[Sh Ranger]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Mari and Takumi... I can't say it's something I ever wanted in the TV show (TAKIBA), but its appearance here felt weirdly right to me. Like you said, the 20 year gap -- and their incredibly vibrant connection in this film -- helps the two of them feel less like the Lovestruck Teens or Fated Pairing they might've been cast as in the original series, and more Weary Survivors who have grown into a mutually supportive romance.

Also, with Rena's death, Mari is definitely the only person alive who can deal with Takumi's historically infuriating bullshit, so he better find some way to make it work with her.

Same here, I always saw them as close friends, especially since Takumi is such a loner who takes a while to open up. Like, I recall that one scene where Mari shows Takumi her Ryusei School reunion picture and asks him who's his type, to which Takumi unknowingly points at Mari before claiming he meant to point at somebody else (like Saya). Inoue writes what he feels like at the time based on how the characters develop, so he may have added scenes like this in case he wanted to continue them later.... Much much later, evidently. I agree he made it work though, thanks to the time skip and their character arcs.

Honestly, when the cast for the movie was revealed, I wondered if Reina was going to become Takumi's canon love interest. But Reina's interest in Takumi was one-sided and she could tell pretty quickly that he cared for Mari, even as he attempted to deny those feelings. Well, Reina exploding kind of leaves Mari as the only available option anyway, so the result would've been mostly the same. Not like I could see Takumi sticking with Reina for too long even if she had survived, as she talks a lot and I imagine Takumi would get annoyed with that. For this movie at least, him choosing Mari makes sense.