I feel like Fourze wanted that to be the case, but it didn't really end up getting that much emphasis. Kengo faded into the background for long stretches of the show, especially after Ryusei showed up.

Would like to add that saba-no-misoni/miso-braised mackerel is some good stuff. I had it a long time ago at a restaurant and still to this day remember it being really delicious.

I think I’ll bring up this episode’s guest stars since no-one else did.

One of them is Kusaka.

The other one is Mika Kikuchi, better known as Koume “Umeko” Koudo/DekaPink from Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger. This is one of two appearances she makes in a Kamen Rider production (the other was as a newsreader in Heisei Generations, conspicuously when the Dekaranger cast was reuniting for another movie within a few months)

Also, I think this episode is where those “after credits scenes” I was talking about on the first page start. I think that since you’re probably not watching them, I’ll just give an overview. They’re basically specially filmed commercial bumpers designed to tell people to stick around for the next show GoGo Sentai Boukenger, Super Sentai’s offering to the big anniversary year that was 2006. Eventually it gets to the point where characters from the two shows interact.

Or as I like to call it the year Bandai was firing on all cylinders cause all three tokusatsu shows they had merch rights to were hitting milestones. Kabuto was celebrating 35 years of Kamen Rider, Boukenger 30 years of Super Sentai, and Mebius 40 years of Ultraman.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/kabuto/kaixuto.png

!!!

At first I was like, crushed that I didn't recognize him. But then I realized that they covered up his eyebrows, which is basically the same as putting him in a mask. That's cheating!

Thanks for spotting him!

Jerk is a... synonym for asshole anyway? I think, villain is the term you're looking for those outright on malicious territory anyway. And jerk =/= evil; most of jerks/assholes are neutral characters/people or less noble good guys for those doing hero activities, although most villains (those that are outright malicious) are jerks to some degree. It's like the analogy where all lions (villains) are mammals (jerks), but not all mammals (jerks) are lions (villains).

Kagami is the one still having conscience and awareness, having concern to the surroundings in the plan to uncover the Worm disguise. While Tendou is the pragmatic one with him being dead set to the mission with smaller regard to the others (though he'll still save others if given clear chance). With Kabuto being Kabuto, Tendou's plan will of course work nearly flawlessly and be rewarded for it, while the show that embraces the Rider sensibility more will likely to criticize that approach (as Tendou's type of character will be more likely a secondary Rider).

Another one of Tendou's ability is his uncanny ability to figure out Worm disguises. And disguise ability can be arguably more dangerous than monster's superhuman prowess as shown here, where the Worm Yuki which acted with more distress is convincing enough for Tendou to break free, and if she hadn't revealed her disguise, she'll probably wander somewhere and continue preying as Worm unprovoked. Or probably Tendou did actually know, and he broke her out so that he can fight her off and destroy her.

And the prison break scene also gives a clear view of Tendou's morality; he's like a secondary Rider as a main Rider, he's a clear anti-hero type of Rider. Tendou is dead set on the mission to break the supposed Yuki free, and he ignores Kagami's insistence that his plan may cause a harm to others, plus, while there's no actual harm here, his attitude of just picking fights with the police and law shows a part of him being morally ambiguous, not to mention him doing all of this with the motivation of getting his little sister the deserved food. This is similar to the part in Blade where Hajime fought Undeads with little regard to the customers at the restaurant, contrasting with Kenzaki's insistence of protecting others. And this brings to what anti-hero means; a hero that has more unheroic qualities than traditional heroes. As it says, they're heroes; it means that they should perform heroic actions/deeds, which fighting monsters will quality as it saves others from them, so actual heroic actions, not merely motivations like those extremists that claims to do something for the greater good (that's anti-villains instead), but the unheroic quality they have refers about how their main concern is about beating the enemy, or that they have personal agenda, etc.

Well, probably I'd prefer a core duo, I'm not into everyone in the cast being ensembled like Sentai or something (no offense), but it's not the end of the world to me if it happens.

Well, "does his personality toe the line between obnoxious and likable enough" tell me when did Die dislike a character for being an asshole actually? And speaking for Tendou, for my country actually, he's probably the one Rider that has absolutely no haters, due to him being all-powerful and accompanied with confidence. And unfortunately they bash other Rider leads due to not being a smug super like him... (except Yusuke)

I mean, different words have different meanings! I'm okay with the ones I picked so far.

I feel like he wasn't absolutely certain which one was the Worm? If he knew the imprisoned one was actually the Worm, he'd've probably just detonated her there. Why do the rest of the plan if he had the Worm in hand?

He definitely didn't know. His mildly bemused dialogue when the Worm reveals itself suggests he was making no particular assumptions, which, of course, directly contrasts with Kagami hastily jumping to a mistaken conclusion.

Oh god, I feel so dumb for not noticing that. Dekaranger is my favorite Sentai and Umeko is my favorite character from that show (and probably favorite team leader in the whole franchise). I guess I just didn't expect to see her here so it never clicked with me.

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 04

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto04a.png

Some insane swings in this episode, the arc of it. It starts off pretty light, with some really compelling world-building that's doused in some immaculate comedy. But then there's this middle part, where it's a little rushed, a little hard to ignore some narrative problems. And then there's an ending that just goes for it, and sells some big ideas with some incredibly brave drama. It makes for an episode that's way stronger than I thought it would be, and one that feels like the dramatic equivalent to last episode's comedic highlight.

Both episodes, last one and this one, really try to build out the most horrific thing about the Worm: they replace people. The Clock Up stuff is bad, and the various murders are not a plus, but the idea that they can copy you completely? To use your life, your hopes and dreams, as leverage against the people you care about? That the very memory of you can be weaponized? Terrifying.

It's Kagami who gets the worst of it this episode, and... can I just say how weird it feels to do this story as the fourth episode? It is a rough road Kagami travels down in this one, and we've only just gotten to know him. It's a story that, honestly, shouldn't work. The degree of difficulty on landing some of these beats this early on in a series... it is foolish to attempt. That it worked at all is luck. That it worked this well is an actor's skill.

Because chunks of this story are difficult to buy into. Kagami's brother Ryou returns after a two-year unexplained absence, with zero explanation (he needed to get away?) and a ton of circumstantial evidence from years ago that points to him being murdered. But Kagami is so blinded by joy that he's convinced himself that everything's fine. Tendou sees the obvious, that Ryou is definitely a Worm sent to manipulate (or murder and replace) a ZECT operative, so he throws the info to ZECT with the hope that they'll do what Kagami clearly can't.

A big part of this story hinges on Kagami's grief and joy being so overwhelming that he can't/won't presume that he's being manipulated, and... I mean, it barely works. The actor works his ass off to not make that self-deception read as ignorance, but man is it close. It's not until ZECT tells Kagami that they're going to go murder his Not Brother that he seems to begin to grapple with the truth, and it's tough to buy it. The show gets away with it mostly from performance, but also because the point of the story isn't the mystery, it's the misery.

I mean, of course Ryou's a Worm. The reveal of it is, like, seven minutes before the end of the episode. It's not a story about if Ryou's a Worm, because duh. It's a story about all of the rage that Kagami carries around, all of the despair he feels for losing his brother, all of the ways he'd give anything to have him back again.

See, the Worm use Ryou specifically because all of that anger and sadness that Kagami feels, it gives them power over him. He misses the obvious, and he can't protect himself. Even as they're about to replace him with a Worm, there's this appeal to his need to have his brother back. The memory of his brother becomes more important than his own life, especially if the cost of surviving is the death of that memory. Kagami's falling, and the only thing left to hang onto is a monster with his brother's memories.

And that's when Tendou shows up.

It's a tricky episode for Tendou's character. He's got to take a back seat in this one, and nearly every time he tries to assert himself in the story it makes him less heroic. He's forcing Kagami to move faster than he's able, pushing him to resolve his emotional issues to Tendou's schedule. There's even less flexibility to Tendou than usual, and it's making his friendship (his sister's right, he's totally Kagami's friend) with Kagami even more frayed than when Tendou charged cases of mackerel to him. (WHO DOES THAT?!)

Some of it is specific to Tendou, in a way that isn't instantly likable (or even comprehensible), but comes together in retrospect. Kagami was obviously lying to himself about Ryou being a Worm, and Tendou's got just zero patience for that. It's clear what's happening, and Kagami's being willfully obtuse in not seeing it.

But when Tendou sees how much the act of seeing Ryou again is punishing Kagami, how impossible the idea of killing what remains of his brother is, Tendou sacrifices himself to make Kagami see the truth. He takes a beating from Ryou's memory. He could fight back, but he doesn't. He won't just murder the memory of Ryou. That would be effective, but needlessly cruel. He sees the strength of Kagami's convictions (he felt it, in that earlier punch that he 100% had coming) and he respects them. This isn't about teaching Kagami that he was weak, it's asking him to be strong. He needs Kagami to acknowledge that the memory of Ryou is dangerous. It's a memory that will destroy Kagami, given enough time. Kagami can't raise a hand to his brother, even the memory of his brother. But he can ask Kabuto to do the merciful thing and let Ryou's memory stop haunting him.

So we get this beautifully-done fight in Clock Up, where Kabuto fights between the raindrops, sparing Kagami the worst of it. The fight against Ryou's memory is invisible to everyone but Kabuto. There's the detonation, of course, as the message to Kagami that it's done. The flames lighting up Ryou's face, one last time. It's a chance to say goodbye to his brother, one he never got before.

And it leads to this final connection between Kagami and Tendou, which... again, this is the fourth episode. This is the sort of shit you pull in the final third of the whole series, not two minutes after the cast first meets. Insane to do this now. But, holy hell, it's a triumph.

Kagami is beside himself with grief. He's mad at the Worm, he's mad at himself, and he's mad at Tendou. It's hard to say what's in his head, entirely, but I think he thinks Tendou must be laughing at him. Smug as ever in his superiority. He was right, and now Ryou's dead for good. Stupid ol' Kagami, screwed it up again. So he swears to Tendou that he'll surpass him, that the days of Tendou being right and perfect, and Kagami being a punchline, those days are numbered.

And Tendou stops, picks up the charred baseball that symbolized the connection between Kagami and Ryou... and throws it to Kagami. It's Tendou giving witness to what Kagami's lost, and the bravery in making that choice. The toxic memory of Ryou is gone, but the positive one can still be a part of Kagami's life. But it's also Tendou saying I'm Here. It's an olive branch, a first step in a friendship. If Kagami, with that killer punch, wants to be better than Tendou? If that's what'll help him move on from this loss? Tendou will be waiting for that moment.

Maybe even with pride.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto04b.png