[Byg42]

As someone who hasn't been watching Rider for the past 2 years, personally I have been enjoying Gotchard quite a bit. As many have said, it feels like a throwback to the style of Rider during the early 2010s, which I have been missing for a little. There was definitely a bit of roughness during some of the early episodes, but I think the show has smooth those out and so far, I'm liking where things are going.

As for this episode, I liked it. While it delves a bit into Spanner, the other thing it highlights was how other characters interact and react to him, in particular Hotaro and his rivalry. The way they're going about that is quite neat, in that while Hotaro doesn't really like Spanner, he does acknowledge his skill and prowess, and views the rivalry as a way to motivate himself to get better. Compare that to the MOTW, who lets his obsession with Spanner completely overtake him to the point that the only he wants to do is beat him. They're also highlighting the dubious nature of the memory wipe rule, something I felt they also hinted at last week, and next week seems like it might also touch on that.