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08-12-2020, 07:31 PM | #581 |
Filthy SU/FE Trash
Join Date: Jul 2016
Posts: 572
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Quote:
Kenzaki would totally run a Blue-Eyes deck because "It's got lots of attack and it's cool!"
Tachibana hasn't played the game since 2008, and is still a little confused by everything above Fusions. His deck runs about 5 archetypes all medley'd together and yet he still somehow pulls a win on occasion. Hajime runs some obscure archetype you never paid much attention too, has some weird ass summoning mechanic you're not quite sure is legal, and at least one of his cards is in a foreign language. Mutsuki wants to use whatever won the latest championships but doesn't have the money for it. |
08-12-2020, 07:50 PM | #582 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,501
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Would like to add that takoyaki is a very Osaka-centric food and Morimoto the actor who plays Hajime and Ryo is from Osaka.
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08-12-2020, 08:05 PM | #583 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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I look away from this thread for a little bit and come back to find like a page straight of nothing but Tachibana jokes and people sticking up for the show's (amazing) first OP. I said Blade would be a party, but this is even better than I anticipated. Y'all are making me so proud right now!
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08-13-2020, 12:20 AM | #584 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 31
This time on Kamen Rider Blade: The Undead take pity on Team Blade by clueing them in to what the stakes of this series actually are! Kotaro and Hirose get in on the action, and it goes poorly! And Nozomi is back to absolutely crush it in her one scene! I just think the actor playing Nozomi does a great job? It's a thankless part, really. She exists to worry about Mutsuki. She doesn't seem to have any interior life, or any goals outside caring about Mutsuki. But, like, I believe her when she's worried about Mutsuki. She tries to hide it under false confidence, that she's not really that worried about Mutsuki because he's fine, it's no big deal, he's going to be fine. It's this incredibly thin veneer of sociable, where she's clearly worried out of her mind, but she's trying to be present in the moment. The level of it is perfect, where her laughing something off is as heartbreaking as her breaking down and crying. It's just some great, naturalistic performing. A+ for making something out of nothing. And, y'know, pretty great episode for acting, I have to say! There's a ton of plot to get across, but it's all done with an eye towards getting enough small moments with each character to feel dramatic, and not just a flood of exposition. Like, Kenzaki. He's got to spend a bunch of the story in a more straightforward Hero role, racing to fight various monsters. But there's a brief scene between him, Hajime, and Tachibana just as the story kicks off that I found really charming. It starts with Kenzaki and Tachibana wanting to find Mutsuki, and Kenzaki suggesting they enlist Hajime. (This is laid out in a scene in Tachibana's apartment, which, holy shit. With a ton of work, you could maybe call his apartment unlivable. It's a testament to how broken Tachibana is, and I'm wondering if Kenzaki didn't ask for his help just to get him out of that sadness factory.) When Hajime basically tells them You've Already Lost Mutsuki Forever, Tachibana gets huffy and needles Hajime about what he's even doing fighting the Undead if he clearly doesn't care about people. As Hajime has a full-on freakout over a vision of a ruined world, including a dead Amane and Haruka, Tachibana takes the stunned silence as an opportunity to look down on Hajime's lack of empathy. (The hypocrisy!) He says that he can't trust people who keep secrets, and then proceeds to try and hide from Mutsuki's despondent girlfriend. (The double hypocrisy!) Anyway, it's the next part I liked a lot. (Why am I writing so much tonight? I think my filter evaporates when I write these too late at night. I want to write less, but I can't stop letting every thought out.) Kenzaki tries to get Hajime to open up by, y'know, not being a confrontational dick. It works a little, and Hajime asks Kenzaki if he doesn't also have a couple things he doesn't want to talk about. And Kenzaki's like Hi Have We Not Met Before. It's adorable. Kenzaki is the most upfront, no-filter dude of all-time (he's my icon tonight), and the idea of keeping anything a secret has him pondering it like it's a Zen koan. Even the word Secret, in his mouth, sounds weird to him. It's a nice beat in the story. Tachibana doesn't really get a similar scene, but he plays a great, inquisitive foil to the new Smooth Criminal Mutsuki. It's Mutsuki, of all people, that lays out what's going on with Hajime. He uses a deck of cards to explain the significance of the Joker in the Undead's battles, and how Mutsuki's going to take him out and save the world. It's a new steel in Mutsuki, he's charming in his menace, but it's only an amplification of his old motivation. He's going to get stronger, he's going to be the best Kamen Rider, he's going to defeat the Undead. It's just, now we know what Leangle is getting out of it, and the real complexity of the conflict. The newest Undead, Clock King, gives us the rest of the info, and I love how he conveys it. There's this exasperation he has when he's talking to Kenzaki, and I get where he's coming from. This all feels like super relevant stuff, and it's downright bizarre to only be getting it 18 episodes before the series ends. It puts the show into a new gear, one that gives the villains a new perspective and makes the heroes feel unbelievably in the dark. If I were an Undead who's watched the Kamen Riders working with the Joker for half a year, I'd be just as frustrated at their ignorance. I get why he's shitposting about them! That shitposting, though, it's got some ups and downs to it. I really liked how the Clock King plot gets Hirose and Kotaro back into the action, in ways that feel organic and unforced. They're great characters, and the show should be utilizing them more. But OH MAN was that Net Cafe montage hilarious. It's so serious that it's almost a parody. The determined gaze of Tachibana with a big INTERNET CAFE layered over him pretty much broke me. Maybe it's too late at night, maybe I'm punchy, but it all looked so goddamn dumb. I don't know. That aside, I really liked the first episode in the new era of Kamen Rider Blade. I thought the new theme song was fine; the new credits were bland and felt like they were promoting a boy band's new single; and the science man with his U.N.D.E.A.D. or whatever was something I'd feel more like talking about next episode. But the bones of this one were really strong, with information that clarified the stakes and adversaries with unique perspectives. It's a great foundation for the rest of the show. Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Mutsuki versus Hajime! Blade versus Garren! And Hajime versus shirts, I guess! All this... in a few days, because I've got other stuff to cover first. Thursday will be the four New Generation specials, while Friday will be the Missing Ace movie. Saturday will be the return of regular Blade programming. See you then!
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 08-11-2023 at 04:26 PM.. |
08-13-2020, 02:48 AM | #585 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,546
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Effort Post No 2 time.
So yeah, the theme song changed. While this is the first time you’ve seen it happened, it’s actually a common thing in Tokusatsu whenever a retool happens (Ultraman Leo, Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters) and Kamen Rider has the monopoly on it (having changed the theme in Kamen Rider (1971), Kamen Rider (1979), this series and Kamen Rider Hibiki. Whenever compilations are made, the first OP is always the one included, though ELEMENTS (the song here) is the one that always gets performed at concerts, for reasons I’ll elaborate on below. The group performing the new song, ELEMENTS, Rider Chips f. Ricky, subsequently went on to become a regular performing group for Kamen Rider, having contributed to the soundtracks for Kabuto, Ex-Aid and Zi-O, while also covering every Kamen Rider OP except Build and Zero-One (yes, that includes the Showa ones). They’re also one of the only acts you’re guaranteed to see performing at a music concert for Kamen Rider (by contrast, Super Sentai is likely to feature everyone they’ve had perform at least two songs in the last 15 years). Also, the new middle-aged guy introduced here is played by Junichi Haruta, who’s one of the few actors in Tokusatsu to do his own in-suit action. This is his first time appearing in Kamen Rider (and only time, until W Returns: Eternal), but he’s been a regular in two Super Sentai series (Goggle V and Dynaman) and one Metal Heroes Series (Juspion) And now, on with the Rouse Card Information Kiosk. I might not be here to do the movie, because I’m going to be away when you watch it, just thought you should know. Evolution Caucasus An immortal creature that is the ancestor of the caucasus beetle, which belongs to the Category K of Spade Suit. Unlike the other main Undead, the black body color is close to pure gold. Weapons include a destructive sword called All-Over (オールオーバー Ōruōbā) and a Solid Shield (ソリッドシールド Soriddo Shīrudo) that can withstand a shock of 150 tons. His human form is known as King (キング Kingu) * Suit: Spade (♠) * Category: KING (K) * Effect name: EVOLUTION * Card name: Evolution Caucasus (エボリューション・コーカサス Eboryūshon Kōkasasu) * Consumption points: EP +2000 Time Scarab King’s subordinate who can stop time. * Suit: Spade * Category: 10 * Effect name: TIME * Card Name: Time Scarab (タイム・スカラベ Taimu Sukarabe) * Consumption Points: FP 1800 The mysterious creature the mad scientist created. Here’s what I found after doing a facial composite. Spider Man (蜘蛛男 Kumo Otoko, 1, 13 & Rider vs Shocker) is a monster created by Shocker. It was the first monster that fought Kamen Rider 1 and was killed by the Rider's trademark Rider Kick. |
08-13-2020, 05:00 AM | #586 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Quote:
This is laid out in a scene in Tachibana’s apartment, which, holy shit. With a ton of work, you could maybe call his apartment unlivable. It’s a testament to how broken Tachibana is, and I’m wondering if Kenzaki didn’t ask for his help just to get him out of that sadness factory.
Anyway, this episode is killer, and while to its credit, it's not incongruous with anything that's happened before, I think you really see Aikawa shuffling all the pieces on the board exactly where he wants them right away. Part of it is maybe the natural escalation of being later in the series, but it comes off to me like he's got a real plan for this show he's eager to execute. There's just loads of characters and plot points being introduced and pushed forward, and a ton of just plain cool moments beyond that. Leangle beating up cops is super memorable to me, the new monster at the end that just eats Kenzaki's card when he goes to seal it, which is a crazy impactful twist on usual routine, especially when that fight was also the debut of the show's third and final insert theme, the ever grammatically questionable "take it a try", following in Rebirth's footsteps by being a character song for Hajime sung by his actor Ryouji Morimoto. I mean, I could go on and on about cool things in this episode. As much as I love the first opening, the second one's just as great. You can tell it's doing its job because Die described it as a promotion for a boy band, which is exactly what the Blade Riders are, and why I love them. Plus it has that shot where Blade destroys your television/computer screen!
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08-13-2020, 05:39 AM | #587 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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OP 2 is very memorable to me, if only because my first exposure to it was a meme where Blade smashing the computer screen cut right into the Ryuki OP!
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08-13-2020, 05:59 AM | #588 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,501
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ELEMENTS seemed to be the more favorite theme song at the time. I like both theme songs but ever since this thread happened and re-listening to both whenever I had the chance, I think Round Zero by a tidbit is much more my favorite. ELEMENTS has better guitar riffs for sure and that ambience at the beginning is cool but Round Zero's piano/synth sections won me over I guess.
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08-13-2020, 06:17 AM | #589 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Come to think of it...
Fish, surely the first OP has some sort of significance in Ondul Culture, right? It's so bizarrely off the wall and mystifying that it's gotta have memes associated with it!
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08-13-2020, 06:51 AM | #590 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,392
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Blade Brave is way better than Elements?
Always has been.
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