[Switchblade]

It's weird. I first watched Kabuto back when I initially got into Kamen Rider in '09 and did my own marathon of the Heisei era. All these years later, though, and I still have the same reaction to the ending of episode 7: "Ugh, not this shit again."

I'm not a huge fan of the Rider vs. Rider dynamic that was really popular in the early '00s. It can lead to some cool fight scenes, but I don't like how often the shows would pit the Riders against each other. One of the big reasons why I like Hibiki is that all of the characters get along and work together. Seeing Yaguruma ready to throw down with Tendou feels like a regression to me.

That said, I do like the character and I love TheBee. I generally like all of the Kabuto suits, but TheBee stands out as easily my favorite. It's a really good design with all the gold, silver, and black. The Masked Form is probably my favorite example of those, too. It's a really great suit all around.

Let's see, what else was in these episodes...

The reveal of Tendou as the priest never fails to amuse me, especially when he starts working his own catchphrase into the sermon. Never change, Tendou.

I am very deeply amused by the tofu vendor. The actor's performance is just so aggressively quirky that I can help but enjoy it while also hating it. He really commits to being so bizarre and annoying and I can respect that.