Oh my goodness, finally, this episode took FOREVER to find subbed. Seriously, I was downloading software on three different devices to try and find a way to watch this episode. This was ridiculous, and it's not even the translator's fault (they do this work for free and deserve mad respect and support): most people don't have access to torrent, so the websites that should've been keeping tabs on when it was completed to upload the episode are ridiculous. You would think given how important this episode is people would be on it, but semantics, glad we at least have the episode to watch, finally.

The heartwarming hand huddle in the beginning immediately juxtaposed with Tamami opening the shop and Rinne arguing about the logical issues of making their new base in a restaurant despite her mom being okay with and the patrons at the shop probably would be thinking they're just talking about some new show or game popular with teens anyway.

Kajiki potentially being brought in as a Sixth Ranger to the group is an idea people have suggested given his affinity for being targeted by Chemy/Malgam attacks, and it's not like he'd be opposed to it, he'd just need to find a ring. But Renge checking Rinne on her strict adherence to the rules, something that is a core part of her character, so it makes sense she'd struggle, even if she's growing from it, to question. There was going to be a point where she'd feel alienated from her friends because of this before and given the hints towards her isolation either because of her father's disappearance or her status as his daughter, so it was better to tackle it now than later.

Two key things:

Forgot to talk about the opening alteration. Apparently there have been fandom conversations about whether or not the second (really third arc if you count the Gotcha Chemy, Number 10, and now Disassembled Alchemist Academy arc) arcs have been a retool because something isn't selling as much. I don't really buy into those theories. He's worked on W, Fourze, Drive, Ghost, and Saber (yes some are more divisive but that's a discussion for another time), and with his contributions to each one despite not being the head writer for them, at worst he's pushed character arcs and plotlines to the story that either were established earlier on, and exploring them later. You see this in Gotchard too many times:

1: Hotarou had an natural treatment for Chemies as living creatures: we know now he un-subsciously bonded with them in the past.

2: Kajiki was always interacting with Chemies. Turns out the one who inspired him and Hijiri may have been real.

3: Sabimaru was shown to be well versed in Chemies knowledge and finding them to capture. Guess who becomes the first user of Dread the Sisters can manipulate later.

4: Spanner made Hotaro x Rinne shippers worry until they realized she'd never be into him and he admitted she wasn't his lover. What we thought was a funny line turned out to be true since he wants to keep a close eye on her and investigate Fuga's involvement.

5: Wrestler G and Sabimaru showed humans could befriend Chemies, like how Hotaro did before his memories were wiped.

6: Fuga entrusted Hotaro with the driver....because he saw Hotarou protect the Chemies once before and realized those instincts never changed.

7: They have been hinting the whole Hotarou and Rinne being a duo since the start with the whole 1 to 9 gimmick, their confirmation to protect each other in episode 14, and look who's going to become a Rider.

8: The Academy has been known to tamper and mess with people's memories...like how most of the executives were to believe Fuga was a traitor thanks to Geryon.

9: We were told Master Geryon existed for a while, and now he shows up because every Kamen Rider needs a crazy episode around Christmas.

10: Licht was interested in seeing if Hotarou could master the level X/10 Chemies...and becomes the final boss of the movie.

There's too much build up and foreshadowing to feel like all those elements were going to pay off in some way or form.

As for the opening itself, the change in lyrics are harmless to me. It's cool to have an opening update including the song lyrics and adding another band. Spoiling Majade/Rinne's rider form isn't too much of a deal breaker for me, although spoiling Spanner's is debatable: you could argue with leaks and the foreshadowing to it, it made sense given the promotion material for the new arc. Minato's change in flick is whatever, the Three Sisters in the cube of Geyron's hands is definitely creepy, nice to get their henshin poses I think Ace's actor made fun of once. It's a little meh to see Majade and Valvarad fight Dread when it could've been cool to show Dread fighting with each Sister and their respective Rider rival. I like Rinne's cards showing up for her transformation as well as Spanner's. The three of them running opposite each other in the....quarry is a little meh, but I like it enough.

Geryon's homunculi...uh, can alchemy make food (well you make something in exchange for something else so yes). The question is when the Dark Sisters hesitated upon seeing him, was it because they've never eaten before and aren't fully human, lost their humanity, or were just grossed out. This one able to smack Clotho aside so casually definitely makes a good impression, though Geryon really should learn from Sonic Lost World and IDW you don't use a kryptonite so close to their target.

Kyoka treating Spanner to food so casually to...oden (or ramen) and just wants to see it out of curiosity after Spanner was gone from the last episode so casually is a chuckle worthy.

Nice to see Minato continuing his trend of keeping his real life a mystery, but him guilting Rinne into his obligation is her test of resolve. Though it's interesting he just chose to retreat and tried to grab the Gotchard Driver in the fight. He know his limitations, or something else?

The conversation with Rinne and Hotarou about rules feels more like talking about forming your own code of conduct and human values than outright rules, which I guess is the straightforward way for the target audience. It could work better as a talk about obligation vs responsibility, but it works out.

Okay, because of the lack of care for the branch barring Minato, using Kajiki's blog as the monster sighting after the past four Reiwa seasons had the protags know because of their AI employees being turned, Saber having it through a magic book sending discrepancies, Revice having two organizations and mainstream media, and Geats organizing these monsters, it's just really funny to have monster alerts come from a paranormal blog. It's not bad, neat touch for Sabimaru and Kaijiki having been influenced by the same Chemy so of course Sabi would be checking it out. That would actually explain how he was so good at finding them in those early episodes when you think about it. Or this is overthinking.

Forget what the monster and Rinne say, those meaty cream puffs....Rinne nodding in agreement with the monster, okay, now that was priceless.

Here's a fun fact: Geryon giving Atropos a set of pan pipes is a nod to Orpheus using music to soothe the original Cerberus, neat.

It's nice to see Gotchard use the Fire Gotchard to break free off the chains to burst them off, Cerberus chains are really hard to break, and Atropos being clever by splitting it into three to make it stay in the game, love the tactics between heroes and villains.

Even the Fire Ignitor overheating and the simple solution of Renge and Sabimaru using Chemies and fans to cool it off.

Intentionally spoiling yourself on certain details is definitely a risk but with context, having Cerberus turn on Gotchard but Rinne choosing to defend her without using her own magic and taking a bite to the hand, finally putting her own convictions into her own hands: even if I think the wording is clunky, it fits well given how she sees Atropos' suffering within herself.

And after nineteen episodes of buildup, a movie, a fandom growing in turmoil over who would be the secondary Kamen Rider despite the company telling us themselves who would it be and gaining more character development in a show about bonding with humans and creatures while the other candidate's only forms of kindness have been to their mentor, their protectorate, a woman of the week he barely knew and an AI, it's time for Kamen Rider's first female secondary Rider to debut on tv.

While I wish the setting was more grand than a parking lot, I like it:

Hotarou/Gotchard: thanks to Renge and Sabimaru, Fire's back in the game with AppareSkebows charging with enough speed to do a one hit slash. While I would've liked to see a slash to show it, just the thought Gotchard moved so fast it couldn't even react is pretty dope in and of itself.

Rinne/Majade: Her fighting style is so graceful and imposing, two kicks while flipping back, controlling her rolls before timing an axe kick, sliding underneath the triple attack before rising up with a bicycle kick barrage, and a kick to launch themselves off gracefully as she explodes is fighting enough.

And true, Atropos getting healed will lead to issues down the road, but it wounds her pride knowing the girl she gaslight saved her life is just making her groan on the inside.

So Kyoka's goal to steal the drivers...well naturally its for information but in terms of prides getting hurt, Spanner definitely is feeling overshadowed so much he left his mentor behind.

Meanwhile, his own rival in Lachesis might be feeling rejected in that sense too. Think about it: after her defeat, she was forced into becoming the um......Orochi Malgam. She was hurt pretty bad from that, meanwhile Geyron's out here treating Atropos like his daughter. Given how the episode started it would've made more sense for Clotho to be the one that does that, but the intrigue and parallels makes speculation fun for what will happen down the line.

"So you've found your own path," see there's hints he's definitely caring with that smile...but yeah, they're going to definitely fight in the future.

Rinne's shirt is also pretty adorable. 

(I finished that part before I fell asleep so it counts.)

Overall, gotta say the episode was pretty fun. They're playing on Hotaro and Rinne being duo protagonists with this being a reaffirmation of her convictions and getting creative with Cereberus allowed the focus to focus on Rinne's developments even though he handles most of his actions, it's those that work in tandem with her moments allowing her to shine. The action could've been better in some moments, but for the most part, they did a good job.

And one more thing to note. This episode was written by Toshiki Inoue's daughter, Akiko Inoue. Toshiki is a pretty divisive writer, evidenced by Donbrothers being one of the most ambitious, yet chaotic seasons with so many good and questionable decisions in the writing. For a debut writing the main female character, she did a good job: every character has their moment to shine: from Rinne and Hotarou to Renge and Sabimaru helping out, Kaijki playing a small part, setting up Kyoka and Spanner, Minato's complex situation as teacher/villain, the potential issues growing with the villains, and building on all those things from the past. The last female writer we had for a season was Yasuko Kobayashi, who wrote Kamen Rider Amazons, and that was moral complexity, so if she's staying on for a long time, this was a good first impression.

Next episode, guess we'll finally get Spanner's character development. Who wants to bet that his episode will have his parents, fake or real, die in front of him. Either way, it's time for our polarizing mutt to break and pick himself up.

Was the mental turmoil to get to watch this episode worth it? Yeah, honestly it was.

If you want to check out my college Kamen Rider inspired story, check this out. Rinne's entire existence was something that inspired me to make this before.

https://www.wattpad.com/story/331779437-soul-crossers-wattys-2024

And go watch the episode. This is one of the few episodes I watched in one setting, pausing and analyzing, and while I'll rewatch it for fun, it's always interesting to analyze these media regardless of if opinions are split.