Kamen Rider Gotchard Reviews

Gotchard Chapter 28 Review

This episode is basically a breather episode. It show: the film location and plot primarily taking away at Kyoto: Spanner and Minato are only there at the start during the Alchemist Academy to wrap up the third arc and hint for what's to come. Atropos is the only one of the Dark Sisters to show up. Then there's Sabimaru being out for reasons that make sense, and Majade left her ring at the Academy, possibly to give the suit actress a break or if they were busy on another project.

And some of that is okay, but we need to get to that late. For now, Starshine Hoshino's actor has worked as a regular in Ultraman Orb and Z, two shows I know little about, but it's interesting to see Toku actors show up from one series to the next.

Opening changes wise, Geyron's out, Platinum's in. Apparently the official name is Platina

So right after the Kitchen Ichinose Alliance and Alchemist Academy allies got their Chemies back from Geyron, it's nice to see Minato be welcomed back into the fold by the protagonist trio. The doubts makes sense with what he's gone through all in their own way: Houtaro's gratitude, Rinne's straightforward answer, and Spanner's "you're the only one who can handle them" approach. It's small moments in these shows that get you.

78 out of 101 Chemies. About seventy-seven percent through. Though it's finally welcome to see the Alchemist Academy learn the truth about Geryon, it's annoying how they're backtracking with these half hearted praises, letting him run free and abandoning & ordering them out. Minato's right in that they need a change or set up, by the executive level, and that glance between him and Spanner: are they going to attempt that as well?

Let's look the pros and cons of Spanner being an executive:

Pro: The school would benefit from a combat specialist given his parents were the last ones and he's the brawler out of the core three. Minato's training has pushed him to become a better leader to his Chemies. He's got Kyoka's knowledge as an advisor and support, especially for the technological side of things. And while he's brash, he'll actually listen to room for improvement at times.

Con: He's tried to beat up a 16 to 17 year old boy (pre-character development), acts as a lone agent too much for his own will, doesn't show at times where it'd be necessary (though one could argue an 19 year old interacting with high schoolers consistently would seem weird on the outset), and his aloof nature would contrast with his goals.

Good to have Kajiki back in the plot but how he ended up encountering Hoshino...and Zukyumpire, okay that was brainwashing but still.

And we get the return of Rinne's love for ghosts and yokai. Just the mere sight of the ladies making Houtaro strong as he mentally hurts himself and struggling so bad against two Yokai that are clearly Chemy that even using Catchula and Tricera isn't enough, is both hilarious.

And even more surprise Starshine can actually use the power of Chemies to the point even FireMars joins him, but what the heck was with that super speed? Ehh, Izu did it several times. Then again she was an android with sentience.

The Platinum fight was at least fun. With Atropos turning the Carery/fairy and Karakasobake Malgam. Using his combat abilities against a duo, it was pretty cool to see a spinning drill clash decide the fight.

The big problem with this episode imo: is the lack of focus on Renge. Which is a shame too. It's nice to see her reunite with her grandmother, who is an absolute sweetheart. The fact she's so worried about her home being haunted by a yokai she goes to call for help immediately, and the goal we know set for her about her wanting to use alchemy as a means to make money, hint those intentions were noble and for her family. Her getting licked by the umbrella monster was gross and probably someone's fetish. Between her grandmother's drive to protect and coddle her, The subplot with the gangsters attacking the "dump" being land sharks and her concern her townsfolk are gonna get driven off their land at least should give her enough steam to focus more on her next week's episode (assuming this wasn't written before March 31st hehehe).

The odd thing is, Starshine actually comes off more interesting. The fact he was training for spiritual enlightenment, stumbled on the four lights, and chose to use that power for good...and the fact this was four months ago actually serves as an excuse for why Kaijiki didn't find him immediately, but most likely after Zukyuempire genuinely shows yeah they can be used as a force for good.

Still it was entertaining enough. Didn't have a whole lot to say, but it gave me enough to say at the very least. Curious to see where this leads into.