[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Maybe it's just me, but every time Yuuji does the Heroic Orphnoch thing, I think, "But you murdered two people." I'm not sure if the show wants me to remember that, or forget it, but it's something I can't let go of. So the rage we see at points from Yuuji, it's like, There He Is. It really doesn't take a huge story from Kusaka to get Yuuji to feel that betrayal viscerally.

I don't think it is something the show expects you to brush off. The way it doesn't actively spend time judging him for it might give that impression, but, you know, it's Faiz. That's not really what it's about. What's important about those early episodes, especially in ones like these, is that Yuuji's strong sense of righteousness means he can also be vengeful. You can see that with stuff like him snapping at Kaidou and literally digging nails into his knee out of sheer frustration. The thought of being betrayed by people he trusts, it absolutely makes him go through some extreme emotions. He doesn't like the thought of his faith being taken advantage of.

The obvious way to look at it is Yuuji is this real hero and good person that jerk Takumi should be looking up to, and that's the whole subversion the show is doing with its main characters, but I'd argue it's a lot more complex than that. Underneath the smart mouth, Takumi has a sort of nobility to him that surpasses Yuuji in some ways. His constant habit of blaming himself for everything, the way he's always prepared in his head to find out he's the one ruining things, it's all extremely unhealthy, but it shows how deeply he wants to avoid hurting people. It's not about having a code of ethics like Yuuji, he just instinctively feels that way. Back in episode 17, you know, Yuuji has to be the one to tell Takumi that Orphenoch has lost his human soul, because Takumi can't make himself pass judgments like that on anyone, even if it's right.

In a way, I think that's what really makes them opposites. Takumi, he'll call you names, act extremely unmotivated and disinterested, have generally terrible manners, but that's all he'll do. He's all bark and no bite. Yuuji is the pinnacle of class, and one of the kindest, most gentle people you could ever hope to meet, but a lot of that is about how good he is at practicing restraint. We're seeing Yuuji at his best most of the time, because he keeps himself in control, but that begs the question of what his worst looks like. For Takumi, you see him at his worst pretty often, and, even if he needs more pushing when he's in those moods, not much about him changes. If you wrong Takumi, he just starts barking louder, but if you wrong Yuuji enough, he starts pulling against the leash he's on.