Faiz Finale @________@

[greatfountain]

First off... WHAT THE HELL? O_____________________________o



Okay, so... Kiba. Oh, Kiba. I watched with bated breath every time he was on screen, hoping for a spark of the hope, the spirit, the lost man looking for purpose and direction, and most importantly goodness that had so characterized him for me in the first half of the series. Then he handed Takumi over to be used as an experiment and I was really kind of torn up over it. I 'raaaaage'd at the computer screen a bit, even. Then... then things changed. This being Kamen Rider, the best lesson is taught be a good old ass-kicking, and Takumi handed him the one he so sorely deserved (like when Kaidoh punched him and he went end over end, basically ♥) and he--he got it. It clicked, who he was, and what he had been fighting and searching for for his entire journey over the series: a home, not just for Kiba Yuji, the Orphenoch who has lived as a human and now lives as an Orphenoc, but for everyone seeking not to live in a manner that hurts others. Takumi reminded him what they were both seeking. And, in the end, I think Kiba came to the conclusion that his own ability to 'live as a human' for whatever time he had left had been compromised by his own sins. So, he decided to give the man who had returned to him his hope some of his own. That is his redemption--giving Takumi more time to live, as a human, with Keitaro and Mari, because that's what he wanted all along.

Kusaka is a character I love to hate. I had a short moment of joy when I realized he wasn't going to last much longer, but then it happened, and I just... Here, copypasta from a comment directed to the awesome real_action: As a character, I found him fascinating and a bit refreshing as an anti-hero, none of that angsty 'my life is so bad so I'll go kill everyone' crap I hate and more 'I live to fight, to prove my own worth and my own strength because there is no other way that I can see'. Which I love :D/ I did get excited when he bit the dust, because ugh he was like a stubborn dog, he could never let anything go but--I guess I felt like maybe he deserved a bit better, because as much as I hated him as a person he was doing the right thing, you know? And he did have moments of humanity--to Mari, to the other Ryusei-juku kids, at times. And as much as he annoyed me to hell and back I don't think he deserved to be what amounts to hauling your crippled dog out back and shooting it. There's never any closure, in his passing--not even any ashes for his family to touch. And it was... it was cold. But chillingly so, and I really got why they did it the way they did :/ Kusaka was the kind of character I had moments of '>/' at and moments of ':l' at, really. He was a refreshingly realistic character--I'm thinking specifically when he desperately wants to bring the damn belts to Murakami so he can save Mari, but comes to the conclusion that basically allowing the world to be taken over by Orphenochs a) does no good for Mari in the long run anyway and b) is just kind of dumb, Mari would be mortified. I can appreciate that in a troll~

And now... the final sequence. I think it's real. I really, honestly do--I think they managed to beat Kamen Rider Ichigo Arch Orphenoch because I'm a sucker who likes her heroes to win, but also because on an emotional level I'm uncomfortable with the idea that Kiba and Takumi have both made so many sacrifices--even, ultimately, their very lives--and come up with nothing. It doesn't sit well with me, for Kiba's final act of redemption and Takumi's crowning moment of badass final charge against the enemy who has been trying to take away everything Takumi has so carefully built for himself out of the ashes of his life. I do, however, have a very strong suspicion that Takumi is very close to falling apart. (Warning, film geek shit ahead) The directors of Faiz were very careful to maintain a relatively sharp method of image capture, leading to, well, what is normal looking on out TVs. But in moments of great finality and death, the images soften, because harder to make out. Takumi can't even make out an image of his hand against the bright sky; I don't think that's coincidental. I imagine Kaidoh's in similar straits, but I'll ignore him for the moment since there's no actual evidence of him at all. So yeah, I think Takumi is dying. But in death, I think, Takumi found the dream he had been yearning for all along: life. Life, as if there was no other choice. Life, lived to help and protect people: as Faiz, as the Wolf Orphenoch, as a human, if necessary. Takumi had been 'living' for a very long, long time--most of his life, in fact. Only now, now that he has seen the face of death (and CGI-kicked it to the chest) and, I assume, dragged himself away with his best friends so he can die in the sunshine, if nothing else, next to the people he has worked so hard with and to protect.

I kinda love Takumi. He's a sweetheart. Kenzaki's my favorite, but Takumi's so... I have complex feelings about Takumi, because at times I want to smack him for never bothering to defend himself but I empathize with him; when someone has gone that long without anyone to connect to, explaining oneself becomes at best a really big annoyance. Especially with Kusaka around. Kusaka was, I feel, a toxic relationship in an otherwise loving power trio; he poisoned everything he touched with distrust and anger. That I couldn't stand.

And Keitaro/Yuka is awesome and hilarious and adorable and oh my god noooooo all at once ;______________;

for the record I agonized over that for nearly four hours XD

Now I want 555 Sims in my game ;___; but Sim!Kusaka's going to spend the whole time trolling Sim!Mutsuki or something, I know it D: *pats Sim!Mutsuki*

Comments

[gekidasa.livejournal.com]

The thing about Faiz's end is that it's... Fridge Logic. At first it might seem like it's a relatively good ending at a high price. Until you stop and think about it, and you realize, well, like you said, I believe Takumi is still dying. Also, did they REALLY stop Smart Brain? They stopped a specific scenario from happening, yes, but the king Orphenoc is still alive, and Smart Lady is still very much alive and well, and who's to say Smart Brain won't rise up again? So in a way, it's like they managed to buy themselves a little window of time, at a very high price.

Did you watch Paradise Lost yet, by the way.

As for Kusaka, here is what I said about him, after his death:

Because damn, that WAS harsh. I've known for awhile that Kusaka would die, and I fully expected him to die in Mari's arms and find some sort of peace and possibly even a measure of forgiveness in that. But he didn't even get that. He was already going through an obviously horrible, painful death, and instead of Mari finding him at the last moment, it was Kiba that found him and, well, summarily executed him. Broke his neck. So he dies alone, tossed aside, but even that's not enough. Mari doesn't even find his body, because his body turns to dust before she can do that. And she doesn't even find a pile of ashes, because the waves wash it away.

That's quite possibly THE harshest way he could have possibly gone.

And it is utterly, absolutely fitting for Kusaka Masato to go that way.

[greatfountain]

Definitely Fridge Logic, this ending. The Smart Brain stuff hadn't even occurred to me last night, but I woke up this morning thinking that very same thing--I think they survived, but--now what. I mean, Mihara's still living but putting aside how much fail he'd racked up as Delta I assume he's going to start falling apart (I assume that's how it's working, anyway; that part doesn't really make much sense) and then we're left with... Rina, if she can manage to not get bitch-slapped out of the suit *eyeroll* and Kaidoh, who appears to be doing better than Takumi as far as the falling-apart business, but who probably doesn't have much time left, either, especially if he's going to be fighting Orphenoch. They've bought themselves a little moment of happiness, but it's all going to go to shit soon enough. Which is bleak and absolutely depressing, and ultimately very, very Faiz.

I watched it ages ago, before I was into toku. I'll go back and re-watch it later, but I remember a lot of ';______;' and not really managing to place anyone properly orz

After sleeping on it some more, I think much the same as that; Kusaka Masato needed a harsh, cruel, chilling death, because that was the kind of character he was. It was perfect--and for me the fact that I had some emotional turmoil over it is proof of that. Kusaka spent his entire appearance making giving me turmoil, why should his death be any different? He had one of the most memorable death scenes I've ever seen, to his credit. God, his character is amazing.

[gekidasa.livejournal.com]

Also, about Kusaka's trolling, Dimmie and I were talking the other day about how a battle of trolling between Kusaka, Daiki and Shibaura (from Ryuki... no idea if you got to him already) would be absolutely EPIC.

[greatfountain]

Oh my god. Yes.

...all right, Kusaka, you've got a role in Daikific now. And that thing is long enough already D:

[real-action.livejournal.com]

My answer for the other post comment and comments about this post:

Kiba had been a so kind and good person, so I still can't believe it wasn't fault of the writers that he became a bad guy :\ They gave reasons, but it wasn't a smoothly transition, as you said :|

Again, Kusaka was a fantastic character who we'll not find anywhere again, but he got what he deserved XD/

I agree with everything you said in the third paragraph!

Takumi is one of my fave riders, he wasn't the "I'm strong, bow to my strenght" like Tendou (who I like, but sometimes he's too Tendou for me), but he was a guy who deep in his heart wanted to protect the ones who he loved. He was noble to the very end, fought no matter what happened. He's a character who have my respect!

And I'll never stop to make theories about what happened in Faiz's post final, so much situations are possible that I can't stay quiet XDD