[Leo Novum]

Well this was a nice episode. A lot to unpack. Let's start with the comedy, shall we?

- Isurugi Soichi flinching when he tries to serve Banjou and Kiryuu coffee and instead, they pull out coffee cans.

- BloodStark's absolutely lackadaisical way of doing things like sliding down the stairway railing or grumpily acquiescing to NightRogue's commands.

- BloodStark being petty by firing a guided missile at Kiryuu only for it to change course and hit NightRogue.

- Banjou flinching at the FullBottle Machine's sound.

- Banjou being a clown. It's not very funny but somehow, I found him wandering around Hokuto in a clown suit very funny.

Things I liked a lot this episode.

- The evil plan makes sense! I mean, I was expecting the reason BloodStark kept letting Build go was because of generic evil stupidity but no, it is actually part of the plan. Not bad, I guess.

- The SkyWall has SkyRoads. And those SkyRoads have human traffickers. NightRogue and BloodStark managed to find Build's location easily so I guess that means they can find other ones too. Although the reporter did say that not all of them are known to the government. And they do show the SkyRoad being a hard to find hole, not a blatantly open break in the wall.

- Hokuto looks miserable. Enough said.

Miscellaneous thoughts.

- NightRogue's transformation is so awesome! Even the music that accompanies it is ominous almost as much as Dangerous Zombie.

- Somehow, NightRogue and BloodStark's design looks a lot more economical and utilitarian compared to Build. Which is impressive for two reasons, first because Build is the most economical looking Rider since Gaim and second because both NightRogue and BloodStark have a lot more doodads and bells and whistles attached to their costume than Build has. This is obvious compared to Build's and there weapons. NightRogue fights using a combat knife and a pistol, BloodStark uses a rifle that can function as a rocket launcher. Build, however, uses a sword which is a drill, a sword made of comic panels which is a flamethrower and wind-cannon combined and a pistol which is functions as a Gatling Gun which needs to be spun ten times to perform a final attack.

- Also, NightRogue's fighting style is so much more acrobatic. He is all over the place while Build can't even handle him. Compared to him, BloodStark favors a defensive approach, constantly blocking and catching Build's attacks. It's saying something that Build has an easier time fighting BloodStark compared to NightRogue even though BloodStark has shrugged off every Voltech Finish Build has thrown at him.