[Tokumonkey]

I was impressed with this first episode in a way I haven't been since Wizard. That Sento is a little arrogant delights me and partially makes up for his cartoon hair. This episode felt to me like it gave him more of a discernible personality than the last couple of Riders did when they debuted.

I'm also very excited by the relationship between Sento and... um... Claws. (I'm behind on learning names.) A lot of the secondary Rider relationships I've seen have felt samey to me, and I like that Claws is inherently tied to the larger plot and he's around in the first episode.

I'm a little puzzled; do we have an official Romanization for KnightRogue/NightRogue/Night Rogue/NitRogue? I thought it was the latter, which seemed bizarre to me until I realize it might not be "night" and "rogue" but rather wordplay of "nitro" + "rogue."

The setup of a range of mysteries really worked for me. Like many others, I suspected Sento opened the Box, but it sure didn't look like Sento under that cap. Also, I realized that the show did a blink-and-you'll-miss-it on what's certain to be a major plot point, which is that people immediately present when the Pandora Box opened underwent severe personality changes.

Now, let's see, Goatee-Administrator and Underling were both there, right? I'm having trouble imagining a scenario in which Goatee-Administrator isn't Nitrogue. His final scene of the episode definitely screamed "villain." What kind of personality alteration did *he* undergo?

(Of course, if Sento was the box-opener, maybe he's also experienced a dramatic personality change.)

The only thing that didn't totally thrill me was the fight sequences. The Drill Crusher may have replaced the SunglassSlasher and the Gashacon Breaker as my least favorite modern Rider weapons.