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07-14-2020, 05:24 AM | #31 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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TACHIBANASAAAAAN! AREYOUATRAITORRRRR?!?!?!
(TR-8R would have made a wonderful rider but, y'know, we can't have everything) Okie dokie, so, welcome to Blade! One of the holy trinity of shows along with Ex-Aid and Drive where I give the sort-of-praise and also kind of patronising title of "that was good but I couldn't really tell you why". Like, I like Chase, but I just can't get into what makes Drive a fun show, y'know? Can't really dissect it and think about it as much as I do a Kuuga or a Build or an Agito. Just pretty good really. And the same kinda applies to Blade? Maybe like the Ryuki thread this'll awaken something in me and make everything click and cause me to start analysing everything in deep detail, but while I was watching I mostly enjoyed what I was seeing and I'd happily watch it many times over, but there's not much I was able to say about it. That said, uh, reactions here... surprise me! Because I adored this first episode! Maybe, maybe perhaps it was because it was my last Heisei rider so by now the tropes of 19 series (plus a tiny bit of Zero-One) I was super familiar with and I was just very happy to see something different, but I was extremely into how Blade just plunged you into the middle of things immediately and let slowly fed you information as you went. It's a very different way of doing things than Rider usually does (even shows like W and Wizard where the Rider's been doing this for a while always has some sort of character or situation to make it a big introduction), and I really enjoyed how it just. Let me figure out stuff as I went. Definitely got me very excited for the season!
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07-14-2020, 07:35 AM | #32 |
Warrior of Delusions!
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: Wait, you dont know either?
Posts: 5,826
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I almost made it! Just as you start, I've onto the final episode. Boy, it really was a twist when Kotarou turned into the Cow Undead and tried to enact Milk-strumentality, wonder how they're gonna get out of that one. The first time I tried to watch Episode One of Blade was 2014 or so, and for some reason the encoding didn't work, because the screen was glitching every two seconds. That put me off till Excite go to work, and I could watch it properly, and it was... still confusing! It's certainly a decision to jump you right into the status quo, then instantly shred that, but it's memorable if nothing else. You have just enough to be able to gauge things, and then Blade is fighting in the rain as BOARD burns around him. Plus, that alarm sound is iconic. Kenzaki is one of those characters who people just seem to like, and that includes me! He's easy-going, kinda jokey, definitely not an expert in anything, yet he does what he does, even if BOARD doesn't pay him anywhere near enough. He's just... nice. Tachibana may or may not have betrayed them, keep watching for that, but to see you click with Koutarou is interesting. I like him enough, but I never quite *got* him 100%. We'll see if I can figure out why in hindsight. Maybe it's because I don't like straight milk. Designs are good, especially Garren, but especially Blade, and the music is also good! Blade Brave grew on me after a while, and while the first insert song is the least memorable in my mind, it's not bad. So yeah, a rocky start, but it can only go upill, right? 0w0
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Check out my occasional ramblings! https://akibamusings.blogspot.com/
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07-14-2020, 11:16 AM | #33 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 182
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The theme song I definitely like, but I've got to agree with Switchblade that the actual opening is pretty weak. Blade is one of those shows that if I ranked it, it probably wouldn't be at the top or bottom of any given list. Unless we're taking monster design, Yasushi Nirasawa killed it! |
07-14-2020, 11:40 AM | #34 |
Veteran Member
Join Date: May 2020
Location: Chicago
Posts: 1,473
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I like the suits and the aesthetics its going for, although I can't really find a word to describe it. JRPG? Medieval punk? Whatever describes rivets, chains, and leather I really like the opening song, but the intro sequence feels like they made it at the same time they shot promotional pictures. Definitely not the best opening sequence of the first few Heisei era shows. The belts, cards, and rousers are all badass. Hearing the announcer, beeps and SFX will never not get me pumped during a fight scene |
07-14-2020, 02:27 PM | #35 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Treated as the ending to the singular unit that is an episode... You know, maybe I just can't help myself, because the very first thing I told you that wasn't about internet culture was that it's normal to not like Blade's premiere, and yet here I am being all like "hey, take it easy on that Blade premiere, come on man", when I also fundamentally agree with most of what you're saying. It can be a rough episode to get into! Hopefully you'll find the decisions it made at least pay off in the long-run, though. Quote:
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(*0w0) ナズェミテルンディス!! I'm sorry, I just have to do this any time I see this image. I know, I'm shameless.
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07-14-2020, 04:15 PM | #36 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Oh my god, you guys. Everyone wants to talk about Blade!
That makes me so happy, you have no idea. I always feel, when I start these threads, that, like, this is the show no one's going to care about. (Definitely felt that way before starting Faiz!) So, yeah, I am thrilled that so many people want to talk about Blade. Like, don't tell Fish, but the more I talk with people about this episode, the more I like it? It's so much easier to rave about the things it does well than slag it off for were it trips up. I don't know. I want to like these shows, and it's easier to forgive the mistakes when you're talking to people who are excited about it. So, y'all. You are making my day! Quote:
I'm not sure why Blade flies under the radar so often (Kabuto, I can understand - that show resists almost any effort to go into my long-term memory), but it is definitely one that doesn't get talked about as much, especially now that we have twenty years of Heisei Rider. It's weird, too, because I've very rarely seen anyone say anything negative about it. Back when I hung out at HJU there was, like, one person who really hated Chalice, but that's it. Everyone who does talk about the show generally has positive things to say. I'm going to be vague here, but there's on specific element that Blade has that usually gets ranked as one of, if not the, best in the franchise.
I can't personally say that Blade is my favorite Rider show because Hibiki exists, but it's always been near the top of my list. Quote:
-I like the gimmicks! I think collectibles are very much what I think of as intrinsically Kamen Rider, what with coming in through Ex-Aid. Cards in particular, yeah, okay, sounds good. Ryuki used them well, and I think the weird fan-effect the Rousers have is adorably toyetic. I love shit like that. I like the toy commercial-ness of that opening fight. -The theme song and the opening... once again, it's TOO MUCH. I was getting a headache from all of the words onscreen, between the credits, the random words, the subbed song lyrics... I could not concentrate on anything, and that included the theme song. I'mma try again with Episode 2! Quote:
I think one of the reasons I liked episode 1, despite the issues that have been discussed, is because of the way it develops Kenzaki. Even with everything else going on, you still get a clear sense of who this guy is as a person, and he's immediately likable. As you mentioned, the hints it gives toward his backstory also explain his motives for becoming a Kamen Rider, and it's nice how efficiently that's handled. Overall I felt like the episode did a good job of establishing the kind of dynamic Kenzaki is going to bring as the lead character.
Kuuga and Agito were very earnest men, and their humor was goofy, understated. They weren't really cracking jokes, but sometimes they'd do something funny by accident. Ryuki was excitable, and was more approachable than the previous Riders, but he never really had a great comeback for all the times Knight ran him down. Ryuki was... maybe not the quickest of wits. Faiz, his humor was all sarcasm, looking to annoy whoever he could. Kenzaki... he's a real person, using humor to deflect, obscure. There's pain there, but he'd rather make himself a clown so you don't look any deeper. There's only a couple scenes where he gets to show it off, but it's instantly charming. Quote:
Personally I think starting with the title character as a Rider would make some different takes than those that only got pulled in to the Rider world where they know nothing at the beginning. There's of course, a pulling scenario when the character at first didn't know and slowly learns something, but when a professional does it, it may be different. But it's probably not that the character already being a Rider part that is the culprit, but the execution of it, if you said there, multiple Riders got it right; Wizard, Agito, Build...
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I've predicted the one that you're invested in episode 1 will be him, and somehow I was right. In-universe, he seems real annoying, as a pest that won't leave you alone, really gets on Kenzaki's nerves (and I can feel it within him, if I have to deal with someone like that).
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That said, uh, reactions here... surprise me! Because I adored this first episode! Maybe, maybe perhaps it was because it was my last Heisei rider so by now the tropes of 19 series (plus a tiny bit of Zero-One) I was super familiar with and I was just very happy to see something different, but I was extremely into how Blade just plunged you into the middle of things immediately and let slowly fed you information as you went. It's a very different way of doing things than Rider usually does (even shows like W and Wizard where the Rider's been doing this for a while always has some sort of character or situation to make it a big introduction), and I really enjoyed how it just. Let me figure out stuff as I went. Definitely got me very excited for the season!
Like, it's funny you should use that Force Awakens gif, because this setup is, like, Star Wars, right? Just throwing you in with flashy action, slowing down a little bit to sketch out The Rookie, The Grizzled Vet, The Investigator, The Family Members, and then blowing it all up at the end. Weird! I like Star Wars! And this, it didn't work for me in the same way. It didn't activate that part of my brain that got me wanting to fill in blanks. It... I don't know, it wasn't giving me space to care, if that makes sense? It was so stuffed and so frenetic that I didn't feel like I had room to contribute to the experience. Quote:
Kenzaki is one of those characters who people just seem to like, and that includes me! He's easy-going, kinda jokey, definitely not an expert in anything, yet he does what he does, even if BOARD doesn't pay him anywhere near enough. He's just... nice. Tachibana may or may not have betrayed them, keep watching for that, but to see you click with Koutarou is interesting. I like him enough, but I never quite *got* him 100%. We'll see if I can figure out why in hindsight. Maybe it's because I don't like straight milk.
One of Top 5 Kamen Rider moments is the cast of Fourze doing a presentation on Showa Riders in a movie (specifically Tomoko in a jank-ass costume saying A-MA-ZON), so... yeah, Kotaro and I are probably going to be on a wavelength. For Kenzaki, I like how normal he seems to be. He's not superhumanly zen like Shouichi, or gloriously flawed like Takumi. He's just a guy trying his best, and that best is roughly adequate. He's a B- Kamen Rider, and I think that's neat. Quote:
Treated as the ending to the singular unit that is an episode... You know, maybe I just can't help myself, because the very first thing I told you that wasn't about internet culture was that it's normal to not like Blade's premiere, and yet here I am being all like "hey, take it easy on that Blade premiere, come on man", when I also fundamentally agree with most of what you're saying. It can be a rough episode to get into! Hopefully you'll find the decisions it made at least pay off in the long-run, though.
Every time I go into the SH Figuarts thread and see that 60% of people preferred Cosmic States to Magnet States, it's like a punch in the face.
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! |
07-14-2020, 04:30 PM | #37 |
Showa Girl
Join Date: Jun 2018
Posts: 9,064
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Your suit design opinions are still, like, wrong; though!
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07-14-2020, 04:35 PM | #38 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Currently working on: Go-Busters is next! Archive of previous shows on KamenRiderDie.com! Last edited by Kamen Rider Die; 08-10-2023 at 11:36 AM.. |
07-14-2020, 05:12 PM | #39 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Hey wait, wasn't Sawa saying that line to emphasize how she understands she had that slap coming, and holds dearly the fact that she has people in her life who care enough about her to call her out for her mistakes?
This kind of sounds like you're subconsciously admitting Cosmic States is an awesome final form, Die!
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07-14-2020, 05:46 PM | #40 |
Some guy. I'm alright.
Join Date: Sep 2019
Location: Michigan
Posts: 4,411
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Eyyy, thanks for the shout out.
I do enjoy reading your threads, Die, it's just that I like, never have anything to say. Usually because everyone else covers basically everything I could think of. So, you won't be seeing much of me unless you want to just be all "Yeah what they said." constantly. I'll be reading the thread from the shadows, and I anticipate the inevitable debate about Garren and... another character. Enjoy the show!
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