OK still, what do you think about what I said about Tendou here?

I think character's morality depends more on what they do/or will do to people less related to them, for both good and bad guys. What'll they do to, for example, civilians or strangers (taking care of them for good guys, and preying them for bad guys). I think caring only about friends and/or family won't necessarily cut it (if they would care, more apathetic, or outright cruel to others; overall). And so does for bad guys if they only brutalize primarily those that are in their target; like, in Ex-Aid, nthe one that finally made me think Masamune is more evil than Kuroto was him reprogramming Gamedeus to spread the virus to everyone (where Kuroto creates Zero Day, I think killing Lovelica as product discontinue and abusing Hiiro isn't comparable yet).

Not a bug guy? Blasphemy! It's what shapes Kamen Rider, no matter where you personally begin! It's a source of backlash the time a Kamen Rider is made not to sport a bug motif! Jokes aside, I think it's not a big deal for Kamen Riders to be made outside bug theme, unlike for some people there. IIRC, no such thing as an inherent bug theme for Kamen Rider philosophy, it was only something like, "if there's no religion there's Kamen Rider", or "human lives are more important than justice", etc.

Minor? Hiyori's the main heroine for this series. And people being a sucker for melodrama is a common concurence, and no offense, but unfortunately, that contributes to making the world being a harder place to live. Those who love drama is a serious issue in society; because those kind of people try to stir up drama even when drama doesn’t exist, creating a life that others envy even when they must drown everyone in drama, people thriving off car accidents, disasters, or death, gossiping and make up lies to provide story fodders, causing fights and disruptions in order to fulfill the need for more drama, etc. That aside, Hiyori's likely source of depression comes from a clear-cut source, but it's not brought about here. Probably coming from there, her demeanor is rude and quite misanthropic, with her questioning to others why she should be the one to do the job like cooking.

Kagami is someone that you'd expect getting the main character development in this series, some even think that Kagami is the true main character in Kabuto. Kagami is the everyman to Tendou's flawless human, he's idiot, rash, struggling, unlucky and naive. Kagami's the failure hero to Tendou's perfect hero. This is also reflected into something later, but I can't talk about it yet.

Well, he did work part time there, but actually, the main center of attention at Bistro La Selle is Hiyori, she's the waiter there.

Recruiting Tendou to boss someone around... did Tendou rub off on Kagami? ZECT is just something that provides the Kabuto Zecter for... Tendou to use, and they'll hunt Tendou for being outsider who uses their tool without permission. That also shows about Tendou's apathy to something like rules or laws due to his ego being allowed to do anything because he's perfect and can accomplish any task, or at best, him being pragmatic to feel like someone that's capable should be the one wearing Kabuto Zecter and eliminate Worms. Tendou so far feels like having the mindset of a hero (or that he only wants to kill Worm for his narcissistic tendencies, he's another anti-hero main Rider either way) being someone that is never fail or lose; invincible (flawed take if it's the case, or he doesn't care about this), probably ZECT's true concern about the Kabuto Zecter being used by someone outside of its member is not about that, but likely about the Kabuto Zecter being misused for someone's other amusements in a horrific way (e.g. causing destruction), if someone's using that turns out to lack moral decency; regardless of how strong they are (which Tendou boasts himself as); strong person without decent morals is a thug, a strong person with decent morals but the lack of desire to use that strength to serve others may well make a great sportsman, but will be a lousy hero.

I think Kabuto's base suit is one of my favorites among phase 1 heisei, 2nd to Kiva. The design looks sleek and tough. Other Rider designs in phase 1 had some parts that I don't really like, but so far there's none for Kabuto, talking about the base form.

Kagami's rejection is like seeing Peter Parker telling the radioactive spider to make him Spider-Man and reaching out his hand, only to have the spider ignore him and crawl away to bite Flash Thompson instead. :lolol

Kabuto without beetle crest wouldn't be Kabuto. I think the Cast Off gimmick for the ZECT Riders is very cool and I've always had a penchant for superheroes with a focus on speed and agility. Every show has one but this show is all about that. Clock Up is OP, even by today's standards. Kabuto's red works fine, even though it's hard to deny that there were a lot of red Primary Riders in Heisei Phase 1.

I think Tendo's vigilantism is what makes his character so appealing (when he's not being too aloof). A lot of my favorite Riders are chaotic good wanted men like Sento, Ryuuga and Inui Takumi, being pursued by their respective morally ambiguous organizations. Tendo doesn't needs rules to determine his actions, his judgement is Heaven's judgement after all. ZECT's efforts to reclaim the Kabuto Zecter are futile, since Tendo is the one ordained by the Zecter, whether they like it or not.

I'm not sure I completely follow, but I think Tendou's a pretty complicated protagonist at this point. I'm not sure I'd call him an asshole? He's... prickly. The things that usually define an asshole protagonist (let's just go ahead and say Kyosuke From Hibiki), Tendou doesn't do that stuff? He doesn't lie, or belittle, or make excuses, or rant, or push people away, or or or. He's a guy that comes off as egocentric, maybe, but his interpersonal problems are that he's too honest, too blunt, too quick to judge. I'm not sure I'd put him in the same bucket as your Kyosukes or Kusaka.

Yeah, man, I came in through Ex-Aid: this bug stuff is not why I fell in love with Kamen Rider! I'm okay with it, to a degree, but it's not my favorite motif for these shows.

Hoo boy, a lot to unpack there.

I called Hiyori "minor" because that's where she's at in Episode 2? I'm not sure where everyone goes, but I feel okay suggesting that a teenage girl who's in just a few non-action scenes is a more minor participant than Kagami. She's fun to talk about, but she isn't exactly propelling the plot in this one.

To her melodrama... it's a TV show? I think it's okay to enjoy conflict (physical and emotional) without seeing it reflected in the real world. If anything, there's a catharsis to experiencing Hiyori's troubles because it's not real. It's a way of connecting with those emotions in a safe, controlled way.

Finally, I don't think she's being mean to anyone here? The dish that she's making in the back is for her own use, or to share with friends. It's not on the menu but Tendou insists she serve it to him. If anything, he's being mean? Pushy, at the very least. (Which I'm okay with because he's clearly trying to get her to acknowledge her talent, so it's a well-meaning pushiness.)

I'd go Ultra Magnus Trying To Operate The Matrix Of Leadership, but I can't be mad at a Spider-Man reference!

There's a thing Kamen Rider tends to put forward as a message, where you should respect organizations, but always be skeptical of them. It's like the difference between deference and blind obedience. There're frequently these structure that exist that are, like, 80% useful, and it takes a hero to get them to 100%.

Just occurred to me I should probably clarify that I was only speaking hypothetically there? Word choice is one of those things you're way better at than me. Opinions on Kabuto I've seen generally range from "okay; definitely not my fave" to "okay; not quite my fave", so sorry if I got you thinking there's some huge faction of people who utterly despise Kabuto. Or at least, I haven't seen them either. Perhaps if they do exist, they take a page from the Worms and hide among us in secret? :p

People hating on Kabuto would require people talking about Kabuto, and from what I've seen on the boards, that's rarer than most other series :p

Oh, okay, then; I think I get this! So the haters hide in secret like the Worms, and the hardcore fans must just do all their talking about Kabuto faster than normal human senses can register, like the man himself, leaving only the ambivalent masses to occasionally bring the show up. It all makes sense now!

I think it's one of the shows that's just kinda "there." I don't see many people saying it's their favorite, I don't see many people saying they hated it. Doesn't seem to be a show that provokes a lot of passion in people.

How do the Worms molting into high-speed forms fit into this metaphor? Are they haters who grow to love Kabuto, but with such specifically weird viewpoints (Tendou Is Secretly A Plate Of Mackerel Miso) that they're constantly at odds with other hardocre fans?

That's been my experience so far. I love Kamen Rider just as, like, an idea, so I'm probably going to be able to draw at least some enjoyment out of this series. Had it been my first Rider show, though? Uh. Maybe wouldn't be on these boards right now.

Easy! The haters just do their talking about Kabuto at super-speed too, but it's all extremely vitriolic instead! I mean, if nobody can witness your ranting, you're still hiding in secret, yeah?

Indeed, the ongoing battle between these two groups might be going on all around us at this very moment, blocked from view like a particularly toxic social media account...

The funny thing about this is that I remember vaguely from when I got into Rider, back when W and OOO were still hip newcomers, that Kabuto was considered a good gateway show for its appealing mechanical designs and slick action. Maybe someone who's been around longer than me has a better idea if this was any particularly popular opinion or not?