This is another Kabuto story that really stuck with me; every time I've heard Ave Maria for the last, uh, 14 years, it's reminded me of Kabuto. I can't say anything about the Reina and Daisuke story that hasn't already been said - it was low-stakes and absolutely stunning and beautiful (also Gon with the fire extinguisher FOREVER, that was amazing). It's a solid, dramatic pair of Kabuto episodes that I really liked and that hold up amazingly when watching them again.

On a separate note, I laughed pretty hard at Tsurugi in his one dissonant scene, so I can't hate that part; I felt like it was a nice breather, even if it was such a tonal shift from literally everything else. I am slightly less annoyed with his crush on Misaki, retrospectively, since he is now not pressing forward with it. (Tho it does reinforce the patriarchal BS of Well She Belongs To Another Man, This Is A Valid Reason To Step Aside. I may still be slightly annoyed with it, haha)

I read it as more of an “I Want My Two Favorite People to be Happy,” personally. Tsurugi is definitely prideful, but he’s also been remarkably adept at recognizing and respecting their people’s relationships.

Oh, for sure. There's a version of this story where it's just a Rider trying to protect some random woman, and we find out she's a Worm, and then CRISIS. That would have worked okay, but wouldn't have nearly the weight this one did. Here, it's a higher degree of difficulty because we've spent a dozen episodes viewing Worm Widow purely as a villain, but it's more satisfying because of it.

Like, there's a spectrum of Worm/Native characters in this story, from Deserve Love (Hiyori) to Possible Threat (Tsurugi) to Inevitable Threat (Reina), and the show's case is that all of them deserve love, or at the very least, a chance to find love. They made me care a ton about some formerly-bland antagonist (stylishly shot, but I wasn't a fan otherwise) in just two episodes! This show!

wait drake has a bike

Sure, I can see that. I'd argue that he had a real connection with her (he doesn't always tell beautiful women that he loves them), but Daisuke's definitely a guy who's going to start with We Are Soulmates and then work back from there to figure out why.

To be fair, Gon is saving Reina and Daisuke from KickHopper and PunchHopper, not superpowered fighters. She's a great kid with an adorably round head, but these are not exactly Legend Riders she's holding off.

It's a thing I can squint and see as being about looking past animosity to fight for someone else's happiness, in the same way Tendou and Daisuke need to overlook Reina's species... but that's if I'm feeling incredibly generous. I mostly think it's here because it's funny.

I mean, it can be both things! Tsurugi is, I think, genuinely rooting for Misaki and KaGAHmin to have a happy relationship, but there's no disguising the fact that Tsurugi stopped pestering Misaki once he thought she had a boyfriend. The subtext is still a little gross, even if the text views it as incidental.

Yes, yes, that, that

I agree that he's definitely genuinely rooting for them and it's very sweet. He wants the people he loves to be happy! That speaks to a depth of emotional maturity that he doesn't always (ever?) show, in that he is willing to give up on the idea of a relationship with Misaki because she's telling him she's happy with Kagami - like, I love him for this. So many people do not do this.

But the subtext still being there is why I have that residual bit of annoyance. It's a small bit. I have net positive feelings about this whole minor subplot so far, lol

I think it's fun that this happens in this story, because it's the opposite of Tendou's reaction to Juka maybe dating someone? Tendou's like MY WORLD IS ENDING, and Tsurugi's like Let's Start Figuring Out The Seating For Your Wedding. Like, a lot of Tsurugi's interest in Misaki is wrapped up in his sister's absence, so I really prefer the idea of Tsurugi pivoting from problematic pursuit of a romantic partner into Supportive Sibling. It's fun! It's only slightly bizarre!

And with Tsurugi, "slightly bizarre" is actually under the baseline.

It's true. It's so true. Jumping immediately from You Are The Love Of My Life to Let's Start Planning Your Wedding To My Best Friend doesn't even break his top 10.

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

This is the best shot in the episode, because it has Hiyori playing with a bird and that's adorable. No other reason. I mean, it's framed nicely and everything – of course it's framed nicely – but I just want to lead off with an obvious display of simpleminded bias to emphasize how unqualified I feel to dissect this episode. Like, Die is outright expecting to me to flip out over the direction, and I can do that, but this thing is WAY too cultured for me to even fully comprehend, let alone explain to other people.

There's a perfect example of what I'm talking about right after the opening. These episodes make repeated use of a Shinto shrine for a setting, and at the start of this one, Yaguruma and Kageyama are introduced walking up on Daisuke and Rena there, looking for trouble and each spouting some dialogue in a threatening tone. The trick is that it's shot with closeups of the pair of komainu statues at the shrine, making it look as though the statues themselves are talking, before the Hoppers brush by the frame.

Now, I only even know what a komainu is because I looked it up, so as for explaining the significance this has? I can only grasp at straws. It could range in complexity from Tasaki simply happening to think that made for a cool and interesting sequence with no deeper thought, the fact that komainu also come in pairs, or something even more over my head. The statue shown first, with Yaguruma, even has its mouth open, while the second one for Kageyama has its (mostly) closed, which is also apparently some symbolic thing with komainu representing the beginning and the end (so like, big bro/little bro?) through Sanskrit, but... man, do you see how deep this is getting already? This is less than half a minute of the episode and it's not even important!

Tasaki might be as crazy as Ishida, in his own way. Sure, he's not lighting everything on fire, but this man will point a camera at basically anything that catches his attention. He seems to live for finding these focal objects to frame scenes through or around, and I can't even hope to track every little instance of that in this one. Or rather, I can sit here and point at them all day, but anything more than that is beyond me.

Here, I'll give one more instance of a sequence that's way too smart for me – it's Die's first sceencap, actually, when Rena is giving Daisuke that message for when she loses herself again. It consciously defies basic film conversation logic by having Daisuke's reaction shots on the exact same side of the frame as Rena, looking in the exact same direction. The latter is because Rena is turned away from Daisuke, but I mean, go look at that picture again. Your brain assumes there must be someone on her left there, doesn't it? And again, I'm reasonably sure this is somehow brilliant, but I couldn't pin it down if I tried.

And that's so much of this one. Even the most simple things in this episode are still completely genius, like a lovestruck Yaguruma noisily clicking his heels together as he stares at flowers in the grass. It even gets added on to later, when Yaguruma casually steps on the same flowers as he's walking off with Kageyama at the end, having gone back to the usual brooding routine. It's all so great! I seriously do want to just sit here listing off moments, but I've got other things to talk about, too, so I'd better do that.

Once again, the script is quite good, and Die put it all very nicely. Also once again, I'll add on a bit about Tendou, which is just how much I like the way he's used here, with him finding common ground with Daisuke, and having the obligatory Kabuto fight be him simply making sure Daisuke and Rena don't get interrupted. Having Tendou be sort of adjacent to the spotlight is the kind of thing I find his character is practically made for, and this was a fun way to show that Daisuke is someone he has respect for, at the end of the day. It fits a rivalry that was never too serious. I also have to give the episode due props for shutting me up about two things I bemoaned last time. Not only does Drake use Clock Up in a memorable fashion during the climax, but the Hopper scene in 39 turned out to be less redundant than I thought, acting as a clear contrast to Yaguruma's short-lived shift in attitude here.

Fantastic fourth installment for the Drake trilogy! It maybe needs a new name now, but Daisuke's appearances are firmly a matter of quality over quantity, and that shows as much as ever here. Major props to this one in particular for not even having a cliffhanger for the next arc. This is Tasaki's final episode on Kabuto, unfortunately, but Inoue will be back for one last pair soon – and just in time for Christmas, too!

What's a night off even worth, when there's great direction to dissect?

I definitely think it's meant to symbolize the Hoppers as angry guardians, higher powers who are indifferent to the nuance that Daisuke's found. Reina is a Worm, Riders kill Worms, the end. They're coming into the scene with wrath, with judgment. Daisuke's gotten weak, so they're going to do his job for him. They are here to render justice, like a deity or spirit might.

Let me take a run at it!

Some of the framing is to draw attention. By putting the speaker somewhere other than the center of frame, you're forcing the viewer to work to find them. It gives the dialogue more weight, because the viewer is more active in the process.

Also! The thing to remember in these scenes, these shots, is that the plot involves three characters, not two. It's Daisuke, Reina, and Worm Widow. Every time the frame is empty, that's where the missing third character is. In the first shot, when Reina's telling Daisuke how she wants him to talk to Worm Widow, it's shot like this:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto40a.png

That dead space on the left side, that's where Worm Widow would be. It's Reina, trying to appeal to her shared existence with Worm Widow, trying to get her to understand how much Reina's life should matter to her.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto40b.png

In the second scene, with Daisuke and Worm Widow, the right side is empty. That's where Daisuke is speaking through Worm Widow to Reina, trying to find a way to bring back the woman he loves by repeating her request. The right side is Reina, listening for her chance to reassert herself.

At least, that's my take!

---

Okay, since no one else brought it up, let me call out my favorite visual motif in the episode:

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto40d.png

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto40e.png

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto40f.png

The director is constantly looking for ways to keep Daisuke and Reina in the frame together, while still separating them. In an episode all about these two trying to forge a connection in the face of overwhelming odds, these shots subconsciously reinforce all of that tension. Daisuke can't seem to get close enough to Reina to rescue her. Reina is getting all of this encouragement, but she's still trapped, boxed in. It just burns with longing, with hope, while countering with unease, with foreboding. Super smart blocking!

A billion things to talk about from this episode. I even have half a take on this one as an unintentional trans narrative, but there's no way I wouldn't mess that up in an attempt to analyze it. Definitely has other things to draw from it!

Posts like this are why I have so much trouble believing I'm anywhere near as good at this as you are, by the way.

There's this whole amazing episode to be discussed, and I'm just sitting here with my biggest takeaways from scenes like these being "Ooh look! Yaguruma said 'Kamen Rider Drake!'" :p

can you imagine how insufferable i would be if i didn't have the outlet of these boards

I'm picturing you before you joined the boards just like, flagging down random confused strangers on the street to yell at them about Ex-Aid's intricate visual style and complex web of deeply flawed characters. Feel free to tell me if I'm being unrealistic here.

also i'm really glad you found this site before you watched faiz

If you asked my business partner about my use of the store's social media accounts, he would probably agree with that description!

I... my thoughts on Kamen Rider have definitely sprawled more, given the (relatively) infinite canvas of these boards. Previously, it would've been more Phase 2 insanity, colorful action and bizarre juxtapositions that I needed to excitedly share. Now, it's more critical thinking about themes, arcs... and bizarre juxtapositions that I need to excitedly share.

Definitely more of a lateral move...

Honestly, me too? I can't imagine it would've been half as rewarding an experience without being able to share it. Fond memories!

I just realized what's going to happen in the next 2 episodes, and holy shit I think you're in for a treat with the B plot.

Hey I'm really feeling how true this is right now so I'm just gonna rattle off a few more random things about this episode if that's cool:

- The thought occurs to me that this two-parter is actually the first ever time Inoue got to use Yaguruma, and that's kind of shocking to me when he seems like exactly the sort of unstable, obsessive character he'd be eager to write. It's maybe appropriate, then, that the first thing he does when given the chance is put the Hoppers in a subplot where they're basically written like children, with Kageyama getting upset with Yaguruma for having a crush on a girl. That definitely feels very Inoue to me. Like, you can replace the spiels about darkness with Kageyama saying Rena has cooties, and the plot plays out exactly the same. It's no wonder they get handily outmatched by Gon with a fire extinguisher...

- I've mentioned the trouble Kabuto has sticking in my brain before, and, to be clear, I didn't remember this two-parter in the slightest either. In fact, I didn't even remember Rena herself at all. I mean, once she showed up, it was sort of like "oh... yeah, that one", but this is not a character I've thought a lot about in the past few years, you know?

- Which is why it's all the more remarkable to me how utterly spectacular these episodes were, in retrospect. You see, Rena lived and died by the grace of the overarching plot. She was a character defined by function more than personality or individual goals – introduced to give a mouthpiece to the Worms, building the world by creating an easy way to give a sense of them as an actively scheming group intertwined with ZECT, and she's only leaving the show because her role has become unnecessary. They didn't need to make anywhere near the event out of this they did (she could've easily been bumped off in a big Plot episode that didn't center specifically around her, for example), and that makes me all the more grateful they found this latent storytelling potential and proceeded to deliver on it to this level. These are likely two of the show's best episodes, and they didn't even "need" to exist. The more I think about these ones, the more impressed I become.

- Also, I happened to read about something that seemed worth bringing up in her character's final episode – Rena's actor Hitomi Miwa apparently fractured her leg at some point, and despite having trouble walking normally, was still filming for Kabuto, with the help of painkillers. That's some dedication right there!

If you break these two episodes down to their basics, it's just Doomed Romance, right? So Inoue's like What Variations Can We Do On That, which gives us:

-the doomed romance of Reina and Daisuke, which is dark and sad;

-the doomed romance of Tsurugi and Misaki, which is funny and bizarre;

-and the doomed romance of Reina (to her surprise) and Yaguruma, which is dark and sad and funny and bizarre.

It's... these Inoue stories, man! They're only ever about one thing!

Yeah, I loved these episodes, maybe in spite of how little I really understood Worm Widow as a character? Like, we're at, what, Episode 40, and I've got zero idea what the Worms want as a species, or how they're going to achieve it. Everything they do for the last three dozen or so episodes is just tiny skirmishes, random ambushes. I don't have a sense of where they're going, you know? So to have a story like this to really drill into the, like, collateral damage of Worm Widow's existence... it's both the opposite of what I wanted (looking for more of a big picture), and so brilliant that I can't complain.

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 41

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto41a.png

Ah, the endgame.

I'll be honest, it's not my favorite part of a Kamen Rider series? I can't remember if I've said that before. The beginning of a series is great, getting to know everything about the characters and the world. The middle's a lot of fun, as things get both deeper and looser. The end, though... there's a process to it that I don't love?

It's mostly down to how smoothly a show shifts gears, into its final stage. There's this crush of plot, sometimes, where things are just More Tense without it feeling like anything really escalated? It's just... heavier, all of a sudden. It's like someone flipped a switch, and everyone's in danger and time's running out and motivations are revealed and and and. It's an almost necessary part of landing a 40-odd episode story, but it doesn't mean I need to look forward to that descent.

So, yeah, I was mostly just okay with this episode. There's some big parts I liked (Kagami's Very Big Feeling of betrayal) and some small parts I liked (Tsurugi as SwordHopper seems like a fun lark), but overall I just found the whole thing a little tedious.

I still have no idea what the deal is with the conflict between the Worms, the Natives, and humanity, despite several expository scenes. (Boy, the director did not feel like rescuing those scenes at all.) For as much nuance as previous stories have tried to give through characters like Hiyori, Reina, and Tsurugi, everything here just boils down to Good Monsters and Bad Monsters and Humans Who Are Forced To Work With The Good Monsters I Guess. There's no sense of plan yet for the Worms (I guess they're replacing everyone in the world? For some reason? To just keep working jobs or something?), and the conflict with ZECT went from this Cold War of minor aggressions into full-blown warfare, and it all feels so abrupt. It feels plot-driven, not character-driven, which is one of the reasons I feel so ambivalent about this episode. Stuff happens to and around the characters, and it doesn't really feel like they've got much agency in this one?

And, like, that's not automatically disqualifying, despite my personal preference for something that draws from the characters and relationships. This episode gets some juice from Kagami finding out that both his dad, the returning Kagami Outrageous, and Tadokoro, his work dad, have been lying to him for years. Kagami has always drawn his confidence from his ability to follow his heart, to do what he thinks is right, so it is devastating to him to find out that Everything Has Proceeded According To His Dad's Design, and that Tadokoro has let him be in the dark for so long. It makes Kagami feel like a pawn, and that's a thing he can't abide by.

My favorite exchange in the episode is a really quick Tendou/Kagami one, and I think it gets to the heart of how those two see the world differently. Tendou sees the world as a series of manipulations that can be turned to his advantage. Everyone wants something, which he can leverage to get what he wants. People keeping secrets isn't breaking the rules, it's how the game is played. Finding out that Kagami has been manipulated gets him saying Yes And, not reacting with commiseration or anger. (It helps that Tendou was also hiding some of this from Kagami!) Now that Kagami knows the truth, Tendou thinks he should accept it and find a way to use it to his advantage. The mission is still the mission.

For Kagami, why you do something means as much as what you do. Success isn't just about achieving, it's about finding a reason to achieve. To learn that everything he's done, every choice he's made, has been orchestrated by ZECT to get him to this point... it's like nothing he's done has mattered. He's achieved nothing. Worse, the people he looked up to, respected, they're the ones who took it all away from him. He's got all this power, but any use of it feels fraudulent. The Rider who was defined by his Very Big Feelings, now he only feels betrayed.

It's a fun idea, seeing how a dispirited and disillusioned Kagami processes his betrayal, but a lot of the execution is him sort of acting like a baby? I'm not saying he's wrong to feel upset at someone like Tadokoro, or especially at Outrageous, but what's presented is him basically throwing tantrums, and it wears a little thin. It's like, I was on Kagami's side! And then by his final scene, I said out loud, "Quit being such a baby.” I don't usually talk to these episodes! But that performance really brought it out of me!

So, yeah, between a ratcheted-up series plot that sort of comes out of nowhere, a Kagami plot that has a good idea that it buries in some off-putting storytelling, and fights that act like Clock Up never existed (WHY DOESN'T KAGAMI USE IT IN HIS FIRST FIGHT), it's not an episode whose main plot was that great for me. Not terrible, but not that exciting.

But then we have Tsurugi's plot, and that one is a roller coaster. It starts with a Tsurugi/Misaki plot that dials back what I loved about 40 into what I grudgingly tolerated from 39. Kagami immediately tells Tsurugi that Misaki was never actually his girlfriend, they were tricking him, and Tsurugi views that betrayal as a test of character from his best friend and crush. It's sort of adorable, how quickly he forgives two people that were lying to his face. Unfortunately, that clears the path for Tsurugi to start pursuing Misaki again, a thing I was very much not looking forward to. It's a creepy couple scenes that get nipped in the bud (thankfully) as Misaki outright tells Tsurugi that they are never going to happen. It's a level of bluntness that I really appreciated, even if I wish the show had done it from the jump.

What follows is a concept that is so good, so the kind of thing I'd joke about because I'd want it too much to ever think it could be real, that I can scarcely believe it really happened. Tsurugi, the man who now stands at the top of depression, is adopted by the Hoppers, two men who stand at the bottom of happiness. Everything about that is... like, forget all of this ZECT/Worm/Native whatever nonsense. Pointless. Irrelevant. This is my endgame. KickPunchSwordHopper is my grand finale. I cannot give two shits about Worm Widower kicking Hyper Kabuto out of his Hyper Cast Off, because literally the only thing I can anticipate from this episode is What Happens Next With The Hoppers. That's it. Only plotline that matters now!

A QUESTION

Tadokoro's big reveal here was both surprising, and something I sort of didn't care about. I have some vague questions I'm not sure if the show plans on answering (Is Tadokoro's entire family Natives? Did he kill the real Tadokoro at some point and take his place?), but it didn't really make me reconsider Tadokoro as a character or anything. It did make me wonder if I'd missed a ton of clues along the way, so I'm curious if y'all were as surprised as I was when you watched this episode. When did you figure out Tadokoro was a Native?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto41b.png

Wow, episode 41. Feels like just a week ago when you made that post about the end of episode 4 with the baseball.

I don't remember anything about the plot regarding the Natives and Tadokoro, but I definitely remember the bits with Sasword hanging out with the Hoppers, so clearly that means I'm in the same boat as you in thinking that's the only part of the story that matters!

While it's super fitting for this show to feel like time is moving unreliably, I'll agree with you, but add that it's something I feel a lot in these threads? That inability to really believe the end is near for a show?

Sometimes it's really bittersweet, where you feel like your time with a show is running out. (Faiz and Ryuki? I think those were ones where it was tough to leave those casts behind.) Sometimes it's a thing I'm just sort of ready to be done talking about it. Not because I don't like it, but because I feel emptied out by the process. (Kuuga and Hibiki, those are two where I remember feeling like Hi I Don't Want To Talk About This Show For A While.)

For whatever feelings it generates, there's always this, like disbelief. However many days or weeks or months I spent living this show, and now it's just a few more to go. Almost done. The end is close, to quote a man I've begun to think of as a crazy Adama from Battlestar Galactica, as Edward James Almost. (It's this specific mix of gravitas and humor, that's where I get the Adama stuff.) I don't... I don't really think of the time investment to do these things, really. I just do them. Perpetual motion, like Tendou. But you get that minute as the end of the path is in sight, and you're like Oh Shit. Definitely has a moment where it's hard to grasp.

It's for sure the best part. I really love how excited Yaguruma is to find someone who's as dramatically depressed as he is. I really love how excited Kageyama is to have someone else to suck up to. I really love those three characters, and the show putting them in one storyline seems to validate my disinterest in the rest of this episode.

I figured out the reveal when it happened. As an episode of Hurricaneger said, “the person sitting next to you could be an impostor”. And I think that partially sums up this series.

I will say, I wasn’t quite sold on the idea that the Natives were supposedly good all along, considering Tendou’s backstory has his parents killed by Natives.

With the introduction of time travel and Natives, the prophecy of "Kagami Arata will be Gatack" becomes a lot clearer. It also relates to the theme of destiny, with Kagami being predetermined by ZECT to become who he is now. For a simple guy like Kagami, maybe that makes him feel like his existence is unmerited, but like I said before, a chess pawn is easy to underestimate and dangerous when it promotes. While predetermination is certainly a factor, it's Kagami's own strength that has carried him this far and that's why Tendo respects him.

Tendo is more complex than Kagami but he also has better understanding of the world around him, how it affects him and how he affects it, so he doesn't see any need to worry about things outside of his control. For him, being the chosen one is an honor he earned through his own strength and he has faith in the path of heaven to guide him towards the outcome he believes is right, regardless of how frequently that plays someone else's tune (hmm, tune, red shoes, could be some symbolism here).

That's a shame cause I just have to talk about Cassis Worm's bad*ss debut! Kicking Hyper Kabuto out of Hyper Clock Up (that's what you meant right?) means he's not only the fastest Worm, but fast enough to make someone faster than time itself freeze in place. Think about that. He can outpace the past that has already happened! I was surprised when I saw that for the first time. It means that Cassis Worm is imperceptibly fast to someone who is already beyond imperceptibly fast! Have I convinced you that this is worth caring about yet?

I never predicted it. Considering his age, I think he was one of the first Natives who flew in on the Meteor of 71.

After all that hype put in to Hibiki's letdown final arc, I understand your lack of excitement. Hopefully with Hiyori returning soon, Kabuto's should land closer to the bittersweet side of the spectrum.

Just like humans, Natives aren't inherently good or evil. They're people with individual life and motives. So Hiyori's parents were just bad people, especially since they not only orphaned Tendo but abandoned him as well. Those that started ZECT aren't exactly good either since they brought humanity in to the crossfire between them and the later Worms to force an enemy of my enemy situation. The later Worms are more generally evil, with exceptions being those like Tsurugi and Rena due to the strong personalities of the people they mimicked.

I think I see Tendou more as someone who believes everything is in his control, for better or worse. While it can come in handy, that master puppeteer tendency, there've been a few times where his need to control a situation has gotten him into trouble. In this instance, I don't see it so much as Tendou telling Kagami to not worry about things outside his control (if so, it's super hypocritical), but Tendou telling Kagami a) now that he knows the truth, he can use that to his advantage; and b) who cares how you got to where you are if you like where you are.

The first part of that, it's Tendou as a tactician, trying to turn an opponent's strategy against them. The second part... some of it is Tendou not having a ton of patience for Kagami's Very Big Feelings (those two are closer than ever, but Tendou's got limits), but some of it is Tendou's absolute focus on goals. It's, again, it's the difference in how Tendou and Kagami see what they're doing. For Tendou, the ends justify the means, so the means are hardly worth analyzing. For Kagami, and impure act leads to an impure result.

Not really, but I appreciate your enthusiasm! (I could've seen the shot wrong, but I thought Worm Widower kicked Hyper Kabuto so hard that he reverted to regular Kabuto?) He's an interesting new villain, and he's got that Late-Stage OP AF energy, but without having a better idea of what he's about, and specifically not feeling like I understand the Worms' goals/strategies... I don't really have a lot of mental bandwidth I want to devote to him? Maybe next time!

Oh, I really liked that Hibiki stuff, don't get me wrong! (Not so much the plot specifics, but I like that second half of the show a bunch.) I was trying to say that I was so mentally drained by the end of it, putting maybe too much thought and emotion into it, that I was exhausted by the end.

Yeah, did not love this episode. Both the exposition and emotional elements felt really clunky and awkward. I'm not sure how much of it is the translation and how much is the original dialogue, but there are definitely some pieces that feel like the show thought it was explaining things better than it actually was. I'd also probably be more invested in Kagami's blow up with his dad if they'd had more than two scenes together before now (and if Kagami's dad hadn't been basically wearing a T-shirt that said "I'm the bad guy" all season).

With that said, I think I'm picking up on an issue that Kabuto's been running into for awhile now, especially with Yonemura's episodes (and this is benefiting from having already watched 42). The show seems to be prioritizing follow-through over set-up. This is at least the third or fourth time now where the first part of a story has some issues that don't work really well but are needed in order for the second part to turn out really strong. Yonemura kind of feels like a pilot who's got real bad issues with taking off smoothly but can practically land on a dime (the haunted school arc being a rare inversion).

As for the Tadokoro reveal, I definitely didn't see that one coming. It does create some real plot holes with the Black Knife arc, but I feel like that's one storyline where I don't mind if it doesn't completely gel with the rest of the show because it is so goddamn bonkers.

After the initial fight with Worm Widower and his Widowettes, when Kagami's like Why Did That Native Say My Dad Was ZECT's Boss, I was pretty confused for several seconds until I remembered that Kagami never knew his dad was in charge of ZECT. Kagami Outrageous being in charge of ZECT has been a part of the tapestry of this show for longer than Kagami's been Gatack, so I'd completely forgotten that Kagami never knew. That made his finding out maybe not land as hard as the show would've liked?

That aside, I really did like the scene with Kagami and his dad? The one constant through the series has been that Outrageous legitimately cares about his son. For all of the bizarre dances and biblical sacrifices, Outrageous always came across as someone who wanted a better life for his son than he was able to provide for him. Confessing that Kagami is a pawn in a cosmic struggle... it really seems like that hurt him? I think that part worked okay.

Interesting point! He really does have a weakness with starting stories, and I'm not sure exactly why that is. I think some of it is how little we see of the opposing forces in Kabuto, what the Worms are planning, so a lot of stories with them have multiple unexplained/under-explained elements when they kick off. It makes stories feel less like the consequence of character choices, and more like This Is Happening Now, which was my main problem with 41's structure.

I don't remember feeling any kind of way about most of Kabuto's endgame (and usually I like the endgame!), so most of my feelings about it now can be summed up by me pointing at the thread and saying Yes, Yes, That, That. But! There is one thing about this episode that I both remembered vividly and that I will continue to love forever: Tsurugi looking at the bowl of natto, and saying - with a completely straight face - "Hang on, this is rotten."

...this encapsulates my feelings about natto perfectly. It's supposed to demonstrate how weird he is and how he's sooooo disconnected from Normal People, but he is not wrong, natto is The Worst, burn it, burn all of it, Tsurugi, you sweet summer child, you may be a hot mess most of the time but you are 100% correct in your reaction to this terrible terrible food.

The point where Tsurugi sees cubes of tofu ("T-- tufu?") and is like Oh This Is Something You Pour Sugar On was... I honestly can't tell if it's too far with that guy. He's on a level that is so far past cartoonish that it's hard to calibrate him against normal storytelling decisions. Like, he could say in the next episode that he'd never heard of milk and I'd be like Oh Jiiya You Coddled This Boy.

Here’s the question that just occurred to me: how much of this is actually Tsurugi and how much is the Worm that copied him? It’s entirely possible that the real Tsurugi knew what different types of food are, but it was so far below the surface thoughts and knowledge that it didn’t copy over.

I mean, it's possible, but that sort of lapse in coverage has never been shown before. Reina knew everything about Reina's life. Kagami's brother was able to fool Kagami. Every Worm duplicate on the show has been able to perfectly impersonate the original. The idea that Tsurugi is a faulty copy... seeing how Jiiya treats him, I'd definitely put my money on Jiiya Coddled That Boy.

https://i.imgur.com/ZBaV5F9.png

Not a bad episode of Kabuto, but another one I've maybe got some negative memories tied up in?

Mind you, at this point, I only have a slightly better clue what's going to happen next in this show than Die does. My recollection of Kabuto's final stretch is basically nothing but that anecdote about the fence from 37 over and over again. A ton of vague feelings assigned to the faintest remaining images of plot points and scenes. For Kabuto's final act, two of the things I remember are being kinda fed up with Kagami, and a whole lot of Native Nonsense, which I cared for about as little. I have no idea if either of those things will even apply past this one episode. It would not be the first time my memory of Kabuto has failed me.

Like, you think I'd probably remember Tadokoro turning out to be a Native, right? Which characters are and are not space aliens seems like information you'd retain, but hey, the guy could've fooled me twice, and did! Tadokoro had all these lines in the first half of the show stressing his absolute loyalty to ZECT, and making it clear that, despite Die's infinitely more amusing read of him as a perpetually frustrated salaryman type just trying to make ends meet, he had a lot more knowledge of the organization than he let on, and a much bigger stake in it as well. Clearly something personal to him. It never once occurred to me during this rewatch this was the reveal they go with. I half expected it turn out he's got some kind of mob debt scenario going on with ZECT to keep his family restaurant open or whatever. It could've been anything, is the point. We get a new Worm villain here too, and I mean, he's just some random guy to me. I know that monster suit okay – super tough purple guy from the end of the show – but that's the extent of it.

So this whole episode is essentially one big mystery to me, and I can't speak too much to where this is all heading. My overall opinion on it is basically where Die's is at, in that it feels needed, but not exactly fun, taken on its own. Kagami's Big Feelings get ~maybe~ a little too big (although more on that later), the Worm/Native thing is a bit too nebulous to be invested in right now, and Tsurugi is the best part, which is one thing my memories have not been wrong about. There's honestly not a whole lot I even have to say about the script. (I did find it hilarious that Kabuto is only allowed to finally use Hyper Clock Up again now that he's up against a foe who makes it completely useless though.)

But, hey, who needs to talk about the writing when this is an episode directed by Ishida? This is by no means his prettiest work, but I'll make the argument that it's still pretty great in its own way. There are glimpses of the sort of exaggerated, bold style he likes so much here, but all around, this episode varies between dispassionate and outright messy. Crucially, I think this is done to match the mood and tone of the scenes, and that's the sort of thing I like about Ishida. He is extremely aggressive about it in this case though, and I could see it turning some people off, because it admittedly isn't the greatest to look at in places. But it's like, on the other hand, you are right there in that mess with the characters, and I think it helps a lot to convey Kagami's deteriorating state of mind in particular. You see, if you look at the Tsurugi subplot, it's all fairly normal and even quite gorgeous in places, and that's how I know the way the other side of the story was shot wasn't an accident.

It's all in these simple little tricks throughout. When Kagami and his dad are having a conversation, the camera angles start at a distance and just keep gradually getting closer and closer and closer to the two of them, building the intimacy up to the point it's right in their faces as their chat becomes more and more emotional, culminating in Kagami bursting out of the room fighting back tears, unable to accept his father's attempts to reassure him. Right after that, he's discussing all the secret history he's now privy to with Tendou and Misaki, and the camera is no longer stable and measured, but actively uneasy, constantly wavering in even the simplest shot. It's all of the stress Kagami is feeling embodied visually. The world itself just won't seem to stand still anymore. Kagami feels isolated at this point, getting no real sympathy from anyone, and that's reflected when Tadokoro joins the group for their next scene, where Kagami is always kept apart from everyone in some way. Either he's not showing his face when everybody else is, or they're not in focus at the same time, or they just plain aren't in the same frame as each other.

Individually, none of these touches would be particularly impressive, but it adds up to something a lot smarter, and thinking about the direction makes me get more on board with Kagami's usual intense emotional state towards the end than I thought I would be at first. When you think about how shaken he is by everything that's happened, and how he was very clearly staking his absolute last bit of faith on good ol' trustworthy Tadokoro, only to immediately have it betrayed again, it's honestly sort of understandable he kinda loses it? Like, I thought before I was writing this that I agreed with Die that Kagami's temper tantrums wear thin, but everything about the direction of the episode is telling me this is well beyond just a regular bad day for Kagami, and now it's sort of stopped bothering me?

I think this is another post that turned out pretty messy (matches the episode, I guess!), but at least I was able to give a sort of real-time demonstration of one of the biggest joys of doing these things – when taking the extra time to digest what you just watched leaves you seeing a bunch of new things in it you never would have thought about otherwise.

Still far from a favorite episode of the show for me, but I think I can appreciate what it's going for way better now.

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 42

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto42a.png

Pretty much an across the board failure for me. Big picture plot didn't make much sense, the details didn't make much sense, and the emotional work was repetitive and largely unearned. Not as frustrating as some other bad episodes (I wasn't mad at the end of this one), but I thought this episode was just a complete miss.

The big picture flaw for me was, what is even going on with the whole hostage plot? Goro's like We Don't Negotiate With Terrorists. Kagami's furious that his dad is going to trade the remaining Anti-Mimic missile for the captured Natives, including Tadokoro. Tendou specifically tells Kagami that he thinks Outrageous picked Kagami as negotiator because he wouldn't hand over the missile. Goro's ready to obliterate the handoff site, including numerous ZECT agents, to keep Worm Widower from getting that missile.

WHY?! Why is everyone acting like this remaining missile is worth a dozen hostages? Why is Kagami so furious about handing it over? Who cares if Worm Widower has it?

They've already made three missiles. ZECT specifically said they could make more with more funding. Why can't they replace it? If they can't replace it, what good is it even going to do in a war against the Worms? It can uncover at most a few dozen Worms. That doesn't seem that long-term useful? And if they can't make more, why does Kagami destroy it to save three people?

It's not even a weapon that does Worm Widower any good! It's only useful for discovering Worms! And depriving ZECT of it barely saves a dozen Worms, all of which end up getting killed in this episode trying to obtain the missile. I do not even slightly understand how the missile is both so valuable that it's not worth handing over, and so worthless that Kagami can use it up. The stakes of this entire plot make absolutely no sense.

The emotional stuff, the whole reason most of this plot was happening, that almost entirely didn't work for me. I am a sucker for stories about makeshift father-son relationships, so you gotta shank it pretty bad for me to find fault in the Tadokoro/Kagami plotline. But this episode managed it! I could understand some of Kagami's anger at Tadokoro last episode, but what's in this one just seems incredibly petty and vindictive. Tadokoro was revealed to be a Native, and Kagami is now like I Hate Him Forever. Why? For lying to him? Well, he is being held hostage by the Worms, so I'd hope you could muster a little bit of forgiveness for a man you've admired for years. Is he this repulsed by Tadokoro because he's a Native? If so, why? Hiyori's a Native, and that didn't seem so horrifying to Kagami. I just... this whole episode needs to be about Kagami reconciling with Tadokoro, and I don't at all understand what the problem even is. I don't understand why Kagami has to be convinced to go save him. That is monstrous, and it makes zero sense to me.

(Jesus, maybe I am mad at this episode!)

The rest of Kagami's story is filled with unearned emotional payoffs (I barely understand what the hell Kagami is feeling or doing in this episode, so his heartwarming reunion with Outrageous was just one more Fine Why Not moment in an episode full of them) and repetitive lessons (Misaki has to remind Kagami that they work better as a team), and I didn't like any of it. The writing for this episode... it's atrocious? The plot is nonsensical when it's not disappointing, and literally none of the main character's actions ring true at all. It's bad! It's real bad!

Tendou largely emerges unscathed from this one, mostly working to remind Tsurugi and Kagami to stop having judgment about others and accept them for who they are. It's fine, him grumpily dispensing morals and trying not to get dragged into their childish displays. He's barely utilized in this one, ceding most of the ground to Kagami's dilemma, so his few scenes are just supportive. He doesn't get the horrible treatment this story gives Kagami, at least!

That just leaves the KickPunchSwordHopper story, which was a bit of a letdown. It goes a little too broad in its comedy, so much so that umbrellas appear out of nowhere and cartoon sound effects play when people fall from great heights. Even for a story with Tsurugi, Yaguruma, and Kageyama, it is a tad unsubtle. (Quick thing I noticed: Kageyama's shirt is red, which I feel like is a Kamen Rider #2 reference? With him as Yaguruma's sidekick/partner?) It's funny enough, with Yaguruma trying to battle Tendou, only for Tendou to completely forget. Tsurugi in a black tuxedo, because he's BAD, is a cute touch. I'd hoped for something with some more clever moves on it, but it's fully a comedy subplot.

Yeah, besides some disappointing-but-not-bad KickPunchSwordHopper stuff, I thought this one was a rather astonishing failure. Just a dumb idea, executed poorly. Not really much in this one anybody should feel proud of!

A QUESTION

Worm Widower gets blown up by Kabuto, looking for all the world like he was as tired of this episode as I was and just wanted to be done with it. Like, I guess he forgot he could stop time and dodge Kabuto's finisher? And then he's in the ending, I guess? What the hell is even happening in that final scene?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto42b.png

If I’m remembering how the fights with Worm dude are structured it’s supposed to be that he can only stop time for a short period and there’s a cool down between uses, with Tendou using hyper shooting to bait the time stop and the way it functions rendering the time stop worhtless

Maybe! There certainly don't seem to be any rules about it in this episode, and he doesn't seem to use it sparingly at all. At one point he uses it to skip five seconds of walking!

There is a bit with Hyper Kabuto taking a shot, letting Worm Widower stop time, then having Hyper Shooting arc around and hit Worm Widower when time restarts. After that, though, Worm Widower just has a bunch of Worms run at Hyper Kabuto? It's very strange. If there are rules to the fight, no one says them out loud.

Brags so much that Tsurugi forgot that he was actually demeaning himself. What's the good about having a negative and undesirable trait like recklessness to boast?

At this point I still had no idea too, what I'm confused was that, why the later Worms are more evil like usual MOTW? While the Natives are more like usual humans with varying morality, from the pacifistic Daigo, to the anxious Hiyori, to the barbaric Kusakabe parents. For you questioning about Worm's plans, you didn't for usual MOTW? Even for a series where major monster characters are more nuanced like Phase 2, a good number of the MOTW on those series are the same.

Tendou is the self-proclaimed center of the world, so constantly taking advantages of manipulations is a way of him doing that, also using other's wishes to also get what he wants, to keep climbing to the top? So then how about previously regarding something like ep. 32, keeping secret is just his character right? With Tendou mindset here, to just be focused on mission and use the truth to their advantage, this also brings back to the part where Tendou views emotions as weakness (it's not and this is common misconception about the audience I've ranted about, emotions also can play a part in "wanting something"), and for narcissist like him, the proof will be only when he makes rash decisions based on Hiyori or Juka. Kagami thinking that it needs a reason to achieve something, that also can relate to follow things that are related to passion, to know what are you doing and feel meaningful of it. What Kagami wants is to, protect humanity from Worms right? He had done some parts of it as Gatack, killing off some Worms, but this is about what he did only helping Natives.. another kind of Worm right? But he had found non-malicious Natives like Hiyori and Daigo...

I mean what should Kagami do previously if this makes him feel like a pawn? And Kagami at the end, it seems that his vengeful side against the Worms is the one returning? Previously, he points out that Natives are Worms for their contract with ZECT, and also, he here seems to be unable to accept the others being Worm even if Tadokoro didn't act anything suspicious other than him acting like a drone to ZECT (which as some others said here, gives it more sense about ZECT being up to no good), that's my question here about Kagami, here him cannot accepting any Worms at all, which is his reaction to Tadokoro, also differing from Hiyori before. I think Kagami just suddenly changes here, or this being the true side of him while he can also occassionally show Worms mercy.. Sorry no offense but, I want to know if, for ep. 15 you talk about this part of Kagami as Inoue sthick, but for here you consider him being a baby?

Of course lies won't last forever and sooner or later it'll be uncovered, and by the time it does, things'll revert back to what once it was (or not if every party was hurt, but not Tsurugi here to Kagami or Misaki). In this case, Kagami and Misaki lying about being couple. If you want to convince others about it, you have to truly act it out, which is no different than becoming actual couple. It being made up of lies, it's quickly revealed here that they're just setting him up, and of course if Misaki isn't owned by anyone then Tsurugi reverts to his skirt-chasing ways. This is probably yeah, creepy (though I still wonder why there are previous cases of this you accept), but this is inevitable and I saw this coming right away. Actually I'd still prefer the scene where Misaki calls out Tsurugi's bad behavior before rather than this one (l̶i̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶d̶i̶f̶f̶e̶r̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶l̶d̶.̶.̶.̶ ̶o̶p̶p̶o̶s̶i̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶a̶t̶t̶r̶a̶c̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶?̶ ̶n̶o̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶i̶f̶f̶e̶r̶e̶n̶t̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶h̶a̶v̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶a̶s̶t̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶e̶f̶e̶r̶e̶n̶c̶e̶,̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶I̶ ̶h̶o̶p̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶u̶n̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶l̶i̶k̶e̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶o̶p̶e̶r̶a̶t̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶w̶a̶y̶!̶), it's a rejection and also a potential room for improvement (I still have an unanswered question to you regarding that). He later gets a room for improvement though to a relief of the creepy chasing, but not coming from the crush itself.

Reiji Nogi, the Cassis Worm, is a new Executive and yeah, he replaces Reina, but he focuses on the power part of the Executive and lives up to it where he was able to fight while in human form, beating Gatack even. And for Kagami not using Clock Up, yeah my pet peeve about Rider fights is when they don't utilize their powers well, but for this time, Cassis can outright stop time (I never hear about him in any Rider discussion about speed/stopping time, even for Cronus comparison it was Clock Up or Slowdown was used), moving at any speed is useless when time is stopped. Also continuing from above, anyone is on board with you for the characters like Tsurugi shit being endgame, but don't tell me if you appreciate what Misaki said above... you'll also do the same like her to those who follows about the plot side of Kabuto here.

I spoiled myself..

I'm pretty sure I brought it up once or twice in the beginning as something I didn't feel as engaged by, but eventually didn't care to keep bringing it up. It was just, like, This Is How The Show Does Monster Stories.

The difference now is that we're talking about big picture stuff, endgame storytelling, and it's just as vague and unimpressive as a one-off monster story. This is where it all needs to come together, where the threat needs to feel insurmountable, and I don't even think that's the case? Nothing about the Worms feels like a coherent strategy that will require the focus of our heroes. It's just, like, more Worms?

Was that when he ran off crying? I honestly can't remember why I said that, so I can't really compare it to what I was saying for 41. What I'll say about how he behaves here is that he comes off less as wounded, and more as a brat. Multiple people are trying to console him, and he's just getting grumpier and grumpier. It's not fun to watch!

I'd forgotten about this, but I'm really let down by how useless all the Riders that aren't Tendou and Kagami feel at this point. I know that the show is hyping up the new villain as being virtually unstoppable, but Sasword and the Hoppers have been jobbing to pretty much every Worm they fight for awhile now. I get that they aren't the show's heroes, but it is a little disappointing to see them just lose constantly. It's like the show has three Kamen Rider Beasts on it at this point. I think the only reason Daisuke is allowed to win fights is because he's not around enough to become a joke.

I did enjoy the callback to the tofu battle from early in the series, though, complete with way-too-easily-amused tofu vendor (he should open a restaurant with Tadokoro's brother and serve food with a side of ridiculous over-acting). The bit at the end where Tendou completely forgot about the rematch was a pretty decent gag.

Also, while I'm really not sure where the hell the show is taking Kagami Sr. at this point (and literally cannot remember which side he ends up on), I really did like the quiet pathos of him playing catch with Kagami. Again, totally uninvested in their relationship, but that was a really well done scene.

Can’t say anything about this episode (I’ve got more to say about the next one though). Most I can come up with is that this is probably the B.O.T of the series.

True! The one episode he was in that wasn't a starring role for him was when both he and Sasword got beat by Worm Widow. It's pretty lucky his availability was limited!

It's a nicely underplayed scene at the end, but the fact that I couldn't understand (at all!) what Kagami was going through in this episode made any emotional catharsis feel completely out of my grasp. The show's trying to wrap up themes of forgiveness and being able to see your parents as flawed while still loving and respecting them (which is a very cool theme for a Kamen Rider show to explore!), but the specifics of how Kagami treated Tadokoro and Outrageous was so inexplicable (was he seriously going to leave Tadokoro as a hostage?!) that whatever thematic work they were going for fell flat. Bad writing! An episode with a lot of bad writing!

Oof, I got that reference, and that is harsh but fair. A whole bunch in this episode just doesn't make any sense.

https://i.imgur.com/LQrVy9g.png

Wow, a set of episodes by Ishida where everything is on fire by the end! That's almost as surprising as me taking a positive stance on an episode Die didn't like!

I mean, these aren't great episodes, by any stretch, of course, but... gosh, most of the stupid things just didn't bother me, I guess? Like, I want to have some stellar defense prepared here, but even I can tell I'm probably just easily amused by anything with a Kamen Rider in it. The whole Anti Mimic Bomb plot is nonsense, just like Die said. I got nothing to try and talk that premise up. There's a chance we missed something in the exposition, I suppose; more likely, it's simply is totally and completely illogical. But I'm willing to roll with that, because any Kabuto story not involving Hiyori is automatically fighting an uphill battle for my attention, which means I'm already trying to meet whatever it's doing halfway.

I can easily forgive some boneheaded plotting if it uses that to do something fun or interesting enough, and that's where my opinion splits hard with Die's, because I overall found this to be a surprisingly satisfying conclusion to a two-parter I didn't expect to like all that much? A lot of it doesn't hold up to scrutiny, which is where it definitely stumbles big time, but the broad strokes of this one hit a bunch of notes I ended up thinking were pretty neat.

I liked Kagami in it, is maybe a big one to mention. It's worth noting I'm definitely sure he wanted to save Tadokoro from the very start; he's shown blaming himself for him getting taken hostage in his very first scene, and I think throughout the episode, that's the key thing motivating him to want to go and bust up the Worms holding everyone captive. He's torn anyway, because, first of all, I guess it's bad if the Worms have that bomb, and I'll take the show at face value there, but also, much more importantly, because he thinks his dad is asking him to be an unthinking pawn. That's the crux of his beef with the Natives, too. He can't stand this idea that his whole life is just some big script being written by someone else, and I like where the episode goes from there.

I thought it was solid turning point for Kagami to consider, with some prodding from Tendou, that maybe his dad wanted him for the job of negotiator because of who he is as individual with his own free will, rather than in spite of it. That his dad both knows him well enough that he'd go there and try something stupid and heroic, and cares for him enough to tacitly encourage it. And sure enough, Kagami gets his groove back, goes in there, does something stupid and heroic, and manages to beat the odds with his friends by his side. There are a lot of details in the middle that don't make sense, but I thought it stuck a nice enough landing. I especially appreciated how it built off of existing plot points, too. It's cool that Kagami's history with baseball is still relevant, for example, with the big emotional beat at the end even being his dad showing up with what is presumably Kagami's old glove from high school, since it has his name on it. Kagami's dad is in no way a character I'm invested in, so I don't want to downplay the achievement of this episode for making me care even slightly.

And the Tsurugi subplot, I mean, that thread is golden. Way bigger fan of that comedy than it sounds like Die was. It's wonderfully surreal in a way I have to imagine Ishida helped bring to life. The more absurd it got, the better it was for me, with the absolute highlight being Tsurugi transforming in his stage magician getup, throwing his wand into the air and having his sword come back down. Utterly delightful, and I appreciate the way it tried to tie back into the main plot thematically in the end, even if that wasn't ~entirely~ airtight either. I definitely loved Tendou telling him how messed up his interest in Misaki has been though. Much like Kagami, he's kind of responsible for all his own problems here, and in both cases, that seems to be the intent. It's sort of like a mini-redemption story for everybody... except Yaguruma, who is clearly being laughed at harder by the writers more than any characters in the show could possibly match.

Yeah, at the end of the day, I don't really question Die's animosity towards this one, but I don't feel an ounce of it myself. I thought this was a very enjoyable episode, despite its many flaws.

I really liked this, too... in principle. The idea that Kagami Outrageous secretly thinks his son's determination and tightly-held morality is way more important than Kagami's many failings, I do love that. That is a concept that bubbles under some terrible plotting, though, to the extent that I'm left wishing it was a turning point in a completely different episode.

Like, the idea that drives me insane is that Outrageous secretly wants Kagami to not hand over something that I cannot see the relative value in at all. If this was instead a story about ZECT not trading a random, replaceable weapon for Tadokoro, I'd be 1000% on board with Kagami's objections and rooting for his heroic resolve to reassert itself. But the episode goes the opposite way, where ZECT is totally willing to hand over some dumb piece of tech to save a dozen lives, and Kagami is instrumental in endangering everyone involved by trying to take it back. Tadokoro almost gets killed during Gatack's fight against Worm Widower! This was all for no real gain!

Anyway, yeah, I agree with you that that Tendou/Kagami scene is a good one, but I hate that it's a part of this episode's story.