(no subject)

Jun 15, 2009 08:30

I love dumping shit on a character journal before I app.


What I really, really love about Kaidou is the fact that his character actually gets development over the course of the series and he's not just some throw-away character. I like that about Kamen Rider in general, though. I HAVE MY COMPLAINTS about some characters being underdeveloped (lol delta lol), but the KR series tend to really focus on their core ... six or so and flesh them out as best as they can, so no one is just tossed in.

I gotta admit, I was bracing myself for the last ten episodes because, around episode 40 or so in the few KR series that I've seen, the writers go "... shit, we have to wrap this up!" AND EVERYTHING GOES TO HELL. Faiz was no different and the ending, to me, felt really rushed. The series could've benefited from a few extra episodes and a bit more set-up than the random-ish FACE HEEL TURN on Kiba's part (followed by ANOTHER ONE in the last episode. ffs kiba, make up your mind).

Anyway, Kaidou's characterization did not get raped up the ass! In fact, I actually liked it a lot at the end! Kaidou, throughout most of the series, is this sort of forward thinking character who never really thinks much about others and basically skips his way through everything. He's inadvertantly cruel to Yuka because of this, because he completely disregards her crush! She likes him, he doesn't like her like that, but hey, if she wants to give him attention, then why not! ... and that sort of thing.

Kaidou does shift a bit towards the end. I really, really do believe that he genuinely cares about people, but he covers it up with his own eccentricities and self-involvement. Again with Yuka, there's a point where she's contemplating turning herself in to the police and asks Kaidou something, but Kaidou is preoccupied with skipping town and finding his ear cleaner. Later, after she's left the apartment and written a note saying she's turning herself in, Takumi or someone asks Kaidou why he didn't stop her! And we ... get this brief moment where he's all "... I don't know" before diving back into a rant about finding his damn ear cleaner. There's this slight, almost genuine pause there. And it's really cool, okay.

BUT MOREOVER, Kaidou genuinely and truly comes to care about the boy he ended up saving, Teruo. Despite his protests that he can't stand kids and taking care of them is a waste of his time, he constantly stops by the orphanage to see him, to keep him from being bullied, and to just keep him company whether he wants it or not. Kaidou honestly seems upset at the end when Teruo finally awakens as the Orphnoch King, and he's just plain sad at the end when he comes back to the orphanage and Teruo isn't there.

At the end of the series, Kaidou is less self-absorbed. He does care about people - in his own way. And he outright says to Takumi that he doesn't really care what happens to him! He just wants to protect humans. Which was Kiba's ideal throughout the entire series that Kaidou seemed to constantly laugh at and poke fun at him for. He's still whimsical, he'll still do whatever the hell he wants and will be incredibly forward about it ("NO WAY, I'M NOT DOING ANY WORK AROUND HERE"), but Kaidou seems to have more of an interest in people as a whole towards the end, which makes him a hell of a lot more playable. Even if there's this sort of sense of ... melancholy at the end for him.
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