[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kurona

i mean being fair, fish is just a massive ooo fan and rewatched it recently. Though, like, can you blame him? It is the best rider show

I do see what you're getting at though. Takeru does have goals and a life outside his ridering - or, uh, he doesn't have life, but... you get what I mean - but it's just that it's not seen or communicated in an active capacity. As I recall it's mostly his crossover appearances that express this a lot more, even if just in a small sense - Heisei Generations Final shows him looking after the temple in his last scene, while Drive/Ghost deals with his legacy a lot more directly. I must admit I'm struggling to remember a point in the series where, even if he expresses care about this stuff; he's actively pursuing following his father's legacy beyond being a rider and doing temple things.

He's kind of shown to be doing something like that in the very beginning by researching the luminaries; ie looking into something his father left behind and he feels is important. But it doesn't feel like we get a lot of those moments in the series afterwards.

It is the best show.

Also, you made me realize something that maybe explains the way some people can be, like, "Takeru doesn't have goals", while other people can be all "He totally has goals": his goals as a spiritual character are inherently difficult to dramatize. If (if) we're meant to see his adult growth as being connected to his Buddhist beliefs, how the eff do you portray that in a 22-minute television show that's designed to make children ask their parents to buy them toys? That is a high goddamn bar to clear! "I want to make friends" or "I want to be a better doctor", these are easy things to communicate as goals, and easy things to show when a character is more skilled at them. Is Takeru getting 1.5% more enlightened each episode? Is that what he means by wanting to make his life burn bright? His enlightenment?

Did... did we just crack this thing wide open?!