I might be mis-remembering but I feel like part of the reason Kusaka hated Takumi so much was because of Mari.

Gosh, I need to get around to watching Faiz...

But those suits look amazing as upgrades! Really tempted for that Figuarts now.

Broadly speaking, yeah, that's true. Out of several reasons for Kusaka's beef with Takumi, all of them are connected to Mari in some way.

• Takumi is the only one who can see through his nice guy facade, becoming an obstacle between him and Mari.
  
• Takumi was able to bring Mari back to life, while Kusaka could do nothing.
  
• Takumi was suspected as the culprit for the Ryusei School incident that killed Mari the first time (later proven to be Kitazaki).
  
• Kusaka fights Orphenochs to protect Mari, yet she would rather believe in an Orphenoch like Takumi to protect her, despite getting killed by Orphenochs twice before.

Kusaka resents the weakness inside himself for his failure to live up to the role of Mari's protector, so he resents Takumi for being a constant reminder of that.

Regarding Takumi's feelings in the matter though, he took a long time to open up to the idea of Mari and Keitarou as friends, so I personally don't see him opening up to romance that quickly. Even when he showed interest in Saya, he still instinctively pushed her away, due to his usual fear of hurting people who get too close to him.

I agree that I don't think Takumi and Mari have anything romantic going on, except maybe in the Paradise Lost universe. I do, however, think that Kusaka believes there is romantic interest between the two of them, which is one of the innumerable reasons he hates Takumi. Just my interpretation though.

I just hope Kusaka finally dies by Takumi's hands this time. Kusaka needs to end up revealing his true colors to Mari for how he hates Takumi so much.

Takumi was angry when he found out Kiba killed Kusaka though. He wants to protect humans, not kill them.

Is this film a continuation of the series or the summer film (Paradise Lost)? Kusaka died in both timelines, so how is he still alive in this film? Is he just an Orphenoch copy version reconstructed from his original DNA? How is Kitazaki/Dragon Orphenoch also still alive? Ah, never mind. I consider unplanned, post-series extra stories like this a fanfic, even if it's written by the original writer(s).

I'd be down for this if this means more SHF SS release of Orphenochs. My personal favorite would be Dragon Orphenochs in both forms, or the other three members of the original Lucky Clover (Crocodile, Centipede, & Lobster), or Rose Orphenoch (Murakami), or Goat Orphenoch (Hanagata).

I concur. Takumi is not only an obstacle between Kusaka and Mari, but also between Kusaka and everyone else. Kusaka is a narcissist, and Takumi can smell his narcissism from miles away. Kusaka can fool almost everyone with his fake, superficial charm, except Takumi. It's a common fact of life that the people narcissists hate the most are those who can see through their facade. Narcissists loves power, and power involves control. Narcissists control people mainly through their facade, and if you can see through their facade, then it means you can't be controlled. It means you have much greater probability of challenging their fake superiority.

Well, Takumi is a Wolf Orphenoch. That says a lot about his personality.

I think Takumi's interest in Saya was due to having similar personality. Not to mention being fellow nekojita.

I concur. That's how paranoid Kusaka is.

Kusaka had gradually revealed his true colors to everyone during the series, whether directly or indirectly. On the other hand, I don't think anyone (except for Kiba) ever had the thought of killing him. He's just a fragile narcissist yandere.

Yea. Takumi has absolutely disliked Kusaka's personality since their first encounter, but I don't think he would've wished death on him, let alone actually killed him.

Delta's in the trailer, which implies this is the series. Delta wasn't in the movie.

This is my take. Kusaka is just so possessive and toxic that pretty much any guy that Mari reciprocates friendliness towards is a potential future lover and thus, his competition.

Sole difference being Keitaro I guess, since Kusaka doesn't really take him seriously.

Wish Psyga & Orga appeared in the movie with new users.