[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 16

I feel a lot more comfortable with the concept of a huge stretch of episodes by Inoue after this one. His wild vision for the show hasn't totally been gelling with me yet, but this episode, it felt way more satisfying despite being much the same wacky antics with a somewhat clever yet thin dramatic thrust. Maybe it's just the insane amount of stuff going on. Definitely plenty to talk about this time! I feel like I learned so much this episode.

I mean, I learned that ZECT's management is even more questionable than previously thought, and yet I also respect them way more now. Sure, the idea they would make this Soujirou Tendouji guy the leader of their most elite combat team within a week of him signing up is absurd... but are they really wrong about him having the skills for the job? I'm not even going to complain about Tendou's apparent fake identity fooling them, because the way this place is run, I'd believe it if you told me they knew he was lying and just didn't care. That man gets results, and results are all ZECT cares about! Tendou in this one totally worked for me, and I appreciate the show being willing to concede that he wouldn't have been able to pose as a doctor without the backing of ZECT. For whatever reason, it's way harder to believe a hospital being so easily fooled than it is a highly clandestine organization. It doesn't make much sense, I know, but it makes enough sense for Kabuto, and that's what counts.

Oh, and speaking of the management, I learned that Mishima would kill it in a slam dunk contest, but settles for merely using those mad hops to metaphorically dunk on Kageyama instead, totally showing him up as TheBee. This episode is one big chain of embarrassment for Kageyama, and every moment of that was one of my favorites from the whole episode. He's completely ineffectual the entire time, and so petty that when he came randomly charging towards Daisuke in the middle of the episode, I honestly expected him to just stick his arm out and clothesline the guy without stopping. But no, instead it's part of a ruse to pit Tendou(ji) against Daisuke, a plan that fails so hard Kageyama is doing dishes two minutes later. And he's bad enough at it that Kagami gets to pile on to the nonstop humiliation. It is, by far, the best use this show has had for Kageyama yet. He's just not intimidating enough to be taken seriously as a threat, so having him be this wannabe schemer with ambitions that far outstrip his abilities, I thought it was a much more natural fit for the guy.

Finally, and most importantly, I learned that Inoue can in fact write good scenes with Hiyori! Which I also would've been happy to talk about for the entire post! I wasn't too sure he could pull it off for a bit there, but, simple as it is, Hiyori asking for an orange too quietly, and then getting talked over when she repeats herself even more quietly a millisecond too late for the much more tense person she's talking to, that is everything I love about Hiyori packed into like five seconds. That's all I need, and on top of that, there's the whole scene with Gon. I know Die did the A+ thing as a joke, but man, you would not believe how much a little bit like this can elevate everything around it.