[Kamen Rider Die]

Get ready for an all-Chicago Decade post, as MrWilliamGraham and I are here to watch some Kabuto-themed episodes!

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KAMEN RIDER DIE: We've got MrWilliamGraham helping us out for these Kabuto-themed episodes of Decade! MWG is one of the few people on the TokuNation boards that I can confirm is an actual human being, and one I've had some long conversations with IRL. But! I've either not asked some important questions, or (way more likely) I've already forgotten the answers. So, MWG, let me risk our friendship by maybe asking you questions I've already asked you months ago!
To start with, talk to me a little about how you discovered tokusatsu as a genre. What was your first exposure to it?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: I think like alot of people growing in the US, our first exposure to Toku was through Power Rangers
My rangers hayday would be around 1997 up to 2009 ish
back when the show was still on over-the-air
I wouldn't say I was a diehard fan, but i definitely watched the show and owned a couple toys
I was more of a mech collector than figures
once PR moved to cable the franchise fell off my radar

KAMEN RIDER DIE: So Power Rangers was more of a side hobby than a main interest, growing up?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: I would say so, one of those series that just misses out on the top 5

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Any particularly memorable seasons in those early years? Ones that you're still a sucker for as an adult collector/viewer?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: My parents had taped the original MMPR movie on VHS ( remember taping shows as they were airing ? )
so it was a movie I had on rotation as a kid, I'm definitely going to say its the best big screen feature of the series ( ducks for cover )
My favorite series was 2001's Time Force
I was a sucker for the future tech / time travel aesthetic, and I love the mecha
It's a series that has held up really well and is praised for writing and storylines

KAMEN RIDER DIE: The good news about me never watching any Power Rangers is that I'm totally unable to either push back against "bad" takes, or even understand if an opinion is controversial. I am going to tell other people that fans love the MMPR movie, because I don't know any better. Thank you for giving me a talking point!
Your interest in Power Rangers waned in 2009, which is when it moved to cable. What was next for you and toku? Did you rediscover Power Rangers later in life, or did you start in on Japanese series?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: I had just a few glimpses of where the PR franchise was going based on stuff I'd seen in stores but I didn't do another deep dive until 2017, when Saban was making the next feature adaptation
Those trailers made me think " hey, that was a show I used to watch "
so I did a little deep dive on where the franchise was at that point, discovered that it was still airing on TV ( Dinosaurs again ! )
which then lead me to a deep dive on where all of these shows came from: Super Sentai
I had years ago discovered it all came from Japan, but it wasn't until then that I really started searching up the names of the shows and how they were different to their american counterparts

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I like that you said "dinosaurs again", instead of "dinosaurs still?€?. Dinosaurs are so much of what I think of Sentai as being - like the insect motifs for Kamen Rider - that I would've just assumed they'd only ever done dinosaur seasons. Which, incidentally, makes it so weird that Sentai is doing its most Kamen Rider-esque season ever (from an outsider's perspective) just as a dinosaur-themed Kamen Rider is about to debut. What a time to be alive!
But back to Sentai: was that the first Japanese tokusatsu you watched? A Sentai series?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Kamen Rider Faiz and Gekisou Sentai Carranger almost concurrently
ah scratch that
Faiz and Gosei Sentai Dairanger
( Dairanger is the season that directly succeeded MMPR's japanese counterpart, but it was never properly adapted in America )

KAMEN RIDER DIE: What made you choose those two to start with? Faiz, in particular, feels like an unusual starting point for the franchise.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Dairanger because I had no point of reference with PR, since it had no direct adaptation
so it was entirely fresh and new to me
Faiz came around because through the YT algorithms, I kept seeing these henshin/fight moves compilation videos
and the Faiz weapons really drew me in

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's nice to see YouTube continuing to radicalize viewers by presenting them with the most aggressive and controversial content. Faiz! Man! That's my favorite Phase 1 show, but it's an incredibly weird one to start off with. Those characters are jerks to each other for most of the series! Faiz's first upgrade form is thrown at him by Kusaka with almost no explanation! THERE IS NO CAFE!
Despite those many hurdles, how did Faiz work for you? Did it ignite a passion to watch more Kamen Rider, or did that come later?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: It absolutely did
I found Faiz to be thoroughly enjoyable, and I appreciated there was a storyline connecting all the episodes
I think it was something I wasn't able to appreciate as a kid, the benefits of long format storytelling

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, the Rider shows... even the ones where the arc-plot stuff is less compelling, the characters themselves always have these memorable journeys they go on. Inoue shows tend to be less about a mounting threat from villains - Smart Brain really isn't changing the landscape of the conflict at all over the series - and more about how the heroes/protagonists change over time into better/happier people. It makes the whole series work on a character level, even if the villains don't have a very cool plan.
So, at this point in your toku discovery, were you just all in? Devouring shows across multiple franchises?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yes, but I started to really lean in on Rider more
mostly because I had nothing to compare it to so I was drawn in to that sense of discovery
If I had to sum up my experience with toku in those first few months, it would be "come for the action, stay for the characters and story "
and shortly after I started digging into the current shows that were airing : Build

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Did you start watching Build as it was airing?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: No, it had already premiered and was maybe about a dozen or so episodes in, but I was able to catch up and started watching it as it aired
and then I started watching Lupinranger vs Patoranger as it premiered, I was able to track the copyright listings and all the toy catalogue leaks and trailers

KAMEN RIDER DIE: That sounds like a real commitment! The sort of commitment that might require a tokusatsu fan site to help keep track of everything. Is this when you found your way to TokuNation?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yes ! I can't remember exactly how I found TokuNation
but that's how I discovered LupvPat was going to be the next Sentai
and I started lurking there ever since

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Not just lurking, though! You've done some occasional posting, contributing to the discourse. Which threads do you find yourself in the most? I know you're a pretty avid figure collector, so I'm assuming the Figuarts thread is like a second home.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yea I think I hop into the Figuarts thread the most, but I'll also pop in to some of the show discussions and rumors

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Psyched for Revice?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yea, I'm always psyched for new shows
with Revice being an anniversary season seemingly plus maybe dinosaurs
its that sense of discovery that appeals to me when we get new shows

KAMEN RIDER DIE: For sure. I love the first few episodes of basically every series. That sense of possibility, that weird thought that you are going to feel very different about all of these strangers real soon... there's really nothing like it.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Exactly, which I appreciate in the annual toku recycle
yes, they have to change it up to sell new batches of toys
but it's always fun to see which direction the writers/directors go with each new theme

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, totally. I remember feeling that way about Kabuto when it started, where we get Tendou's introduction way after we get Kagami's, and how that sort of tripped me up in how the show was telling its story. It makes Tendou less of the usual I Have Lessons To Learn audience-surrogate lead Rider than we'd gotten on some of the previous shows.
And speaking of Kabuto! You and I were hanging out last week, and you volunteered to handle the Kabuto episodes for Decade. Tell me a little bit about your experience with Kabuto. Was it a fun show for you? How would you rank it against other Phase 1 series?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Kabuto was a really fun show for me, I devoured it faster than the other show's I've watched recently.
One of my favorite experiences with Phase 1

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Who was your favorite Rider, and why was it Sasword?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Sasword is a league of his own

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He wins at winning.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: if V-Cinemas were a thing back then, Sasword would have had his own trilogy

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He was an early-days Genm, and there was no system to maximize his maximalism. It's a missed opportunity, for sure.
Otherwise, you liked the cast from Kabuto?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Very much so, for a large cast of riders and supporting character, I think for the most part the show did a great job of balancing everyone out and giving them their time to shine

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Well, we're about to watch some Decade episodes celebrating Kabuto, and hopefully they're able to live up to Kabuto's greatness. MRWILLIAMGRAHAM! Prep your tofu, cast off your fears, and get ready to walk the path of heaven straight towards these episodes of DECADE!

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KAMEN RIDER DECADE EPISODE 16 - "WARNING: KABUTO IS OUT OF CONTROL!”
The Team lands in the World of Kabuto, as Tsukasa is swiftly enlisted to help ZECT take down a Worm, while Tsukasa hangs out back at the Hikari Studio. Wait, WHAT?! After a brief bout of mistaken identity and Double Decade hijinks, Tsukasa and the gang meet Mayu, a young woman being protected by the eternally-accelerated Kamen Rider Kabuto… the same Kabuto who she blames for killing her brother. While ZECT maneuvers to rid the city of Kabuto once and for all, Kabuto works to save Mayu from a Worm plot. But when Mayu's presumed-dead brother is revealed to be in charge of ZECT, Team Decade may not be able to put the brakes on things!

KAMEN RIDER DECADE EPISODE 17 - "THE PATH OF GRANDMOTHER'S FLAVOR”
Mayu is reunited with her brother, but he's got no interest in reuniting their family. No interest, that is, until he realizes that Kabuto protects her, so she can be used as bait to trap Kabuto. Everything explodes in our finale as Kabuto is revealed to be Mayu's ACTUAL brother, while a Worm duplicate manipulated both her and ZECT. Together with Decade, Kabuto defeats the Worm Souji and vanishes back into the Speed Force or whatever. There's some messy thematic stuff, and absolutely no Sasword, but at least Tsukasa got some new cards out of it!

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KAMEN RIDER DIE: Look at him! Look at our speedy superhero, Kabu-- wait, that's not Kabuto!
That's Kamen Rider Wizard!
-finger to ear-
I am being told that we are actually looking at Faiz Axel/Accel, one of many very cool form changes from these two Kabuto-themed episodes of Decade.
It's always interesting to see what this show thinks are the most memorable aspects of a previous Kamen Rider series, and these episodes go all in on Kabuto's Action Sequences Were Awesome. I feel like Decade delivered on that expectation. Did you?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: One of my favorite parts of Decade is seeing where all the past suits pop up.
and I love how Tsukasa almost immediately uses the powers from the past episode
sometimes to hilarious effect as we saw in this arc

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He's a collector, and he loves playing with his new toys.
Yeah, we'll for sure talk about the Den-O action in this episode, but I was really thrilled with how the story used suits and powers in non-hilarious ways this time. There's a real sense of tactics in the fights this time, something I don't remember being a big deal since maybe the Kiva episodes? The fights here are more of a chess match, where Tsukasa and Kaitou have to adjust their game plans to account for new variables. That's... I don't think that's an all the time Kamen Rider thing, so I like calling attention to it when it's prominent.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: For sure. It adds a lot to Tsukasa's prowess as a Rider. He's not just a guy with the powers of everyone. I think even from a behind the scenes aspect, the power ups are not just there for fan service.
Almost like kids having that classic "who's the strongest rider?" discussion

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It can sometimes feel that way, though. Between his I Need To Put This New Card In Every Deck mentality, and the way some of the form changes are, like, thematically interesting without being relevant to combat, it's tough to see him using his arsenal in clever ways.
Here, I'm watching the first part, and I go Oh He Could Use Faiz Axel/Accel As An Equalizer... and then the show has Tsukasa come to the same conclusion. That made for a really engaging cliffhanger, because it felt like Tsukasa was using his brains, rather than just giving a speech so someone else could help him outnumber an enemy.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Which is the bulk of Decade, but yes that was a great detail
Same as the Worm fight where he starts of with Kuuga, where you first think Tsukasa just has Yusuke on his mind
but he has the Pegasus form in his backpocket
or is it side pocket ...

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah! He uses Pegasus Form's heightened senses to get the bead on an invisible enemy.
Even Kaitou gets in on the action, using Psyga and Ixa to construct a three-dimensional Bullet Hell to trap Kabuto.
It's not a story that tries to coast on nostalgia or callbacks. It really wants to serve up action that feels as clever and fun to watch as Kabuto was at its best.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Even pulls out some Riot Troopers to even the playing field
Are we sure this wasn't also a secret Faiz tribute ?

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Everything's a secret Faiz tribute in my heart.
...except for this, which was a Very Very Kabuto story.



KAMEN RIDER DIE: Tsukasa in a Kabuto story... I mean, the easy read on him is that he's just Tendou, and never was that more apparent than in these episodes. Slotting him into a Kabuto homage... it basically just plays like a Kabuto story? The end?
There're a bunch of fun ideas in the first part, but those all get blown off in about ten minutes. After that, it's just Tsukasa As Tendou in Kabuto's Greatest Hits, and I found it sort of unimaginative?
Like, the Two Tsukasas thing is great, but it's one scene that never gets called back on. Same thing with Tsuskasa as a ZECT member.
So much of this story just ends up being exactly like Kabuto The Series, and that was a letdown for me. How about you?

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: I agree, it's a shame that the most interesting parts don't become the through line of this arc
I think Decade is at its best when they remix elements of the past shows
but here they just insert Tsukasa into a cliff notes of Kabuto

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's just Souji and Mayu, and the beats are super similar. ZECT feels identical, and making the Souji/Mayu story so central to the narrative feels almost claustrophobic. This might as well just be a clip show of Kabuto ideas. It's not some weird thing like BOARD in the Blade episodes, or setting the Faiz episodes in a high school. Literally the only interesting twist is keeping the grandmother around, but otherwise? It felt... yeah, I'm gonna stick with "unimaginative".

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: and even with how close it is to the original, you can really see the Kagami sized hole in this arc

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He has nothing to do here!

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Kabuto is as much about Kagami as it is about Souji

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Not as far as this story was concerned!

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: if anything they should've added Onodera in that role

KAMEN RIDER DIE: But that would've meant giving Onodera or Natsumi something to do, and that is now apparently against this show's rules.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Introducing Grandmother was an interesting concept, but it felt flat to me because it loses that mystique original Souji created
Grandmother works best as the Maris of Kamen Rider
( Let's see how many people pick up that ref )

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, it's funny as a Kabuto reference (I assume at least one of her lines in the restaurant was from a Kabuto episode), but it's not much more than that to me. It also leads into some thematic stuff I didn't love?



MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Agh this didn't really work for me

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I don't really love this story's message. I never thought of Kabuto as a show About Family, even though that's 100% what this story was about. (I thought of it more as a show about not measuring yourself against other people, and being okay with your limitations.) So this story sort of trying to say Family Will Always Be There For You in a way that also plays as Family Demands You Not Change... wasn't crazy about that!
The idea that a franchise about a transforming hero would do a story where change is a bad thing... what?!

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Remember in the finale of Kabuto
when Souji delivers his badass speech about changing the world by changing yourself into a source of inspiration ?
Where was that ? That should've been huge for this arc

KAMEN RIDER DIE: There's a stifling feeling to the finale of this story, where it's all about denying aspects of Mayu that are troublesome? And staying with a family business forever? Making the exact same dish forever? And never ever trying to do more than that, because it would be like saying your family isn't enough for you? Even though it sort of shouldn't have to be enough for you?
Like, yeah, Tsukasa's sort of a dick, trying to change a business's unique recipe on his first day (He's the Tendou! That's his role!), but the show completely takes the grandmother's side that change is unnecessary and borderline insulting.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Yea it feel very much the opposite of what this franchise wants to invoke
individuals becoming a force for change and growth despite adversity and circumstance

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I'm sure that, much like the Blade guy didn't want to write the Blade tribute episodes, Yonemura didn't want to write these Kabuto ones (some fill-in guy handled them), but, man! Maybe he should've given some notes on what Kabuto's supposed to (the)be(e) like! ZECT, nailed it. There Are A Brother And A Sister, bingo. Even Tsukasa gets at the vague shape of Tendou (without mimicking Tendou's confidence, which is such a huge part of that character that I can't ever see too much similarity between them). But it really doesn't feel that much like Kabuto to me.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: The little glimpses of Kabuto I did feel was the comedy in the beginning of the first part

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, there's some bonkers stuff in the first episode.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Kabuto is a sneaky hilarious show, and I felt that seep through
maybe it wasn't totally intentional to bring back that comedy, but those parts were probably the highlight of this arc

KAMEN RIDER DIE: True! The Twokasas stuff was priceless, but we have to talk about the best gag in this story:



KAMEN RIDER DIE: The idea that the only powers Decade got from the Den-Liner crew were poses and catchphrases, it KILLED ME.
The villains being baffled and then furious at Decade's non-sequiturs! So they kick the shit out of him!

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: Poor Tsukasa had no idea it was going to blow up in his face

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It's such a fun little dig at how fan-service-y Den-O had gotten, and how much Decade as a show was in a promotional mode for the Currently In Theaters movie. It's slightly mean, which is maybe perfect for a Kabuto story.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: yea its a little disappointing the best part of the arc was a callback to the previous one
but man does it work

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It works so good! Den-O is the comedy gift that keeps giving.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: someone was playing the long game

KAMEN RIDER DIE: My favorite touch is how aggravated Tsukasa gets when he realizes that those dopey monsters were only good for cheap pops. He is livid.
Anything else from these episodes you wanted to talk about? We didn't really say much about Souji, who I found to be pleasant-but-forgettable since he lost about 75% of his personality to Tsukasa.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: yea there's also not much going on for Worm Souji
Do you think this arc could've used 100% more Sasword ?

KAMEN RIDER DIE: The backstory for this dude's dilemma is sort of handwaved. He's stuck in Clock Up for... reasons. Part of me thought it was going to be psychological, where him losing Mayu's trust kept him from being able to go home, but then she wants him to come home at the end and he still ends up back in Clock Up? It's literally just Reasons, and that's all we get.
Also, yes, WHERE WERE JIIYA AND TSURUGI
GO TO A.R. FRANCE AND GET THEM
It's just so weird to me that this story latched onto the Tendou/Hiyori part of the narrative, when there's honestly not a ton of it in Kabuto The Series? The movie, sure, to my chagrin. But the series lost Hiyori for a huge chunk of time, and I never felt like that side of the story ever really recovered. Plenty of good parts besides that, but the bond between those two characters definitely diminished for me.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: It didn't recover, but I still found it endearing by the end. I guess it's difficult to encapsulate a whole series in such a short amount of screen time, which is why I prefer when this show just goes in a new direction

KAMEN RIDER DIE: They did not do themselves a lot of favors here, no.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: There's probably a stronger version of this arc where AR Souji is more present than just Tsukasa being a stand in for him

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Or they'd leaned harder into the Worms duplicating our normal cast.

MRWILLIAMGRAHAM: That would've been amazing, and honestly it would've been right up Inoue's alley
Kabuto but as farce is what this arc needed

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Maybe that would've been too much comedy after the Den-O episodes, though? Hard to say. What's easy to say is that our cast is heading next to the World of Hibiki! Expect music, mayhem, and at least one (1) Actual Zanki, who I guess just shows up to every Kamen Rider set and asks if they need him that day. It's going to be a cacophonous confrontation with Mysterious Fisherman as we continue our Journey through Decade!