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I feel confident in saying this episode's climatic fight, with the frozen raindrops surrounding Kabuto and the worm, is one of, if not the most iconic scenes in Kabuto. I certainly still remember it vividly now, since the first time I watched it years ago!
Maybe this is just me thinking about what comes after in the show, but I do think the big emotional beats between Tendou and Kagami are most ideal happening early on like this. We got those first few weeks getting a rough idea of how this dynamic works, one being the super smug, super competent hero, and the other the more naive 'sidekick'. That dynamic probably isn't going anywhere quite yet, but this episode drives home that there is and will be more to it than that, I think. Glad to see Kabuto's had the chance to rock your socks off this early on! I want to just say that while I'm not super attached to insect motifs despite knowing their importance to the franchise as a whole... I think Kabuto is maybe the definitive modern Kamen Rider design. He's cool, sleek, and probably simple enough for a child to draw and still be identifiable. Also I probably say this about a lot of songs, but Full Force, the insert that first played in episode 2, is one of my favourite songs in the whole franchise. |
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I forgot something! --- A QUESTION I got so caught up in what was going on in this episode that I forgot to ask a discussion question! Sorry! This episode's got a couple different sibling relationships in it: Tendou and his little sister, and Kagami and his little brother. There are plenty of great familial bonds in Kamen Rider (except for dads and sons, because ALL DADS ARE DEAD... not counting Kagami's dad, as will be introduced next episode), but what is your favorite sibling relationship in the Kamen Rider franchise? Two rules: please don't mention anything from Den-O through Decade or Zi-O up; and please don't make a Specter/Kanon "sibling relationship" joke because you're better than that. Sorry this was so late! --- Anyway, where were we? Yeah, it really works, this weird grounding of Tendou and Kagami. Having these total strangers (basically) have to deal with this massive trauma of Kagami's... it's definitely a unique start to a friendship, this Trial By Fire weightiness. It was a real surprise to see the show hit this hard, this fast, but... Kabuto! Thematically appropriate! |
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Philip's family issues with the Sonozakis was intriguing to start, but ended in a lame way in my opinion. I guess there's Hina and her brother, except her brother isn't actually her brother for most of the show and was just Ankh. There's Kiriko and Gou, but they both have much more emphasized relationships with Chase than each other. (Also Mach took on all the family-related drama by himself...) Even if Makoto wasn't a weirdo about it, I still don't find his relation with Kanon that interesting. ...Oh, but you know what was interesting!? The clone Specter reconsidering his evil ways because of the love he has for his sister, which he inherited from the original, and Kanon considering the copy just as much her real brother as the original as well. There's my answer then! Specter Clone #50 (give or take) and Kanon. |
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So I'm going to go with Yui and Shiro from Ryuki. Now, their plot was incredibly weird, and they 100000000% did not manage to land one of their biggest emotional moments (Shiro doesn't know what to do with his hands so he just ACTS HARDER to cover for it, no second takes on Ryuki I guess), but it's a show that bets hard on these weird nightmare children becoming questionably-functional adults while still needing that connection that sustained them in their youth... hard to say that, for better or worse, they aren't the definitive Kamen Rider siblings! (I think the Ryuki movie does a better job of figuring their story out, for whatever that's worth.) |
I definitely agree that having Ryou come back this early feels really weird, especially since his disappearance was only hinted at in the previous episode. It absolutely feels like this episode should have happened later after Kagami has been more fully established. That said, I don't care because this episode is fantastic.
Everything with Kagami and his brother is so well done and the final fight in the frozen rain is definitely one of the moments that's always stuck with me about this show. The events may feel narratively too early, but it still gives us some good insights into Kagami. I'm not sure I agree with your read on how Kagami's story went down. I think he knew early on that Ryou was a Worm, he was just trying really hard to convince himself that it wasn't true. I think this is one of Kagami's best character traits and worst flaws. He's a guy who genuinely tries to believe the best in people. We saw it with Worm Ryou here and it will be a defining aspect of his relationship with Tendou. Kagami can definitely see the flaws in people, but he always has faith that they can rise above them and become better than they appear (or at least that they'll stop charging him for fish). Quote:
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With that option closed off, I'm really tempted to say Kotaro and Nobuhiko. It loses something because Nobuhiko is kidnapped/gestating for the first half of the series and totally subsumed by evil for the other half, but it's still a relationship that drives the emotional core of Black. We don't get much in the present, but there are always flashbacks set to instrumental Long Long Ago 20th Century. |
I went through all the shows in my head and I somehow legit forgot about Yui and Shiro, wow! I have to agree that probably is the most prominent of all sibling relationships in the franchise.
Episode Final gets their story better because it contains significantly less nonsense about how the Mirror World works (which is saying something because it still has plenty of that). |
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But, yeah, a weird play for the show to blow off the Ryou story this fast. Really felt like it was going to percolate for a bit longer! Quote:
Like, I don't think Kagami thinks Ryou's a Worm, but I think he feels like Ryou's hiding something, like it's all too good to be true. He's definitely forcing himself to not ask questions, but I don't think it's until ZECT takes over that he really starts lying to himself about Ryou being a Worm. |
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And, yeah, the motivation/backstory the movie comes up with for Yui's peril is a) cleaner, and b) something that makes her a participant in her own story, something the series mostly forgot to do. |
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This is the first time that Kagami shows a potential to become stronger and Tendo wants to nurture that. He can't hate someone who punches him in the face with such sincerity (like that Gentarou and Ryusei scene). I think Kabuto hearing Kagami's pleas for him to stop and taking those hits from the Worm shows that he has a little respect for Kagami and pities him for letting an obstacle hold him back. He could've just destroyed the Worm, but he waits for Kagami to snap out of his delusion and accept that the Worm isn't his bro. There are two ways to deal with the reality of sadness. You can pretend it doesn't exist but the happiness is false and a lie and the person you become is no longer you, your life becomes hollow. Or walking the path of Heaven, you can accept that bad things happen and force reality to change through determination. And that's the whole concept of Worms impersonating people down to their memories, it's a theme for the show and I think it's interesting to explore how characters react differently to adversity. Yeah, the Clock Up effect where the rain is slowed down is awesome. Cronus' Pause had a similar effect but that was freezing time rather than slowing it, so the effect is quite different here, with the rain still being dynamic and moving and I think that's even more impressive. This show has great visuals and the fact that it was the first to be filmed in high def certainly helps. Quote:
Shinnosuke is a responsible, honest cop who takes protecting people seriously and gives intense stares to any criminal who ticks him off enough, but he's often depressed and lazy with a stalled engine and he needs to get motivated to shift his brain in top gear. Gou is determined with his brain always in top gear, has a flair for spectacle and is loyally protective of his family, but his methods are reckless and risk hurting his family instead and he doesn't have any "brakes" of his own. They're also similar, since they both feel guilty for tragedies that occurred during the Global Freeze and want to atone for them. It's also a good reminder that you don't need to share blood to have a close sibling relationship. |
Hey, if we're counting not-actual-brothers too, then I'm changing my answer to Date and Gotou. Birth Bros Best Bros.
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