[Fish Sandwich]

I suppose the roughest part of Hanto and Shouma's current friction ought to be how much I don't want to see them apart, but if I'm being totally honest, I'm probably more actively concerned about how the current status quo affects the chances of seeing their base forms regularly.

No PoppinGummy in this one! Technically not the first time that's happened, but it is the first time Gavv has fallen into the pattern of so many Riders before him by jumping straight to whatever the latest power-up is. That's enough reason by itself to hope Shouma gets well soon, surely. Ice cream's great and all, but I want him to be enjoying the full spectrum of delicious treats again as soon as possible, so that *I* can enjoy the full spectrum of Gavv forms in fights that get to use more than one costume.

(I also find it curious that Bitter Gavv only shows up in costume here, by the way? It gives him the vibe of some guest character in a crossover where they couldn't get the actor on set, but like... Shouma is right there? Although I guess if they're trying to avoid overworking Chinen Hidekazu or something, I can't complain.)

Putting aside my eternal concern over base forms, though, I enjoyed this episode for what it was. It's another one from Mouri, and also the kind of episode that's maybe a little tricky to talk about without the context of the back half of the story.

The current big drama between the two main Riders moves forward about an inch, and without Koumura fully involved, I don't expect much more than another inch or two next week. That seems to be part of the mission for guest writers on this series though, so I mostly appreciate that they at least aren't totally stationary. Even though neither character is really the driving force here, little things like Shouma learning the ins and outs of ice cream powers, or Hanto's growing (over)confidence and adorable bad-boy black jacket still give them something to do.

Lakia is the one clearly in the spotlight for this story, and as such, that's definitely where the most interesting things in the episode are. Him filling in for Shouma at work is one of those ideas that immediately sounds so fun I'd be upset if I didn't get to see that at some point. His lack of enthusiasm makes for a great contrast, which here is already amusing, and also leads to a plot that hopefully has something or another interesting to say about Vram as a hero next time. I don't expect to be calling these ones a new highlight for the series anytime soon, but I am excited to see where they're going.