[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Layton13

I'm not gonna fight you on that, Kai ain't worth that time But, fair I guess, he's by far one of Kobayashi's better villains by the simple fact that he's not really annoying, like a certain computer virus that acts more like a bratty child that didn't get his sweats...

So, yeah, his weakness doesn't detract like it usually does.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sylarking

My problem with Kai that I do not know what is he? Why he so powerful? Why Imajin follow him? And also he is not that threatening.

So, two answers to Kai's deal.

The first answer is couched in the world of the show. His mystery is what makes him so terrifying, as does his contradictory demeanor. He's Ryotaro inverted: externally charismatic and internally blank; chewing up memories because they're just fuel for him; bored by adventure; using the Imagin as cannon fodder. He's scary because he's the horrifying alternative to being a Singularity Point. He comes from nowhere, he can be anywhere, and he answers to no one. He's a metaphor for all the things we want to forget, the parts of ourselves we'd rather burn up to reach a blank slate. Ryotaro is about the power of memory; Kai is the seductiveness of forgetting.

The second answer is that Kai is the show's self-critique of endgame villains, and how you could do one on a show that's all about internal journeys. Kai doesn't give a shit about explaining himself, because the show doesn't give a shit about explaining Kai. The point of Kai is to be a somewhat arbitrary menace to defeat, but nothing that should pull focus from the character development. Kai needs to be not that important, or the show loses what everyone's watching it for.

If Kai seems underwhelming, I'd argue that a) that's what makes him hard to predict as a villain, and b) what makes him such a unique take on that character type. He's a world-destroying villain who is bored of the World-Destroying Villain trope. I really love that approach.