[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

You know it’s an Inoue episode when a new character arrives with the primary mission of telling one of the heroes that he sucks.

My favorite thing about Kiryuu is my favorite thing about nearly any antagonist: he's actually got a point.

Like, Tachibana does objectively suck. He's had a couple late-game wins, taking out the Spider Monster and Trenchcoat Mastermind, but he also abducted Karasuma and blew up BOARD. Then he spent a minute just sort of being psychologically unstable and getting beat up. Plus he aided and abetted Trenchcoat Mastermind for a little while, soaking up that sweet fight juice. And now he's quitting!

Imagine if you were Kiryuu. You've dreamed of being a champion of justice, and you were maimed by science for your pursuit. (Well, "science".) You've put yourself back together, done what you can to fight evil as just a man, and then you're visited by Karasuma, the guy who kicked you out of BOARD for getting maimed. He wants you to go give a pep talk to the guy who took your job, because he's been terrified of dying and now he'd rather not be Garren, thanks.

This is what you're confronted with. The man who was living your dream gives it up, and you're supposed to be the one to make him feel better. You could be doing so much more than Tachibana, but he's the one who has to be talked back into being Garren. No. Hell no.

That's what makes Kiryuu's story so compelling to me, the fact that his motivation and justification are so solid, it's just his actions that are horrible and psychotic. He's a guy that has a point and is absolutely taking that point way, way too far. That's a villain I can invest in.