[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 49

This has gotta be the most Showa finale Heisei Rider ever had. Just breathe this all in for a second. We've got some villanious mad science scheme taking place in a cheap looking dark room, complete with an uwilling test subject lying unconscious on a table; we've got Negishi dropping his previous casual speech shtick for a stereotypical 70's dictator vibe; we've got two Riders teaming up to fight a big monster guy who has basically no character beyond "is not nice"; and then it all ends with a Double Rider Kick and the evil secret lair being exploded. It's absolutely textbook. Plus, all the things exploding meant Ishida got to light that many more fires before the show ended! There's basically no way I could hate this episode.

It's real thin on plot, but as heavy as can be on the style. Ishida makes that cheap broadcast station room work. Honestly, he does! The final showdown is against a monster so uninteresting that, you guessed it, I never even remembered Mishima was literally the show's last boss. It's got issues narratively, but the cool blue palette contrasted against occasional spots of bright lighting, that's an image that kinda sticks with me a little more. Fitting the big theatrical flavor of an episode where Tendou makes his entrance jumping off a radio tower, there's a lot of God Speed Love in this one's style. Not surprising from the same director, but, heck, Yamato and Oda even make cameos as two civilians being affected by the Natives' plan going into action. It's like a party everybody but Sasword and the Hoppers were invited to!

I really do like it. Not a ton, and I was probably totally disengaged by this point in my first run through of the show, but still – there's a lot to enjoy here. It's a finale that starts with Kagami heroically riding off on his bike to save the day, and ends with the cast chilling out and soaking in a well-earned peace. Again, textbook. While it struggles with the same deeply rooted problems with this arc Die and I have mentioned more than enough by this point, it really is trying a lot harder to make those questionable decisions come together. The end result is serviceable at worst, and quite enjoyable at its best.

Tendou has always had a way with words, and his speechifying here is the big highlight for me as well. I loved his verbal dismantling of the Natives' goals. It gets to the core of why I legitimately think Tendou is an admirable hero. One of the big assertions he makes to Negishi is that humans are able to change themselves for the sake of others, and not only is that the start to just a nice, broadly positive message, it's also Tendou's very own life story.

I didn't mention it last time, but the cliffhanger at 48 draws a parallel between him being trapped under some rubble after being defeated by Gatack, and him reaching out to Hiyori all those years ago. It's rather on the nose, with him telling the viewer via internal monologue that really, Hiyori was the one who gave him the courage to keep living that fateful day, but I honestly thought it was a great moment, and it feels particularly relevant to Tendou's final speech here.

It's easy to forget, but Tendou trained himself to become the guy we met in the premiere. That connection Tendou made with Hiyori, it's everything to this series. We've been shown them grabbing hands 48 times just thanks to the opening alone. It's what I said about 44, too, about how personal and humble it all is. Tendou didn't become the strongest for his own ego, despite what it looks like, nor did he do it out of some vague, arrogant notion of saving the world. He did it because he wanted to be by the side of a single girl who needed help. Kamen Rider Kabuto only exists because of one small act of selflessness that lead to something far greater. Tendou isn't just making up something schmaltzy out of nowhere, everything about the narrative of the series supports what he's talking about – Tendou is his own proof that he's right. Maybe he really was justice, after all, huh?

So yeah, everything about that speech worked great for me. Die tackled why it's good from a completely different angle, too, and that's all the more reason I loved it. You can look at it from so many different directions and they all tie together and make sense to Kabuto as a whole. It's the kind of thematic weight and relevance this final arc could've used more of, but I'm glad they got it in where it counted the most.

It leaves you with a good feeling, at the end of the day. I don't know where Die's opinion will settle, but, personally, I don't get done watching this one and bemoan what could've been. It's not Kabuto's finest hour, sure, but when the finale ends with Tendou going to France to grab some tofu, I mean... like, are you not going to smile at least a little? This final trilogy suffered from an inability to find exciting new directions to go in, but on the flipside, it benefits from not doing anything crazy enough to risk sabotaging what came before. It's a final episode when Tendou and Kagami beat up a monster to save people. It's Kamen Rider, and it's hard to go wrong with that.