[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

So, aside from the iconic death of Kusaka, this episode has one of my favorite plot turns in Faiz: the idea that the Orphenochs are an unstable evolution who will eventually be burned out by their own powers. This is what Murakami found out that made him freak out over the course of the last few episodes. I don't know what it is about this, but it's one of my favorite things about the Orphenochs, that they're an evolutionary dead end whose entire goal is based off of a tragic misunderstanding of their own nature.

It's an interesting development! I think it adds a level of futility to the Team Orphnoch plots in retrospect, that... not sure if I love? It'll be interesting to see how Yuuji deals with it, for sure.

I guess it's not a beat I'm overly invested in because I don't feel like we'll get to see a lot how it matters to the characters. If this bombshell had been dropped in the 30s, I'd be excited to see how it would alter relationships, frustrate ideals, you name it. Here, we're finding out with two episodes left, only Yuuji knows, and he's already evil.

It... are they squandering what could be a huge part of the narrative?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

The other thing I want to comment on now that we've gotten to that point is the rules that each belt uses and how Kusaka was able to wear all three. The Delta belt was the original prototype and one of its features is that anyone can use it. I'm not sure if this is what the show intended, but I feel like that was considered a design flaw. It's like someone at Smart Brain realized "hey, the clasps we use on this thing are really crappy and it just keeps falling off. We'd be in a lot of trouble if it fell off during a fight and ended up in the hands of, I don't know, some random guy on a motorcycle." The thing that occurred to me recently is that Faiz and Kaixa comes across like there were two different designers who tackled how to solve that problem. The Faiz belt won't allow anyone with less than x% Orphenoch DNA to use it while Kaixa just straight up kills undesired users. It really does feel like two different approaches to fixing Delta's compatibility issue.

INTERIOR - SMART BRAIN PECULIAR MEDICAL LABORATORY

Faiz Project Lead: Hey.

Kaixa Project Lead: Hey.

FPL: So, how's your belt doing?

KPL: Oh, we're bringing down the mortality rate. Well, I guess technically it's still 100%, but the last subject survived almost eleven seconds after removing it, so, progress! We're into double-digits now! Your belt?

FPL: Uh... you know, no deaths? Can't, uh... I mean, no one can use it yet, but it's not killing anyone.

KPL: Tha--

Delta Project Lead: ONE OF THE LAB MONKEYS SNEEZED AND IT SOUNDED LIKE HENSHIN AND NOW HE'S A KAMEN RIDER AND SEVERAL TECHNICIANS HAVE BEEN KILLED BY A MANEUVER THAT WE CALLED LUCIFER'S HAMMER AND IT LOOKS SO COOL BUT EVERYONE SHOULD LEAVE THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY oh wait, he brushed against a doorknob and the belt came off. Never mind! We're all good!