[Fish Sandwich]

This was pretty much everything I hoped for as soon as I saw Ayumi Shimo was the one writing it.

Like, is the premise silly and fun? Of course it is. It's hilarious, even. Seeing Crunchula abusing the power of rap in an effort to create an endless cycle of people dissing each other and then sit back and watch as human society as we know it collapses is... I mean, do I even need to do anything more than just pointing out that's seriously the plot? It's exactly the kind of ridiculous thing I want to see out of a Sentai episode. Stuff like most of the Kiramagers being taken out by particularly good insults, or Kiramai Red in a literal, honestly for real rap battle with the show's main villains is just too delightful. It could've only been better if Garza was in there somehow.

But what pushes it over the edge from being just a good, funny episode to being something legitimately great is what Shimo excels at, which is finding the heart within all the madness, and creating a story with a lot more focus and weight behind it. Everything with Fire and Juuru here is amazing. I loved how all the rude things the rest of the Kiramagers say to the Stones lead to Fire legitimately angsting about the truth within those insults. A lesser version of this same plot would've just had them saying silly mean things and left it at that, but there's an extra layer of character going on that elevates the episode so much. As soon as Fire showed up to rap his feelings at Juuru, I had a feeling this one was going to be a masterpiece. As soon as Juuru and him both started expressing their sincere appreciation for each other's friendship in the form of a rap battle, I knew the episode IS a masterpiece.

I mean, wow, what a beat to land the story on. It's an excellent climax, made all the more heartwarming by how Juuru's flow is clearly not great, which just makes the whole thing feel that much more honest. Like, it's not even about if it's good rap (although Fire's bars do live up to his name), they're just speaking from the heart, you know? It's what I love most about Kiramager – how unabashedly it values positive reinforcement. Fire and Juuru don't just leave it at a gruff, heroic "we'll always be partners!" or something, even though that would still work. Instead, they are absolutely showering each other with praise and compliments, and I think that's great. Of course I think it's great, because it's what I do any time an episode like this comes along. Which is very often, because Kiramager is just such a great show. And this was even technically the Christmas episode, too! Written by Shimo! Talk about a great present! I loved it!