Speaking of, Kaixa Day is a few months away.

It's so nice to have a story that feels relevant to everyone again, that feels drawn from their experiences, that's looped into the show's themes. Real cool to see.

He seems very excited about bringing a giant grey monster to life, so, probably not a great guy!

(I had to go back and see which one Episode 15 was, and how I felt about it.) It seems like I really ended up enjoying that episode, so this one is sparking some of the same excitement.

Yeah, I wasn't suggesting that Yuka'd be taking Kitazaki's place, just that it's probably more important to have that 4th member when Kitazaki isn't reliable.

I think a lot of Yuka's limitations, as far as previous losses go, are self-imposed. Kageyama specifically criticizes her in this one for holding back in the fight.

Good point about Minami!

I honestly don't think Yuuji and Takumi even knew Mari was sitting at that table.

He really does! I don't have anywhere near enough time to go into it (I'm definitely doing this post when I should be working), but the Adel stuff largely worked better for me because redeeming him is the theme of the show, while redeeming ("redeeming") Sawada is something that is at best of reflection of the other characters' struggles, and at worst a distraction from more interesting thematic work.

Like, redeeming Adel is what Ghost is about, while the Sawada storyline never felt as integral to me.

Yeah, I think it's super important to have their Big Day Out, and not just for catharsis. It's important to see Yuka as a human teenager, since she's about to be objectified by numerous parties as A Dangerous Orphnoch.

I think they sincerely hate each other? I feel Takumi is okay hanging around jerks because he's been a jerk to tons of people (which is to say he doesn't care even a little bit if Kusaka hates him), while Kusaka knows he's going to need more Riders if he wants to bring down Smart Brain.

I don't know if I think they even grudgingly respect each other? Like, I think they view their actions as Riders as The Mission, and that exists in a strata so far above emotions that things like respect or camaraderie don't even enter the calculus. Fighting together... it's like they're both in the same fight, but they aren't fighting together.

I've already started growing out my eyebrows in anticipation!

Also btw can you respond to my reply about Yuka's behavior (the romance hijinks one) that I don't advocate, or Kusaka's jerkassery?

I would agree on Die for this one with them sincerely hating each other (though if want to be more specific, more one sided on Kusaka), and not like the usual primary and secondary Riders. Also like I said before, I don't want for people to see any characters constantly being hostile to each other but is inseparable, as friends deep down who just acts as worst enemies outside. There are certainly those who are like that, but don't consider all characters who are like that the same.

Also with the argument of Kusaka being good (anti-hero is still that, though admittedly you still consider him extreme one) because of him killing Orphnochs (out of pure racism, just that the target species happens to be mostly malicious one), I've been holding it back until now, where Minami appears.

This is a smart way to put a monstrous character on protagonist side without portraying them in a better light, like Kuroto in Ex-Aid, but I'm onboard with the hatred being genuine and the only reason they "work together" is some mutual gain, not even grudging respects, or camaraderie. Also forgot to talk about this but.... it's not Mari's decision to keep Kusaka around because both her and Kusaka live in Keitaro's laundry which would make for Keitaro to decide Takumi, Mari, and Kusaka to live there or not?

Can you give it to me one more time? I guess it wasn't clear to me. Sorry!

Huh! I hadn't considered that. Yeah, I gotta assume that Keitaro isn't going to be able to get Kusaka to leave. That is not an argument Keitaro's going to win.

Leave it to Kusaka to prove it's possible to be an even worse roommate than Tezuka. :p

He's awful in every aspect, but, no, he is not a good roommate.

One of my favorite touches over the previous arc was whenever there'd be a Team Faiz meal. The lighting would be dim or non-existent, there'd be rain outside, everyone would have their heads down, no dialogue, just a miserable mood... except Kusaka, who'd be clearly having a super normal meal, unconcerned by everyone's suffering.

It... it's so perfect.

Perhaps camaraderie was too strong a word for their relationship. They definitely hate each other but there's something that works between them that's hard to explain. Kusaka doesn't really "respect" anybody, not even Mari. Everybody is on a spectrum of least to most contempt and Takumi falls somewhere in the middle between Orphenochs and humans. Takumi has to respect Kusaka on some level in order to have felt inferior to him when they first met. They're aligned by their goal to protect humanity, albeit for completely different reasons. Takumi is a hero of justice. Kusaka is on the side of justice, but he's not of justice, definitely not a hero. He wants to spite the Orphenochs and protect Mari. Everybody else is second to him. He's an antihero, the worst of the worst. But when they fight together, however begrudgingly, they're a pretty effective unit. They're professionals, I guess.

Yeah, I think "professionals" gets to the heart of it, at least for Kusaka. I think his two axes for charting out his relationships are "USEFUL" and "CONTEMPT". Someone like Mari is Least Contempt/Most Useful, for example, while Takumi gets plotted at all different points depending on what episode you're watching. (Right now, I think Takumi slots in at Medium Contempt/High Useful.)

And then they killed him five minutes later anyway!

So Kitazaki would be Most Contempt/Least Useful, the one he would destroy in a heartbeat, the opposite of Mari. Yeah, these axes make a lot of sense.