I'm Really sick of Tendou and Tsukasa Hate

[LaZerwolfX]

The title pretty much explains it but I'm genuinely sick of people hating on Tendou and Tsukasa who always get pegged with a bad rap. I've never felt these two ever deserved the hate they get from the fans. It seems pretty common for people to just sum these characters up as douchebags and then piss and moan about what terrible characters they are without attempting to acknowledge that there are reasons why these characters are the way they are.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Tendou/Kabuto:
Tendou is alot of peoples least liked main rider, and I never really got this. They make statements like; Tendou doesnt care about anyone, and Tendous' an asshole. But I never once felt that way. I think the reason for this is because I never took Tendou seriously. (Also these responses always gave me the impression that Tendou might actually have a minor social disorder of some kind.) Despite the shows "serious atmosphere" I've always seen Tendou as being easily the funniest rider in the Heisei era simply because I found him too over the top to take seriously.

I dont see how a character that at least to me seems so obviously meant to be comedic generates such rage from people. I guess its possible that I never really viewed Tendou as the main character to begin with; I instead always felt that Kagami was truly the main character of the series. And Tendou served a purpose similar to Zero in Megaman X. Hes not there to be friendly or be a compassionate hero. Hes there to kick ass and get the job done, and symbolically Tendou (Zero) serves as an example of just how strong Kagami (X) could become.

They're truly 2 sides of the same coin. Tendou is the more precise and technical fighter and because he isnt as controlled by his emotions, will appear to be the stronger of the 2. But once Gatack shows up he shows that what really makes someone strong are the bonds they have with the people around them. And while he might not be as strong or skilled as Tendou his desire to protect people gives him the drive and the edge to match Tendou.

Kagami is the character who unlike almost every rider in that series, actually has to earn his powers. Hes the most compassionate, he fights for what he believes in and refuses to give up despite other riders being more skilled than he is. He does this so that he can become stronger and protect more people.

Sure this might make Tendou a little hollow as a character considering hes basically just there for fights and to indirectly assist Kagamis character development, but even so I feel this makes him a valid character.

Tsukasa/Decade:

Unlike with Tendou, I don't have any defense for Tsukasas personality; he is a douchebag. But the thing that so many people seem to miss (probably due to the vast majority of the fandoms tendency to generalize everything to do with Decade as being utter ****.) is that the series gives us 2 totally valid reasons why he is this way.

1) He has the power of 10 goddamn Kamen Riders!

I know most of us would like to assume that if we got Kamen Rider powers, we'd use it to save people and whatnot. But one thing I always appreciated about Tsukasa is that he provides the argument against that mindset. Maybe we wouldn't save people, maybe the power would cause us to become arrogant and possibly even cruel or neglectful to weaker individuals around us. Its easy to always assume you'd do "the right thing" but this has 10 sets of essentially super powers to deal with, I for one know I'd be hard pressed to not do selfish acts with that kinda power.

2) Hes the Emperor of Shocker!

Now while I acknowledge Tsukasas amnesia, I still think its not entirely impossible to imagine that even with amnesia, a person that is used to doing things a certain way might still retain some of their mind/personality within their subconscious. I realize this ones kind of a push but I don't think its too farfetched to assume that. Plus looking at it this way would actually add quite a bit of complexity to the character and would explain a number of his actions throughout the series. It wont necessarily go too far cuz the writing in Decade still isn't all that great but it can at least make him a more enjoyable character.

And I for one would rather put a little bit of thought into liking these characters then just dismissing them. We only have so much Kamen Rider available to us in the west, why not try and enjoy as much of it as you can.

 

[KingRanger]

The title pretty much explains it but I'm genuinely sick of people hating on Tendou and Tsukasa who always get pegged with a bad rap. I've never felt these two ever deserved the hate they get from the fans. It seems pretty common for people to just sum these characters up as douchebags and then piss and moan about what terrible characters they are without attempting to acknowledge that there are reasons why these characters are the way they are

All I can say is suck it up. No one really ever likes when people don't like things they are passionate about.

why not try and enjoy as much of it as you can.

Because opinions.

 

[ReD-X]

two of my favorite riders, way I see it haters gonna hate!

 

[LaZerwolfX]

Because opinions.

Really? Thats a pretty brilliant deduction, you come up with that on your own?

 

[KingRanger]

Really? Thats a pretty brilliant deduction, you come up with that on your own?

You went off on a long rant about something you don't understand. I gave you the most direct reason. People will not always agree because they have differing feelings. That is not all that hard to understand.:sweat:

 

[LaZerwolfX]

You went off on a long rant about something you don't understand. I gave you the most direct reason. People will not always agree because they have differing feelings. That is not all that hard to understand.:sweat:

No ****. I'm just saying that people maybe judged a little too quickly, and I would like to get the well articulated opinion of someone who feels differently. I'm trying to provoke a legitimate discussion. But thanks for being unconstructive.

 

[Kamen Rider ShinkenRed]

I haven't watched Kabuto yet, so I can't really offer much opinion aside from what I've read, where I sort of get the impression he's a bit of an arrogant guy.

Tsukasa might not be my favourite rider, but I certainly don't hate the guy (being my first rider probably helps). I kind of agree with what you say about why he's like he is actually. The Great Leader stuff had crossed my mind but the power stuff was a new thought, thanks for that.

 

[KingRanger]

No ****. I'm just saying that people maybe judged a little too quickly, and I would like to get the well articulated opinion of someone who feels differently. I'm trying to provoke a legitimate discussion. But thanks for being unconstructive.

What it sounds like is that you want some one to agree with you. I have not gone after you on a personal level. I am stating what I think. If you wanted only replies that are "well articulated", then you should have put that in your thread topic.

My problem with Tendou is that he is full of himself. He cares for no one except the girl. He is also way to over powered. The fact he can take away other riders zectors to power himself up is such nonsense.

DCD was just badly written. He was pretty cool at times, and then all of the sudden in the same episodes BAM he was a complete douche bag. The KR Blade episodes were prime examples of this.

I know I am not "well articulated", but those are my feelings.

 

[lazycoconut]

I always thought Tsukasa was a total douche, but that's the way I approach things. I expect heroes to be "nice", and if they're not I will dislike them, even if the story gives them a good reason to be the way they are.

I do like Tendou, he's so over the top I found him funny. However, he was still a dick a lot of the time, and I can understand why others don't like him.

I also think a lot of the reason they get hate is because they're seen as "too powerful" and people consider it bad writing/they don't want to watch a hero who can easily win any conflict. Takumi's a jerk yet he doesn't get the kind of hate they do.

 

[Toku Prime]

Personally I never minded either of those two Riders. But then again, there are lots of well-loved Riders that I don't see the appeal of *cough*Gills*cough* so it's just a matter of taste.

With regards to Tendou, there were four reasons why I could accept his arrogance:
1. The guy IS completely right 95% of the time. He says how it's going to go, and he's bang on the money. Within the Kabuto universe, he's totally justified for thinking highly of himself.
2. The guy clearly loved his grandmother, and she in turn clearly spent every day of his childhood drilling it into him how special he was. If the person you love the most raises you to believe in something, you tend to believe it (especially if it strokes your ego).
3. It's a reference to Stronger. They're the same kind of insect. They're the same kind of douchebag. 'Cause, honestly, Stronger's a dick. I had no problem with Tendou but by the end of the first episode of Stronger I was desperately hoping Tackle was going to turn around and give him a swift kick in the nuts for being such an ass.
4. Yeah, it's often somewhat amusing.

As for Decade, well my lasting memories of the first time I ran through it were just of him being quite bland. I did re-watch the first dozen episodes over the Christmas break, and actually there's proper character evolution with every story. In Kuuga's world he starts out not thinking much of Yuusuke and freely admits he has no sense of morality (and so could well be the destroyer of worlds). In Kiva's world he learns that Yuusuke has a keen sense of what's right and wrong, who's good and who's bad. In Ryuki's world he decides that he should act upon Yuusuke's advice from now on (only the time vent card alters things so Yuusuke doesn't know that Tsukasa has started doing this). In Blade's world, he's still being a dick by default ('cause he still has no idea of right and wrong) but as Yuusuke starts spinning theories as to what he's doing he automatically starts to do exactly as Yuusuke suggests and therefore is able to help Blade. In Faiz's world he makes his own choice to side with Takumi, but it's more because the Orphanochs pissed him off than because he really wants to help anyone. By the time he reaches Agito's world he's starting to act as a protector of his own volition (suggesting that he's starting to gain his own conscience and therefore taken a big step away from being the destroyer of worlds). At least in this first third of the show, he's not a static character. He's changing and evolving with each world he visits. The way I see it, that's a good thing.