[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I vehemently disagree with this. The theme these episodes chose is something that comes straight out of Kabuto, that stems from a conversation Juka and Hiyori have as early as episode 6, which eventually carries through all the way to the final scenes of the show. "When not close by, one is even closer", and all that.

As jumbled as that soup metaphor ends up being taken at face value, the whole point of it, and these episodes, is how a bond can still exist even between people who are separated, and even if that wasn't the only major theme in Kabuto, or the one you remember, that doesn't erase how significant the line "It's okay. I'll be by your side" was to that series.

Having a version of Kabuto literally trapped in Clock-Up is essentially an exaggerated way to explore that same idea in a much shorter timeframe, which arguably makes it perfect as a concept for Decade's tribute to Kabuto.

Even as I was writing that sentence, I was like "Fish Sandwich is going to push back so hard on this suggestion. So hard." Almost didn't write it, but here we are.

I guess I just don't think of it that way? I never really took to the revelation that Hiyori was Tendou's sister, so that colors a lot of what the show might think is relevant to the story versus what I thought was relevant. I always liked it better when Tendou and Hiyori had a connection that wasn't familial, wasn't obligatory. I liked them as two people who found something worth celebrating in the other, even if no one else could see it. A way of seeing value intrinsic to a person, rather than a measurement of their usefulness to society.

I could probably try and explain or defend it better, but I'm okay just being wrong on this. I probably should've used a different phrasing, or thought that sentence through better. Sorry!