If there’s something strange in the neighbourhood, who you going to call? GOTCHARD! What’s up riders, Ethan’s back for another Weekly Ride Review! This week we have some occult happenings and some ‘Ultra’ guests! I know it’s a lot to (Jugglus) juggle so lets jump right into it!
Recap
This week’s episode sees the gang investigating Renge’s grandmother’s village after she leaves them to go visit her and encounters a Yokai! Rinne responds by calling up Rinne and Hotaro, asking them to come help (Sabi is at his parents’ fixing Issac, his tablet AI pal).
Shortly after arriving in the village the trio encounter the Yokai, who is eventually scared of by Starshine Hoshino – an exorcist who’s taken Kajiki under his wing. The gang quickly realise that he has five cosmic Chemies in his necklace.
Atropos, while the village is praising Starshine Hoshino for getting rid of the Yokai, turns two delinquent loan sharks into Malgams, using Carery and Berosol of the Occult category. The Malgams crash the town meeting where they were praising Starshine Hoshino for his dispatch of the Yokai.
Hotaro battles with them as Platinum Gotchard and makes short work of the pair, leading to an ending where Hoshino seems to have a vision from the gods and its made very clear the mystery in the village is not over yet…
The Bad
This is not a major issue with the episode but the fact we have at least eight Chemies in play right now, including the nine tails Malgam for next week, as well as Carery and Berosol. We have it confirmed by Minato during his welcomed return to the Alchemist Academy that seventy eight of the one hundred and one Chemies have been captured, meaning we have in total twenty three left to catch; Twenty one by the end of the episode. It really feels like we are smashing the pace with these episodes to catch the final twenty one.
We also have an arc featuring Legends return to promote Legendary Legend, his now officially announced powered up form. Yes, I called it Gorgeous Legend in this article. That’s my bad. It would have been a very fitting name, though.
The Good
This was a very fun episode. After the high stakes of last week, we needed something lower like this. I love Rinne in this episode. Her love of paranormal things right next to Hotaro and Renge screaming their heads off was delightful; especially when they first arrive at the village and Rinne’s growing excitement at the Yokai being described to them causes Hotaro to do a double take. I also liked that this week’s episode took the time to explain why Rinne did not transform this week, showing us her putting her ring on change and letting us work out the rest.
The Conclusion
As I mentioned in my Ryuki review narrative juxtaposition is important, especially if you want the more intense moments to hit hard. We need the lighter moments to have context for the darker. So, coming off the end of Geryon last week, a return to the more lighthearted goofy vibes is needed in order to build back up for whatever Atropos and probably the heads of the Alchemist Association are cooking up. I’m assuming the Association are evil, there’s a very high chance they are given this week’s dialogue. The fights this week were very fun as well. Platinum Gotchard continues to be an extremely beautiful suit. I cannot wait for next week’s episode, I love kitsune and have been waiting to see my boi, the Nine Tails Chemy, make their appearance and it looks like that will be next week!
But what did you think? Was this episode a little too goofy for you? Do you have any ghostly or occult encounters of your own you would like to share? Let me know in the comments down below! As always, I’ve been Ethan: Writer, reviewer and occult mystery hunter for The Toku Source and I’ll see you next time!
