[Fish Sandwich]

Oooooh this was a good one!

I guess the first thing to praise would the be the effort put into the production here. Once again, this in an episode that required some pretty elaborate set dressing for its gimmick, and that alone would be worth commending, but the attention to detail for the retro theme even beyond that is pretty fantastic. The text in the title card is all static and fuzzy, Cutanner and Ricky only being shown as their prop versions when they're under the monster's effects, the muted colors like we're watching a poor VHS transfer or something, the extremely effective timing of the change in aspect ratio... the list goes on and on and on and on. Seriously impressive stuff, and that's not even mentioning that Shoujirou Nakazawa brings back the Zenkai Space or whatever the official name is for a second. Not related to the retro gimmick – quite the opposite, actually – but I really wanted to note that somewhere. It was good hearing that distinctive sound again as the team run around inside of explosions.

What was also nice was how this one turned out to be like Revenge of the Kikainoids in structure, giving them a way to outshine both Twokaiser AND Zenkaiser that highlights how strong the character work in this story is. It's a story where everything is all about longing for the past, be it for that child, for Kaito, or even for Stacey, who gets a minor but very effective role here to start showing the more sympathetic side of why he is the way he is, which is sure to pay off in the near future. It's this very smart blending of the monster's gimmick with the central theme, and it allows for such a satisfying way for the heroes to turn things around at the lowest point when most of them realize the past kinda sucked for them. It's not a story that beats you over the head with a moral, especially since it reminds us that Kaito genuinely is missing something, but it's a very smooth acknowledgement that not everything is worth being nostalgic for, delivered in a way that was completely true to these outsider characters who all found something in each other.

On top of that, it's also a bit of a showcase for Yatsude, which was also a delight. I tend to be pretty fond of when Sentai has these sorts of parental figures played by experienced actors, and she's no exception! There's such an irresistible warmth to her performance, and an energy that always plays off the more excitable members of the cast *just* right. That's true even in episodes where she barely does anything, so to see that given a spotlight here was cool. You really can believe Kaito learned a ton of his positive qualities from her.

So yeah, between all that, and being the first episode since Twokaiser's debut to keep Zox firmly out of the spotlight, I utterly adored this episode. Probably one that'll be hard to top!