[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Underneath the guise of a hero and an efficient killer with the talent for manipulating people behind the scenes, Kusaka reveals to Takumi here that he's actually a very pathetic guy with some serious problems, trying to use Mari as a replacement for his mother. For that reason alone, calling him a villain, even at current peak Kusaka, just isn't apt. He's the worst kind of antihero, for sure. His concept of morality is terribly warped and he's always walking on that borderline between hero and villain, but his patheticness and desire to protect Mari and destroy "humanity's enemy" means he cannot be real villain, no matter how many terrible things he does to meet those ends.

Yeah, I think this episode did a solid job of pivoting Kusaka from Total Asshole to Still A Total Asshole But Man This Guy Is In Rough Shape.

One of the things I found exciting about that whole Kusaka Breakdown scene is how quickly Takumi and Mari disengage themselves from Kusaka's toxicity. He's not in a space to really be around people right now, and they recognize that. There are people that you can try and save (Takumi, for example), and there are people you might just need to cut out of your life until they can get their shit together. It's nice to see the show have an awareness of which one Kusaka is right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Yuka's character development is great here and proves how much she cares about Kaido. She wants to be his girlfriend, of course, but more importantly, she wants him to be happy. She's still a little jealous of Mari, of course, but not spiteful at all, supporting Kaido/Mari since she believes that's the best way she can make him happy. Unfortunately, yeah, the ship isn't doing so good right now with Mari refusing to reciprocate any of Kaido's attempts.

For me, I still read it as Yuka eternally trying to be a peacemaker, to not burden anyone with her problems. The way she's crying at the beginning and, when Yuuji notices, she puts on a smile and tries to seem excited about Mari and Kaido getting together? Man, that is someone who's spent a lifetime valuing her feelings less than the feelings of others.