It's fine. It's still fine. The villains are getting a little more colorful, which I appreciate. I wish they talked in a language someone else on Earth could translate, but I'm glad they at least look cool. I still don't have a sense of what their plan is, but they're grouping together, so there must be one. I'm not getting mad watching this show, is what I'm trying to make clear. It's not bad.

Here're two small things and one big thing that are bugging me, though.

FIRST SMALL THING - I have no idea why every single scene change needs a location flashed up, as well as a timestamp. Way, way too much information. Unless this is a documentary (seems possible) or Japanese children are the most nitpicking assholes on the planet, I don't think we need the specificity of what time Ichijou got into his car in the parking garage. It has no bearing on the story! Do I need to know if a nighttime scene is taking place at 8:03pm rather than 8:07pm? I do not! Kuuga's either exploding a monster in the daytime, or the nighttime, and that's all I'm looking for! I really hope the show leans back from these prompts.

SECOND SMALL THING - The handheld camerawork is 100% on my nerves. There's a shot in the third episode, where Godai is talking to some woman (his sister? Maybe? I didn't catch it) and they're walking forward in frame, with the camera operator walking backwards in front of them. The camera might've been more stable if you'd tied it to an explosion. It's just two people talking, shot from a few feet away, and yet they looked surprisingly calm for saying their lines during an earthquake. There's a bunch of shots like that so far, where no one seemed to think a second take might help reduce viewers' nausea. They gotta, gotta level this shit out.

ONE BIG THING - Do... do the producers know that Godai is the star of this show? Do they wish they'd made Ichijou the star? Because the structure of this show so far is 80% Ichijou investigating Monster Crimes, 10% Godai being charmingly upbeat, and 10% Kuuga. I like Ichijou, I think the actor balances "there are rules and we need to follow them" with "no one wants to see me yell at a superhero" pretty well. But these first four episodes, and these last two especially, Godai seems at best incidental to the plot. He's a very reactive presence, interested in fighting Monster Crimes but with little plan beyond "maybe one of my allies will figure out a clue". Ichijou is actively investigating, following up leads, making connections. You give that guy the driver, I feel like this show works at least a little better than it does right now.

But, y'know, it's still a Kamen Rider show, and I like those in any variety. I like the, I don't know, the feeling of watching a Kamen Rider show. It's comforting. I wish this was changing my life or something, but I'm okay with it currently just being an agreeable 20 minutes of motorcycle men (so much motorcycling in the fourth episode) fighting Monster Crimes. That's okay with me.