As for characterization... well, it's Daiki. Written by Yonemura, the man who probably handles him the best. Although I brought up his wacky turns earlier, if you just sit down and examine the Yonemura-written episodes with Diend, there's at least some consistency among them. Under the other writers, I always felt he seemed just a bit too antagonistic, as if they all expected he'd wind up a villain by the end, and it's up to the actor to keep you liking him. But Yonemura seemed to get it. He writes Daiki as a magnificent bastard who always seems to have a plan, or at least is good at making it up while he goes, and beneath the bluster there is a good guy in there.
If it at first looks like he's doing something really stupid (going after treasures that happen to be attached to Daishocker leaders, etc.) then usually there's some twist or trick to it, a method to the madness. Hibiki World Daiki is one of my favorite depictions of the character, who up until then had seemed a lot more sinister than he really is. It's also the best-ever use of him as a rival to Tsukasa I think, with each backed up by an opposing school in that killer confrontation which quickly descends into unabashed lunacy. If When I get to write for Kamen Rider, I'd like to create a secondary Rider who never actually voluntarily gets into fights with the main one when they're transformed, but only when they're in human form. And even then, it's less fisticuffs and more about then pitting their wits. I like that stuff, like Tendô and Tsurugi trying to one-up each other.
Such is the case here. Daiki's at the center of a great crazy plan. You'll have to see the movie for yourself to get it, but there's a lot of time-trickery involved. The plot's bonkers, but I liked it and it all works out in a weird sorta way.
