[Fish Sandwich]

Only just got around to watching this myself. Allow me to give a totally accurate recap of the recap for anyone who still hasn't seen it yet.

"Izu":"Tell me about Kamen Rider Zero-One."
Aruto: "I turn into a grasshopper and fight terrorists and it's awesome."
"Izu": "That's great!"
Aruto: "Wait, I'm not done yet. There's also this guy called Thous-"
"Izu": "I don't need to hear about Thouser."
Aruto: "But my fights with him are cool and important too, honest!"
"Izu:" "...If you say so."

I swear I'm only kind of exaggerating here. I understand the need for a stopping point to lead into the second part, but I can't help but find it hilarious that even "Izu" doesn't give two s***s about the contest arc.

Weirdly enough, this is the most I've enjoyed an episode of Zero-One in a while? I guess the lack of new plot developments for me to question is really all it took. I was legitimately impressed they managed to get a decent mystery plot going with "Izu" though. In a recap episode! A+ for effort here. As recap episodes go, this is great.

I think the other thing that made it so entertaining was how great a job Over-Time did with the dialogue for "Izu", if I can just praise that for a second. They've been working miracles with Fuwa's lines this entire show, but the level of effort taken to get across the banter here is seriously commendable. No one would blame a fansubber for phoning this one in!