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

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

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

.

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

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

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

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

What.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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