[Fish Sandwich]

You know, the whole tickle torture gag can only do so much to make this all seem perfectly family friendly when this dude is still strapped up above a bed of huge pointy spikes. I've praised Zenkaiger a bunch for how masterfully it creates the kind of tone it's going for, and I'm more impressed by that than usual this week, because if you actually stop to consider what this episode is about, you could easily do the exact same plot in a much more serious show?

Like, the real building blocks of this one are the dilemma of a good man kidnapped and brainwashed by an oppressive regime to do their bidding, two people dealing with the sorrow of their lost parents trying to fill that void, and one of the friends of one of those people deciding to resort to extremely unethical methods in order to achieve a just goal. Sounds like some epic war novel or something. But then, this is Zenkaiger, so you put all that into context, and you've got Hakaiser having the personality he does, the really specific way Kaito and Stacey's rivalry is calibrated, the goofy nature yet legitimate threat posed by the monster of the week, and all these other mitigating factors, and somehow in the end, it all comes together into something that feels totally cohesive with Zenkaiger's very particular style. So yeah, the tickle torture gag alone can't wash away the implications of what's happening on the screen, but that's only one trick of many. I really don't know how this show does it.

Very strong episode all around. It's mostly laying out more clearly all the things I assumed about the ending last time, so I don't know how much of that I need to repeat, even though it definitely made me happy to see this immediately being the direction the plot went. Where it mixes things up a bit is by also being another huge showcase of how ridiculously dedicated to Kaito Zox has become by this point, even though it's also reaffirming that his more outlaw-y side is still very much present. Definitely a fun look in on his character.

It probably goes without saying how fun the typical monster plot stuff all is too? Once again, Koumura just know how to roll with even the simplest gimmick, and while the roll call was mostly normal this time, the actual way everyone had to work together to transform was extremely cute. (Plus, that joke comes with the exact escalation you'd expect once it's Zox's turn.) I'm also way into the consistency of the Zenryoku Zenkai Cannon's finisher being treated the way it is? Zyuran was smart to trust his instincts there; the recoil on that thing really is crazy!

Although perhaps it could be considered karma for chickening out that ZyuraGaon continues to go unused in the mecha fights in favor of the dynamic duo of funny cool dinosaur robot and do-anything wizard robot. I honestly kinda forget Zenkai-Oh ZyuraGaon is supposed to be the "main" robot this year? Or, I mean, I guess since they're both Zenkai-Oh, VrooMagine is too, so maybe it's fine, but... wait wait wait, I am complaining about Magine getting more time in the spotlight than other characters right now? What's gotten into me?! Obviously what I meant to say was that I'm *totally* cool with VrooMagine being the only version of Zenkai-Oh still getting screentime, because if it *has* to be just one, it'd better be one with Magine in it!