[Tokumonkey]

Kabuto 14.

Various video games have left me with the impression that Gatack is the show's main secondary Rider, so I was surprised that he wasn't the first or even second. Since I'm a toy collector and just got the excellent new Shinkocchou Seihou Gatack, I'm already looking forward to Drake and TheBee.

Drake is the first character that's made me cringe. What I've enjoyed about the flavor of Kabuto has been its mix of cool, creepy, and strange. Drake adds "wacky" to the mix, which throws the flavor off. (See what I did right there?) He's the first Rider who feels (initially) wholly disconnected from the fight against the Worms, and wholly out of sync with the show's tone.

Also, we've finally got shadowy villains talking ominously, so... Eh. I guess that was inevitable. Is one of them Goro from Ryuki? It wouldn't surprise me, as Shiro from Ryuki also appears in this episode. I wonder whether the Ryuki nods are coincidental.

Speaking of that show, this show has clearly brought back one of my favorite tropes from multi-Rider shows, which is Rider identities taken on by more than one person. It's only episode 14 and already, we've had three different TheBees. I'm curious as to whether Ex-Aid will do this at some point.