[Fish Sandwich]

Another super duper fun episode. I really love how even though these past two episodes are nominally about Emu, they've been really great showings for Brave and Snipe, who I think quickly fell off people's radars as soon as Kiriya showed up, so they really needed it.

Taiga finally has someone to talk to now, letting him actually be in a scene where he does something other than whine about how all the other Riders suck, and he's even solving mysteries with his quirky new sidekick! Good for you, Taiga!

Meanwhile everything involving Hiiro these past two episodes has been amazing, aside from how frustrating it is that the show seems to have forgotten about his backstory (at least for now). What really elevates it is that most of the characterization he's getting here is indirect, coming more from his actions than his words, which is a perfect fit for the kind of character he is. And hey, he actually got to do doctor stuff! Real doctor stuff, I mean. Not "I'm gonna dress up as a cartoon knight and hit people with a sword" doctor stuff, like usual.

And of course the stuff with Emu is great too. I sort of thought the extent to which Emu instantly gets in his own way at the start was a little overkill so it was great to see him work that out within seconds of using XX again. I guess that's just how multi-Rider shows work. Even if the other guy is literally you, you're still obligated to fight at least once.

I am kind of worried about this whole plotline though. If the show keeps up the quality I could see myself getting over it quickly but I maintain that outright saying Emu is two different people would be devaluing his character a ton. Like, going by that logic, Shinnosuke must be part Bugster (or whatever) too. Every time Takeru got mopey in Ghost? Obviously the Game Illness at work.

Like, the show seems to want me to buy that Emu speaking politely around patients, colleagues, and friends, and not to Bugsters, is some kind of foreshadowing, but it mostly just seems straightforward to me. I mean, just listen to XX L during the fight at the end. He sounds ridiculous.

Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit with that last point. As foreshadowing, it's actually pretty solid. They even make a note of reminding the viewer that Taiga instantly pegged that as something notable about Emu pretty much right away.

So yeah, great episodes. My posts have been more negative sounding these past couple weeks, but my enjoyment of Ex-Aid is as high as it's ever been. Can't wait to see Parado- uh... Para-DX next week. I'm going pretty long already, but I wanna finish off with the usual bullet point minor stuff:

- Oh man, an insert theme. I've missed those so much. And this week it was actually used right. Bonus points for also playing over Hiiro doing surgery. That's just awesome.

- Dig that direct Mario Bros. reference with Ex-Aid smashing the Bugster through the blocks. Unless I just haven't noticed it, I don't think Ex-Aid has been doing straight up video game references, so that was pretty neat.

- The way they left in Kiriya's spots in the opening (without Kiriya himself) instead of just removing them altogether is kind of suspicious. Maybe they'll just upgrade Parad to main character status and put him in, but it seems strange for them to change up the opening only to change it again after two episodes.