[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 30



Oh, man, INOUE FOREVER. There's something about his episodes... I think I said in another thread that he's a dude who always swings hard at an idea. If it's one he doesn't fully connect with, it goes foul, sometimes infuriatingly so. But when he connects with an idea, really gets ahold of it, it is exceptional. This is... it's maybe not the best Kabuto episode yet, but it is so quintessentially Kabuto, so true to the soul of this show, that it makes other episodes look like pig food.

Like, I think The Dark Chef is maybe the best villain this show could ever have? I know there's a Dark Kabuto coming up (I've got an unopened SHODO figure that attests to it), but no matter who that ends up being, I can't see how they could be a better foil to Tendou than this story had. The idea of someone who values excellence because he can take it for himself, someone who'd drain great people of their skills, someone who humbles great people for his own pleasure, the very idea of excellence being a zero-sum game... all of that stuff is antithetical to Tendou's worldview. Tendou envisions a world of Objectivist wonders, where geniuses of all stripes follow their muses into realms of achievement that render the world a better place. The Dark Chef covets the skills of others so that he can control the future, lock the world into his desires and goals.

And then to make it all about food? To take Tendou's ability to bring joy to others, and warp it into a weapon? To turn a gift into a cage? All of that is so compelling that, like, if the Dark Kabuto doesn't try to also defeat Tendou in an underground cooking competition, I can't imagine why this show didn't save The Dark Chef for the endgame. He's such a perfect distillation and inversion of what the show is saying with Tendou, and it's one of the smartest things I've ever seen on this show.

And to do it all in an episode that's also using the metaphor of food to explain how staying true to yourself is more important than beating others? How true achievement comes from clarity and self-respect, not dominance and control? How the idea of beating someone in art misses the entire point of creating art?! COME ON. This episode is overflowing with smart takes on the themes of Kabuto, and smart looks at Tendou's heroism. INOUE FOREVER!

(I'll say this as a knock against this episode, though: the sound design is oppressive. For all that the last episode seemed to let the jokes land on their own, this one has a wacky sound effect for literally every movement and line of dialogue. It's suffocating. I'm in love with this episode, and can forgive a lot because of how brilliantly it's approaching its themes, but it was absolutely getting on my nerves. Much like Tendou had to learn in order to defeat The Dark Chef, sometimes the best flavors are simple. The sound design doesn't irreparably harm the episode or anything, but it does hamstring a couple jokes by overemphasizing the humor.)

It's not just Tendou's heroism that finds new expressions in this episode, though. We also get a little bit more with Kagami and Tsurugi. (I absolutely love that last episode has this killer cliffhanger of What Is Kagami Going To Do About Tsurugi, and the first scene in this episode is What Is Tendou Going To Do To Avenge Jiiya. This story zero percent cares about the suit action!) We'd previously had Kagami find some similarities between his dead brother and Tsurugi's dead sister, but this episode blew my mind by trying to draw a parallel between Tsurugi not knowing he's a Worm, and Kagami's impetuousness. It's... I mean, I'm probably reading too much into it, but I really like Kagami seeing this dude trying desperately to wage a war on Worms when he himself is a Worm, sees the futility of that, and goes Hard Same. (There's another great long take in this one, where Tsurugi gives a big I'm Going To Defend Ladies Who Remind Me Of My Dead Sister No Matter What speech to Kagami, one that sort of wins Kagami over. The camera starts, like, sixty yards away and then slowly tracks in until it's right in Tsurugi's face. Super great camera move.) Kagami's a guy who believes in his Very Big Feelings, has found fulfillment in doing what he thinks is right, so how can judge Tsurugi for being a Worm who wants to destroy Worms? How can he let this weird, self-negating creature come to harm?

It's a thread I wouldn't've thought to explore, and it's one that I'm excited to see the show develop. It gives Kagami this crazy limb to go out on, and I always like this show better when Kagami is heedlessly following his Very Big Feelings. Much like Tendou's epiphany about things having an innate quality, I like that this show realized the power of Kagami making potentially terrible decisions for adorably heroic reasons.

INOUE FOREVER!

A QUESTION

Yes, I absolutely am going to talk about Jiiya's heretofore unrevealed older twin brother, the master chef Hiiya. He's a great, bonkers twist on the Old Master character, treating cooking as a bloodsport, a crucible that destroys souls. There is a graveyard outside his house where failures are buried. He's amazing, and I love that he exists. He's doubly great because he's played by the same actor as Jiiya (obviously), and the tones of the two characters are wildly divergent. Jiiya is trembling, gentle. Hiiya is implacable, confrontational. The actor kills in both roles. As of Episode 30, who's your favorite actor (not character) on the show?