[Fish Sandwich]

Yeah, pretty much no complaints with this one! It lands this two-parter pretty well by doing basically every last thing I wanted from the previous story, including things I don't think I even complained about out loud, like how they didn't do the slot machine thing for the finishing move last time.

That's a bit of formula for the show that I really feel shouldn't ever be absent. And part of the reason I can be can of nagging about that sort of thing is because, on top of just helping establish an identity for a series, you create the opportunity to riff on those things as you go along in ways that can be really interesting. This episode even demonstrates what I mean when Baku decides on what his own mission is going to be, in English, just like all the other times, which gives that promise much more dramatic heft specifically because of all the expectations the show has established about how seriously Seven takes getting the job done. Just a real nice moment in a real nice episode.

Oh, and on the subjects of action and formulas, I'm definitely starting to get the sense fights in this series are aiming to wow more with the creativity of the setpieces rather than the actual fight choreography itself? Not something I'm actually unhappy about, considering that seems like the right thing for the dream Kamen Rider and all, but it really is curious to imagine how much they'll be able to keep this sense of scale going for a whole show, if that's the goal they're aiming for.