[ShyGuy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Even before he can’t stop suggesting that he's a joke to people, you can see it all play out on his face. It’s a really great part of the scene, where you can see Kenzaki move from disbelief, to rage, to embarrassment, to finally settling on self-deprecation and overwrought miserablism. It’s that sense of humor coming out again, where he'll make a joke about himself to keep from succumbing to his worst impulses.

It’s a whole episode that plays with that idea, that he has to force himself to be something else in order to survive. His instinct is to make himself the victim, but he has to force himself to move beyond that and be of worth to others. It’s a sad version of heroism. It’s not a deep connection to humanity, or a goal of protecting smiles. It’s self-sacrifice as a road to redemption, where every new fight is a chance to atone for the time he didn’t (or couldn’t) fight. It’s him forcing himself to look outside of his own trauma, working to be a better person. It’s not easy for Kenzaki to stop wallowing in his own bruised feelings, but he knows it’s what he has to do.

I really love that, how much the show is saying that it’s hard for Kenzaki to be a Kamen Rider. Not in the usual ways. Not that he’ll get injured, or that he’ll die. But that he’s failed, and he’s torn between feeling hurt forever and trying to heal.

This is a fantastic summary of why I like Kenzaki so much. He's not some perfect hero, he's got a lot of struggles and, as you said, tends to sometimes wallow in his own self pity a bit. But he recognizes that about himself, and pushes himself to do better because he knows it's right. And when others call him out on it, as Shiori does in this episode, he doesn't get defensive about it at all; he realizes "oh yeah, she's right" and immediately sets out to go help the people at the observatory. These characters living in this house together is really the best thing possible for Kenzaki, because now he has friends that will both reframe his perceived weaknesses about himself intro strength, and push him to move forward when he feels overwhelmed and paralyzed by his own negative feelings. It's a really great dynamic.

On another note, one thing I was reminded of when rewatching this episode is how cool it is that Blade's transformation isn't just a fancy visual, he uses the transformation process itself as a weapon. It's an awesome moment when he's getting choked by the Undead's vines, but manages to get the belt on and the blue rectangle projection literally just smashes into the Undead and forces it off of him. That's such a unique and clever feature that I like a lot.

Also I agree 100% about the Chalice suit. Easily one of my favorite suit designs in the entirety of Kamen Rider.