"Kamen Rider Geats" series: Episode eight of ?? recap

 

 Air Dates: September 4th until August 2023(!), Sunday mornings at 9:00 am on TV-Asahi

Screenwriter: Yuuya Takahashi     Subs done by Anon at NYAA

Main Cast: This will be an ongoing work in progress and this section may never be 100% complete! Most was written up after viewing the first episode though we didn't meet every character and sure a bit more will be added in for every show but hopefully most things will be known by the fifth or so episode. All of the riders are fighting an alien race called Jamato.

Desire Grand Prix rules

 Not all about the game has been revealed yet but this is what's known after two episodes. The contest lasts for six months, during it a Kamen Rider gets points with the most being for killing the alien Jamatos. Points can also be earned for saving human lives and other acts of heroism but not as many as slaying a Jamato. At the end of the contest the winner gets to choose what kind of world he wants to see exist, check on Ace below to see his wish as he won the last contest. Once a contest ends any person involved will have their memories reset and know zero about the contest and Jamato army so that person can live their live in peace. If they return for another contest those memories will return. The Jammer Area is a bit like an arena, when a battle goes on the action can only take place in this smallish area and it's forbidden to leave or attack outside of it. Will update this section too as we go along.

Hideyoshi Kan as Ace Ukiyo/Kamen Rider Geats.... He truly is an ace fighter though slightly arrogant and is the most current winner of the Desire Grand Prix. Ace had a very unique and selfish wish for his new world. It would be one where he would be the Star of Stars or in other words immensely popular and to say he has a huge ego would be an understatement! KR Geats has acquired too many weapons to count!

 Ryuga Sato as Keiwa Sakurai/KR Tycoon.... Newest Kamen Rider who was recruited at the end of the first episode. Keiwa is the younger brother of Sara and he was a college student who had been looking for work with no success.  His weapon is a powerful Armed Arrow, also has acquired a Booster Buckle which makes weapons even more powerful. His wish if he wins the current Grand Prix is to have world peace.

 Yuno Hoshino as Neon Kurama/KR Nago.... She was also recruited at the end of the first episode and is the youngest Kamen Rider. Neon comes from a very wealthy family and until becoming a 'superhero' had been a very influential celebrity influencer, especially among high school girls. Her weapon is an Armed Hammer. If Neon wins the Grand Prix her wish is to find her 'true love' of the world!

 Kazuto Mokudai as Michinaga Azuma/KR Buffa(buffer).... Think the Buffa is actually short for Buffalo and he is as tough as one! He has two weapons, one being a Water Shooter and obtained his second from KR Dapan which is a Magnum. But actually these weapons change hands so often am having a hard time figuring out who has what! If Buffa wins the Grand Prix his wish is to see.... all Kamen Riders eliminated(!).... but would he be killed too? Buffa now has a Zombie Buckle, why not a true weapon it does provide protection.

 KR Riders Dapan, Merry and Ginpin have been killed or eliminated from the contest.

 The others of the cast, don't think many more will be added in

Kokoro Aoshima as Tsumuri.... Navigates the Grand Prix as far as figuring out the points and other tidbits go but don't know enough about her yet.

 Nene Shida as Sara Sakurai.... My main reason for watching this show! She's the older sister of the newest Kamen Rider Keiwa and works as an OL. Their parents were killed over a decade ago in an accident.... that's what she thought until this episode.

Short trailer for the eighth episode

Previous recaps:

It's not important to read all of these but would recommend the first two episodes as so much was explained and won't always refer back to those things.

Episode one .... Episode two .... Episode three .... Episode four

Episode five .... Episode six

 

 Seen much more of Nene as Sara in these last two episodes, she may be wearing an OL uniform but as you can see she looks fabulous! As far as the fighting went this had the best action to date and the ending was a bit surprising but don't think what took place will be final. The story continues on from the last show, the Riders are trying to take down the most powerful Jamato yet who is called Last Boss, why it's called that still hasn't been revealed. This contest is called 'Kick the Can', the Jamato carries a can around with some unknown energy booster in it. If a Rider can kick the can out of the Jammer Area the Jamato is defeated and the game is over but this is one strong creature. The Riders have attacked it twice but to no avail, KR Geats was able to nab the can and was about to kick it at the end of the previous show. However he caught it outside of the Jammer Area which isn't allowed, that area is the only place where fighting and obtaining new weapons is allowed. 

 So the four Riders headed back to HQ to lick their wounds, in KR Tycoon's case he's literally doing that! The Jamato gave him one severe beating and KR Tycoon aka Keiwa is in no shape to do any more fighting, he does give it a shot later on and for doing that he may have sealed his own fate. Above you can Keiwa's older sister Sara, she's an OL and has told her brother a creature is destroying the city, she has no idea what a Jamato is... or does she? The four Riders arrived on the scene, though they outnumber the Jamato he's not easy to defeat so while they saved the city the Last Boss escaped again. There was no way for Keiwa to hide his identity from Sara and he didn't even try but she really doesn't have a clue what a Rider is. In a key moment Sara's hand rubbed against Keiwa/KR Tycoon's weapon belt and it brought back memories. That's of their parents being killed ten years ago, all this time she had thought they perished in a car accident but it was actually the Jamatos that killed them! 

 Unless you're a Rider or associated with the Desire Grand Prix contest you retain no memories of the Jamato aliens which is why Sara didn't remember exactly how her parents died. But brushing against her brother's Rider belt brought those memories back and now KR Tycoon has another reason for wanting to win this contest. Now he's got a third as the Last Boss Jamato appeared out of nowhere and kidnapped Sara, a badly beaten Keiwa wasn't able to put up any kind of fight. In a few of the screenshots above you can see how much the Last Boss Jamato has grown, in the beginning he wasn't that much bigger than a human. The creature becomes stronger and larger due to sucking the lives out of the humans the Jamato has captured. At first thought they would die but that's not always the case, you can see Sara above who is in a paralyzed state but can notice what's happening.

 On to this episode's second battle against this powerful Jamato alien and it's the fourth time the Riders have attempted to Kick the Can. Won't spoil it too much but four tries at getting to the can won't be enough! Before the skirmish KR Tycoon tried to get the three others to work as a team to defeat the Last Boss but more importantly to rescue his sister Sara. But this is a contest and while they do want to save the Earth they're looking out for themselves first as they all turned down KR Tycoon. KR Geats bluntly said the only reason for the plan was to save KR Tycoon's sister, he was cruel but correct with that statement and silently KR Tycoon agreed. Finally to the battle and you have to remember an episode is only 23 minutes in length, lot does happen but endings often wrap up quickly.

 KR Tycoon is the worst of the Riders at fighting, will he be even worse after the beating he took earlier? Not so much as KR Tycoon has been improving a bit with each show, he does have a couple of weapons with the best being a Boost Buckle. That will boost the power of any weapon and during this battle he was able to whisk away from KR Geats his new Ninja buckle. That makes a Rider much faster and also gives them much more agility, combining that with the Boost Buckle may give KR Tycoon a shot at kicking the Jamato's can outside of the Jammer Area. That can did was kicked but once again a rule was broken. The Jamato was stunned and groggy by KR Tycoon's attack, it wasn't enough to defeat him but it prevented the Last Boss from protecting his can. First on the scene was KR Buffa who did kick it though a few yards after that KR Geats gave it a stronger kick and it looked like the contest was over. But out of nowhere flew KR Nago who gave the can a final kick and as she asks above did that kick make her the winner?

 According to KR Geats it doesn't appear so as no announcement was made, shortly after the game's navigator Tsumuri arrived on the scene. She said that KR Nago touched the can outside of the Jammer Area, had she not touched it the Jamato would have been defeated! It was a semi victory as the humans were left behind by the creature who had quickly fled, among the survivors was Sara. Though KR Tycoon fought so well that battle really destroyed him and will he be able to continue on with the contest? According to Tsumuri the answer is NO(!) as there is a rule where she can drop a Rider if they're too badly hurt, that's what she did at the end to KR Tycoon. He didn't appear upset at all and actually was happy to return to his normal human life with Sara. The episode ended on that note but I would bet the House that's it's not the last we see of Keiwa as KR Tycoon, not sure if it'll happen in the next show but he'll be returning as a Rider. The 'Kick the Can' battle is still going on and should be wrapped up in the next show. The two episodes recapped today have been the best ones so far and in two weeks will be returning with the next pair of recaps.