[DreadBringer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 04

It’s Kagami who gets the worst of it this episode, and… can I just say how weird it feels to do this story as the fourth episode? It is a rough road Kagami travels down in this one, and we’ve only just gotten to know him. It’s a story that, honestly, shouldn’t work. The degree of difficulty on landing some of these beats this early on in a series… it is foolish to attempt. That it worked at all is luck. That it worked this well is an actor’s skill.

So other than the disguise tricking people, the Worms also torture others emotionally by their disguise, with them using their loved ones. I feel like, Ryou suddenly returns after 2 year because of him being murdered by Worm. And the Worm points out that if Kagami lets him go, which is his duty as a ZECT member, then the very last bit of his brother's memories will be gone, to screw Kagami up. Obviously it's not, Ryou being a Worm is only a tool to study Kagami's character.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And that’s when Tendou shows up.

It’s a tricky episode for Tendou’s character. He’s got to take a back seat in this one, and nearly every time he tries to assert himself in the story it makes him less heroic. He’s forcing Kagami to move faster than he’s able, pushing him to resolve his emotional issues to Tendou’s schedule. There’s even less flexibility to Tendou than usual, and it’s making his friendship (his sister’s right, he’s totally Kagami’s friend) with Kagami even more frayed than when Tendou charged cases of mackerel to him. (WHO DOES THAT?!)

Well, in general, Tendou actually takes more backseat for Kabuto, some thinks Kagami is the actual main character for his journey (like Hajime-Tachibana debate for secondary Rider at Blade). And there, you use the term narcissistic, jerk, less heroic, egostical, etc. to describe Tendou, by that it's clear that he's not the most upstanding individual, so what's the term to sum him up if it's not "asshole" to you? And speaking for what Jyuka (his sister) assumes for Tendou and Kagami, well, that's the thing about Tendou's arrogance, it makes Tendou have no friends; albeit with him being perfect, he's still popular and likable by women. And seeing how Jyuka interacts with others, it's a relief that Jyuka isn't totally blind to Tendou as his beloved big brother; she talked to Kagami about her brother being arrogant and knew that others can fed up with it. Though Tendou sees weakness as stepping stone to become better, Tendou has the same mindset as, uhh... edgy people, particularly on internet who thinks affection to others as weakness, which is something that shouldn't be preserved among people (and like Tendou, people like these can bash characters that has affection due to them viewing it as weakness). This is the opposite of what's taught in Hibiki, where Ibuki's devotion to Kasumi is considered his strength instead.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And it leads to this final connection between Kagami and Tendou, which... again, this is the fourth episode. This is the sort of shit you pull in the final third of the whole series, not two minutes after the cast first meets. Insane to do this now. But, holy hell, it’s a triumph.

Kagami is beside himself with grief. He’s mad at the Worm, he’s mad at himself, and he’s mad at Tendou. It’s hard to say what’s in his head, entirely, but I think he thinks Tendou must be laughing at him. Smug as ever in his superiority. He was right, and now Ryou’s dead for good. Stupid ol’ Kagami, screwed it up again. So he swears to Tendou that he’ll surpass him, that the days of Tendou being right and perfect, and Kagami being a punchline, those days are numbered.

And Tendou stops, picks up the charred baseball that symbolized the connection between Kagami and Ryou… and throws it to Kagami. It’s Tendou giving witness to what Kagami’s lost, and the bravery in making that choice. The toxic memory of Ryou is gone, but the positive one can still be a part of Kagami’s life. But it’s also Tendou saying I’m Here. It’s an olive branch, a first step in a friendship. If Kagami, with that killer punch, wants to be better than Tendou? If that’s what’ll help him move on from this loss? Tendou will be waiting for that moment.

Tendou seems to throw the baseball violently (seems to me), yet Kagami is on guard and just catch it anyway. Kagami has a personal vendetta against Worm, but in contrast to Tendou which is outright perfect and... unrelatable, Kagami also represents the audience for what will happen for his vendetta against Worm later.