#sorry for the sheer length of this response. what happens when u think about blade 24/7 for 4 going on 5 months straight

[humanundead]

Now that you’ve finished Faiz, who had the most painful show ending: Kenzaki and Hajime or Takumi and Kiba?

its definitely kenhaji for me no question... like. Okay. certainly takumi and kiba were painful but i think there's some sort of closure to be had there right. like yes losing kiba is really painful in the moment especially when takumi wasn't able to make amends with him before he died. but like. if someone's just dead and that's the end of it you can kind of start to move on after a point right. but for kenhaji they don't get that closure the pain is eternal..the other is out there. literally Right There but just out of your reach. forever. for literal eternity. they dont get to die it never ends the torment just goes on forever

and they let themselves have hope things will change and they'll see each other again even though they know deep down the hope won't change anything. like when someone is just dead so it's easier (still really hard! but easier) to move on because you know its over. theyre not coming back there's nothing you can do. but kenhaji will never really be able to let go or move on like that (see: the drama CD and novel) (i also havent seen paradise regained yet so idk if they get into that at all...sorry 😭 planning on watching it at some point tho)

and also something ive been rotating in my mind a lot with the implications it has for post canon is the like. undead mind connection they have after kenzaki starts jokerifying in the wild chalice arc? like its established that they can sense when the other is in pain/in danger...and if that continues to happen after theyve separated its so. you know the other is in pain or going through something and you don't get to talk to them or know what happened or if they're okay.....Augh

and i also think its especially painful when you consider kenzaki's character arc...like he starts the show as a complete loner who's never had any real friends and thinks no one cares about him. but throughout the show he grows close to kotarou and shiori and hajime and everyone else. and he's so overjoyed to have people who truly care about him and he comes to realize (although i don't think he ever fully accepts this) that he has value and means something to the people in his life. he's never had that before. Only to give all of that up. for hajime. so hajime can live. he's right back where he started

and yes kenhaji do get zi-o but this actually does make it worse because when the world resets they remember. they get a taste of what it's like to finally have a life together and it gets ripped from their hands. and they don't even get the luxury of forgetting it ever happened. they get to remember that. For ever for the rest of time. like i think the immortality aspect really adds a whole nother dimension to the torment nexus here that you just dont get with anything else...you have to live forever knowing the one you love is out there and you can't ever see them again. (and also thinking about kenzaki adjusting to being an undead....hajime's the only one on earth who truly understands him and what he's going through with being an undead and being immortal. and he can't ever see him again)

and dont get me wrong i enjoyed takumi and kibas dynamic but theres something about kenhaji that makes me really truly bonkers yonkers. like. They invented love.....i think i'm just a lot more invested in kenhaji so it hurts more. plus i thought the final arc in faiz was kind of rushed and i had a lot of mixed feelings on it in the moment, i've only started to kinda come around to it after letting it sit for a little? so it didn't hit as hard as the ending of blade did for me. its just. like. the pain of knowing someone loves you enough to put you before the whole entire world and sacrificing their own humanity and happiness so that you can live and then you don't even get to share your life with them.....you just have to live with that forever....Fucked up and evil sick and twisted

in conclusion Kamen rider blade 4ever <3