YMMV / Kamen Rider Gotchard

• Accidental Innuendo: "Gotchanko" is also used as a made-up verb in the Chemies' official bios when describing who they pair with. Machine translation parses such usage as simply "doing it," and since that verbiage is an innuendo in both English and Japanese, it occasionally interprets the text as such and spits out a much more... blunt result, so to speak.
• Adorkable:
  • Just look at how big Sabimaru's smile is when Houtaro called him "sempai", and how he practically skips out of the Academy. In #9, he's shown playing around with the Chemies in his hand, and #15 has him excited over Kajiki's theory of Santa being an alien.
  • Rinne is having so much fun in the Kyoto trip #9-10, whether it's her clapping cheerfully at the monsters in the haunted house, or when dressed up a member of The Shinsengumi and having Houtaro photograph her. #28 has her love of ghosts return in full force as she runs around while laughing in glee.
• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • What exactly is Supana's deal with Rinne? He treats her kindly, well kind-er than anyone else, but he tells Boruto that he does not see her as a girlfriend, yet acts almost entitled to her. He also is shown to be detached to everything; even collecting Chemys gives him no joy. It's also notable that Rinne does not reciprocate Supana's feelings. It's possible that he's her bodyguard or an arranged fiancé, and that, depending on which, him giving her the Chemies he captures are because he's trying to give her more defensive 'weapons' or actually giving her gifts as he believes a fiancé should. Further muddying things is how Supana is only acting nice around Rinne as a way to get closer to her in order to uncover her father's endgame.
  • On another case of Supana, does he truly not recognize Boruto or did he have his memories wiped? What was an initially an indifference to this hotshot, the fact that Supana honestly asks who he was and the ending of #6 having Minato wipe Boruto's mind even though he's part of the Alchemists' Academy, there's an implication that Supana is nothing but a pawn in a bigger scheme. Or, Supana knew all along and decided to ask anyhow just to troll with his Unknown Rival, given how he also trolled Houtarou by calling his meal disgusting (despite finishing it) then cooking an omurice that tasted delicious.
  • In #9, Rinne decides that she, Ryo and Houtaro will explore a haunted mansion pursuit of a girl Ryo has fallen in love with. Rinne is the only one laughing and giggling at the experiences, but is she laughing at how fun it is to be in the haunted house or is she more amused at Ryo and Houtaro screaming their heads off and giving them light payback for not focusing on their research project? Or did she knew all along that Hijiri would be working part time in the haunted house given her love of the supernatural? #10 having her go through the same haunted house alongside Ryo again now with Renge and Sabimaru in tow hints towards being a Haunted House enthusiast, and #28 has her be the only character who isn't freaked out the appearance of apparent ghosts (actually Yokai-themed Chemies).
  • #17: Did Minato truly pull a Face–Heel Turn or is it all an act to save his students from something even worse? If he was Evil All Along, why have his Pet the Dog moments with Riku, Kajiki/Hijiri and Sawa? Did he allow Hotaro to become part of the Alchemist Academy because he genuinely saw talent in the boy or only so he can have tabs on him for Greyon's sake? Was he trying to gaslight Hotaro in #8 about getting others involved in Chemy affairs? In #19, he immediately leaves when he sees the new Gotchardigniter and he seems to smile when Rinne stands up to him. And in #20, did Minato refuse to help Supana due to him not wanting to blow his cover as a mole or because he's become pure evil? #25 reveals that it was indeed a Face–Heel Turn brought on due to Geryon triggering his Survivor's Guilt.
  • Lachesis is shown glaring at Atropos in #19 and #20. Is she jealous that her older sister gets doted on by Geryon or is she still pissed off over how Geryon forced her to become Orochi Malgam without her consent? Her subsquent Heel–Face Turn seems to suggest the latter option.
  • In #23, Supana basically tells Hotaro that he's on his own to handle Zukyumpire. Is this Bystander Syndrome striking again or is it because Supana knows full enough that Hotaro is the right person to reach out to him?
  • Supana's disdain for Hotaro in general. Most of the time, he spits in Hotaros' face that he's pathetic even though Hotaro does far more in kicking ass and collecting Chemies than Supana does. But #16 suddenly has him do a full 180, catching Hotaro when he collapses and actually complimenting him before #20 has him pissed off to no end that he Can't Catch Up. Then he starts pleading for Hotaro to save him before #23 has him telling Hotaro to go stop Zukyumpire himself. Does he hate Hotaro's kindness and only respects him when he's serious? Does he hate Hotaro for not being a true alchemist? Is he pissed off that he's connected to Rinne and Fuga despite being a naive wannabe? Or is he like Ryusei Sakuta who secretly wants to get closer to Hotaro but his own arrogance prevents that?
• Alternative Joke Interpretation: In #23, Hopper1 acts smitten with Zukyumpire and ignores Hotaro. Is this due to it being charmed by Zukyumpire, or is it intentional as revenge for Hotaro ignoring its warnings in the previous episode? Was it already affected to begin with, given how it acted back then?
• Angst? What Angst?: The way the violence gets shaken off and rarely mentioned again if at all jumps from The Pollyanna straight into the deep end of this trope. If it wasn't for those rare mentions, theories on whether the protagonist group is having their memories wiped between the episodes might actually work.
  • The end of #8 has Riku (prior to getting his memories erased) completely fine despite having a Dragonfly monster, who was his father, attack him without mercy. It seems that the reveal his father was trying to scare people away from him so they wouldn't distract him from studying instead of trying to hurt him made it okay and possibly due to his stoicness.
  • #13: No one seems to have PTSD over Atropos killing a random teacher in broad daylight.
  • Minato's backstory is the one major example that averts this.
• Ass Pull: In #20, Supana suddenly has black flame powers that were never foreshadowed prior. Yes, one could argue that Supana didn't know how to use them thanks to having his memories erased by Kyoka, but it's still strange that he never showed any signs of having these powers, or if they're even a form of alchemy or not.
• Awesome Art: The artwork on the Ride Chemy Cards is extremely addicting to look at.
• Awesome Ego: Kaguya/Kamen Rider Legend. He wouldn't be smug if he wasn't a complete badass.
• Catharsis Factor:
  • The majority of the Malgam hosts are all so utterly dickish that seeing Gotchard and Valvarad give them their just desserts always proves satisfying.
  • #15 has Rinne finally making Atropos shut up with the guilt-tripping she placed on the alchemist for the past few episodes by stating that she puts faith in her father's actions and how Atropos is jealous that she can never experience human bonds like love. She continues this in the Winter Movie when she finally confronts her father and gets the power of a Kamen Rider. Then in #19, she makes Minato shut up about loyalty to the Alchemists' Academy while also making Atropos eat delicious karma when Rinne transforms into Majade once more by saving her ass.
  • #21 is basically Valvarad Catharsis as Supana finally gains Character Development and whomps the Angel Malgam for all of their horrible actions on him in the previous episode. Supana also destroys the DreadDriver off of Minato as well.
  • #23 gives a minor one when Yua decides that she's not going to go back to her boyfriend and instead vows to find her own happiness thanks to Zukyunpire.
  • It's difficult to word the satisfaction of seeing Geryon finally get his just desserts in the form of a beatdown by Platina Gotchard then being taken by an entity from the Door of Darkness for his failure in #27 after getting away with his past atrocities scot-free.
• Continuity Lockout: Because of Legend and Zein's appearance in #33, viewers will have to watch Kamen Rider Outsiders and Kamen Rider Gotchard VS Kamen Rider Legend spin-off to get an idea of who they are.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Nammonite's card art has it holding its shell mournfully; anyone who knows about marine biology will know that just like with turtles and snails, nautilids cannot be separated from their shells without dying (though Chemy doesn't behave like real lifeforms), but the comically sad expression makes it come off as hilariously adorable. Additionally, its name is based off the Japanese phrase nanimonai/"having nothing", which implies its sadness is over having an empty shell rather than any risk of death as a nautilid..
• Designated Hero: Supana is supposed to be an elite Alchemist sent to help Houtaro and the others deal with the Malgams and collect all of the Chemies... but more often than not, he refuses to actually help them if he's not interested, when it's supposed to be his job. When he's not slacking off, he tends to complain about the other heroes not being able to get things done and never taking responsibility when things go wrong. And he's the one who's still able to call out the Alchemist's Academy for their Skewed Priorities and doesn't give himself up to Geryon like even Minato (apparently) does. His suspicion of the Academy's authority and Fuga might be the cause of such aloofness in earlier arcs.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: Kamen Rider Legend has firmly established himself as this, not only for his awesomeness and eye-catching suit design, but also because out of suit, the man is peak comedy gold.
• Epileptic Trees:
  • Simply because of the series' Cards of Power gimmick (and that this is the 5th Reiwa Era entry which meant it had the potential of being a Milestone Celebration series), many fans assumed Kamen Rider Decade would play a major supporting role here, much like in Kamen Rider Zi-O, despite the character having been Killed Off for Real and Masahiro Inoue no longer intending to reprise his role as the title character. This would come true (in a sense) with the announcement of Kamen Rider Legend, whose entire design pays homage to Decade. Ironically, the five Legend Riders in the new special do include Decade among them, with Inoue only providing Decade's voice in a flashback.
  • Due to the series' theme of alchemy, many have predicted that the Philosopher's Stone will play a major role.
  • Closeups of Kamen Rider Dread revealed that the narrowed "evil"-looking eyes were actually the result of black paint disguising regular, more rounded eye lenses, which was similar to some "evil" Rangers that appeared in recent Super Sentai like KiramaiSilver or even how Bujin Sword was done. This led to speculation that Dread would have unpainted eye lenses to mark a Heel–Face Turn. Moreso after the Dread suit had been assigned to Minato after an ambiguous Face–Heel Turn. It's not helped by the fact that Dread also possesses a Scarf of Asskicking, something that is seldom seen on an evil Kamen Rider.
  • Upon his first appearance, fans speculated that Gotchard Daybreak was the Daybreak Alchemist due to their names. It was later revealed to be Future!Houtaro.
• Evil Is Cool: It says a lot that fans paid much more attention to the series upon Kamen Rider Dread's introduction.
• Fan Nickname:
  • "Kamen Rider Cardcaptor Sakura 2" and "Cardcaptor Gotchard", due to the series' premise of finding and re-sealing creatures into cards, much like its Spiritual Antithesis Kamen Rider Blade.
  • "Fullmetal Rider" and "Kamen Alchemist", due to the series' alchemy themes.
  • It didn't take long for fans to call Geats Killer Another Geats due to being an Evil Knockoff of Geats with a monstrous appearance.^note Which, funnily enough, was actually the work in progress name for the monster, based on an earlier version of the script for the movie.
  • Due to her attractiveness and her prospective defection from the villains' side, fans have dubbed Lachesis as "Mommy Lachesis".
• Foe Yay Shipping: Between Supana and Lachesis, due to their altercations in #8 and #9 coming off as flirting. Lachesis herself actually shows pity towards Supana in #20 and how far her master would go to break him down. #31 adds fuel to the fire after Kyoka (who is for all intents and purposes Supana's adoptive mother) gives Lachesis her own Valvarusher, despite Supana's protests.
• Friendly Fandoms:
  • With Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger, both series being Lighter and Softer, having Idiot Hero protagonists who have a relative who works in a restaurant of sorts, and the mascot buddies (Setchan and Hopper1) being voiced by the same seiyuu.
  • Also with Cardcaptor Sakura, mainly due to having a similar plot: the main character becomes a superhero immediately after an incident involving supernatural cards and is tasked to capture them. It also helps that both of them are amazing cooks. Another parallel is Supana, who is basically the Syaoran to Houtaro's Sakura, since they're rival characters trying to gather the Chemys for their own reasons.
  • In terms of the series' gimmicks and themes, it gets along quite well with Yu-Gi-Oh! (especially GX) and Fullmetal Alchemist. In the former's case, it's due to its card gimmick, the main character being the Kamen Rider equivalent of Judai Yuki (who even says "Gotcha!" as his catchphrase), the antagonists' Egyptian-themed outfits, and one of the secondary characters in GX being an alchemy-themed Duelist. As for the latter, it's due to alchemy being the main focus of the story as well as both series have the identity of the father obscured.
    • More GX comparisons can be seen with Supana being the show's combination of both Jun Manjoume and Ryo Marufuji, since they're both rival characters who are prominently known for wearing black jackets. Meanwhile, Rinne is the show's Asuka Tenjouin because they're both blue females who are the symbol of affection for their respective male rivals, with Rinne/Asuka and Supana/Manjoume already having history with one another and Houtaro/Judai being the newbie in-between them, and Asuka/Rinne showing concern over a male relative of theirs haven gone missing (Fubuki for Asuka and Fuga for Rinne). It also helps that LittleKuriboh, creator of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Abridged Series has gotten into the franchise during the summer of 2023, and has pointed out the similarities on Twitter.
    • The crossover film with Geats has the Japanese VAs of Judai and ZEXAL's Don Thousand voicing BeetlX and Lixion respectively.
    • Additionally, Gotchard and Majade’s form requirements resemble Synchro Summoning, while Valvarad’s form requirements resemble Xyz Summoning. Though given Gotchard combines the powers of his component Chemies, perhaps Fusion Summoning might suit him better. And speaking of ZEXAL, #30 reveals Hotaro's Childhood Friend has the surname of Tsukumo, like protagonist Yuma Tsukumo.
  • And with Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury, for its school setting, Houtaro and Rinne having the same dynamic as Suletta and Miorine's, and its overall tone being more bright and upbeat before going on a dark direction halfway (with the previous installments for both being some of the darkest in the franchise). Further reinforced if one even considered Houtaro having the same surname as Suletta's Japanese VA. The only key difference between them is while The Witch from Mercury has a female main character who is heavily associated with witches (especially after she claims the similarly witch-themed Gundam Calibarn near the end of the series), Gotchard features a male main character who is a rookie alchemist. Even the crossover film with Geats has Ojelo and Till's Japanese VAs voicing BeetlX and Exceedfighter respectively.
• Genius Bonus:
  • While Houtaro, Rinne and Renge are attempting to call UFO-X, Kajiki joins in shouting "Ventra, ventra, space people"; this is a reference to the Cosmic Brotherhood Association, a doomsday-cult/UFO organization founded in Japan in 1975.
  • Super Gotchard UFO-X uses "'Oh My Gotcha' Particles" to fly unassisted. This is in reference to the "Oh My God" Particle, the highest-energy particle ever recorded as a cosmic ray, and a quick look at the physical properties implied by its interception indicate that a system able to harness a particle with the exact same properties is able to fly close to or at the speed of light.
  • The AlchemisDriver's standby phrase "As above, so below" is taken from an inscription from the Emerald Tablet, which was an integral component in alchemy.
  • While it's shuffled it a bit, most of Gotchard's upgrades correlates to the alchemic four colors process progression, nigredo/black colored Iron Gotchard, albedo/white colored Platina Gotchard, citrinitas/yellow colored Super Gotchard Cross UFOX and rubedo/red colored Super Gotchard Cross X Rex.
• Growing the Beard: While interest in the series began growing after Kamen Rider Dread's debut, fans almost universally agree that the show hit its stride once Geryon finally showed up in person.
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • All those times Hotaro got mad when the Alchemists' Academy erased memories of those who learn of the Chemies? Already sad as it is, but then #14 and #18 reveal he's also a victim of this.
  • #6 has Houtaro resolve to exceed Spanner as an Alchemist and cook. He definitely exceeded Spanner, but the latter's reactions afterward, particularly in #20, led to something he would've rather avoided.
  • Speaking of #6, one of the theories about Supana was that he had his memories erased, using how he asks who Boruto is as the prime example. Then #20 reveals did have his memories rewritten in regards to his parents dying by Geryon's hand. Multiple times, in fact.
  • After #25, Minato's deadpan reactions and annoyance to Hotaro's attitude and dreams to befriend Chemies becomes harder to look at since Hotaro reminds him of his deceased friend.
• Heartwarming in Hindsight:
  • The final episode of Kamen Rider Geats has Ace looking on from a distance as Houtaro chases after Hopper1, wishing for him to be able to find happiness in his life. The first episode of Gotchard reveals that Houtaro has been Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life right up until Hopper1 and Steamliner chose him to be Gotchard, meaning that Ace's heartfelt wish for his successor came true.
  • Houtaro's first meeting with Hopper1, specifically stating that seeing the latter makes him have a "warm, fuzzy feeling", is seen in a new light after #14 and #18 reveals that he met the Chemy as a child before the alchemists wiped his memories.
  • The Boostriker's nickname is carried over from Ace's late pet dog, Constantine. Even after a long time, Ace kept the memory of his pet close to him.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • The revelation that Sabimaru's companion Isaac was originally supposed to be a Virtual YouTuber rather than an AI becomes more amusing with the reveal of Fubuki Shirakami as the voice of the Geats Chemy.
  • Speaking of past Rider Chemies, the Kamen Rider Drive Chemy features a hubcap for the face, which actually predicted the appearance of the Rangers of Bakuage Sentai Boonboomger.
  • The comparisons between Kamen Rider Geats and Oshi no Ko became even more amusing when Rie Takahashi, Ai Hoshino's VA, was cast as X Wizard for the crossover movie. Even more so for one of Takahashi's most famous roles, Megumin, who is a Cute Witch by default.
  • Fire Gotchard has a giant jet thruster sticking straight out of his back, and Kamen Rider Valvarad has exhaust pipes as a prominent motif; Gotchard's next partner in the Super Hero Time show has exhaust pipes as a prominent theme of their equipment.
  • The series has gotten plenty of Pokémon comparisons in its early days. And then Boonboomger is revealed to have veterans of said franchise...
  • Supana (and by extension, his father Renchi) having Punny Names for tools became more amusing at the reveal of the "Boonboomgers" also having punny names for car parts, spawning jokes about Supana being in the wrong series.
• Ho Yay:
  • Kaguya's very first appearance features him staring intensely at Gotchard and proclaiming that "[Gotchard] will be his". Not to mention his introduction to Houtaro...
  • Kajiki seems dead set on playing Juliet after Houtaro takes on the role of Romeo. Even having it pointed out to him that Juliet is a female role doesn’t deter him. And then #33 has him assume the same pose as Akiko in Gaia Memories of Fate's climax; the episode's production notes even state that that pose is usually reserved for the heroine.
    Production notes: Maybe [Seina] isn't the one Rinne should be worrying about...
  • When Kyoka gets the idea of turning Lachesis into a real human being, she gives the Dark Sister a rather long, flirty look and states that she'll examine "every inch of her". This understandably puts Lachesis on guard.
• I Knew It!:
  • Upon first seeing Iron Gotchard, several people noted how bulky the armor appeared and theorized it was hiding another form ala the Zect Riders. Sure enough, upon the reveal of Platina Gotchard, this is precisely the case.
  • After the reveal of Dread Type One, a number of fans suspected that Repli-Daiohni would be used to access Dread Type Two. They were once again proven correct.
  • Fans were correct in that Lachesis's Valvarusher would allow her to transform. Slightly less people expected her to become the second Kamen Warrior Valvarad.
• Improved Second Attempt: Fans have constantly ridiculed Kamen Rider Decade Complete form due to it's cluttered appearance, which was further compounded when said form was upgraded in Zi-O as Decade Complete 21, which had an overly tall head crest as a result. Legendary Legend, however, only has ridicule pointed at it's name, as while more simplistic than Decade Complete form, it's ridiculousness actually befits the character's personality as a flashy, over-the-top hero.
• Informed Wrongness: #8 has Minato call out Houtaro for keeping Riku and Saboneedle together and blaming this on why Riku and his father has such a strained relationship. This completely glosses over the fact that said father is Helicopter Parent of the highest order who makes Riku focus on his studies to the point that the boy has no friends, crossing over to an Abusive Parent once he turns into a Malgam and outright attacks his own son for even associating with Houtaro and Saboneedle. Houtaro interferring the way he did is the reason why the father has a Heel Realization about how he's been treating Riku and aims to be better as a father.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: This is now the fifth season in a row to have the twist of a seemingly-heroic organization backing the heroes (in this case, the Alchemist's Academy) being revealed to be in leagues with the villains, just like with AIMS, the Sword of Logos, Fenix, and the DGP.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • Supana was initially seen as the jerkass rival who couldn't give a crap about anyone until #20 reveals his past as a broken boy who was unable to move on from his parents' death, with Kyoka going as far as to suppress the trauma, and ends up turning into a Malgam when Geryon makes him relive the trauma of the incident all over again. Seeing him weep in sorrow over seeing his parents die in front of him is heartbreaking.
  • As vile as Lachesis has been in the past episodes, seeing her now reduced to begging Minato for protection from Geryon is not a sight to take lightly. In #30, she also prevents Supana from killing Clotho, showing that she still loves her sister.
• Like You Would Really Do It: The preview for episode 31 ends with a shot of Rinne winding up on the receiving end of a Rider Kick from Houtaro and seemingly dying. Despite the music suddenly cutting off as soon as the shot happens to amp up the intensity of the moment, Rinne's status as the secondary Rider and the two episodes of the mini-arc focusing on her and Houtaro's relationship teasing a potential Relationship Upgrade made it seem much less likely she'd actually stay dead, much less die to begin with. Sure enough, the episode itself reveals she was actually taking inspiration from her school's production of Romeo and Juliet and Faking the Dead in order to trick both Atropos and the Monster of the Week into thinking she died while trapped in the latter's illusions.
• Memetic Badass:
  • The Skateboard Malgam has gained this reputation among fans, due to his managing to break free from a prison of manhole covers.^{For context...}Manhole covers themselves became a meme as being superweapons, courtesy of Another Kiva's very proficient use of them.
  • Houtarou himself, due to him somehow still being able to walk and fight despite taking multiple back-breakers in #5 that by all rights should have crippled him, by two muscular pro-wrestlers in a row no less. There's even an in-universe comparison as well: Asahi's star pupil was forced to retire after being on the receiving end of that move. Speaking of his back, there's also his famous scene of taking a bokken strike from Supana to protect Hopper1 from #3.'
• Memetic Loser: Supana notably started having a less-than-impressive track record after the initial few episodes. Despite being billed as The Ace, starting out stronger and more experienced than Houtarou, he quickly gets worfed by Kamen Rider Dread several times (while the relatively inexperienced Houtarou puts up a much better fight even prior to him getting Exgotchalibur), leading to fans declaring him a "Fraud" and analyzing every one of his fights. While he demonstrates exactly what he can do when he's granted powers on par with his rivals in #21, he gets worfed again by Dread once he obtains a new power up, and by Dragon Malgam in #26.
• Memetic Mutation: See here.
• Moe:
  • Hopper1, very much indeed, owing to its cute voice and design. Some of the other Chemies count as well, with their adorably cartoonish appearances. A scene of Hopper1 with a younger Hotaro in #14 will melt your heart.
  • The poster for the Gotchard x Geats movie depicts Hopper1 with the Geats Chemie later revealed to be voiced by Fubuki Shirakami. And both are freaking adorable. And then there's the first teaser trailer, which is pretty much nothing but these two fooling around.
• Moral Event Horizon:
  • Geryon went to this and beyond when it was revealed in #20 how not only did he kill Supana's parents ten years prior, but deliberately had the Angel Malgam create illusions of them still alive — while Supana's memories of their deaths were supressed by Kyoka — all in an attempt to make him feel despair, turn him into Wheel Malgam, and bemuse at how he's getting research from it. Even Lachesis is horrified at what her father created. Five episodes later reveals how he killed Minato's best friend a decade earlier and brainwashed other alchemists to fight each other to the death without remorse.
  • Clotho capturing Zukyumpire doesn't qualify for this, but what truly makes her cross it is the fact that she forces the Chemy to continue with his giant-sized Life Drain to drain everyone on the planet just to take all the resulting energy for herself, despite literally receiving an upgrade the previous episode.
• Most Wonderful Sound:
  • The Gotchardriver, which features two standby tracks that wouldn't seem out of place at a nightclub, complete with Katsuyuki Konishi going full-on Large Ham in an absolutely GLORIOUS fashion.
    (Houtaro places in Hopper1 Ride Chemy Card) "Hopper1!" [pulsing nightclub beat] (Houtaro places in Steamliner Ride Chemy Card) "Steamliner!" [electronic melody plays alongside the beat] (Houtaro pulls the side handles of the GotcharDriver) "Gotchanko!" [thrilling electronic disco music] "Steam...HOPPER!" (last word echoes over the sound of a train whistle)
  • In stark contrast to the Gotchardriver, the Valvarusher packs ominous standby tracks and a deep voice with a shrill snarl effect, making it immediately clear that Valvarad is not someone to take lightly.
    (Supana opens the Valvarusher's card slot hangar) "Gakin!" (places in the Madwheel Ride Chemy Card) "Madwheel!" (closes the card slot hangar) "Gokin!" [menacing riff as steam shoots out of the Valvarusher's vents] (Supana pulls the trigger of the Valvarusher) "(with overlaying voice) Valvarush!" [jarring metal music] "TUNE UP! Madwheel...!" (engine revving over metal clangs as music concludes)
  • Hopper1 crying "Hoppa!", which is not only charming but is more than likely to induce Cuteness Proximity to anyone who hears it.
  • Kamen Rider Legend's design is very much inspired by Decade's, and it's very much appropriate that his equipment shares the same voice actor as that of the Decadriver.
    (Kaguya inserts Legend Chemy Card into Driver) "CHEMY RIDE!" [winding up sound akin to Decadriver] (Kaguya pulls the sides of his driver) "[Clang as driver's doors open] L-L-L-LEGEND!" [sounds reminiscent of Decade's transformation before a bell tolls]
  • The DreaDriver takes the Valvarusher's ominous traits and dials it up tenfold. Ryōtarō Okiayu's near-subterranean baritone is just the icing on the cake.
    (user swipes Repli Steamliner Repli Chemy Card on the upper card scanner slot) "Steamliner..." (inserts the Card into the driver) [electronic horror tune with piano playing discordant chord] (user yanks lever to the left) "STEEEAAAM..." [scary horror riff] "Dread: Zero-Shiki."
  • Adding the Exgotchalibur to the Gotchardriver gives a standby that isn't really nightclub beats as it is a complete disco rave.
    (Hotaro pushes in the sides handles of the GotcharDriver before placing in the Exgotchalibur) "Cross ON!" [disco music akin to Daft Punk] (Hotaro inserts Level Ten Chemy Card) "[Adjective] [Chemy Card category]!" (Houtaro pulls the side handles of the GotcharDriver) "Gotchanko... X!" [disco rave music] "[name of Level Ten Chemy Card]! SUPER!!!" (last word echos)
  • The Alchemisdriver adds a majestic and feminine opera-style pop track to befit Rinne's more composed nature and the fact that she's using the fantastic and cosmic chemies with a chant of "As Above, So Below" to reflect Rinne's change into a Kamen Rider.
    (Rinne scans her special ring on Driver) "Alchemist Link." (Rinne inserts Unicon and The Sun Chemy Cards) "Unicon! The Sun!" [soothing pop music] "As Above, so Below. As Above, so Below." (Rinne pulls Driver's side handles) "G-G-G-GOTCHANKO!" [majestic fantasy music reminiscent of Final Fantasy] "Prominence Horn! Sununicorn!"
    • It's track for Kamen Rider Wind is no slouch either, bearing down with an ominous woodwind choir.
  • The addition of the Gotcharigniter creates disco/techno music that give the Beyondriver a run for its money.
    (Houtaro pulls down the twin lever switches on the Gotcharigniter) "Gotcharigniter!" [fast techno music] (Houtaro places Gotcharigniter on Gotchardriver) "Turbo ON!" [fast techno music continues] (Houtaro inserts Steamliner and Hopper1 Chemy Cards) "Hopper1! Ignite! Steamliner! Ignite!" (Houtaro pulls the side handles of the Driver) "GOTCHANKO FIRE!" [rock and roll music] "Steam...HOPPER! ACHIIIIIIIII!!!!!"
  • Befitting Spanner's mechanical aesthetics, the Valvaradriver plays punk rock death metal that fits the apocalyptic motif of Valvarad's Rider form.
    (Supana inserts Machwheel Chemy Card) "Machwheel! Ignite!" [punk rock beat] (Supana inserts Daiohni Chemy Card) "Daiohni! Ignite!" [intensified metal music] (Supana pulls the side handles of his Valvaradriver) "(double-layered voices) GOTCHANKO BURST!" [metal and electronic riff] "VALVARAD!!!"
  • Iron Gotchard uses a disco-style standby, but is accented with railroad crossing bells and steam locomotive noises to emphasize what the primary motif is. The cherry on top is Nobuyuki Hiyama hamming it up in the announcements, making it seem as if Tenliner itself was speaking it's partner's language.
    (Houtaro places in Tenliner Ride Chemy Card) "Tenliner!" [pulsing nightclub beat] (Houtaro places in Tenliner) "Liner on! LINER!" [disco with railway bells intensify] (Houtaro pulls the side handles of the GotcharDriver) "Gotchanko!" [orchestral fanfare amidst train whistles] "Shuppatsu shinko! Iron Gotchard! SHUPOPOPON!!" (last word echoes over the sound of a train whistle)
  • Platina Gotchard gets a triumphant orchestra, with Misato Fukuen adding Crosshopper's voice into the mix.
    (Houtaro places in Crosshopper Ride Chemy Card) "Crosshopper!" [tense nightclub beat] (Houtaro places in Crosshopper onto Tenliner) "Gotcha on!!" [orchestral fanfare intensifies] (Houtaro pulls the side handles of the GotcharDriver) "GOTCHANKO!!!" "Gotchanko!" [orchestral fanfare amidst train whistles] "Gotcha! Gotcha! Gotcha! PLATINA GOTCHARD!"
  • When you hear the first line of "What's Your Fire", expect ass-kicking to ensue.
  • Transforming with the Legend Chemy Riser activates a jazzy party beat that concludes with each card's associated jingle.
• Narm:
  • #18 shows a miniaturized Steamliner as a part of Houtaro's childhood Chemy group. It would be heartwarming, but the staff chose to use a push-along toy of Steamliner to be placed alongside the Hopper1 puppet, and the utterly ridiculous sight of a cartoon grasshopper towering over a tiny train makes it hard to take seriously.
  • It's kind of hard to take the club of Dread Type 3 seriously when the weapon looks like a tree branch that's being stained in blood.
• Narm Charm:
  • A manly wrestler bonding with a wrestling figure, then being forced to say goodbye to it in trading card form, should not be so EMOTIONAL.
    Tumblr post: Only in Kamen Rider would a card saying "Wrestler G" in a mournful tone make you wanna curl up into a ball and cry
  • Rather than simply CG renders or physical props, the Geats Rider Chemies are portrayed via what can only be described as Muppets. The ones with moving mouths are harder to take seriously, but it's so hilarious it crosses straight over into the adorable category.
  • Legendary Legend's name is hard to take seriously, and most of the final form suit is unchanged from the base design. However, the forehead card isn't as distracting as it was on Decade and the rest of the Legend Rider cards are mounted on a giant golden halo on the back, with the Reiwa Rider cards on the sides like the tails of a designer scarf. Yes, it looks overdramatic. But, it's absolutely in-character for Legend.
  • Kamen Rider Zein's (literally and figuratively) kicking Mimei's ass with Super Rider Moon Somersault Kick. There's no VFX whatsoever; it's just Zein leaping, spinning and kicking, which looks bland as compared to other Riders' finishers. But it is just awesome and horrifying at the same time, considering this is Zein we're talking about...
• Realism-Induced Horror:
  • The first few Monster of the Week Hosts include a bank robber, a would-be serial killer, a stalker, a violent thug who only cares about hurting others, and an abusive helicopter father. All of these, unfortunately, also exist in the real world and are much scarier than the ones you see on screen.
  • The 3rd arc has horror over Geryon acting like an abusive parent to the Dark Sisters with Lachesis (the Child) realizing how horrible it is to emulate him and wanting to escape as fast as possible. Meanwhile, Atropos has ended up relishing in being abusive and sadistic towards others while Clothos is on the fence since she still loves Lachesis but doesn't understand why she had to escape.
• Shocking Moments:
  • The fact that the series had its theme song switched mid-run, something that hasn't occurred since Den-O.
  • #20 has the reveal of Supana's past as he sees his parents die in front of his eyes before becoming a Malgam — a process that involves him tearing the skin of his face off.
  • If switching the theme wasn't enough, the full version of the 2024 collab cover was released alongside two special editions of the original theme. What makes them special? They're official covers. In Chinese and ENGLISH. Fans were not made aware of this until just before they were released.
  • The May 2023 Televi-Kun scans revealing the existence of a Legend Rider Malgam, formed from Kamen Rider Ark-One.
  • Episode #33 brings Kamen Rider Zein into the world of Gotchard, which is a sign for fans to start panicking at how dark this is going to be.
• Special Effect Failure:
  • During the first episode footage from a drone during a battle is of noticeably lesser quality than the rest of the footage.
  • The CG model and physical prop for Stagvine is the Stag Phone, a Memory Gadget used in Kamen Rider W. Neither of them looks anything like the Chemy's card art.
  • In a rarity for Kamen Rider nowadays, the heads of the Jyamatonoorochi Malgam, appearing at first as kaiju-sized creatures, are not rendered in CGI but created through practical effects. Unfortunately blowing them up to kaiju size makes it even more obvious.
  • In stark contrast to most in-progress driver props, the incomplete Valvaradriver in the series is just a Gotchardriver with a mess of wires lazily glued on the front.
  • Legend and Hundred's clashes in #33 are heavily undermined by the obvious signs of disuse and poor maintenance (yellowing, tearing, etc.) on each Legend Rider suit used, as well as the use of packing tape to hold certain props in place that were clearly not meant for use with Kaguya's acrobatics.
• Spiritual Successor: The Three Dark Sisters Presents: Kamen Rider Gotchard Unfinished Plan special, featuring cast members Breaking the Fourth Wall as they discuss the series plot points, could be considered as this to the Kamen Rider Zi-O: Supplementary Plans web video series that did likewise.
• They Really Can Act: Atropos is played by a nine-year-old, yet it's amazing how her actress Itono Okita can portray a calm, manipulative leader in a childish form.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Absolutely nobody expected Kamen Rider Barlckxs to make an appearance in the Legend Rider specials, considering how the identity was never a mainstay like the primary cast. It also didn't help that the last canonical appearances of Barlckxs were in a post-series stage show and as a power set used by a generic mook in its most-recent appearance.
  • Most people were expecting Rinne to, eventually, become a Kamen Rider of some sort. What nobody expected was her debut being in the winter film crossover with Geats, let alone be officially confirmed as the Deuteragonist Rider over Supana/Valvarad.
  • While its existence was Spoiled by the Merchandise, the fact that X Wizard is one of the winter film's main villains took a lot of viewers by surprise, especially considering that prior to this, the Chemies were portrayed as either neutral, indifferent or completely heroic.
  • Fire Gotchard Daybreak came as a surprise to everyone, as the Rider only appeared in promos after he appeared on screen. As a result, a Yodonna moment was once again pulled off.
  • Kamen Rider Legend returning to the main series of Gotchard was a shock, specifically at Episode 33, with many viewers thinking he was only to appear in his special.
  • In a similar vein to Barlckxs, the appearance of the Another Riders (and we're talking the original articles, not the lookalikes from later series) took many fans by surprise, particularly since the dark doppelgangers in question are those of Kabuto, Blade, Ghost, and Den-O.
  • The preview of #26 reveals a new Kamen Rider, but it's for Fuga!
  • While fans knew that Legend would make the trip over to the main series, what caught everyone off-guard was new Canon Foreigners using the Rider identities of Dark Kiva, Eternal, and Glare.
  • Fans were taken greatly by surprise when it was revealed that Kamen Rider ZEIN of all characters would be making an appearance in the series. A justified reaction, considering the nature of Zein's home series.
  • The May 2023 Televi-Kun scans revealed a double-whammy with Saigetsu/Dark Kiva, showing that he is set to also become Ark-One and recreate the scrapped duel between it and Zero-Two.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: While not to the same standard as the likes of The Mandalorian, Gotchard's computer graphics build upon that of King-Ohger's in being much higher in quality compared to most toku CG examples. It's also commendable since, unlike King-Ohger, the series doesn't use video wall technology and is able to convincingly animate every Chemy that appears onscreen despite the limited budget.
• What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: Despite its Lighter and Softer tone, a large portion of Gotchard's imagery features very disturbing caricatures that remain relevant to real-life fears, including a (failed) mass-murderer, a stalker pursuing a high-school girl, and a violent thug. And it's only the single-digit episodes. Reaching the double-digits basically opens the Pandora Box (maybe not that one). #20 has the lovely scene of Supana tearing off his face to become a Malgam.
• The Woobie:
  • Asahi has had it rough before Houtaro and his friends showed up and dealt with Gouriki; not only did his age prevent him from participating in the sport he loved, but thanks to "The Golem" his students are too terrified of the maniac to even think about wrestling. To further twist the knife in the wound, he has to be separated from his one companion through all of these times, Wrestler G. He's just as much a sensitive guy as he is a manly man, making it hurt to a ridiculous degree when we see his story play out, especially when he has to shoo Wrestler G away so they can be safe with Houtaro.
  • Riku has had to deal with the one family member he has left forcing him to do nothing but focus on his studies, and violently reacting when anything distracts him. This has left him with little to no friends, and it gets worse when his father degrades to the point of physically attacking him with LETHAL WEAPONS. And to top it all off, he has to be separated from his sole friend, Saboneedle. Permanently. Poor kid needs a hug more than anything else.
  • Hijiri Himeno. Dear LORD, the writers put her through the wringer. Not only has she had to deal with the loss of her parents, but her beloved older brother became so psychotic from taking care of her that he decided to turn to crime, first by serial arson before saying he would kill her TO HER FACE. Who wouldn't blame her for her breakdown after all of that?
  • The series has been putting in the extra effort to put Minato through absolute HELL, which is brought to the forefront in #25; after seeing Geryon take the life of his best friend while causing a Malgam outbreak in a past attack, he gets stuck in-between a rock and a hard place after the madman throws him the Morton's Fork: either serve him and let the Chemies be used for evil, or don't join him and let him claim more casualties as a result. You can't really blame him for his cynical behavior after seeing what he had to go through.
• Woolseyism:
  • Some fansubs have rendered "Gotchanko" as "Gotcha and go!", based on a line from the opening "CHEMY×STORY".
  • The Dark Sisters' name in Japanese contains the word 冥/mei ("[the] underworld"); thus, it has been alternatively translated as "Abyssalis Sisters", or “Dark Hades Sisters”.
  • EiGo translates Valvarad's transformation phrase "Tekkō" (鉄鋼/"Iron and Steel") as "Ironize".
• WTH, Costuming Department?:
  • For a hopefully one-off error, the staff taking Kamen Rider Legend's first few profile pictures evidently screwed up in one regard, as in one specific image the Rider suit has an unflatteringly large bulge at the groin.
  • Some fans weren't impressed that Gotchard's Legend Rider forms largely forego the signature colors of the featured Legend Riders, and find the almost entirely golden armor to be a bit bland in comparison to past examples.