[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 26




I think Hiyori's face in those screencaps really says it all. I was making that same face for most of this one, as well. It's a massive, welcome course-correction from the previous episode, acting as a chilling indictment of the previous pivot away from respecting Hiyori's needs.

Maybe I gotta learn from Hiyori? She opts to trust Tendou, pushing aside her doubts because he's proven once again that he cares about her, wants her to be happy. Me and this show, it's sort of similar. They had a bad episode, but I should've trusted it was all going somewhere special.

I really loved this episode, since it's retroactively as critical of the characters' action in 25 as I was. Everyone's screwed in this one, all of our heroes. Tendou has bluffed his way to a face-to-face with Kagami's dad, Kagami Outrageous, and it's netted him nothing but smirking dismissals and vague threats against those closest to him. Tendou thought he could drop some bombshell on Outrageous, but he's informed that he is actually seven or eight bombshells late. Meanwhile, Kagami thinks he's going to get some answers at ZECT HQ, and Goro literally laughs at his naivete.

This is an episode where the two heroes are laughed at by the villains, behind every conceivable eight ball, and I love it. I love it because it's mostly of their own doing. 24 ended with our cast teaming up to support one another, and 25 has them immediately forgetting those lessons. Tendou launches his own investigation, while Kagami and Misaki cut out Tadokoro with their subterfuge. Simultaneously, Hiyori is left to twist in the wind, abandoned by her friends. The whole previous episode is reframed from proactive heroism into Everyone Screwed Up.

What's even better about 26 is that no one really says that? There's never a point where Kagami or Tendou state how much they dropped the ball last time. But you can see it, in each of their stories.

Kagami's has him hitting bottom when Tadokoro shows up to his bungled break-in (ZECT never even brought him to their HQ!), making Tadokoro so furious he punches Gatack's helmet. That visual of Tadokoro's bruised knuckles, it's as painful for Kagami as if he'd really been punched in the face. Here's someone he respected, and he's let him down by pursuing answers on his own. Worse, Tadokoro feels like he can't work for an organization he can't understand, or lead people who don't respect him. He's ready to cash it in.

But Kagami knows he won't get anywhere on his own. Him and Misaki, they need Tadokoro. There's strength in numbers. If Kagami can get across to Tadokoro how much they still need him, they might actually have a chance of defeating the Worms and discovering the truth behind the Masked Rider Project.

All of that was great, and I loved how much the episode hinged on Kagami rediscovering the merits of teamwork, how key the whole ZECT In A Van team was to defeating the Worms this time. (Dude was a Kamen Rider for, like, one day and he forgot that. Kagami! You are as constant as the northern star.) After last episode's superhero-y momentum, it's so much more pleasing to see everyone remember that you don't succeed alone. You need to let people in, remind them of their value, be just that small amount vulnerable.

So let's talk about Tendou and Hiyori.

It's as strong a resolution to their plot as I'd've dared wish for. It only needed to emotionally challenge Tendou to get where I was happy with it.

The part where I knew this was all going to work out for me was when Tendou's chased the Misaki Worm into that stairwell. The Worm's hiding, but her bracelet gives her away to Tendou. Normally, this is where he'd do his My Grandmother Always Said thing, some cute phrase to let the Worm know he wasn't rattled. But he doesn't do that, because he is rattled. It's not even just the Worm going after Juka; it's Outrageous having him totally outflanked, it's his whole infiltration amounting to nothing, it's Hiyori calling him out on his bullshit... it's everything. It's the walls closing in. Tendou yells at the Worm that nobody gets away with threatening Juka. It's personal to Tendou then. This isn't some game, and he can't keep his emotions locked away.

It all boils over when Tendou tries to talk to Hiyori again, tries to regain her trust, but it doesn't work. He's giving her nothing but evasions and gaslighting, while demanding her trust. He's trying to keep her close, keep her safe, but every word out of his mouth pushes her further away.

And then the Worms attack, because of course they do; and Tendou gets his ass kicked, because he's all alone against a monster with minions, with support, with allies. So he hides behind a crate with Hiyori, ready for the end... and he just tells her the truth. All of his schemes have failed him, every trick he's tried has blown up in his face. So he just tells her the truth. Yes, he was The Boy In The Belt. But no, he can't tell her what happened seven years ago. Thinking it's another evasion, Hiyori demands to know why, and Tendou, frustrated, pleads with her to leave it at that. He's hiding something from her, yes, but now he's admitting it, demonstrating how much it's hurting him, and begging her to let it lie for now. It's not transparency, but it's honesty, and it means something to her.

Because Hiyori gets not being able to explain things to people, gets being unable to handle your feelings. Before, Tendou's smirking lies were an insult. Here, his pained, exhausted need to keep something hidden feels relatable, universal. He needs her to trust him, or he won't be able to get through this moment.

And, god, what a moment. That look up there, on Hiyori's face. A raw, emotional Tendou, screaming that he'll protect her from everything that'd hurt her, forever. She's stunned, same as the audience is. We've never seen this side of Tendou, never witnessed him this vulnerable, this exposed. He's not the master-puppeteer, the pretentious master of the universe. He's her friend, and he's never going to stop being that.

After that, there's a Kamen Rider team-up and some fun action, but... I can't pretend that the episode didn't hit its climax way before that.

A QUESTION

Hey, 2021. First thing I did in this new year (after catching up with a few friends across the internet) was watch this episode of Kabuto, and it was a smart choice. Felt real good. What's the first toku thing you did or are going to do for this year? (Besides reading or posting on TokuNation. That's a given!)