[Fish Sandwich]

Great episode, although I don't know whether to be happy (they got a whole extra minute of runtime!) or sad (in episode 12 it was actually special...) about the lack of the opening. Anyway:

- Nico got Faized!

- I think Para-DX (I guess we're just going with that) might be my favorite design in the show? I kind of hated it for looking dumb and weird at first but now it's looped back around into me loving it for looking dumb and weird. And I mean, he looks dumb and weird by the standards of a show where everyone looks dumb and weird. I also adore the Gear Dual. Doesn't use a belt? Weird! Proper English voice? Weird! Trying to make the word "puzzle" sound menacing (with that start screen, too)? Weird!

- I like how Snipe is just kind of a total loser at this point. Gets kicked out of the good guys' club and then when he tries to play up the edgy loner angle some weird girl shows up to kill the atmosphere. Poor guy can't catch a break. And yet, his displays of intelligence, like actually having the forethought to do some research on Emu, suggest that he's actually one of the most competent people in the show. I know he's been called one-note, but ever since he got his Level 3 form I think Taiga has had some decent layers to his character, and that's only gotten more true lately.

- So the secret behind Emu this whole time was "watch the movie"? Kinda anticlimactic...

- Hiiro continues to basically be an Inoue character. Not only does he have weird quirks (his love of cakes, calling anything sharp a "scapel"), but now he's even attacking his allies without explaining his reasons! I'm not complaining though. It's consistent with his characterization. I'm actually more surprised Emu and Asuna don't immediately assume he has some good reason. For all Hiiro's faults, he's not that much of a jerk.