[Fish Sandwich]

Aaaaaaagggggghhhh episode 3 was so amazing. It had just about everything I could've wanted out of it and packed so much in without feeling cramped or oddly paced. This one might go a little long. Also I'm going to put spoiler tags on every little detail even though I don't think I'm giving away any real twists or anything. It might be overkill but I figure since some people definitely won't be watching these episodes until a week later, I might as well:

- I've actually always been kind of apathetic towards Zero as a character. He's always seemed kind of like the most stock fan-character ever made official, but I also can't really hate him because one, I'm me, and two, I'm totally full of it since I've never actually seen any of the movies he was the star of and I gather they're quite good. It's important to understand how little interest I have in the character when I say that for some reason the second he shows up in this show I'm suddenly super absorbed by whatever it is he's up to.

- It helps that they're pairing him up with an uncool everyman. I had a feeling Reito would be one of my favorite parts of the show and I'm happy to not be let down. I might have to start calling him Ryoutarou, however.

- Riku continues to be shockingly endearing, but I suppose having "into tokusatsu" as a character trait is a good way to do that. Like I honestly think it's kind of genius writing. It's simultaneously an easy way to establish his hero credentials, an excuse to make it totally believable he'd just start making up catchphrases left and right, and gets us relatable beats like getting excited about buying merch only to be disappointed when the stupid gashapon machine won't give you the thing you're after. Brilliant.

- Getting back to Zero, I really like how they handled all the crucial exposition this week. I can't personally vouch for this, already being a fan and all, but I think they did a great job of making this show approachable if you don't know jack about Ultraman. Obviously it helps that our protagonists are ignorant themselves but backing up telling about Ultraman King fusing with the universe to heal it (which is totally hardcore btw) by showing Zero doing the same thing earlier with Reito is a very nice touch.

- One thing I wasn't expecting and thus was pleasantly surprised by was that they let Zero sit out the fight at the end. I was seriously worried having another Ultraman around (even if he is a nice foil to our hero) would really undermine Geed feeling like the star of his own show, but it seems that won't be the case.

- Solid Burning gets waaaaaay cooler the second you start seeing it fight bad guys.

So yeah, if it isn't clear from how much I wrote, I loved this episode. It speaks volumes about how awesome this show is that with both a really good Kamen Rider series and a Sentai I like a lot airing, Geed has quickly become the show I'm most looking forward to each week. Can't wait for more.