[DreamSword]

Episode 29: Hayami Goes Dark!

A promising part 2 to this multi-parter.

Sure, the Eri and Gauzer romance is still in full swing, but the direction it went here, as well as it only being about half the episode, helped alot.

What will probably surprise no one is that the other half of the plot, detailing how the friendship between Hayami and Akira has grown over time was alot more appealing to me.

Yeah, there's the immediate, very obvious details about how while Hayami does still hold a bit of a grudge, he's doing his best to not let it get in the way of things and is for all intents and purposes past it, but other side of that is how Akira has really warmed to and grown to respect Hayami over time.

The friendship keychain might've been a spur of the moment dumb joke that Akira made, but the friendship between the two is genuine. If there's one thing that I can surprisingly always give Inoue credit for, it's that he always makes sure to have scenes where the characters who are supposed to be chummy with eachother are just out together doing mundane things.

Here in Changerion it's Akira and Hayami playing golf. In Kamen Rider Ghost it was the cast singing karaoke together. And of course, across all of his works is the various scenes of people eating together. It's these sorts of scenes that help to really sell the idea of people creating bonds, and the lack of them is a big reason why I had my doubts when it came to the supposed friendships of shows like Kamen Rider Build.

As for the the romance going on in the other half of the episode, while I am a bit cautious on how this is all gonna play out, I did like the idea presented here that Eri and Gauzer's' attraction is based almost entirely on lust, and that such an attraction really is only skin deep, with the two really having next to nothing in common and thus not being able to create a real connection with one another as a result. And while I get that it was supposed to be dramatic, Gauzer outright asking Eri why she's surprised about his behavior was some top tier lampshading.

In the end, I liked this episode, and it did restore my faith in where exactly this is all headed.