Ah, yeah, that was the most awesome episode in the series, I love when they can do some pretty epic pieces of orchestral work to compliment a scene so rich in story. It definitely makes the payoff so much better, and it made that scene involving Shouichi's henshin all sorts of awesome.
Yeah, I hated him for a while as well, the guy seemed like such a coward and all around *****, but he quickly grew on me after a while. I even remember reading somewhere that he was ranked as the most popular in a bunch of Japanese polls while the show was airing.
Hah, that was definitely an awesome scene, I really wish those two could work together on another show.
...yeah, they really need to get off their asses and help you guys out. It's just ridiculous.