[Kiwami]

This episode was fantastic, and I realized something that made me quite happy: When the clock broke and Riku was a bit of an ass, Laiha was not stepping in and shouting at him for how childish it is.

The Laiha we met at the beginning of the show would've done it. But now that she's with those guys for so long, she knows that her making a fuss about it won't solve anything and that the clock is important to Riku regardless of how cheap and silly of a thing it is.

She has fully adjusted to being with Riku and Pega which shows such a wonderful progression in character development. And when she does talk about it she pushes Riku in the direction that will work the best for them. You know, instead of making Riku feel guilty about being a little bit of a weirdo.

Even before the earthquake, Laiha approached them giggling over Donshine merchandise, and you would expect a remark from her about how silly of an activity that is, yet she just rolled with it.

It's a little thing to note but I feel like the writers actually cared. Instead of giving Leiha an archetype that she must follow they had her warm up a little.

But of course, the bulk of the episode is dedicated to Riku's and Pega's bromance which is a wonderful thing as well. But to be honest, I'm not very pleased with Pega's backstory. I wished for something a bit more... important. Which would give him more focus in future episodes? But hey, Ultraman shows are short these days, maybe it just isn't supposed to be.

Lastly, I love Ultraman episodes where the monster is treated with care if it isn't evil. Geed walking over to Gubila and petting the poor thing was so adorable.

Before I end this, was anyone else a bit disappointed that Pedanium Zetton didn't split into two halves after he was hit by the Ultraman Ace finisher? They didn't have to as graphical with, maybe you just see a little bit of a split before it turns to energy dust. But that's a really minor nitpick, I just thought it would've been neat.