[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 34



So, just to get it out of the way: Yes, I cackled like a lunatic at all of Yaguruma's appearances. It is such a parody of the tortured anti-hero, so committed to being Baby's First Nihilist, that I literally can't see any flaws in it. Art is subjective, and folks are going to have different experiences than mine, but I genuinely cannot fathom being anything less than in the bag for Yaguruma and his Yaguruminations. Literally every time that dude opens his mouth, it's a goldmine.

It helps that all of his shit with Kageyama, haunting him like The Ghost Of Failures Yet To Come, it's super tied into this episode's theme: If You Feed A Starving Person, They Will Love You.

It's not a subtle theme, since both Renge and Tsurugi call it out at some point in the episode. It's treated literally by Tsurugi, since his ability to understand the common people (weird shout-out to a then-11-year old Pulp song, but not the weirdest thing in this episode) is tied up in Juka offering him the Official Snack Of Kamen Rider, takoyaki. Having someone feed him, it forms a connection. It lets him know he's not alone, that someone sees him and cares about him.

That's pretty much how it works for Renge, who finally eats something other than her Sengoku Rice or whatever, and feels a connection with Tendou. And, some of it's that, the literal feeding of Renge, but it's also Tendou making her feel like a person who can help. She's not just a weapon, or a tool, she's someone who can make a positive difference in someone else's life. Feeding that part of her soul, creating space for her to feel heroic... it's a very Tendou thing to do?

It's here that I introduce a counterpoint to that flowery view of Tendou, though. This episode does a lot to walk back Tendou's villainy in 33, giving him opportunities to be vulnerable, and to choose to save people instead of furthering his goals. He is way less of an asshole in this one. But. There's a broadness to some of his vulnerability that makes me think he's manipulating Renge. Tendou needs the Hyper Zecter, and he knows Goro has it. He also knows there is absolutely no way Goro is going to trade him the Hyper Zecter for all of the other Zecters. It's a proposal that Goro is going to laugh at, the end. But that meeting is necessary, because it allows Tendou to show how hungry he is for the Hyper Zecter, right in front of Renge. It also slowly breaks down her resistance, slowly opens the door to her having a desire outside of ZECT. Tendou becomes a kindred spirit, someone who wants her to be happy in a way that Goro doesn't, and if he wants the Hyper Zecter... I mean, isn't it the least she can do?

So, yeah, I think Tendou is manipulating her. He knows that she's the only one who can grab the Zecter from under Goro's nose; he just needs to exert enough pressure to get her to choose him over ZECT. By feeding her, literally and figuratively, he gets her to do what he wants.

(That said! He also wants her to not be Goro's lapdog because that's a horrible thing to live as! It can be two things!)

And that darker aspect of feeding someone, the dependency it can cause, brings us back to Yaguruma and Kageyama. Kageyama, who... boy. Even for someone who thinks Kageyama is TheWorst, this episode was maybe too much. But Kageyama is being drawn into Yaguruma's orbit again, and that means Too Much is the lowest setting. Yaguruma comes off like a cult leader, offering the debased and dejected Kageyama a new future as... I mean, I assume PunchHopper, but we'll probably find out for sure in a couple days. As it is, Yaguruma's mostly offering rain-soaked nega-affirmations, where Kageyama's only hope for a continued existence is by giving up on whatever shreds of self-respect he's hidden away. Fun stuff!

Speaking of fun stuff! Tsurugi! So fun! It's for sure the brighter interpretation of this episode's theme, more about connection and empathy than control and A Successories Poster But The Picture Is From The Music Video Of Johnny Cash's Cover Of "Hurt” By Nine Inch Nails. It's a plot where Tsurugi trades his foppish couture for the tiny clothes of a child, loses a sword fight with a flute, and nearly dies of starvation in an afternoon. It is indescribably charming, a full-throated embrace of simple pleasures and low-stakes nonsense. It's still 100% tied into this episode's theme, so much so that Tsurugi outright tells us what this episode was about, but it comes at it in the sweetest way. If Yaguruma is the pessimism that we're all starving for meaning that can never be sated, Tsurugi is the optimism that we just need to share what we've got and no one needs to go hungry.

A QUESTION

An easy toss-up this time: Who has the more embarrassing outfit in this episode, Yaguruma or Tsurugi?