[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 22

I mean, this is an episode that starts with Kagami getting a pep talk from his boss that’s basically If You’re Going To Be An Idiot, Be The Best Idiot You Can Be. It’s an episode that constantly undercuts Kagami’s determination by pointing out how much trouble it gets him in. When he races off to the factory that Makoto’s hiding in, he immediately gets surrounded by the Worms. There is no plan from Kagami, just emotion. He has absolutely no chance, as a normal human, to actually save Makoto from a nest of Worms. But he throws himself into that danger, because he can’t stop himself. He will do whatever it takes to save this kid.

Who, of course, isn't even a kid at all. Makoto is a Worm, just like everyone’s been telling Kagami. It’s a trap, just like it seemed to be last time. And so Kagami is killed for his failure, for his naivete, for his misplaced belief in Makoto, for his stupid insistence that he could make a difference despite being powerless.

Yeah, Kagami, as said by Tadokoro in this episode, is an idiot, although it's not something that is hateable within him, instead likely endearing to him. And that sums up how Kagami's not the brightest; he didn't use any plan to save Makoto, and he went there as a normal human to fend off Worms, just like he usually does. He's a reckless hothead with his burning desire to kill all Worms. I'd want for a series to prove that the type of Kagami's morality isn't inherently an idiot though, like probably Yusuke. I'd wonder if Kagami was actually too late where there's a real Makoto that is a genuine child, but he's killed by Worm that impersonates as Makoto, and was the one Kagami met at his 2nd attempt against him, or that Makoto is really the Worm from the beginning.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It all starts to wind back. Kagami isn’t powerless; the Gatack Zecter comes to him, saving his life and giving him the strength to defeat the Worms. He wasn’t wrong to believe in Makoto; some small part of him lived on in the Worm, and saved Gatack from the factory’s explosion. His naivete wasn’t his failure; he succeeded due to his blind faith that people are worth saving, that his Very Big Feelings were a strength. And so he gets to live another day, as Kamen Rider Gatack.

It’s a fantastic sequence, and I get why these episodes stick in people’s memories now. (I still think the first one isn’t perfect, though!) This episode is all about breaking down Kagami, exposing his flaws… and then asking if those same flaws aren’t really flaws at all? It’s bold, to spend half an episode (and most of the rest of the series) to make him look like such a chump. Yet, somehow, all of that just ends up making his victory so much sweeter.

There you go. Kabuto's secondary Rider is Kagami, as Gatack. It took probably significantly longer than usual secondary Rider (who can appear second, or even first like G3 or Knight), but cmiiw, you seem to, understandably though, think that Kagami's done as a Rider after TheBee, but the merchandising of Kabuto blatantly tells otherwise. And I'd bring up again Tendou/Kagami's dynamic, where Tendou's the calm, unflappable, and stoic to Kagami's idiot, rash, struggling, unlucky and naive. This is reflected in their Rider form, which is ironically, Tendou's is red and Kagami's is blue (when Tendou's the blue to Kagami's red), but their eye colors are accurate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The trick is that Kagami doesn’t learn a lesson here. It’s not a story where he grows, or changes his mind, or whatever. It’s… I mean, hilariously, it’s what I dinged the show for last episode, but praise it for now: it’s just reminding us who Kagami is as a man. All of the stuff it usually laughs at him for, it really delves into this episode and tries to explain. This story makes it tragic, and then makes it heroic. He’s not more anything in this one. He’s just Kagami, for better or worse.

Nowhere is that more apparent than the ending, which is a subtle twist on the ending to 4, the best ever Kabuto ending to date. (This one’s good, but… man, 4. Tough to beat!) As the Makoto Worm tries to appeal to Gatack’s sympathy by doing the You Wouldn’t Detonate Wittle Owe Me routine, it looks like we’re back at the baseball diamond, with Kagami unable to pull the trigger on his brother’s memory. Kagami came to this factory to save Makoto. Can he really kill what’s left of him? So Kabuto walks up, once again opting to make the hard choice that Kagami’s too sweet to do. But Gatack stops him, says that he’ll take care of it.

Yeah, this part of episode resembles the 4, where Kagami struggles to kill a Worm due to the memories of the human they impersonate. Everything who Kagami is as a man is always heroic, just that succeeding or not depends. Kagami is usually a failure hero, and in worse case, even ruins the plan in his organization, but this one's similarly heroic and just Kagami, but this one's given a big triumph with the secondary Rider in Kabuto making a scene. Kagami truly didn't learn a lesson here as he keeps doing what he usually does, and that's encouraged by Tadoroko now and to a lesser extent Misaki.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

But he doesn’t kill the Worm. Kagami takes his sympathy, his ability to care about the life the Worm stole, and turns it back on the Worm. He gives the Worm the moonbow that Makoto always wanted to see, the wish he was never granted when he was alive. It’s not enough to stop the Worm (it charges Gatack), but it’s enough to redeem Makoto’s memory. A Rider Kick from Gatack finishes off the attacking Worm, but what remains of Makoto uses his final moments to save Gatack from the factory’s explosion. It’s kindness repaying kindness.

And that’s Kagami, you know? He’s not a smart fighter. (He jumps his bike in the most badass way, before getting knocked right the eff off of it by a Worm a second later.) But he won’t let reason get in the way of his Very Big Feelings, since his Very Big Feelings are always pointed in the direction of Helping. He may be a burden, like Kagami once said. He may be an idiot, like Tadokoro said in this one. But he’s always a hero.

And like above yeah, this time Kagami's decision, after stopping Tendou too, is rewarded like how he's Gatack now, with how the Worm shielded Gatack. Now it shows that Kagami's way has real benefit, and probably Tendou's right ahead to see it. Though still, Worms are two-faced (except apparently Makoto here who repaid Kagami's deeds), I want for heroes to acknowledge that being nice outside can just be an act, and that's crucial in saving others too and giving less time for those two-faced to hide behind their friendly facade to continue destroying in silence.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

(I hate consigning an entire subplot to a parenthetical, but there’s really no way to fit in the Tsurugi stuff to what’s going on in the rest of this episode.

Well yeah, there's funny stuff in this episode, but that's in other plot entirely, nothing connected to Kagami's. So it's ok for the comedy part to be used on entirely the other part, and let the main plot be dark as ever to you? And I don't think that comedy is inherent "lightness", because for example if it's about how any toxic and crude behaviors being considered funny, and those actions being justified because of being hilarious without any regards to the victims where it don't matter as much as the comedic or entertainment value in those behaviours, then that's comedic sociopathy, and those engaging in that are emotional cruelty. Yeah as I said before, Tendou's probably have a soft spot towards chefs, other than Hiyori who he treats like Juka, there's also Jiiya here, who he outright consider humanity's treasure. Tendou being rude to Tsurugi is deserved for him though. Hiyori's catchphrase is "nande boku ga" (why me?) so her rolling her eyes is a continuation of that, of her being misantrophic, wanting to avoid people. They do finally show a scheming bastard, if put into mundane situation in Kageyama, that his attempt to blend in the crowd is just upsettling.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

A QUESTION

Gatack! Let’s talk about our slick new Rider. I mostly like the suit, especially how it’s way more drawn from Kabuto’s suit than the other Riders. Making it another kind of beetle is the easiest way to do that, with everything being a slight variation on Kabuto’s aesthetic. The chestpiece in particular is, like, Kabuto But Blue Now. It’s not a great look that we get this time, with the first Gatack fight being underground in the dark, but I did like most of what I saw. (Not crazy about the shoulder swords, but they’ll probably grow on me.) What do you think of the Gatack costume?

I probably like Gatack more compared to Kabuto, although I wasn't fully into the rugged stuff in his head (I know his motif is stag beetle, but probably can be done in better way for me).

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Originally Posted by FreshToku

This episode is also the best. Kagami’s actions towards Makoto, even now knowing he’s a worm, was really great. It would have been so much less meaningful if he had just ‘toughened up’ and went for the kill, but it wouldn’t have been Kagami at all. And the end of the episode is by far my most vivid memory of the show and probably always will be, with Gatack and Kabuto standing in those ruins, and Kagami responding to Tendou saying without any shame that this is just who he is.

Well yeah, this can be a debate between the charascter being OOC, or it being a character development if Kagami did finish off Makoto. And that's something I want to know and settle between character's changes. Where Kagami had a toughened up declaration where he won't forgive Worms that abuse trusts from humans.