[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

At first, I thought that. It seemed like the show was hinting at Kusaka's foul deeds with him unable to cleanse his hands of all of the blood.

But then they're like Hey Mari Got Hurt At The Reunion And Kusaka Got Blood On His Hands And He Blames Himself For Failing Her, and... I guess that's it? It's more literal, and a lot less fun. I don't know. I definitely like it better if it's guilt, and not guilt plus a memory.

I think that was intentional, since Kusaka is a morally ambiguous character who clearly had something he wanted to hide about his involvement in the reunion so it's believable he could've done something worse. Even though it wasn't his fault what happened, it's still a traumatic event for him and like he said, the power of Kaixa isn't what changed him.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I think there are a couple other wrinkles. First, Mari still believes in Takumi, so killing him eliminates a competitor for Mari's attention. Second, I think it's also that Takumi's reached the end of his usefulness. Kusaka doesn't currently have a huge problem keeping Yuuji alive, because Yuuji has a beef with Smart Brain and that can be leveraged for Kusaka's benefit. Takumi's joined up with Smart Brain, so he's got to go.

Oh yeah, for sure. Takumi was the first person to see through Kusaka and a rival to his quest for Mari. It's likely that Kusaka wanted to kill him for a while and learning how he's not only an Orphenoch but possibly the same one responsible for his past was the perfect excuse to be rid of him.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I mean, it's such a Kamen Rider thing, isn't it, Suicide By Combat? (I mean, there're probably some roots in ancient Japanese society, but that's above my paygrade.) It's not just that Takumi wants to be killed by someone, but that he has to be defeated and killed. Dude definitely wants to feel punished!

As a Jidaigeki fan, I can confirm that suicide by combat was indeed a popular honorable way to die for samurai, second only to harakiri. It was even more popular with vikings.

This is the third time Takumi tried to get himself killed. First by Kiba after Mari's death, second by Faiz and now by Kaixa, who actually wants to kill him.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Absolutely! It's weird how much the show front-loads Yuka's story. Do they think they've said enough about her?

Well the conclusion of her arc is yet to come but I think maybe there was a lot of unseen potential with her interactions like when Takumi asked her for advice about Kiba. She's an important character but she does feel detached from most of the story, possibly due to the focus on those Ryusei School guys ever since the Delta arc.