[Fish Sandwich]

You know, I ended up being grateful for the week off this year because it gave me valuable time to come around to Kamen Rider NOX's design prior to seeing it in the show? NOX Knight already worked fine as a dark reflection of ZEZTZ (that's also the light reflection), and so soon after that suit was introduced, the new one was a drastic enough departure that it read to me more as a different character than an evolution for an existing one, despite keeping the most important broad strokes in the design.

Hilariously enough, though, while it didn't really scream "NOX" to me right away, I realized pretty soon the belt's overall shape and red(ish)/blue lines reminded me of the Blazar Brace, and a bit later than that, I realized "wait, no, the whole design is actually just Ultraman Blazar." Not sure if anyone else has already made this connection? I can't unsee it at this point. The asymmetry with the blue and red(ish) lines dominating the left side of the body? Heck, the chest belts this year even give a bit of a Color Timer look. Now, Blazar is hands down one of my absolute top toku hero designs in recent memory, so that revelation very much endeared me to NOX's new threads. Aesthetically, honestly, it probably is even more up my alley than NOX Knight was. The thing that really makes me love Blazar is how his appearance also tells you a lot about his story, though, which is the part I feel like I'm still not completely seeing here, even though I vaguely think I understand some of what is likely similarly strong intent. Will probably end up liking Kamen Rider NOX even more if I see some interview or something some day spelling that stuff out.

That being said, one thing I'm already sure about is how well it continues to work as the anti-ZEZTZ. Introducing the stark white to contrast against a hero that's generally much darker and muted; how the Shadow Capsem is the power of the thing that had NOX scared right after Baku gained the power of what scared him, it's great stuff. I'm always down for a cool rivalry, and I think the biggest victory of that year-ending episode pair was how it reoriented the relationship between these two characters. I'm really, really, really into the idea of flipping the more traditional rocky Rider relationship on its head by having two people who staunchly oppose each other on a professional level, but also share this sort of mutual respect (and also pity in NOX's case) on a personal level, as fellow agents.

Seeing some of that vast potential realized is but one small part of why I loved this week's episode.

It's just really, really smart, all around? The plotting is very clever in structural ways, like how Minami gets to fill some of that void left by Nem and Zero's absence by giving Baku someone to bounce off of. That clever structure is in service of a story that has a great thrust to it with Baku being so isolated in his mission since again, it's Zero *and* Nem who are gone, an extra level of pressure which lets it focus in on Baku's heroic determination in a very cool way. That strong story is then further supported by all the little touches, including some more great twists on the existing grammar of the show, such as the voiceless mission briefing at the start. The fight scene is also killer? Fantastically creative use of ZEZTZ and NOX's respective abilities, but in a way that still leaves room for dynamic choreography, rather than just feeling like two guys throwing CG at each other or something.

Once again, supremely satisfied this week. I don't necessarily expect every episode after this is going to make me this happy, but part of that is how I feel like they've sorta upped the standard I want to hold the show to now.