KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 33

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto33a.png

I loved this episode.

The smartest thing it does, at least for a guy like me who did not love the last episode, is that it makes a lot of the last episode's details... less important. They're still there (Hiyori being a Worm is sort of crucial to Tendou's dilemma), but they're not really key to understanding the stakes. The stakes are Hiyori Is Missing, and that's all that matters. How she's missing, the last few minutes of 32, it's not really a big part of this episode? We're a week past that for the characters, with the shock worn off and everyone trying to figure out their next move.

It's laid out perfectly in that first Misaki/Kagami scene, where she's wondering why the most impetuous member of the cast has been moping around for the last seven days while one of his best friends is missing. The answer is that she's missing because of a situation no one understands, and there's really nothing anyone can do yet. Kagami's left to wait until an opportunity presents itself, but he's not going to take action just for the sake of taking action.

Cut to Tendou, and the theme of this episode becomes clear: Everybody Feels Trapped And No One Is Making Good Decisions.

I love it as a theme. I love the desperation of it, how it pushes characters into riskier territory. Tendou's someone who's the consummate planner, the guy who won't make a move until he's certain it's the perfect one. (Although, by dint of Tendou making it, it is the perfect move, but let's not quibble over details.) He's someone who's unflappable, unerringly precise... except when Hiyori's in danger. Then, he gets reckless.

His move is the one Tendou always makes when he feels the walls closing in, and that's to do it all himself. I'd mention that a big problem that he's grappling with is a lack of humility, an inability to wait for an opening, a reluctance to ask for help, but I've probably drilled those themes into the ground by now. He's distraught over Hiyori's disappearance, and he's convinced that when she returns she'll be in danger as a Worm. The solution? Destroy ZECT, as well as every Rider.

It's a terrible plan. Awful. It requires Tendou to defeat everyone in the show, including Kagami. It means he'll need to bring down ZECT all by himself, something that's eluded him previously. And even then... he still doesn't know where Hiyori is. He feels more isolated than he ever has, and he's lashing out. The world is too chaotic for his liking, full of too many ways Hiyori could be taken from him. So he demands it conform to him, to his needs. It's the worst he's ever acted.

And, yeah, I love it. I love the idea of a villainous Tendou that draws fully from who he's been portrayed as thus far. He's a control freak, and he'll do anything for the people he cares about. If you push that idea far enough, he can justify any heinous action. He'd rather be a villain than do nothing, because doing nothing would destroy him.

It's even better because of how it forces Kagami into the Tendou role, preaching calm and patience to someone who doesn't seem to be aware of the consequences of his actions. Tendou is tearing the world apart, since he sees the world as a threat to Hiyori. It's only a matter of time until he tears something that can't be put back together.

On that miserablist note, it's the return of Yaguruma! Can you guess how I felt about this dude rearing his head?

KickHopper, man, so good. I love that Yaguruma left the narrative to get his shit together, to work on himself, to be the best Yaguruma he could be... and this is what comes back. It's the best? It's the best. He's easily the biggest disaster yet to become a Rider (sorry, Kagami, they're all garbage), and everything about him is phony. He's so pretentiously miserable that I can't help but find it adorable. I'm excited to find out what presumably innocuous series of events led him to be sponsored by Hot Topic and written by a machine that was fed terabytes of abandoned LiveJournals from 2005. I can't imagine it'll live up to (or down to) my fevered imaginings, but the very fact that I'm able to be so fascinated with a character is a win in my book. He's the best. Maybe it's recency bias, but he's my favorite Rider on this show. By, like, a lot.

And I like him extra (and he is so extra) because he's so tied in to that idea of humility, which is the main thematic driver right now. Tendou can't accept that this is a situation he can't control, can't allow himself to feel weak enough to wait for an opening. Yaguruma took the idea of being humble way too far, viewing himself as a loser, a laughingstock. (Everybody knows it's Kageyama who's the laughingstock!) Tendou sees his value as primary, his ideas as unbeatable. He'll do whatever he needs to do because his needs matter the most. On the other hand... Yaguruma.

Great episode, man. I had a blast with this one. Very much back on track!

A QUESTION

And, of course, we have Tsurugi. Did you really think that, for an episode where Everybody Feels Trapped And No One Is Making Good Decisions, that we'd avoid talking about Tsurugi? He has a banner storyline in this one, where he sells the Sasword Zecter to Tendou in order to rebuild his family fortune. It's monumentally short-sighted, both because he'll need that to defeat the Worms, and because if he tries to fight Worms without it, he's almost definitely going to have a Worm Tantrum.

Luckily, Tsurugi has access to the mighty Discalibur (love that name, love that name), the Discabil family's legendary sword... except Jiiya already sold it, leaving only the hilt in the sheath. (The scene of Tsurugi assuming that the sword must be invisible is... I don't want to make a Priceless pun, but it is so good you guys.) Jiiya ends up rebuying Discalibur, at the expense of all the money Tsurugi made selling the Sasword Zecter, plus Jiiya's paycheck. It's a boondoggle of epic proportions, proving that Tsurugi is the man who stands at the top of losing money.

Or is he? What's something collectible you've sold that you've ended up rebuying later?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto33b.png

I will say this. What you just witnessed was episode 1 of Kamen Rider Kickhopper. :lolol
I love Yaguruma's new suit and power being such a nice nod to Kamen Rider Ichigo, the one that started the franchise. I remember back in the days seeing this episode and genuinely going "WHAT DID I JUST SEE" and just repeatedly rewinding his scene in all his depressed edgelord glory over and over. That shot of him winding back his leg to have the spur on his boots crackling is still awesome. :rock:

Everything about Yaguruma is so performative. I feel like he's still the same buttoned-up nerd inside, but he's aware of what it takes to excel in the world of Kamen Rider Kabuto after watching the last 20 episodes, and he will be that.

It's like, I think he does have Perfect Harmony still? It's just with a cast of idiots and lunatics. He doesn't have Perfect Harmony with the faceless drones of ZECT, he has it with Tendou's at-all-costs self-centeredness; he has it with Daisuke's long absences; he has it with Kagami's Very Big Feelings (if those feelings were I Suck); he has it with Tsurugi's self-negation.

He fits this show better than ever?

And his solution? Cosplaying as a battle-damaged Marv from Sin City and wear cricket armor. :lolol

Even his one-armed duster... you can't just buy that! Yaguruma completely bought a duster and then tailored it to only have one sleeve, because He's A Loner, Dottie, A Rebel. He definitely needs you to notice how sloppy he made himself look!

Oh, man, I am already browsing import sites for KickHopper figures. I am willing to break my Only Primary Riders rule for Yaguruma, but I'm thwarted. Everything's busted or scratched! That won't do! My icon of Perfect Harmony (*sound of "sad trombone" mixed with an accordion cover of Bring Me To Life*) needs to be in the mintiest of conditions! I am willing to buy a Seihou of a dude I've only seen two minutes of! Our love is real!

Whoever said I'd be into this weirdo last year, you got my number.

So we're officially in the post-Hiyori phase of the show (as a physical presence; she's still a major part of the plot, of course) and you can definitely feel the show starting to change.

The first big change is that we have Renge added to the cast. She'll be around for the rest of the series and she definitely feels like someone thought that the show needed to meet a cute girl quota. I remember very little about her except that she has a garrote and a nice hat. She's not quite Mihara levels of forgettable, but I don't think she ever contributes much to the show.

The second change is Tendou's confiscating of the tertiary Zecters. I never liked this development. It makes sense in terms of both the plot and some merchandising elements that will become obvious in the near future, but it also feels a little unfortunate to see these powers get shelved (I may be forgetting something, but I'm pretty sure we've seen the last of one Rider suit now).

As a related side note, I do love this episode spends so much time just relentlessly dunking on Kageyama. It's both entirely warranted and a clear starting point for the next phase of his story.

Finally, we have the return of Yaguruma. This is quite possibly my favorite scene in the entire series. Everything from him scraping his spur across the ground on is so good. I love his ridiculous goth outfit and attitude. I love how he takes on the Worms while doing his big reintroduction speech, very pointedly using only kicks to denote his new identity. I love the arrival of a new Rider who's both really cool looking and a massive new wrench in Tendou's plans. Such a good scene and easily the most vivid memory I've had from Kabuto over the years (although something Tsurugi does in the next episode is a pretty close second).

More thoughts on Yaguruma! Forever thoughts on Yaguruma!

Yaguruma... he's like the Anti-Tachibana.

Tachibana (from Blade) was a complete disaster of a man who thought he was doing a great job at convincing everyone around him that he was some normal dude. Sure, he mighthavebetrayedthem, and sure, he sometimes thought someone finishing a puzzle symbolized his death, but no one ever noticed that stuff, no one ever thought he was a dumpster fire in a maroon suit. Right? Right?!

Except, yeah, everyone did. Tachibana's whole thing was feeling like everyone bought his act, when he was incredibly obvious about what was going on in his head.

And now we've got the inverse of that: someone who is totally put together, completely normal, and is trying desperately to get everyone to believe he's a loser, a failure, edgy, dangerous. Except, no, he's not. Just look at him. It's all a posture, all a cover, just like Tachibana.

I can't stop thinking about this guy!

Thank you for eventually mentioning Yaguruma, since this thread is now permanently about Yaguruma. All non-Yaguruma posts will be deleted, including my own.

All of the non-stop kicking was great, yes, absolutely. I bet you Yaguruma has a poster up in his home gym of KickHopper, and it says EVERY DAY IS LEG DAY on it, except Yaguruma drew a mustache on KickHopper because he's bad now.

so yeah welcome to Yagaruma's new rider identity of Kickhopper and the walking dumpster fire he's become. Of "special note" is something I've wanted to talk about regarding the Heisei era in general is the usage of stock music from the website Video Helper in particular is the song that play's when Yagaruma is reintroduced and becomes one of his 2 major themes for the rest of the series Robospore https://www.videohelper.com/search/a...ll/all/0/0-max

Another piece of stock music you might be familiar with is the theme for the Energy Riders in Kamen Rider Gaim which is called covert coverup from the same site as if there's a song that plays in a rider series and you can't find it on the official soundtracks odds are it's a piece of stock music from video helper

But what I love so much about him (in my brain, since I don't know anything about him yet) is that he's not a walking dumpster fire, he just wants everyone to think he's a walking dumpster fire. It's like he's wearing a Halloween costume with a picture of a dumpster fire on his shirt and DUMPSTER FIRE written beneath it. It is so unconvincing that it's... I want to protect his nonsense faux rebellion the same way Tendou wants to protect Hiyori. I would destroy all of the other Riders to do it, as well.

I wonder if the music that showed up all the time in Kyuranger but then was also used for Kamen Rider Grease's debut was also from that site?

So, as everyone’s been pointing out, we have an old character returning with a new look and a new line. I was so looking forward to it that it shows in the comment I made on my first watch.

.

Post-ZECT Yaguruma is literally the whole reason I watched the show (I’m not someone who particularly cares about spoilers, thanks to a 2014 article that boiled down to “Story Spoilers Don’t Spoil Stories”). And he’s the first rider to totally lack a Masked Form, instead having the ability to do a Rider Jump courtesy of that grasshopper leg on his shin. And he’s adopted the same fighting style that Haruto Soma would later inherit (ie. mostly kicking).

Oh, and the Hopper ZECTer is reversible. Remember that now.

HEY! That's our beautiful walking dumpster fire dammit! Please, language! :lolol

We~ll I gotta disagree with you on that. His ego, his self-esteem, honor, that all went out the window and dug deep itself into the depths of hades and then digged out the other end of the Earth to emerge as Kickhopper. Like it REALLY hit him hard. He thought he could be redeemed but he is at the point of no return. He has a distorted version of Cee-Lo Green's F*** You playing on infinite loop like how the horror movie trailers do it these days. It is THAT SEVERE.

What.

You're entitled to your opinion and I respect that, but Die, I'm seriously going to have to disagree with you here.

Damn, looks like I'm going to have to be the guy who rains on everybody's Yaguruma parade. For me, his return marks the point where the show starts to drop in quality and it's mostly his fault. I find his whole thing really intrusive to everything else. What's the point of him? When he first appeared in The Bee's debut arc, he at least served as a foil to show why Tendo is better than him. But now, he's a joke and someone to be laughed at, but I don't find him funny at all!

As you pointed out, he's just as pretentious about being a failure as he is about being a success. He's changed his whole look and yet everything about him is basically the same. He's still a poser, except now he's trying to be all dark and edgy instead of gentlemanly. It's like he time traveled from Kamen Rider Gaim or something. Actually, he's everything you complained about Hiyori recently, for being more plot than character. The plot required something to screw up Tendo's plans and that's pretty much the only reason he shows up after being completely irrelevant for so long.

Honestly, I think he's the type of character I hate to see the most, the type that never learns from his mistakes and is desperate for people to notice him even if it's bad publicity like being a loser and a joke. I can see how that works as a foil to Tendo, who is all about success, but like, we already know that. There's nothing new here that shows any new angles on his character or his interactions with others, it's just like, he's back, he looks different but on the inside nothing has changed. I think that's just awful!

I'm glad you like him though, I guess.

Not quite. The one you're thinking of still has one last special appearance!

I'm not a fan of Kickhopper myself, but he and his eventual companion are a fan-favourite duo for a reason. I that, only second to Tendou himself; they're probably the characters you'll find the most split opinions of out of Kabuto!

I mean, I could be reading too much into it, but I think him showing up now, in this episode, is for a very important reason: this is where Tendou could end up if keeps behaving as he has.

Yaguruma is what happens to Tendou if he keeps pushing everyone away, keeps treating his needs as the only valid ones. The end result of those actions isn't Getting What You Want Forever, it's being crushed by disappointment, resentful at the world. Yaguruma is the worst-case scenario for Tendou, so it's maybe vital that he be a part of this story?

And that's above and beyond all of the ways Yaguruma is a case-study in humility run amuck, in needing to temper knowing your place with working to achieve.

I think Yaguruma, in almost every way, is perfect for where this show is at narratively.

No, not that one, I remember that. I mean the other one.

I can see that take and it's true that Tendo is in a different place compared to the start, so I guess it kind of makes sense to show that worst case scenario. It just all seems a little off to me. Hiyori gets "put on a bus" so her actress can recover and then this guy immediately takes her place. It doesn't seem like a great exchange to me. I think the concept of a "fallen Tendo" is actually fine and allows me to appreciate Tendo more, but Yonemura's extreme writing style is a problem.

Oh! That one. Yeah, you're probably right about that.

I've wondered how much I could get if I sold my Lego Harry Potter sets from the first movie, but it would be hard to part with those haha

I mean, I can see that, too! We are in a very... heightened place with this show. Tsurugi is getting to be Pure Comedy at this point (even though I'm sure his darkest days are ahead of him), and Yaguruma coming in as An Anarchy Symbol Carved On A Desk If It Was A Man is... it is not a show that is too concerned with nuance and subtlety, you know? If you're looking at Yaguruma as a trade for Hiyori, yeah, it's going to be frustrating.

Hopefully there's some other stuff for you to enjoy around the edges of Yaguruma's edginess?

Tsurugi is consistently a great source of comedy and drama, like that subplot with Discalibur and every scene between him and Kagami. I love that! Now that you mention it, Hiyori's sudden absence is probably a bigger factor in my reduced enjoyment in this stretch of the show than my frustration for Yaguruma. However, the payoff when Hiyori returns is pretty awesome and worth looking forward to, that's when the show gets good again.

Regarding what else I enjoy about Yaguruma, well, honestly, I voiced my lack of investment in him even before he was edgy, in The Bee's debut arc, so he's probably just not a character I can relate to. You make a good point that he kind of fits with the narrative in a very unsubtle way, but it's not for me.

https://i.imgur.com/CoA4zDj.png

Well, the show is down a Hiyori for the time being, but at least it got me a Yaguruma to make up for it.

It's too bad I kinda hate this loser then?

I'm aware a lot of it is on me for shamelessly buying into Yaguruma's own hype back when he first appeared, but, to answer my own rhetorical question from when he left the show back in 13 – I genuinely didn't want to see him with an even bigger chip on his shoulder.

Kamen Rider KickHopper just makes me sad on so many levels. It's downright... unsightly to have Yaguruma trying this hard to try so little, and despite him being one of my favorite characters in the show, this new era he's entering into has never been a part of why. He's always been TheBee in my heart, but, of course, that's just how I remember it. It'll be fun seeing if I maybe enjoy Yaguruma's new and edgy persona more this time around, because I've always been acutely aware I don't actually have any good reasons to hate KickHopper?

First of all, on the meta level, there are some genuinely cool things about him. You can't beat a Kamen Rider with a grasshopper motif in my book, and that aggressively classic design has rightfully become a classic of its own. Love the old school droopy eyes, and the pronounced teardrop lines under them even fits Yaguruma's current state of mind, giving a meaningful reason for that retro throwback to be there.

KickHopper's suit actor is also the first major Rider role for Hisanori Ooiwa after being Zanki's second actor back in Hibiki. Ooiwa would start going by Eitoku around a year later, and quickly rose to become one of the definitive suit actors for secondary Riders. He's always low-key been one of my favorites right behind Takaiwa himself, with a similar talent for body language, and I think that's readily apparent even all the way back here, with the first Rider he got to mold for himself. I've recently come up with a theory that the key to expressive acting when you can't show your face is knowing how to use your neck instead, and he's got that game locked down here. You can even see a bit of it in the screencap I chose! (This is also a good spot to mention how great it is that Yaguruma hangs his head in shame and literally sighs when transforming, but I feel that might be the director at work. More on that in a bit.)

So all that knowledge has me feeling more hyped about KickHopper already, but, just on a plotting level, I mean, there's nothing wrong with him? Like, I remember not being enthusiastic about Yaguruma's return, but, on the other hand, I remember Yaguruma's return rather vividly, and I think that says a lot with how much I don't remember about Kabuto. But, yeah, my favorite prim and proper elite Rider coming back after 20 episodes as some emo dude dragging his boot spurs on the ground to kick sparks up certainly leaves an impression! I also can't hate how random his appearance is. It's classically brazen Kabuto style plotting. I like Die's read of how his reappearance factors into everything going on, although I don't know how much I believe it myself. At any rate, Yaguruma's back, and he's someone to keep an eye on. Especially if you're a therapist; the poor guy seems more than a little unsteady right now...

The episode that happens before those last three minutes is quite good, by the way! While I'm inherently not fond of losing Hiyori, I do like that this episode is all about how much it sucks losing Hiyori. Considering a lot of the plot right now is being generated by real world production issues, it's honestly handled pretty smoothly. It feels natural enough, and it lets the show do some very fun things with Tendou, having him be a big supervillain in that way only his unique characterization as a lead allows. Doing it all after showing him openly weeping at the very start adds some depth through contrast, as well, keeping things from feeling too shallow.

Carrying that strong plot along is more crisp direction from Tasaki, who delivers as always. The whole ZECT training exercise that introduces Renge is shot in a super clean, fun manner, and there are so many smart little touches that were probably his ideas throughout. Staying on the subject of Renge, there's a bit at the very end where Mishima runs his fingers through her hair like a total creep while getting a status update on Tendou from her. It's this great way to visually communicate that Mishima essentially thinks of her like a pet he happens to be particularly fond of, and really stands in contrast to Kageyama, who he actively avoids making eye contact with now, as though Kageyama were a stray dog way too eager to be taken in by someone. Which is, uh, pretty much exactly what Kageyama is by this point. Hm.

Crazy fun episode, and also a packed one. Even between this post and Die's, there's a ton we've only barely touched on.

Since you were kind enough to talk predominantly about Yaguruma, despite not caring much for him, I will talk a little about non-Yaguruma things, despite only caring about Yaguruma now and forever.

(I just... maybe I just have a soft spot for the Returning Rider conceit? Lazer from Ex-Aid was my favorite Rider on that show, and he's gone for pretty much the same amount of time Yaguruma was. I honestly didn't think we'd ever see Yaguruma again, just like I was too much of a Rider Rookie to assume Lazer would return. It's a trope that really works on me, I guess!)

There's some real addition by subtraction in 33, where Hiyori's absence really turns up the heat on Tendou and Kagami in meaningful ways. Hiyori not being there, is like, the only thing worth thinking about, despite the fact that she's not even in every episode of this show. (Inoue!) It's a super tense way to start the final act of the show. I thought the plotting and pacing of this one was pretty commendable. You've got huge turns with Tendou, but they all feel motivated and acknowledged. Nothing's just like Here's The New Status Quo, you know? There's a ton of smart,quick connective tissue to all of the insane new developments.

I didn't say I didn't care for him, Die; I said I hated him! It's only because I care so much for Yaguruma that it pains me to see him this way. It's complicated, okay? Or, heck, thinking about it, maybe I don't like KickHopper because, subconsciously, I know Yaguruma would consider it an insult to speak highly of him anymore?

At any rate, I'm very much into the idea of us having polar opposite takes here, with me being a hardcore fan of early-series Yaguruma, while you've only fallen head over heels for him in his second debut, because of course we have polar opposite takes on a thing. :lol

It's a very fun twist, conceptually! Again, I'm not totally sure why I wasn't more into KickHopper when I originally watched Kabuto!. Just to emphasize this as much as possible, I really enjoyed those last three minutes this time around. It's a striking reintroduction, and you'd better believe it was satisfying seeing one of the first things he does upon his return be Rider Kicking Kageyama. Or wait, dang, I didn't even mention yet how much I love that his Kick specifically includes an old school Rider Jump in there, too. So many things to love about a character I don't love! It's so tough having all these feelings!

(Another interesting thing to note here about how our experiences differ is that I knew before I even started the show that Yaguruma was TheBee before leaving and coming back as the much more angsty and popular KickHopper, so ~maybe~ the hype let me down or something? I don't think that's how I really rolled, even back then, and this is all so foggy by now I'm grasping at straws, but it's a theory. I'll also clarify, despite using the word "hate", I don't think I ever outright despised KickHopper, either; he just didn't leave me feeling that great.)

Well duh. :p

...But yeah, very well structured episode all around.

Oh, and the subject of stock music coming up a little bit ago reminded me of something that I doubt anybody but me was even curious about. It was driving me nuts what Kagami's ringtone on his cell phone was – I was wondering if it was a song pulled from an old Rider show as a subtle anniversary tribute or something, but it turns out it was just a snippet of a piece of stock music made to sound like a generic Showa style hero theme. Bit of a missed opportunity, if you ask me.

See, one of the only things I knew about Kabuto (besides Clock Up, which I knew from the first few minutes of the Decade/W movie, maybe, or the Wizard 2-parter with Gaim) was that there were two Riders in it named KickHopper and PunchHopper. I found those names to be delightful, but that's all I knew about them. The idea that there were four Riders who'd debut ahead of them, or what their deal was, all of that is new to me. I knew the Hoppers had fans, but *gestures to Yaguruma scratching I Am Incredibly Sincere into his forearm* all of this was completely a surprise. In my wildest dreams, I'd've never predicted this.

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 34

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto34a.png

So, just to get it out of the way: Yes, I cackled like a lunatic at all of Yaguruma's appearances. It is such a parody of the tortured anti-hero, so committed to being Baby's First Nihilist, that I literally can't see any flaws in it. Art is subjective, and folks are going to have different experiences than mine, but I genuinely cannot fathom being anything less than in the bag for Yaguruma and his Yaguruminations. Literally every time that dude opens his mouth, it's a goldmine.

It helps that all of his shit with Kageyama, haunting him like The Ghost Of Failures Yet To Come, it's super tied into this episode's theme: If You Feed A Starving Person, They Will Love You.

It's not a subtle theme, since both Renge and Tsurugi call it out at some point in the episode. It's treated literally by Tsurugi, since his ability to understand the common people (weird shout-out to a then-11-year old Pulp song, but not the weirdest thing in this episode) is tied up in Juka offering him the Official Snack Of Kamen Rider, takoyaki. Having someone feed him, it forms a connection. It lets him know he's not alone, that someone sees him and cares about him.

That's pretty much how it works for Renge, who finally eats something other than her Sengoku Rice or whatever, and feels a connection with Tendou. And, some of it's that, the literal feeding of Renge, but it's also Tendou making her feel like a person who can help. She's not just a weapon, or a tool, she's someone who can make a positive difference in someone else's life. Feeding that part of her soul, creating space for her to feel heroic... it's a very Tendou thing to do?

It's here that I introduce a counterpoint to that flowery view of Tendou, though. This episode does a lot to walk back Tendou's villainy in 33, giving him opportunities to be vulnerable, and to choose to save people instead of furthering his goals. He is way less of an asshole in this one. But. There's a broadness to some of his vulnerability that makes me think he's manipulating Renge. Tendou needs the Hyper Zecter, and he knows Goro has it. He also knows there is absolutely no way Goro is going to trade him the Hyper Zecter for all of the other Zecters. It's a proposal that Goro is going to laugh at, the end. But that meeting is necessary, because it allows Tendou to show how hungry he is for the Hyper Zecter, right in front of Renge. It also slowly breaks down her resistance, slowly opens the door to her having a desire outside of ZECT. Tendou becomes a kindred spirit, someone who wants her to be happy in a way that Goro doesn't, and if he wants the Hyper Zecter... I mean, isn't it the least she can do?

So, yeah, I think Tendou is manipulating her. He knows that she's the only one who can grab the Zecter from under Goro's nose; he just needs to exert enough pressure to get her to choose him over ZECT. By feeding her, literally and figuratively, he gets her to do what he wants.

(That said! He also wants her to not be Goro's lapdog because that's a horrible thing to live as! It can be two things!)

And that darker aspect of feeding someone, the dependency it can cause, brings us back to Yaguruma and Kageyama. Kageyama, who... boy. Even for someone who thinks Kageyama is TheWorst, this episode was maybe too much. But Kageyama is being drawn into Yaguruma's orbit again, and that means Too Much is the lowest setting. Yaguruma comes off like a cult leader, offering the debased and dejected Kageyama a new future as... I mean, I assume PunchHopper, but we'll probably find out for sure in a couple days. As it is, Yaguruma's mostly offering rain-soaked nega-affirmations, where Kageyama's only hope for a continued existence is by giving up on whatever shreds of self-respect he's hidden away. Fun stuff!

Speaking of fun stuff! Tsurugi! So fun! It's for sure the brighter interpretation of this episode's theme, more about connection and empathy than control and A Successories Poster But The Picture Is From The Music Video Of Johnny Cash's Cover Of "Hurt” By Nine Inch Nails. It's a plot where Tsurugi trades his foppish couture for the tiny clothes of a child, loses a sword fight with a flute, and nearly dies of starvation in an afternoon. It is indescribably charming, a full-throated embrace of simple pleasures and low-stakes nonsense. It's still 100% tied into this episode's theme, so much so that Tsurugi outright tells us what this episode was about, but it comes at it in the sweetest way. If Yaguruma is the pessimism that we're all starving for meaning that can never be sated, Tsurugi is the optimism that we just need to share what we've got and no one needs to go hungry.

A QUESTION

An easy toss-up this time: Who has the more embarrassing outfit in this episode, Yaguruma or Tsurugi?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto34b.png

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

I really love Hyper Form's proper debut. It's another one of those things I've always vividly remembered from Kabuto. When I think of the single moment that most defines Tendou to me, it's always been the one where he declares that he's already taken ahold of the future, and summons his own big power-up from beyond the reaches of time itself, mere moments after it was just blown up by the villains. The line itself is just kind of a cool hero thing to say, and also parallels his speech from when he originally got the Kabuto Zecter back in the premiere, which I had forgotten about. The context of the scene, though, the unapologetic nature of setting up this dilemma of Mishima destroying the Hyper Zecter only to immediately use such a "cheap" way of getting out of it, I think – for better or for worse – it's about as Tendou as Tendou is ever written. I have to say, I've always been a fan in this case.

The following fight itself isn't particularly memorable in terms of choreography, but it's still set up in an awesome way on a writing level, illustrating the nature of Hyper Clock Up's ability to travel through time both very obviously through having Kagami get un-murdered, and in a super neat subtle bookend with Renge looking up at the roof after Tendou disappears in front of her, implying she literally saw him having already won the fight the instant after he left. Mind-bending stuff, right there! Toei set out to make the strongest Rider ever with Kabuto, and it's pretty telling of how successful that was that most of his competition is other people who have his powers... which is why the real secret is that Kabuto isn't the strongest; Tendou himself is. Remember, the time travel itself is far less impressive than the weaponized narrative convenience he uses to achieve it.

The actual amazing action happens in the lead-up to this, by the way, with another Tasaki-directed sequence of Kabuto Casting Off while falling down the side of a building, but this time it's significantly more elaborate, with him jumping after Renge to save her life, passing up a chance at the Hyper Zecter to do so. Like so many effects-heavy sequences in this show, I'm shocked how nice it still looks.

There's a lot of great things to say about this episode in general, and I think Die covered a lot of them already. Tsurugi wearing the clothes of a small child is also the defining moment for his character to me, for the record. He's so earnestly trying to humble himself, never realizing how much he's embarrassing himself, and this episode that ends with him saying he'll be a manservant to his own manservant really cements his growth from arrogant jerk to lovable weirdo. With Hiyori being gone-but-not-forgotten for now, Tsurugi was by far the character in this stretch of the show I was most emotionally invested in. The man is a precious ray of sunshine.

There's also one other memorable thing about this episode I don't think the English-speaking fandom will be very aware of? Which means I get to do this again!

Learning Unmeino- the Easy Way! (#1 of 1)

https://i.imgur.com/G4BYFmM.png

The episode prior to this one debuted the show's second ending theme, LORD OF THE SPEED, which has the distinction of being sung in-character by Kagami's actor, Yuuki Satou. Despite being an image song for Kagami, it's just the general-use insert theme, which means it doesn't always get used for when Gatack is doing something cool. And in this case, the second ever use of it in the series, it starts playing while he's dying a horrible death in a fiery explosion, entirely so Tendou can show off his new powers. Not only is this the second time Yonemura has killed Kagami to demonstrate the use of Hyper Clock Up, following the movie, but this time his own theme song is playing, and rather memorably, the lyrics only start up right after he bites the dust.

This, among other things, led to tons and tons of jokes being made about Gatack's pathetic status, in a bit of déjÃ* vu for a stag beetle secondary Rider. Well, I mean, at least everyone agrees Gatack IS the secondary, so Kagami's got that much going for him. But on top of frequent Leangle-esque jokes about his status as the "God of Battle (*chuckle*)", those first two words of Lord of the Speed's lyrics, unmei no, have become the blanket title for a series of jokes associated with the song. I'm only broadly familiar with this stuff, but basically, the two main gags seem to be playing Lord of the Speed over footage of random characters exploding, and just as often, a flood of comments on videos involving the song mimicking Kagami's "UWAAAAAAA!!!" as he's about to detonate. That's the gist of what I know, so to close things out, I'll allow Kagami to demonstrate an example of the phenomenon in action.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeEyEodANC8

Just gotta say that, if you think every single Worm is a duplicate of something based on what's shown, this will be debunked later, and this also answers the "why the Worm that impersonates the parents are there before the asteroid" part.

Probably because something like that isn't going to be known or thought, there's got to be the source of the knowledge of the big things like this, if it's not from others like Tendou who likely won't tell, then the likely Worm powers (dunno if it's truly part of the powerset, or the psychic part, I don't see them being listed on her powerset) does. I.. don't see any other way to get the cast to know about the existence of Souji Kusakabe (and if someone did know, I don't know if you'd want for someone to just explain that), which will lead to tons of another things.

BTW, can you give your thoughts about this one?

So something that infuriates others like Misaki in Kagami becomes his endearing trait at least to her here. But of course, if someone's run on big feelings, then Hiyori missing will also inflict big feelings to him in another way; which is moping around here. About him being overly concerned about his friend that it affects him slightly. I don't want for this to be viewed (by audience) as compassion being a weakness, or that being kind as synonymous to being idiot (Tendou also says something like this, from his grandmother too, but if he does this here, he'd be a hypocrite because he acts like that to family). And as for missing Hiyori, the series made a temporary replacement in Renge Takatori, who acts cutesy and goofy on the outside, but isn't really like that at first glance, the innocence is not genuine. She's also made to be more skilled by nearly every ZECT soldiers.

It'd be a tough task for Kagami, as he's the big feelings type and outside of his idiocy and recklessness, he's the type who embodies the Kamen Rider ideals, similar to most of the lead Riders. And Tendou is someone who views that as weakness, it'd be almost impossible for Kagami to do something against this, considering that Kagami (and his ideals) are treated as a joke for most part, while Tendou is almost always right, being the perfect hero. I think outside of lack of humility, or wait for opening, or being independent, this is also the peak showings of Tendou's selective care. He's primarily concerned with the well-being of his family members, but not so much in comparison for others (at best Kagami is likely a friend for Tendou, and that means nothing in comparison to family). He probably won't do it but he'd be ok to eliminate every other living beings for Hiyori's sake. Heroes/villains are defined by actions (while their characterization defines if they're traditional or anti), Tendou would only turn into actual villain if he actually did what he threatened for real, but as for now it's clear that Tendou has negative traits here that makes him more similar to most of secondary Riders (where some also threatens others while never doing it fully).

The everybody feels trapped would make more pragmatic character like Tendou do riskier choice, but for characters who is more moral to everyone, it'll give them hesitation, dilemma for what to do that both choices can lead to disastrous outcome, and I like that here, Tendou's plan is considered as terrible, some audience would encourage Tendou's way, ignoring if it's terrible or not, while bashing those that hesitates.

What I want to know, from yours is actually, if you think that Yaguruma would refurn after he left the show for a while. He didn't die or trapped by something (like being sealed or imprisoned) before though so that's probably should be an indication for his return. Unfortunately, what some audience think of being humble is exactly like what Yaguruma does here,, which is viewing themselvs as the lowest, which is another, utterly flawed way to see positive traits as weaknesses, as they aren't able to filter which is good, which is bad, which is taking it too far, etc. (and that they think if you see yourself as loser, you wouldn't be able to improve, that if you want to be the best, you have to have high feelings for yourself which is being confident, but it'll also encourage arrogance for them, which is also them cannot filtering confidence trait). And no need to apologize to Kagami! What you said here is true regarding other Riders. Kagami also thinks that for Tendou, disapproving of him claiming as the only decent Rider.

Not really known yet how's the physical prowess of Worms in human form (and dunno if it's story choice so that it won't spoil, but Hiyori was knocked unconscious by one hit from human Kageyama at one point), but if it's similar to Hiyori's, then Tsurugi would be a glass cannon in his fights against Worms; he had enough offense output to kill Worms, at least the fodders, but he won't have the Rider's resillience and is over-reliant on his sword (I feel like a good number of swordsman character in fiction is like that). Tsurugi is formerly rich in dollars but poor in sense type to assume the sword is invincible. If the sword is invincible it'd actually be much more effective though! No one knows what'd stab him and can't measure the distance of the sword. For the answer it's none to me...

Tsurugi's outfit in this episode is one of the elements of Kabuto that stuck with me years after watching the show. It's not a new joke - Tsurugi is woefully inept at personing - but the execution of it is just goddamn brilliant. I will never get tired of that tiny yellow hat with the chin strap and little backpack and Tsurugi's assumption that he looks perfectly normal in them.

As for the main plot, it is so perfectly Kabuto that Renge's Road to Damascus moment comes through food. For a show that is ostensibly about guys in bug armor fighting shapeshifting aliens, there is a such a strong commitment to all of these underlying themes about food. It's like this is what Mai thought street dancing was to Gaim. There are some points here where I feel like the show could have easily gone into parody territory, but I think it really did work to build this part of the story around yet another food thing.

And we got the full (second) debut of Hyper Kabuto, which looks exactly like it did in the movie and in the last several episodes where it cameoed. And there's nothing at all ridiculous about it being destroyed but then replaced by its own future version - that's just science.

And finally, more delightful scenes of Kageyama's life sucking. On the one hand, it does feel a little sudden for him to seem almost addicted to TheBee, but at the same time I can totally buy that this is a guy whose sole identity was tied into the prestige and rank that he got from being a Kamen Rider. It's clear that no one actually respected him, so I can see why he's so desperate to get the power back. Of course, a guy like him doesn't know what going to hell truly is...

It is pretty cool, yeah! It leans a little heavy on enough Bill & Ted-style time shenanigans (This Item I Need Will Be Left By Me In The Future Even Though I Don't Have It Yet) that I felt, briefly, as confused as your average Kagami reaction shot, but I think it mostly holds together. Much like everything from 32 I didn't love, I'm trying not to sweat the details as we progress.

Still, that predetermination stuff with the Hyper Zecter helped form an ending where Tendou learned he didn't need to force events to achieve his goals, getting him to let go of the reins a bit, so I'm fairly happy with how it turned out.

And just as I'm mentioning how I'm weak against shocking returns after long absences, look what's back! Thanks for the info, and thanks for using an Ex-Aid video for context. Youhavenotbetrayedus!

I mean, the cast doesn't know about Another Tendou yet? Tendou and Kagami sure don't. They never set on eyes on him when he's out of his iron mask. Either way, it's still not a huge Hiyori moment, at least for me.

For the other thing, I don't really have anything to say about it? I think that's a valid interpretation, it's just not one I share.

I covered this a few posts back, but I sort of thought he was done? I remember seeing him in the movie and thinking Oh Right That Guy. He wasn't someone I assumed the show was aching to bring back. Boy, was I wrong.

I love how the show gilds the lily of Goro's villainy (was Kagami Outrageous also sick for these episodes? Is he also beyond time and space?!) by having him not only refuse Tendou's meal, but declare that he has no sense of taste. (joke about employing Kageyama for thirty-three episodes goes here) He is completely dismissive of Tendou's greatest skill, and invulnerable against it. So on-point for this show!

The one thing that stood out to me about this episode was one specific element no-one seems to have picked up on.

Sorry for the sparse reply, but I’m saving my literary energy for my own watch thread, which I’m about to start later today.

No place to put it on, but... Kagami actually dies in the Worm fight, his Rider form exploding in the similar way as the monsters, and not Kagami de-henshin first, and Hyper Kabuto's debut is to time travel and save him. This is something that I didn't say because spoilers, but about the Arata Kagami being written in the past before he was born, thinking about how in Kabuto, there are something that allows time travel like Hyper Zecter. The one where Tendou said the future is in his hand is actually using that phrase literally with the Hyper Zecter coming to his hand. And as Zecters can move around and funciton by themselves, Hyper Zecter from the future cross the time by itself to aid Tendou in present time. Also it seems that as Hyper Zecter is already formed in the future where it travels to present, Hyper Zecter can't be eliminated no matter what like Mishima's trying to do here, because if someone does, then the Hyper Zecter from the future will aid the present.

That's my point, the cast doesn't know about Souji Kusakabe yet, and the way to integrate it in story is via Hiyori's power (psychic phenomenon according to you, but I'm not sure yet). Souji Kusakabe's existence is crucial for the story, and at that point the cast doesn't know about him yet.

You mean the nineties anti-hero type? (the over-the-top grim and gritty anti-hero characters in superhero comics of the 1990's) Yaguruma changes, but not in a good way, as pointed out by someone like Sh Ranger here. He didn't exactly learn from his mistakes, he turned into an antisocial nihilist who thinks that he is not loved and cared about by anyone or anything but "darkness", and that he prefers to stay in the darkness of Hell. He sums up why edgelords think that way, he still craves for attention despite of his current state, by doing these things to shock others in an effort to appear cool, or edgy (he's still enraged for those laughing at him, despite him claiming not being loved, “Have you laughed at me?” still exists in ep. 33). For you saying "parody of the tortured anti-hero", this is because in general an edgelord is almost parodic, but often, not intentionally so. He also shows more of negative traits from that later, but can't say it now. I hope this kind of change won't be praised (I mean being praised as right thing, not praised as entertaining story like here) or emulated (or what I said previously about 'humility').

Renge starts to become more of what she pretend to be (being bubbly and innocent) by this treatment; beneath her innocent smile, she's fearsome and cold towards anyone until Tendou taught her on enjoying life better despite it was a part of his plan to have Renge abide with him, but Renge abiding on him isn't purely like that, to make her feel heroic, acting like what she pretended to be more genuinely, this will come in an unintended side effects later, a bit containing Yaguruma's type of change!

What Tendou proclaims, the one he used to threaten Kagami would be utterly villainous if it's actually done (Killing every single living being to protect a loved one, Hiyori. A good number of villains in fiction does bad deeds motivated by a love to certain person, like Gendo from NGE and yanderes such as Yuno from Future Diary. For this franchise, example is Kusaka and Fueki), but then he realizes his plan by targeting ZECT and other Riders, which is significantly less brutal, and that damaging ZECT this way would be potentially (anti, as it's done for neutral motivation which is protecting only Hiyori) heroic, as damaging ZECT would be benefical to others like killing monsters (what you said that he wants Renge not to be Mishima's lapdog should be an indication of this, taking anyone away from Mishima's side is good), and for what he did at least in this episode, what he's done is taking away the Zecters of other Riders and likely using Renge for this too, so he's manipulative but not causing much harm, like what some pragmatic anti-heroes did. So obtaining Hyper Zecter is inherently done in manipulative ways, for any case in Kabuto (this episode and movie, where for the latter he purposefully stirs up fights between the ZECT and Neo-ZECT Riders to lure out Caucasus and take a hold of his Hyper Zecter.

Your guess is completely right here for Kageyama's new future. Yaguruma sort of views Kageyama as younger brother, which is exemplified here, the only one among his former colleagues. In this episode, Yaguruma tries to drag Kageyama in the darkness, both isolating themselves there, and from what I catch, it seems that for some reason to me, Yaguruma wants to let Kageyama taste hell for a room of his development, the people becoming stronger in the face of adversity type of guidance.

For this one yeah, the Tsurugi's comic relief part is lighthearted one, unlike before where it's about him inflicting inappropriate behavior to others due to ego, which I can view as dark one as he got little repercussions for it. Tsurugi was always a little disconnected from normal life from the beginning, and having lived in luxury for his whole life, Tsurugi's not so great when it comes to "common sense". This is probably a part of Tsurugi's development, where he's involved in some part of human live here, where in this part, he acknowledges the value behind other's kindness (and if you want to be seen or cared, then you should take a part in that too, in contrast to what you've done before, you did help Juka and appreciate her payback, but you still act similarly when you got caught stealing; challenging others to duel and refusing to admit it), and this experience is likely the better "how to be a good emperor" lecture! In contrast to his impossible tastes of food that he forced to be luxurious and high class, Tsurugi here considers a takoyaki from streetside as delicious (afaik, a cliche of breaking away from luxurious spoiling, get a taste of a commoner's stuff and enjoying it), and likely get to know more about commoners' suffering, like the one that he victimized previously like in his debut (causing an accident by walking in mid road and callously tells that he's above law), which is him starving here.

Tsurugi's one. Yaguruma's outfit is edginess, but for those that aren't edgy, it looks intimidating, it has seen some use by thugs.

If you like high quality memes, I recommend checking out the recent "Ryukiroll" craze as well. You won't regret it! ;)

I saw! Very cool! I hope you have fun with it!

Sure, but... it doesn't matter to the story if Another Tendou exists yet? Tendou and Kagami have no idea who the man in the iron mask is. The story isn't about Who Is This Mystery Man, it's about finding Hiyori.

I honestly don't even know what we're arguing about here! I have totally lost the thread of this discussion. Sorry!

I mean, I can't speak to "often", or what other shows do, but you'd have a tough time convincing me that the creative team (including the actor!) don't know how hilarious Yaguruma is right now.

Yeah, it's definitely Yaguruma trying to "fix" Kageyama in the same way he's been "fixed", but it's probably also that innate Yaguruma need for teamwork. He wants that Perfect Harmony, even if it's in the form of Two Stereos Playing My Chemical Romance At Two Different Speeds.

Will do! Thanks!

:lol :lol :lol :lol

Re: Tendo's manipulation of Renge - while of course there are layers to his actions, I think his face while he was watching her after she smashed the plate says he was absolutely using her to further his own goals. I'm not sure this episode walked his villainy back as much as I thought it would, but I'm not about to complain about it either, haha

It seriously is a nice callback to the first episode, with Tendou essentially getting back to his roots, realizing he doesn't need to be all hasty and reckless even though Hiyori's gone, because, just like his grandmother told him, he needs only wish for it, and fate will always take his side.

...Which is advice I definitely felt the wisdom in when I was debating with myself whether or not it'd really be worth covering Kagami memes (they're not even remotely close to as pervasive as Ondul is), but then stumbled across a relevant video of the blue-colored secondary Rider named Kagami from Die's first show and suddenly I couldn't not bring it up in here. I'm glad you enjoyed the brief return to an old schtick of mine!

Oh, and, uh, speaking of which, I've been actively repressing the urge to correct the constant little mistakes I keep finding in the translations we're using, because they're just that – little mistakes that don't impact plot comprehension too much, but there was a rather formative Yaguruma line in 34 I feel like you'd want to know about. That Baby's First Nihilist speech in his scene with Kageyama goes like this in Earthly's scrub:

"Only by crawling on the ground... will you be able to see the light. But don't expect too much. Because it's not like we can be together forever."

But that last sentence is inheriting an error from TV-Nihon's version that leaves it as a bit of a non sequitur. The actual dialogue is along the lines of "It's not like we'll ever be able to see it anyway." Yaguruma basically trolls Kageyama by acting like there's hope for them, before immediately turning it around, which explains why he walks off cackling like a maniac after saying it. (And he walks towards a literal light, no less; talk about mixed messages!).

Just an innocent mistake on the subbers' part, as a result mishearing what was being said – the scene's heavy rain not exactly making the audio easier to pick out – but it seemed worth correcting with how invested you are in Yaguruma's current downward spiral.

It's a super fine line, to be sure, but I think there's a process of Tendou seeing the negative consequences of his manipulations in this episode. While I feel pretty confident he's working Renge to get the Hyper Zecter, he seems genuinely worried about how dangerous that final act is for her. Like, she believed in him enough to fall off the roof of a building! That's probably going to cause him to recalibrate what he's tricking people into. The third act in this episode is kind of literalized by Tendou using the Hyper Zecter to undo his deadly mistakes. There's never really a huge confession of guilt, because - Tendou, but there's a need to atone that says he knows he screwed up a little.

Anything that helps me separate Yaguruma's Nonsense from his Bullshit, I will gladly accept. Thank you! The end of that line was definitely a bit of a noodle-scratcher, but I just chalked it up to maybe something about Yaguruma's recent developments that hadn't yet been dramatized. Or it's just him reaching for something profound and ending on If Hallmark Cards Had A Screamo Section, which is so on-point for this show that I didn't assume there was a translation error. No flaws with Yaguruma!

Before I forget, just to follow up on that earlier discussion about the show's DX toys lacking a Clock Up sound, I'd like to note the one ~sort of~ exception,which was the Hyper Zecter's, well Hyper Clock Up sound. And Bandai sure wanted you to know it, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MozqR7ARgUo

("MAXIMUM. RIDER. POWER." is also one of my favorite Rider belt noises ever, by the way, although that's also a big list.)