[Fish Sandwich]

Guys, I... uh, have a confession to make. This whole time I've been going on and on about how I'm totally Team Pat, and how much I love Keiichirou, but actually... Kairi was secretly my favorite character the whole time.

I know, I know, it's an awful betrayal, but I can't help myself. Something about his personality really appeals to me in a way I can't quite find the words to describe. Well, besides 現代っ子, but I don't think that really helps most of the people here out.

The point is, my infidelity was especially odd when you consider he hadn't even had his own focus episode until now. As such I was pretty hyped for this, and I have to say, this is my favorite episode of the show so far. I don't know if it's significantly better than any of the other stellar episodes this show's already had, but I'm a sucker for any plot where a character is developed by having them encounter a situation that parallels something in their own life, and given how consistently well handled the Lupinranger's side of the story has already been, it's no wonder I liked it so much. There's nothing super complicated or impressive about it, but the story here worked well. I think the tone hits a great balance between being serious and fun, and the twist at the end was genuinely quite shocking considering how early into the series we still are.

The best part is, just like the last time I had this many good things to say about an episode, this is only part one of a two-part story. It's honestly quite impressive how much momentum Lupinranger VS Patranger has going already.