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Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Blade
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08-01-2020, 10:17 PM
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Kamen Rider Die
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,083
KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 20
This time on Kamen Rider Blade:
Hajime can't tell his secrets to Haruka and Amane! Mutsuki wants to be a Rider but Garren says no! Kotaro has a meet-cute that's destined to end poorly for a variety of independent reasons! And Kenzaki squares off with Lazer But He's On Blade!
There's something that cracks me up, the last few episodes of Blade. The opening credit sequence has all four Riders racing across a beach together, four champions of justice, working to protect people. Except that's
completely
not this show?
Ever?
The best team-up percentage the show has ever had was 75%, and that was when Blade, Garren, and Chalice all fought Leangle. Usually, they're between 50% and 66%, depending on the amount of active Riders. All four of them
together?!
What show is that opening supposed to be attached to?!
It sure as hell isn't Blade!
Case in point, Leangle. He's sending monsters after Blade in the cold open, and then he's trying to fight Garren directly after the credits. The rest of the story is Mutsuki trying to figure out if the belt hates him or what, and that lack of being able to actively harm our heroes is the only reason he's trying to work with Garren at the conclusion.
I like where they've got Tachibana in this story, trying to be a mentor to Mutsuki. Team Blade is pretty boned as far as taking back the Leangle belt goes, since it can just run away when their backs are turned. (Maybe if Kenzaki actually slept with it this time?) That means that they're better off trying to control Mutsuki, and that's something Tachibana feels equipped to do. He's using his shame over, uh,
basically the first 15 episodes of this show
to reach out to Mutsuki, try and get him to see that power, that personal satisfaction, it's not worth harming others to obtain it. Not super clear if it's a lesson that's going to land with Mutsuki!
He's in a weird Not An Antagonist, Not Yet A Protagonist zone, Mutsuki. He wants to be a Rider, but he doesn't want to
do
anything with it, really. He fights Blade and Garren because they want to take it away from him, but then he tries to get Tachibana to bring him along on the fight against the Undead. He sort-of vaguely wants to fight monsters, that's maybe his preference, but he's got the same view of power that the corrupted version of Kiryuu had: having power is more important than using power. He doesn't seem to care too much what he's using Leangle's power for or against.
So he goes with Tachibana, claiming that he feels guilty about releasing the Undead that's currently terrorizing people, and... I don't really see it? I'm sort-of putting a pin in it, for now, since I'm not sure if Mutsuki's lying to Tachibana, lying to himself, or if this new motivation has come totally out of nowhere due to bad writing. (Feel like it's the third one, but I
really
hope it's not.) Nothing about Mutsuki has said Feels Guilt For His Actions As Leangle occupies a lot of space in his decision-making, but we'll see where it goes.
I mean, where it's probably going to go is a big ol' fight with Chalice, since that's who Tachibana (whom Chalice remembers as almost murdering him a little while back) and Mutsuki (who, through Leangle, called him a coward and
also
almost murdered him) run into at the end.
Hajime's story is a kind-of parallel to Mutsuki's, in that they're both about men who have secrets, and the women who want to help them. Hajime hasn't told Haruka and Amane that he's an Undead/Rider, and while they want to give him space to have secrets, it's causing a lot of unspoken friction. Not least of which because Kotaro
does
know, and wants explanations, and it's escalating the discomfort. Nozomi's going through the same thing with Mutsuki, where she knows he's hiding something, knows it's causing him problems, but all she can do is gently remind him that she's there for him.
It's a neat idea to explore, the consequences of trying to let people keep their secrets. It's easy to say, in the moment, that you value someone's friendship more than you worry about their secrets, but it's never that simple. Once you know someone's hiding something from you, you can't just not think about it. You're biting your tongue around them, wondering why they won't share with you, and meanwhile everyone's uncomfortable. Hajime and Mutsuki are reaching the limits of their friends' patience, and something has to change.
And change has arrived for Kotaro, and it's wearing a dress! The stuff with Kotaro and Meet-Cute is fine, some slow-burn Undead stuff that loops in Lazer But He's On Blade, the new cool-guy rockstar Undead. It's a series of possible fake-outs and red herrings (maybe she's an Undead!), but it's fun to see a story that puts Kotaro in a little bit more of the focus. Also, it gives Hirose and Kenzaki a chance to do some supporting-role comedy stuff, which kills. The part where Kotaro calls them freeloaders, and they're a little offended, but then they're both like Oh Shit We Totally Are,
loved it
. Great timing, funny joke.
It's a pretty solid episode of Blade! Very much the first chapter in a story, with some question marks over some plots, but I had a good time with it. Doesn't maybe feel so much like the show is nailing down what Mutsuki is all about, but we're getting there. (
Really
liked his phone call with Nozomi.) It's a building phase, I guess. I'm okay with it!
Next time on Kamen Rider Blade:
Kotaro in danger! Kenzaki enraged! And Chalice fights at least Leangle, if not Garren, so a 75% team-up percentage remains the score to beat!
__________________
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KAMEN RIDER W
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KamenRiderDie.com
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Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 08-10-2023 at
09:42 PM
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