[Kamen Rider Die]

Boy, you spend a workday without reliable internet access (it was up for maybe 15 non-consecutive minutes) and there's so much Kamen Rider to talk about! Let's see what we've got!

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

So, what you mean is about them knowing which one of those 2 is worth approaching? That, Hajime seems to be able to be changed while Trial B isn't and better just leave him be?

Yeah, basically. It's a pretty common Kamen Rider story, the heroes trying to save someone out of misplaced altruism. On the one hand, they're heroes, of course that's what they should do. On the other hand, it leads to (for me) a little bit of frustration when they seem to be making assumptions about other people's motivations and agendas that are massively and obviously misguided. It's nice that Tachibana and Kenzaki want to do something kind for Hirose, but the thing with her dad was not just some minor family drama.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Then, I wonder again, what if her in the past, was actually just the same as what you think now, still helping people/supporting her friends, just that it was revealed coincidentally her family is related to Undead's invasion, unlike what you declare of her just acting as extension of her family? If her family is related to the root of problems, what actually should be done to make that part not seem alien to you, but obviously, her dealing with the problem that is caused by her family (fighting Undeads)?

I'm not sure I completely understand the question, but, a small problem with the Hirose/U.N.D.A.D. stuff is that we hadn't really touched on her feelings about her dad's actions in quite a while. It didn't really seem hugely relevant anymore, you know? So it was easier for me to think that, with everything else going on in the show, it wasn't really driving Hirose the way it used to.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

It's simple actually, Yoshito originally programs Trial B to protect Hirose, and transfered all his memories into Trial B, but Tennoji then reprograms Trial B to serve Tennoji's own sinister needs, to monitor the fixed Undead battle and remove potential threats. Here Trial B suddenly remembers his original programming and acts on that. Do Hirose get actually to know about that flashback though (Trial B didn't seem to strong enough to narrate)? It seems just like about her emotional ties to her father that Trial B does final good act with his original programming.

I mean, you can say "it's simple", but it actually sounds incredibly convoluted? Like, we've seen U.N.D.A.D. not give a shit about his daughter for eight episodes, and then we find out he was programmed to care about her, and then we find out that he was immediately reprogrammed not to give a shit about her. It's like they wanted a cathartic, sweet moment, but spent eight episodes making it more and more unreasonable until the last minute. That flashback has to tie itself in some dumb knots to create a context for an ending that has both actors trying incredibly to rescue something that the story just never justified to me.

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

Hoo boy, this episode. If you liked it, ignore me, I'll just kill the mood, but here we go.

This is why I post this stuff! Why on Earth would I ignore you?!

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

First off, Nozomi is way too good for him. Either as a friend or a girlfriend, it's absolutely ridiculous what she goes through for someone who, frankly, isn't anywhere near worth it.

I think it might to help to imagine what Nozomi's going through. She doesn't know how far gone Mutsuki is, because no one tells her anything. All she knows is that the nice boy that she's been friends with for years is suddenly going through something, and she has no idea what. He'll disappear for weeks at a time, sometimes reappearing in a bad mood, and none of this makes any sense to her. A lot of her story is her trying to understand Mutsuki from next to no information. She just thinks her friend is struggling with something, and she desperately wants to help. From the viewer's perspective, yeah, Mutsuki probably doesn't deserve someone like her. But from her perspective, he clearly needs her help.

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Originally Posted by DreamSword

Second, we are around 30 episodes in with this constant pedantic, petty, whiny, absolutely droning bullcrap that is Mutsuki's' character arc. And to make it even worse, by this point it's made clear that the Spider Undead has very little influence over the guy, making his actions even worse. His body language, the dialogue from other characters, and his outright lack of traits he had when fully possessed in the early episodes say it all.

He's outright mentally(and physically!) abusive towards someone who's supposed to be someone he cares about and is an all around terrible person, and he outright embraces it because he thinks it makes him cool and "tragic." Again, after 30 episodes of this going nowhere and the show giving me frankly no reason to root for this guy(infact, quite the opposite), I got fed up, and I stopped caring. I know it likely wasn't their intent, but by this point is really came off to me like the show was going "Hey, if someone you know is actively being horrible to you, just wait it out! They'll come around eventually!" Which is, you know, bad advice.

And, y'know, that's fair! I would never argue that the show is trying very hard to make Mutsuki a sympathetic character. He's very dedicated to Becoming Stronger in a way that is, at best, laughable. There's not a lot of moments where Mutsuki feels like a character worth caring about.

But that's why I really liked this episode? It feels like Mutsuki seeing his place in the narrative for maybe the first time, and trying to address it. He's so insistent on being strong that he's easily the weakest character on the show, with him terrifying his closest friend. One of the big themes on Blade is how power shouldn't be pursued, only cautiously accepted. Mutsuki gets to be the worst version of himself as a result of pursuing power, and he hasn't even gained anything from it. What does he think about that? What would he do differently? I like the show taking a couple episodes to focus on the most aimless character after dozens of aimless episodes. It's maybe not worth the trip for every viewer, but I haven't gotten sick of his story yet.

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Originally Posted by Androzani84

And since no-ones mentioned it, I’ll mention that Kanai is played by Akira Kubodera, fresh from starring as one of the villains in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. You probably recognise him as the doctor that diagnosed Akira Date with a brain thing. (But then again, you probably don’t, since that was a bit part).

Neat, thanks!

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Originally Posted by AkibaSilver

Tiger Undead mvp of the whole series, glad you agree.

It's either her or those guys who put banana filling in takoyaki.

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Originally Posted by LeviathanBlossom

Mutsuki is one of those characters that I tend to appreciate as a character - interacting with similar people in real life is often a net negative experience, and he's the type of person I try not to maintain any sort of relationship with. But as a character, he's just so much fun to watch.

Watching the story knock him down a peg and then another peg and then another peg as he continually does not get it and keeps doing the same shit over and over again without getting any sort of positive result only for the story to kick him in the balls again is satisfying.

Though I do also want him to actually experience some character growth and figure out that he's been super shitty to a lot of people, most notably Nozomi. (I would also say Tachibana, but Tachibana sort of has it coming.)

Yeah, I don't think Mutsuki is being protected by the story! The writers don't appear to be endorsing his behavior. He's awful, but the show knows that and is commenting on it. I think that makes it okay!

The thing I'm curious about is how people really don't seem to like Mutsuki, while I'd argue that Tachibana is more frustrating and unlikable? Mutsuki is a moody teeanger who no one likes, but he's been (unless I've forgotten something, and not counting Shima's sacrifice) pretty harmless? I mean, sure, he kidnapped Amane, but she doesn't seem that upset about it. Tachibana, however, has nearly caused the deaths of multiple people on the show, multiple times. Why does Tachibana seem to get a freer pass? Is it because he feels bad about it? That actually makes it worse to me!