I don't think it's been mentioned yet, but I have to admit I kinda loved seeing Yaguruma's wordless rejection of the TheBee Zecter when it comes crawling back to him immediately after ditching Kageyama for the second time. Like, I don't exactly want to praise him for his integrity, given his... well, his everything as of late, but still, I can't deny how satisfying it was to see him flipping the script on that fickle little trinket.

Oh, for sure. Kageyama has a lot of flaws as a human being, but he's a pretty hard-to-pin-down character, which is always fun to encounter. There's as much to love about how he fits into the story as there is to hate about how he behaves within that story!

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 45

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto45a.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto45b.png

I'm not sure what the bigger giveaway was that this was an Inoue episode:

-the fact that Hiyori is written out of the episode -slash- completely ignored after one short scene that mostly doesn't have anything interesting to say about her

-how relentlessly charming the Tsurugi/Misaki plot is

-how psychotically dumb/transcendentally brilliant the Hopper plot is

-how massively incongruent any of this dopey hilarity is to the ostensibly dire predicament of the series' imminent conclusion

-or how much I loved this episode

Because I did! So much! Despite a slew of problems!

I mean, holy shit, Inoue has officially zero interest in addressing the Hiyori cliffhanger from last time. I'm not sure if he was asked by the producers to not follow up too much on that plot (saving it for the regular series writer) or if he just didn't care about it/Hiyori, but wow does this episode just bury that plot. We get a little scene with Another Tendou swearing to destroy the planet, and the Worm Widowers attempting to recruit him, but that's about it for exploring the specifics of Another Tendou's motivation or mental state. I could theorize some stuff about how his possessiveness has now turned into genocide, an inversion of Tendou's speech about protecting the world for Hiyori, but that'd just be a guess based on what we're provided here. There is not really enough to feel like the show wants me to know something specific about Another Tendou.

Somehow, Hiyori gets even less than that, consigned to a wheelchair and self-loathing, blaming herself for being assaulted. It's... it is not a great look, despite how in-character it might be. It's dark in a way that the rest of the episode pivots away from, and disappointingly thin and repetitive. There's a way this scene could've been redeemed with a little bit of pushback from Tendou, some acknowledgement that this behavior from Hiyori never really helps her, but Tendou has a city to save, and a writer who I think fundamentally is disinterested in Hiyori as a character (I swear I can hear him muttering Worse Mari), so we're out of that hospital and on a recruitment drive.

The Worms are every-goddamn-where in this episode, so it's no surprise that Tendou is trying to corral every active Rider to assist him. We even get to see a troublingly mute Drake amongst the all-hands-on-deck Rider vs Worm combat, and I knew the second we saw that suit that we would 1000% not be seeing Daisuke in this episode. Knew it in my bones. The plot behind these attacks is somewhat typical Inoue, i.e. he doesn't really care about it. The Worms are just everywhere, and there isn't really a strategy to be found between them or ZECT. Tendou's desire to bolster ZECT's ranks is literally the only thing in this episode where someone is trying to solve this problem, and it makes me wonder what the shit the rest of ZECT is even for.

But, like, I don't care about any of that! Even a little! It is objectively a deficiency in this script, but I don't begrudge this story its disinterest in Worm warfare (the Hiyori one is harder to forgive, but I ain't Fish and I got different passions, INOUE FOREVER) because the Tsurugi and Misaki stuff is so goddamn great.

Everything in this episode feels like Toei ordered five more episodes and didn't tell anyone until midway through the production of 44, but if that allows for an entire episode built around Misaki realizing that a handsome doofus who is eternally devoted to her is (excepting Hiyori's current misery) not that bad a thing, I'm okay with what they're doing with their bonus episodes. Of anyone in the entire cast for Misaki to fall for, Tsurugi is by far the most believable. He's lovable, in a really pure way. His enthusiasm is infectious, and his flaws are actually sort of charming when you get used to them. (He definitely thinks he knitted a scarf in his sleep!) The early part of their interactions, Tsurugi's objectifying crush and lack of boundaries, that didn't work for me at all. This version, where Misaki's like Ugh Oh No I Like Tsurugi, that's a winner with me. It allows her and him to have some equal footing, where there's mutual respect that wasn't there before. It's a more mature version of Tsurugi's antics from the start of their story.

Which he IMMEDIATELY gets back to, as soon as Misaki starts to reciprocate his interest. He's given a division of ZECTroopers to command, and he just puts them on Assist Misaki patrol, leading to a highlight-reel gag of ZECT's finest returning an almost-late DVD. (I love this plot, almost entirely because you could never do it in 2021. What would someone even need to return before they were charged for it? Who rents physical media anymore?) Misaki correctly calls out that Tsurugi is doing the exact same stupid shit he used to do for her, but this time... god, I don't know. I'm like Misaki on this. It's dumb! He's dumb! He made a half-dozen ZECTroopers quit in the midst of a citywide Worm invasion! But he means well and I can't stay mad at him. I'm just, like, okay. This is who he is. Okay.

But he's also a Worm, and that's what we're going to have to deal with next time.

Oh, and there's also a plot where Yaguruma is so mad at himself for helping out last episode that he chains himself up, leading Kageyessir to do the exact same stupid thing. It leads to, bar none, my favorite moment in the entire series, which is Tendou taking one look at their chained-up torsos and Noping right the hell out of recruiting them. It is, possibly, the final punctuation on how this show is committed to the Hoppers as comedy relief. I barely even understand what Yaguruma's going for, other than Attention, but knowing him, I think I just answered my own question. It's such a dumb plot, and it definitely is not interested in making these two look cool, but I loved it.

I loved this whole episode, despite its massive tonal problems (it's a slapstick episode set in the early days of Armageddon), complete isolation from the build-out of the finale elements (Hiyori, Another Tendou), the giant shrug of a threat (I guess Japan is like 87% Worms now, I hope they have some progressive representation in parliament), and how the show is salting the Hoppers so nothing will ever grow there again. Don't care about anything I just said. I adored this sappy, dopey love story, and I'm psyched for the next installment.

INOUE FOREVER

A QUESTION

Although, honestly, felt like Tsurugi and Renge were going to end up together! Great chemistry, those two. Anyway, it's a Christmas episode for the ol' Kamen Riders, and back on Christmas (in 2020) I asked what gift you'd give a Rider, and why. Let me switch it around this time. Which Rider do you think would give the best Christmas present, and why?

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto45c.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto45d.png

I think the best part about Tendou's reaction to the Hopper's is that he admits out loud that he was an idiot to think that they'd be reliable and not pull shit like this.

I think he's angrier about this predictable failure than at any time he's been out-maneuvered by an enemy. It's such an Own Goal that he's furious at himself. Asking Yaguruma! And Kageyama! To pitch in?! This Hiyori situation has really got him off his game...

I mean to get Kageyama's help it seems all he has to do is wave TheBeeZector in front of him and he'll come running like a dog excited for walkies. The walking Hot Topic store is the one he has no potential leverage over unless he still cares about that "hell tofu" stuff from a few episodes ago

I guarantee you Tendou has completely forgotten about that tofu challenge. I also feel like him going and talking to them is the extent of the energy he wants to put into recruiting those two bozos. And even that was too much! Inefficient use of resources!

On a different note, I spent a minute while I was brushing my teeth thinking about how nice it was that Tsurugi was knitting a scarf for Misaki. The idea of him wanting to create something for her, to put effort into it, I thought that was incredibly sweet.

And then a second later I was like Oh Wait That Boy Is Broke As Hell. If he didn't knit her that scarf, she was probably going to get a gift-wrapped fork or empty Discalibur scabbard...

So I've mentioned before that one of Inoue's great loves is a story about an artist that loses their talent. One of his others is tragically doomed romances. We got this with Yuka and Keitaro, we got it with Shinji and Miho, we got it in The First, Jetman, Kiva, even Shougeki Gouraigan. And here it is in Kabuto. I don't think it's a spoiler to say that we're reaching the climax of the Tsurugi is a Worm plot and however it ends, it's not going to be with expensive bracelets, handmade scarves, and tufu.

It's something that shades most of the episode for me. Tsurugi is back to being a full-on goof for Misaki and she's finally coming around on him, but there's this massive dark cloud hanging over everything that adds a lot of poignancy to the normal Tsurugi shenanigans.

And yeah, the scene with Tendou and the Hoppers was perfection.

Not really a comment on the episode, but I’ve just realised that both of Toei’s shows for that year had the last two parter of the year focus on a character introduced in the 17th episode of the series. I won’t tell you how Boukenger’s two-parter ended (not that you’d care), but I will say it doesn’t bode well for Tsurugi.

Been busy so was falling out in the episode commentings.

This part actually catches my attention fight-wise for Cassis Worm redirecting the attacks, even finishers back to his enemies, and also him learning the move in the process. I only wonder about how strong the Rider move in his hands compared to his other standard moves, he seems to be able to generate the tachyon too just like the Riders there, like if the Rider move is just, well, as strong as the original Rider (like Gatack's Rider Kick in his hands is also only as strong as Gatack himself, who is below even human Cassis Worm), but it gives a sense of irony to the other Riders, their best attacks backfiring on them and became their downfall. The Worm O'Clock is just well, another show of Cassis Worm's villainy, and he adds up by being the worst of his species by devouring his own kind to power up, something done by villains like Daguva.

True, Souji Kusakabe is one of the bigger endgame at least for Tendou, already telling that he's an important figure that needs to be discovered. Hiyori discovered him through psychic, though it didn't sit well with you, I didn't see any other way to put Souji Kusakabe inside the story, the cast knows nothing about him and likely won't seek anything about him, Hiyori brought Souji Kusakabe to the cast. And yeah, Souji Kusakabe actually plays up Tendou's status a bit at the beginning to help out others like Renge falling, but also that, Hiro Mizushima (using the actor's name here as he's not Tendou, as you already see in episode 44, but of course as a lookalike the others there know him as Tendou) not acting arrogant and high-and-mighty actually is even creepier, as Tsurugi notices something off within him not acting like Tsurugi himself. But Souji Kusakabe did a "good deed" before by helping Renge, but immediately reveals his true nature after? The point of helping Renge? And you seriously thinking Hiyori and Souji Kusakabe as romantic? Oof dude... Hiyori is Tendou's blood sibling, not Juka, is this channeling incest?!

It seems that Tendou opting to spare Dark Kabuto, even letting him gaining upper hand, is a boneheaded decision. Like something at the end, you can just dominate and force your foes to submit to you, turning them to your bitches. Especially that, something that I already know that Kabuto is superior; he has Hyper Zecter, super form gives Kabuto significant advantage power-wise. Tendou also is able to read all his moves. Dark Kabuto feeling like he's the best Hiyori companion also likely wouldn't let him got killed just to spite Tendou. Kagami had the pep talk about reminding how Tendou is a (impossible) benchmark that never shows any weakness, and Kagami asked for Tendou to keep acting like that, it finally solves Tendou's dilemma of one of his worst enemies being the only way to one of his most beloved. Tendou opting to spare Dark Kabuto for something important to him, takes away points for heroism though, it's not as severe as what Tendou claimed to finish off every living beings for Hiyori, but sparing Dark Kabuto, for selfish reasons, is still potentially destructive to the surroundings.

While this is probably confident and assertive, this could potentially be a bad thing to do though, disposing humanity for an evildoer that is closely related to you... This one's the opposite of someone like Reina, where here Hiyori fully accepts herself as a Worm, but also obliged to Worm's role as the enemy of humanity. This doesn't last inevitably and fortunately, but that's what can I say for that.

This one's also another part of Yaguruma being antisocial nihilist (well it's now engraved on everyone here), him kicking the Zecter out of his sight coldly, as he no longer wants to go out into the "light" and fight for justice anymore. And this is the part where I'm talking about how the relationship position of them is switched around. Kageyama, who seems eager to take TheBee back, equals to the sliver of light left on Kageyama, and in next episode, Yaguruma remarks actually he's jealous of Kageyama who still has a bit of a light left on him, but also inspired by it. I don't know how's TheBee Zecter's fate at the end, but would alternately choose between yeah, Tadokoro or Misaki, as Tadokoro too, has shown to be a fighter after his Worm status is revealed, but of course as a fodder Worm he can't lay a hand on Cassis Worm.

Yeah, it... I mean, this is a plot that starts with a critically injured Tsurugi telling Misaki that he sees her as a person, not an ideal, and that she's too important to waste her time on him. I feel like Inoue is building a framework for a very specific kind of story!

My fondest wish for the conclusion of 46 is that Inoue does a parody of his Reina story, where a Wormed-out Tsurugi is battling Gatack, while Kageyama sings a mournful, colossally off-key version of Tsurugi's birthday song.

I'm not suggesting I want to see a sibling relationship that's also romantic! But the fact that I need to explain my confusion around their interactions in those terms is maybe more of an indictment of Kamen Rider shows maybe not making that clear than it is my inability to pick up on nuance!

And, honestly, I don't know how much I'm supposed to read Another Tendou as her brother? It's weird! He is very suddenly devoted to this girl he literally just met! They don't have a shared history, and they don't technically have any genetic link, what with them being copies of copies or whatever. It is confusing! I don't feel like this is just me being dense!

And that scene is my clearest memory of the entire series. I laugh so hard every time it crosses my mind. I have been waiting for this scene. That it is bookended by Tsurugi in the river just makes all of it funnier.

I also love the Tsurugi/Misaki bit, so much, because they are at this point adorable. It doesn't fall into the Persistent Nice Guy trap because there was a very clear point made of Tsurugi looking at how he was interacting with Misaki and starting to treat her with respect. Though her utter lack pf patience here as he completely ignores what she keeps telling him to do should negate that but it's hilarious and cute, why, lol

The entire episode is, yes, tonally so dissonant but it's just so much fun overall.

Yeah, I wish I could explain better why Tsurugi being a well-meaning but obstinate nuisance here is any better than when he was doing it a dozen episodes ago. I think you're right, in that it's a combination of her being like Now It's On My Terms from Misaki, as well as just, like... he's so happy to have his feelings reciprocated, and any messes he makes become adorable, like a puppy.

One of my favorite touches in the story is when Kagami's like Why Are You Going On A Date At The End Of The World, and Misaki just sort of shrugs. It's a good answer! It's like, world ain't over yet! Why not go on a date with someone cute? It's a refusal to treat this apocalyptic story as anything other than a bump in a very long road, and I sort of love that. Misaki deserves whatever bit of happiness she can grab.

https://i.imgur.com/c43rXCc.png

Despite being given that setup by Die, I don't begrudge the show for its current disinterest in Hiyori. Not that Die doesn't *totally* have my number there, but I mean, I kind of saw this coming. Besides, Inoue wrote that bit with her buying an orange back in 16, which might be my favorite moment in the series, so he's off the hook. Much like Tendou, I have to accept that not everything can be all about Hiyori all the time, so I guess I'll just have to talk about the world she lives in for a bit, yeah?

First off, I think it's worth noting that, while plenty of people have gotten to do many great things with Tsurugi, the first and final major spotlight two-parters for Sasword are both written by Inoue and directed by Nagaishi. It's not the borderline co-ownership of Drake that Inoue and Tasaki had, since Tsurugi has been such a major part of the series, but still, I find the symmetry satisfying.

Now of course, despite that, Nagaishi isn't a director I can easily launch into a ramble about (though this one does involve a ton of different locations...), and, as I pointed out back in his very first episode for the series, anything interesting I could say about an Inoue script is something Die can and will have said better already, so it's a tiny bit of a struggle to know what I want to write about here. Apologies in advance if this is another unfocused one.

Broadly speaking, I remember this two-parter easily being the highlight of the back half or so of Kabuto for me. Naturally, I also don't remember too much about it beyond the broad strokes. Namely, that it's about Tsurugi, who I've established is one of my favorite characters in the show, and definitely my favorite in this episode, when Hiyori is barely around, and Drake has seemingly been pulled straight out of the crossover movie dimension for his little cameo, being nothing more than a suit and some grunts. (Although admittedly, I thought that was a cute, simple way to add to the scale of the episode's Worm plot.)

Tsurugi is just too adorable – he really is. It's not going to take much effort at this point for the show to sell me on a plot all about him inexplicably managing to win Misaki over contrasted against the mounting tension of his true nature as a Worm coming to the forefront. Both of those things could be interesting plots on their own, so throw them together and it's like twice as good. Despite the apparent tonal problems Die mentioned, I think this is pretty much a perfect place to bring Tsurugi's subplot to a head, actually. It's climactic in its own way, letting him have what is essentially the absolute last chance to bring a resolution to his story that won't involve it getting buried in all the other climactic plot threads that are going to be happening soon. I am more than okay with the show taking the time out to do this as its own thing!

Even the wacky comedy style of how a lot of this one plays out feels natural enough for the story being told, and I have to agree with Die and (assumedly) Inoue that this is just a way more interesting thread to follow than the Worm stuff? Like, I seriously keep forgetting that Tendou is technically in ZECT now, because the way they're run, it seems like joining the organization doesn't involve any real commitment whatsoever. He's only occasionally working directly with them, and, as proven by the Hyper Zecter's introduction, he can even attempt to steal company property and get let off with less than a slap on the wrist. ZECT used to be so serious about hunting down this radical unknown element, but now Kabuto is such pals with the boss, he lets him sit in his chair during important meetings. Perks of being best friends with his son, I suppose.

I mean, I say all this as though ZECT is crazy for switching up their previous staunchly anti-Kabuto rhetoric, but while the whole point I'm trying to make here is that it's far too late for the series to start pretending we should take this organization and its doings seriously, I do have to give them credit for realizing that Tendou has been one of the least problematic Riders to work for them, despite a plot to destroy ZECT from within being his entire motive for signing up. It sounds bad, but then you take a look at their previous two golden boys, now chaining themselves up in the woods, broken shells of men in desperate need of professional help, and it's hard to argue they haven't made a smart decision. Besides, Tendou having a membership card for their weird club was all ZECT ever wanted in the first place. Who knows, maybe if he had been this cooperative back when TheBee first showed up to recruit him, Yaguruma and Kageyama would be doing way better right now!

Either way, it's obviously worth mentioning that Gatack is the true underappreciated workhorse of ZECT's Riders, which is a smooth enough segue to mention how much I love Kagami's scenes in this one. He's not a huge part of it, but I really want to make sure I mention how much appreciation I've gained for Yuuki Satou's performance during this rewatch. This is a show that's absolutely filled to the brim with these wild, heightened characters, and I could say this about so many of the actors portraying them, but something about Satou's brief fits in this episode when he's getting worried about Tsurugi's secret coming out seriously impressed me with the utter conviction he gives to Kagami's trademark Very Big Feelings. It's a role that actively requires the willingness to be as uncool as possible very frequently, and he never shies away from that, which makes his more subdued moments and genuine heroic feats work all the better when they happen.

Anyway, very fun episode – looking forward to seeing how well the conclusion holds up!

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 46

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto46a.png

Uh, no.

No to this entire episode.

No to a story that ends with Tendou honoring someone's request for suicide because they were too disgusted to live with themselves, with the complex truth of their existence.

No to a story where Tsurugi wallows in self-pity and self-loathing, where the arc of it is He Hates Himself And Wants To Die And Then He Dies.

No to a story that lets Tendou execute someone in front of a grieving friend, and playing it as some noble act, his unshakeable character and deep kindness.

No to a story from the creator of Faiz, a show about self-acceptance, that is all about how sometimes who you are inside is terrible and needs to be destroyed.

No to a story where Tsurugi wanders into this ocean, longing for death, as the tackiest images of Misaki smiling are layered over, making me laugh at Tsurugi's initial suicide attempt.

No to a story where Kagami's explanation for why he never told anyone why Tsurugi was a Worm was that he hadn't gotten around to it yet, not that he felt something for a friend, or that he was afraid of what would happen to Tsurugi, or literally anything that spoke to their bond.

No to a story that assumes that Tsurugi could be a sociopathically capable supervillain at the drop of a hat, despite dozens of episodes as evidence to the contrary.

No to a story that thinks you can make Tsurugi a cold-blooded killer after spending a season making him the sweetest puppy of a Rider.

No to a story that only acknowledges the depression of Hiyori through Tendou's internal monologue, because Hiyori never once appears in this episode.

No to a story where Tsurugi's dastardly plan was to crush all of the Zecters in an industrial press, something that not only doesn't work, but obviously was never ever going to work because these things are from space.

No to all of it, to every scene, to every line of dialogue, to every maudlin staging, to every reasonable Misaki reaction that is obliterated in the face of manly suffering and laughable motivations.

No to this episode, forever.

A QUESTION

Obviously, this whole episode was a nightmare that Tsurugi was having after finding out he was a Worm, which is why it makes absolutely no sense, has an insulting theme, and is zero fun to experience. The real story is that he goes on that date with Misaki because he doesn't die. What other stories in Kamen Rider has your headcanon saved from heartbreaking awfulness? (Please don't post any answers from Den-O through Decade or Zi-O up!)

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/.../kabuto46b.png

Oh... I was not expecting this episode to go this way. One of my earliest Kamen Rider memories is seeing the end of this episode as a youtube clip, and just feeling feels for it. Little did I know the surrounding episode was actually really bad and like not at all handled well. So I guess in the episode my mind constructed around it Tendou was fighting Tsuragi because the worm subsumed his personality, and like the group had tried to save him but couldn't, or something I don't know.

I mean, as always, this is just my reaction to it. It's worth experiencing for yourself, even if I don't ever plan on revisiting it. I'm not sure I've ever been more disappointed in a Kamen Rider story in my life?

Yeah, no one really makes a case to redeem/rescue Tsurugi. Tendou dismisses it out of hand, and then decides (with some help from Jiiya) that getting detonated due to depression is actually a totally noble thing that he should give Tsurugi as the worst Christmas present of all time. Misaki has her doubts, and then Tendou heroically ignores them and kills Tsurugi right in front of her.

I definitely love remembering parts of this episode!

Has-- has this actually dethroned God Speed Love for you??

Easily. That had a story that I felt wasn't Kabuto. This has a story that wasn't Inoue, and that's so much worse.

https://i.imgur.com/8ldLOr2.png

This episode aired on Christmas Eve.

I also like this episode specifically because I don't really disagree with Die's assessment of it.

It's a script that feels almost like a practical joke on any kid who asked Santa for a DX Sasword Zecter, you know? It's downright cruel, and I don't particularly feel like sticking up for the secret meaning and depth of what is, exactly as Die said, a story that "rewards" a beloved supporting character in the end by having the star of the show assist in his suicide.

It's so tacky I won't ever forget it though. I've constantly mentioned how little I remember from this stretch of the series, but everything about this one has never left my brain and never will. That industrial setting where Kabuto and Sasword fight, the twist of Tsurugi's true plan, Tendou's merciless "mercy", that chair at the end – that stuff will stick with you for life!

I can't say that's some great thing, but I must admit I respect the show for taking such an unexpected turn? Like, I'm sorry to say it, but I fell for this one hook, line, and sinker when I first watched it. It was a pretty emotional experience as a huge Sasword fan, and it left me with a lot to think about.

Kabuto's final decision, especially, I mean, the way Takaiwa can just stand utterly motionless in that suit for a few moments of hesitation, it hits hard.

I don't know if I think this episode is good or bad anymore. I've definitely seen plenty of other episodes of Kabuto that were great by now. Maybe someone else can give a better redemptive reading.

But I do like this episode, that aired on Christmas Eve, that definitely left children in tears, and probably me too. It's a story I've never really seen Rider do outside of this, and even if there's a good reason for that, I find myself glad they took the risk doing it at least once.

What's far more heartbreaking is seeing it go over so poorly with Die, though.

It may have already ruined my 2021! We'll see!

Oh s***! I just realized this is the last Inoue script you get to experience until all the way after Den-O, too!

I am genuinely sorry for you right now.

Well, time, Kobayashi, and trying very hard to forget this episode should at least put me in a much better place to enjoy Kiva. Summer of Inoue!

Ahh yes this is what ruined 2021 not the *redacted* or the *redacted* or even the *redacted* :P

This is another of those rare Kabuto things that stuck with me since the first time I watched it, and what stuck with me is that I think it sucked too!

You already went into how heartless and unfortunate the whole sequence of events is. I remember distinctly thinking that if it just centered around like a victim-of-the-week or some character otherwise introduced really recently, it'd just be a worse (as in worse written) version of what happened to Imperer. But for this to be how Sasword's character concludes, after the show spends so much time dangling his nature as a worm over hour heads for so long, kinda stings especially bad.

I don't believe any of the writers had any long-term plan for how Tsurugi's story would conclude (which is probably why a secondary writer was allowed to be the one to write his send-off), but surely there were more interesting ways for him to go out than just 'okay hes evil now, explode him'. There were MOTW on this show that had more interesting endings, after all.

Also Misaki is just reduced to being 'person sad about Tsurugi" which is sadly expected, but she wasn't exactly the most crucial character up till now anyway, so... eh.

Inoue was the only thing I had left to believe in after 2020, and that's all gone! There is nothing left to look forward to! I gotta go get some spurs, some chains, and a leather jacket with a sleeve missing! I live in the darkness now forever! Or at least until I randomly decide not to!

What's shocking is that the same writer gave a legit monster antagonist a bittersweet and heartfelt send-off, but a series regular Rider got to be a boring asshole for an episode before dying for virtually no good reason.

She's literally the only good character in this episode, because she's the only one who looks at Tsurugi's circumstance as a highly-preventable one, instead of some grim inevitability. She slaps Kagami for keeping this all to himself for months. She tries to stop Tendou from killing Tsurugi for virtually no good reason. She even gets the Inoue classic Person Is Person line! (I mean, she does a variation on it. She says "Tsurugi was... still Tsurugi.") She's the only person in this episode who acts like both someone I've been watching on Kabuto for a while, and not a complete asshole.

No good deed or logical assertion is rewarded here, not when we have tear glands to milk...

Also about your question, I don't think there's a specific example among the shows you've watched of a character dying, but there has and will be plenty of shows where I sadly spend all my time just headcanoning the ways it could have been ideal for me personally. Kamen Rider permanently changed the way my brain works, I'm sad to say!

Man. I feel kinda bad only weighing in now when it's on something so negative, after I've had nothing else to say about the rest of the show, but...

As someone whose favourite Kabuto character is Tsurugi, this episode super super sucked for me when I watched it. And I am at least taking the silver lining here that there's no secret thing I'm missing here in my interpretation, and that people who like the show in general also think it sucks; and that the one person willing to defend this episode has his defence be that it sucks, but intentionally.

It's not an episode I actually come back to a lot, I don't have a vendetta against it or anything (though, boy, what Fish says about that industrial location sticking out in your mind is really true), but it is one that really underpinned by dislike of Kabuto at the time. Not one I liked at all.

While it doesn't fix some of the larger problems with the narrative, I would like to be very clear that this is not the plot.

Tsurugi is faking his turn from the second he comes back out of the water. His plan from the start is to round up all the Worms in one place to be destroyed by the Riders. This includes his own destruction, of course.

The thing with the press, especially, is meant to be bogus, which you can tell from Tendou's reaction to everything that goes down in that scene. He knows what's going on before he even gets there, and the whole reason he goes through with killing Tsurugi is to allow him to do exactly what he's been trying to since his debut – fulfill his wish to defeat all Worms. Or, uh, a whole bunch of 'em, at least... We'll see how that goes!

Not that any of this changes how needlessly cruel the episode is, among other things, but still!

I mean, I'm more just torn on it than anything? I massively enjoyed watching it again, even, and there's a ton I legitimately love in its execution, but it's real tough to come in here and say you should all be more appreciative of this weirdly fatalistic narrative that I seriously am convinced must've ruined Christmas for a lot of children back in '06. Like, it is very okay to hate this episode!

Ah, right, thank you for clearing that up. I think I knew that but I was choosing to sum up my thoughts real quick in a poor way!

A set-up like this, you'd think for sure the solution would be one of the heroes realising what the antagonist is doing, and thus saving them from their own attempted destruction. So I guess one can say this episode subverts expectations...

Where do you think you are right now?!

I mean, it's not like I'm thrilled to kick this episode when it's down, but the whole reason I started posting on TokuNation to begin with was watching Ghost and having a super tough time with it. Sometimes it helps to know that you're not alone in finding these shows not that great! It's okay to share that!

You know, when I was depressed and thinking I was the worse the last thing I think I would've wanted was for my friends to affirm that idea then blow me up with a rider kick.

So like as as a person who's lived through thinking their awful, and have no hope, can I say fuck this? is that allowed?

Honestly, that's the reason I'm most mad at this episode. Intentionally or not, this is an episode where someone hates who they are, wants to die, and the person who facilitates that is portrayed as a noble hero. It is ghastly. I find it offensive more than I find it stupid, and I find it plenty stupid.

I genuinely cannot fathom how the writer who did an entire series about learning to love yourself despite the parts others dislike, who has a beat in every single series he wrote (and almost every episode for series he guest-wrote) about how you aren't ever just good or bad, you're you, and knowing that makes it easier to get through your day... I don't know how that guy wrote this one? Wrote something so accidentally cruel?

So, yes: I'll allow it.

I forgot to address this, but you said before that Souji Kusakabe had childlike innocence right? I think that's done on purpose, Souji Kusakabe name is meaningful to him here, he represents the child version of Tendou but put in an adult Tendou's body, and teen/adult Souji is only Souji Tendou, as he's already adopted by Tendou family, but Souji was originally Souji Kusakabe as a child before he lost his family and is adopted by the Tendous, which means he's dubbed as Souji Kusakabe as he's literal separate child version of Souji Tendou, but taken to the path of villainy, due to his nature which is a spoiler. But being figuratively present-child Tendou, of course he would deeply care and be protective towards Hiyori too (with you saying he's suddenly devoted to Hiyori, which Tendou also kinda like that when they met?), and it's shown like Hiyori's flashback where child Souji cries out for Hiyori, Souji Kusakabe would express his devotion to Hiyori more openly just like child Tendou in that flashback.

Why is this one isn't a great part here? I feel like this part is just similar to the end of ep. 43 where Hiyori declares to Tendou and Kagami that she chooses to live with Souji Kusakabe in the other dimension, and isolated from humans as Worm's enemies, but here it's done in a good, proper way, which is rejecting the evil copy of Kabuto and chooses Tendou and the normal world, regaining her humanity.

From battle perspective, I wonder here that Kagami is still living, against Cassis Worm, after a longtime beating. I mean this is common in Rider series too, but previously, in Hyper Kabuto debut, that Worm outright killed him, which Tendou needs to time travel back to save Kagami. Sorry but the truth is, Kagami's "strategy" is no strategy, just him being a punching bag for Cassis Worm, and this is not something you should implement for "no chance of failure". And here, Tendou finally seems to accept Kagami more, or at least more open about it, with him accepting Kagami's assistance and gave him a smile, seemingly genuine one. Tendou is also more open to teamwork now, which is noted below.

Yeah, here, Kageyama has apparently redeemed to become an anti-hero, more explanations on Sh Ranger Quote below. Kageyama still has a sliver of light left on him and that influences Yaguruma instead, in a role reversal to take part as KickHopper. But I had to tell you though, "looking cool in front of his underlings" isn't a heroism service. The point that is addressed by another series is that, worshiping violence is not a heroic trait (if looking cool refers to him being powerful enough to fight off monsters). Fighting for justice isn't done because fighting monsters is "cool", but to protect others. The heroism service here is Yaguruma following Kageyama's suit for once by fighting Cassis Worm too as KickHopper, not about "looking cool in front of his underlings".

What I like here is also that Cassis Worm is used as a stepping stone to show the power of bonds and teamwork (I don't usually like heroes in numbers just ganging up on someone, but this one's making a clear point), which Kageyama clearly failed to get, with his selfish and prideful approach just end up ruining the fight and rightfully became his downfall, but the later 3 Riders implement this, because that Cassis Worm can't reflect multiple finishers, and apparently left him vulnerable to Maximum Hyper Cyclone.

OK, now Another Tendou has formally refers to himself on this episode, which is Souji Kusakabe, if you don't want to refer to them by name before they did it directly in the series. So refering him to "Another Tendou" is just plain wrong. Besides, probably yeah, this is also a character development for Tendou. Development isn't only about how someone who at first is hateful changes to a gentler approach to others, but here, someone who loves other dearly doesn't mean they're completely in the right, even regarding that person. Tendou is an overprotective big brother, for both Juka where he goes apeshit when he thought Juka gets a love, and for Hiyori to taking logical extremes to make her safe, and also this is a part where Tendou is mostly concerned about saving lives only, but is inconsiderate for the other life problems, like in ep. 15 where Tendou just asks for Kagami's gratitude because his life was saved, and indifferent to Kagami's depression of being used as pawn (or at best, tough love for him). So Tendou also indirectly inflicts this to Hiyori too, thinking that if she lives, then it's ok for her. But no, at least in Hiyori, Tendou had to learn that there are more life problems than you being saved or not, which is Hiyori getting to actually live the life she has, by making her not feel empty for living. Tendou now takes account to try making Hiyori smile too, by trying to taking care of the world she lives in, making the world feel safe for her.

Tendou's approach and reassurance to Hiyori, of course. It reaffirms that heroism isn't only about saving lives, but there are also other problems in life, which KR franchise dubs as "protecting other's smiles". And while I can be less warmed if the scene is about someone only provides justice to particular kinds of beings (like Daisuke to Gon), this one between Tendou and Hiyori is one of the exceptions, probably because Tendou's words here feel more impactful and had more warmth (probably also due to Hiyori's condition) to me.

At best anti-heroic redemption for Kageyama, after spending the earlier part of the series as an anti-villain at best. He fights monsters, but show negative traits like him refusing to take an order. And lol, for those people who bash on traditional heroes and think kindness and compassion is weakness, thinking of them as hindrance to the more pragmatic way anti-heroes can employ against enemies (no hesitation, etc.) that they think can get the job done, this is a clear show of the toxic approach that it can be a weakness as well! Kageyama refuses to listen to Kagami as someone inferior to him, and he just made the situation worse! He tries to do the finisher himself, and Kagami tries to combine it but too late, resulting in Cassis Worm copying 2 finishers and its a downfall to Kageyama.

Other than that, Maximum Hyper Cyclone, I know that base Kabuto's Rider Kick is a favorite to many, but typically I find beam finishers to be flashier and looking more powerful like this one, but doesn't mean all (my favorite base finishers are something like Faiz' Crimson Smash and Drive's SpeeDrop which are kicks, and Drive also had a beam, which I liked too, on Tridoron mode where he shoots the NSX right to the opponent).

It's ok to feel pity for someone like Souji Kusakabe, but doesn't mean that people can use headcannon and paint him as a saint. Not talking about Souji Kusakabe, but it happened numerous times in other media, where because of tragedies that happened to them (as one of the reasons) to them that magically explains their every evil deed, sometimes even making them a good guys (optionally villainizing the actual heroes), etc. "He's not evil! He's just misunderstood! The heroes are jerks who don't understand what they're going through!". You don’t have to be a flawless person or even a good person in order to be or have been a victim, being a bad person or doing bad things does not disqualify you from the victim status. Conversely, being victimized at some point in your life does not automatically make you a good person or a hero, and does not preclude you from doing evil things and/or being a perpetrator of crime/abuse.

I think Kabuto destroying Tsurugi, the Worm, is more like avenging him as a person and salvaging the good in him. Tsurugi's goal has always been to avenge his dead sister and now that he knows the truth about what he is, the only way he can do that is by dying, so that both he and his sister can have closure for their deaths.

This episode is a little different from Inoue's usual execution of his themes but the idea is still there. It's like how Takumi spared Kiba due to considering him a human, but also acknowledged that all Orphenochs, even the good ones, needed to die so humanity could live. This can be justified since Orphenochs already experienced death as humans before reviving as Originals or through mutagen injection. The life of an Orphenoch is a dilemma that never ends.

Applying this concept to Kabuto, Tsurugi was killed by a Worm, before being "revived" as an echo in the mind of that Worm. So Tsurugi wanted to accept his death as a human to be free of the evil that was keeping him alive, a second life he never should've had. That's my take on it anyway. The part with him pretending to suddenly become a serious villain and making Cassis Worm look like a chump was a little unexpected though.

This is in no way Inoue's best work but I'm kind of surprised that your least favorite episode of Kabuto and maybe KR in general was written by Inoue and not Yonemura, who wrote your least favorite arc of Hibiki. Maybe you should change your catchphrase to "Inoue Most Of The Time". :p

Yeah, it's kind of like a parody of a common trope in KR, where a character gets a redemption accompanied by a new suit or power. It's made to look like Kageyama is about to get a redemption, until we're reminded that he never made any effort to redeem himself, so changing his suit makes no difference. He never changes, therefore his attempted comeback goes just as poorly as everything else he does.

I have to complain about The Bee Zecter though, returning to users it already abandoned just cause there's nobody else it deems worthy. I mean, would you accept an offer to become a Rider if it meant being always second best to someone else who declined the offer?

Maximum Hyper Cyclone is one of the reasons why Perfect Zecter is my favorite Final Form weapon. I love how overkill it is! However, I also agree that default finishers can still be spectacular, with Crimson Smash and SpeeDrop being excellent examples you mentioned.

For sure, it's totally possible to acknowledge someone as a villain, but also a person who has been turned in to villain through tragic backstory. I won't defend Kusakabe's actions towards Hiyori but I can understand why he feels so betrayed and resentful of the world he couldn't control. He's a foil to Tendo in that way, by being someone who is affected by the world while Tendo is someone who affects the world. It's all about control and freedom, which is something that Kusakabe doesn't have and that makes him feel similar to how Hiyori was feeling when Tendo was trying to force on her a life that wasn't whole. Befitting his aesthetic as a Dark Rider, Kusakabe is like a shadow of Tendo's past but he's stuck there and can't escape or move on.

I, uh.

Sorry I like respecting everyone's different interpretations on a piece of art and all, but I have absolutely no clue where you're getting the idea that the moral of 555 is genocide? Like, even on a literal level; it's hardly like the series ends with Takumi and Kaidou killing themselves if that's truly what they think! But I just genuinely do not know how you can watch 555 and come away with that

Okay, maybe I didn't explain that as effectively as I could have. It does sound pretty terrible to read. When I said they need to die, what I meant is that they need to go extinct. Without the King, that's already inevitable so there's no reason for Takumi and Kaido to kill themselves, although Takumi wouldn't have had much time left due to Kiba accelerating his decay.

Sorry about the misunderstanding.

I mean, the end part is good! It's the lead-up to that end that I wasn't thrilled with. It's an episode that depends on two of the people who know Hiyori best forgetting that she pushes people away. All the stuff you're talking about is the end part, which I liked!

Getting the crap kicked out of him while Kabuto does something clever is literally what Gatack is best at! It's what he brings to the team!

I agree that Yaguruma trying to look cool in front of his underlings isn't heroic. I don't think it's intended to be, and I don't think I ever said it was? It's selfish and petty, but, like, so is Yaguruma. I'd disagree that him entering the fight is due to some higher morality, though. His beef was more of a payback thing?

Okay! Sometimes there are jokes!

I feel like a lot of that, the extinction stuff... I think you can read it as just Orphnochs living a human life going forward. No eternal life, none of the things that put them above humanity. Just a bunch of mortal creatures trying to find happiness.

It's something Inoue tries and fails to bring up in this episode, where Misaki wonders what the difference even is between Worms and humanity. Tadokoro basically says he doesn't know, and that grey area is where Inoue usually operates with his sympathetic monsters. I'm not sure I'm onboard with a read where Tsurugi deserved to die? He was capable of heroism, of sacrifice, of humor, of grace, of friendship, of love. He wasn't some irredeemable monster who was only a shadow of memory. He didn't deserve to die.

To be honest, I probably wasn’t paying much attention when I watched this episode. Either that, or I forgot about it with the next three episodes.

But I can say that I’ve taken the positivity towards a show with a re/blue duo based on beetles with the latest episode in my thread.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EsqIqanW...jpg&name=large

Yeah, I think that's why Takumi's philosophy that humans only stop being humans when they throw away their humanity is the best way to show how his heroism works. I don't think I can explain it any better than I already did in my essay on The Unstable Mutation of Orphenochs in your Faiz thread. You could call it a genocide or an extinction but that isn't so much a "moral" but rather a consequence of the conflict. Takumi values people based on how they choose to live, not their species, not living for the sake of living. Takumi lives to protect dreams and that's why he can call himself a human.

Tsurugi didn't deserve to die when he was killed by a Worm. But as a Worm, Tsurugi still lived and died honorably, as himself. It's tragic but I think Tsurugi found what he was looking for at the end. But I can see that you really didn't like this episode so, to each their own, I guess.