[Fish Sandwich]

32 marks the start of another stretch of episodes written by Masaya Kakehi, which I'd imagine means Takahashi was writing the summer movie around this point. You know, under the impression he'd actually need to have that script ready by summer. Funny how these things work out, huh?

At any rate, as I've said before, I think they're both equally capable of turning out thematically rich and dramatically compelling Zero-One scripts, so as always, I can't imagine anyone noticing the difference without being told. Kakehi did a good job here.

And someone who maybe did an even better job is Ryuuta Tasaki, joining Zero-One for the first time to provide his usual insanely competent, crystal-clear direction. That bit where Naki's rejection of life as a mere tool is accompanied by that static going away -- a newfound literal visual clarity matching the metaphorical clarity of newfound purpose -- is probably one of my favorite shots in the whole series? I mean, I talk up Ishida the most, but man, it never stops impressing me how directly Tasaki can convey these things.

Really, I think the big testament to how well-executed this episode is is that we've barely known Naki as a character up to this point, and somehow this story doesn't end up feeling all that rushed or sudden.