[Deepsea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

I feel like Kasumi's dad is worse, though, for two reasons.

First, Kasumi's dad is horrible in a more banal, pointless way. He's just cruel for stupid plot reasons, something literally any adult would look at and go Wait This Is Too Far. The fact that he psychologically damages his daughter and then spends a year stalking her because he he regrets his actions but never tries to reconcile with her... it's all so dumb. At least with Banno, his horribleness has a meatier goal, and he's fully aware of what he's doing. Kasumi's dad (I genuinely don't even want to learn his name, that's how much better than him she is) is just breaking something and then spending a year staring at it and feeling bad. Maybe fix it! Or something!

Second, the minor stakes (one ruined relationship) are actually more terrifying than something that can only exist in the world of tokusatsu. It's like the flipside of how the Yuumi/Tomoya story worked because it was about something most people will experience at some point in their lives. This story has a parent/child relationship where everyone can see themselves in at least one role, so the consequences land harder. When the thing that sets that plot into motion is so needless and ridiculous, it feels more terrible than some evil mastermind trying to turn people into robots or whatever.

This is a really interesting way of looking at this. I agree that the closer to reality stakes can feel the worse they can hurt. I wish I had more to add. I’ll think for a bit.