[Sh Ranger]

It's a good time to be a Zyuohger fan, as it's now tied with Sun Vulcan, Hurricanger, Kyuranger and Kiramager for most popular Gear, having previously been used all the way back in Episode 1! Makes sense that Komura would want to give more favoritism to her first show. The effect on Twokaizer gives him the ridiculously strong Zyuoh The Gunrod, but unless he also gets Misao's super strength, he probably won't be able to pick up any buildings, sadly. Very sad actually. Maybe that's why he got so depressed.

I appreciate the continuity of Kaito mentioning his birthday coming soon, considering how Episode 3 showed him listening to his Sagittarius Horoscope. The Sagittarius zone is going to start a few days from now, so presuming his birthday is specifically in late November, then his false assumption that his friends were planning his surprise party is actually very plausible! Awesome attention to detail there.

The plot reminds me of Kiramager Episode 18 where the Kiramagers awkwardly tried to keep the secret of the curse from Mabusheena, out of worry that she wouldn't be able to live with the dark truth and wanting her to enjoy the time she has left. However, it's important for a team to trust and respect each other enough to be open about such important things. Adults are often stronger than they seem and if it's their will, then they deserve to hear the truth, even if the intention to lie is good. So it's nice that Juran proudly declares his intention to break the charade early on in the episode, with the actual miscommunication resulting from Dia Wald's inconvenient ability. His heroic speech to the others, despite being nothing but "Dia dia dia", can still be perceived by context to be something extremely deep and meaningful about their responsibility to help Kaito, even if Zox is against them. Kind of like how it's possible to understand the Shift Cars' beeps. It's all about the emotion and the actual words used are secondary to that!

Hakaizer's true identity as Isao is revealed to Stacey and Kaito, which causes them to fight over him. Stacey finally has someone he can call a friend and put his faith in, so he doesn't want to lose that. Maybe not just a friend, but kind of like a father to him as well, since his real father is a terrible person and he hasn't experienced that familial love in a long time. Unfortunately, Hakaizer is also brainwashed, so of course Kaito would want to turn his father back to normal. Kaito can probably sympathize with Stacey though, being the one to encourage his friendship with Hakaizer before, but doing something that might mess with that will surely bring their rivalry in to the foreground. The best solution to Stacey's problem is to find the courage to defect from Tozitendo. He doesn't have to lose his friend to Kaito, they can share him, but only if they're all on the same side.