[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

I'd argue that slapping Mari isn't that far from anything Kusaka normally does. The man is a bigot, a thug, an attempted murderer several times over, and a nearly pathological liar who constantly engages in gaslighting and other kinds of emotional manipulation without remorse due to his sociopathic inability to acknoweldge the autonomy of people that aren't himself. I reject the idea that there are different levels of unacceptability to all of that. I feel like putting any one of his sins above another diminishes the weight of the things he's done. Wrong is wrong, and, from my subjective point of view, that's really the end of the story. I don't think the show needs to do much more than it is to address this. It may not directly admonish his behavior through the other characters, but Kusaka is being swallowed whole by his own madness by this point in the story, and I don't think even Inoue is insane enough to ask you to just brush behavior this reprehensible off.

All that being said! I do understand where you're coming from here, especially if this kind of thing is a particular hot button issue for you to begin with. This absolutely feels different from your everyday terrible Kusaka, but I would personally suggest the issue isn't that the act is more heinous, but that it's only heinous. When Kusaka hits Yuuji in the face, it's so out of nowhere it becomes darkly humorous, right? When he cooks up some elaborate scheme to turn people against each other, he's trying so hard it's hilarious, right? Hitting Mari the way he does here, that's none of those things. It's a lot more visceral than normal. It goes back to what you were saying about context, but that slap is a lot less... theatrical, than his usual stunts, for sure. A lot less fantastic. Mari recoiling in fear in the next scene when an "apologetic" Kusaka tries to stroke her face is legitimately a little gut-wrenching? I mean, right now I'm playing devil's advocate for a guy who might actually manage to qualify as the devil, but it's not like I truly disagree with anything you're saying. Hitting people for not agreeing with you is bad! And it's petulant, too! Don't be like Kusaka, kids! I think there was some other show with a protagonist who talked a lot about this kind of thing? I can't remember his name right now, but he was probably a very Cool Guy.

And, I mean, I get it. Kusaka's a manipulative sociopath for the length of the series. The first time he meets Yuuji, he tortures him. He's tried to murder Takumi multiple times.

But, for me, there's a level of villainy I'll accept from Kamen Rider, and there's a level they are ill-equipped to deal with narratively. Two costumed people screaming their issues at each other while punching and kicking, yeah, of course. Schemes and duplicity, sure. Kusaka hitting Mari, it's an escalation with real-world consequences that I don't think this show is ready to address. Since that's the case, I'd really rather they stick to metaphorical versions of these issues.

Like, I wouldn't enjoy a Fourze episode that tries to tackle teenage drug addiction and how damaging it can be for a recovering addict to reenter a judgmental peer group. That is going to be impossible for that show to handle honestly, seeing as it's full of astrology monsters and toyetic gimmicks. But! Make it a story about a kid who's addicted to Astroswitches, and I'm totally onboard.

I don't know if that makes any sense? My reaction to the Kusaka development is... I don't know if people think I'm being unfair? Maybe it's no big deal to folks. I don't blame anyone who thinks it's well-established as how Kusaka behaves. For me, it feels like the show going to a place it is not prepared to see through.