[MaskedRiderAsakura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sh Ranger

That's an interesting point. It's true that a large number of depraved characters is present in both my favorite and least favorite Rider shows. So why is that? Well I think the difference is character development.

In Gaim, most of the characters at the start have an ambiguous morality. As the plot progresses, they commit some pretty terrible acts, especially Sid and Mitsuzane who is more depraved than Kusaka. The show gives no backstory (excluding V-Cinema) for why they behave this way and makes no attempt to redeem their actions. Kaito goes from a typical brooding antihero to a genocidal final villain. Good characters turn bad and bad characters turn worse. Zack is the exception but compared to the competition, he's too weak to actually make a difference. It's a very plot-driven show. There's no room to explore the characters as they only do whatever the plot needs them to, even if it's OOC. This is most apparent in episodes written by Haganeya who is incompetent.

I have to disagree here. I don't think anybody in Gaim necessarily acted out of character, rather the circumstances around them changed, so they adapted, for better or worse.

Kaito doesn't really believe in the traditional concept of "right" and "wrong", or at the very least, it's completely irrelevant to him. The only thing that matters is who is in charge. But he also resents this because it's what led to the death of his parents.

At first, Kaito acts in accordance with this philosophy because he has no other choice, it's either be the one on top or be oppressed by those in power. He also believes going out of your way to protect the weak makes you weaker. For Kaito, the only thing that matters is staying on top, though he has considerable respect for the people he considers to be strong (such as Kouta and Mai, in her own way).

But his end goal changes when the power to literally shape the world is within his grasp. Now he can make the world become one where the weak are protected by the strong, but to him, that requires tearing down what came before because the systems of oppression, power structures and hierarchies are already set into place. He always craved power, but what he craved that power for changed when he realized what was realistically within his means.

Micchy is another character whose goals largely remain the same throughout the series, but what changes is who those goals are meant to serve and the information made available to him.

Micchy wants to protect those he cares about. The problem is who he cares about (or at the very least, who is indisposable to him) shifts drastically throughout the course of the series. He's also pragmatic and selfish, so he's willing to let others die if it means protecting what's important to him personally. At first, it's his friends and his brother. Then it's just his brother, Kouta and Mai. Then it's just Mai. Micchy aligns with whomever is currently in power strictly for pragmatic reasons. If he can keep whoever he cares about at the time close, he can keep them out of the harm of whatever oppressive power he happens to be serving at the time (at least in his twisted mindis.


Micchy's biggest character flaw is that he genuinely believes he's the hero of the story that's keeping his friends out of harm's way, even if they don't necessarily need or want his protection. While Takatora believes that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, Micchy believes the needs of HIS few outweigh the needs of the many because of how warped his perception of heroism is.