Recap / Kamen Rider Gotchard Ep 31 Krackin Duo In The Dark Believe In Each Other

Krackin' Duo in the Dark, Believe in Each Other

Original Airdate: April 14, 2024
Written by: Keiichi Hasegawa
Directed by: Kyohei Yamaguchi

Summary

Goodbye, Majade! Her Last Activity!! Or So It Seems!!!

Narrator: Previously on… Kamen Rider Gotchard!
Houtaro and his friends "Got-chanko" to meet Seina Tsukumo, a transfer student for the new year!
Together, they must help Mikuriya from the Drama Club perform Romeo and Juliet for all of Furasu High!
But just then, Atropos and the Mammoth Malgam attacked, freezing Seina and even Gotchard solid!
Fight, Rinne! Show them why you are Kamen Rider Majade!

Rinne’s been a mess ever since what happened with Seina, and it's starting to wear on her battle performance, made more complicated when the school's production of Romeo and Juliet and the fate of the drama club are both teetering on a knife's edge.

Just what does she want from Houtaro, and how will she recover?

Tropes

• Amnesiac Resonance: Despite having her memories erased, Seina hands over the part of Juliet to Rinne for reasons she doesn't understand.
• Bait-and-Switch: While stewing over the Mammoth Malgam's defeat, Atropos sees Geryon appearing before her and vows to avenge his supposed demise, until the Kraken Malgam reveals itself to be the one impersonating Geryon, showing off its illusion abilities in the process.
• Character Check: The episode reminds us that Rinne is a prodigy student through her easy memorization of Juliet's lines, even if she only took up the role as Seina's understudy.
• Chekhov's Classroom: An early scene has Rinne rehearsing the part where Juliet fakes her death; this gives her the idea to break the Kraken Malgam's illusion by faking her own defeat.
• Chekhov's Gun: Early on in the episode, Rinne uses The Sun in the Chemy Riser while in Majade Mooncerberus form to melt the ice imprisoning Houtaro and to thaw out a frozen Seina. Later on, she uses a similar technique with Neminemoon, allowing the Chemy to create a solar eclipse to make it seem that she had been defeated, allowing her to do a surprise attack on the Kraken Malgam.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Downplayed. Supana can't help but be a bit bemused that Kyoka made a copy of the Valvarusher for Lachesis to use, adamant that he's not on the same side as she is.
  Supana: What's a ridiculous joke. We can't trust her.
• Eye Lights Out: Invoked and exploited by Rinne. When Gotchard "kills" Majade, she's shown collapsing, with her eyes and chest visors turn into black (see page image above). However, it's actually a ruse to fool Kraken Malgam, and the fading visor is caused by the solar eclipse technique by Neminemoon Chemy.
• First-Name Basis: Rinne and Seina address each other by their given names after the play concludes, showing their newfound friendship.
• Heroic Second Wind: After Atropos taunts Rinne by claiming Seina is dead, Minato steps in and tells her that's she still alive. He reminds her that she promised to "fight by her own rules", which gives her the courage to fight back.
• Hit Me, Dammit!: Invoked as part of Rinne's gambit; she tells Hotarou to attack her, which he reluctantly does. After she reveals she survived his Finishing Move, she then goes on to reveal she created a fake solar eclipse to help fake her own demise.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: After seeing the chemistry Rinne has built with Houtaro, Seina decides to not only give up her role as Juliet to the former, but possibly on pursuing Houtaro altogether.
• Match Cut: Rinne transforming into Majade in the Cold Open is juxtaposed with the alchemist hand sign seen in the opening sequence.
• Meaningful Echo: Minato reminds Rinne of her vow to fight by her own rules that she stated to him in #19, back when Minato was on Geryon's side.
• Once More, with Clarity: The second time we see the supposed Wham Shot of Hotarou seemingly killing Rinne, she reveals that during this time, she used Neminemoon to create an artificial solar eclipse to save herself.
• The Power of Trust: While under the Kraken Malgam's illusion, Rinne asks Houtaro to Rider Kick her. Houtaro does that while Rinne uses Neminemoon to make a fake solar eclipse to fake her death, allowing both to blindside the Malgam.
• Rule of Symbolism: During Seina's heart-to-heart conversation with Houtaro, the two and Rinne are shown standing in a triangular position in an overhead shot, symbolizing the Love Triangle between the three students.
• Superdickery: The trailer ends with Gotchard rider kicking Majade, putting her out of commission. In the episode itself, Majade asked Gotchard to attack her so that by pretending to fall, the Kraken Malgam would out himself gloating over how he turns the heroes against each other.
• Wham Shot:
  • Majade getting Rider Kicked by Gotchard. Or so we were led to believe, as Majade actually used the Eclipse technique to trick the Kraken Malgam into believing that she was defeated.
  • Lachesis shows off another Valvarusher from Kyoka to Supana.
  • The Big Bad, Gigist, coming out of the Door of Darkness.

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Titular Chemy: Mackraken

Cards used:

Gotchard: Inphoenix

Chemies recovered:

Gotchard: Mackraken
Majade: Blizzamammoth

Released Chemies remaining: 13 (1 Artifact (Timelord), 1 Occult (Sayzombie), 5 Ancient, 1 Cosmic (Gokigenmeteon), and 5 Fantastic)