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07-13-2020, 09:45 PM | #11 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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The media res opening doesn't bother me, honestly. Like Die said, you get a lot of the basics pretty quickly and I never really felt lost and confused.
About the concept, at least. So there's this thing about Blade that made my first watch-through kind of difficult (and I've read it was an issue for some others, too). 2004 must have been a year where there was a really popular hairstyle in Japan, because it took me a few episodes to get the facial features down enough to clearly tell Kenzaki and Kotaro apart (and Hajime, to a lesser extent). Hair is one of the main characteristics I use to distinguish people and it took me a good 2-3 episodes to really get everyone down. It really threw off some of the scenes in the premiere. (Also, special thanks to Switchblade, Fish Sandwich, and Zatyme for not immediately correcting me on the new great character's name being KOtaro, not KEItaro. I swear I wasn't doing a bit, I sincerely thought his name was also Keitaro.) Quote:
Now, watching the premiere again I know who everyone is, but there's another issue that really stood out to me and it's something else that Die mentioned: man, this episode is overstuffed. Coming off of Faiz, in particular, there is so much stuff going on here. Faiz really eased us into the show - episode 1 is all about Yuuji and Mari, 2 brings Takumi more to the front, 3 and 4 are focused around Keitaro and Yuka, etc. Blade throws Kenzaki, Tachibana, Kotaro, Kotaro's sister and bratty niece, the sister's border, BOARD, BOARD's chief, and Hirose. That's a ton of characters and concepts for 23 minutes. That would be hard to follow even with proper enunciation.
It's also kind of ironic, given Blade has a reputation for its slow start. Not a universal opinion, but Blade is one of those shows that picks up a lot in terms of action and story as it goes on. It's always been one of my favorites. Quote:
*: Blade's merch sales (or ratings?) were so poor that Hibiki was conceived as Not A Kamen Rider at first; and the helmet has started changing color over the years, so it's a different form's helmet in the later movies.** **: I might be remembering both of these wrong. I'm certain about the Principal thing, though!
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07-13-2020, 09:52 PM | #12 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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Well...
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I kind-of always disliked Blade's mask. I just thought it looked dopey.
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Blade's helmet has always been one of my favorites, naturally. It meshes the spade shape with the beetle horn so smoothly, and the overall shapes, despite the complicated patterns on the silver bits, are very simple and classic Rider. In particular, Blade's face has extremely pronounced tears, something used all the way back on Rider 1 to emphasize the sorrow of his character, and which has always been my single favorite element of that design. Any time they pay tribute to it is great to me, but I mean, it's probably not going to hold much appeal to someone who doesn't truck with Showa. Still, I love that helmet, and it pains me that Toei has never fixed the problem it developed in Blade's post-series appearances where the clear part on the front makes everything look gold for some reason. Quote:
I 100% thought you were doing a bit. Koutarou has always been diet Keitarou in my mind (even though they're only kinda similar), so even though that an uncreative nickname by your standards, I thought that was the joke.
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07-13-2020, 09:57 PM | #13 |
I have a problematic type
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,424
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Oh, and speaking of, maybe someone with more knowledge of Japanese culture can answer this one for me: is Kotaro's relentless milk-drinking some kind of stereotype in Japan? Did people watching the show back in the day see that and go "Oh man, Japanese Andy Samberg loves his milk. Y'all-tachi know what that means. Wink-wink, nudge-nudge, say no more." Can't speak for Blade's ratings/sales, but the Hibiki thing isn't entirely related. The show was originally devised as a sort of modern sequel/remake of an old 70s show, Henshin Ninja Arashi. Then someone at Toei liked what they saw and said "Hey, that's cool, let's make it the next Kamen Rider!" Last edited by Switchblade; 07-13-2020 at 10:00 PM.. |
07-13-2020, 09:58 PM | #14 |
Stronger Than You
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: nyet
Posts: 25,327
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Oh Blade, Blade Blade Blade. You've made it to my all time favorite series.
It had me gripped when I first watched it, and it brought a huge smile to my face on my rewatch. I remember many calling the first arc a slow burn, and when I first saw it, I agreed. However, my opinion has shifted, and I feel the first arc sets things up quite nicely, balancing out screen time and story rather well! I can't wait to see more of your thoughts. Just bear in mind, Blade is number 1, and if you think otherwise, you're wrong and your thoughts are invalid
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07-13-2020, 10:03 PM | #15 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Quote:
Blade's helmet has always been one of my favorites, naturally. It meshes the spade shape with the beetle horn so smoothly, and the overall shapes, despite the complicated patterns on the silver bits, are very simple and classic Rider. In particular, Blade's face has extremely pronounced tears, something used all the way back on Rider 1 to emphasize the sorrow of his character, and which has always been my single favorite element of that design. Any time they pay tribute to it is great to me, but I mean, it's probably not going to hold much appeal to someone who doesn't truck with Showa.
Still, I love that helmet, and it pains me that Toei has never fixed the problem it developed in Blade's post-series appearances where the clear part on the front makes everything look gold for some reason. I'm glad that people like it, though! I think how it folds in all of those various motifs is pretty clever and unobtrusive. Just, pinhead, you know? Pinhead. I definitely would not want that! I'd be hoping for more scenes between the characters at BOARD, not just more information about BOARD. This episode is lousy with information, it's light on character moments that ground that information in emotions, in memorable dialogue. There's a great bit with Kenzaki and Tachibana where Kenzaki makes a dumb joke at Tachibana's But Why Heroism. I want, like, at least two more scenes like that. And then a scene like that with the girl at the end who's injured, a scene like that with CHAIRMAN of the BOARD, etc. I wanted to spend more time with those characters, not just have them fill in backstory for me.
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07-13-2020, 10:08 PM | #16 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Oh Blade, Blade Blade Blade. You've made it to my all time favorite series.
It had me gripped when I first watched it, and it brought a huge smile to my face on my rewatch. I remember many calling the first arc a slow burn, and when I first saw it, I agreed. However, my opinion has shifted, and I feel the first arc sets things up quite nicely, balancing out screen time and story rather well! I can't wait to see more of your thoughts. Just bear in mind, Blade is number 1, and if you think otherwise, you're wrong and your thoughts are invalid
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07-13-2020, 10:19 PM | #17 |
The Immortal King Tasty
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Every diner you've ever been to.
Posts: 3,833
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- Farms have cows - Cows = milk - Koutarou likes milk Doesn't seem that complicated to me, but if there is some hidden significance here, I'd love to know! Quote:
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I wanted to spend more time with those characters, not just have them fill in backstory for me.
I guess it's like you said. It's tough to say. There are lots of things that would improve the episode by being put in, but not as many that would obviously improve it by being taken out, and the last thing Blade's premiere needed was even more stuff happening.
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07-13-2020, 10:31 PM | #18 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
Join Date: Aug 2019
Location: Chicago, IL
Posts: 6,159
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Yet, weirdly, I like Den-O's costume? I don't know. Maybe I don't have any rules, and I'm just working backwards from Ugh No Thanks? Maybe our perception of time is inherently flawed, and effects no longer have causes? Maybe every question is its own answer? MAYBE, FISH? Quote:
This is a fair point. There definitely is still an excess of exposition, even if I find the delivery method a little more interesting than usual. I think this episode is ultimately mostly focused on Kenzaki, though, and it does a pretty solid job of that. I joke about the memes, but that whole sequence of him getting kicked out of his house alone works wonders at grounding Kenzaki's character, and setting him up as someone who's a lot more approachable than your average Rider lead. It's like a strong message being sent that Takkun is not going to be the standard going forward, and I dig that.
I guess it's like you said. It's tough to say. There are lots of things that would improve the episode by being put in, but not as many that would obviously improve it by being taken out, and the last thing Blade's premiere needed was even more stuff happening.
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07-13-2020, 11:28 PM | #19 |
Ex-Weather Three leader
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 10,552
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Welcome to possibly a good batch of rider fans' complaints, angst, and sorrow circa 2004 Die.
Yeah, I feel for you on the exposition part, the first episode does feel like at least an episode 8 or 10 out of a 50-episode-ish show
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Last edited by Sunred; 07-13-2020 at 11:41 PM.. |
07-13-2020, 11:33 PM | #20 |
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2019
Posts: 182
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The first episode of Blade reminds me of a video game that wants to get you into the action quickly and will explain itself later.
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