Snack up, Riders! This week we’ve got marshmallows, forest battles, harrowing scenes and payback. Join Ethan as they take a bite out of this week’s Gavv!
Recap
We open this episode with Shoma taking the advice about needing to eat more than snacks from Sujimoto to heart and looking at a stall selling vegetables. Because those probably cost money and our hero is broke (just like me, for real), he tries to eat one of the vegetables from the field behind the stall (less like me, for real) and the people that grew the veg come out to chastise him. They stop in their tracks, realising Shoma is the splitting image of their son, who passed twenty years prior. Upon seeing how hungry Shoma is, they invite him in for a meal. We briefly see Shiita and Jeebh planning. While instructing their agents to find Shoma, they are interrupted by Nyelv, who was on his way back from spot checking there part timers mods. Shiita and Jeebh make up some excuse and, as Nyelv leaves, they comment how the fun of messing with Shoma is all theirs. Standing in the door dimension from episode one, Nyelv wonders if those two have caught on yet.
Sitting down for a nice meal with these kind old people, Shoma agrees to stay with them for a little while. Meanwhile, Hanto meets with Kenzo Suga, the Gochizo thief and researcher from last episode, who gives Hanto the basic low down on Granutes with his exposition culminating in him revealing his been working on a system to help normal people fight Granutes.
Shoma does odd jobs for the kind old couple. During this period, Shoma tries marshmallows for the first time, leading to the birth of two new minions: Fuwamallow and Marumallow. On their way home from shopping, a couple of Stomach Inc. Agents attack Shoma, knocking the kind old couple over. Shoma leads the agents to the nearby woods. There, he engages them in battle until Shiita and Jeebh arrive, taunting Shoma about his mothers death. We flashback to moments before the start of episode one.
Trigger Warning: Family trauma. This got pretty dark…
Following their fathers death and led by the eldest son, Lango, the rest of the Stomach family planned to harvest both Shoma and his mother into spice, the flavouring for the Granutes’ narcotic like Dark Sweets. They hold Shoma back and force him to bear witness as his mother is converted into spice and the rest of her remains are crushed in front of his eyes. They tried to do the same to Shoma, their brother, but cannot because of his half-human physiology.
Honestly, super dark stuff. Even The Toku Source’s bossman was a little shook by it…
Back in the forest, Shoma, in Poppin Gummy Form, starts losing – getting choked out by one of the agents. Shoma steels his resolve to protect the world his mother came from, breaking free and transforming into his Fuwamallow form. I don’t need to explain what fluffy antics occur there, do I? During the fight, Shiita and Jeebh think aloud, surprised because Shoma couldn’t summon minions before and noting it must have been coming to the human word that unlocked this power.
Seeing the two agents get crushed by Kamen Rider Michelin Man, the twins run away, swearing revenge. Shoma reflects on their taunting that the old couple he was with would make good spice and decides not to go back to them, leaving the couple to wonder whatever happened to that nice young man that came into their lives for a short time and brighten things up before being chased of by some thugs. A hungry Shoma passes out in the woods and, later that night, and is found by someone. Bringing this week’s episode to a close.
The Bad
If next week’s Gavv keeps this up this stretch of great episodes where I have nothing really to complain about, I’m going to need to retire this section or make it an occasional section.
The Good
I love the way the series weaves in small world building parts that make you think; Nyelv making all the modifications to the Granutes explains why their transformation between human and monster is tech based but also might be why Shoma’s Gavv is different (is he a parallel to Hiroshi Midorikawa from the original series? Only time will tell), or Shiita and Jeebh implying other members of their family can also make minions like Shoma. Can all of them take multiple forms like him, too? Is that just where the Agents come from?
Speaking of the agents, wow, are they maybe the most competent mooks we have seen in forever? With two of them posing a real challenge for Shoma, the Stomach family appears to be well trained in the trope of Conservation of Ninjutsu; wonder how long that will keep up. The fights this season so far have been top notch, all really creative and exciting, and the acting has been great too with this week, Shoma (Hidekazu Chinen) and Hanto (Yusuke Hino) in particular really knocking it out of the park with their emotional moments.
The Conclusion
Gavv continues to be a delightful treat, balancing dramatic moments with action really well and topping it off with some Showa era spice too to really zest it up. Here’s hoping things continue and, by the look of the next episode preview, I think they will. I can’t wait!
As always, what do you make of this week’s episode? Whatcha think of the new form? Are you excited for next week? I’ve been Ethan: Writer, reviewer and one mellow fellow for The Toku Source. Cya next time!
