[AkibaSilver]

So I'm just going to steal my own quote from nigh on 2 years ago now

Quote:

Also, disconnected to all that, is the redemption of two characters introduced in the whirlwind that was the first ten episodes, came off as pretty grating, and yet here I am watching their final fight together with silent affection. Dezast and Ren should not have been as fun to watch as they were. I shouldn't care about this C-tier villain whose only goal in life is to find satisfaction in fighting, because that's the only thing he knows and how could he want more, what do you take him for, and yet here he is, easily the stand out villain of the show. And he's not even realy a villain any more.

And then qualify them a little. Because I'm using the word "should" a lot in that post, which I think it me speaking about the Kamen Rider genre conventions these two inhabit. Ren is the cocky rival, and Dezast is the "I don't care about your goals, I only care about a good fight", who we've seen before a bunch of times. And yet, without making either of them really have a massive arc, or even one single inciting event besides "meeting each other", it's shifted them, not really away from those initial one-note characterisations, but just fleshed them out, added additional flavours like red ginger, and quietly given them room to work off each other. These two have never really been the stars, or even close to it, so having a full episode devoted to Dezast's tragic death and Ren carrying on his will and lessons, it's a little like Gaim randomly deciding the Oren/Jonouchi plot needs a whole episode and Mai to sing a tragic song about them. And, it honest to god works. It's brilliantly done.

Also, Will Save Us is really good? Very haunting, lots of power in the vocals, and I think it works having something unique for the fight because of how little Ren and Dezast have to do with the rest of the SOL or Megid gang at this point. This isn't another point of Storious' apocalyptic tantrum, or Touma winning over Ren and Dezast to be part of his squad, this is just between the two of them.