[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 17

That silly little gag about Hiyori buying some oranges last episode turned out to be pretty important setup in retrospect. Yeah, obviously it's where her and Gon first meet, but the actual joke of Hiyori being inarticulate, that was the first time Inoue had used Hiyori enough in one of his episodes to demonstrate his understanding of the character, and he showed he's got the basic concept down perfectly. And because he laid that groundwork, I have the context to know that the way she's written for most of this episode was no accident. Quite the opposite, actually – Hiyori's role throughout this one is very considered and smart.

I mean, it lays it on pretty thick by the end, with Gon even repeating the same exact traumatic mantra from her flashbacks as Hiyori's, but the whole point is that she sees feels a connection to Gon she simply doesn't with most people, and it lets her open up way more than she ever has. Hiyori relates to this unusual girl who's lost her parents at a young age, and it makes her downright eager to help her out in any way she can. She becomes a lot brighter in those scenes; a little more assertive.

This is most communicated through body language, as always, where it's worth noting how frequently Hiyori actually looks directly at Gon. It's not constant, and little touches like her still staring towards the floor while walking along remind you it's still Hiyori at the end of the day, but moments like her leaping out of her chair to go give Daisuke a piece of her mind after one too many dismissive comments from him, only interrupted by Gon herself running off, show how much this all means to Hiyori. My single favorite bit, which I feel sums up the balance perfectly, is when Hiyori feels the need to just stare at her palm for a moment after being asked to hold hands, but also doesn't hesitate to reach out, either. The staring quickly yet effortlessly communicates that Hiyori probably isn't huge on physical contact, and that lets you understand the gravity of how comfortable she clearly is being around Gon. It's all seriously brilliant stuff.

It can be hard to delineate exactly who's responsible for what here, of course, so I'll just give credit to everyone, because I know Yui Satonaka does a great job playing Hiyori, I know Ryuuta Tasaki is a very capable director who can come up with those little touches, and I'd like to think Inoue is applying the same level of care to this show that he does to so many others he's written for. Whatever the case, it worked out into a plot thread that I was worried might seem sudden feeling surprisingly natural instead.

Of course, as much as I'd like to just talk about Hiyori exclusively, there are other things going on here that I will begrudgingly admit where also interesting and/or fun.

Tendou also gets to show a bit of a softer side than usual towards Gon, for one, which I liked. He takes having his cooking insulted shockingly well, and even says Daisuke has to be a fool to not appreciate the value of having her around. I like the idea that Tendou has a soft spot for kids, but there's a bit more to it you can read into, which is that Tendou, who we've established is all about people fulfilling their potential, would naturally feel affectionate towards Gon in particular because she's so precocious. On the flipside of that, I also enjoyed how Gon gets to act more like a kid here, emphasizing that, smart as she is, she still needs people in her life to look out for her. And that of course makes Daisuke look ~pretty~ bad here, but I like what this plot is doing so much it never really bothered me.

And speaking of things that bothered me surprisingly little, let me touch on Die's question this time by saying I am legitimately upset with myself for being okay with Kageyama in an episode where he straight up hits Hiyori. It's just... he's SO lame, you know? He's beneath even contempt at this point. Mishima's all like "okay, you messed up last time, so I'll give you a mission more on your skill level: please kidnap a literal small child", and Kageyama takes to skulking around the shadows with his game face on like he thinks he's tracking down f***ing Jason Bourne or something. To kidnap a little girl. And the worst part is, the entire plot only happens because his initial attempt to grab her completely fails! This guy just can't get anything right, and it's so sad it's hilarious! I can't wait for the next arc, where Mishima is probably going to have him stealing actual candy from an actual baby.

I definitely still hate Kageyama (seriously, don't knock out Hiyori and expect me to like you), but I can't deny some morbid fascination with just how low he's sinking at the moment.