[Byg42]

This episode......... is weird. There are parts of this episode that are good,parts that are off putting, and parts that I don't think are that great

We've finished our Victim of the Week story, not much to say there, I've already explained that these have been the least interesting parts of Ex-Aid to me. Really the only thing that's note worthy to talk about is the whole Christmas scene at the end which is humorous at best and random at worst. The real meat of the episode is everything else. More teasing on what the heck is up with Emu, teasing on the Kuroto's plan, hints at maybe the backstories of Emu and Kuroto, and of course the death of Kiriya. All of these are for the most part executed well and leaves us with some intrigued for what's to come.

Now let's talk some of the problems I've got.
1. The tonal whiplash. This episode took a massive 180 in middle. Going from a Christmas scene celebration to suddenly the death of a main character. I mean Kamen Rider had been tonally all over the place at times but this has got to be the most massive it has been.
2. Poppi being a Bugster. For such a massive reveal about her character, the show treats it like it's some random throwaway scene. The way the scene goes seems to imply that we were supposed to have figure it out ourselves. The problem is that there has only been one scene that implies that the Bugsters are based off the characters in the video game and that was back in episode friggin 1. So since this show started, we've been given no answers or explanations over who/what the heck Poppi is and when we finally do, the show treats it likes it's nothing. I mean seriously this reveal raises a ton of questions like why is she working with the CR?, How is she able to materialize in the real world permanently?, How is she active during Zero Day when that was supposed to be the first Bugster outbreak?. Can you see what I'm talking about here.
3. Kiriya's death. I........do not agree with this story decision, at least not at this point in time. Killing him off this early waste a number of story potentials that's still possible with him. His whole guilt over his friends death is still not resolved, we haven't seen how his bond with Emu develops, for that matter Hiiro and Taiga don't have much interaction/development with him. As a result, killing him off now doesn't have the emotion and weight it should have because his character doesn't have the development it needs for us to form a stronger attachment. Really that final scene just kinda sums it up for me. The only one that's crying is Emu, everyone else is just sort of staring at him.