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08-05-2020, 06:37 PM | #441 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,399
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If you feel the show is being unfair to a woman now, hoo boy, just wait.
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08-05-2020, 11:17 PM | #442 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 24
This time on Kamen Rider Blade: A new Undead is reproducing! Another new Undead is relaxing! And Tachibana and Kenzaki are reuniting! It's not the most fluid episode of Blade ever, but I enjoyed it. Despite the growing cast of heroes and villains, what works great in this one is a solid focus on Tachibana and Kenzaki's working relationship. But, y'know, there's some other stuff to get through first. There are a bunch of little scenes up front that feel... perfunctory? They're good scenes, don't get me wrong, but they don't really add a lot to this story. It's not structured in a way where they matter, so much as they're using as many cast members as possible so we can get them out of the way. Like, there's that funny gag with Kotaro and Hirose. (I miss them so much, you guys!) It's just a reminder that Kotaro has moved on from his dumping/attempted murder, and that Hirose could snap him in half whenever she chooses. (I'm guessing Kotaro is almost snapped in half at least once per day, and we've not been seeing it.) It's a cute scene, but it's irrelevant to the rest of the episode, beyond reminding us that Meet-Cute hurt Kotaro. (Which is important information for the episode!) Hirose and Kotaro don't show up for the rest of the episode, and they're never mentioned by any characters. It's nice to see them, don't get me wrong, but I'd like to see them integrated a little better. Mutsuki is a little more looped in on this story, since at first it seems like he's going to play a major role. It's his date with Nozomi that gets interrupted by a monster attack, getting the Riders involved in the story. (I honestly really love the chemistry Mutsuki and Nozomi have as actors. Their relationship has a naturalism to it, where it really plays as two kids who've known each other forever, teased each other for a while when they were younger, and then realized that they've got teenage hormones and want to take things further. It just feels believable to me. They play it real well.) Mutsuki can't seal the monsters he defeats, and vows to Tachibana that he'll track them down to finish the job. Tachibana gives him a Yeah Or You're Just After Their Cards You Thirsty Rider, which causes Mutsuki to stomp off out of the story. It's an interesting move, where it's not Mutsuki still being a pouty jerk after last episode's argument, it's Tachibana. Tachibana's being the petty one, and that's way more interesting to me. Like, there's not much to back up Tachibana's remark (he wasn't there, and Mutsuki seems motivated to end the Undead threat), and it arguably makes Mutsuki less inclined to follow Tachibana's instructions. It's just a bad move, and it's sort-of key to the episode. A lot of this one is how Tachibana works with others, and Kenzaki specifically. He thinks a lot of Kenzaki, as he said last episode, but they have very different styles of being a Rider. Kenzaki is a natural follower, someone who loves taking orders and contributing to a group. When the Undead Hunters come along, with their tech and new bikes and chain of command, Kenzaki is ready to enlist. He lets them pull data from his bike, he lets them take the lead on tracking down the new Undead... hell, he practically gives them Kotaro and Hirose, while he's at it. (Maybe he should've! At least they'd get to be in another scene!) He's very, very excited to be under someone's command again. Tachibana, though, is demonstrably terrible at working under (or with!) anyone. Something in him distrusts organizations, and he reluctantly agrees to help Kenzaki help the Undead Hunters. (He also is the most happy I've ever seen him when he gets to ride Black Fang. And, no shit! It's a super-bike named Black Fang! Even Hajime'd smile riding that beast!) He's territorial, though, always tempering Kenzaki's enthusiasm with a little bit of side-eye at the concept of the Undead Hunters. I'm not sure if it's just him being monstrously ill-suited to work with others or what, but he is zero percent into Shinmei and every other former BOARD dude trying to horn in on Undead sealing. I sort-of get it? He's sacrificed a lot to be a Rider (including a ton of people at BOARD via a biblical plague), and the idea of it being something you can just build a replacement for, something you can engineer for mass deployment, I think Tachibana finds that idea insulting? Not as personal offense, not from ego, but the hubris of it? He's just surrounded by these kids who don't get it, think it's easy, think it can be quick and fun, and he can't understand them. Meanwhile, Kenzaki is over the moon that they're building better bikes, creating a framework for a larger group of heroes, a faster solution to a worsening situation. It's a struggle between not just Kenzaki's optimism and Tachibana's pragmatism (stopping immortal monsters is pretty much why superheroes exist), but also Kenzaki's pragmatism and Tachibana's pessimism (Garren and Blade are literally the result of scientists devising a solution for stopping immortal monsters). Should make for a fun second part, especially now that an Undead has stolen Black Fang, dozens of Undead Hunters have been mauled, and Shinmei is missing! The other big storyline from this episode introduces another new Undead. (The first Undead, Babymaker, I'm realizing I didn't talk about him. It's a neat gimmick, him creating offspring from his victims, but the execution is sort-of hilarious. It's these solid wolf masks or whatever over normal clothes, and it comes off a little low budget. I feel like the zombie aspect, the reproduction, it should be a scary part of the story, but I thought it was pretty hysterical. I don't want to dump on how the show tried to cram in a bunch more monsters under a normal budget, especially with all the exterior shooting they managed, but that's how I felt.) I love that Meet-Cute and Babymaker basically stumble upon the newest Undead. He's just hanging out, poolside. He's been unsealed, let loose in a world of humans, and he's relaxing. Honestly, if I'd been trapped in a trading card for 10,000 years, yeah, would probably not be in a rush to fight to the death. It's a motivation that... I just really love seeing it in these shows. As my avatar might attest to, I'm a fan of when monsters opt out of their culture's expectations. I like stories where a monster refuses to fight. Often, it's some desire that transcends the edicts of their leaders or the intentions of their creators: friendship, justice, love, art, whatever. This guy, Sloth Style, I love that he's just not into fighting. He just wants to hang out by a pool, forever. He'll fight if provoked, but he's going to give you, politely, every chance to step away. It's funny, for sure, but it's also so much more development for the Undead. It's hard sometimes to pin down what exactly the Undead want on this show. They're all warring to be the dominant life form, but, why? What does that mean to them? Why do that instead of anything else? Having a dude like Sloth Style laying around, it's a broadening of what an Undead can be, it's an invitation to really explore their culture. Instead of one motivation pasted across a different monster every week, you've got warriors like Business Bird, numbers aficionados like Trenchcoat Mastermind, manipulators like Meet-Cute, proud papas like Babymaker, and Jimmy Buffett fans like Sloth Style. It's a whole world of Undead now. Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Garren wants that bike back! Blade races! Garren wants that bike back! Sloth Style and Meet-Cute have a forest date! GARREN WANTS THAT BIKE BACK!
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08-06-2020, 01:31 AM | #443 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,411
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We're at a moment where I wanted to point out something. Blade is a lot of things as a series, and one of those things is the last show to really go in on the motorcycle element of Kamen Rider. Right now we're in the middle of a story where the main focus is on a monster getting hold of a super motorcycle that might be stronger than the Kamen Riders' motorcycles. You really don't get anything like that again after Blade.
Hibiki will largely be eschewing motorcycles for Honda SUVs, and from there on we're going to get more and more into the era of "use the motorcycle a couple times to sell the toy then drop it." We'll get some CGI motorcycle stuff on shows like Kiva and W, but Blade is the last show to really incorporate the bikes into the entire series. All four Riders have their own motorcycle and most of them use it as their standard way of getting around. I think Shotaro is the only Rider after this point to regularly use his bike for transport and he never does anything crazy like ride it up a staircase. I actually found out recently that the diminishing of the motorcycle is due in large part to Japanese traffic laws. Custom vehicles are banned from public roadways in Japan. That was true back in the early '00s, too, but it wasn't enforced as aggressively as it is now. Any and all practical bike scenes have to be filmed on the Toei studio lot. Toei has no shame over reusing locations, but even they would probably have issues with all motorcycle stunt scenes taking in place in the same 2-3 locations. |
08-06-2020, 01:39 AM | #444 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
We're at a moment where I wanted to point out something. Blade is a lot of things as a series, and one of those things is the last show to really go in on the motorcycle element of Kamen Rider. Right now we're in the middle of a story where the main focus is on a monster getting hold of a super motorcycle that might be stronger than the Kamen Riders' motorcycles. You really don't get anything like that again after Blade.
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08-06-2020, 02:17 AM | #445 |
take me to space
Join Date: Sep 2017
Posts: 1,406
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I do enjoy your nicknames for all the recurring Undead but my poor memory of the finer details of Blade means most of the time I just have to wildly guess who you're referring to at any given moment. Anyhow, if I was an Undead and I had the chance to become the dominant species on Earth, I can't say I wouldn't want to give it a shot! Not like most of them have anything better to do.
A part of me wishes motorcycles could still be at least somewhat prominent in Kamen Rider, though another part of me can't really claim to be all that invested. I know at least everybody in OOO rode everywhere on the Ridevendors. Funnily, I remember Takeru also rode on a bike a bunch... but it was a regular motorcycle instead of his Iguana Ghoststriker. You think Ex-Aid was gonna buck that trend too, but the bike being a cool character did not increase his chances of survival! |
08-06-2020, 04:43 AM | #446 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Quote:
It’s a neat gimmick, him creating offspring from his victims, but the execution is sort-of hilarious. It’s these solid wolf masks or whatever over normal clothes, and it comes off a little low budget. I feel like the zombie aspect, the reproduction, it should be a scary part of the story, but I thought it was pretty hysterical.
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08-06-2020, 05:12 AM | #447 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,508
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Any Abaranger fans here? The Sloth Style guy is Mizuho from Abaranger in case you missed it.
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08-06-2020, 05:32 AM | #448 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Quote:
We're at a moment where I wanted to point out something. Blade is a lot of things as a series, and one of those things is the last show to really go in on the motorcycle element of Kamen Rider. Right now we're in the middle of a story where the main focus is on a monster getting hold of a super motorcycle that might be stronger than the Kamen Riders' motorcycles. You really don't get anything like that again after Blade.
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08-06-2020, 06:00 AM | #449 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2019
Posts: 2,547
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Well, if anyone didn’t get my hint yesterday, it was “two jacks”. Which is what the Undead Information Kiosk is talking about today.
Fusion Wolf An immortal creature, the ancestor of wolves, that belongs to the Heart Suit's Category Jack. Cleave the enemy with the blades Knifer (ナイファー Naifā) that have grown in full length from side to side. In addition, its claws and fangs store the Wolvirus (ウルフヴィールス Urufuvu~īrusu), which transforms biological and inorganic substances as a puppet to supplement itself, and by doing this, also transforms humans into werewolf (ワーウルフ Wāurufu) form and manipulates them. * Suit: Heart (♥) * Category: Jack (J) * Effect name: FUSION * Card name: Fusion Wolf (フュージョン・ウルフ Fūjon Urufu) * Consumption points: EP +2400 Fusion Elephant An immortal creature that is the ancestor of elephants belonging to Category Jack of Club Suit. It boasts a tremendous power that even overwhelms multiple Riders, and masters various weapons such as its dedicated hammer Earthquake (アースクェーク Āsuku~ēku), and the steel ball on its right wrist Iron Bomb (アイアンボム Aian Bomu). Its blows are so powerful that can destroyed Blade's mask. It also generates Shield Barrier (シールドバリア Shīrudo Baria) to defend itself against enemy attacks. * Suit: Club (♣) * Category: Jack (J) * Effect name: FUSION * Card name: Fusion Elephant (フュージョン・エレファント Fūjon Erefanto) * Consumption points: EP +2800 |
08-06-2020, 10:40 AM | #450 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
I do enjoy your nicknames for all the recurring Undead but my poor memory of the finer details of Blade means most of the time I just have to wildly guess who you're referring to at any given moment. Anyhow, if I was an Undead and I had the chance to become the dominant species on Earth, I can't say I wouldn't want to give it a shot! Not like most of them have anything better to do.
It'd be one thing if I could more easily figure out what animal monsters they're supposed to be, but I never feel that confident in my observations. (Thanks to Androzani84, I now know that I was right in thinking they were a wolf and an elephant, but I was maybe 60% sure beforehand.) If they said anyone else's name a tenth as much as they said Tachibana's, I would be thrilled. Quote:
Oh, those wolfman costumes are super hilarious! They're so generic and fake it comes off to me like the show immediately realized it doesn't have that kind of budget for costumes, and then decided to just lean hard into being a total B movie. Between them and the plot about how motorcycles are the most important things ever, these episodes of Blade feel like the ones that are channeling the Showa era the hardest. Even the cold open following some random civilians getting attacked by the monster of the week is right out of the classic toku playbook. There's a vibe to this arc that's kinda unlike any other chunk of Blade, and I've always found it a lot of fun.
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