[Fish Sandwich]

This one did a pretty fantastic job as this massive turning point for the overall story. You've got a ton of momentum being generated for loads of characters, whether it's as huge as the shifts in the show's big organizations, or as small as Sakura pointing out how Aguilera has basically completely lost any real drive to do anything by this point.

Plus, Olteca continues to just be the worst. Indeed, he's the best at being the worst! "Fun" isn't ~exactly~ the right word for how it felt seeing him as Demons, but it's neat how many aspects of this worked out the way they did. That belt just plain sounded evil, from day one, but because we've gotten to know Demons as not only a hero, but THE most straightforward, classic hero in the series, it adds this great layer of cruelty to seeing that identity be corrupted into something evil, even though being a bad guy is clearly what Demons was made for to begin with.

I'm also still nodding in approval of how much the show is finding the space to emphasize how Ikki and Vice are legitimately Buddies by this point, what with Ikki's genuine concern for Vice's pain throughout this one. (Like, remember the first two episodes? We've come a long way in half a show!) Thanks to the merchandise reveals and scans, I already have some fairly clear ideas of why the show is doing this right now, and where it's all going, and I'm excited to see that play out.

As a Hiromi episode, I mean, I stand by calling it a two-parter last week, even if this is still the same block of episodes by Mouri and Sakamoto. This one definitely doesn't hold up that great viewed through that specific lens, but I don't think it's fair to get caught up on that when the episode clearly isn't trying to put him in the spotlight anymore. It's hard to believe that "death" is anything other than deliberately unconvincing. Which, granted, you could say hurts the drama, but again, there are plenty of other plot threads here that are making up for that bit of weakness.