[Switchblade]

Before I get to anything else, I want to point out that the baseball cap Megumi wears near the end of the episode says that she was "selected in a goblin coordinate." I don't know what that was supposed to mean, but I love how much it missed the mark.

Second - and I'm afraid I'm going to be stepping on Androzani's toes here - I want to highlight this episode's big guest star. We actually have a returning player this episode as we welcome back, in the role of "Kengo's sublot," none other than Kamen Rider Faiz's very own "Kaidou's backstory." It's been a long time, but it's nice to see that he's still out there, ruining promising guitarist's dreams with a vaguely defined finger injury that affects nothing else they ever do with their hands. Good to see you again, buddy.

So the cowboy Fangire is kinda growing on me at this point. We haven't seen a ton of the Fangires' social hierarchy, but I dig the idea that there's a guy going around trying to overthrow the leader and take over the role himself. It's a neat plot hook and it ramps up the threat level of the specific villain. Still not sure why he's a cowboy, though.

Overall, a better episode than the last one and it sets up a lot of stuff that's going to pay off big-time in the very near future.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

With this episode, it’s more of the main action form, and it’s… fine? It has roughly the same physicality as the base form, and it doesn’t really come with a new weapon or additional power, so it all just feels like Regular Kiva Fights But Gold And Takaiwa Won’t Die. It’s a very lateral move, Takaiwa’s survival notwithstanding. I feel like it maybe needs a weapon? I don’t know. You look at Rising IXA, and it’s got that MouthPhoneGun (did not check the wiki), so it gives IXA double the weaponry to take on Fangires. It’s a clear upgrade, and that’s before we get into the brutal finisher. With Emperor Form, it’s just Gold Kiva, and it plays as weirdly underpowered.

There's still 18 episodes to go. I'm sure that there may be time to work something new for Kiva's arsenal. I bet it will be something really cool, too, and nothing that is easily misconstrued by prurient minds. It definitely wouldn't have an unfortunate nickname among the fanbase, that's for sure.