[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Yeah, Umi. Across both episodes, I think she becomes a three-dimensional character, where her struggle is given some definition and her arc has weight to it. In the first part, though, she's very rough on Kenzaki, and he's very frustrated. It's largely played for laughs, and it's all there for easons the next episode will make clear (she does not think much of people who'd call themselves heroes!), but I get it if she's too abrasive in the first part.

I know, her backstory or struggle gives an explanation on how it turned that way, but explanation =/= justification of the actions; if it's bad actions, it's still bad actions. Neither does it being played for laugh is, like deciding that the other people's feelings don't matter as much as the comedic or entertainment value in those behaviours. And again, admitting that she's too abrasive doesn't mean bashing her character, real fans are the one that would admit that, so feel free (and this should be encouraged) to label those as being abrasive, unlike those who defend aimlessly, and cutting off any of their bad traits. And I mainly said that, refering to you saying "Although, teenage girls are no joke! I’d probably give them the edge over any superhero you can name!" as if the abrasiveness is something that should be normalized and given a free pass. I don't want any meanness to be given leeway.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

The stuff with Hajime and Mutsuki, it’s fine, it’s whatever. Tense scenes that are mostly about incremental movement, pushing the characters a little closer to collapse. It’s entertaining, and it’s all getting somewhere, but holy shit that Kenzaki speech. Holy shit.

Well, Hajime preventing himself from turning himself to Joker, so the real reasons are revealed here. Joker isn't only scary in looks, but it also sends him into an uncontrollable state to destroy anything, as Joker makes no distinction of destroying Undeads or humans. And also it's the mechanic of his body; when there are more Undeads gathering around, it accelerates his Joker's control, regardless of him using Chalice or that human Undead. And as Chalice can be summoned by Mutsuki like other Undeads... somehow that Undead is the only one recognized as... Kamen Rider? There's also Tachibana pleading for Yoshito not to involve any innocent people, he didn't know yet about Yoshito's methods of saving Kenzaki until he saw it in action with Trial D causing havoc, and thus, the next Trial man-made Undeads.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

It’s such a perfect sentiment for Kenzaki. It bundles together his sense of duty, his guilt, his compassion, his tenacity, his stubbornness, and it distills it all into a beautiful idea: heroism isn’t a state, it’s a decision.

True, heroes aren't, well, omnipotent, their powers are limited to solve the world's disaster. Kenzaki, obviously, won't explain the definition of hero because that takes off the points of his heroism to shape the definition of the hero, but that should be made clear on Umi, heroes can't be everywhere at once. By default, saving any number of people at any given time means even more people aren't being saved. Heroes can't save everybody because reality forbids it. And yes as Rider series also made it clear, heroism is your act, your personality, what you do in your actions, but how you can contribute depends on your powers: A heroic normal human would accomplish, well, way less than any Kamen Rider should, they don't have ability to quickly travel somewhere, fend off powerful threats, etc, but it doesn't diminish your acts, heroism is about that. Rider protagonists having a chance to be a Rider is a golden chance to contribute more ("with great power comes great responsibility", after all) with increased power to save others, but they're still not omnipotent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Umi’s flaw in the story is her cynicism, her defeatism. She thinks of the world as a terrible place, and she tries to drag Kenzaki down to her level. Heroes have never saved her, so anyone claiming to be a hero is deluding themselves and lying to her. Heroes don’t exist.

But Kenzaki’s point is, if you don’t think heroes exist, if you don’t see heroes in the world, then be that hero. If heroism is required, it can come from you. There’s nothing stopping Umi from being the hero, from saving herself. It’s a message that feels like the second part of Hirose’s speech to Kenzaki from a couple episodes back, where she was telling Kenzaki that he's fighting for all the people who can’t. Here, it’s Kenzaki saying that those people fight through him because they’re heroes, too. Heroism isn’t just the province of masked riders with magical trading cards. It’s a decision every one of us can make at any time. It’s nothing innate or ordained; it’s a choice, and we all get to make it.

If a hero isn't one just because of them not focusing on themselves only (like Umi where a hero should contribute solely to her), frankly, it means that they're textbook definition of being self-centered, and has no place on talking or preaching about morality; they should learn to improve themselves first before having a talk about morality; they have to know which is objectively right or wrong first. And from Hirose's speech to Kenzaki, people like Umi are also those that only look at the result, not the fact on how heroes are about the act regardless of the results (especially if those comes from normal humans who can't do anything!). Though well, in the internet such as Google, those general sites can define heroes as "a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities", which would likely take results into account by that... And heroism being "the province of masked riders with magical trading cards", that's also the wrong definition people, likely youngsters take from watching action-hero shows like Kamen Riders. Hero is about the people, having rider form and magical trading cards just make you a superhero. Sure, the true heroes may feel guilty of not being able to save those, but the fact is, there are other humans or <insert living being here> other than them, and they also, need saving. Priority and compromise have to be made.