[FairyKing]

For some reason, even though it was repetitive this episode felt really-fast paced to me, and I think I finally realized why: It's not just a repeat of episode 17 like everyone is saying. It's episode 17 and 18 crammed into one. We've got the setup of the contest, the introduction of both competitors, the human getting desperate to beat the Humagear, their malice provoking the Humagear to go Magia, and Gai destroying the Magia over Aruto's objections. That's all from episode 17.

BUT the revelation that the human cheated, the hooded woman making an appearance, the human turning into a Raider and fighting Zero-One, and the human openly attacking the Humagear? Last time around, that didn't happen until episode 18. So yes, it is a slightly rearranged repeat of the previous arc, but they went through all the beats except the ending in the first episode, so there's still a lot of room for twists in the second.

I think the writer is hurrying to set up a pattern and make us think we know what to expect so he can subvert it.