[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 45

Despite being given that setup by Die, I don't begrudge the show for its current disinterest in Hiyori. Not that Die doesn't *totally* have my number there, but I mean, I kind of saw this coming. Besides, Inoue wrote that bit with her buying an orange back in 16, which might be my favorite moment in the series, so he's off the hook. Much like Tendou, I have to accept that not everything can be all about Hiyori all the time, so I guess I'll just have to talk about the world she lives in for a bit, yeah?

First off, I think it's worth noting that, while plenty of people have gotten to do many great things with Tsurugi, the first and final major spotlight two-parters for Sasword are both written by Inoue and directed by Nagaishi. It's not the borderline co-ownership of Drake that Inoue and Tasaki had, since Tsurugi has been such a major part of the series, but still, I find the symmetry satisfying.

Now of course, despite that, Nagaishi isn't a director I can easily launch into a ramble about (though this one does involve a ton of different locations...), and, as I pointed out back in his very first episode for the series, anything interesting I could say about an Inoue script is something Die can and will have said better already, so it's a tiny bit of a struggle to know what I want to write about here. Apologies in advance if this is another unfocused one.

Broadly speaking, I remember this two-parter easily being the highlight of the back half or so of Kabuto for me. Naturally, I also don't remember too much about it beyond the broad strokes. Namely, that it's about Tsurugi, who I've established is one of my favorite characters in the show, and definitely my favorite in this episode, when Hiyori is barely around, and Drake has seemingly been pulled straight out of the crossover movie dimension for his little cameo, being nothing more than a suit and some grunts. (Although admittedly, I thought that was a cute, simple way to add to the scale of the episode's Worm plot.)

Tsurugi is just too adorable – he really is. It's not going to take much effort at this point for the show to sell me on a plot all about him inexplicably managing to win Misaki over contrasted against the mounting tension of his true nature as a Worm coming to the forefront. Both of those things could be interesting plots on their own, so throw them together and it's like twice as good. Despite the apparent tonal problems Die mentioned, I think this is pretty much a perfect place to bring Tsurugi's subplot to a head, actually. It's climactic in its own way, letting him have what is essentially the absolute last chance to bring a resolution to his story that won't involve it getting buried in all the other climactic plot threads that are going to be happening soon. I am more than okay with the show taking the time out to do this as its own thing!

Even the wacky comedy style of how a lot of this one plays out feels natural enough for the story being told, and I have to agree with Die and (assumedly) Inoue that this is just a way more interesting thread to follow than the Worm stuff? Like, I seriously keep forgetting that Tendou is technically in ZECT now, because the way they're run, it seems like joining the organization doesn't involve any real commitment whatsoever. He's only occasionally working directly with them, and, as proven by the Hyper Zecter's introduction, he can even attempt to steal company property and get let off with less than a slap on the wrist. ZECT used to be so serious about hunting down this radical unknown element, but now Kabuto is such pals with the boss, he lets him sit in his chair during important meetings. Perks of being best friends with his son, I suppose.

I mean, I say all this as though ZECT is crazy for switching up their previous staunchly anti-Kabuto rhetoric, but while the whole point I'm trying to make here is that it's far too late for the series to start pretending we should take this organization and its doings seriously, I do have to give them credit for realizing that Tendou has been one of the least problematic Riders to work for them, despite a plot to destroy ZECT from within being his entire motive for signing up. It sounds bad, but then you take a look at their previous two golden boys, now chaining themselves up in the woods, broken shells of men in desperate need of professional help, and it's hard to argue they haven't made a smart decision. Besides, Tendou having a membership card for their weird club was all ZECT ever wanted in the first place. Who knows, maybe if he had been this cooperative back when TheBee first showed up to recruit him, Yaguruma and Kageyama would be doing way better right now!

Either way, it's obviously worth mentioning that Gatack is the true underappreciated workhorse of ZECT's Riders, which is a smooth enough segue to mention how much I love Kagami's scenes in this one. He's not a huge part of it, but I really want to make sure I mention how much appreciation I've gained for Yuuki Satou's performance during this rewatch. This is a show that's absolutely filled to the brim with these wild, heightened characters, and I could say this about so many of the actors portraying them, but something about Satou's brief fits in this episode when he's getting worried about Tsurugi's secret coming out seriously impressed me with the utter conviction he gives to Kagami's trademark Very Big Feelings. It's a role that actively requires the willingness to be as uncool as possible very frequently, and he never shies away from that, which makes his more subdued moments and genuine heroic feats work all the better when they happen.

Anyway, very fun episode – looking forward to seeing how well the conclusion holds up!