Kamen Rider Gotchard Reviews

Gotchard Episode 8 Review

So the Malgram that was hunting Gotchard and the kid was none other than his freaking father. What the hell? 

Rinne pulling out the Chocho Bullet against a child is just a hilarious shot. It's not narm, but at the same time, its funny  out of context. 

Subs are out...man I'm late.

So long story short, this episode is about having a good balance of working and studying, as well as a healthy work-life balance, and the funny thing is, I think last episode served as a better example than that, especially with how we start out the episode.

Think about it. Spanner talks so much crap about Hotaro's methods, but last episode he prioritized his safety and the means to fight him. Sabimaru is shown to be skilled at finding Chemies and enjoys them, but didn't keep Isaac charged in case of an emergency, Rinne definitely needs to relax and unwind, but has to grow stronger to not let the Dark Sisters overwhelm her, and Renge shouldn't focus exclusively on the money: a motivation should not lead to greed.

On the topic of Rinne, I had gotten the fact she uses the Chocho Bullet wrong, it's the standard Chemy Riser's weapon function, but it's just hilarious Atropos uses crocodile tears to make random humans susceptible to her powers to seize control of them. They are taking advantage of her ages in ways I've rare seen anime do and should do in favor of less fun antics with old characters that look young.

It is nice to see that Hotaro and Rinne have Hopper 1 and Saboneedle in the opening, and given these two episodes with Riku giving Saboneedle to him, it would be nice to see the Chemies actually be around and active in the background more.

Given that some of them are props, I actually hope the prop Chemies are shown throughout like the Foodroids, since the audience is supposed to see that they are innocent creatures that just need to make sure they understand right or wrong. Previous episodes show that a lot, look at Wrestler G, but at the same time, it's also something you need to show rather than tell, and I'm hoping it has a healthy balance. 

Also, glad Sabo Needle has had this much personality regarding the Chemies we've had so far. Though I wish for this first arc they managed to fit certain Chemies personalities down into one episode, it's okay to split between one and two episode focus. 

Also, Atropos trying to feign like she's a child and get attention away from her is freaking hilarious. For all her inability to understand/ability to try and manipulate and gaslight Rinne, she's at least aware enough to use basic social norms against her, which is just too damn funny.

But the way she switches between her adult mannerisms is also adorable, asking to be respected with her name, taunting her with intel her father may be alive, then freezing everyone in place after using them to get attention.

"I'll remember those words of yours." Yeah that's definitely foreshadowing for something down the line. 

It's also nice to get Clotho and Lachesis' concern for one another. They actually act like sisters who care about each other while Atropos sees them as underlings, or at least that's the vibe.

It was pretty smart to have the other Chemies help out Houtaro via SmaPhone and a Wild Form with the whale saving him. Really helps prove these guys actually have a personality and aren't just props.

And it's really telling a kid like Riku's being more mature about the situation, especially apologizing after finding him. When you have problems with people, there's always going to be two camps: one who will just walk away, and another who will eventually turn back to try and make amends.

It's easier to one but depending on the situation, it can come off as apathetic or sociopathic at worst, or recognizing the situation is beyond repair. But that doesn't mean you should just automatically throw the second option out of the window. If a kid can figure that out while Spanner just wants Rinne to follow his ideals and mentality, it really shows we may underestimate one's own ability to come to an understanding.

And it's good to see Sabimaru in peak form with Isaac. If someone can appeal to even Spanner through pragmatism, it's probably gonna be him, even if Renge being smug about them being a team of endless possibilities is both adorable and hilarious.

Spanner is both interesting and frustrating, because at times he comes off as the sane one but his experience outweighs his social ability to make things better: like why not go with Renge and Sabimaru to help them out if you think they're amateurs? Shouldn't a graduate whose clearly better want to support them? 

Rinne almost agreeing with him despite Minato also questioning her mentality, but addressing needing to protect people's lives is important. She also somehow got him to give her GutsShovel and Dokkiri Majin.

Addressing the actual elephant in the room, the abuse. Now having a overprotective father and exploring his genuine love for his son turning into blind hatred of anything they feel is a threat their actions is complex, but you can't ignore the blatant child abuse. Not every friend is going to be a bad influence, and taking away a child's forms of comfort that don't have any negative impact isn't the most ideal situation.

Especially when the catcus made out of alchemy is doing a better job protecting your own child from you.

Also, Houtaro when he's just relieved they found each other shows he's not just some annoying loud mouth.

Though it is funny to watch Hooutaro get creative with his fights, using the shovel to excavate a bubble swirl as a mental illusion of all things before using Needle Hawk with Sabo in proper condition to fight. Sabi even asking how that's supposed to work against a Dragonfly, but to be fair, any fly creature that gets it's wings wet are going to struggle against them. 

And Needle Hawk has a cool Rider Kick: going freefall and then using the burning momentum for terminal velocity, igniting itself in Wild Form like a phoenix before crashing down with a kicking stomp was glorious.

That being said, Minato's claims that Houtaro tried to keep the boy and the Chemy together by force and tarnished the bond with Riku and his dad, that feels like blaming the wrong person, it's not Houtaro's fault: Riku came to him, his father tried to attack Saboneedle and Riku instead of just talking to his son, and Sabo was actually paying attention while the dad tried to abuse his son.

Granted, that may have been him trying to warn Houtaro of the potential downsides, but the fact Sabo was the one who improved at improve showing gratitude means Houtaro at least got the Chemy under control and let Riku keep the flower, so I guess that's him trying to be rationale.

But the father should not have been forgiven. People

As for this episode being filler, this was a better rationale for Houtaro's dream, having two Chemies stripped from their friends gives him even more of a reason to want to make this dream a reality. 

Revisiting these older episodes is definitely a blast to see how much has changed and stayed the same since then.