Reaction: Kabuto 31-34
This comic sucks!
...Wait. That's Linkara. Let's try this again.
Let's talk passion for a minute, shall we?
When someone creates something, they put a portion of their heart into it. This passion is shared with everyone who sees the creation in question, and those who really love it take a part of it into their hearts and share their own hearts with others. This is what we call fandom. And fandom is a volatile and fickle thing because it is based entirely on people's hearts. It's difficult to remember that just because your heart is in something, someone else's heart may be in something else. But it's still good to be passionate.
But when something you're passionate about and has taken root in your heart has a darker edge to it you don't like? Then it hurts. You push away, and you don't want anything to do with that. It happens to everyone.
In episodes 30 and 31 of Kabuto, Souji Tendou reveals his birth name is Souji Kusakabe and Hiyori is his sister. I was prepared for this after God Speed Love. He also reveals that his parents were killed by Worms prior to the event 7 years ago and due to the genetic mimic, the Worm mimicking his mother was pregnant. This strange Worm child would have been his sister, Hiyori.
Now, this was weird and didn't make a whole lot of sense. And it made the ending of God Speed Love even bleaker in retrospect--the alternate Tendou completely failed to save his sister; he saved a Worm mimic of her, which isn't the same thing. But I was willing to accept it; after all, I'm a fan of Young Justice, and Roy Harper grew on me. Well, Red Arrow moreso than Arsenal, but even then, I could appreciate the character created in Arse.
But what got me was how Tendou's focus suddenly shifted. With this revelation, he became completely obsessed with protecting Hiyori and allowing her to live a "normal" life--even moreso than his counterpart in God Speed Love. And it was at the cost of his other relationships.
His relationship with Kagami is awkward enough that I can buy a betrayal. This is Kamen Rider after all. But even Kagami seemed to notice that Tendou suddenly didn't care as much about Juka--well, Jyuka, given the spelling I saw in the show. He calls Hiyori his "only little sister," and it's because Jyuka is adopted. Which pisses me off. Not only is it ridiculous because adoption should never be so callously handled, but up until this point, Tendou had always put Jyuka first. He doted over her and loved her more than anything. Hell, he even put her ahead of Hiyori, whom he had to have known was his sister--when he was held by ZECT, he called Hiyori and asked her to make pancakes for Jyuka so that her routine wouldn't be too badly affected. Now, I'm seeing her taking care of herself more and more while Tendou obsesses over Hiyori in a manner reminiscent of Kanzaki--and even then, with a character from my favorite show with an abusive childhood, I still couldn't find him sympathetic. Tendou has half the excuses; how am I supposed to find him sympathetic?
Meanwhile, you've got Kagami acting like the last sane man on Earth, in a way that suggests that maybe he should take over as the hero of the story. And Kamishiro is deluded into thinking he's the hero of the story. Kamishiro's another mess--like what I mentioned with Roy, he's being manipulated into believing he's the original, just so the Discabil family will have an heir. This makes it hard to buy into the tender scenes with the butler--it feels like it's all a lie. And then you've got ZECT just...ugh. Goro is so laughably villainous it's painful, and Kagami's dad just spouts lines of bullshit in an attempt to sound deep. They act like everything's going according to plan, but...well, just watch Atop The Fourth Wall's review of The Culling and particularly Harvest, and you'll understand a bit of how I feel about them--there is no plan. They're just covering their own asses. They know Tendou is working his own agenda, but they let him head up a unit. They let him take all the Zecters. They know that the Hyper Zecter is stolen, and only when it is almost in Tendou's hands does Goro use the self-destruct. And then whatshisface coming back as Kick Hopper--why am I supposed to care about your fall from grace? You were in how few episodes and a movie? You got NO development and NO personality. Now you're wandering around in a ripped version of Ren's jacket and looking like you should probably be drinking out of a paper bag and moaning about how people are laughing at you. Guess what--nobody's laughing. That would require them to find you amusing.
I hate harping on 555, but I really feel like they're trying to emulate it, with the Worms and ZECT as a counterpart to the Orphnochs and Smart Brain. But it comes off weaker. I've already analyzed ZECT and Smart Brain to death, but god, this whole bit with the Worms. See, in 555, episode 34 was where things really got good. Takumi revealed he was an Orphnoch, and everything made sense--why he could henshin, why Keitaro sneezed around him when he apparently was allergic to Orphnochs, why he didn't trust himself and just let people walk all over him. To save Mari's life, he gives himself over to Smart Brain and lets Yuji become Faiz. Smart Brain convinces Takumi and Mari that Takumi was the one who killed everyone from the Ryusei School. As Faiz, Yuji must fight Takumi as the Wolf Orphnoch, and he realizes that it's all pretty much a suicide gambit on Takumi's part. They figure out the truth and save him. Honestly, at that point, you could end the show right there and the story would have felt complete. You get into Keitaro and Yuka later, have Yuka's heartbreaking death, and then you have to deal with the Orphnoch King and the bullshit of Yuji turning evil, and that's at least just five episodes to deal with. Not 20.
Right now, Kabuto is doing what only Agito made me do--cry, whine, complain, and not want to watch the next episode. And I know, I'm the only thing making me watch it. But it's because of my passion for this franchise that I want to see it all the way through. And it hurts, it really does. It feels like God Speed Love, flawed as it was, was the best potential this series had. You want a morally ambiguous hero fighting to save his sister? There you go! Still more sympathetic than he ended up in the series. You want a secretly evil organization that actually seems like they've got control of things? Movie version; series version couldn't find bread in a bakery.
You want a good story about a clone who thinks he's the original and is manipulated into living the other guy's life? Watch Young Justice.
You want a good story about humans who are actually monsters, and one of the heroes makes terrible decisions in the end? Watch 555.
I've got 15 more episodes to get through, and all I can think is, I'd rather watch the other two shows again.
...Wait. That's Linkara. Let's try this again.
Let's talk passion for a minute, shall we?
When someone creates something, they put a portion of their heart into it. This passion is shared with everyone who sees the creation in question, and those who really love it take a part of it into their hearts and share their own hearts with others. This is what we call fandom. And fandom is a volatile and fickle thing because it is based entirely on people's hearts. It's difficult to remember that just because your heart is in something, someone else's heart may be in something else. But it's still good to be passionate.
But when something you're passionate about and has taken root in your heart has a darker edge to it you don't like? Then it hurts. You push away, and you don't want anything to do with that. It happens to everyone.
In episodes 30 and 31 of Kabuto, Souji Tendou reveals his birth name is Souji Kusakabe and Hiyori is his sister. I was prepared for this after God Speed Love. He also reveals that his parents were killed by Worms prior to the event 7 years ago and due to the genetic mimic, the Worm mimicking his mother was pregnant. This strange Worm child would have been his sister, Hiyori.
Now, this was weird and didn't make a whole lot of sense. And it made the ending of God Speed Love even bleaker in retrospect--the alternate Tendou completely failed to save his sister; he saved a Worm mimic of her, which isn't the same thing. But I was willing to accept it; after all, I'm a fan of Young Justice, and Roy Harper grew on me. Well, Red Arrow moreso than Arsenal, but even then, I could appreciate the character created in Arse.
But what got me was how Tendou's focus suddenly shifted. With this revelation, he became completely obsessed with protecting Hiyori and allowing her to live a "normal" life--even moreso than his counterpart in God Speed Love. And it was at the cost of his other relationships.
His relationship with Kagami is awkward enough that I can buy a betrayal. This is Kamen Rider after all. But even Kagami seemed to notice that Tendou suddenly didn't care as much about Juka--well, Jyuka, given the spelling I saw in the show. He calls Hiyori his "only little sister," and it's because Jyuka is adopted. Which pisses me off. Not only is it ridiculous because adoption should never be so callously handled, but up until this point, Tendou had always put Jyuka first. He doted over her and loved her more than anything. Hell, he even put her ahead of Hiyori, whom he had to have known was his sister--when he was held by ZECT, he called Hiyori and asked her to make pancakes for Jyuka so that her routine wouldn't be too badly affected. Now, I'm seeing her taking care of herself more and more while Tendou obsesses over Hiyori in a manner reminiscent of Kanzaki--and even then, with a character from my favorite show with an abusive childhood, I still couldn't find him sympathetic. Tendou has half the excuses; how am I supposed to find him sympathetic?
Meanwhile, you've got Kagami acting like the last sane man on Earth, in a way that suggests that maybe he should take over as the hero of the story. And Kamishiro is deluded into thinking he's the hero of the story. Kamishiro's another mess--like what I mentioned with Roy, he's being manipulated into believing he's the original, just so the Discabil family will have an heir. This makes it hard to buy into the tender scenes with the butler--it feels like it's all a lie. And then you've got ZECT just...ugh. Goro is so laughably villainous it's painful, and Kagami's dad just spouts lines of bullshit in an attempt to sound deep. They act like everything's going according to plan, but...well, just watch Atop The Fourth Wall's review of The Culling and particularly Harvest, and you'll understand a bit of how I feel about them--there is no plan. They're just covering their own asses. They know Tendou is working his own agenda, but they let him head up a unit. They let him take all the Zecters. They know that the Hyper Zecter is stolen, and only when it is almost in Tendou's hands does Goro use the self-destruct. And then whatshisface coming back as Kick Hopper--why am I supposed to care about your fall from grace? You were in how few episodes and a movie? You got NO development and NO personality. Now you're wandering around in a ripped version of Ren's jacket and looking like you should probably be drinking out of a paper bag and moaning about how people are laughing at you. Guess what--nobody's laughing. That would require them to find you amusing.
I hate harping on 555, but I really feel like they're trying to emulate it, with the Worms and ZECT as a counterpart to the Orphnochs and Smart Brain. But it comes off weaker. I've already analyzed ZECT and Smart Brain to death, but god, this whole bit with the Worms. See, in 555, episode 34 was where things really got good. Takumi revealed he was an Orphnoch, and everything made sense--why he could henshin, why Keitaro sneezed around him when he apparently was allergic to Orphnochs, why he didn't trust himself and just let people walk all over him. To save Mari's life, he gives himself over to Smart Brain and lets Yuji become Faiz. Smart Brain convinces Takumi and Mari that Takumi was the one who killed everyone from the Ryusei School. As Faiz, Yuji must fight Takumi as the Wolf Orphnoch, and he realizes that it's all pretty much a suicide gambit on Takumi's part. They figure out the truth and save him. Honestly, at that point, you could end the show right there and the story would have felt complete. You get into Keitaro and Yuka later, have Yuka's heartbreaking death, and then you have to deal with the Orphnoch King and the bullshit of Yuji turning evil, and that's at least just five episodes to deal with. Not 20.
Right now, Kabuto is doing what only Agito made me do--cry, whine, complain, and not want to watch the next episode. And I know, I'm the only thing making me watch it. But it's because of my passion for this franchise that I want to see it all the way through. And it hurts, it really does. It feels like God Speed Love, flawed as it was, was the best potential this series had. You want a morally ambiguous hero fighting to save his sister? There you go! Still more sympathetic than he ended up in the series. You want a secretly evil organization that actually seems like they've got control of things? Movie version; series version couldn't find bread in a bakery.
You want a good story about a clone who thinks he's the original and is manipulated into living the other guy's life? Watch Young Justice.
You want a good story about humans who are actually monsters, and one of the heroes makes terrible decisions in the end? Watch 555.
I've got 15 more episodes to get through, and all I can think is, I'd rather watch the other two shows again.