[Fish Sandwich]

This was a great episode. Once again, the action sticks out, with a lot of emphasis on having people fighting in claustrophobic spaces, which I think adds a lot to the intensity, and that's on top of all the other things that are also doing that here, like how much force Zero-One is putting into his sword swings going up against Horobi.

Then there's the plot, of course, which is no less intense. I'd give props to Aruto for thinking to bust out the giant robot, but I've learned from Akibaranger doing something like that in that kind of scenario is only going to make you lose that much quicker. And he really did lose, too! This episode ends on a very downbeat note, with absolutely nothing having gone right for the heroes the entire time. Presumably that'll make for a satisfying turnaround, as it usually does, but beyond that, I just like the sort of... I guess "realism" of it?

There have been hints of it throughout, but this show really isn't afraid to show how Aruto genuinely isn't fit for this job in a lot of ways. He's got the heart, but he doesn't always have the right answers, and when you've got a terrorist organization and rival companies all gunning for you, it'd get pretty inexplicable if he didn't face some big setbacks. So good on this episode for going this direction. It's good drama, and all the more so because I think most of us were assuming this would strictly be a two-parter, making it all the more surprising how things (don't) wrap up.