[DreadBringer]

Now, 43. Oh I forgot something before, Kenzaki claims Mutsuki beat Spider Undead with his own power.... and ironically it's total opposite; Kenzaki just handed Mutsuki Blade King's sword!

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I guess I just don't see Mutsuki as blameless? The things he said and did, he meant all of them. The Spider Undead was a voice on his shoulder, not a puppeteer operating a puppet. It preyed on his feelings of insignificance, his need to feel special, his desire for strength. Having Shima and Tiger Queen on his side gave him some breathing room, enough to see that he wasn't the man he wanted to be, but he consciously made every decision up to that point.

If you don't see it that way, that's totally fine, but I can't say that I see him as being an innocent victim in all of this.

Well, not everything is opinionated, like for this one, canon plotting, no matter which headcannon, so gotta explain. Yes, Spider Undead was a voice on his shoulder, but, that's only one of his steps to fully take control of Mutsuki. It can directly take over Mutsuki's body, but its grip is too fragile to mantain in battle for extended periods of time. So he resorts to being the voice of his shoulder and slowly takes firmer grip on his body and mind. Spider Undead is a puppeteer operating a puppet, being a voice is one of his ways to do so, and finally succeeded after Mutsuki killed Shima (but Shima's sacrifice wasn't for naught). Mutsuki himself made it easier for Spider Undead controlling him as a puppet though, with his flaws like insecurities, though his feelings for Nozomi allows him to regain control at few occassions; preventing Spider Undead for harming her.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I thought this worked pretty well as an epilogue for Mutsuki’s redemption, but it still has its flaws. Very enjoyable, overall, though.

Crafting a story where Mutsuki wonders if he’s strong enough to fight as a Kamen Rider after all of his weakness, and making the dilemma that (by all appearances) Kenzaki and Tachibana have been poisoned by Titan and are being ruled by the urges of an Undead… I like that idea! It’s a little on the nose, but at least it’s clear what the stakes are, and why the story’s being told. This thing locked in for me fairly quickly.

The stakes being yet another time, a Kamen Rider (possibly more publicly known in Blade; like people like Jin knows) being seen as enemy for attacking civilians. For the cast, well, it's not unusual for them though, with Hajime going crazy as Joker, and Kenzaki briefly also went crazy, then Mutsuki being controlled by Spider Undead. Hajime is a repeat for ep. 38 for returning the favor into Kenzaki.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Kenzaki and Tachibana’s actors do an excellent job of selling the menace of their evil selves.

Well, for Tachibana... probably the viewer is also used to his acts from the early parts of the Blade as a broken man lol. And as an artist.... it stroke me when Kenzaki stabs the picture drawing with that fork! Also, Kenzaki acts normal, albeit in more hyper-energy when his friends interact... it seems that the poison isn't simply turning him evil but also giving him a sense of manipulation with him acting fine around his friends.... which almost fooled Tachibana and Mutsuki, while Hajime is unconvinced.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

And, while I really like that the type of menace is different than Mutsuki’s story from last episode, the differences made it clear about halfway through that this isn’t a poisoning, it’s a switcheroo. Titan (presumably) is pretending to be Kenzaki or Blade or Tachibana or Garren, creating the kind of heroic misunderstanding that has Chalice and Leangle trying to almost murder their friends for their own good. (The big giveaway is the sound effect when Tachibana turns into Garren and attacks Hajime. It’s the goopy Undead noise, not the Henshin noise.) And I’m okay with it not being the same gimmick as the last story! That’s great!

And it's going according to the plan for Tennoji who seemingly here wants the Riders to destroy each other. Probably as he wants the Riders to destroy each other, Trial F only poisoned the 2, while letting the other 2 fight.