[Daikaijuman54]

I liked this arc, mostly because of Kikai, but the Zi-O portion was nice too.

I love how Kikai's year is 2121, signifying he's the 150th anniversary of Kamen Rider, which is funny since he feels so much like a Showa Rider with a helping of other Ishinomori Heroes, like Kikaider, even the Driver sounds Showa! It's also fun how he only appears in dreams, and Sougo imagined him much like Shinobi back when French Woz debuted. Not to mention his design, while a remodel of the Guardians from Build (which were great suits on their own), but it's a fun design that invokes retro robots with a dash of modernity.

Speaking of design, it's interesting how real (or I guess in this case dream?) Kikai is a machine, while Another Kikai looks like a tree, the complete opposite of Kikai in just about every aspect in how it's completely organic, straight down to the fact that it's some weird alien thing instead of just planting the Ridewatch into somebody.

I will admit, the Zi-O portion isn't as good as some of the other Zi-O portions for previous (and future) episodes, but it was nice. Sougo constantly trying to stay awake to finish exams before ultimately falling asleep, then when he's needed to sleep so he can find out if Kikai has any weaknesses, he just can't seem to sleep (which reminds me of the dream arc in W), was pretty funny. Though the Time Jackers are almost always a mixed bag in the story, with Swartz just not being the guy you would trust even if he's your own teammate, kind of works for the role of Villain he sits in, though so far, they're pretty much just Sentai Villains without the quirks in human form.