[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

--3--

All of the Sawada/Mari stuff, it’s really there to add more complications to what Takumi and Yuuji are dealing with. Well, mostly Takumi. He’s trying to decide if he should view all Orphnochs as enemies, and Sawada makes that sort-of an easy Yes.

Once again, I like that Kusaka’s shown to be right in this situation. There’s wanting to see the best in people, and then there’s being reckless with your sympathy. Sawada killed two Ryusei School alumni, and had threatened Mari’s life just a few days earlier. (Plus the dozens of kills to which Mari wasn’t privy.) He’s a member of Lucky Clover, the definitely evil Orphnoch group. He also just killed Saya, which was the reason Takumi was so conflicted about Orphnochs in the first goddamn place. It is literally the thing that started this storyline. Like, this was straight-up a bad call by Takumi. Sawada should’ve been given a wide berth, not a clandestine meeting.

(I mean, I'm okay with it on a storytelling level. Takumi was letting his desire to patch things up with Yuuji maybe cloud his judgment here, and Mari was 100% not taking no for an answer. Kusaka tried to help!)

For Yuuji, he gets his answer from Takumi through Kaido and Keitaro, which is naturally garbled. Takumi’s “I was a fool to trust you” comes back as “Fool.” It’s heartbreaking, to Yuuji. Someone he trusted is laughing at him.

It gets worse (trademark Faiz) when Yuuji sees what’s happened to Mari.

Holy shit, Kusaka lying to Yuuji and blaming Takumi. Highlight of the episode, by the way. It’s not just that Kusaka lies to Yuuji about what happened to Mari, claiming it’s Takumi who attacked her. It’s that he leverages Takumi’s guilt, so when Yuuji asks Takumi if he’s the reason Mari’s injured, Takumi says yes. It’s so goddamn clever of Kusaka.

Honestly, man, all issues I had with this episode aside, it’s a great continuation of Yuuji and Takumi’s dissolution. It’s these little decisions, little recriminations, that keep pulling them apart. That stuff came out great.

Takumi made a fatal error in trusting Sawada to take care of Mari. Between feeling betrayed by Kiba and seeing the consequence of his misguided judgement with Sawada, a complete stranger to him, he's starting to lose his faith in the humanity of Orphenochs. He also blames himself, due to his lack of self-confidence, for letting them deceive him. It's partially his fault, this time wasn't caused by inaction, he consciously made a decision and it was wrong. However, his guilt is excessive which is typical of his personality. He can't see past his mistake and he's determined to atone for it.

He's convinced that Orphenochs will eventually turn bad and should be destroyed, starting with Kiba, who conveniently wants to beat him up for attacking Mari, as Kusaka misled him to believe. You can see that as much as Takumi judges himself, he refuses to be judged by who he considers some heartless Orphenoch. He immediately turns hostile towards Kiba. These events have shaped him in to become a more indiscriminate killer of Orphenochs like Kusaka and it's not a good place for him right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

Of course Kusaka still has his head in the game! He's not some sloppy, overly emotional idiot, like that horrible monster Inui!

In all seriousness, one thing I really love about Kusaka's lies in this part of the show especially is how, and I'm pretty sure this a real thing emotionally manipulative people do, he likes to tinge his falsehoods with bits of truth. Was Mari attacked by Takumi? Absolutely not. Was her getting attacked his fault? Debatable! Same thing with him brushing off trying to murder the s*** out of Yuuji by telling him that whole thing was just part of a plan to destroy Smart Brain from the inside. This is why I say he seems to believe everything he says the second it leaves his mouth. Past events always exist to whatever level is most convenient for him at that particular moment. Sometimes it feels like he's deluding himself as much as his victims.

Kusaka is such a talented manipulator! Even with Mari in her critical condition, he still finds something to salvage from the worst case scenario to continue his schemes. It's diabolical, but hard not be impressed.

Building his elaborate web of lies on a foundation of truth is what makes them so verifiable. He knows Takumi feels guilty for what happened to Mari, so he twists the truth to make him look worse and the rest takes care of itself. However, I don't think he's completely deluded by his fantasies, although he definitely has a warped narrative of himself and other people. He needs a grip on reality so he can remind himself that Sawada is the guy he wants to kill the most. Having Takumi scapegoat himself is just a bonus. His manipulation isn't without reason after all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Androzani84

Not to spoil anything, but the next episode’s title has “shin” in it.

"Shisu", to be specific. "[insert name here] Shisu" is another one of those Inoue-isms. If my recollection is correct, next episode is the 4th written by him to have such a title.

Fiveman Episode 32

Jetman Episode 18

Die should be familiar with this one from Agito:

Agito Episode 27

If I missed one, let me know.