Strange Licking Mystery! Renge's Homecoming
- Original Airdate: March 24, 2024
Written by: Akiko Inoue
Directed by: Kiyotaka Taguchi
Summary
With Minato back and the Academy accessible again, Renge takes a vacation to her hometown to visit her grandmother. However, there seems to be a yokai haunting going on! What's more, there's a guy claiming to be a yokai hunter with Kajiki under his wing. Houtaro and Rinne must accompany their fellow alchemist and investigate the yokai appearances at the same time while ensuring they don't run afoul of their old foes...
Tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Starshine Hoshino is associated with the Cosmic Chemies. His actor has plenty of experience with cosmic beings, including the space-based Ultramen (specifically, he was a regular in both Ultraman Orb and Ultraman Z).
- Bottle Episode: The episode noticeably gets by with a reduced cast; justified since most of the action is taking place in a small town away from the characters' homes (and unlike the Kyoto episodes, there's no subplot to keep missing characters busy back home). Supana and Minato only appear for a scene at the beginning; Atropos just cameos to create the Malgams; and Sabimaru, Clotho, and Lachesis don't appear at all. Even Majade is out of action (thereby excusing her suit actor), thanks to Rinne needing to recharge her ring.
- Breather Episode: This episode takes place right after Houtaro and his team get back their Chemies and Geryon's Near-Villain Victory and is thus more lighthearted and comical.
- Busman's Holiday: Renge's visit to her grandmother was supposed to be free of anything Chemy-related, but the presence of two Chemies acting like yokai as well as an enigmatic yokai hunter soon prove that false.
- Catch and Return: Berosol catches Gotchard TriCatcher's webs and sends it back to Gotchard when Gotchard tries to retrain it.
- Cliffhanger: The end shows the village chief encountering something outside the village house and screaming in terror. Everyone is startled by the sound, with Houtaro wondering what it is.
- Continuity Nod: Rinne's dissonant reaction to scary things around her appears again as it did in #9.
- Contrived Coincidence:
- Just as two land-grabbers begin taunting and throwing things at Berosol and Carery, Atropos appears and turns them into Malgams.
- In Starshine Hoshino's backstory, four of the missing Cosmic Chemies just so happened to have been with each other all along as rocks along a riverbank when he encountered them.
- Creator Cameo: The episode's director, Kiyotaka Taguchi, provides the voice of Berosol.
- Doing In the Wizard: In a sense. After conversing with Sabimaru over the phone, Houtaro learns that the yokai they're dealing with are actually the Chemies Berosol and Carery. Houtaro also deduces that Starshine Hoshino's power comes from Cosmic Chemies that he befriended.
- Epic Fail: Houtaro is so scared out of his wits that Berosol and Carery easily handle him even when he's transformed as Gotchard.
- Foreshadowing:
- The Cold Open has Tamiko praying at a Kitsune shrine, with Hoshino claiming said Kitsune's spirit being weakened due to lack of worship later on; both hint at Ninetail's future appearance.
- Firemars makes its presence known at the Academy after the Riders and Minato return to it. When Houtaro goes to the village, Firemars leaves him in order to join its fellow elemental Cosmic Chemies in Starshine Hoshino's possession (Mercurin, Kinkiravina, Grandsaturn, and Jupitta).
- Jump Scare: Right before the opening is played, Renge is unpacking her stuff in her room when she hears something seemingly coming from behind her door. When she checks behind it to see nothing there, she turns back, only for the thing (Berosol) to suddenly roar in her face and lick her.
- Look Behind You: Starshine Hoshino and Kajiki distract Houtaro and company in this manner so that they could abscond from the scene with Firemars in tow.
- Written-In Absence: Sabimaru is not here this episode as he's busy repairing Isaac, what with the damage the poor AI received from the previous episode.
Titular Chemy: Berosol
Cards used:
Gotchard: Tricera + Catchula = TriCatcher, X-Rex, Apparebushido
Chemies recovered:
Gotchard: Berosol, Carery
Released Chemies remaining: 20 (1 Artifact (Timelord), 3 Occult, 6 Ancient, 5 Cosmic, and 5 Fantastic)
Additional Information: Four of the missing Cosmic Chemies and Firemars are in Starshine Hoshino's possession.
