[Fish Sandwich]

Hey everyone, guess what time it is!



Time for me to pick my jaw up off the floor, because I've got myself a new favorite episode of Zi-O!

I can't even believe how perfect this was. It's good that everyone here appreciates how excellent this arc is, because there's no way I can do it justice. Beautiful direction that feels on the level of a Rider movie, really sharp writing that's just brimming with love for Agito, the return of the first and best insert theme in Heisei Rider history. It's all totally stellar.

The significance of stuff like BELIEVE YOURSELF playing is pretty obvious, so instead I'll single out the way Shouichi was written for praise. Not even because the way he helped out Tsukuyomi was exactly the kind of thing I've been wanting out of the tributes since day one (and the fact that Sougo wasn't the one getting advice somehow made it even better), but simply that his manner of speaking, which was always pretty unique and characterful among Rider protagonists, was captured perfectly by Nobuhiro Mouri here. Granted, a lot of this was probably in the performance too, but the flavor of his dialogue was 100% authentic in a way that stuck out to me more than any of the other returning characters so far.

Seriously, these episodes were so good they made me like Tsukuyomi. I'm still just sitting here in awe. The only thing that could've made it better was if Toshihiko Sahashi did new versions of his own music from back in Agito, but first of all, BELIEVE YOURSELF, and second of all, we've still got Hibiki and Den-O tributes where that can happen. It probably won't, but then, I would've never guessed we'd be hearing an old insert theme in Zi-O, either.

Oh, and on the subject of the Another Riders, I remember they explicitly raised the question during the Quiz arc, but I can't remember what the answer was or if it even applies to the arcs we're getting now. Honestly, even if it's a total plot hole, I think episodes like this make a compelling case that the ends justify the means here.