[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FrenchBoiled

Godai is such a refreshing protagonist, his relentless optimism and genuine desire to protect people's smiles makes him stand out from pretty much every other Rider I've watched. There's a real humanity to him that hits differently compared to the more flashy Phase 2 leads I'm used to.

I'm not sure if this exactly what you're trying to get at, but describing Yuusuke as less "flashy" reminds me that the show's main writer, Naruhisa Arakawa, actually did consciously try to make his personality contrast with the sort of typical hot-blooded hero that would generally be associated with the genre. Rider itself has had plenty of variety since, I think, but I would say that Yuusuke is very mellow and sensitive in a way that still stands out.

Sometimes I see people come away from the show feeling he was underdeveloped, or whatever terms they use to describe it, but I think a lot of the time, that has way more to do with how internal a guy he can be than anything. Like, even all these years later, he can still confound audience expectations, which is kind of crazy to think about.