[Fish Sandwich]

I'm not gonna lie, I was genuinely hoping Kobyashi would be the writer (because I always am), but, uh... Yuuya Takahashi's doing it instead?

心が躍るな！

Ex-Aid fought very hard for a very long time to earn my respect the way it did by the end, so I'm looking forward to sitting back and just enjoying a show by this guy now that I'm already convinced he's a super genius from the start. And we get LuPat's main director! I mean, did you guys see Zi-O's Agito arc? This is a dream team right here. It's like they're making this show just for me! Hopefully Sugihara does more episodes of this show than Kamihoriuchi has Ryusoulger though... But even if he doesn't the background music is from the same guy as Ghost! Woohoo!

While I'm extremely unconvinced there's going to be enough of a change in style to justify Reiwa Rider being treated like it's something completely new and different, I am absolutely loving everything I'm seeing on its own merits. The aesthetics and the theming of all the designs is great, which is to be expected (shoutout to weapons that fold up into briefcases, that's an itch I haven't had scratched in a while), and are definitely doing most of the work to make this show seem like a fresh start.

The story keeps sounding better and better the more I think about it, too. The idea of these three major factions gives the show a huge opportunity for more layered, complex drama, and I think balancing all those characters out is something nobody is more suited for than Takahashi. I also appreciate that Zero-One's specific ideals place him firmly on his own side, despite all the Riders already running around. The big question I think every multi-Rider show needs to figure out is how you justify why the title character is the star, and this is a great way to do that. Hopefully Aruto doesn't end up getting overshadowed as much as poor Emu did.

Speaking of Aruto, he's about what I expected, but that's not a bad thing in its own right. Some cliches are cliches for a reason, after all, and having watched that press conference, his actor gives off a really good vibe to me, which is a plus. I also think having this kind of protagonist could actually be a perfect choice if the show's plot does start going deep into its futurist subject matter. An enthusiastic hero with a big heart would make a great anchor when everyone starts getting into debates about the ethical and practical implications of an AI labor force or whatever. Sometimes you just need a guy who can bring it all back down to hitting a monster a bunch and saving people.

Also, I think the theme song is going to be a favorite of mine. All in all, I'm hyped for this show in a way I haven't been since Drive. It all sounds super promising.