[Kamen Rider Die]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Switchblade

The final throwdown between Ikki and Vice is one of my favorite final battles in all of Kamen Rider, possibly just behind Kenzaki and Hajime's last confrontation. A lot of it comes down to the fact that I'm a pet guy; I've had some combination of dogs and cats for most of my life. Last year was actually pretty rough, in fact, because I had to put my cat to sleep - it'll be a year to the day in a couple weeks, actually. There's a lot that resonates me with Ikki taking Vice to the park for one last play before the end.

The stakes are basically nonexistent. Nobody is in danger, nothing needs saving, this is just Ikki and Vice having one last, glorious day together. It's probably not a scene that works that well for everybody, but it's something that I absolutely relate to and I will always appreciate it as the show's final action sequence, even after Vice is inevitably revived for a movie (assuming that hasn't already happened).

I'm sorry to hear about your loss. I'm sure your cat was loved. It's hard to lose someone that means a lot to you, but at least you got to have that kind of connection for a while.

Similarly, I think this ending gets a lot mileage out of how deep and rich the bond is between Ikki and Vice. If Vice has to go, then Ikki wants to make sure that Vice has one last good memory before the end. It's an ending that only wants to leave you with a smile, even if there's sadness in the mix. Vice was a way for Ikki to hide from terrible memories, and the end result was giving Ikki back every memory but those with Vice. It's... I just really like that this show wants to end with Vice putting Ikki before himself, because that's exactly what Ikki would do.