[Sh Ranger]

I agree that this is an episode that needs to be analyzed to be fully understood and I'm glad you did it cause it brought to my attention something I never put together. I always took Tendo's refusal of Kagami's friendship at face value, as him being hostile and showing the worst part of his character, but what you said makes sense. It seems unnecessarily cruel from Kagami's and probably the viewer's perspective but it would be wrong to give him friendship as an excuse to give up on being The Bee instead of making that decision on his own.

Tendo is a very misunderstood person and I think that concept works great since apparently, even I don't understand him completely. He has a tough love philosophy which he applies to Kagami and Hiyori, giving her something to have faith in. The person who understands him best is Jyuka.