[Blade Raider]

Funny, I consider Tsurugi one of the characters that got the worst of it in the second half of Kabuto. He stops being a rider, he becomes pure comic relief (that isn't very funny), his story stops having anything to do with the rest of the show, and the only reason he wasn't written out of the show is because they had a dangling plot thread they refused to address for 20+ episodes.



If I were to fix Kabuto, I'd start by having Tsurugi's worm form take over pretty much right on top of the Hoppers showing up. Then make it about Gattack trying to save him and the Hoppers kill Tsurugi (meaning the Hoppers actually did something for once). Then spend the rest of the 30s resolving what the Hoppers did and grow Gattack. Then refocus onto Gryllus Worm plot sooner as Kabuto's final boss.