[DreadBringer]

Been busy so was falling out in the episode commentings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 43

It’s an endgame arc, maybe the real start of the endgame arc, so we’re getting a lot of escalation out of basically nowhere. Worms are running rampant, pushing towards Area Z, where ZECT is developing the Rider System. ZECTroopers are being overrun, and Worm Widower is absorbing and redirecting every finisher a Rider uses against him. It’s just Worm O’Clock on this show, and it’s okay. I like the tension of it, a little. Tadokoro in particular is great at selling that gritted-teeth resolve you want in an Under Siege plotline. But it’s still just an army of faceless monsters being led by a high-kicking cipher, and that’s not got a lot I can occupy my mind with. It’s all surface pleasures: quick action and explosions, spiced up with some neat subdivided shots. (Those multi-angled frames try their best at making repetitive battle scenes feel unique and dangerous, so I’m all for their use.) But it’s… I mean, there are multiple fights where Worm Widower just wanders off after absorbing and redirecting a Rider's finish, and that makes these fights feel like a bit of a shrug. If I cared more about the Worms as an enemy, or Worm Widower as a general, I’d probably care more about those fights. As it is, they’re okay. Just okay.

This part actually catches my attention fight-wise for Cassis Worm redirecting the attacks, even finishers back to his enemies, and also him learning the move in the process. I only wonder about how strong the Rider move in his hands compared to his other standard moves, he seems to be able to generate the tachyon too just like the Riders there, like if the Rider move is just, well, as strong as the original Rider (like Gatack's Rider Kick in his hands is also only as strong as Gatack himself, who is below even human Cassis Worm), but it gives a sense of irony to the other Riders, their best attacks backfiring on them and became their downfall. The Worm O'Clock is just well, another show of Cassis Worm's villainy, and he adds up by being the worst of his species by devouring his own kind to power up, something done by villains like Daguva.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

But this episode formally introduces Another Tendou, and that stuff is great.

The performance is so intriguing. The actor’s voice goes up a bit, giving Another Tendou a sense of childlike innocence that runs in opposition to Tendou’s world-weary superiority. Another Tendou is as clever as Tendou, but his aesthetic is all Guileless Joy, so his villainy is done with a cheerful smile. He’s so happy to tell Tendou’s friends that he’s going to find and kill him. Hell, he’s happy to tell Tendou that he’s going to kill him. He’s just… like, bubbly, and it’s as unnerving as it is refreshing. He’s not a glowering monster or closed-off psychopath. He’s a brother (?) who wants to protect his sister (?), and he’s excited to get a chance to do that.

(For the record, I have no idea if I'm supposed to be reading the relationship between Hiyori and Another Tendou as familial or romantic. I'm going with familial, but, uh... Kamen Rider shows can really blur that line!)

It’s an inversion of Tendou’s attitude, where his need to rescue Hiyori has got him scared and defeated. The only way he can think of to rescue Hiyori is to follow Another Tendou (the same way Another Tendou found Tendou by following Kagami) back to the Heightened Contrast Dimension, and that’ll only happen when Tendou is defeated. So Tendou’s just like Welp Time To Die I Guess, and it makes for the episode’s smartest choices. There’s a brief scene of Tendou and Juka, with him teaching her to cook, and I found it impossibly charming. I got a little choked up, with Tendou trying to impart one last gift to his sister before he’s gone for good. The idea of Tendou’s Last Day On Earth… fun note for this episode.

True, Souji Kusakabe is one of the bigger endgame at least for Tendou, already telling that he's an important figure that needs to be discovered. Hiyori discovered him through psychic, though it didn't sit well with you, I didn't see any other way to put Souji Kusakabe inside the story, the cast knows nothing about him and likely won't seek anything about him, Hiyori brought Souji Kusakabe to the cast. And yeah, Souji Kusakabe actually plays up Tendou's status a bit at the beginning to help out others like Renge falling, but also that, Hiro Mizushima (using the actor's name here as he's not Tendou, as you already see in episode 44, but of course as a lookalike the others there know him as Tendou) not acting arrogant and high-and-mighty actually is even creepier, as Tsurugi notices something off within him not acting like Tsurugi himself. But Souji Kusakabe did a "good deed" before by helping Renge, but immediately reveals his true nature after? The point of helping Renge? And you seriously thinking Hiyori and Souji Kusakabe as romantic? Oof dude... Hiyori is Tendou's blood sibling, not Juka, is this channeling incest?!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s the Kagami pep-talk that kills, though. Kabuto’s trying to take a dive to Dark Kabuto, and it’s going great/terribly.

It seems that Tendou opting to spare Dark Kabuto, even letting him gaining upper hand, is a boneheaded decision. Like something at the end, you can just dominate and force your foes to submit to you, turning them to your bitches. Especially that, something that I already know that Kabuto is superior; he has Hyper Zecter, super form gives Kabuto significant advantage power-wise. Tendou also is able to read all his moves. Dark Kabuto feeling like he's the best Hiyori companion also likely wouldn't let him got killed just to spite Tendou. Kagami had the pep talk about reminding how Tendou is a (impossible) benchmark that never shows any weakness, and Kagami asked for Tendou to keep acting like that, it finally solves Tendou's dilemma of one of his worst enemies being the only way to one of his most beloved. Tendou opting to spare Dark Kabuto for something important to him, takes away points for heroism though, it's not as severe as what Tendou claimed to finish off every living beings for Hiyori, but sparing Dark Kabuto, for selfish reasons, is still potentially destructive to the surroundings.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Moot point, because the end of the episode has Hiyori showing up, confident and assertive, to tell Tendou that she’s going to live in the Heightened Contrast Dimension with Another Tendou, kthxbye. Bit of a twist! We’ll have to see where that goes!

While this is probably confident and assertive, this could potentially be a bad thing to do though, disposing humanity for an evildoer that is closely related to you... This one's the opposite of someone like Reina, where here Hiyori fully accepts herself as a Worm, but also obliged to Worm's role as the enemy of humanity. This doesn't last inevitably and fortunately, but that's what can I say for that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

A QUESTION

Not a lot with Yaguruma and Kageyama this week, but I was amazed at Tadokoro’s weird blend of optimism and desperation as he offered them (both?) the chance to lead Shadow as TheBee. Yaguruma immediately turns him down, happy to be able to ruin someone’s day, while Kageyama practically has his eyes bug out like he’s in a cartoon. That dude is so thirsty. Anyway, if these two dopes aren’t going to be TheBee, what remaining non-Rider cast member should next be TheBee? And if not Misaki, why did you opt to choose poorly?

This one's also another part of Yaguruma being antisocial nihilist (well it's now engraved on everyone here), him kicking the Zecter out of his sight coldly, as he no longer wants to go out into the "light" and fight for justice anymore. And this is the part where I'm talking about how the relationship position of them is switched around. Kageyama, who seems eager to take TheBee back, equals to the sliver of light left on Kageyama, and in next episode, Yaguruma remarks actually he's jealous of Kageyama who still has a bit of a light left on him, but also inspired by it. I don't know how's TheBee Zecter's fate at the end, but would alternately choose between yeah, Tadokoro or Misaki, as Tadokoro too, has shown to be a fighter after his Worm status is revealed, but of course as a fodder Worm he can't lay a hand on Cassis Worm.