[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 39

I struggled a lot to pick a screencap for this one, largely because I was so spoiled for choice. You see, when everyone's favorite capricious wind blows into town, he tends to bring two people with him – one is Toshiki Inoue, and the other is Ryuuta Tasaki. And these episodes having the director they do should explain why the visual storytelling here is off the charts. I mean, just look at how Yaguruma's hand is literally blocking the source of light in the shot as he's telling Kageyama to embrace darkness. That's not even all that's great about it, either. Not only is this moment further punctuated by a sound effect as he moves his arm, but the very next shot is the shadow of his hand being cast across Kageyama's face. So much attention to detail for such a minor, kinda redundant scene with the Hoppers. What did I tell you guys? Clarity. It's still the name of the game here.

Oh, and, while I'm on the subject of Yaguruma and Kageyama: for the record, they're also introduced here munching on some Brothers Ramen, so this episode is not to be missed if you want to know the origins of a meal so iconic, their original Figuarts seriously came with the bowls as accessories.

But really, you also just shouldn't miss that great Tasaki direction again. So many wonderful touches as always. That hilarious gag Die mentioned with Gon questioning why they haven't called an ambulance for the unconscious woman on the ground? Made all the funnier by her audio being distant and even getting interrupted by Daisuke's internal monologuing about how beautiful Rena is, effortlessly stressing how much Daisuke is off in his own world, and reminding the audience that they aren't expected to take him too seriously.

You know, in case you didn't already get that from his reaction upon noticing Rena collapsing in the first place. This episode has a real knack for communicating the story without extraneous dialogue, and the wordless moments following Daisuke wishing to meet the world's beautiful woman – the sudden noise of something hitting the ground offscreen, followed by Daisuke's gleeful smile when he sees what's going on – really sum it up perfectly. The same is true of the careful set dressing in both Hiyori and especially Rena's apartment, with the latter having details as impressively precise as a calendar still on July and August, around when the Worm we know as Rena made her debut on the show. (This episode aired in October, by the way.)

It's like nearly every scene in the episode uses the visuals to supplement and/or reinforce what's going on, and the result is what's already a quite good script becoming so much richer in the execution. It's really no wonder this one got Die thinking so much. And yeah, it is a good script! I'm of course deeply biased because it's one that's spending a lot of time reminding the audience how much you should miss Hiyori, but I mean, it's got other plots about other characters I'm not inherently going to be all over, too! Like, uh... Tsurugi. ...And Dasiuke and Gon...

Okay, so now that I think about it, maybe when it heavily features leans on literally all my favorite characters at once, it's far from a shocker I'd think the plot was good. Die can tell you about that better than I can, anyway. It's funny and it's dramatic and it's smart and it's, well, it's most of what he likes in an Inoue episode, minus a Houjou. They seriously might've made this one specifically for us, guys!

The only thing I'd really have to add to the discussion of the writing is how much I enjoyed Tendou's stereotypical dad outburst at the thought of Juka having a crush. I tend to enjoy Tendou more when the show is leaning into how weird and unknowable he is, which is often at odds with how much Inoue seems to enjoy showing him to be less above it all than he seems, but the delivery of the gag here is so perfect it handily overcomes both that, and its own admittedly generic nature. What made it land especially well for me is the very end, when the misunderstanding is cleared up. Tendou calmly sits back down in his chair, resuming his normal relaxed posture and dignified tone of voice in a way so conspicuous and forced it only highlights how poor a job he just did trying to play it cool. It's kind of exactly the moment I was asking for in the last episodes, in a way. I'd never want to see Tendou getting this flustered around Kagami, for example, but having Juka completely destroy his high-and-mighty act without even meaning to fits those characters. And, hey, stereotypical or not, Tendou being very worried about a stranger hanging around his little sister is yet one more thing that ties right back into one of the central plot points. Just one more sign of how focused an episode this is, I suppose.

If I had to complain about one thing, it's definitely the continued absence of Clock Up making the fight scenes feel so much more generic. Like, it is deeply ironic that the insert song called "Lord of the Speed" debuted mere episodes before everybody stopped going fast, and it's hard not to be bummed out by that. To turn that back around into praise though, the show is still making sure to give the Masked Forms a surprisingly reasonable amount of screentime, all things considered. They're not exactly the focus of fight scenes anymore, but I'm happy to see the Riders throwing even a punch or two with them this late in the game. Plus, with Gatack still doing his weird wrestling moves, it's not like all the identity is gone from this show's action. It's funny to think how much his first few episodes tired to make his thing rapidly slicing monsters up when Kagami barely remembers he even has those swords now.

Awesome episode, all around. You can probably tell how scattered my thoughts are this time, but seriously, it's only because I could talk about basically any random element and have something nice to say.

Oh, and on that note, I do like Dark Kabuto's suit, by the way. That was legitimately one of the first Kamen Rider designs I ever saw, actually. Like, before Kabuto himself, even. It left a pretty good first impression, especially when I'm such a sucker for evil repaints of heroes.