[Fish Sandwich]

Kiramager, it's okay, you can stop with the killer references! I already love you, you don't need to have Sakamoto direct an episode, and then start it with a direct reference to one of my favorite things he's ever directed! I literally would never even think to ask for a Kamen Rider Accel V-Cinema homage in Super Sentai, you're just going to make me get greedy!

So, yeah, this one's a real winner. The sloppy writing last episode had me worried for a second, but this is everything I want out of Sentai right here. The villain is fun (I'm digging the retro monster suits), and has a unique gimmick. The spotlighted hero gets good development (the benefit of the heroes having defined dayjobs). The others get their moments (still loving Tametomo's backseat leading). The action is spectacular, in part thanks to Sakamoto's usual direction, and in part thanks to Arakawa's creative writing (that scene of the Machines playing tug-of-war is great).

Most crucially, because this was my big problem last week, there's a strong narrative, with a central message that feels well thought out, with the basic idea that just sucking up all your pain to look cool will create more problems than it solves. It still tries to get a bit clever with it, but the end result, I think, worked out a lot better this time. Juuru trying to meet Shiguru halfway shows the emotional sensitivity that's clearly gonna be his angle as a leader, and them both staying "in-character" even after there's no need for it was really cute. It also didn't make the mistake of relaxing the tension before the mecha fight, which undercut Land Mage's debut. It was a much, much more satisfying story all around. And that's great, because Shiguru is the one I want to be my favorite going in this year, so I'm happy his first episode got nailed down this hard.

I also can't stress enough how much the overall style of this show does for me. It has a wonderfully defined...is "aesthetic" the right word? I mean, that's part of it, but it's just like, every component of Kiramager was carefully constructed to keep up that sense of high-impact energy the whole way through, from the flashy roll-call to the decision to have those little gags during the ED, just so you can't let your guard down. It should be sensory overload, and I should hate it, but it isn't, and I love it.