[Kamen Rider Die]

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

Probably, with him being not a big deal in episode, this shows that not every series necessarily needs villains, unlike how some claims? (no villain =/= no journey/conflicts the characters face). Or, the villains here feels like those you'd see in purely black and white tokus like... Sentai?

Yeah, the villains on this show are pretty bland. There's nothing interesting about any of them, which... I mean, if the villains don't matter in the storytelling, why are they even there? Why waste so much time and energy on them? It's frustrating.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

And...I don't think it talked for only 1 time is a big deal, he can just choose to talk or not if he wants.

Then why didn't it talk before when it was trying to fool the Riders? Seems like it could've come in handy before! It just feels like an additional ability that comes out of nowhere. We never, ever see it talk... until it's able to sound so much like Amane that three-quarters of the Riders are fooled. I don't know, it bothered me.

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Originally Posted by DreadBringer

This is what I mean for "not everything is opinionated", not everything can be given room for interpretation. There's opinion and there's fact. Like for example, if Jungo from Ex-Aid is dead, then he's dead, it can't be given an interpretation that Jungo was only hibernating/faking his dead/etc. There's actually a clear cut, for "directly take over Mutsuki's body, but its grip is too fragile to mantain in battle for extended periods of time", as seen clearly in Leangle's debut, where in human form, Mutsuki was an insecure kid wanting to prove himself, but when he transformed into Leangle, he becomes a bloodthirsty warrior with a deep voice who attacks friends and foes alike (brainwashed). Spider Undead becomes a voice on Mutsuki's soldier so he can completely brainwash Mutsuki, inside and outside battle, and succeeded after he kills Shima.

One of his lucid moments has Mutsuki tell Tachibana he is afraid that the Spider Undead will completely destroy his self and obtain absolute control of his body and mind, which is eventually prevented by Shima's sacrifice, which takes effect after Tiger's sacrifice.

I don't know what to tell you. I fundamentally don't believe the show is saying that Mutsuki was blameless in his actions. If you want to think I'm just reading the show wrong, okay! I don't mind! But, no, I don't think he gets a free pass for what he did as Leangle, and I don't think the show is suggesting (let alone stating) that he didn't make any of those decisions.

Mutsuki's story is one of addiction, and the easiest lie an addict tells is that it wasn't really them who did those things, it was their addiction. Part of recovery is taking responsibility for both the things you did while under the influence, and the reasons you were under the influence to begin with. If it were as simple as Nothing I Did Under The Influence Was My Fault, recovery would look very very different.