[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by MKDremare

Another controversial one, though not related to the previous one too much. I think that Keiwa's character arc makes perfect sense. We've seen that he's much more cynical than most 'idealistic' characters, and that he isn't some perfect good guy. He has his own selfish moments which is normal for even the kindest person (as he's very invested in keeping his only remaining immediate relative alive), and that not everyone will be able to handle/get 'stronger' from immense tragedy, and will even potentially engage in the worst aspects of their personalities to try and cope.

I think some people seem to be unable to differentiate between kindness and idealistic. Kindness is the action, you perform good deed to others indiscriminately and refuse to do bad things if you can help it, idealism is the worldview. Seems by this people'd think that being stupid is an inherent part of being kind, when good people can be just as discerning and mistrustful as any hardened, gruffy character, it's a writing choice to make those kind characters, idealistic to the point of naivety. Otherwise, about being very invested in keeping his relative alive, it happens notably in ep. 8 where he was self-righteous to dismiss other Riders' wants in his strategy against the boss, but some people seem to be in denial that Keiwa can ever be in the wrong, only demonizing everyone else for being at odds with him (rejecting his strategy doesn't mean leaving people to die, they're still going to face the final boss, only want to do so with other way than just being baits).

Quote:

Originally Posted by MKDremare

A more controversial one I feel like would be that I think Keiwa being "sidelined" during the Lamentation to Yearning arcs actually helped instill the idea that he's "powerless" compared to Ace's 2000 years of experience and Michinaga's sheer determination and ruthless. Like he's powerless even to take the spotlight from Michinaga who "usurps" his position as the deuteragonist for those arcs. And him getting beaten down by various events really help show that as much as he's gotten stronger and more skilled, that he's still outmatched by those two.

My controversial opinion (likely) regarding this would be likely that, people seem to stay on status quo regarding evaluating characters, still clinging on characters on when they start, dismissing any skill and competency they get no matter how much later when they start off as newcomers (also happens to most main Riders), as if always viewing Keiwa (and Neon) as a newbie no matter what unlike the other 2. Also, dunno if this is what you're saying here, but Michinaga should stop being pitted as Ace's equal. Previously, when both are in Command Twin, Keiwa can put some fight to Ace though Ace always had the upper hand, and later in those Michinaga screentimes, Ace also can fight him off using both Jamato/Zombie Buckle and even Command Twin, using only Magnum - both Keiwa and Michinaga are more on similar levels, they're Riders who can't stand up to final boss in 2nd DGP, unlike Ace, and Keiwa was "powerless" because he's left out in power to only use Ninja compared to Ace's LaserBoost and Michinaga's Jamashin powers, don't ignore those to only talk about characters' personalities (and glorify destructive emotions for Buffa's case), his solution is to get more powerful Buckle, but in ep. 31, Keiwa performs better than Michinaga (Fever zombie) with stronger item (Command Twin) against Dunkleosteus Jamato, so it's not that he's a noob carried by stronger item in this case. Ep. 41 makes it official in their untransformed bout.

Rivals seem to be so overrated sometimes, their words being taken with face value, when people like Michinaga are also arrogant and, just big-mouthed. The good-natured characters' (like Keiwa) shortcomings such as being naive and gullible being endlessly brought up, likely dismissing how he can keep as plot armor, and concluding those as how you should encourage cruelty to "eliminate weaknesses and get ahead" (how Kekera-like fans emerge), when writing kind character as naive is only a writing chouce, while rough and mean characters like Michinaga had them being depicted as sensible, tough, badass, realistic (playing up cynicism as this), and mature, and if they fail, they're considered as the writers giving them the short end of the stick, overlooking their own shortcomings like how being reckless and stubborn holds them back at games like DGP where cooperation is required, or not maximizing what they have like using guns only as melee weapon, and actually gets killed in ep. 15 even if Zombie did its work. Michinaga does get to win in JGP, but Beroba also deserves credit in that.