[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DreamSword

I disagree there. I felt that the movie itself never shied away from how terrible Shocker's' experiments are, and that includes what happened to Hongo. This is even shown via Ryunosuke's' major regrets and defecting from Shocker.

Instead, to me it's more highlighting something else that Kamen Rider has always been about, ever since the original: That even if something bad happens to you, that good can come out of it and if possible, you should look to spin it into a positive. Hongo isn't saying that his life became amazingly awesome thanks to his modification, he's simply thanking Ryunosuke for helping him be able to do more good in the world, inadvertently or not.

That's what I think as well. Hongo's existence is lonelier after becoming 1, but he was able to use his originally evil powers to bring happiness to so many people. Even though his human body was taken away, made to feel different from everybody else, he always held on to his human heart, which became even stronger through his endurance. He's not the only example either. Jo willingly signed up for Black Satan's remodification surgery, whereupon he revealed his true intention to oppose them, as he mockingly thanked them for giving him the means. Hiroshi even says the same "I'm grateful" line in the first episode of SkyRider. So there's no way it would be something that Ishinomori would be offended by, since he was right there giving the thumbs up.