Ryuji is 'Rasen'


He doesn't seem to be Ryuji anymore. I was wondering if it linked back to what he said in the first movie, when he said that Tomoko wasn't Tomoko anymore (cause Tomo-chan would never hurt Yoichi, but she still told Yoichi to watch the tape). is it possible that Ryuji isn't Ryuji anymore? he's been influenced by his death from Sadako and hence become his friend. cause in 'ring 2' he's fighting back but in 'rasen' he's not like the old Ryuji.
Also, at the end when Ando asks Ryuji if he wants to clone Yoichi back to life (like they'd done with Ando's son *forgot his name*) but Ryuji says he couldn't be son cruel and says that it'll be a long time before he'll beable to sleep easy. Isn't it crueler to leave Yoichi dead though? cause he died under sadako's power so he can't be having a blast in heaven, can he? and also, earlier on, someone said that Ryuji didn't want Yoichi to die. what gives?
Does he even like Yoichi in the end? If he doesn't then he's the worst sort of father in the world cause it's disgusing when a father thinks nothing of his own son, in my view.

Also, I loved the bit where Ryuji's corpse comes to life and says "You can't slit your own wrists, how could you do this to me?"

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I'm Delilah... what do you think when you hear my name?

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There was a possibility of a sequel being made to 'Spiral'/'Rasen' back then (Loop), so it's possible that Ryuji's so different cause it's really Kaoru and he's pretending to be helping Sadako, when he's really planning to destroy her. It would also explain why 'Ryuji' didn't want to clone Yoichi, cause he isn't really his son.

Of course if you look at the film on it's own, then I imagine Ryuji was probably influenced by Sadako killing him. The Ryuji from the first film seemed genuine to me, and seemed like he really does care about Yoichi and didn't want him to die. In Rasen though, Mai says he did it for Reiko... So that makes his 'caring for Yoichi' bit a little messy. Cause you could theorize that he did it out of the love he had for Reiko, not Yoichi (which I agree, is sad). As for not wanting Yoichi back at the end he either did because he: a.) The world was going to become a crap pit so he's better off dead. b.) Reiko was also dead so Yoichi, even if he were alive again, wouldn't be very happy or c.) He just didn't like him.

Of course d.) would be the reason I said before... He's really Kaoru, but that's only if you look at through the 'Loop' of hope. ^_^

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Shooting Stars - http://sophie-lou.tripod.com/

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I always thought that Ryuji (in Rasen) didn't want Reiko to die at all and really wanted to save her, but he wasn't too keen on letting Yoichi live because he regerted having children, and only really wanted to help Yoichi because its what Reiko wanted. There is this big theory that Ryuji was pulling the strings all along. That he was planning on helping Sadako. That he wanted to see the end all along. But Ryuji didn't want Reiko to die cause its obvious that he loves her, and she could come in handy with her diary. Cause I think that Reiko wrote that diary of her own freewill, thus creating the new and improved ring-virus. So when Ryuji died, he decided to help Sadako out but giving her a way into the world in return for coming back to life as well. In return however, she doesn't kill Reiko. Ryuji doesn't try to save Yoichi because apart from the fact that he doesn't like having his genes walking about he knows that Yoichi is more of a rival then an accomplice of Sadako. Seeing as the diary is already causing problems, like I said, Reiko could be useful. Still, Ryuji couldn't tell his own future so he didn't know how long it would take Sadako to be reborn and how long it would take for her to get round to having him cloned. In that time, Reiko dies from crashing a car when seeing Yoichi was dead. The wasn't part of the plan. So, I'd imagine Ryuji's a bit pissed off, but thankfully, he can deal with the diary when he gets his hands on it. Now seeing as Mai was the only woman who he was close to who he didn't care dying, he decided to leave clues and stuff to lead Ando and Mai together. Within time, Mai kicks the bucket and Sadako is born from her, and disguses herself as Mai to trick Ando. However when Ando finds out that Mai is really Sadako he freaks out and agrees to clone Ryuji in return for reserecting Takanori too. So now Ryuji is alive again, he can see the future again, and sees what will happen with Sadako's curse. It probably better that his family stay dead until further notice. There is that look on Ryuji's face at the end when Ando asks him what he'd seen cause he really did see more then what he said, what he sees we will never know. But he saw something that made him snigger a little. So maybe he's miss-leading Sadako a little bit, cause she can't see her own future, so Ryuji could turn around any moment and get rid of her now she's human. Cause if Sophie's theory is put to test and its Kaoru who is there on the beahc, tricking Sadako, Ando and everyone, then that means he has every intention of killing Sadako. Cause we have to remember that back when 'Rasen' was made, a 'Loop' was possible to come to light. So its only natural for us to believe that it's Kaoru there, pretending to be Ryuji then it would explain why he doesn't act like the real Ryuji when we see him on the beach. Besides, if Ryuji didn't want traces of his DNA in the world then that means that he'd rather die. In Ringu, Ryuji tells Reiko that maybe the three of them should all just die. So why would he want to come back to life if he wanted to die. So maybe all the tricks were done by Kaoru, I'm not sure.

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[deleted]

Okay here's what I think now...

It doesn't take a geneus to figure out that in Ring, from the way Ryuji acts that he was still in love with Reiko, heck he bent over backwards to help her. While Ring 2 proved that he loved his son also and that Yoichi also cared for him in that lovely struggle in the well Rasen seemed to hint that Ryuji didn't exactly sell out his family. In Ring, he may have geneurally wanted to save Yoichi cause in Rasen, Mai said that Ryuji wanted to save him out of his feelings for Reiko... so maybe Ryuji really thought that copying the tape and passing it on would work. However, when Rasen was made everything was sort of turned on it's head... I think that Reiko (and Yoichi, maybe) was the only thing that kept him from going off the rails. Ryuji probably never intended for Reiko to die and her death, cause it was a car crash, was an accident and not meant to happen. It was only following Ryuji's death he turned evil, or really, upon Reiko and Yoichi's certain death he turned. My basic point is that maybe, cause of all the hints Mai gives us and the way Ryuji behaves when Yoichi is mentioned, something tells me that he choose to side with Sadako merely because he no longer had family to protect.

Mai says in Rasen, "He didn't want Yoichi to die, he really tried to save him... for Reiko" then she said, "But he saw something before he died..." Maybe he saw impending doom and decided to side with it?



I'm Delilah... what do you think when you hear my name?

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People seem to take Ryuji's behaviour the wrong way. He's a clearly a troubled man... In Ringu, he does try to save Reiko, Yoichi and himself but there are some scenes that do make you wonder in Ringu that only make sense in Rasen. Ryuji's rant about it being better if they just died and his theory on how rumours are started. I personally think that in Rasen, they prove that Ryuji has always been "that way" which ultimatly led to his downfall. He was probably a nice man to begin with but then his powers slowly started to turn him bitter to a point where his coldness drove Reiko to asking a divorce... making him even more bitter.

You're right, but Ryuji doesn't hate Yoichi or wish him dead, he loves Yoichi and he will do anything, including kill him, to save him. He wasn't only saving him from Sadako, he was saving him from becoming his father. Ryuji's rant about dying was fuelled by his feelings that his powers were a curse, he lost his wife and son to them--if Yoichi is the same, then Ryuji probably believes that Yoichi is better off dead because the last thing he wants for his son is to have to live in such misery.

I think we can fairly say that Reiko's death wasn't intentional... I don't think Ryuji intended for her to die.

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I can agree with that... I don't think Reiko was supposed to die. Ryuji hating his powers cause they almost certainly ruined his chance at a normal life and he doesn't want that for Yoichi.



I'm Delilah... what do you think when you hear my name?

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But I think he loved Yoichi and Rieko. If you don't wanna have a son or daughter use a condom!!! But in Rasen he is brought back but then he maybe killed Sadako after he secretly planted Rieko,Mai,Rieko`s dad and Yoichi`s cells thus maybe killing him again. That is a good way to link Rasen and Ringu 2 huh!!!

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I just recently watched these films and I have to say that I always got the impression that Ryuji loved Reiko and Yoichi very much, and that their deaths was seen by him as the merciful thing to do in Sadako's world.


I can bid defiance to pain...

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One problem. Spiral is based on Koji Suzukis novel. Therefore Ryuji is actually Karou, as he is in the novel. So Ryuji/Karou is not evil at all, just pretending in order to destroy Sadako. And that is he way it works. Spiral is a part of Suzukis grander plan, not its own film to be taken along with ring only. Loop must be taken into account.

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Very true. If you really wanted to twist this film, Sadako might think Ryuji is doing it to help her but what he's really trying to do is stop her because he's now Kaoru. Either way I think the reason Ryuji wanted Yoichi to stay dead (For the time being) is because he knows it will take years before he can finish off Sadako. I don't think Ryuji/Kaoru intended for Reiko to die - that was an accident. Deep down he probably thinks she's better off dead too.

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