[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 35



A pretty fun episode that examines a bunch of different kinds of friendships/partnerships, without really solidifying a theme I could get behind.

Like, this is a stuffed episode, spending a lot of time catching us up on a variety of semi-connected plots (Hiyori, Tsurugi, Renge, Kageyama, Tendou collecting Zecters) while also introducing the Natives as a new group that has an interest in the conflict between Riders and Worms. It's also a done-in-one episode (or at least, there isn't really a cliffhanger to deal with), so scenes go by at a pretty rapid clip. There's not a lot of room in this episode. It is moving with a purpose.

And, again, interesting purpose! It's an episode that's bringing up questions about how friendships can develop in the workplace, and how apprentices can feel a commitment that may not be matched by mentors, and how hero worship creates opportunities to be treated unfairly, and so on. It's bringing up a lot of things, but I'm not sure it's really saying a lot about them. While there's a topic the episode is exploring (Friendships In The Workplace is as succinct as I can make it), there isn't really a theme, or a statement. It's... yeah, it's an episode that's more interested in asking questions than giving answers.

It's also an episode dedicated to breaking down what little ego remains in Kageyama, which is... not quite as harrowing as the show would think? It's fun to see him get applauded by Yaguruma for failing so hard, so quickly (Shame Recognizes Shame), but Kageyama's turn to the dark (eyeliner) side just doesn't do as much for me as Yaguruma's did? It's similar to Yaguruma's, in that their core personalities are just being expressed in a lower register. Yaguruma was a guy who desperately needed followers to make him feel like he was doing the right thing, that his words had weight. Kageyama was the consummate beta, a dude who always needed someone to be in charge of him. This PunchHopper/KickHopper dynamic, it's them both playacting as edgy weirdos when they couldn't be more themselves.

But the problem is that Yaguruma was always the more interesting of the two. He's the one who had a point-of-view, had a conception of himself. Kageyama is just undisguised envy, hollow sycophancy. Watching Yaguruma run around as Snyder Cut Kabuto is fun because you can see all of Yaguruma's idiosyncrasies creeping out around the edges: how he needs attention; how he wants people validating his methods; how he wants to articulate his worldview constantly, ad nauseum. With Kageyama, he's just grabbing ahold of the only person who isn't actively trying to ignore and/or kill him. I feel like I'm learning more about Yaguruma every time I see him. With Kageyama, there really isn't anything to learn?

That said, I had a great time with Kageyama in this episode. If you need to humiliate someone like Kageyama, having nearly everyone in the cast either blow him off (Kagami), manipulate him (Worm Widow), or outright tell him he's the worst (Renge) is probably what you're after. And the episode does not disappoint on that front. It stays largely comedic, having Kageyama orbit Tendou in hopes of getting TheBee Zecter back... until Kageyama snaps, and it becomes the violent denouement of every burned bridge. Watching him briefly consider Oh Wait Wasn't I Super Dedicated To ZECT Once before admitting to himself that it was always about the ability to feel strong, that he was never more than a scared man who was sick of feeling small, I like that? I like that the episode took a breath for that, to cast off (if you will) the remaining shreds of self-deception Kageyama had, forcing him to admit his pettiness, his weakness. Having him go all-in on his worst impulses, and then to have Yaguruma show up with his This Is The Worst Day Of The Rest Of Your Life pep-talk, that's a fun character turn. I'll never love Kageyama the way I love Yaguruma, but I love what their dynamic does for Yaguruma. That final shot of the two of them!

Not to ignore the second-best partnership on this show, though: Tendou and Kagami. They're mostly running parallel to each other in this one. Kagami is trying to protect the very knowledgeable Native, Tachikawa, while also enduring a delightful/horrifying (YMMV) Friend Date with Tsurugi. (It is adorable, that's my takeaway.) Meanwhile, Tendou is trying to keep La Salle open with the help of a guy who can't cook and a girl who only just started eating food for the first time in seven years. It is... he has some handicaps here. (Whither Sally, the cafe's ostensible owner?) It's a fun plot for Tendou, despite Renge losing a bit of her edge. (She's not reduced to bumping monsters with her butt, but she's now way more of An Adorable Klutz than her debut episodes.) The best bit for Renge was in the one Tendou/Kagami scene, where Tendou's like I'm Gonna Need That Gatack Zecter Soon and Renge is immediately like Separate Kagami's Head From His Shoulders You Got It Boss. It is hilariously chilling, how quickly she would murder for her new boss.

It's a great scene between the two men, made more dramatic for how much the episode keeps them isolated. While last episode's finale made things feel a little more easy-going between them, this episode is firmly planting the flag that Kagami and Tendou are not on the same side right now. There's a grudging acceptance to Kagami, as he realizes that Tendou is going to walk his path, no matter what Kagami says. But it's not the usual caving-in from Kagami, the deference to Tendou's innate genius and certainty. It's an acceptance that there will come a point where he is going to have to fight against Tendou. Right now, it's a disagreement. But someday soon it's going to be a battle. But, like, there's no longer sadness to Kagami's interactions with a determined Tendou. Now there's just anger, and disappointment.

I love it, because it feels less like Tendou Broke Bad, and more like two heroic, principled men are going to find themselves in conflict over what is right. It's not a binary Good/Bad struggle, it's got nuance, subtlety. The way the show is dissolving their partnership (when Kagami screams at Kageyama that he's not Tendou's friend!), it's got so much dimensionality to it, so many fun angles to showcase.

Seriously, a very fun episode that may not land a solid theme, but definitely has a great premise to explore.

A QUESTION

Tadokoro has a completely weird moment in this episode, where he's doing his ZECT duty by eating at La Salle. (Is that still a thing, Tendou working for ZECT? I'd've thought he'd've been shitcanned after trying to steal the Hyper Zecter and causing Renge to defect? No? Goro's keeping him on? Or did Tadokoro just not get the memo?) Tadokoro yells at a group of diners for not doing the respectful thing, and immediately eating their food as soon as it's served. I know it can be hard to remember back to the Before COVID times, but do you have any pet peeves when it comes to dining out? Surely nothing that'd cause you to make whatever face Tadokoro was making in this episode...