[Kamen Rider Die]

KAMEN RIDER KABUTO - EPISODE 43



I don't know why it's easier for me to talk about what an episode's about than what it's in it. Like, character motivations and themes, I find that kind of thing really engaging, real fun to discuss. Plot machinations and fight scenes... I mean, I'm glad for them, they can be exciting to watch, but talking about them? Not that into it!

So, yeah, this one. There's a Tendou arc that I find really appealing, and then a ton of plot stuff that has some small character beats and a lot of things that would just be me saying And Then This Happened.

It's an endgame arc, maybe the real start of the endgame arc, so we're getting a lot of escalation out of basically nowhere. Worms are running rampant, pushing towards Area Z, where ZECT is developing the Rider System. ZECTroopers are being overrun, and Worm Widower is absorbing and redirecting every finisher a Rider uses against him. It's just Worm O'Clock on this show, and it's okay. I like the tension of it, a little. Tadokoro in particular is great at selling that gritted-teeth resolve you want in an Under Siege plotline. But it's still just an army of faceless monsters being led by a high-kicking cipher, and that's not got a lot I can occupy my mind with. It's all surface pleasures: quick action and explosions, spiced up with some neat subdivided shots. (Those multi-angled frames try their best at making repetitive battle scenes feel unique and dangerous, so I'm all for their use.) But it's... I mean, there are multiple fights where Worm Widower just wanders off after absorbing and redirecting a Rider's finish, and that makes these fights feel like a bit of a shrug. If I cared more about the Worms as an enemy, or Worm Widower as a general, I'd probably care more about those fights. As it is, they're okay. Just okay.

But this episode formally introduces Another Tendou, and that stuff is great.

The performance is so intriguing. The actor's voice goes up a bit, giving Another Tendou a sense of childlike innocence that runs in opposition to Tendou's world-weary superiority. Another Tendou is as clever as Tendou, but his aesthetic is all Guileless Joy, so his villainy is done with a cheerful smile. He's so happy to tell Tendou's friends that he's going to find and kill him. Hell, he's happy to tell Tendou that he's going to kill him. He's just... like, bubbly, and it's as unnerving as it is refreshing. He's not a glowering monster or closed-off psychopath. He's a brother (?) who wants to protect his sister (?), and he's excited to get a chance to do that.

(For the record, I have no idea if I'm supposed to be reading the relationship between Hiyori and Another Tendou as familial or romantic. I'm going with familial, but, uh... Kamen Rider shows can really blur that line!)

It's an inversion of Tendou's attitude, where his need to rescue Hiyori has got him scared and defeated. The only way he can think of to rescue Hiyori is to follow Another Tendou (the same way Another Tendou found Tendou by following Kagami) back to the Heightened Contrast Dimension, and that'll only happen when Tendou is defeated. So Tendou's just like Welp Time To Die I Guess, and it makes for the episode's smartest choices. There's a brief scene of Tendou and Juka, with him teaching her to cook, and I found it impossibly charming. I got a little choked up, with Tendou trying to impart one last gift to his sister before he's gone for good. The idea of Tendou's Last Day On Earth... fun note for this episode.

It's the Kagami pep-talk that kills, though. Kabuto's trying to take a dive to Dark Kabuto, and it's going great/terribly. Tendou's been Rider Kicked and is about to be finished off, but Kagami arrives to save him/ruin everything. Tendou's furious that he won't be able to sacrifice himself, which means no one can save Hiyori. And Kagami is even more furious at Tendou.

Kagami doesn't really get this angry at Tendou often, and it usually means Tendou has massively screwed-up. And boy, has he here. At the time when Hiyori most needs Tendou's help, he's going to get himself killed to do it? This is his strategy? This is his power? Kagami always measured himself against Tendou because Tendou would always find a way to win, find a way to save everyone. So Tendou needs to get up, save himself, and then go save Hiyori.

It is, as pep-talks go, one for the ages. I also think it's part of Tendou's plan? Like, Tendou tells Renge what he's up to, and then tells Renge to not tell Kagami unless Tendou dies. Renge immediately tells Kagami. I have to think some part of Tendou knew that would happen (Renge and Kagami are not that tough to predict!), and was hoping for this outcome. He wanted, he needed Kagami's Very Big Feelings to get him back on track, and because it's Tendou, he needed to manipulate Kagami into delivering that speech. I mean, Tendou 100% was ready to sacrifice himself to rescue Hiyori, but he was hoping Kagami would show up to talk him out of it. That's my read.

Moot point, because the end of the episode has Hiyori showing up, confident and assertive, to tell Tendou that she's going to live in the Heightened Contrast Dimension with Another Tendou, kthxbye. Bit of a twist! We'll have to see where that goes!

A QUESTION

Not a lot with Yaguruma and Kageyama this week, but I was amazed at Tadokoro's weird blend of optimism and desperation as he offered them (both?) the chance to lead Shadow as TheBee. Yaguruma immediately turns him down, happy to be able to ruin someone's day, while Kageyama practically has his eyes bug out like he's in a cartoon. That dude is so thirsty. Anyway, if these two dopes aren't going to be TheBee, what remaining non-Rider cast member should next be TheBee? And if not Misaki, why did you opt to choose poorly?