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07-31-2020, 04:12 PM | #361 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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Being an Inoue episode, gotta scratch my head of why Mutsuki doesn't even clarify that he's the person Kenzaki's looking for. I did want for them to meet again and share a moment together, but still confused about why Mutsuki didn't even clarify that it's him that he's looking for, Kenzaki outright asked for someone named Mutsuki.
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Otsuka didn't publish Oronamin C in your country right? Well they did to my country though in late 2010s. I actually want to know what words Mutsuki uttered to release Kenzaki, I've always wanted to know what word you have to utter in that situation, being an innocent getting slandered, either you as the innocent yourself or knowing others that gets accused.
For Mutsuki getting Kenzaki released, I'd guess that it was a mix of the low stakes (it's only a couple bottles of soda, not exactly a felony) and probably vouching for him to a degree (Kenzaki's a nice guy, he's just confused, it'll never happen again, etc.). It's likely not a million miles away from how Takumi and Mari would get out of their scrapes around Yuuji from the early part of Faiz.
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07-31-2020, 05:48 PM | #362 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Making a grasshopper the first monster Blade defeats was also pretty bold.
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07-31-2020, 06:02 PM | #363 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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As I was typing that response to DreadBringer, I thought, "This is pretty much exactly what Fish predicted, but I can't give them the satisfaction of acknowledging it. Oh, who am I kidding, there's no way they don't call me out on this." It's a day for predicting things!
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07-31-2020, 06:26 PM | #364 |
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I really like all the Blade designs, and from the first few episodes alone I really grew to appreciate the simple things about them. I like how they all have their icon three times in a vertical center line (on the face; on the chest; on their belt), I love how said face icon always has the animal cleverly woven in in some way. I love the weird bolt ring things the non-Chalice riders have on their legs; and I love how they've all got the 'sad' Showa eyes instead of the 'angry' Heisei eyes! There's just some very fun aesthetic stuff going on here. And then something fun with Leangle specifically? I like that the Club rider, whose weapon is not a Club, still uses his weapon like a Club. That's great. That's awesome.
And then I really really like how... Chalice is the very different one. Usually if a show has a lot of Riders, traditionally the one that'll look very different is the one introduced around episode 15-20; the 'secondary' belt. Think how Gaim's Energy Riders clearly have different things going on to the Sengoku Riders; how Necrom's undersuit is very different to Ghost and Specter's; how Woz and Thouser and anyone using the Sclash Driver is different from the primary belt users. All that combined with a certain thing in Decade lead me to think for a good long while that Chalice was going to fill that role, and that we'd be starting off with Blade, Garren and Leangle. That he'd be the subversion to those guys' traditional. But no! He's right there from the start, and we got another 'traditional' rider as the new guy introduced a little later on. It's a wonderful little twist on the formula, and... it's also clearly used to great effect. No-one questions why Woz or Meteor or Ixa are very different, of course they are; they're the new guys introduced later. But because they put Chalice in this situation, his differences from the other Riders with it not being highlighted or treated as a special New Guy thing is all you think about. There's clearly something to it and it's a super good, subtle way of furthering the mystery around him.
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07-31-2020, 06:33 PM | #365 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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I'd say the biggest strength of Blade's designs is absolutely how well the different elements are used to actually convey things, not even just in terms of the motifs, but how they function in the story. Again, going back to Leangle, he's got a much slicker looking belt than Blade and Garren, as well as gold armor bits where they have silver, all suggesting his status as the new and improved ultimate Rider System.
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07-31-2020, 08:21 PM | #366 |
I have a problematic type
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07-31-2020, 10:36 PM | #367 |
Kamen Ride Or Die
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KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 19
This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Garren defeats Leangle! Mutsuki kills Kiryuu! Inoue takes my heart out of my chest, shows it to me, and then crushes it in his melodramatic grip! It's all these little moments from Inoue that add up to so much more in the end. Mutsuki is told by Team Blade that the Leangle belt is evil, and he has to forget about it. Kenzaki tries to console him with the enjoyable normalcy of the life he gets to lead, as opposed to the harrowing danger Team Blade has to face. Mutsuki mopes his way out to the front gate of the farm, while Nozomi is calling him. He can't even talk to her, can't say that his dream is dead, can't say that he can't live like he did before the Leangle belt. He gets to the gate, and he just sits down against it. He brings his knees up to his chest, folds his arms on top, rests his head, and cries. It's not a big speech about what he's lost, or how broken he feels. He just cries. He can't explain what's happening inside him, because the only one who'd understand is Leangle. Kenzaki, follower that he is, believes in Tachibana. He believes that Tachibana is the only one who can bring Kiryuu back into the light. So Tachibana goes to him, meets Kiryuu. Kiryuu assumes that Tachibana's ready to fight, but that's not it. Tachibana doesn't understand how the man he looked up to, the man who should've been Garren, could fall so far. What about his morality? What about justice? Kiryuu shrugs it off, declares that with Leangle's power he's learned the truth: power is the only truth. Justice is an excuse to wield power, but power doesn't need an excuse. Except, this whole exchange is happening in close-ups, with Tachibana's face covered by hair and shadows and despair, and Kiryuu's face bright and sunlit and forceful. Not Kiryuu's eyes, though. Kenzaki picks up on it. Kiryuu's eyes aren't certain, they're pleading. They aren't evil, they're tortured. He isn't demanding that Tachibana fight so that he can destroy Garren, he's demanding that Tachibana fight so that Garren can stop him. Kenzaki spells this out, but the moments between Tachibana and Kiryuu, the way it's shot and acted, make that unnecessary. Leangle is fighting Blade, taking him apart. Tachibana is up on the walkway, wondering if he can do anything to help while he's so wracked with self-doubt. The man he looked up to has gone insane, killing the innocents he once swore to protect. But that man believed in him, once. May yet still. And that man told him to fight as Garren, saw it in him when he didn't see it in himself. He wanted him to fight as Garren, goaded him into it, because maybe he sees it even now. So Tachibana falls as a man, falls with his doubt and shame, but lands as the hero he needs to be. Kiryuu barely escapes, beaten and bloody. He's in this dark warehouse, a garage for train cars. Leangle has abandoned him in his defeat. The outside is sun-blasted, whiteout conditions. And from out of the light, Mutsuki. He's getting his belt back. He doesn't live in the darkness anymore. The belt comes home. The spiders come home. He doesn't stand as an empty vessel while he Henshins, the way he used to, the way Kiryuu did. He performs his own, takes ownership of his transformation. He's Leangle. And now Kiryuu can die. The best death scene, maybe ever. It's a man who knows that he's failed, let people down, but sees that he made a difference despite that. He wanted his dream so badly that he died trying, but his failure forged a better hero. Tachibana is Garren again, and he's a better Kamen Rider than Kiryuu ever was. But their relationship isn't just a friendship, it's a mentorship, and Kiryuu can't leave without trying to make Tachibana just that little bit better. He takes a few joking swipes at him, tells Tachibana he looks ridiculous with that overly-expressive Sad Face he makes. (He's not wrong, it's hysterical.) Mostly, he tells him to stop being so tortured, so self-doubting. Let loose. Be happy. You're a superhero, for God's sake. Kiyuu killed himself to feel that. Have fun with it. It's a death that's a tragedy, despite Kiryuu only being introduced two episodes prior. It earns every tear the heroes shed, because it's partially about how senseless a loss it is, but it's also about how much Kiryuu really gave them in the end. It's about how power isn't worth dying for, and how easily you can be hollowed out in the pursuit of it. It's about how power is finite but empathy is infinite. It's about how living without power can feel like dying, but living for power can kill you. It's just a goddamn great Inoue episode. I haven't... I don't feel like I've been getting as much out of Blade as I was Faiz. They're doing different things, trying to do different things, and it's early days yet, but... There's a lot of surface to Blade, a lot of fun fights and cool suits and engaging characters, but it doesn't have the thematic depth that Faiz had. Or, if it does, I can't find it as easily. There's stuff about grief, and about death, but it doesn't really come through with any regularity. Like, the series is about something, but I don't always feel like episodes are about something. This one, man, it's what I've been missing. Beautifully acted, intelligently plotted, magnificently directed, and all in service of emotional beats that hit like a train. Really loved this one, you guys. Inoue forever. Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Kotaro is waving! Kiriya from Ex-Aid is maybe a new Undead or something! I'm honestly still too wrapped up in this episode to decipher what the hell is up next!
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08-01-2020, 01:21 AM | #368 |
I have a problematic type
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Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Kotaro is waving! Kiriya from Ex-Aid is maybe a new Undead or something! I’m honestly still too wrapped up in this episode to decipher what the hell is up next!
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08-01-2020, 03:48 AM | #369 |
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And that’s the last we see of Go Kiryu. And hear as well, since I’ve never seen anyone talk about him before this thread. And I’ve seen someone ask about these guys, more than half of whom aren’t even minor characters https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20150629021249
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08-01-2020, 05:53 AM | #370 |
The Immortal King Tasty
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Leangle is fighting Blade, taking him apart. Tachibana is up on the walkway, wondering if he can do anything to help while he’s so wracked with self-doubt. The man he looked up to has gone insane, killing the innocents he once swore to protect. But that man believed in him, once. May yet still. And that man told him to fight as Garren, saw it in him when he didn’t see it in himself. He wanted him to fight as Garren, goaded him into it, because maybe he sees it even now. So Tachibana falls as a man, falls with his doubt and shame, but lands as the hero he needs to be.
It's kind of interesting to me that Leangle's introductory arc is both written by someone different than usual, and also more about Garren, but I think it turned out to be a highlight of the show. These episodes are really good, and they do a great job in particular of taking the things that were lightly implied about Tachibana's character and bringing them to the forefront, pretty effortlessly using his past to give him direction for the future. The thing I love most about Tachibana as a character is actually the exact same thing I love most about Kenzaki. He kinda sucks. He wasn't even the first pick to be Garren. He's not some kind of warrior by nature. He's just some random egghead from BOARD who is at least pretty smart... which mostly gets in his way, because it means he has a tendency to overthink things, and is also racked with self-doubt. The difference between the two of them, and why I think Tachibana is kind of an inspiring character despite all the gags, is that Kenzaki at least has a super strong instinct to protect people keeping him on track, and a sort of chosen one style inherent compatibility with the Rider System. Tachibana makes a ton of dumb mistakes, and we actually see him work to get past his issues. It's a lot of work, and not something that happens over night either. It was an insanely smart plotting choice to not just have him be fine forever immediately after Sayoko dies. Again, it takes time, but when Tachibana is bringing his A game, he's arguably the most skilled fighter in the whole show. It's fascinating to me that a character can simultaneously be so comically pitiable and yet so genuinely cool, but Tachibana pulls it off.
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