[Fish Sandwich]

They cooled it on the references targeted straight at me and I still loved the episode. All right!

Right off the bat, I've gotta say the big negative, though. Unless I missed something, Garza never, ever made that sparkly noise in Episode ZERO, or any of the other flashbacks we've seen to those events, even in this episode. I think. I mean, I went back and checked. I feel like I must be wrong about this. It'd be such slick foreshadowing, and the episode sets up the laughing thing so early on that, at the very least, I'm gonna lay the blame on some SFX guy instead of Arakawa, because as Kiwami already pointed out, it wouldn't be the only time they've screwed up a bit.

Now, despite how much I don't like him assuming you've seen Episode ZERO to begin with, Arakawa is continuing to satisfy me with this one. The central crux of the plot maintains a proper amount of drama, because this is the first episode about Garza, and it legitimately is believable as the audience that the "possessed against his will" thing is true in some way and could potentially be his gimmick for the season. So we're on the same page as the characters, but for different, more meta reasons. I liked that a lot.

I also like seeing fresh things like the characters arguing the name of a monster of the week, which is the kind of dialogue where you can tell Arakawa himself is a Sentai fan. He literally inserted a nerdy debate into the start of the episode, and that's wonderful. The continued emphasis on letting the Machines have fun action scenes without combining, I of course love, and I hope doesn't start drying up as more toys get introduced even though it'll definitely happen. Having the individual mecha feel like proper, distinct entities actually makes it feel significant that they can combine, whereas the Gokai Galleon, for example (ironically from another Arakawa series!), might as well have just been a Denjiman style transforming robot. I don't think most people care as much about this as I do, but like, I think the results speak for themselves. Having scenes of a bunch of giant vehicles going around using their unique abilities to stop runaway trains and whatnot is fun. It's good when Sentai is fun. It's also extra important for a season like this, where the mecha are supposed to be important characters in their own right, and Kiramager is doing a decent job of that so far.

Speaking of characters, the motivations we get by the end for Garza are great. He's kind of the anti-Juuru, you know, classic rival stuff, so of course he goes around demanding everyone admire how amazing his creations are, pointing out the tryhard pointy weapons he loaded his dinosaur robot up with. The dinosaur robot that's also purple and black, because he's evil. It's symbolism! Only a real artist would understand that!

Juuru himself is really starting to win me over. His actor is already doing a better job compared to the first episode, which helps, but I think his personality is super fresh, and deserves to be welcomed with open arms by the "loud Reds suck" crowd. Sure, he's got the catchphrase for when he gets excited, I know. It's easy to focus on that. But the way he's written, he's an insanely delicate, shy introvert uncomfortable with being the center of attention, who only gets so excited about art because it's his one outlet. He's utterly lacking in self-confidence, and moments like him immediately backing down from Shiguru last week, or blushing at the end here, I don't know. There's something really wholesome about the kid that I find endearing, and he seems destined for some solid character growth down the line. His duel with Garza is also some classic Sakamoto action, so already, they're making him look cool.

Tametomo is also shaping up to be a favorite. He's riding a real fine line where he comes off as pedantic and cocky without being too self-centered or forceful. The scene where him and Juuru both walk in on Mabusheena, it's spectacular characterization. You can tell Tametomo is trying to legitimately compliment him for figuring out what was up, but it still comes out like an insult. The contrast between Tametomo's cool surprise entrance and Juuru nervously tiptoeing into the scene. These two have a real dynamic going, and I can see the case for either of them being in a leader position, which may or not result in a shakeup in the next episode, going by the preview.