[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

All I can say right now is that I personally found Yuuji's turn to the dark side entirely believable, and thought the concept was the most logical possible direction for the story to take his character at this point in the series. It felt built up well enough, and it posed a lot of interesting questions that, by and large, I do think the show ends up answering in a satisfactory manner.

The execution, I can't decide if I agree or not there. The Murakami Jr. shtick is jarring for sure, but part of me wants to say that's probably just exactly what Yuuji would act like if he lost his smile. Still well-mannered and polite, but less empathetic and understanding. There are moments where his old self seems to poke through, but, at least broadly, I concur that the show would've been better served by trading in the suspense of his disappearance after Yuka's death for directly showing us more detail on how exactly he came to the conclusions he's arrived at.

It's really the execution I have a problem with. I think I mentioned a few posts back that, making Yuuji the final boss, it's not necessarily a problem. In a lot of ways, it's the most appropriate end-boss the series can have. Having Yuuji give up on coexistence and pushing Takumi into a place where he now feels that ideal more than anyone else on the show, making him have to fight for Yuuji's dream when Yuuji won't even fight for it anymore? Forcing Takumi to (in essence) become the new Yuuji, to pick up the banner that Yuuji dropped? I like that story a lot!

But what's on the show lacks the specificity that would carry the Yuuji half of the story. The Takumi stuff is mostly there, but he's not playing against Yuuji anymore. It's dry and emotionless when (to me) it needs to be raw and painful.

Like, I'm not mad at what the show is saying, I'm mad at how it's phrasing it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I hope you feel a little better by the end, Die! But don't feel too bad about feeling bad, either. The previous 40+ episodes of regular glowing praise were far more than any Faiz fan could hope for. I think you've earned the right to some negativity.

I hope so, too! Thanks! I think it was such an abrupt change in direction that I... I didn't handle it super well. Kind-of threw a little tantrum? I'll try to be a little less conclusive on things, try to be a little bit more tentative. There's still story left to be told, and maybe it'll all make me feel differently in a couple more chapters. Show ain't over yet!