[Switchblade]

Good first episode. It's a bit early for me to feel like I have a full sense of the show's vibe, but I'll agree that it's probably the best first episode since at least Zero-One.

I'm still a little iffy on the whole snack gimmick, but the idea that the suit gets damaged and can be repaired mid-battle is pretty cool. I also liked the cinematography in the big fight scene. It's not quite Ultraman levels of swag, but still very dynamic and fun. Hopefully they'll keep this up once they burn through the traditional early episode bonus budget.

I liked the stuff with the kid, which is not a sentiment I usually have for tokusatsu. I don't want him to stick around, but I really liked the idea of Shouma coming into his life, fighting off a monster, then moving on. I'd love to see the show stick with that as a recurring trend, have more of a "wandering hero" theme where each episode has a new supporting cast and no permanent home base. I know it's not going to, but I didn't realize how much I'd want that until I watched this episode.

I cannot believe that, eleven years after Gaim, we actually have a show where "Juicy!" is part of the henshin jingle. I know that Sentai's been gone from the site for years now, but I hope that wherever they are they're still watching this and feel a sense of vindication.