Shoma was visibly scared, looking at Suga as he covered his wound with his handkerchief. He informed Shoma that a bit of rest was all that Valen needed to recover just as quickly as Shoma’s wound suddenly disappeared. It was revealed that Shoma recovers from wounds faster than most humans. Suga invited him to a coffee while sneakily getting a hair strand off his jacket. Will he be creating Bitter Gavv through Shoma’s DNA?

Meanwhile, as Lage-9 returned to his hideout, he was greeted with an announcement warning them of the third Granute hunter. He was lucky that Lango couldn’t find out that it was him. Thus, he returned to pleasing Lango by finding his next batch of victims.

Shoma returned to Hapipare, where he was greeted by Sachika. He informed her that the Kamen Rider had defeated the monster responsible for the odd winds. Sachika was really happy to hear that since it meant Takeshi was safe. However, she didn’t know that he hadn’t been able to find Takeshi, which made Shoma greatly worried.

The day after, Shoma rushed to find Takeshi, searching the building where he rescued the civilians in Episode 4 and other locations while asking for help from his gochizos. He then stumbled into Vlam, who was headed to a fashion school to get his next batch of Hitopress. He decided to go after Vlam, thinking he might deliver his harvest to a Granute checkpoint. However, he saw how Lage-9 obtained his perfect-quality humans with his neurotoxins, which made him realize that he was the culprit behind the mass disappearances.

Shoma then quickly saved a woman who was about to get pressed, which annoyed Lage-9. The latter then focused on ending Shoma now that his secret is out. However, Shoma was determined not to go down to protect the humans and rescue his victims. A fight ensues while Shoma is untransformed. Shoma asked if Lage-9 badly wanted Dark Candy to which the latter expressed how he hated it. Shoma tried to transform into Caking form, but Lage-9 grabbed his Gavv and tried to remove it. However, it didn’t go off as Lage-9 realized why he was called the “red Gavv” – he was also a Granute. Then, they transformed into their respective base forms for the actual fight.

The fight was intense, with Gavv forced to use the gummy onomatopeia to defend himself. However, the Vramstrum breaker has a sickle mode that also acts as a chainsaw, easily removing the gummy shield. Gavv was on the backfoot the whole fight as he struggled to defend against the onslaught of attacks from Vlam Breaker.

As he got pinned down, Vlam told him that he had to finish him to get close to Stomach management. Shoma confirmed that Vlam was after Stomach Inc. and not the Dark Treats, so he revealed that he won’t get promoted as the management is reserved for the Stomach siblings. Hearing that, Vlam turned off his finisher to ask if Gavv knew them. Gavv answered that he had been at Stomach Inc. before. Vlam thought he was a Granute hunter who might’ve killed Comel, his brother, which enraged him. Gavv tried to tell him that he didn’t know Comel. That didn’t quell his anger; he used Vlam Shooting to knock Shoma out of his transformation.

Lage-9 showed a wanted poster asking Shoma if he killed his brother a year ago. It was revealed that Lage-9 (whose real name is Lakia Amaruga) worked as a miner in the Granute world. Comel was kind, but one day, he got addicted to Dark Treats. This addiction made him steal money from his brother to buy these addictive treats. When he came back a year ago, he unfortunately died in Lakia’s arms.

Lage-9, still transformed into Vlam, pressed Shoma while asking if he killed Comel as a Granute hunter by Stomach Inc. Shoma told him that he didn’t do it and wouldn’t take orders from the company. He also told Nyelv didn’t give him his powers, but his own power was awakened four months ago when he came into the human world. As Shoma was released, he realized why he had gone undercover at the company. It was revealed that Lakia was able to find a lead to the company half a year ago and was able to infiltrate the company, pretending to be an addict. Despite what Lakia learned, though, he tried to finish off Shoma. The latter was able to dodge the attack but still got wounded by his own Gavvgablade while defending himself.

Shoma told Lakia that he would help him investigate the death of his brother. Lakia was confused about why he would help him, as he answered that his mother was also a victim of Stomach Inc. and was trying to prevent more humans from becoming victims. Shoma tried to convince Lage-9 to stop working for Stomach Inc., using his usual speech to persuade Granutes to stop eating Dark Candy. Shoma was then spared as Lakia detransformed into his human form and left the scene.

Final Thoughts

This was a great episode. The cinematography was great, especially Shoma’s urgency as he desperately tried to find Takeshi. The fight scene was also excellent, with Shoma’s actor, Hidekazu Chinen, performing well in his first untransformed fight of the season. The scene where Shoma tried to convince Lage-9 was so powerful as aside from what he said, helping Stomach Inc. also increases the number of victims like Comel getting addicted to Dark Treats.

Man, I couldn’t believe how Shoma spilled his secret to Suga. That made me laugh so hard that I couldn’t think Shoma answered instinctively. But with Suga taking his hair strand, I doubt whether Jeebh will become the Bitter Gavv, and Suga might be Bitter Gavv. It’s also poetic once Hanto does his heel turn as Hanto relies on Gavv and his Gochizos. Dark Valen might rely on Bitter Gavv’s gochizos, so it would be appropriate for Hanto to rely on Suga, who gave him powers once he’s had enough with Shoma. Overall, this episode is a great build-up to the eventual split between the two Riders.

The final moments of the episode were a real tear-jerker, though. With Lakia’s backstory revealed to be too grounded in reality and his immense rage behind the laidback personality, I can’t help but cry about Vlam’s situation. This episode’s ending was also handled well, with Lakia leaving instead of giving an immediate answer.