 This article is about an episode in Kamen Rider Gavv.
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Soda Punch Is a Guilty Pleasure (ソーダパンチは罪な味, Sōda Panchi wa Tsumina Aji) is the third episode of Kamen Rider Gavv. It features the televised debut of Gavv Punchingummy Assist after its first appearance in Kamen Rider Gotchard: The Future Daybreak. This episode also features the first appearance of Kenzo Suga.
Synopsis[]
By chance, Shoma meets a tough-looking man named Sujimoto and decides to help him with his work as he is asked.
Then Sujimoto is attacked by a Granute. Shoma receives a call from the Gochizo and rushes to the scene, where he transforms into Gavv and challenges the Granute to a fight.
The Kamen Rider appears! Hanto receives the news from Sachika and witnesses Gavv's battle...!?
Plot[]
A Granute named Bon delivers his monthly supply of pressed humans, five in total, to an Agent whilst he is in the guise of a young woman. Jiip suddenly appears and examines the “product”, praising Bon for their attention to detail when it comes to finding “quality spice”. The Agent speaks, reporting that another part timer has gone missing, so Jiip tells Bon to keep working hard to make up the slack and gives him 5 Dark Snacks as payment for his shipment. Bon greedily eats one upon exiting the room and dives into addicted bliss eating it.
Siita talks with her brother in private about the social media posts she has been made aware of regarding a mysterious hero interfering with their procurement operations. Jiip has heard rumors of someone “bizarre looking” wandering around the city and both twins speculate that the hero is possibly a human, but they are not certain and order their Agent to investigate further by finding and observing the hero.
Meanwhile, near a shrine, Shoma is down to his last Yen coin from his survival fund and needs to get something to eat. He goes to a souvenir shop and buys a bag of gummies, but he pulls too hard with his inhuman strength and sends the candies flying into the air, hitting someone walking by in the face. The tough and intimidating man named Yahiko gets upset and wonders what Shoma’s problem is seemingly throwing candy at his face, which Shoma tries to apologize for only to suddenly collapse and go unconscious from hunger.
Yahiko carries Shoma to rest at a table while he gets food from a nearby truck, a nori bento box. Shoma thanks Yahiko for the meal and enjoys it, with the latter asking if the young wander is broke and learning that he spends his money on candy and snacks when shown Shoma’s diary. Shoma tells Yahiko that he wants to try marshmallows and soft serve ice cream next on his snacks list, but gets interrupted when Yahiko calls him stupid and gets him more bento items to eat.
Yahiko says that way of thinking and eating is not good for Shoma as his body needs rice, meat and vegetables to maintain his energy, not surprised that Shoma is having those blackouts from not properly taking care of himself. Snacking is fine, but it is for when a person is needs a boost in between meals in moderation and indulging in more usually is to celebrate with friends or when you feel down.
That last part makes Shoma think about when his mother talked about wanting potato chips when he was little, realizing that she was feeling sad when she said it and that made sense. He continues eating the nori bento meal and completely polished off the food from the containers minutes later, once again thanking Yahiko for the food. Yahiko says it will take a bit of time for Shoma to recover his stamina, only to be shocked to see him offer to assist construction workers nearby by loading a large stone block onto their truck effortlessly with his super strength.
Yahiko then decides to offer Shoma a job that he needs help with and that he will split the pay with him if he accepts. Shoma agrees to help, asking what kind of job it is, with Yahiko saying it is the kind that will “bring them happy times”. He offers to throw away the bento containers for Shoma as they head out, unaware that the operator of the food truck is Bon, who observes Yahiko as a potential target.
Back at the office, Hanto reports to Soji that he has seen chatter online about the mysterious individual he encountered earlier, with people on social media dubbing him “Kamen Rider” based on the fact that he rides a motorcycle in the photo taken of him. Hanto has also been hearing rumors of a monster saving people from other monsters. Soji asks which monster is the hero in the image, which Hanto cannot tell for certain yet since there were no eyewitness accounts that were 100% clear on what happened.
Hanto even wonders if one of them was the creature that killed his mother, but Soji warns him that he needs to slow down before jumping to conclusions as he has a lead but no evidence. Hanto apologizes for that, saying that not much has happened since Soji first believed his story and he is anxious. Soji rightfully points out to Hanto that even if he finds the creature who killed his mother, he doesn’t have a plan for what to do next, as he is going to be up against an actual monster. Hanto thinks for a second and does admit he doesn’t have any plan for that scenario. Soji is only saying this out of concern, as he would prefer that Hanto avoid getting into dicey situations, being that he is sort of a foster father to him. Though he then admits that is a bit hypocritical given that he got Hanto into the profession of investigative journalism, which Hanto says that he’s already been in plenty of dicey situations on the stories he’s chased down, putting Soji in a headlock.
At a house in a upscale suburb of the city, Shoma and Yahiko are in uniform and are going to inspect the water pipes on behalf of the owner Mr. Yamada. Mr. Yamada does not answer the intercom, which Yahiko finds odd since they arrived on time for the appointment. He suddenly worries that maybe Mr. Yamada had some sort of accident inside the house and after trying to open the door, he asks Shoma to use his strength to break it open. Shoma races through the house looking for Mr. Yamada, with Yasuko smiling as he goes into a room and rummages through Mr. Yamada’s belongings to find an envelope of money that he counts.
Shoma soon discovers that he has actually been tricked into helping rob someone else’s money, with Yahiko disappointed about the amount in the envelope and trying to find Mr. Yamada’s safe. Shoma stops him and says that money belongs to its owner, but Yahiko tells him to shut up and help find the safe. Shoma refuses as they are committing robbery by doing this and power lifts Yahiko out of Mr. Yamada’s home, with the Gochizo swiftly cleaning up the mess they made and putting everything exactly as it was before they broke in.
At Hapipare, Hanto enters, walking in on Ritsu and Sachika having some girl time, getting called “Hanty” by the latter which he does not approve of. She wonders what “Mr. Regular” is doing here as she and Ritsu playfully tease him a bit, but Hanto says he only asked for her services three times so far. He asks Sachika for an SNS investigation of the mysterious Kamen Rider and if she has seen him, while Sachika has not, Ritsu gets scared and remembers seeing him the night when she was attacked last week.
Hanto asks her for more details and she recalls being grabbed by something slimy and blacked out, only to wake up and see Kamen Rider right in front of her. She naturally freaked out and called it a monster, but it simply told her to “be careful” and left. Sachika speculates that maybe Kamen Rider saved Ritsu, which she considers and Hanto thinks about when looking at the photo on his phone.
On a park bench by the river, Shoma asks Yahiko why he wants to steal from people, to which he says he wants to repay his boss. He sees him as a surrogate father who took him in and fed him when he was lost in the world and now his company is going under. Yahiko needed the money to help get his boss out of debt and keep his company solvent, repaying his debts to the old man for being there for him. Shoma points out that stealing from others only troubles someone else, taking away someone else’s happiness in exchange for Yahiko’s boss. Yahiko doesn’t care about what happens to whomever he steals from , telling Shoma to shut up and just go along with his plan, since he owes him for the food he gave him. Shoma doesn’t understand why Yahiko would use him just to steal money. Yahiko gets angry and lashes out by saying he wishes he just left Shoma lying on the ground, storming off and leaving Shoma behind. Concerned he might try to commit another robbery, Shoma asks a Poppingummy Gochizo to follow Yahiko.
Yahiko is searching for a place to quickly rob, saying that time is running out, he finds that he is near the food truck from earlier and it is open and unattended. He sees the cash box is still inside and decides to take the money inside, unaware that Bon set a trap for Yahiko, saying that he will make “quality homemade spice” by manipulating Yahiko into a state of happiness. Yahiko reaches a state of happiness upon grabbing the money, not noticing that it is just a few yen notes stacked on top blank sheets of paper as he gets pressed by Bon before he notices. The Poppingummy Gochizo sees this and races back to Shoma to tell him what happened to Yahiko.
At Stomach Inc., inside the production facility, Glotta examines the stock of pressed humans. She is pleased with the quality, as the happier the humans are upon being pressed, the more special spice she and her siblings can extract out of them. This in turn makes top quality Dark Snacks for their customers as she sees new Snacks rolling out of the conveyor belts.
Back on Earth, Shoma is still at the park bench, deciding to have a snack as he feels down. He takes what is left of the gummies he had earlier and discovers a soda flavored gummy in the bag, which he has never tried before. He finds its flavor and fizz amazing and it generates a new Gochizo, the Punchingummy, who Shoma confides with by asking what to do about Yahiko. He knows he should not commit crimes just because Yahiko helped him, recalling how he escaped from Stomach Inc. and says that he just got his freedom and doesn’t want to lose it again. Poppingummy races towards Shoma and tells him what it saw, with Shoma chasing down the food truck on his motorcycle and stopping it in the middle of the road.
Exposing Bon as a Granute, Shoma says it is regrettable that he has to fight him, as his bento box lunches were good and demands that Yasuko be released. Bon plans on pressing Shoma to keep him quiet despite being “low quality”, but the hero transforms into Kamen Rider to block Bon’s second tongue from wrapping around him and punches it away when Bon tries again. Bon figures out that Kamen Rider is probably the reason that his fellow part-timers have gone missing, disengaging his disguise to reveal that he is a shellfish monster. Shoma says that Bon is correct as they fight, he saves humans from the likes of him.
Hanto is trying to piece together his investigations based on what he has gathered so far, Kamen Rider saves people from the monsters and is probably the one killing them. His theory is that Kamen Rider is a human, but before he can even consider that possibility, Sachika calls him and says that she found internet postings of Kamen Rider being sighted in Mitsuo, with images or him fighting Bon circulating on social media.
Back at the fight between Shoma and Bon, the hero discovers that his base Poppingummy form isn’t enough against Bon, who gets stronger every time his mace hands get hit. Bon knocks Shoma into a concrete pillar, damaging his armor. As the two continue fighting and Shoma regenerates his armor, Hanto arrives on the scene to witness the battle and sees them as monsters. He pulls out his phone to record the fight, excitedly proclaiming that he finally has proof that monsters are real.
Shoma changes forms to avoid getting pummeled, trying to use Zakuzaku Chips, which Hanto observes and records, fascinated by this development. Shoma’s swords do damage and he seems confident that this strategy will work, but he spoke too soon as Bon revealed a nasty surprise in the form of spike missiles, which shatter his Zakuzaku armor completely. He quickly consumes another Poppingummy Gochizo to revert to Poppingummy form. With no other counter to Bon’s attacks, Shoma has no choice but to run and dodge the spike missiles, having lost a chunk of armor from getting punched by Bon’s spike hand. He takes a direct hit to the face and falls to the ground, with little Punchingummy appearing to offer his assistance. Shoma first regenerates his armor again and then equips Punchingummy’s power, a giant blue fist gauntlet that can knock back the spike missiles. Shoma charges towards Bon, continuing knocking back his projectiles and even getting airborne by shielding himself from the explosions.
Unbeknownst to Shoma though is an Agent observing his fight from a rooftop…
Shoma pulverizes Bon with a barrage of spinning airborne punches, but Bon tries countering his punch by enlarging the maces on his fists. Shoma however is stronger and punches Bon back, charging up a finisher with soda bubbles creating a power dampening effect that shuts off Bon’s strength boost ability. Shoma gives Bon his usual offer of letting him go if he gives up Dark Snacks and leaves in peace, but Bon refuses. Hanto hears the word “Dark Snacks” and is curious what that is as he watches. Shoma activates the attack, as the soda bubbles turn into hard gummy fists that repeatedly strike Bon, Shoma then finishes Bon off with a diving Rider Punch.
As the Gochizo celebrate their master’s victory, two of the chocolate ones are abducted by someone with a walking cane. Shoma frees Yahiko, who at first wonders where his stolen money is and then reacts to seeing the Kamen Rider by calling him a monster. Shoma tries a little harder to communicate unlike last time with Ritsu, telling Yahiko to stop doing bad things and not to steal anymore. He feels dejected by being called a monster again as he leaves, only to be caught off guard by Hanto appearing in front of him, who asks Kamen Rider if he is a human. But Hanto’s attempt to get answers is interrupted by the man with the walking cane from earlier, Kenzo Suga. The scientist asks the Kamen Rider if he is a Granute or something else entirely and spooks poor Shoma when he runs towards him wanting to examine him. But then Hanto and Kenzo start bickering and Shoma is freaked out by the two men wanting to know about him, worried his secret could get exposed and he could get unmasked, using his super agility and speed to wall jump to a nearby rooftop and fleeing from the two men.
Hanto and Kenzo continue arguing, blaming each other for letting Kamen Rider get away before getting answers but Hanto then takes in interest in the eccentric scientist when he mentions that he researches Granutes.
Meanwhile, Yahiko has reported to work for his last day, as the boss sadly says that they will be ceasing operations today and apologizes to his employees, but thanks them for all their hard work. Yahiko starts to cry a little, saying he is sorry for not being able to repay him, but the boss says that Yahiko is being a fool, he never expected a reward from him in return when he took him in. Yahiko thinks about Shoma, realizing that he was wrong and about how he hurt him, tearing up as he regrets his actions and wishes he could say sorry to his “little bro”. The boss walks with him, saying that Yahiko should apologize again to Mr. Yamada, which he agrees to.
The Agent returns to the twins with its report, showing a recording of Kamen Rider and a close up of his red Gavv which they both recognize…
Cast[]
- Shoma Stomach (ショウマ・ストマック, Shōma Sutomakku): Hidekazu Chinen (知念 英和, Chinen Hidekazu)
- Hanto Karakida (辛木田 絆斗, Karakida Hantō): Yusuke Hino (日野 友輔, Hino Yūsuke)
- Sachika Amane (甘根 幸果, Amane Sachika): Nozomi Miyabe (宮部 のぞみ, Miyabe Nozomi)
- Soji Shioya (塩谷 壮士, Shioya Sōji): Toshimasa Komatsu (小松 利昌, Komatsu Toshimasa)
- Michiru Inoue (井上 みちる, Inoue Michiru): Arisa Nakajima (中島 亜梨沙, Nakajima Arisa)
- Kenzo Suga (酸賀 研造, Suga Kenzō), Narrator: Shintaro Asanuma (浅沼 晋太郎, Asanuma Shintarō)
- Siita Stomach (シータ・ストマック, Shīta Sutomakku): Honoka Kawasaki (川﨑 帆々花, Kawasaki Honoka)
- Jiip Stomach (ジープ・ストマック, Jīpu Sutomakku): Ruito Koga (古賀 瑠, Koga Ruito)
- Glotta Stomach (グロッタ・ストマック, Gurotta Sutomakku): Machi Chitose (千歳 まち, Chitose Machi)
- Agents (エージェント, Ējento, Voice), Gochizo (ゴチソウ, Gochizō, Voice): Kouki Sakurai (櫻井 皓基, Sakurai Kōki), Ayu Shoji (東海林 亜祐, Shôji Ayû)
Guest Cast[]
- Yahiko Sujimoto (筋元 弥彦, Sujimoto Yahiko): Ryohei Abe (阿部 亮平, Abe Ryōhei)
- Ritsu Sato (佐藤 律, Satō Ritsu): Riko Tanaka (田中 梨瑚, Tanaka Riko)
- CEO: Man Kato (加藤 満, Katō Man)
- Granute Bon (グラニュート・ボン, Guranyūto Bon, Voice): Akihiko Ishizumi (石住 昭彦, Ishizumi Akihiko)
- Granute Bon's human disguise (credited as Bento Stand Employee (弁当屋店員, Bentō-ya ten'in)) is portrayed by Kana Takanashi (小鳥遊 可奈, Takanashi Kana)
Suit Actors[]
- Kamen Rider Gavv: Yuya Nawata (縄田 雄哉, Nawata Yūya)
- Granute Bon: Kotaro Kaji (鍜治 洸太朗, Kaji Kōtarō)
- Agent: Suzuka Usami (宇佐見 紗風, Usami Suzuka)
Forms and Collectibles Used[]
Gochizo[]
- Gochizo Used:
- Gavv
- Henshin Belt Gavv
- Poppingummy, Zakuzakuchips, Punchingummy
- Henshin Belt Gavv
- Gavv
- Form Used:
- Gavv
- Poppingummy Form, Zakuzakuchips Form, Punchingummy Assist
- Gavv
Errors[]
- to be added
Notes[]
- As part of Super Hero Time, this episode aired alongside Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger
episode 29, Bakuage 29: Spy and Family.
- Closing Screen Gochizo:
- Kamen Rider: Gavv
- Gochizo: Punchingummy
- New Gochizo Created: Punchingummy
- As a result of the general public seeing an image online of Gavv riding the Vrocanbuggy against the Granute Hound in the first episode, he is consensually called a "Kamen Rider".
- This episode reveals that so far each episode is in sync with real time by taking place on the week it aired in-universe, as Ritsu mentions that she was attacked by a monster last week.