You really can't even tell that this is a half-locked journal anymore, can you? orz
So. Usual blah, blah, blah, and then on to Kamen Rider Kabuto ep 22, with SPOILERS for the episode listed at the very least (and very likely into the 30s and possibly the whole series), I don't plan these things in advance, we'll see from there.
Kamen Rider Kabuto episode 22: The episode starts with Kabuto's fight against the pupa-staged Worms, whom he also mows through with deadly efficiency. It's not even like he's punishing them or angry, he's just. Lethal. At least until they're all gone and the main one has escaped while Shadow moves in on the Worm nest. At the last second, the mission has been put on hold, though, and little bitch is not happy about it.
Kagami wakes up in the hospital while Misaki is there, he says he failed to become Gatack, didn't he? She answers with, "If it wanted you to, you wouldn't have had any problems." And I just laugh and laugh and laugh. You would probably say the same thing about Tendou, that if he wanted you, you'd have no problem. Except no! The Zecter and Tendou are both crazy, crazy bitches. Kagami's life is hard. :<
Kagami's feeling kind of battered at the moment, like he's at his lowest point yet, that of course there's no way he'd be qualified for Gatack, and it sort of makes me want to give him a hug. Kagami really does go through a lot of self-confidence crises through the series, but it's also sort of remarkable how resilient he is on his own, how often he'll bounce back on his own, while Certain Other People need someone to physically drag them out of their crises. Misaki says headquarters officially says that everyone in the factory is a Worm and Kagami has a bit of life come back to him when he's worried about Makoto.
Then the scene switches to La Salle and Tsurugi's birthday party and I kind of love the show for having the gravure model in frumpy clothes up until only recently and then suddenly FRENCH MAID'S OUTFIT. And while Hiyori is like, wtf at all this, Tendou says he can't make any complaints to that person (Jiiya) and I kind of love that dynamic all over again. "If I'm the world's treasure..." Tendou says. "Then that man is humanity's treasure." <3 And Tendou is so cute when Jiiya praises him for having figured out the mystery ingredient. Especially when he's all snappy at Tsurugi for trying to praise him and Tendou doesn't want to hear it.
Tsurugi's like, but you're using polite speech on the wrong person :D and Tendou snaps it's only natural to respect this person (Jiiya) while Jiiya says that he uses polite speech for Tsurugi and I kind of love the way the camera keeps cutting round and round that little circle of the three of them. And Tendou says, well, then you (Tsurugi) should use respectful speech towards me (to complete the triangle) and I just lol at this series and its adorable humor.
After that, Kageyama goes to bitch at Mishima-san, who's still taking his pills and if they haven't dropped that storyline yet, I'm back to wondering if it means something. And the scene is just as creepy as you'd expect it to be!
Then back to the super-awesomeness of the scene at La Salle. I love Hiyori and Tsurugi's interaction, he's praising the meat and potatoes like it's the finest thing ever, while she's just, but it's just meat and potatoes, it's just meat I bought at the local supermarket... and Tsurugi obliviously keeps going, next time he'd like this shredded meat thing with steak! and Tendou totally just facefaults over WHAT AN IDIOT Tsurugi is and I. I laugh so hard. Poor Tendou, nobody appreciates fine culture like he does. :<
I love the scene where Jiiya pays with the silver fork and so... Hiyori just sticks it in the cash register anyway. I love her a lot. Then Kageyama comes in and, "HEY. TENDOU SOUJIROU." and I love that they remembered that!
Kagami's staring at the kaleidoscope that Makoto dropped and when Misaki comes back in, Kagami's doing pretty much what he always does--he gets up again and keeps charging forward with what he believes is right. Even if he knows that there's a good chance that Makoto is a Worm, he still has to keep going. Misaki tries to stop him, think of how this will look on Tadokoro-san if you defy headquarters' orders!
Tadokoro rolls up and says, "Kagami. It's true that you are an idiot. But I don't hate you for being an idiot. If you think you're right, then dash straight forward! That is who... Kagami Arata is." And that really does sum up so much of who Kagami is right there--he might be foolish and headstrong, but if he believes something is right, he just keeps charging forward. He needs to be reminded of it occasionally, but he's incredibly resilient and stable, no matter what life throws at him. He keeps doing what he thinks is right, even if everyone else is telling him not to.
Then back to La Salle, where Kageyama has actually shown up for Tsurugi, that it's time for work, but Tsurugi's not going to move unless Kageyama sings the song. And, just, oh. Lol for the poor little bitch who everyone bends over the counter pretty much every day. And of course I knew what was coming, but that does not make it any less LOL when Kageyama is trying to keep a lid on his temper while singing and then Jiiya says to smile more and you can just see him trying not to explode. M-meanwhile, Tendou and Hiyori have ringside seats for this and I love the look on Hiyori's face while she's creeped out by this and Tendou just sort of stares in shock. Like, even he isn't that evil!
Finally, the trauma ends (but not my laughter) when Tsurugi tries to send the rest of Shadow home outside the warehouse, and Kageyama snarls and smacks down the birthday party hat Tsurugi tried to give him, when suddenly someone in a dark suit zooms by on a motorcycle and is totally badass as he rides over several containers and heads for the warehouse. He runs in (while TheBee and Sasword fight outside) and finds Makoto, the two of them ducking away from several Worm.
They stumble into an area with rows and rows of what look like pods. The series never really explains this scene and it's hard to see clearly, but they do look to be about the same avacado-green color of the basic Worm, so you pretty much have to assume they're Worm babies. Kagami wonders if they're Worm eggs and there are a few fuzzy close-ups of what looks like little moving things inside them.
Another Worm comes along (the same one that mimicked Kagami, I think, since it has the multiple protrusions on its left side with only the one on the right) and Kagami and Makoto back slowly away, when Tendou's voice rings out, "Grandmother said this: It is fun to add a secret flavor so that no one knows. But... it's more fun to find it." Dunno if that last part was what grandmother said or what Tendou thinks, though. Tendou strolls casually in, dressed very nicely in white short sleeves and very nice white pants before he transforms.
It is not at all to show off how awesome he is while Kagami is watching. Not one little bit. .__.
TheBee and Sasword keep fighting, at least until Tsurugi is nearly overtaken by the Worm's power again, so he just about collapses, the final memory of his sister so strong in his mind until he finally transforms into a Worm. At the same time, Kabuto still fights against the Worm that mimicked Kagami and he's back to being a little more casual this time, not quite so gracefully lethal. (Not that he still isn't both.) You know. Now that Kagami has bounced back. He even gets distracted by the new silver-colored Worm, while apparently the Kagami!Worm escapes? Since Worm!Kagami walks up to where Kagami and Makoto are hiding. Who is really kind of hot with the dark look and the casual, "Oh, you plan to fight me unarmored?" as Kagami grabs two pipes to at least defend himself with. Which is a neat little touch, considering Gatack's twin caliburs.
Not that he makes a dent in the Worm and Makoto comes out from his hiding spot, he's clearly had enough. I liked that you could totally see the bored look on his face the entire time Kagami was herding him along, too, and now he finally says, "Enough. I thought if we let Onii-chan go, we'd escape the extermination operation." Which you wonder how that logic goes, considering they clearly knew that it was a Worm nest, whether or not Kagami made it out wouldn't factor into ZECT's decision, I don't think. (Well, maybe if they'd had a hostage situation, but not if they just let him go.)
Oddly, Makoto is able to hold a half-transformed state, he uses one antenna (or whatever you want to call them, I suppose) to stab Kagami, though, I'm going to assume the wound wasn't very deep. He goes back to full form a few moments later, but he was definitely holding that half-state for awhile. I wonder if the other Worm can do that, too? Or if I should just not think about it. Then both fully-formed Worms stab Kagami again who collapses onto the floor, while KagamiSr plays the cello (I think?) back at headquarters and says, "The hope from willpower... that must not be crushed. When fallen into despair... Man... using true hope... You... will save them."
We see someone walking towards Kagami with a Rider Belt, putting it onto him, which lights up when it clicks into place. He manages to get to his feet and stumble after the Worm!Kagami and Makoto, saying, "A Worm that uses the trust between people... I will never forgive that!" He reaches for the Gatack Zecter, who burns a hole through the wall just by heading towards him and I love this scene so much.
It's a little over the top, sure. But at this point in the series I am totally in love with the characters and I think I love Kagami the most (though, Tendou is my favorite, I have more love for Kagami, I think? ...sort of like how Umeda is my favorite, but I have more love for Akiha.) so I am all over this incredibly important and epic moment for him. The Gatack Zecter flies straight into his hand, Kagami only looking at it for a moment, not really even seeming that surprised, before he puts it into place and transforms. And I love Gatack.
I love that Gatack is mostly blue with red eyes while Kabuto is mostly red with blue eyes. I didn't notice that at first, but when they're together later, it's kind of hilarious how they're deliberately mirroring each other and it just sort of reinforces the whole Meant For Each Other thing, like, even the Rider System is shipping Gatack and Kabuto. XD
I love Gatack's shoulder cannons with their unlimited firepower and I deliberately do not think about how that works exactly, I just Roll With It. Shoulder cannons mounted on a magical armored suit that never run out. Gotcha.
This is also the first time in a long time where the Worm has used the person it mimicked to talk to someone, when the Worm tries to yell, "Stop it, Onii-chan, don't destroy me! If you destroy me, Makoto-kun's memories will be gone, too." to play on Kagami's weakness. Kagami is torn for a moment, he hesistates and Kabuto walks up in the background. He tells Gatack to move, he'll finish this and you can tell he's kind of tired of guys in Rider suits suddenly showing up like this.
But Kagami calls his name and Tendou stops halfway there, looking at Gatack. "You... Kagami?" And Kagami says to leave this to him, which Tendou agrees to. I love the way this scene is shot, too, because you can see the show's emphasis on Kabuto being there to witness this moment. Gatack goes into Clock Up to keep up with the Worm, who tries to play on his sympathies with Makoto again, so Kagami leaps towards the ceiling and cuts a hole in the roof. He shows the Worm the rainbow made from the moonlight and picks up the kaleidoscope again. I always wondered how that was possible, how did Kagami manage that? Was it the Clock Up state that did it? I assume so, since it disappears when we hear Clock Over and it's interesting that Kabuto is still watching this moment, even when it looks like Kagami might be going soft on the Worm. I assume he was in Clock Up mode as well? Though, they don't really say.
At the same time, Shadow prepares to blow the whole building up and the Worm finally fights back properly and Kagami prepares a Rider Kick and then the whole building goes as soon as he delivers the kick to the Worm's face. Who isn't actually dead, but lasts just long enough to shield Gatack from the blast, burning up in the process himself.
Meanwhile, KagamiSr is still playing his cello, while Mishima-san says, "Your son... has become Gatack. But is this really... for the best?"
"Mozart..." KagamiSr answers, "While creating a song for the dead... he died. But... did that song kill him? Or was the persistance in creating that song... what kept him alive?"
Mishima-san somehow understands this. "In other words... Gatack is a dual edge blade. It might take your son's life... or it might save it...."
The first time I watched this scene, I thought it was implied that Gatack was somehow dangerous to use, that it might kill Kagami or that it might save his life somehow in the future, that it was a gamble from here on out. But on rewatching, I think maybe they meant that the point up until now had been the gamble, that Gatack might have really killed him or else it might save his life when Mishima-san (it was so clearly Mishima, I'm not sure why they hid that, just to be dramatic?) put the Belt back on him.
The episode nears its end with Kagami picking up the kaleidoscope out of the fiery wreckage while Tendou says, "Naive. As always." and it's interesting because he really kind of wasn't. Kagami's belief in Makoto was what ultimately saved his life when Makoto sacrificed himself to save Kagami, his trust/connection with Makoto was rewarded. "I... can only be myself." Kagami says. "But... I am myself." Tendou just looks at him, the expression on his face hidden behind the blank mask.
It's obvious that this is an important episode in the overall arc of Kamen Rider Kabuto, especially for Kagami, that the series is reaching a major climax point with these last two episodes. And it's a really big turning point, I feel. There's a lot going on here with the themes of the overall show and I think this is the point where the Kagami/Tendou dynamic shifts a lot, partly because of Gatack, but also what Gatack represents. I suppose, if you want to get dramatic, this was Kagami's trial by fire rather literally and he came out the other side stronger than ever, believing in being himself. It's about Kagami's strength of character and doing what he believes is right.
All throughout the episode, it's been important to note that Kagami needs to be himself, even if that means he's an idiot or naive sometimes. The series shows us that, by being himself, Kagami becomes Gatack, he's rewarded with Makoto giving himself up for that connection they forged together. It's important that Kagami is the one to defeat the Worm who mimicked him, because it's not that he hasn't defeated Worms before, but this one was obviously different. This one was important. This one had mimicked Kagami and even Tendou had been drawn into that storyline, he had a rather important fight against that Worm.
But Kagami isn't relying on Tendou to fight his battles anymore and this is when things changed for me with them. Yeah, part of it was when I went from not really being sure about their dynamic (initially I was shipping it as Tendou/Kagami, but that sort of eroded away over time, even if I didn't really realize it) and right here is when I slowly started to realize, "....oh. It's totally Kagami/Tendou, isn't it?" This is the turning point for them, the shift in their dynamic. I probably didn't actually consciously realize it until much later (more like episode 36 when it was REALLY HARD TO MISS, what with the way that scene screencapped) but the second time through, I've been keeping an eye out for it.
But mostly it's about how Kagami... it's not that he's ever really been just the sidekick, he's had too many scenes focused on him and too many storylines driven by his role in the series, but this is when he starts to full comes into his own, I think. It's important that Tendou was there for this, to show that shift in their relationship, as small as a change as it is at first. (Well, it's kind of a huge change in a way, too, but it's not like this is the first time Kagami has been a Rider. But it's obviously different from TheBee. Yet in the sense of what's between Kagami/Tendou, for now it's just a small change.) Because Tendou has always prodded Kagami into doing things (which seems to be what Tendou wants), which will probably always happen because Tendou's (almost) always two steps ahead of everyone else, but now Kagami has that surety in himself that keeps him stable. And Kagami really has a stability that Tendou doesn't, which will obviously be important in the episodes coming up.
Also, this episode gets Kagami the Kabuto Extender and I am such a nerd, but I love that thing so much. <3 No epilogue thingy this time, since they're still promoting God Speed Love.
And, of course, more Arashi stuff. Spoilers for anything listed under the cut:
→ Monthly TV interview
→ MAOU episode 04
→ Ohno scandal nonsense
♥ - Monthly TV interview - You know what never, ever gets old? Jun's bandmates being a bunch of bitches and fucking with him. A-also. Why is there not more Sho/Jun in fandom? ;__; I love this whole photoshoot, I love that they use their individual colors and that they take one of each potential duo and I love how gorgeous everyone looks with each other. I love that I want to use the one of Aiba and Jun for, like, idk, a really stupid FST project or something.
But mostly I love that Sho's all, OMG Jun's solo is a MESSAGE OF LOVE and IT TOTALLY REACHED ME~~~ ♥ while Jun is all as;dfkjaslk THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID and the rest of his bandmates fuck with him. A++++, never change you guys. ;__;♥
♥ - MAOU episode 04 - I went with the other softsubber this time because she had it out within a couple of days and I was seriously going to claw my way up the walls if I didn't get subs for the episode soon. I needed it now. And I'll say that the episode wasn't as intense as the previous three, but it was no less engaging and several really awesome pieces of the puzzle fit together with this episode.
The thing that made me go, "Omg, yes, finally, thank you, you guys!" the most was the police investigating the family because it was obvious from the end of episode two that this was connected to the murder of Hideo, so one of the first things they should have done was go look at the family to see if anyone knew anything, not dance around Yamano or whatever his name was. (The guy with the glasses that was Hideo's friend.) But they finally did at the end of this episode and the payoff was so worth the wait, because not only did Naruse change his name, but he faked his death, asd;lfkjals;jlkas AWESOME. Like, I kind of half-suspected they weren't really going to address the situation at all, that they'd just leave the family's name unmentioned and "oh, the brother's just gone, sorry~" and give me a really hard time suspending my disbelief.
But I guess the family name was different (something that started with an M?) and I'm so, so glad they addressed that little detail. I'm also glad that we got a lot more information about what happened back then, that Serizawa admitted that he used to bully people and Souda said that he really was a murderer, even when the other glasses-friend (whose name I haven't caught yet) tried to say that time back then was an accident. I'm... not sure which I believe. I imagine the truth is somewhere in the middle.
I also have to admit I may have gotten a little wobbly when it was revealed that Hideo was protecting Yamano--I figured that the kid running down the hall was Yamano, because he had glasses and a couple of people pointed that out, and sure enough it was Yamano in the hall, not Hideo. The knife was Yamano's as well, to take revenge, but Hideo took the knife away from him (hence his prints being on it first--possibly it was an accident, but because Hideo never had the knife, it looked to everyone who was there that Serizawa really was a murderer?) and then they found it on him later.
And I felt a lot more sympathy with Serizawa in this episode, the pleading and screaming at Yamano to just tell him what he wanted, what he Serizawa could do to make all of this stop/to atone for what happened. And, oh, oh, oh, my heart when Yamano bitterly said how painful it was to lose your dear friend. ;___; I-- I know I'm probably not exactly supposed to be on Yamano's side in this, I imagine I'm probably supposed to find him creepy and kind of pathetic, but I just. Can't. Because Hideo was trying to protect him and was killed because he was a good enough person to stand up to the bullies and Yamano probably lost his only friend and those guys got away with it. I'd be bitter and creepy, too.
I did feel less sympathy for him when he was lying to Sora-chan about who the "bad people" were, but. I imagine Yamano genuinely believes that they're bad people, they lied and got away with killing his best friend, he has no reason to believe they've changed at that point.
Something else jumped out at me, something that Anon-san said in a comment on a previous post--Serizawa was in kind of a really shitty position and that part of the reason he doesn't scold his friends more or try to turn them around is because... well, you could see it in that group meeting in episode two. As soon as he started to say something against Souda, he was reminded of how they all lied to cover for him and he quickly shut up again. I realized, you know, I shouldn't judge Serizawa so harshly. He was a kid at the time and if I'd been in his position, I probably would have taken my father's help and let them say whatever to keep myself from going to jail, too. And he obviously did feel guilty about it, he says int his episode, if he did everything he could to live a good life and even became a detective, he thought that maybe eventually god would forgive him for what happened. Being a detective really is about atoning for what happened back then every day.
And it's not like he chose his family or that it was probably even possible to escape his friends after that, they were bound together because they had to keep each other in reaching distance because of that lie. I don't think the people around Serizawa are any better than I previously did, I'm still not going to feel badly if/when they die and part of me still thinks that Serizawa does deserve this, because he still had that knife in his hand and he was still that bully back then. But I don't look as angrily at him as I did before.
At the end, we also see Naruse visiting some woman in what looks like some sort of live-in care facility and the preview shows more with her next week, which means we'll probably get more information on what happened to him after his mother died and why his name was changed. (Did we know if his name was Ryou before Hideo died? I can't remember.) Somehow I got the impression that he was tricking her, but it's hard to tell from only a few seconds of interaction. The only other thing we know he did during that time was visit SerizawaSr and tell him to keep going on like he does now, to keep sacrificing other people more and more, and you realize that the beginnings of the plan have started forming and this is Naruse's way of keeping those flames of hatred going.
I'm not sure what to make about the journalist who didn't really seem to have any clue about Naruse, but had such hatred for SerizawaSr for ruining his career and you could totally see the wheels in Naruse's head turning. I can't imagine that he didn't have a plan to kill SerizawaSr before this, too much is so very carefully planned out, he wouldn't leave that one up to whim or chance. Yet, at the same time, it's been two episodes without Naruse arranging someone's death and I'm wondering if he's going to get back to the plan soon. He's been manipulating Yamano for awhile now, but that's just about covering his tracks, not about moving forward with the revenge.
So, all in all, it wasn't as intense as the previous episode, but it was incredibly satisfying. Plus, it had more hints of what was going on in Naruse's head (about hesitation in going after someone to rescue them making the guilt feel even worse, which I'm not entirely sure how to parse, if it was about him and Hideo or about Serizawa's state of mind) and had him protecting Sora-chan when she ran to him because Serizawa was pressuring her too hard.
♥ - So, about Ohno's scandal. Well, every time this happens, you know it's because they're rising in popularity these days and that it comes with the territory, but it's still kind of nerve-wracking to have to wait for news of what will happen and how serious the rumors/accusations are and it's not really a fun process.
At the same time, the comments on the arashin_on post? With more than one person going OMG WHAT IF CHINEN LEARNS ABOUT WHAT A "THREESOME" IS?? I have never laughed so hard. He'll be fifteen in a couple of months, I'd be more worried about him if he didn't know what a threesome was! But, no! CHINEN IDOLIZES OHNO AND HE IS PURE AND DELICATE AND FRAGILE AND IT WOULD WARP HIM FOREVER!!! ;___;!!!
Possibly I am a really awful person and kind of a bitch. I am at peace with this. But that was really, really full of a whole lot of LOL.
(This is an interesting post about it, too.)
Kamen Rider Kabuto episode 22: The episode starts with Kabuto's fight against the pupa-staged Worms, whom he also mows through with deadly efficiency. It's not even like he's punishing them or angry, he's just. Lethal. At least until they're all gone and the main one has escaped while Shadow moves in on the Worm nest. At the last second, the mission has been put on hold, though, and little bitch is not happy about it.
Kagami wakes up in the hospital while Misaki is there, he says he failed to become Gatack, didn't he? She answers with, "If it wanted you to, you wouldn't have had any problems." And I just laugh and laugh and laugh. You would probably say the same thing about Tendou, that if he wanted you, you'd have no problem. Except no! The Zecter and Tendou are both crazy, crazy bitches. Kagami's life is hard. :<
Kagami's feeling kind of battered at the moment, like he's at his lowest point yet, that of course there's no way he'd be qualified for Gatack, and it sort of makes me want to give him a hug. Kagami really does go through a lot of self-confidence crises through the series, but it's also sort of remarkable how resilient he is on his own, how often he'll bounce back on his own, while Certain Other People need someone to physically drag them out of their crises. Misaki says headquarters officially says that everyone in the factory is a Worm and Kagami has a bit of life come back to him when he's worried about Makoto.
Then the scene switches to La Salle and Tsurugi's birthday party and I kind of love the show for having the gravure model in frumpy clothes up until only recently and then suddenly FRENCH MAID'S OUTFIT. And while Hiyori is like, wtf at all this, Tendou says he can't make any complaints to that person (Jiiya) and I kind of love that dynamic all over again. "If I'm the world's treasure..." Tendou says. "Then that man is humanity's treasure." <3 And Tendou is so cute when Jiiya praises him for having figured out the mystery ingredient. Especially when he's all snappy at Tsurugi for trying to praise him and Tendou doesn't want to hear it.
Tsurugi's like, but you're using polite speech on the wrong person :D and Tendou snaps it's only natural to respect this person (Jiiya) while Jiiya says that he uses polite speech for Tsurugi and I kind of love the way the camera keeps cutting round and round that little circle of the three of them. And Tendou says, well, then you (Tsurugi) should use respectful speech towards me (to complete the triangle) and I just lol at this series and its adorable humor.
After that, Kageyama goes to bitch at Mishima-san, who's still taking his pills and if they haven't dropped that storyline yet, I'm back to wondering if it means something. And the scene is just as creepy as you'd expect it to be!
Then back to the super-awesomeness of the scene at La Salle. I love Hiyori and Tsurugi's interaction, he's praising the meat and potatoes like it's the finest thing ever, while she's just, but it's just meat and potatoes, it's just meat I bought at the local supermarket... and Tsurugi obliviously keeps going, next time he'd like this shredded meat thing with steak! and Tendou totally just facefaults over WHAT AN IDIOT Tsurugi is and I. I laugh so hard. Poor Tendou, nobody appreciates fine culture like he does. :<
I love the scene where Jiiya pays with the silver fork and so... Hiyori just sticks it in the cash register anyway. I love her a lot. Then Kageyama comes in and, "HEY. TENDOU SOUJIROU." and I love that they remembered that!
Kagami's staring at the kaleidoscope that Makoto dropped and when Misaki comes back in, Kagami's doing pretty much what he always does--he gets up again and keeps charging forward with what he believes is right. Even if he knows that there's a good chance that Makoto is a Worm, he still has to keep going. Misaki tries to stop him, think of how this will look on Tadokoro-san if you defy headquarters' orders!
Tadokoro rolls up and says, "Kagami. It's true that you are an idiot. But I don't hate you for being an idiot. If you think you're right, then dash straight forward! That is who... Kagami Arata is." And that really does sum up so much of who Kagami is right there--he might be foolish and headstrong, but if he believes something is right, he just keeps charging forward. He needs to be reminded of it occasionally, but he's incredibly resilient and stable, no matter what life throws at him. He keeps doing what he thinks is right, even if everyone else is telling him not to.
Then back to La Salle, where Kageyama has actually shown up for Tsurugi, that it's time for work, but Tsurugi's not going to move unless Kageyama sings the song. And, just, oh. Lol for the poor little bitch who everyone bends over the counter pretty much every day. And of course I knew what was coming, but that does not make it any less LOL when Kageyama is trying to keep a lid on his temper while singing and then Jiiya says to smile more and you can just see him trying not to explode. M-meanwhile, Tendou and Hiyori have ringside seats for this and I love the look on Hiyori's face while she's creeped out by this and Tendou just sort of stares in shock. Like, even he isn't that evil!
Finally, the trauma ends (but not my laughter) when Tsurugi tries to send the rest of Shadow home outside the warehouse, and Kageyama snarls and smacks down the birthday party hat Tsurugi tried to give him, when suddenly someone in a dark suit zooms by on a motorcycle and is totally badass as he rides over several containers and heads for the warehouse. He runs in (while TheBee and Sasword fight outside) and finds Makoto, the two of them ducking away from several Worm.
They stumble into an area with rows and rows of what look like pods. The series never really explains this scene and it's hard to see clearly, but they do look to be about the same avacado-green color of the basic Worm, so you pretty much have to assume they're Worm babies. Kagami wonders if they're Worm eggs and there are a few fuzzy close-ups of what looks like little moving things inside them.
Another Worm comes along (the same one that mimicked Kagami, I think, since it has the multiple protrusions on its left side with only the one on the right) and Kagami and Makoto back slowly away, when Tendou's voice rings out, "Grandmother said this: It is fun to add a secret flavor so that no one knows. But... it's more fun to find it." Dunno if that last part was what grandmother said or what Tendou thinks, though. Tendou strolls casually in, dressed very nicely in white short sleeves and very nice white pants before he transforms.
It is not at all to show off how awesome he is while Kagami is watching. Not one little bit. .__.
TheBee and Sasword keep fighting, at least until Tsurugi is nearly overtaken by the Worm's power again, so he just about collapses, the final memory of his sister so strong in his mind until he finally transforms into a Worm. At the same time, Kabuto still fights against the Worm that mimicked Kagami and he's back to being a little more casual this time, not quite so gracefully lethal. (Not that he still isn't both.) You know. Now that Kagami has bounced back. He even gets distracted by the new silver-colored Worm, while apparently the Kagami!Worm escapes? Since Worm!Kagami walks up to where Kagami and Makoto are hiding. Who is really kind of hot with the dark look and the casual, "Oh, you plan to fight me unarmored?" as Kagami grabs two pipes to at least defend himself with. Which is a neat little touch, considering Gatack's twin caliburs.
Not that he makes a dent in the Worm and Makoto comes out from his hiding spot, he's clearly had enough. I liked that you could totally see the bored look on his face the entire time Kagami was herding him along, too, and now he finally says, "Enough. I thought if we let Onii-chan go, we'd escape the extermination operation." Which you wonder how that logic goes, considering they clearly knew that it was a Worm nest, whether or not Kagami made it out wouldn't factor into ZECT's decision, I don't think. (Well, maybe if they'd had a hostage situation, but not if they just let him go.)
Oddly, Makoto is able to hold a half-transformed state, he uses one antenna (or whatever you want to call them, I suppose) to stab Kagami, though, I'm going to assume the wound wasn't very deep. He goes back to full form a few moments later, but he was definitely holding that half-state for awhile. I wonder if the other Worm can do that, too? Or if I should just not think about it. Then both fully-formed Worms stab Kagami again who collapses onto the floor, while KagamiSr plays the cello (I think?) back at headquarters and says, "The hope from willpower... that must not be crushed. When fallen into despair... Man... using true hope... You... will save them."
We see someone walking towards Kagami with a Rider Belt, putting it onto him, which lights up when it clicks into place. He manages to get to his feet and stumble after the Worm!Kagami and Makoto, saying, "A Worm that uses the trust between people... I will never forgive that!" He reaches for the Gatack Zecter, who burns a hole through the wall just by heading towards him and I love this scene so much.
It's a little over the top, sure. But at this point in the series I am totally in love with the characters and I think I love Kagami the most (though, Tendou is my favorite, I have more love for Kagami, I think? ...sort of like how Umeda is my favorite, but I have more love for Akiha.) so I am all over this incredibly important and epic moment for him. The Gatack Zecter flies straight into his hand, Kagami only looking at it for a moment, not really even seeming that surprised, before he puts it into place and transforms. And I love Gatack.
I love that Gatack is mostly blue with red eyes while Kabuto is mostly red with blue eyes. I didn't notice that at first, but when they're together later, it's kind of hilarious how they're deliberately mirroring each other and it just sort of reinforces the whole Meant For Each Other thing, like, even the Rider System is shipping Gatack and Kabuto. XD
I love Gatack's shoulder cannons with their unlimited firepower and I deliberately do not think about how that works exactly, I just Roll With It. Shoulder cannons mounted on a magical armored suit that never run out. Gotcha.
This is also the first time in a long time where the Worm has used the person it mimicked to talk to someone, when the Worm tries to yell, "Stop it, Onii-chan, don't destroy me! If you destroy me, Makoto-kun's memories will be gone, too." to play on Kagami's weakness. Kagami is torn for a moment, he hesistates and Kabuto walks up in the background. He tells Gatack to move, he'll finish this and you can tell he's kind of tired of guys in Rider suits suddenly showing up like this.
But Kagami calls his name and Tendou stops halfway there, looking at Gatack. "You... Kagami?" And Kagami says to leave this to him, which Tendou agrees to. I love the way this scene is shot, too, because you can see the show's emphasis on Kabuto being there to witness this moment. Gatack goes into Clock Up to keep up with the Worm, who tries to play on his sympathies with Makoto again, so Kagami leaps towards the ceiling and cuts a hole in the roof. He shows the Worm the rainbow made from the moonlight and picks up the kaleidoscope again. I always wondered how that was possible, how did Kagami manage that? Was it the Clock Up state that did it? I assume so, since it disappears when we hear Clock Over and it's interesting that Kabuto is still watching this moment, even when it looks like Kagami might be going soft on the Worm. I assume he was in Clock Up mode as well? Though, they don't really say.
At the same time, Shadow prepares to blow the whole building up and the Worm finally fights back properly and Kagami prepares a Rider Kick and then the whole building goes as soon as he delivers the kick to the Worm's face. Who isn't actually dead, but lasts just long enough to shield Gatack from the blast, burning up in the process himself.
Meanwhile, KagamiSr is still playing his cello, while Mishima-san says, "Your son... has become Gatack. But is this really... for the best?"
"Mozart..." KagamiSr answers, "While creating a song for the dead... he died. But... did that song kill him? Or was the persistance in creating that song... what kept him alive?"
Mishima-san somehow understands this. "In other words... Gatack is a dual edge blade. It might take your son's life... or it might save it...."
The first time I watched this scene, I thought it was implied that Gatack was somehow dangerous to use, that it might kill Kagami or that it might save his life somehow in the future, that it was a gamble from here on out. But on rewatching, I think maybe they meant that the point up until now had been the gamble, that Gatack might have really killed him or else it might save his life when Mishima-san (it was so clearly Mishima, I'm not sure why they hid that, just to be dramatic?) put the Belt back on him.
The episode nears its end with Kagami picking up the kaleidoscope out of the fiery wreckage while Tendou says, "Naive. As always." and it's interesting because he really kind of wasn't. Kagami's belief in Makoto was what ultimately saved his life when Makoto sacrificed himself to save Kagami, his trust/connection with Makoto was rewarded. "I... can only be myself." Kagami says. "But... I am myself." Tendou just looks at him, the expression on his face hidden behind the blank mask.
It's obvious that this is an important episode in the overall arc of Kamen Rider Kabuto, especially for Kagami, that the series is reaching a major climax point with these last two episodes. And it's a really big turning point, I feel. There's a lot going on here with the themes of the overall show and I think this is the point where the Kagami/Tendou dynamic shifts a lot, partly because of Gatack, but also what Gatack represents. I suppose, if you want to get dramatic, this was Kagami's trial by fire rather literally and he came out the other side stronger than ever, believing in being himself. It's about Kagami's strength of character and doing what he believes is right.
All throughout the episode, it's been important to note that Kagami needs to be himself, even if that means he's an idiot or naive sometimes. The series shows us that, by being himself, Kagami becomes Gatack, he's rewarded with Makoto giving himself up for that connection they forged together. It's important that Kagami is the one to defeat the Worm who mimicked him, because it's not that he hasn't defeated Worms before, but this one was obviously different. This one was important. This one had mimicked Kagami and even Tendou had been drawn into that storyline, he had a rather important fight against that Worm.
But Kagami isn't relying on Tendou to fight his battles anymore and this is when things changed for me with them. Yeah, part of it was when I went from not really being sure about their dynamic (initially I was shipping it as Tendou/Kagami, but that sort of eroded away over time, even if I didn't really realize it) and right here is when I slowly started to realize, "....oh. It's totally Kagami/Tendou, isn't it?" This is the turning point for them, the shift in their dynamic. I probably didn't actually consciously realize it until much later (more like episode 36 when it was REALLY HARD TO MISS, what with the way that scene screencapped) but the second time through, I've been keeping an eye out for it.
But mostly it's about how Kagami... it's not that he's ever really been just the sidekick, he's had too many scenes focused on him and too many storylines driven by his role in the series, but this is when he starts to full comes into his own, I think. It's important that Tendou was there for this, to show that shift in their relationship, as small as a change as it is at first. (Well, it's kind of a huge change in a way, too, but it's not like this is the first time Kagami has been a Rider. But it's obviously different from TheBee. Yet in the sense of what's between Kagami/Tendou, for now it's just a small change.) Because Tendou has always prodded Kagami into doing things (which seems to be what Tendou wants), which will probably always happen because Tendou's (almost) always two steps ahead of everyone else, but now Kagami has that surety in himself that keeps him stable. And Kagami really has a stability that Tendou doesn't, which will obviously be important in the episodes coming up.
Also, this episode gets Kagami the Kabuto Extender and I am such a nerd, but I love that thing so much. <3 No epilogue thingy this time, since they're still promoting God Speed Love.
And, of course, more Arashi stuff. Spoilers for anything listed under the cut:
→ Monthly TV interview
→ MAOU episode 04
→ Ohno scandal nonsense
♥ - Monthly TV interview - You know what never, ever gets old? Jun's bandmates being a bunch of bitches and fucking with him. A-also. Why is there not more Sho/Jun in fandom? ;__; I love this whole photoshoot, I love that they use their individual colors and that they take one of each potential duo and I love how gorgeous everyone looks with each other. I love that I want to use the one of Aiba and Jun for, like, idk, a really stupid FST project or something.
But mostly I love that Sho's all, OMG Jun's solo is a MESSAGE OF LOVE and IT TOTALLY REACHED ME~~~ ♥ while Jun is all as;dfkjaslk THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID and the rest of his bandmates fuck with him. A++++, never change you guys. ;__;♥
♥ - MAOU episode 04 - I went with the other softsubber this time because she had it out within a couple of days and I was seriously going to claw my way up the walls if I didn't get subs for the episode soon. I needed it now. And I'll say that the episode wasn't as intense as the previous three, but it was no less engaging and several really awesome pieces of the puzzle fit together with this episode.
The thing that made me go, "Omg, yes, finally, thank you, you guys!" the most was the police investigating the family because it was obvious from the end of episode two that this was connected to the murder of Hideo, so one of the first things they should have done was go look at the family to see if anyone knew anything, not dance around Yamano or whatever his name was. (The guy with the glasses that was Hideo's friend.) But they finally did at the end of this episode and the payoff was so worth the wait, because not only did Naruse change his name, but he faked his death, asd;lfkjals;jlkas AWESOME. Like, I kind of half-suspected they weren't really going to address the situation at all, that they'd just leave the family's name unmentioned and "oh, the brother's just gone, sorry~" and give me a really hard time suspending my disbelief.
But I guess the family name was different (something that started with an M?) and I'm so, so glad they addressed that little detail. I'm also glad that we got a lot more information about what happened back then, that Serizawa admitted that he used to bully people and Souda said that he really was a murderer, even when the other glasses-friend (whose name I haven't caught yet) tried to say that time back then was an accident. I'm... not sure which I believe. I imagine the truth is somewhere in the middle.
I also have to admit I may have gotten a little wobbly when it was revealed that Hideo was protecting Yamano--I figured that the kid running down the hall was Yamano, because he had glasses and a couple of people pointed that out, and sure enough it was Yamano in the hall, not Hideo. The knife was Yamano's as well, to take revenge, but Hideo took the knife away from him (hence his prints being on it first--possibly it was an accident, but because Hideo never had the knife, it looked to everyone who was there that Serizawa really was a murderer?) and then they found it on him later.
And I felt a lot more sympathy with Serizawa in this episode, the pleading and screaming at Yamano to just tell him what he wanted, what he Serizawa could do to make all of this stop/to atone for what happened. And, oh, oh, oh, my heart when Yamano bitterly said how painful it was to lose your dear friend. ;___; I-- I know I'm probably not exactly supposed to be on Yamano's side in this, I imagine I'm probably supposed to find him creepy and kind of pathetic, but I just. Can't. Because Hideo was trying to protect him and was killed because he was a good enough person to stand up to the bullies and Yamano probably lost his only friend and those guys got away with it. I'd be bitter and creepy, too.
I did feel less sympathy for him when he was lying to Sora-chan about who the "bad people" were, but. I imagine Yamano genuinely believes that they're bad people, they lied and got away with killing his best friend, he has no reason to believe they've changed at that point.
Something else jumped out at me, something that Anon-san said in a comment on a previous post--Serizawa was in kind of a really shitty position and that part of the reason he doesn't scold his friends more or try to turn them around is because... well, you could see it in that group meeting in episode two. As soon as he started to say something against Souda, he was reminded of how they all lied to cover for him and he quickly shut up again. I realized, you know, I shouldn't judge Serizawa so harshly. He was a kid at the time and if I'd been in his position, I probably would have taken my father's help and let them say whatever to keep myself from going to jail, too. And he obviously did feel guilty about it, he says int his episode, if he did everything he could to live a good life and even became a detective, he thought that maybe eventually god would forgive him for what happened. Being a detective really is about atoning for what happened back then every day.
And it's not like he chose his family or that it was probably even possible to escape his friends after that, they were bound together because they had to keep each other in reaching distance because of that lie. I don't think the people around Serizawa are any better than I previously did, I'm still not going to feel badly if/when they die and part of me still thinks that Serizawa does deserve this, because he still had that knife in his hand and he was still that bully back then. But I don't look as angrily at him as I did before.
At the end, we also see Naruse visiting some woman in what looks like some sort of live-in care facility and the preview shows more with her next week, which means we'll probably get more information on what happened to him after his mother died and why his name was changed. (Did we know if his name was Ryou before Hideo died? I can't remember.) Somehow I got the impression that he was tricking her, but it's hard to tell from only a few seconds of interaction. The only other thing we know he did during that time was visit SerizawaSr and tell him to keep going on like he does now, to keep sacrificing other people more and more, and you realize that the beginnings of the plan have started forming and this is Naruse's way of keeping those flames of hatred going.
I'm not sure what to make about the journalist who didn't really seem to have any clue about Naruse, but had such hatred for SerizawaSr for ruining his career and you could totally see the wheels in Naruse's head turning. I can't imagine that he didn't have a plan to kill SerizawaSr before this, too much is so very carefully planned out, he wouldn't leave that one up to whim or chance. Yet, at the same time, it's been two episodes without Naruse arranging someone's death and I'm wondering if he's going to get back to the plan soon. He's been manipulating Yamano for awhile now, but that's just about covering his tracks, not about moving forward with the revenge.
So, all in all, it wasn't as intense as the previous episode, but it was incredibly satisfying. Plus, it had more hints of what was going on in Naruse's head (about hesitation in going after someone to rescue them making the guilt feel even worse, which I'm not entirely sure how to parse, if it was about him and Hideo or about Serizawa's state of mind) and had him protecting Sora-chan when she ran to him because Serizawa was pressuring her too hard.
♥ - So, about Ohno's scandal. Well, every time this happens, you know it's because they're rising in popularity these days and that it comes with the territory, but it's still kind of nerve-wracking to have to wait for news of what will happen and how serious the rumors/accusations are and it's not really a fun process.
At the same time, the comments on the arashin_on post? With more than one person going OMG WHAT IF CHINEN LEARNS ABOUT WHAT A "THREESOME" IS?? I have never laughed so hard. He'll be fifteen in a couple of months, I'd be more worried about him if he didn't know what a threesome was! But, no! CHINEN IDOLIZES OHNO AND HE IS PURE AND DELICATE AND FRAGILE AND IT WOULD WARP HIM FOREVER!!! ;___;!!!
Possibly I am a really awful person and kind of a bitch. I am at peace with this. But that was really, really full of a whole lot of LOL.
(This is an interesting post about it, too.)