Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider

Episode 10

While Tojima is the strongest of our heroes in a purely physical sense, he is in no way the best fighter. In fact, he's probably the worst of the bunch besides Yukarisu. He's spent his whole life doing heavy labor and simply mimicking the moves seen on the original Kamen Rider TV show. He has no actual martial arts training. However, as we see this episode, in his heart burns a fire that can't be extinguished—and that's his real power.

The moment Tojima became Kamen Rider back in the first episode, he changed. When the mask is on, he is embodying the character, body, and soul. Kamen Rider never gives up. Kamen Rider never retreats. Thus, neither does Tojima. Or to put it another way, even when his body is pushed far past the limits of a normal person, he keeps going—because he's not Tojima in that moment (at least in his own mind): He's Kamen Rider. This is where his strength comes from—why he is the only one of our motley crew able to knock a literal monster on its ass.

Yuriko comes to realize this in her battle with Tojima. She is by far the better fighter. She's actually trained in martial arts and wrestling. Against a normal man (or combatant), she'd win easily. However, Tojima's raw strength mixed with his otherworldly endurance makes her feel like an ineffective glass cannon. No matter how much she hits him, he just keeps coming—and all it will take is one shot from him for her to shatter.

Once she figures out that Tojima's power comes from how much he is emulating his character, she realizes that she has the power to do the same—after all, she is certain she loves Tackle as much as he loves Kamen Rider. However, to unlock this power, you have to understand the character on the deepest level.

Her first power-up comes with the epiphany that Stronger should have saved Tackle, no matter if she was poisoned or using a self-sacrificing super move. He was the hero, and he failed to do his damned job. Somewhere within Tackle, she must have thought the same thing—even if she never voiced it.

Yuriko's second power up comes from realizing what it truly means to put everything on the line—to fight like Tackle in that final battle. She stops dodging and counterattacking, and simply takes the hits and does her most powerful move again and again until Tojima stays down.

Now, despite her victory, there's a bit of clever nuance to it. Kamen Rider cannot lose. This idea is baked into Tojima. It doesn't matter how many times he is suplexed into the ground, Kamen Rider would stand back up—so Tojima does the same without conscious thought. The trick and unintended key to her win is that she knocks off Tojima's mask with her final attack. In other words, she suplexes not Kamen Rider but an “un-transformed” Tojima. And while Kamen Rider may be invincible, Tojima, the man, is not.

Now, how will she fare against Mitsuba and his Aikido skills? We'll find out next week.

Rating:

Tojima Wants to Be a Kamen Rider is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.