[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fish Sandwich

It's tricky to describe, but a lot of the episode is basically a day of the life of Kageyama, and considering he just got demoted, it's even more clear than usual how... empty he is, as a person. He seriously can't consider anything beyond some vague quest for status I doubt he even remembers why he wants, and where this episode jumped from being merely a normal great Ishida episode for me to being something that's maybe more special is when it decides to pull all that back after the halfway mark and suddenly make it dead serious.

I really admire the fact this show, to date, has gone out of its way to give Kageyama zero redeeming features. Like, not only does get humiliated by practically every single character on the show, but at his breaking point, at the moment where he has to decide what it is he wants, he's just like Shrug Emoji and starts trying to murder people. There is no attempt to contextualize his failures, or empathize with his psychology. He's just terrible, non-stop. That is so intentional by the creative team that I love it, even if I don't think I'd care if Kageyama's character was replaced with a surly sea lion. Just... the series bible has Kageyama Is The Worst written down for the character's bio, and they used that as their guiding light. I've never seen a show so dedicated to producing the most pathetic character possible, and I salute them for it.