[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

Perhaps camaraderie was too strong a word for their relationship. They definitely hate each other but there's something that works between them that's hard to explain. Kusaka doesn't really "respect" anybody, not even Mari. Everybody is on a spectrum of least to most contempt and Takumi falls somewhere in the middle between Orphenochs and humans. Takumi has to respect Kusaka on some level in order to have felt inferior to him when they first met. They're aligned by their goal to protect humanity, albeit for completely different reasons. Takumi is a hero of justice. Kusaka is on the side of justice, but he's not of justice, definitely not a hero. He wants to spite the Orphenochs and protect Mari. Everybody else is second to him. He's an antihero, the worst of the worst. But when they fight together, however begrudgingly, they're a pretty effective unit. They're professionals, I guess.

Yeah, I think "professionals" gets to the heart of it, at least for Kusaka. I think his two axes for charting out his relationships are "USEFUL" and "CONTEMPT". Someone like Mari is Least Contempt/Most Useful, for example, while Takumi gets plotted at all different points depending on what episode you're watching. (Right now, I think Takumi slots in at Medium Contempt/High Useful.)