[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Sure, but... it doesn't matter to the story if Another Tendou exists yet? Tendou and Kagami have no idea who the man in the iron mask is. The story isn't about Who Is This Mystery Man, it's about finding Hiyori.

I honestly don't even know what we're arguing about here! I have totally lost the thread of this discussion. Sorry!

Of course, I won't spoil which is why it leads to us not knowing what's to argue. But will leaving this; Tendou and Kagami also wants to deal with ZECT (for Hiyori in Tendou's case, but everything about Rider to him is for Hiyori), so it's also about finding that mystery man (Souji Kusakabe).

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 35

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.

Yeah, Natives. Soon you'll get an answer to a question you asked before.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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?

Really? Yeah, at first glance, probably Yaguruma is the leader here, while Kageyama is the follower here, just like usual in the past where the former is Shadow leader and the latter being one of its members (and suck hard as a leader). But it won't be fully that way actually. And from before, this is what I mean for Yaguruma's negative traits later, where he had no qualms of attacking his former colleague at ZECT (he leads them too, not only Kageyama). Also in this thread Kageyama's seemingly the only Kabuto character who doesn't get love from others here anyway.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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!

And the thing is, in contrast to Kageyama, Yaguruma was a great cook (which he needs to for serving his members), someone who wins over Tendou (via having Hiyori as judge, although that's for Hiyori's preference), so apparently Yaguruma never teach his members how to cook, other than serving them. I'd like to see that, if Kageyama is found to be cheating to pick foods from other place, and that it can't fool Tendou, then, for now with them being together again, Kageyama should go back to Yaguruma, to ask him to teach him cooking! (though it was done to get TheBee, but likely not anymore as PunchHopper appears).

Horrible people getting the treatment they deserve from other character is something that pleases me, whenever that character is liked (ex: Ryuki's Asakura whom everyone contemps and is fully infamous, Ex-Aid's Kuroto where after revival where everyone's still on sour note regarding him; never change Kuroto... AND the cast) or not by me or fandom. It'd get on my nerves if those character and their negatives gets approved and treated as ideal/paragon in-universe, unless for story purpose (a villain had to have and keep good publicity for the story to work). But probably Kageyama got that treatment primarily because of how incompetent he is, while those that are as bad as him, if they're an accomplished person, can get free from this treatment easier than Kageyama.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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.

Renge is also a lethal chef, someone whose cooking is dangerous or detrimental. And yeah, this is what I meant for side effects, Tendou trying to make Renge feel heroic instead of being ZECt's tool, has a side effect of making her completely abiding to him, and also being incredibly clingy and possessive, what she said to Kageyama being TheWorst is based on that, and also what she said to Kagami here. Also, if Tendou's someone who's perfect, surely Tendou can multitask? His cooking is the one that got treated as above Ichiro's after all, not even Hiyori's. Especially for someone as independent as him. Just be a one-man army at the restaurant too, handling everything, and someone like Tendou is going to be able to do so. This is a reharsh on Kagami as TheBee, a role reversal, including for this time Kagami won't stop becoming Gatack because the decision is on Tendou's side. and for this part, Tendou only took the other's Zecter, and not causing much harm, so this one's not a binary good/bad struggle yeah (or probably good/neutral if Tendou's only doing this for Hiyori's sake), though Tendou is pragmatic that he imposes his will to others here, but it could be that the others are also too uncooperative for their Zecters (and Tendou himself too for not explaining clearly what's his purpose is, due to his ego and independence too).

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

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…

Tendou already defected from ZECT when he's got the job done, he's only temporarily joining them. Tadokoro is probably too dictating and strict (to me, but dunno if Tadokoro's actually right that it should be eaten immediately without wait), but the girls aren't doing good things either, they dismiss Tadokoro only because "he's old man" (implying shallowness; valuing others only by looks). For the answer, it's the usual uneatable food, then slow order, less hygiene (forcing to fight off flies).