[Fish Sandwich]

Man, it seem episodes of this show written by Tete Inoue give me a real hard time thinking of things to say for one reason or another.

This time, it's not that the episode is so wacky I don't know how to analyze it beyond "it was funny", so much as, well, the exact opposite issue. But then also maybe the same issue? There's a very straightforward dramatic thrust to this one, and it's executed competently, kept me entertained the whole time, and left me with a smile on my face, which is the important thing.

But I think, much like an episode that's all about the comedy, one like this that's all drama lacks that extra layer of characterization that tends to make a Sentai episode, or really any story, stick with me a little more. The episode lays out this quest to save the Machines and/or find Oradin, but it doesn't take the opportunity to also explore the cast just a little bit more in the process. An easy example to help explain what I'm getting at is the evil doppelgangers we see of four of the team. That's a concept that often goes hand in hand with introspection, but by the nature of the plot, here it's just a fun concept to slap on a simple obstacle to distract the rest of the cast while Juuru does his thing. There's no larger theme tying everything together, or character growth to aid in creating a sense of progression.

It's not the most meaty story this show has delivered, is my point, and that becomes a bit more glaring when it's also one dealing with some pretty major plot threads. Only a bit though? I mean, I wish this could've felt a bit more grand, but this post probably sounds more negative than I really mean it to be. There's always room for improvement, but that can't change the fact that I still had a good time with this episode. It's just that I honestly couldn't think of much to dig into this week beyond what I felt held things back. Again, something about this writer and this show just makes it hard for me to sustain any sort of analysis for very long.