KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 23

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto23a.png

First off, I love the fact that the secret area that ZECT is guarding is called Area X. Just... so dumb, it is awesome. At first, I was laughing at the obviousness of them calling the mysterious area Area X, just planting a flag and letting everyone know that THIS AREA IS FASCINATING AND DANGEROUS SO DON'T COME IN, just shouting to the world that it's a secret. But then I wondered if maybe the other areas aren't A through W or whatever, but if ZECT gave every area an intriguing name: Area X, Area Omega, Area Damocles, Area Hellfire, Area Phantom, etc etc etc. I kind of love that more, if ZECT decided to hide its most valuable property by making every outpost seem super badass, confusing would-be investigators and saboteurs. It's a militarized organization of nebulous authority that's just, like, having fun with it, and yet somehow being smarter for that playfulness.

Which, hey, that's also this episode of Kabuto!

It is completely insane, and I have no greater proof of that than, at a point where a Worm transforms to kill a fortune teller mid-fortune telling and Gatack is ready to stop it, backlit by moonlight on top of a crane, I went Wait Is Inoue Back Already and checked the Wiki to see who wrote this episode. But, no! Regular Kabuto guy! But it's still a regular episode of Kabuto where:

-Jiiya opens a ramen cart powered by his own shame

-Tendou, Juka, and Hiyori take over Jiiya's Shameful Ramen Cart

-Kagami enjoys a bowl of ramen, at which point Tendou declares that the Shameful Ramen Cart now owns him

-Tsurugi misconstrues a line for the Shameful Ramen Cart as a parade in his honor

-Tsurugi, having never heard the word "ramen" before, assumes the cart serves the french dish La Men.

-Tsurugi declares his intention to Win At Eating and Win At Standing In Line

-The Kabuto Zecter also works at the Shameful Ramen Cart

-Tsurugi misconstrued a dropped rag as Tendou challenging him to an honor duel, proceeds to dress up like the Pied Piper of Hamelin to accept this non-challenge

-Tendou, when confronted by Tsurugi, immediately breaks eye-contact and tries to walk past him without engaging

-And Kagami gets a sweet new bike that appears from a fog bank, like he's somehow launched himself fully into a Honda commercial.

It is an insane episode, but it's also 1000% character-driven. Everything up there is drawn from the journey these characters are on, and the secrets that are starting to be revealed. (Well, maybe not the bike. That's pretty egregious toy shit right there.)

Like, the Shameful Ramen Cart. As bonkers as everyone suddenly working it seems, it honestly makes perfect sense? Jiiya's been lying to Tsurugi about their financial liquidity; namely, they don't have any. When ZECT says that having Gatack on staff means they can ditch independent contractors like Sasword, Jiiya sees their only income evaporate. (Although, not to tell ZECT how to run a militarized organization of nebulous authority, but contractors are the way better way to go, financially! Staffing costs can be insane, and you've got a lot of employment regulations you have to follow. It's cheaper and more flexible to just bring in guys like Sasword on an at-will basis.) So, of course, Jiiya needs to get a job.

That job is cooking, because it's Jiiya's most bankable skill. (Indulging The Aristocracy is not in that high demand, unfortunately!) So, yeah, Jiiya starts a ramen cart, motivated by his shame at potentially letting Tsurugi down and/or face the truth. If Uber existed fourteen years ago, he'd probably do that, but it didn't, so: Shameful Ramen Cart.

And yeah, Tendou's going to happen upon it (it's like he can sense Jiiya), and yeah, Tendou's going to offer his free time to studying Jiiya's technique, and yeah, Tendou's not going to allow Jiiya to work the Shameful Ramen Cart because he is proof that humanity is worthy of Tendou's grace, and yeah, Tendou is going to strongarm all of his friends and family into working the cart with him because Hi Did You Not Watch The Last Twenty-Two Episodes Of Kabuto, and yeah, Tsurugi is inevitably going to get involved in the plot, and yeah, Tsurugi is going to somehow transition the plot from Wacky Food Cart to His Honor Demands Kabuto's Death. It is smooth as butter, the way this thing steadily escalates. It just Yes Ands its way to greatness, letting these massive egos and bizarre secrets mix together into a delicious broth, tasty and filling.

Unbelievably, the entire insane runner about the Shameful Ramen Cart is tied-in, thematically, with the main Kabuto plot! That's why I thought Inoue wrote it!

The ostensible main plot for this episode (although, come on, the Shameful Ramen Cart is the clear winner in this one) is that various secrets are starting to come to the fore. Now that Gatack has arrived on the scene, the Worms are likely going to step up their activities, whatever their real plan might be. Meanwhile, Kagami being a Rider puts added pressure on Hiyori to deal with her feelings surrounding her parents' deaths, and The Boy In The Belt.

It's a typically strong episode for Hiyori, refocusing some of the recent heroic achievements of the cast as maybe not so great if you think a Rider killed your parents. (And, yeah, this episode confirms that Hiyori thinks The Boy In The Belt murdered her parents. It's easily the toughest part of the episode to get on board with, because it's so circumstantial and weak that it's difficult to even vaguely buy into her interpretation of the events. I know she believes it, but the show does a terrible job of making me believe it.) She's assaulted by Worms, and surrounded by untrustworthy men.

But she, as always, can't articulate those feelings. Even when she's attacked by Worms, she doesn't scream or plead or call for help. She just sits there, frozen, staring. When she's lied to by Tendou and Kagami, badly, she doesn't know what to do. In a moment of crisis, she opts to visit her parents' grave. They're the only people she can trust to always be there for her, to never let her down, because they're frozen in time. Tendou and Kagami are real people, alive and complicated. She unloads on the headstone that she hates feeling like she's going to lose her friends, but every time she looks at them she sees killers, liars. She doesn't want those feelings, but they just won't go away. She's tried ignoring them, but the secret is coming out.

Which, y'know, that's what this whole episode of lunatics is all about: secrets can't be ignored forever, and the longer they take to be exposed, the more dangerous things get. I mean, Jiiya didn't want to tell Tsurugi that they were broke, and it led to an attempted murder of Tendou. Don't keep secrets, you guys!

A QUESTION

One of the things I noticed in this episode is how fitting the Sasword Zecter's appearance is, in relation to Tsurugi's personality. The other Zecters soar down out of the sky, effortlessly landing in the hands of the Riders. The Sasword Zecter bursts up out of the ground, destroying property in its goal of uniting with Tsurugi. That's so him, isn't it? He needs the Zecter, so anything in its way... well, that stuff shouldn't have been in the way to begin with, so he's not to blame if it gets wrecked. It's so on-point, visually, for Tsurugi. We also got a thing this episode where the Kabuto Zecter makes some food to communicate with Tendou, and I don't think I need to point out how on-brand that is for Tendou. It got me thinking about how, if I had a Zecter, I'd probably keep finding it in bags of fast food. If you had a Zecter, what would it emerge from?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto23b.png

Remember like five episodes ago when Tsurugi first showed up and seemed like a serious and legitimate rival for Tendou? Yeah, me neither. The "La Men" bit and the duel are definitely Tsurugi firing on all cylinders, although we still haven't hit my personal favorite "Oh, Tsurugi" moment yet.

Meanwhile, we're starting to get back into Hiyori's backstory after a lengthy pause. Can't comment on this too much now since I remember some of what's coming, but we're definitely going to start getting into the mystery of that strange green stone that Hiyori has been holding on to since all the way back in the start of this episode.

On a related note, gotta love how Kagami managed to hold onto his secret identity around Hiyori for all of half an episode. Our boy is never going to change.

Since your subs don’t seem to have it, I thought I’d just share a video of the after credits scene promoting the movie, Masked Rider 35th Anniversary File.

And lo and behold, the first video I found was a compilation.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=0gKvCCgEhi4

Well, exactly, I wish those with strong moral code is viewed as what you said there, if they happened to be an idiot like Kagami (idiot with a strong moral code). A good number of audiences equates strong moral code as inherently being idiot, which causes them to look down on kindness/empathy/generosity as a whole (being kind = being stupid/naive or incompetent). For those audience they think nice means they always help and give everything to other people regardless of their condition which would make them easy to be exploited because they always lend a hand without concern about themselves. Which means to them that, they lack knowledge to know that people are only using them, or that they're stupid because they're letting themselves be used as tool. There's also already good number of media portrayals for this, like stock shonen heroes (which usually have strong sense of justice and scatterbrained), or cynical writers portraying those with boundless optimism as naive, or redeemed villains turned more incompetent at heroes' side, etc.

As by this audiences can encourage more pragmatic and unethical approach done by anti-heroes, I want for the negatives of that to be acknowledged too, like Sasword creating needless infighting to Kabuto because of him wanting to be the one to kill all Worms, potentially making the Worm escape instead. Or that when those characters efficiently used no-mercy approach and supposedly left no loose ends, but it turns out that he was mistaken, and later they found out too late that a loose end did show up later in an unexpected place to start a new round of conflict (for revenge, for instance). Based on their limited knowledge, he might not be able to foresee that such a loose end would have existed and arose to prominence.

Also, there's a clear shot of that Kagami's burning declaration. 2 of them:
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm...2/vendetta.PNG
https://media.discordapp.net/attachm.../vendetta2.PNG

My point was about, if it's ok if the Kagami part has no comedic part about it. Like if for you, Kagami's part should have comedic bits into it to be (more) enjoyable. And again I think comedic isn't always lighthearted, for reasons I said before like comedic sociopathy, with the consequence like bad behaviors being justified or giving emotional cruelty.

Well, by definition, actions are what define the hero/villain archetype. Heroes are those that performed good deeds where their actions make positive change to the environment, where villains are those that performed bad deeds where their actions make negative change for the environment.

Of course, if you only evaluate by actions, any hero is the same; by that people like Shinji, Ren, Takumi, Hibiki, Tendou, Kagami, Yaguruma, Shinnosuke, Emu, Hiiro, Sento, Katsuragi after return, etc. are all the same; all use their powers to kill monsters, therefore saving people. But the one that distinguish them is their characterization, so things are more complicated than just that. Their characterization, like methods, motivations/goals, worldviews and personality all contribute to determine if they're anti or traditional (for hero and villain respectively). Anti-hero performs similarly heroic deeds that traditional heroes do, and usually had similar positive effect, but they have more negative traits compared to traditional heroes, like self-interest, selective care, love for violence, more unethical methods, etc.

Yeah, if you evaluate by actions, Tendou, and every traditional and anti-heroes are the same, that "Tendou doesn't need to prove his heroism to people by talking like a hero and doesn't really care if anyone else understands him", but if you delve into deeper, then Tendou is an anti-hero, that he wants to protect all lifeforms on Earth, but he had negative traits where he looks down on others, had a selective care towards Juka and Hiyori, can be pragmatic in his methods (like ransacking police station to uncover a Worm), and had fewer empathy to other problems beyond just saving other lives (like showing little empathy for hospitalizing Kageyama, he's a shithead but it's not known yet in that scene, or the only concern for Kagami in ep. 15 being that "his life is saved").

And also, from something I said before, other than the mindset that heroes are people who beat up bad guys, and the bad guys are bad because the heroes beat them up. In relation to beating up bad guys, some people can think that heroic deeds is as simplistic and limited to saving other's lives, and by that those that are saved have no right to behave in any manner other than being grateful; like objecting to something. While admittedly, someone who acts completely as a jerk to the savior is a complete dick move (and it'll infuriate me, and other audiences), but some people simplify heroic as only about saving other lives can be an uncaring view to it.

There are much more legitimate life problems other than just being saved or not, like Kagami feeling worthless after realizing that he's just a tool used by Kageyama. The view of heroic being only about saving lives can be callous towards anyone's problems as long as they live and not get killed, and while obviously saving others is a good thing to happen, performing heroic deeds is much more than only that, saving is only a part of it, but neglecting the other part isn't complete heroic deeds; what I said is aimed to someone who thinks characters like ideal heroes such as Eiji or anti-heroes such as Kaito as exactly similarly heroic because limiting hero definition as just anyone that can actually save people in need and treating what they do it for (money, recognition, etc.) or any character flaws as something that doesn’t matter, as long as they can save people. Which means that definition only takes "save people" into account and applies to my lecture here, as in KR mostly anyone on protagonistic side regularly kill monsters that attack humans.

X Makes Anything Cool. A lot of people use it gratuitously on a name, product, model, etc. just so it has some sort of edge to it. It doesn't matter where, as long as there's an X. And it has to be a capital X. Lowercase x is just too puny to be cool. Just don't add 3.

I mean, even if Tsurugi and Jiiya are ditched by ZECT and Mishima, even if begging for still paychecks even if half or one thirds, but still, Tsurugi is a royalty not only having a job in ZECT, but he also runs a powerful corporation... so what's the deal with their non-ZECT businesses? And well yeah, Jiiya's most bankable skill is only cooking, where, as someone Tendou compares directly to himself, Tendou has talent in various field, although he's not interested in pursuing anything unless his belt activates. Tendou and Hiyori already ran a restaurant as one of Yumiko's staffes.. so them running a cart is a downgrade... (while Tendou claims it's an upgrade for Jiiya). Tsurugi's "honor demands Kabuto's death" is what he's about in his first scene, so the transition is completely expected? And for their duel, it seems that Tendou finally beats Tsurugi, clearly at the end, with Tendou disarming him and dual-wielding like Gatack.

And I would add a complete irony, where you mentioned that Hiyori's parents are the only ones she can trust, and hat they're frozen in time... while... Tendou and Kagami... the 2 that she acknowledged always helping her, that she wouldn't trust as the ones killing her parents based on their belts, are also... well... frozen in time.. literally as they can use Clock-Ups. Hiyori's lack of knowledge regarding supernatural elements in their world such as ZECT and Worms adds up to her trouble here, that it's the only reason that she had feelings that Tendou and Kagami are killers, because that, ZECT produces more than 1 belt, and as Kagami pointed out here, more that she missed is that his belt is produced recently, and that how Tendou got the belt is still a mystery. Also, for how Hiyori froze when when Worms attack her instead of screaming or pleading for help, there are many people who act like that throughout the franchise, and people that are like that (well, agenda for non-action ones) can be bashed by some audiences.

The part where Kabuto Zecter makes some food... that's, something where Zecters are shown to be able to behave more. Obviously anyone can't choose what Zecter they'd end up with, but for me the Zecter would emerge from closed storages.

I imagine it'll be connected to the floating green blobs in the opening that are terrorizing Hiyori, as well as her ability to fix Rider belts by touching them. The show hasn't really leaned too hard on Hiyori Has A Mysterious Backstory, but they've never let it drift too far from the main narrative.

HOW IS HE ALLLOWED TO BE IN A SECRET ORGANIZATION. HOW.

Yeah, but that was a while ago? I don't think Kagami's even close to being the same guy he was back then.

I don't remember the show mentioning Tsurugi running a corporation? They've usually kept his status as Royalty, and that means he can absolutely be broke. I mean, he was working part-time for ZECT when he was introduced? The idea that Tsurugi and Jiiya need money is pretty well-established by this point in the show.

Sure, which was my point, but the fact that their rivalry re-escalates due to a misunderstanding in the midst of a plot where everyone works at Jiiya's Shameful Ramen Cart... that is pretty unusual!

https://i.imgur.com/s3dzWkr.png

Die was polite enough to somehow focus more on a ramen cart than Hiyori in this one, which leaves me with a much appreciated opening to pick up the slack.

Don't get me wrong, all that stuff is exactly as good as he says it is, but it's nowhere near as impressive to me as how much weight the show is treating Hiyori's feelings with. Like, it's never really been a matter of how her feelings affect Tendou, or how they affect Kagami, or anyone else – it's just a matter of how she feels, and that's awesome. That scene at her parents' grave is a real winner. It's shot gorgeously, for one thing; they picked a very nice location, and seemingly waited for the exact right amount of cinematic wind to be blowing before rolling the camera. It's got a sort of classic cinema vibe that's pretty aggressive about how much it wants to provoke an emotional response in the viewer, but I can't hate that about it when it's working so well.

It's a fantastic look into Hiyori's psyche, giving her a chance to explicitly lay out her thoughts in a way her personality simply doesn't allow her to do around other characters. A monologue that captures a very specific emotion I really liked the emphasis on, which is how much Hiyori loathes herself for not being able to trust her friends more readily. It's made very clear that she's more upset about that than she is the mistrust itself, and I thought that whole idea – that she's trying to be a better person than she is, and is angry at herself for not being able to push past those limits – was super in-line with everything that makes me love her character so much in the first place.

It's a pretty nice way to expand on episode 14, where Hiyori originally tried to brush all this off after coming to the conclusion that the Tendou she knows deserves better than her constant suspicion. That was pretty noble of her, too, to bottle up all that unresolved trauma largely out of concern for someone she'd realized she cares about. And it's precisely because it was such a noble thing to do that she feels selfish for letting that get to her all over again, even extending to Kagami this time. She's operating under the assumption she shouldn't be allowed all this doubt. That it's entitled of her to make her own problems anybody else's, even as Kagami and Tendou are making their need for secrecy Hiyori's problem.

I'm not sure I have any real concluding point here, but I don't know, I just thought it was a very considered and logical bit of characterization for a very private character. It's a great scene that makes a good episode that much better than it would be otherwise. Maybe my overall point is just how much I like Hiyori? Not like that's news or anything by now, but still.

There are other neat things in the episode, if that even matters. I loved how Gatack's two scenes early in the episode emphasize his larger than life status with some classic heroic entrances (the one on top of the crane could only be more Showa if he was standing on some rocks in a quarry), reflecting Kagami's state of mind really well. I feel like it might be done to deliberately fake the audience out by getting them to revel in Kagami's whole superhero fantasy come true right before asking them to consider how much less fun this all is for Hiyori. I mean, that might be giving the episode too much credit, and I've definitely just got Hiyori on the brain, but considering it's only those two scenes that are like that, and they're both placed before she asks Kagami about the belt, I do think there's a chance that was the intent.

Gatack's fight scene at the end, by contrast, is a lot more standard for this show in its execution, and gets the audience to revel in the superhero fantasy the normal way for modern Kamen Rider – throwing lots of toys in there. It's the first time we see him on his bike, which is cool (bike action is surprisingly rare in this show), AND the first time he uses his iconic hedge trimmers to crush a Worm so hard it explodes. Hard to go wrong with some good old fashioned Rider Cutting, but it's nowhere near as characterful as when he's using the swords separately; I love how aggressively Kagami slices up his enemies with those things. There's a sort of grace to the movements still, but it makes for a massive contrast with Kabuto, a character whose body language is all about the slow and subtle approach. To the point I'm almost tempted to try and write an entire paragraph dissecting how great a job Takaiwa does at portraying the simple act of Kabuto crushing a pebble in his hand here. But that's only tangentially related to Hiyori, so why bother, right?

I'm glad I did, because that was great!

...also because, if I had spent more time on that (very touching) scene of Hiyori at her parents' grave, I would've ended up talking about how hard, and how inappropriately, I laughed during one part of it.

It's after Hiyori's big confession to her parents, that she thinks she's being a terrible person for not trusting her friends implicitly. And then the camera turns to the hillside, to show Tendou there watching, before he turns to walk away, with a now-in-frame Kagami watching him go.

The construction of that shot was baffling to me, because I couldn't figure out how everyone got there, and in what order. Did all three of them go together, and Tendou wandered off? Did they arrive separately, and Tendou was fine just watching from a distance and then leaving without a word? Did Tendou and Kagami show up together, and Kagami is now pissed off at Tendou leaving because they agreed they were going to talk to Hiyori together? Was Tendou just wandering by this cliffside graveyard by accident?

It's a shot that's all about Mysterious Tendou Broods From A Distance, but, like, did he go there specifically to brood from a distance or what.

A foolish question. Do you look at the sun in the sky and ask why it watches over you?

(I chuckled a bit seeing Tendou's routine there too, to be honest)

I am not even one minute into Episode 24, and it is already more insane than the previous episode:

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

I have literally no idea what could happen after that horn noise, and Sasword's declaration. I think my brain broke? It definitely has a kind of dream logic that is freaking me out.

It's very scenic, yeah, but I have a weird pet peeve for tiny fake cemeteries in movies/TV shows. I get that not every show can film in a real cemetery, but it looks weird when an entire graveyard consists of only 6-8 graves.

This one will always be my favorite: https://twitter.com/i/status/1043987874910109696

:lol :lol :lol

When Kabuto goes off the rails, it really, really goes off the rails :D (I don't remember this episode, specifically, but now I'm really looking forward to the rewatch)

24 has the funniest sequence I've ever seen in a Kamen Rider episode, and it's not even from that screencap.

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 24

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto24a.png

I could 100% spend this entire post talking about the Ramen Vs La Men battle that runs through the first half of this episode. It is suitably bonkers, with some outstanding comedy routines. (I don't know that any Kamen Rider episode I've ever watched has been as funny for as sustained a time as Kabuto was for the opening of Tsurugi's restaurant, into the TV coverage, into Juka getting the last word on Tendou's speech, into the random bystander being Misaki who is not even there for any story purpose, into Misaki's answer to Which Ramen Do You Think Will Win being buckwheat soba with zero hesitation or need for explanation. That whole scene was non-stop funny, and it kept finding ever more surprising twists. Gold standard for comedy on a Kamen Rider TV episode.) But, I just did that yesterday, so let me talk about what the whole Tsurugi/Tendou thing is doing for the more-important-this-time Hiyori story.

The point to the Tsurugi/Tendou story is that you need to support your friends, even when it makes you look bad. (Humility! It's a central theme!) Tsurugi was so intent on proving his greatness, that he was making himself into a monster. His conflict with Tendou teaches him that losing gracefully is as important as winning, and he should be the bigger man and admit that he was bested.

It's a lesson Tendou needs to learn as Hiyori's insistence on discovering the truth of her past becomes more and more unavoidable. He's furious at Kagami's reveal that Hiyori is planning a day-trip to Area X. (Area Eclipse was closed for visitors that day, so she went with her second choice.) He forbids Hiyori to go, and forbids Kagami to help her. It's all a bit moot, though, since Hiyori isn't around for these conversations. It's all happening without her, since she isn't exactly asking for volunteers to go with her. She never asked for the boys' help, so she completely doesn't give a shit when they object. It's disappointing, but she's lived with worse disappointment than that.

Which is why it's so sweet when Kagami turns up to say that he'll go with her. He fears for her safety (it's not as dangerous as going to Area Baphomet, but it's still pretty rough), but he believes her when she says she needs to investigate her past, to find some closure. Kagami gets it, the need to follow your instincts even when everyone else objects. What kind of friend would he be if he stood in her way?

(I loved the scene of Kagami complaining about being forbidden by Tadokoro to go to Shibuya, and Misaki going Isn't Your Whole Thing Doing What You Think Needs To Be Done Even If And Especially If You're Told Not To? His bright smile as he realizes that he should just keep pushing forward no matter what, it was so winning. Bonus points for him leaving money on the counter for Misaki's lunch, as he runs off, a cut to Misaki's smiling face, and the voiceover of the cook saying "Sir, this isn't enough!” An endless supply of quality laughs in this episode!)

But Kagami wasn't the one who was in the wrong. This time, it was Tendou. He kept stalking Hiyori, brooding mysteriously as she set her mind to discovering the truth. Without knowing exactly what secret he's afraid she'll unearth, it's hard to say exactly what Tendou's trying to do here. The most obvious guess is that he's afraid she'll learn something that'll make her look at Tendou differently, something that'd end their friendship for good.

So he tries to control her, to keep her from getting the help she needs... and then he sees how Tsurugi acts. He sees how Tsurugi is so intent on defeating him that he's bankrupting himself (further?), and tossing aside a man who has always believed in him. Tendou sees the loneliness of ignoring the truth, of pushing away the people who care about you because they make you feel less than perfect sometimes. But those times where they're making you uncomfortable, it's because they have needs of their own. If it's a choice between helping them or soothing your ego, how could any friend choose the latter?

Tendou, of course, arrives at the most heroically-appropriate time, saving Hiyori from Shadow goons and working with Kagami to defeat some Worms. (The first ever Kagami/Tendou Tandem Henshin does not disappoint! Seeing those Zecters cross flight paths, right in the camera, so close you could touch them... perfect. Earned.) He's also going to stand by Hiyori's side as she gets her answers, and he is naturally going to do it in the most surly I Told You All This Was A Terrible Idea And You're Doing It Anyway So Fine I'll Go With attitude possible, peak passive-aggressive Tendou.

It leads to a door, buried under the ruins of Shibuya. What lies inside? I'll find out Wednesday!

A QUESTION

Was not expecting this one to be a three-parter! I figured there'd be another two-parter, and then the movie. This story is definitely sprawling on me, especially as it's doing more and more series plot stuff. Meteorites and secret doors and I really didn't have a question when I started this paragraph and I thought if I just kept writing one would come to me and it really really hasn't so here's an unrelated one that I was thinking about at lunch today: For the last good while, a new Rider's collectibles include Legend Rider-themed trinkets. Gashats and FullBottles for Kamen Rider Gaim, Lockseeds and Eyecons for Kamen Rider Double, and so forth. What if they went the opposite way? What if the current Rider got old collectibles in their style? What post-Kabuto Legend Rider would you like to see get their own Zecter?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto24b.png

Also, oh my god, it physically hurt me to not use these as the episode's screencaps:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...sitRayMin1.png

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/...sitRayMin2.png

...but, like Tsurugi learned, sometimes you need to be the bigger man and lose graciously. Please acknowledge my nobility, peasants!

So, my favorite moment of the episode has to be... well, if I'm honest it's the parade of international La Men, culminating in the monstrosity that is blue pineapple Hawaiian. My second favorite, though, is actually when Tsurugi shows up to take on Kageyama during the assault on Area Jin Keisuke. Something about having all four non-idol careering Riders in one place is just really cool.

I love how the Tendou/Kagami/Hiyori storyline played out, too. First of all, it's nice progress on the show's main plot, but I'm just happy to have Hiyori finally in the loop.

Also, Kagami's dad has a sword for some reason.

I feel like the obvious answer has to be Zero-One.

She really deserves to! Tendou's evasions were better than Kagami's, but they still took advantage of Hiyori's trust. And, yeah, it should hopefully let her get more involved in the various Rider plots.

My in-show explanation for this is that Jiiya's been selling off whatever he can to ZECT, and that includes all of the extra fencing swords. Tsurugi doesn't need three fencing swords! He'll never notice if Jiiya sells one!

My out-of-show explanation is that the actor who plays Kagami's dad was rummaging around in the prop truck and was like Kagami's Dad Has A Sword For Some Reason and everyone else figured it couldn't hurt the scene too much.

You could say lot of riders from W onwards had their own 'Zecters', the little gadget animals they would sporadically use. Of course I would never compare something like Octo Candroid to any one of the Zecters. Gosh, if in some alternate reality where these toys somehow were all being sold at the same time, some kid as their parents for the cool Zecters from Kabuto, but they get the bat/camera Memory Gadget...

Anyway, my answer to your question is OOO because imagine the incredibly ugly Zecter that is meant to somehow represent three different animals at once.

Whoops, forgot to mention this because it was very much what I was thinking about when I watched the ending:
How disappointed will you be if it's not Kagami's old elementary school, now underground for some reason?

:lol :lol :lol terrible :lol :lol :lol

That Memory Gadget is still pretty great, though!

Ex-Aid Zecter, but it's just Q-Bert.

On the one hand, yeah, the Shocking Reappearance of the Ryusei School would be exactly the level of garbage 2020 has been churning out. My disappointment would be as deep and eternal as the dullness of the average Ryusei alumnus. (Go Meteors.)

On the other hand, I can't say I'd be surprised if Tendou, Kagami, or Hiyori were revealed to have attended the Ryusei School. They are all, uh, very particularly bad at having emotions in a way that smacks of that accursed institution. It would maybe make a lot more sense!

Reminder that, the Ryou episode (ep. 4, the one that resurfaced on ep. 24) took place between the shots I took (the first was ep. 3, the second was ep. 9). Yeah was a mistake for Tsurugi and Jiiya comment.

I do like complete coincidence like that, with Misaki is the "unrelated stranger" that is approached as a competition bystander, the audience obviously knows that she's related to the two people competing there, but the reporter who is just reporting the situation doesn't know at all (though, usually, in these kind of situations, I usually want for the in-universe characters to get to know quickly that those separate character they're interacting with are related). Though probably what you said here is a rule of funny, where any violation of continuity, logic, physics, or common sense is permissible if the result gets enough of a laugh, while for other reasons, random things like these isn't as acceptable if like, random for bad things happened. There are other types where any violation is permissible if enough result are given; where other than funny, there's rule of cool, creepy, cute, drama, empathy, glamorous, romantic, scary, sexy, and symbolism. Tsurugi also displays his omniglot skills (he wants to become the top of anything, so that'd apply), when evaluating the food others made for him ("bù hăo chī" for Chinese one's not delicious).

Well, ego can be one of the main roots of monsters (other than something like money), and proving greatness is usually used negatively. Some do say that, while Tsurugi is worse than Tendou, Tsurugi also received more development than Tendou. And I also have to say, in their first fight, there was a best and most appropriate usage of Cast Off; as Cast Off is breaking the Rider's shell, launching the remains of Masked Form in high velocity where the remains can act as projectile attack, it's best used when you're literally bound by an attack, you break free using Cast Off!

Would this part count as the keeping someone away from the truth trope? Physically in this case, where Hiyori is forbidden to go to visit Area X by both Kagami and Tendou, for good reasons though as apparently, Hiyori isn't a combatant (and I don't think any combatant is able to fend off Worms anyway, like normal humans such as Misaki, where she begs for Kageyama to transform in ep. 20), going in Area X would be a complete suicide (and for how non-combatants can be judged more badly, audiences can bash them for putting themselves into dangerous situation, especially if they knew that, and moreover if they got severe consequences for what they're doing). Hiyori isn't comfortable around people, and it shows again here that other's existence is a bother for her, and she doesn't want Kagami or Tendou to follow her as she just feels uncomfortable around other people. If Kagami is concerned for her being unprotected, then yeah, he had to use his Rider power to solve that (success or not is another matter). And I must object to what you said about the need to follow your instincts when everyone else objects, and that it won't be a good friend if they stand in their way. While yeah, some people can just be overprotective that they're the wrong one to hinder others that they should just go on it, but just completely following your instincts can lead to disastrous consequences, that being completely stubborn to completely ignore anything coming from others (and I mean, even if others are wrong, you can consider their words, while not abandoning what you want, use those words as tips), blocking any room for improvement, like what you said below, that pushing away the people who care about you because they make you feel less than perfect (but gives room for improvement), and even worse, can lead to bad consequences like Kagami's screw up (his triumph moment was ep. 24, but that's just a rare occassion).

Oh well, Misaki not likely finds Kagami's idiocy to be an endearing trait and pulls Never Change Kagami, while Tadokoro, the one who describes Kagami as that previously, now fiercely forbids Kagami to go to Shibuya? While yeah, Kagami's feeling mindset rewarded him as Gatack, I think that room for development should be encouraged for Kagami, the one that is endearing is actually his sense of morality, keep that while reducing his idiot tendencies and increasing his effectiveness (well in more things than being Rider). With Tendou arriving at the most big damn heroes moment, by that, probably Tendou wouldn't be the one that is in the wrong? Tendou's the one that saves the day once again, and that proves that Hiyori shouldn't insist to go alone, which means Tendou was right in that, and also, his move of stalking Hiyori is in the right. Or probably, if talking about how Tendou is wrong, it's likely more about being morally wrong (which will happen to ubermensch jerks like him) about the Tsurugi and Jiiya situation (and Jiiya is another one Tendou with soft spot on, he'd help him out, at least reminding that Jiiya is the cook worthy of Tsurugi). Also, it seems that Jiiya's cooking also gives a lesson not to judge by looks; Jiiya's cooking looks the least extravagant and more simple, but it's the delicious one! And it seems that almost any Rider is given a capability to fend off monsters, at least the fodders, like Kagami did in this episode (I mean, with bare hands, previously he only shoots them).

Usually I see your comments where you prioritize only characters, and that plot isn't your cup of tea, and sometimes for phase 1, plots can be a detriment to character stuff instead. For this one it's an exception (and also, I think ZECT is the plot stuff in Kabuto and you thought of them as stupid ones)? For the answer, new things had to be done in the franchise, so old collectibles for current Rider would be a blast to watch, especially if they're made faithfully like the Zecter's personality. I would like to see the non-animal Riders, unlike OOO or Zero-One, like Drive (probably it'll function similarly as Shift Car who moves), or Ex-Aid (probably moving action figure of the Gashat's main characters?)

In the same vein of keeping away the truth for good reasons, where it's about preventing spoiling stuff to those that still doesn't know yet, can only said that what happens in Kabuto later will be an ironic of "involved in Rider plots" here.

https://i.imgur.com/YTLazOg.png

I really loved the direction in this episode, and the last one too. They're the work of one Naoki Tamura (TV Asahi), who is always credited as Naoki Tamura (TV Asahi), presumably because TV Asahi, the network that airs Kamen Rider, really wants you to know he doesn't actually work specifically for Toei. This is how they always credit their producers, too, and similar distinctions are made elsewhere in the credits where appropriate, so it's not actually unusual, but he's the only director it ever happens to, and I just find it hilarious that he alone apparently needs to be branded like cattle.

Anyways, Naoki Tamura (TV Asahi) has a rather compact list of credits on Rider, all things considered, but it stretches all the way from Faiz to Zi-O, and some of those episodes were pretty big deals. Especially in Faiz's case, where he was responsible for handling episodes as pivotal as Takumi's big comeback in episode 17 of that show. I remember when rewatching Faiz thinking episodes like that noticeably above average visually, and while that was a little prior to me discovering my current abiding love for Ishida's work when it comes to early Heisei, I'm reminded by these episodes of Kabuto that I wasn't wrong about Naoki Tamura (TV Asahi) either.

I can't define his style or what, if anything, makes it unique, but there are loads of super slick, super smart direction choices all throughout this one especially. The blinding white light of the truth that lies beyond the super secret door at the end isn't even my favorite example. Nor, amazingly, is it the decision to emphasize the awesomeness of the Kabuto/Gatack teamup by having them do simultaneous Rider Kicks where the "1!" is announced by Kabuto's belt in close-up, followed by "2!" from Gatack, before letting them announce "3!" together in a singular chorus of awesomeness.

I mean, that double Rider Kick might objectively be the best thing in the episode, but naturally my favorite bit of great direction involved Hiyori. It's a scene towards the middle where she's staring at a picture of her and her parents, thinking over the past as she hardens her resolve to make her way to Shibuya, and... it's like I said, I struggle to even describe why find it so visually stunning, but it's just... it's composed of so many little individual shots, and it's way more elaborate and well put together than it really needs to be, and the end result looks fantastic. I appreciated the extra effort for a scene that's essentially the turning point for the whole plot in a way.

So yeah, great work from Naoki Tamura (TV Asahi) on this show. This is actually his last set of episodes for Kabuto, following from 3/4 and 9/10, both of which also had some notably slick visuals in spots (4 is the big rain fight, if you don't remember), but I don't think I mentioned him by name back then, so I'm glad I got a chance to amend that. It's very important that Naoki Tamura (TV Asahi) gets the credit he deserves!

The writing is of course very solid this episode too, but Die covered that at least as well as I could. I loved the vibe of the main trio actually trying to come together as one unit here. Hiyori visibly smiling a bit when Kagami says he'll be by her side is an especially sweet moment; a quick flashback to her sketchbook stresses that Kagami is basically making that fantasy of no longer being alone into a reality, and she appreciates the weight of that enough to immediately stop pushing him away.

Tendou is also sweet here, but it's naturally done through a very Tendou filter. You know he's serious about trying to be a good friend because he bowed to someone else's wishes at all, but you know he'd still rather not be here because he makes the ZECT Mizer do his heroic entrance for him. Tendou only busts that thing out when he's feeling real unenthusiastic that day. Still, it's nice to see everyone getting along!

Yeah, that's a very tactical use of Cast Off. I'm also a fan of when Riders use it on advancing enemies to stagger them. Using it as a distraction, like chaff... it adds some complexity to the combat.

This episode also had a rare (first?) appearance of Put On, where the Riders, uh, put on some of their discarded armor. I love that shouted command from the belt, PUT ON, so much.

I'm not sure that'd be my read of her at this point? There's more nuance to it than that, I think. Hiyori would love to feel supported (as shown at the end of the episode), but the reason this is all so stressful for her is because Tendou and Kagami are being such horrible friends. She's going to these lengths to feel worthy of their friendship, and they are acting as obstacles to her healing. Tendou's giving her the most unconvincing bullshit, and Kagami's trying to talk her out of something he'd do himself. She wants her friends to support her, even if she can't say that. It's just, Tendou and Kagami are being terrible friends right now?

Well, he took forever to show up, and they likely wouldn't have been outgunned by Shadow if Tendou had made his mind up earlier. While he eventually made the correct decision to support Hiyori, it's only after two episodes of ghosting Hiyori and threatening Kagami.

He's such a dick during his big heroic arrival! Him exposing his identity as Kabuto, something that he outright lied to Hiyori about, is immediately followed by him going UGH FINE Yeah I'm Kabuto This Is All A Terrible Idea And I Wish You Were Smart Enough To Listen To Me But I'm Here Anyway. Even though he is humbling himself to do it his friends' way, he needs you to know that the only reason he needs to humble himself is because this was all a huge mistake that they're making. It's great to give Kagami the emotional reunion scene, and then to give Tendou the Let's Get This Over With scene. Such a fun trio of characters.

Die! I finished Hibiki last weekend, immediately started Kabuto, and just blazed through it. I think I may be about 4/5 episodes ahead of you surprisingly.

Sounds like youre enjoying it ? I know I am. Great stuff all around and I'm very taken aback by how funny this show can be. I kinda expected this show to be edge-grim-dark for 12 years old but that's not really the case.

So last EP's question: How about we cheat and give Build two Zectors: a tiny little hopping rabbit and a tiny little tank steamrolling from the horizon ( wait didnt his show already do that ? )

Y'know, I really am digging it. It's got a construction that's way closer to Doctor Who than I'd've thought (heroic title character who is heroic in sometimes aggravating ways, supporting cast who are the POVs and the ones with arcs, space aliens but also militarized organizations of nebulous authority), and I'm enjoying how absurd its exploration of A Kamen Rider Story is getting. It shot the right the hell off the rails a few episodes ago, and I'd say for the better? Hard to believe it's only half done!

Build's and Double's Zecters would definitely need to be two pieces, so that works for me!

Sorry I haven’t really commented on this episode. I just didn’t have anything to say. That should be rectified with the next episode (which introduces a new villain who defies your main problem with villains and riders in phase 1 Heisei shows)

Oh no!

He said "defies your main problem" so that's actually a good thing.

Come to think of it, this reminds me of something I keep meaning to bring up – the fact that despite it being such an iconic part of the show, if I'm not forgetting anything here, none of the DX toys at the time actually said "Clock Up", let alone having a Put On sound.

That's always been insane to think about to me, with how much both Rider and Sentai are generally all about keeping the show and the merch in sync with each other. Surely a lot of children in 2006 were extremely disappointed when they went to slap the side of their belts all cool like Tendou always does, only to realize nothing was happening because there aren't even electronics there?

But then, those were still sweet toys anyway, so they probably got over it pretty quick.

wh. what

The thing that gets me is that Kabuto was one of the first series that SH Figuarts tackled, covering all the show's Riders, the movie Riders, and even Zectroopers, but they never did any of the Masked Forms. Hell, even when SIC did their super fancy release, the add-on parts were for the Final Form Ride, not the Masked armor.

Yeah, no kidding! But look at what's conspicuously de-emphasized in the average ad for Kabuto merch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O4cHasdByk

The real question is why, which I wish I could say for sure.

The way Wikipedia tells it, the whole genesis of Kabuto's two form concept was that Shirakura wanted to emphasize the fact the insects exist in big groups, and thus thought of what would become the generic Worms and ZECTroopers that the main players on either side would be a part of. To make sure the Riders would stand out from the group as much as possible, he then pulled inspiration from the fact that insects molt and pitched the idea of the Riders shedding their armor to fight the monsters at high speed, which also had the Mirror World style appeal of letting kids imagine that Kamen Rider could be fighting right in front of you without you knowing.

The interesting thing there is that going by that story, it's not like Bandai was planning the armor purging thing before the show's staff thought up the high speed part.

Presumably in that case, the assumption was that the Riders would be moving at super speed by default after Casting Off, and the show's staff changed that concept to something more visually satisfying and narratively flexible too late in the game for Bandai to change course. That is ENTIRELY speculation on my part, but it's about the only thing that makes sense to me. And obviously Bandai wouldn't want to "correct" the oversight on the Zecters made after, because it would just make their flagship item for the year look that much more incomplete.

I have not much to add to this conversation other than I miss the old CMs that had both the actors and suits. Made it really feel like they were selling you on a replica rather than the toy version. Nowadays we are lucky if we get some suit action in the CM, and everything else is just a stock static image.

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 25

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto25a.png

The show had set up a massive cliffhanger with the last episode, and the payoff... it's a pivot they go for, and while I can see why they did it, I really wish they hadn't done it.

Our heroes opened a weird door in the ruins of Shibuya, looking for answers about Hiyori's past, and what's inside is... basically nothing helpful for Hiyori, but way more questions for Tendou and Kagami. It becomes a story that's less about providing information to help with healing, and more about getting across to the superheroes that they are pawns in a massive conspiracy.

It's a pivot away from a story with clear emotional stakes, into something that's a lot more Superhero Plotting, and, yeah, didn't love it! The story more or less abandons Hiyori. She's gotten nothing helpful from all of this frustration, and Tendou has changed up his attitude towards her from condescendingly withholding to sympathetically withholding, which is not a great look. When the most relatable character on the show (YMMV) outright tells the hero that her troubles are because he's being so withholding, and the hero just, likes, commiserates with her? What even is that! It's like they went into that basement as three people who cared about each other, and came out as two superheroes trying to solve a mystery about their origins. It treats Hiyori's story as, like, a booster rocket, something that can be discarded now that the real story is taking place.

(And, sure, you can say that Tendou and Kagami's interest in solving the 35-year old mystery surrounding the Masked Rider program is a way to get answers for Hiyori, but given what's on-screen in this episode, that is a stretch. That is being incredibly generous to two guys who basically tell an inquiring Hiyori to not worry her pretty little head about their new Masked Rider discovery. Like, the next scene with Kagami and Tendou is them talking about what ZECT might be up to, and how to best find out. Neither of them mentions Hiyori at all! And they went to Shibuya specifically because of her! I'm honestly getting more mad at this episode the longer I type!)

And that real story... honestly, it's not bad. There's an exciting sense of the boys being tired of having ZECT out there, manipulating them from the shadows. (Literally! And also with Shadow!) Now that they know that ZECT's been working on the Masked Rider program from as far back as the Showa era, and the boys clearly do not truck with Showa, it's evident that ZECT has greater plans than just protecting Tokyo.

That alone would be enough to set up a more direct conflict with ZECT's leadership, but the show drops a weird-ass bombshell by putting Kagami's identity as Gatack's operator in the Masked Rider #1 journal from 1971. (And, yes, I got the reference, no need to call it out. I laughed at it immediately.) It's something that could be easily ("easily”) explained away by having Kagami's dad create a prophecy he could eventually have his son fulfill, but that's still pretty crazy. Almost as crazy as the raging, chained-up lunatic that's locked behind a door in the basement of a vault. That's someone who is going to be a problem!

(Throwing this out there: it's the original Tendou, not the Worm that's been Tendou for the last seven years.)

The rest of the episode has a lot of things happening, mostly fun to watch (Tendou quickly climbing the ranks of the police makes me wonder why he needed ZECT's help to work in one hospital for one day), but, man, not into this pivot away from Hiyori's story! I honestly wanted the second half of this post to be a little room to praise the tension of the Misaki/Kagami raid on ZECT HQ, or all of Tendou's charm offensive (his smile is so fake!), or Tsurugi's brief appearance so he can Win At Diving, or how nice it is to see Daisuke return to grumpily save TheWorst, but no. I don't really want to do any of that, because the show followed up a story where Tendou and Kagami put Hiyori's needs ahead of their own, by having them both toss her to the side when a cooler story came along. She specifically tells Tendou that she is still hurting, that nothing got better, and he's just like Sometimes There Are Mysteries. I don't think the show wants me to be as mad at Tendou as I am right now! (Kagami is not winning any prizes, but he also isn't hiding things that'd probably make Hiyori feel better.) Moving the story off of Hiyori without giving Hiyori any reason to feel better... it sucks! I don't love it as a story choice!

A QUESTION

And now I gotta live with being mad at this show for a couple days, because I'm changing up the scheduling for New Year's. The 31st is going to be a special piece, something I'm already 20% done with. The 1st is going to be Episode 26, the 2nd is going to be the movie, and with the 3rd we're back to normal scheduling with Episode 27.

But none of that's a question! With New Year's nearly here, it's time to make some resolutions. Do you have a tokusatsu resolution for 2021? Something toku-related you'd like to accomplish? My next few years are pretty well charted out, Rider-wise, but there's something I've got in mind for Decade that I really hope I'm able to make happen. What about you?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto25b.png

Toku - Resolutions 2021

- Finish watching the rest of Heisei (2nd half Kabuto, Den-O, Kiva, Decade, Fourze, Wizard, Ghost, Ex-aid )
- Hop on Zenkaiger
- Finish Dairanger & Timeranger
- Do whatever must be done to make Bandai release a TimeRobo Super-Minipla

So yeah, this one felt really disjointed. Once we got past resolving the cliffhanger, it felt like the show was all over the place (no comment on your guess to the Man in the Iron Mask's identity, although I can confirm it isn't Leonardo Dicaprio this time). Tendou infiltrates the police because he can flawlessly blend into any environment (again, no Leonardo Dicaprio here), Juka gets semi-abducted by Worm Misaki, Real Misaki and Kagami do something that leads to a confrontation with Goro-chan, and Daisuke's actor is back so he and Kageyama fight an angry widow Worm (?). It's a lot. None of it really fits together and it leaves the whole thing feeling unfocused and sometimes confusing.

I would have definitely cut the Juka storyline, even if it is Tsurugi's lone, very random appearance for the week. I maybe would have cut the widow vs. the C-listers fight, too, although I realize they wanted to pounce when they had access to Daisuke's actor again. It's a badly over-stuffed episode, though, and it desperately needed some cuts.

If you had told me that this episode had a brand-new production team coming on, similar to the second half of Hibiki, I would 100% believe you. There's a disregard for so much good character work, in favor of a breezy superhero action show, and it bums me out so bad.

The OG Rider reference goes beyond the year. The date the project started on, April 3rd, is the date the original episode of Kamen Rider aired on (it was also the day the Spirits Manga started in 2001, the day of the 1000th episode in 2011 and the day that Ghost episode that began with a retrospective of all the past riders aired on in 2016).

And our new worm, Rena, is played by Hitomi Miwa, who was previously the big good of Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger.

https://i.imgur.com/hsY3ksY.png

While I would never want to suggest that a Kabuto story shouldn't always be about Hiyori all the time every episode, I've also got to be true to myself here and say I had sort of an opposite experience to what Die had with this one.

About a quarter of the way in, after the initial exciting escape from Shibuya happens and the story completely shifts gears, I was already clocking exactly the problems Die mentioned, and was ready to be upset about it, but as the rest of the episode played out, it all ended up bothering me way less than I anticipated. Certainly, there's a bit too much going on, and that lack of strong focus means this is never going to be some top tier episode of Kabuto, but pretty much all the individual elements worked for me.

Crucially, that included the token scene the episode gives to Hiyori and Tendou, which isn't exactly dripping with substance, but did a thing with each character I quite liked.

On Hiyori's end, I have to say that I legitimately think it's a great idea to have her put all that effort into confronting her problems only to come out of the experience empty-handed. It's something that easily deserves more space for exploration than it got here, which gets back to the problem at hand, but what time is made for it, with her walking away from the restaurant and everything, it's fitting for Hiyori, and what makes me love her character – that concept of having your hope for a huge breakthrough crushed by the realization that there aren't always easy answers just waiting out there.

For Tendou, I mean, I'm going to give the guy enough credit that he would never be willfully condescending to Hiyori (she's maybe the only person he wouldn't), and they highlight that a bit with an extremely rare glimpse of genuine emotional distress on his face after having it rubbed in his face that he's part of Hiyori's problem. It takes the uncharacteristically heated tone he took with Kagami last episode about going to Shibuya, and reframes that desperation to be about more than his usual need to have people do what he says. For once, it seems like Tendou himself is being tied up and frustrated by his own omniscient knowledge of how things need to be. There's a clear implication that, emotionally, he'd rather tell Hiyori everything, but can't bring himself to because of his own "rational" view of the situation. It's a bit of depth from Tendou – a little moment of uncertainty – that adds much appreciated balance to an episode that leans so heavily on his more cartoonish nature.

Of course, a lot of this is reading into things on my part, but I don't know, the show has earned enough of my faith with how it handles Hiyori that I can believe it's less distracted right now than it seems to be.

Even if it is though, it'd be hard to deny how fun those distractions are, which is another thing that ultimately made it hard to hate this episode. Tendou deciding to get serious about looking into ZECT and being face to face with Kagami's dad by the end of the next day is perfect, as is Kabuto stopping a bank robbery like he's the Flash or something. That emphasis on Tendou's fierce independent drive also made it hilarious to me how much of an unambitious corporate stooge Kageyama keeps being, clearly realizing unflinching loyalty to the organization is the only reason they keep him around despite his increasingly unremarkable track record. And you know, on top of all of that, there's even an exciting new villain to generate some intrigue for the next chapter of the show. So yeah, sure enough, I think I'm getting less angry about this episode the more I type. Not a bad one by any stretch of the imagination.

Other than just watching more of it in general, I do have a small little project I have specifically planned once the new year hits, though I know not many people will care since it's PR related, lol.

Very interested in seeing what your plan for Decade is.