[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 44



This is one... I liked where it ended. I did not love how it chose to get to that end.

Like, there's half an episode before the two people who know Hiyori best in all the world go Hey Maybe She Wasn't Being Honest About Her Feelings. I know she's been gone for a while, but hiding behind isolation and pushing away the people she cares about is kind of her thing! It's her go-to move! She always needs you to fight for her!

So, yeah, the slow realization that Hiyori is maybe not thrilled to live eternally in Heightened Contrast Dimension with a cheerfully obsessed duplicate of Tendou... just not a great part of this episode. And having the thing that makes Kagami figure it out be Sasword taking a hellacious beating (that, once again, Worm Widower just wanders off from instead of finishing the job) and then going Bravery WAIT THAT'S IT... again, not thrilling me. Not that clever of a plot.

But, man, a pretty great second half, right? I thought it was.

Having Tendou go off to convince Hiyori to come home while Kagami just gets his ass kicked forever, that's those guys! That's how they operate! Tendou is the one who figures out the way to win, the secret to victory. Kagami's the one who never quits, absorbs the punishment, supports his friends. If the strategy depends on those two acting that way, there really is no chance of failure.

So much of the second half of this episode, it's like the fan-service version of heroism. It feels like there's no way there could be five more episodes, because everyone in this one is at Maximum Rider Power. Tendou is giving speeches to Hiyori to welcome her home. Kagami is holding off an entire army by withstanding non-stop attacks. Tsurugi is seeing Misaki as a person, not just as an ideal. Kageyama becomes TheWorst again, just long enough to embarrass himself. And Yaguruma remembers that Looking Cool In Front Of His Underlings is his main motivation for doing literally anything ever.

It... it is wall-to-wall awesomeness, and I can't imagine where you go with any of these characters afterwards. Show's over!

Well, I suppose we still have Another Tendou out there to deal with, don't we.

High point in the episode, hard to say it's not Tendou's speech to Hiyori. She wants to feel safe, sure, but she wants to feel like she matters; like she belongs. Another Tendou is offering her someone who's there for her constantly, unflaggingly. His whole world, literally, is just her. She doesn't need to feel like an outsider, or like she doesn't have anyone who cares about her. How can Tendou compete with that offer? How can he give her the same attention and love that Another Tendou can?

He can't, obviously. He can't protect Hiyori at the expense of everything else, because the isolation and emptiness of the Heightened Contrast Dimension is the horrifying conclusion of that vow. Tendou protects the world, but he's also protecting it for Hiyori. He wants her to be happy, and that can't happen in a world where she's locked away, seeing herself as broken. She needs to come back to the real world, where Tendou and Kagami can be a part of her life, while giving her room to fill that life with hopes and dreams and everything else she can't have with Another Tendou. It's not about keeping Hiyori safe from the world. It's about making the world safe for Hiyori.

I really like that, the balance of it. It's a subtle shift from Tendou, a combination of his brain (The World Revolves Around Me) and his heart (Hiyori Is My World). It feels, like everything else in the second half of this episode, like the end of his journey. He's rescued Hiyori, but not at the cost of rescuing Kagami and stopping the Worm assault. He did it with honesty and empathy, not manipulation or arrogance. It's as clean and clear a victory as any hero ever got.

Which is why Another Tendou is here to tear it all down.

A QUESTION

Just a billion big-ass hero moves in this episode. What was your favorite heroic moment?