Kamen Rider Kabuto
Walking the path of heaven, the man who will rule over all…
1999, a meteorite strikes Shibuya, reducing it to ruin. That, however, was only the beginning, for with the meteorite came the Worm, a hostile insect-like species of aliens with the ability to perfectly mimic humans, copying even their innermost secrets and memories. For seven years the Worm infiltrate human society, killing and replacing its members without fear, for they can also evolve into stronger forms and gain access to the Clock-up ability, allowing them to achieve speeds greater than the human eye can follow.
Enter ZECT, a secret organization dedicated to fighting the Worm threat. Through the Masked Rider Project they develop the Zecters, independently intelligent robot insects capable of joining with a human to grant them extraordinary power. However, rather than choosing Kagami Arata, a new member of ZECT eager to be able to fight the Worm, the Kabuto Zecter goes to a man named Tendou Souji, a walking god-complex who is pretty much perfect at doing whatever he feels like doing. And he’s not the only one outside of ZECT to get a Zecter, something ZECT is not happy about.
Starting off this review, I have to talk about Tendou Souji, the titular Kamen Rider Kabuto. He is a walking power-fantasy gone mad, a pure expression of Id who can do whatever he feels like and will always be right in doing so, can beat up all the badguys with hardly any effort, make fools of those who annoy him without repercussion, a sublime chef, and is the absolute bestest big brother a little sister could ever ask for. I did not much care for Tendou in the early run of the show, because while it was one thing for Tendou to be ridiculously full of himself, it was another thing for the show to repeatedly go out of its way to back him up on this, it comes off as insecure and unnecessary, because the fact of the matter is that Tendou does have some very good qualities to him; as mentioned above he is a very good big brother, encouraging and supportive and giving his sister her space to live her life. Furthermore, he is very proactive in his fight against the Worm, focused on the mission and doing whatever it takes to root them out of hiding. Finally, when he encounters someone who is a better chef than him, he is incredibly respectful towards them, it does not bother him at all for there to be someone better than him at something he really likes to do. And as the show progresses, it tones done the whole “TENDOU IS THE GREATEST EVAR” atmosphere, letting his actions speak for themselves without overblowing them. So I actually ended up liking Tendou much more than I expected, which makes me happy.
Another good point about the show is Kagami Arata, who starts off the hapless perennial loser who gets dumped on by the narrative and everyone around him as he struggles to try and measure up to Tendou, but over time grows impressively to the point where he too can be a Kamen Rider with the Gatack Zecter and is even able to keep Tendou in check when he is being stupid or wrong.
Unfortunately, they are not the only riders on the show, and the show’s handling of them is more than a little spotty; first is TheBee, granted by the Wasp Zecter, which starts off on Yaguruma who focuses on teamwork with his subordinates…for about one episode before he gets horribly derailed and completely falls apart before the glory that is Tendou. TheBee hops around a couple more times, stays on a guy named Kageyama for a time, but Kageyama is such a nothing character that eventually TheBee just leaves him and never comes back. Then there’s Drake, granted by the Dragonfly Zecter, which has something of the reverse problem of the TheBee, because the guy playing Kazama had such a busy schedule that he was absent for most of the show’s run, so his big character ends up getting finished really early and he makes some appearances later on, largely incidental as he never really makes a big impact on the plot. Then there’s SaSword, the Scorpion Zecter used by Kamishiro Tsurugi; when introduced he is like Tendou minus the good qualities, but it doesn’t take long for him to get rewritten as a painfully unfunny comic-relief buffoon. He just tries way too hard, it’s not believable, and when time comes to finally resolve his character arc, which is a very dramatic and tragic one, it does not have nearly the impact it should since he’d spent so much of the show as a complete and total putz. Finally, there are the Hopper Brothers; not only are they utterly superfluous and completely pointless, they are aggressively useless, with multiple scenes of them going around going on about how they are in eternal darkness and won’t do anything. I suppose it’s a fine parody of the brooding anti-hero but it’s still a complete waste of time so I don’t care.
As regards the handling of female characters, the show is fair and what problems there are largely the product of real-life factors beyond anyone’s control; specifically, the actress who played the female lead Hiyori became dangerously ill in the second half of the show, a time in which she was going to be centrally involved in some pretty important plot events, and so Hiyori had to be hastily written out temporarily while the actress got treatment, so they went with a kidnapping plot. This results in a sort of “replacement” female lead whose characterization never quite comes together for me, though there are several fun aspects to her. Outside of that though, Kabuto’s handling of female characters is solid and respectful.
Now on Rider Suits; the show has an interesting gimmick whereby the riders start off in a heavily armored “Masked Form”, which they then “Cast Off” to reveal the rider suit beneath it and gain access to their own “Clock-up” abilities to counter the Worms for some really nice set-pieces. Kabuto’s base rider form is simply beautiful, simple yet striking. TheBee’s is also really great, which makes the suckiness of the guys in the suit all the more annoying. Drake and SaSword, less so for me. Gatack’s a very solid design and is clearly meant as a compliment to Kabuto. Then there are the Hopper Brothers, Punch and Kick, which are both lazy and boring palette swaps of one another; these two were clearly rushed out and forced into the show for the purpose of promoting more toys.
Concerning the story, it is a mess, especially in the latter half where, as mentioned above, Hiyori’s actress was unavailable at a time when she was building up to be really important. There are plot holes everywhere, loose-ends, bizarre changes in characters, and I really don’t know in the end what the show was about beyond Tendou being perfect; it’s not about identity, it’s not about fate, it’s not about people coming together…I mean, it touches on these themes but it doesn’t focus on any of them enough to really be about them. Oh, and the Big Bad comes out of nowhere in the last four episodes. That is just…no.
So in the end, Kabuto’s a mixed bag, there are good aspects, and there are bad aspects to it.
1999, a meteorite strikes Shibuya, reducing it to ruin. That, however, was only the beginning, for with the meteorite came the Worm, a hostile insect-like species of aliens with the ability to perfectly mimic humans, copying even their innermost secrets and memories. For seven years the Worm infiltrate human society, killing and replacing its members without fear, for they can also evolve into stronger forms and gain access to the Clock-up ability, allowing them to achieve speeds greater than the human eye can follow.
Enter ZECT, a secret organization dedicated to fighting the Worm threat. Through the Masked Rider Project they develop the Zecters, independently intelligent robot insects capable of joining with a human to grant them extraordinary power. However, rather than choosing Kagami Arata, a new member of ZECT eager to be able to fight the Worm, the Kabuto Zecter goes to a man named Tendou Souji, a walking god-complex who is pretty much perfect at doing whatever he feels like doing. And he’s not the only one outside of ZECT to get a Zecter, something ZECT is not happy about.
Starting off this review, I have to talk about Tendou Souji, the titular Kamen Rider Kabuto. He is a walking power-fantasy gone mad, a pure expression of Id who can do whatever he feels like and will always be right in doing so, can beat up all the badguys with hardly any effort, make fools of those who annoy him without repercussion, a sublime chef, and is the absolute bestest big brother a little sister could ever ask for. I did not much care for Tendou in the early run of the show, because while it was one thing for Tendou to be ridiculously full of himself, it was another thing for the show to repeatedly go out of its way to back him up on this, it comes off as insecure and unnecessary, because the fact of the matter is that Tendou does have some very good qualities to him; as mentioned above he is a very good big brother, encouraging and supportive and giving his sister her space to live her life. Furthermore, he is very proactive in his fight against the Worm, focused on the mission and doing whatever it takes to root them out of hiding. Finally, when he encounters someone who is a better chef than him, he is incredibly respectful towards them, it does not bother him at all for there to be someone better than him at something he really likes to do. And as the show progresses, it tones done the whole “TENDOU IS THE GREATEST EVAR” atmosphere, letting his actions speak for themselves without overblowing them. So I actually ended up liking Tendou much more than I expected, which makes me happy.
Another good point about the show is Kagami Arata, who starts off the hapless perennial loser who gets dumped on by the narrative and everyone around him as he struggles to try and measure up to Tendou, but over time grows impressively to the point where he too can be a Kamen Rider with the Gatack Zecter and is even able to keep Tendou in check when he is being stupid or wrong.
Unfortunately, they are not the only riders on the show, and the show’s handling of them is more than a little spotty; first is TheBee, granted by the Wasp Zecter, which starts off on Yaguruma who focuses on teamwork with his subordinates…for about one episode before he gets horribly derailed and completely falls apart before the glory that is Tendou. TheBee hops around a couple more times, stays on a guy named Kageyama for a time, but Kageyama is such a nothing character that eventually TheBee just leaves him and never comes back. Then there’s Drake, granted by the Dragonfly Zecter, which has something of the reverse problem of the TheBee, because the guy playing Kazama had such a busy schedule that he was absent for most of the show’s run, so his big character ends up getting finished really early and he makes some appearances later on, largely incidental as he never really makes a big impact on the plot. Then there’s SaSword, the Scorpion Zecter used by Kamishiro Tsurugi; when introduced he is like Tendou minus the good qualities, but it doesn’t take long for him to get rewritten as a painfully unfunny comic-relief buffoon. He just tries way too hard, it’s not believable, and when time comes to finally resolve his character arc, which is a very dramatic and tragic one, it does not have nearly the impact it should since he’d spent so much of the show as a complete and total putz. Finally, there are the Hopper Brothers; not only are they utterly superfluous and completely pointless, they are aggressively useless, with multiple scenes of them going around going on about how they are in eternal darkness and won’t do anything. I suppose it’s a fine parody of the brooding anti-hero but it’s still a complete waste of time so I don’t care.
As regards the handling of female characters, the show is fair and what problems there are largely the product of real-life factors beyond anyone’s control; specifically, the actress who played the female lead Hiyori became dangerously ill in the second half of the show, a time in which she was going to be centrally involved in some pretty important plot events, and so Hiyori had to be hastily written out temporarily while the actress got treatment, so they went with a kidnapping plot. This results in a sort of “replacement” female lead whose characterization never quite comes together for me, though there are several fun aspects to her. Outside of that though, Kabuto’s handling of female characters is solid and respectful.
Now on Rider Suits; the show has an interesting gimmick whereby the riders start off in a heavily armored “Masked Form”, which they then “Cast Off” to reveal the rider suit beneath it and gain access to their own “Clock-up” abilities to counter the Worms for some really nice set-pieces. Kabuto’s base rider form is simply beautiful, simple yet striking. TheBee’s is also really great, which makes the suckiness of the guys in the suit all the more annoying. Drake and SaSword, less so for me. Gatack’s a very solid design and is clearly meant as a compliment to Kabuto. Then there are the Hopper Brothers, Punch and Kick, which are both lazy and boring palette swaps of one another; these two were clearly rushed out and forced into the show for the purpose of promoting more toys.
Concerning the story, it is a mess, especially in the latter half where, as mentioned above, Hiyori’s actress was unavailable at a time when she was building up to be really important. There are plot holes everywhere, loose-ends, bizarre changes in characters, and I really don’t know in the end what the show was about beyond Tendou being perfect; it’s not about identity, it’s not about fate, it’s not about people coming together…I mean, it touches on these themes but it doesn’t focus on any of them enough to really be about them. Oh, and the Big Bad comes out of nowhere in the last four episodes. That is just…no.
So in the end, Kabuto’s a mixed bag, there are good aspects, and there are bad aspects to it.