[Fish Sandwich]

Very happy to see that this show's episode titles have now completed their own four part "I'm a Kamen Rider!"/"We're Kamen Rider!"/"We're Me!?"/"Goodbye Me!" saga. Although if they want to do a surprise crossover episode with Drive called "俺は刑事で仮面ライダー", that would make it really perfect.

This was a cool episode, although it's another one of those mostly setup types that's kind of hard to talk about on its own. It's a little surprising to see that Masaya Kakehi is the one given the honor of kicking off the show's final arc, but then, I've been saying since the start his writing is on the same level as Takahashi's, so what does it matter, right?

I ended up really enjoying Fuwa's dilemma here, and the idea that he finds a sort of inner peace in the knowledge that there can be a plain, ordinary life waiting for him if he wants it hits me right in that Go-Busters sweet spot. It makes a lot of sense that someone who was manipulated into defining his life by melodramatic trauma would be thrilled at the thought of having a nice, boring, stable family. Fuwa's development could've gone in a million directions, but I wouldn't mind it at all if he ends up becoming a more mellow guy at the end of it all. I know you modern kids with your Kamen Rider Taisens will have trouble believing it, but Showa Riders were actually chill dudes a lot of the time. It'd just be one more old-school parallel for Vulcan, and I'm always up for more of that. Although, on the other hand, Showa Riders also have just as many dead parents as the newer ones...

Hopefully that doesn't end poorly!

I also really loved Aruto on the phone with Fukuzoe? It's a little thing, and there's obviously a lot of tension between them, but I like the idea that Fukuzoe would like to keep Hiden Intelligence on-track, and does not for a second entertain any ideas that Gai is an improvement over Aruto, but is also, you know, himself, so there's really nothing he can do, so he mostly does nothing except complain and cling desperately to what little status he's managed to hang onto. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: there's a lot of dramatic potential in this goofy side character I would really love to see drilled into for even an episode! This is why I'll always stick by episodic shows. Being on this Ark train for the rest of the show inherently makes that harder to find space for, so I'm not exactly getting my hopes up, nor am I really holding that against the series. A little scene like this, even if it's mostly there to make Aruto aware of the plot, is pretty good for what it is.

Oh, and speaking of the Ark, that guy kinda seems like a jerk! I don't know what Horobi did to deserve getting tackled through a concrete wall like that, but I do like this twist on Gold Drive's whole body-snatching concept of jumping between several hosts. It allows for Ark-Zero to actually have multiple onscreen transformations, like a real Kamen Rider would, despite not having a proper "human" form to call his own. It's neat.