[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 31



An episode full of questions, all asked to varying degrees of anticipation.

The one I was the most interested in was Are There Good Worms, and the episode really finds itself when it's digging into that idea. Now that Kagami has it confirmed by Jiiya that Tsurugi is a Worm who thinks he's an idiot man (and that confirmation is almost withheld by Jiiya escaping on a conveniently-placed bicycle, before realizing the kickstand is down and he is not moving), there's more skepticism than normal to Tsurugi's heroism. He's seen first-hand that Worms can be redeemed, so maybe Tsurugi just needs to be supported? Befriended?

It leads to the best parts of this episode for me, where Kagami's Very Big Feelings see him trying to break the reality of the situation to Tsurugi, and being thwarted by Tsurugi's unshakable belief that Kagami just wants to be his friend. It's a great escalation through the episode, with Tsurugi's heartfelt exposition drawing the two men closer together, and Kagami's growing frustration at being The Smart One in an exchange keeping him from seeing Tsurugi for the monster he appears to be. Like, this is an episode where Kagami is the one dealing with an oblivious Rider, and it's such a fun idea. Taking that idea and then saying, wait, Are There Good Worms around it, spinning Kagami's confusion out to a larger reexamination of the show's central threat... I think that's a debate that has merit?

It helps that it's an ideological struggle between Kagami's Very Big Feelings and Tendou's self-righteous certainty; optimism versus pragmatism. To Tendou, the Worms are a pestilence, a swarming race of monsters. He'll take them out, because he knows that, given the chance, they'd take him out. To Kagami, he's experienced the battle within Worms, seen them act with humility, nobility, kindness. If a Worm can take a human's memories, couldn't they also take their empathy? Their soul? Isn't there room to question whether or not they all deserve to die?

It's a question that's fun to explore, and then the episode finds a thrilling high gear once it brings Hiyori into that debate.

So, I'm told that Hiyori and Tendou are siblings. There's not really a lot of speculation I can offer on that storyline now. The why and how of it are yet to be determined, but I'm not loving it as a story move. It requires a lot of convoluted trickery to have two adults who just met a few months ago be secret siblings, and I'm not sure it's going to feel more fulfilling to me than their previous friendship. Between knowing the endpoint of this one and not being too excited to get there, the developments with childhood photos and all that... mostly didn't work for me.

But Hiyori as a Worm?! Very excited to see that plotline develop. Not only does it bring Hiyori further into the series-long Worm plot, but it also immediately confronts Tendou with a counterpoint to his Kill All Worms policy. It makes the person he values most (besides Juka or Jiiya) into the enemy he's vowed to destroy. Knowing that Hiyori won't be on the show much due to illness dampens my enthusiasm somewhat (once again), but it's a helluva twist for the end of the episode.

This one... it's a lot of setup, maybe? It's very much an episode that is foregrounding the mysteries, trying to get them some momentum. It does it fairly well, with crisp action (it's never not fun to see Riders wreck a ton of unmolted Worms), tantalizing ambiguity (Kagami makes some rare good points), and hilarious Tsurugi idiocy (his reassurance to Kagami that they are now best friends is adorably dumb). Way more of a focus on plot stuff this episode, but still a delightful experience.

A QUESTION

I cannot say enough good things about Tsurugi and Kagami's friendship. It makes Kagami into the Tendou of the friendship, and it's endlessly charming. Tsurugi is way more than a handful, but it's hard to look down on his enthusiasm. If you had to befriend one member of the Kabuto cast, who would it be and why?