[Sh Ranger]

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Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura

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.

You're welcome to disagree. It wouldn't be an unpopular opinion otherwise.

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Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura

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.

See, the stuff with Kaito's abusive father and the death of his mother is exactly the kind of backstory that should've been in the show, before he declared his intent to destroy humanity. Regardless of his noble intentions, the end doesn't justify the means. Making a better world isn't worth sacrificing all the innocent lives as well and I was hoping that all his experience up to that point would have led him to that conclusion.

Kouta's and Kaito's showdown seemed inevitable but it shouldn't have been the final battle. Kaito wasn't given a chance to redeem himself, like Kiba was. They could have teamed up to destroy Mitsuzane, as Takumi and Kiba did against the King. It's a shame for Kaito to have his philosophy challenged so many times only for him to become the final villain anyway. It's just not very consistent. Destroying humanity was Horobi's goal from the start and it was clear he was starting to doubt himself and lose faith in his philosophy. That's how I believe such an arc should be executed, with an antivillain reforming himself as hero.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaskedRiderAsakura

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.

That's not really the take I had at all. I think Mitsuzane is the most depraved character in KR and I cannot forgive him for all those terrible things he did to people who cared about him. You're right that his goals remain the same though. He's driven by greed and lust, pretending to be affable, manipulating his brother and "friends" to get whatever the hell he wants.

He has no redeeming qualities. The only reason the show redeemed him was cause the show needed him to and his sudden heroism in the finale, which was written by Haganeya, was OOC since he had nothing to gain, no incentive to start being a "good guy". When he joined in the speech in Movie War Full Throttle about the importance of free will, it was hollow. I believe he cares about free will, as long as he can manipulate it. I cannot wrap my head around the idea that until the Knuckle movie, this guy was supposed to be "the last hero of Zawame City". I just can't take that seriously.