Up to episode 36 of Kabuto now and man are the Hopper Bros FUN. Don't get me wrong, they're terribly written cliche characters that are the culmination of what Toei thinks "dark and edgy" look like, but they're so ridiculous in their execution that I can't help myself but smile every time they're on screen.

Is it going to be explained why they don't have Masked Forms or do I just have to roll with it?

:lol

Yeah, no. Kabuto is even worse at explaining stuff than Kiva.

Do you have anything positive to tell me about Kabuto? :lol

A really cute girl joins the cast around this point to replace Hiyori. Also the finale is crazy over-the-top in a ridiculously fun way.

They have some kick ass suits.

Do you mean Renge? If so to be honest I don't like her that much either :lol

Yes, yes they do.

Then I got nothing.

Unless you really get into Tendou being a dick, there's not much about Kabuto that makes it really enjoyable. For me, it's probably one of the most middle-of-the-road shows in the whole Rider franchise.

DK 16. Xaviax and Strike certainly make for a wonderful pair of villains.

Although this episode sorta felt like they had an excess of suit footage to burn through, it still proved to be a pretty solid episode, thanks to them using all of that excessive footage to still tell a story, just through action.

Like I like how, as JTC had so much mystery surrounding him, now we know his face AND that he's a Rider the mystery surrounding him hasn't been dropped. He's been an important part of this shows universe from the start, and whether that connects to him as a Rider is not important and I'm glad the show sees it that way.

It also worked as a pretty great showcase for what a wonderful villain Xaviax is. At first you think he sinks his teeth into Chris through Chris' want to be a hero, but then you realise he's coming at it from a very different angle and you can see Xaviax adapting as he learns more about Chris and what drives him.

That's what Ryuki would've beniffited from, a good ol' crafty-pafty string-pulling villain.

Have you noticed Kamen Rider doesn't usually have that? Super-smart super-manipulative villains who don't have to raise a finger because they're so good at getting characters to do what they want? I know there's plenty of villains who try to be like that and fail miserably, but come to think of it, I can't recall any singular villain in anything Japanese I've seen that favours manipulation over brute strength.

Gekiranger does it.