Insofar as this show appears to be attempting to dial up the zany each week, this episode’s chase scene/gadget showcase definitely qualified as an upgrade in that department. For one thing, chase scenes are just intrinsically great ways of continually feeding tension, and the stakes (Masayoshi’s identity against 10 million yen) were plenty high. For another, there’s something intrinsically fun about watching a guy casually dodge bodies while talking on the phone.

The newly minted Flamenco girls also added to the fun with a great black comedy bit where Red and Blue tried to copy Mari’s signature move. I really like how they’re very much off doing their own thing at this point, not being a part of every escapade but being involved enough that they pop up at one or two points per episode. It’s the right balance of the cast; they feel a lot less clunky in cheesier gag roles.

Samurai Flamenco’s new gear, a test of the boundaries of the phrase “street legal” that was technologically equal parts Zeon laboratory and Office Depot, was one of the high points of the episode. It was very cute to see each new piece of gear unveiled, something like watching inspector gadget spin a lottery wheel. The fact that there’s a scientist out there both smart enough to invent devices like this and hot-blooded enough to give them to a good-natured maniac in tights opens up a good deal of viable paths for the plot to take. Much more than tacking an extra zero onto SF’s bounty and watching galax users fail to track him down, at any rate.*

*That dynamic’s going to have to settle down soon. There’s only so many times they can up the price before it starts to feel gimmicky.