Definitely noticed this, but at this moment, it seems that she only starts to open up to Shotaro due to his tenacity and after figuring out that he has powers.

I think Tokime's change comes from her realizing Shotarou actually can be trusted and isn't just another person falling for her because of her looks. Their talk at the fountain before being confronted by Road Dopant definitely felt like a realization moment for both of them.

This episode had all the beats of a W episode down to a tee. Shotarou not wanting to do his client a disservice, him and Philip getting into a married couple spat, the red herring with the landlord not actually being the Dopant despite it feeling like he was, they know exactly what they're doing.

And seeing Akira again was a shock. Also puts into perspective how much time is supposed to have passed between W's finale and the start of this considering he was a grade schooler there and is now a middle schooler here. Same with the tease of Accel Boost in the OP.

Now this was a pretty fun episode, both the OP and ED are great in terms of sounds and visuals. I always do like it when an anime relies more on the instrumentals for an OP than lyrics, kinda like the Devil May Cry anime OP.

I also really like how they animated the Road Dopant. Thanks to the power of Manga/Anime, they're able to do a lot more crazy and expressive designs and this is definitely a good first outing.

https://i.imgur.com/LvTFiO6.png

This was overall... alright. The Henshin sequence is for sure the highlight, and certain beats like Shotaro and Philip being a married couple are on point, but when it comes to certain other factors, I felt it fell a little flat. The way the Dopat's' powers related to "Roads" is a huge stretch even for W, and I really don't like when mysteries end with "actually the culprit was this guy that you didn't even know existed for the majority of it." Also, Mick somehow changed species.

That all aside, it was a decent time to be had.

There is so much attention to detail in making this feel like W, that just wins me over at every turn. We get the recap segments with the bulletin board, so many shots in the opening paying homage to WBX, the Memory Voices, and the Archive segment. This show just nails it in those regards.

I don't know if people caught on to this yet, but Tokime is heavily inspired by the "dame" archetype from Noir Detective Stories that is a prominent theme for W, from the seductive smile, the curvaceous body, she's absolutely Shotarou's ideal woman. It should also come to no one's surprise at this point that she's a focal point in this series.

And boy, am I loving the animation for the Dopants and Kamen Rider W, just works great and is much better than using 3D CG for them. And the transformation scenes just look gorgeous! I could see the Road Dopant transformation in live-action, and W's having an extra flair, even displaying some details from the Dopant transformation into the sequence.

I'm loving this, even knowing the Manga, I'm enjoying this even more animated. I'm excited to see Accel in action after seeing the opening.

Even though Sado was the first person you saw every time they got transported back from the shadow world?

Roads being the henchman was pretty clearly hinted by the fact the "roads" kept leading back to the gang, and most of the victims were members of said gang. I didn't even remember the twist and I knew it was going to be the one goon who got named/spoke prominently.

Except that, not only is Sabu not even named until later on into episode 2, he only has like, one line before the reveal. There's nothing to really distinguish him from just a generic goon until that point. Heck, speaking of episode 1, the situation in which Shotaro runs into him is kinda impossible considering what happens. Did he manage to undo his transformation, cancel his powers, and just walk along with the gang within a split second and timing just right so Shotaro bumps into him? Kind of a reach.

I feel like the Road Dopant's identity was less important than the mystery about Tokime and whatever's really going on with Chuta.

I'd consider the identity of the culprit fair enough play since it doesn't expect you to narrow down a specific goon- Shotaro just deduces it must be one of them, and then they reveal themself. Of course, it's a little more fun for a mystery to get more specific, so hopefully future plots go more along those lines.

Anyways, the OP was just kinda alright for me, but loved seeing the cast get dancey for the ED. The nostalgia-bait photo backgrounds of the original set ruked too.

Wonder if we'll expect new riders in the show? Not just Double and Accel. Hope a female rider and a dark rider to join in. As well as a tertiary rider like a "KR Nasca".