[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 16



Do you know how badly I want this post to just be me talking about Hiyori and Gon? And the adventures I have already crafted for them in my head? (They definitely run a bowling alley in one.) There's almost nothing to their scene in this one, but it's a joke that is so perfect that I can't stop thinking about it.

It's Hiyori at a produce vendor, trying to buy fruit. But she can't, y'know, communicate, so she's just ineffectually pointing at an orange, while the frustrated vendor tries to get her to enunciate her request. And then Gon walks up, displays the orange, and Hiyori does the Daisuke thing of Yes Yes That That.

It killed me. It's such a simple thing, but it's simultaneously adorable (Hiyori!), heartwarming (Gon!), and 100% on-topic for one of this episode's themes: we never really achieve anything alone.

As a theme, it's one that filters through this episode without really coming together until the end. Kagami is still looking for the solo success that'll renew his confidence, and it's made elusive by how insane this episode's plot is. (Tendou goes double-undercover, so, yeah, still an Inoue episode.) He gets a hand from Misaki and Daisuke in the beginning, as we recap the details of last time. He gets a hand from Tendou in the middle, as the two of them expose which Drunk Doctor is the Worm. (...which requires Kagami to act as bait, so Tendou's sort of pushing it in this one.) And then at the end, as Kagami finishes off one of the Worms, he gets invisible Clock Up help from Tendou to make sure he gets his victory.

Continuing on from last episode's conflict of how best to help a friend, Tendou basically splits the difference between his and Misaki's previous approaches. In the hospital, he goes with Misaki's approach: he makes sure that Kagami is aware of their partnership, and asks for his trust that this will help expose the Worm. It lets Kagami feel like his contribution matters, that he can depend on Tendou to support him. But during the battle with the Worms at the end, Tendou does it his way: a tiny bit of secret help, and letting Kagami feel like he has value. It's a very pleasant view of the specific way Tendou can be a friend to Kagami.

The other theme for this episode is one that fits alongside We Never Really Achieve Anything Alone, and it's probably the bigger point in this installment. It's that you should always go into partnerships with your eyes open.

Drunk Doctor throws in with a group of Worms, hoping that he can use their mimicry to save more lives, but eventually they just want to kill him. Tendou joins ZECT to help expose the Worms, but is fully aware that they can't be trusted. There's this feeling in both scenarios that partnering up with any organization... like, you can't expect them to care about you. Drunk Doctor thinks these Worms are on his side, believe in what he believes in, but they never did. They worked with him for mutual benefit (he got to save lives, they got to hide and murder), but once that benefit came to an end, he was dead meat.

The thing is, though, you can make use of organizational strength. (On a micro level, the team of Tendou, Kagami, Daisuke, and Misaki do a pretty great job this episode!) This isn't a story about how you should never work with anyone. (It's the opposite of that!) But it's suggesting that a lot of the problems of Drunk Doctor and Kagami are that they put their faith in an organization, and the organization took advantage of that faith. Meanwhile, Tendou made sure that he was getting what he needed from ZECT without making himself vulnerable, so he couldn't be taken advantage of. It's a pretty nuanced take on work-for-hire, where it's not cast as good or bad, just as something you should be careful with.

So, yeah, fun story about protecting yourself in partnerships, but who cares: HIYORI AND GON HUNG OUT ON A PLAYGROUND

A++++++

A QUESTION

One of my favorite beats in the episode is, unsurprisingly, from that scene of Hiyori and Gon hanging out on a playground. When Hiyori asks where Daisuke is, Gon says that they both needed some time apart, and the implication is that Daisuke Is Kind Of A Lot. It makes sense that Gon might need some time here and there to go have her own adventures, ones that aren't built around putting women on pedestals or grudgingly fighting monsters. Assuming, like Gon, you lived in a world where you could actually go do things, what's something you regularly do outside to have fun by yourself? I certainly hope one of them is to help socially-awkward strangers get the fruit they need!