[Kamen Rider Die]

Hey, so, more thoughts on why that Yuka/Mari scene was so great.

A while back, I said that I don't think Yuka is really in love with Kaido or Keitaro. And, y'know, after this past episode? I still don't.

Yuka's lived an intensely traumatic life, and her views on romance have been warped by those traumas. She viewed Email Keitaro as an escape from pain, not anyone she was truly connected to. She viewed IRL Keitaro as a distraction from complicated feelings, a way that she could ignore her confusion. She views Kaido as a way to define herself, as a way to feel useful. And feeling useful is the core of Yuka's self-worth, how she knows if she's allowed to feel happy. The things she mentions to Mari in this episode about Kaido, it's about how useless she feels and how he'd like her better if she could do more for him.

All of those things, they're intensely unhealthy. These are not pure emotions, they're someone trying to paper over a lifetime of abuse. It's running from tragedy into a completely different identity, that of Someone's Girlfriend.

The thing that makes me love the Mari and Yuka scene, then, is how much that doesn't happen. How we don't see Yuka contorting herself into a shape that's more pleasing to someone else, but how she's comfortable, happy, accepted.

Yuka's probably never had a friend, let alone a friend that was a girl. Her relationships with men are all based in supplication, in deference. She follows Yuuji's lead, she accepts Kaido's judgment. With Mari, all of that is off the table. Mari doesn't make any demands on her. Mari doesn't judge her. Mari allows her a space to be open about her fears, to feel joy in her dreams. It's simple friendship, and it brings out Yuka's happiness in a way that I'm not sure anyone else ever has.

She doesn't need a man to attach herself to, she needs a friend like Mari. That's why I'm glad we got that scene.