[Kamen Rider Die]

hey what if i stayed up late one night for no reason and wrote answers that probably don't make sense or address points

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Originally Posted by Magnugiga

Honestly, this was my gut reaction toward this development. I had a hard time in particular wrapping my head around how easily Yuuji swallowed Kusaka's bullshit, and I think it's because there's been so much time since the thing with his cousin and gf (way back in Ep 2!). Ever since then he's always portrayed as this sensible, level-headed, guy whose good traits stand out even more among the dysfunctional bunch, it's easy to forget how traumatized he must be and how it'd make sense that it only took a slight nudge from Kusaka (who is such an Obvious Bad Dude only to the viewers, not necessarily to other characters) to unleash all the insecurity and paranoia.

In retrospect, it's indeed in-character for all three parties involved. Once you can buy that, it's engaging material; at that point, I was certainly more invested in discovering whether Yuuji and Takumi would eventually make up and beat the shit out of Kusaka together, than anything else in the plot!

Also, I always find it fascinating when Yuuji and Kusaka shares a scene b/c of the diametrically opposite way the show is framing them, a sort of subversion to their supposed role. Yuuji is the first 'monster'we ever see, the guy who went on a murder spree on civilians, but the show absolutely want us to like him by doing everything to make him seem the most sympathetic person in the cast. Kusaka is the secondary Rider who's supposed to get along and kick ass together with the MC once they eventually overcome their differences, and his motivation on the most general sense is heroic: he wanted to extinguish all the Orphnochs, the threat to humanity, and protect the girl he loves! Isn't that a good goal? But no, they took painstaking efforts to highlight his toxicity and how much of a bad apple he is. I used to be bothered by how Kusaka's actor frequently overplay some of his scenes to the point of unintentional hilarity, but it makes sense if you consider that the show really want us to unambiguously dislike the guy while hammering home the whole role subversion thing. That scene of their first meeting together, that 'water scene' when Kusaka being such a hilarious asshole to the wounded Yuuji? That's the show in a nutshell.

Maybe it's just me, but every time Yuuji does the Heroic Orphnoch thing, I think, "But you murdered two people." I'm not sure if the show wants me to remember that, or forget it, but it's something I can't let go of. So the rage we see at points from Yuuji, it's like, There He Is. It really doesn't take a huge story from Kusaka to get Yuuji to feel that betrayal viscerally.

To your point about how they've layered villain attributes onto Kusaka and hero attributes onto Yuuji, absolutely! The big Hell Yeah point in this episode is Faiz and Horsepower, fighting together! I... I don't remember feeling that great when Faiz and Kaixa teamed up!

Kusaka's a real gift to this plot, since he's pretty well-defined as Just The Worst, so his motivation to create chaos doesn't have to be greater than This Friendship Might Make Me Look Bad. And, yeah, the heightened sense of villainy he brings is really something else. He feels worse than some of the monstrous characters, I think, because of the ease with which he attacks them emotionally. They are so easily spun around by Kusaka!

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Originally Posted by Switchblade

Yeah, Kusaka's shit-stirring here is one of those moments where the show gets its reputation for miscommunication issues. Yuuji may not have known he was Faiz, but he's known Takumi much longer and more intimately than he ever knew that asshole who betrayed him to Smart Brain that one time. It does make sense that Yuuji's in a pretty screwed-up headspace right now and not thinking clearly, but it still feels wrong how easily Kusaka pulls the wool over his eyes. Come on, man, you've fought Faiz enough by now to realize that no wrist-flick = not the regular Faiz, even without him pulling a classic Kaixa collar straighten.

One of the things that's been hilariously established on this show is that Kusaka's, like, power only extends to the kids in Team Faiz and Team Orphnoch, but they are defenseless against it. Kusaka did try to murder Yuuji just a few weeks ago, but, like, how many times has Kaido said he'd murder Yuuji? When you're a superpowered murder horse, I guess you've got a pretty thick skin against being threatened/assaulted?

Still, I think the telling part is that, yeah, it was easy for Yuuji to buy Kusaka's lies about Takumi. Maybe that says to some people that Inoue didn't do the work to make it believable, but I see it as Yuuji failing his friendship with Takumi.

All the other stuff... I am regularly not recognizing people I've known for years because half of their face is covered. I totally buy that Yuuji would assume that Faiz is Takumi in that scene!

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Well, I was taking about non-main characters (you said here about 12-ish), because previously you ask for like, even normal humans, civilians, or victims to possess the same high level of quality. And now you say about cutting characters.... while it's reasonable for main characters to be cut, it's impossible to cut every other living beings, if they all can't have that high level of quality. Dunno if this is understandable, sorry for bad English.

It's good! I get what you're saying. My criteria, that I'm articulating for the first time ever, is probably that any character that's in more than two scenes, they should be compelling. The guy who screams at an Orphnoch is okay just screaming at an Orphnoch. Folks who recur, I'd like them to feel fleshed-out.

And, for the trimmed cast... this show definitely has too many regulars. However, one of the advantages is that stories can generate internally (like the last two) way more reliably than on other shows. I'm okay with the big cast as long as they're using everyone effectively. It don't work so great when the show brings in a half-dozen more characters for a story.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Obviously not every type of something is going to click for someone, but I just want to say that, for "it's a choice a writer can make, to have Saya be a very passive character.", something that doesn't click isn't necessarily something obscure (though in Faiz it probably is), it's an already established type of character called "Dandere". Other than that, sorry for this one this is more of a personal issue, but to rag on her (like mocking, though note that saying her not clicking is different though), based simply on who she is (of a shrinking violet type), and wanting her to not be herself, that sinks for a bit to me.

Same goes for the "spicy food" thing, they can enjoy spicy ones more, but I don't exactly approve if they call non-spicy foods as bad or uneatable (to themselves yeah, but can't speak on the same behalf for others), or especially call those who doesn't like spicy ones (actually... that's me) are bad to not enjoy what they think are good/better.

I don't have a problem with Saya's character as a starting point. It's not my favorite type, but sometimes a story or an actor can surprise you with what they do with it. For me, her story only had one compelling scene (that But Why Heroism scene paid off huge in the next episode), and the actor just didn't have a take on it that connected with me.

There's very, very little I'll preemptively judge on a Kamen Rider show. I try to give everything a fair shot, even if it's a trope or a type that I've never enjoyed. Saya... I hope I'm being fair to her?