It's really just Blade's mask that I'm not a fan of. I like it a little better now, having seen it from more angles (it's way better in profile), but it's still my least-favorite of the four Riders.

I think it was because he was afraid he'd be in trouble, or that he'd lose the Leangle belt. And, that is exactly what would have happened, because that's exactly what did happen when Kenzaki learned the truth. Mutsuki just didn't want to lose being a Rider.

Yeah, I don't think that drink ever got a push in the US. There were probably neighborhoods that had it, but nothing you'd find in supermarkets.

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.

I knew it! :p

I don't think I actually have a favorite Rider design in Blade? There's just so many things I like about each of them I can't even think about it that way. Has anyone brought up how amazingly heretical it was to have a spider-themed Rider yet? Because that's one of the cool things about Leangle that should probably come up in this thread at some point. Even in this very show, "spider = notable monster" was a somewhat infrequent but still ironclad rule for Kamen Rider, and then Blade comes along with its gimmick of monster trading cards powering the belts, and, well, how could they resist, right?

Making a grasshopper the first monster Blade defeats was also pretty bold.

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!

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.

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.

It would also involve confrontation and that is not Mutsuki's bag.

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!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade19a.png

It's all these little moments from Inoue that add up to so much more in the end.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade19b.png

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.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade19c.png

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.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade19d.png

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.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade19e.png

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.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade19f.png

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.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade19g.png

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.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade19h.png

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!

First, of all, we'll see how you feel about Inoue when we get to Kiva. Second, I'd argue that these aren't even his best Blade episodes. They're good, but they aren't the takoyaki episodes.

So Blade doesn't have nearly as many high profile past and future tokusatsu actor guest stars compared to Faiz. Coming up, though, we have a big one. Not the biggest, that will come much later in the series, but definitely my favorite. I'll go into more detail after the next episode and your first exposure to the one and only Mika Hijii.

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

This scene has one of the best uses of an insert theme in Kamen Rider ever, by the way. Tachibana fighting his way through a bunch of Undead to grab the belt and then leaping clean over Mukki to transform is already as hype as it gets, but I mentioned earlier how precisely Kakusei's lyrics fit the show, and nowhere is that more true then here, where the first line of the chorus about diving into the storm without wavering kicks in literally exactly as Tachibana turns into Garren, literally diving into the fight against Kiryuu. It's absolutely amazing, much like the rest of this episode.

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.

That was the best arc ever. :lolol

You'd be surprised at how many notable toku alumni big and small are in this show. I was on the same boat as you were but was surprised after checking it out for old times sake. For starters we got Junichi Haruta who played Hirose's father in episode 4. Super Sentai MVP I would say having played Goggle Black, Dyna Black, and Kyoryu Green/Souji's dad to name a few, as well as the villain for the Kamen Rider Eternal origin movie Dr. Prospect. Hikari Kajiwara who played Amane went on to play Tomoko's senior(the goth girl in the Kamen Rider Club) in Fourze for a decent guest role. Also, Takashi Inoue who played Godai's teacher Kanzaki in Kuuga was Jin's father as someone previously shared. As for those who have not yet appeared up to episode 19 but are notable alumni:

- Mika Hijii who you have shared with us was Kaoru Mitsuki in the GARO series
- Koji Moritsugu was Ultraseven/Dan Moroboshi in Ultraseven and other shows within the Ultraman franchise
- Mio Fukuzumi was Wendinu in Ninpu Sentai Hurricaneger
- Masashi Kagami was Guileton/Mizuho in Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger
- Kazunari Aizawa was The Blader/Katsuhiko Hayami in Choukou Senshi Changerion
- Akira Kubodera was Kunzite in live-action Sailor Moon
- Touko Fujita was Sumire Ozawa in Kamen Rider Agito
- Taro Suwa was the Ramen Vendor in Kamen Rider Agito, Kyoryu Curry regular Yokota in Bakuryu Sentai Abaranger, and the pianist in Kamen Rider Den-O

:lol :lol :lol :lol :lol

Anticipation of the takoyaki episodes aside, I do think Inoue really brought his A game here. Leangle's introductory arc is the first part of Blade that I really, really love.

Edit: wait wait wait wasn't it taiyaki?

Yes, you are correct. :lolol
And if I may we should leave it at that and stop talking about it for now so that we don't spoil the fun.;)

I feel like if I got a better look at Tachibana's Change card for Garren, it'd just say Imposter Syndrome.

I do love that he's a mess that's always trying to be less of a mess. Or, not trying, maybe, but cognizant of his failures and shortcomings. It's a very, very small thing, but the scene in 18 when Kenzaki's like What Can We Do About Kiryuu and Tachibana's all There's Nothing We Can Do Because He's Crazy And I'm The Worst. It's this weird acknowledgement from Tachibana of how hard he has to work, the sheer effort he has to put in on a daily basis, just to vaguely resemble a functioning human being.

But, y'know, he does! He works so unbelievably hard to overcome every criticism, valid or invalid, and show up. Tachibana is always at his most competent and most dangerous when he's just overcome one of his (many) crises of faith in himself. Kiryuu's worst miscalculation wasn't ignoring Mutsuki, it was choosing right then to make Tachibana get it together. He's only hot right out of the gate!

I wonder what's the criteria required for being a Rider here. That it seems to accept people like Kiryuu to be one of them. Though in Mutsuki's case, it seems that Leangle has its own will, therefore it's truly dangerous for others, but still Kenzaki thought it's dangerous before he knew about Leangle's other self....

So that's the metaphorical meaning of open up. Don't expect same thing in Faiz to happen here of Riders constantly switching their form though even Leangle here....

Kiryuu is confident that he's better than Tachibana because of ego and lack of humility.... but that won't be. If we throw away all forms of restraint, we'd easily end up unhinged and trigger-happy at just about anyone, and that is definitely not good for others. Which seems to be Kiryu's thing.

Kenzaki just outright scolded Mutsuki when he's proven to be too obstinate in his eyes. This opens up for a character wedge, that is harder to explain that the belt moved to Mutsuki, not that Mutsuki stole it, albeit obviously easier to explain up between Blade's cast, unlike to Nozomi. Mutsuki at one point lied though....

On the other hand, I've seen a reverse part of this joke (in a commercial), where a heated up heart gets cooled down by cool drink instead.

Hmm makes sense perhaps. Nice to get some audible explanations of this area.

Yeah, they never really explained it in depth come to think of it. Best answer/guess I have is for Blade and Garren it is the will to fight that is converted to those numbers Isaka was so concerned about, Leangle it's more of does Leangle like the person for whatever purpose/potential Category Ace sees in said person, and Chalice I am not sure.

That all sounds pretty good to me. Chalice is an Undead, so I'm setting him outside the rest for now. Leangle is another special case, a belt that demands a certain kind of person to wield it. For Garren and Blade, it's probably some mix of Fighting Spirit, Commitment To Justice, Empathy, and This Is More An Art Than A Science. Like, I don't for a second think BOARD knew why the Garren belt worked for Tachibana when it kicked back Kiryuu. Kamen Rider shows, they definitely treat someone becoming a Rider as a quasi-mystical outcome, not something you can plan around.

I always just assumed that the Ace Card had to like whoever wore the given belt for whatever reason, but the BOARD Belts were way better at suppressing the Undead than what the Leangle Belt was. That said, the Leangle Belt probably doesn't much try at all to suppress the Spider Undead, so you know.

Also willpower is definitely a part of it too, as we'll see more and more examples of as time goes on.

Kenzaki and the Beetle Undead, you know, they're just a best match.

I mean, Rhino Beetles are known to release loud and hissing squeaks when they feel threatened, so yeah, perfect match. :D

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 20

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Hajime can't tell his secrets to Haruka and Amane! Mutsuki wants to be a Rider but Garren says no! Kotaro has a meet-cute that's destined to end poorly for a variety of independent reasons! And Kenzaki squares off with Lazer But He's On Blade!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade20a.png

There's something that cracks me up, the last few episodes of Blade. The opening credit sequence has all four Riders racing across a beach together, four champions of justice, working to protect people. Except that's completely not this show? Ever? The best team-up percentage the show has ever had was 75%, and that was when Blade, Garren, and Chalice all fought Leangle. Usually, they're between 50% and 66%, depending on the amount of active Riders. All four of them together?! What show is that opening supposed to be attached to?! It sure as hell isn't Blade!

Case in point, Leangle. He's sending monsters after Blade in the cold open, and then he's trying to fight Garren directly after the credits. The rest of the story is Mutsuki trying to figure out if the belt hates him or what, and that lack of being able to actively harm our heroes is the only reason he's trying to work with Garren at the conclusion.

I like where they've got Tachibana in this story, trying to be a mentor to Mutsuki. Team Blade is pretty boned as far as taking back the Leangle belt goes, since it can just run away when their backs are turned. (Maybe if Kenzaki actually slept with it this time?) That means that they're better off trying to control Mutsuki, and that's something Tachibana feels equipped to do. He's using his shame over, uh, basically the first 15 episodes of this show to reach out to Mutsuki, try and get him to see that power, that personal satisfaction, it's not worth harming others to obtain it. Not super clear if it's a lesson that's going to land with Mutsuki!

He's in a weird Not An Antagonist, Not Yet A Protagonist zone, Mutsuki. He wants to be a Rider, but he doesn't want to do anything with it, really. He fights Blade and Garren because they want to take it away from him, but then he tries to get Tachibana to bring him along on the fight against the Undead. He sort-of vaguely wants to fight monsters, that's maybe his preference, but he's got the same view of power that the corrupted version of Kiryuu had: having power is more important than using power. He doesn't seem to care too much what he's using Leangle's power for or against.

So he goes with Tachibana, claiming that he feels guilty about releasing the Undead that's currently terrorizing people, and... I don't really see it? I'm sort-of putting a pin in it, for now, since I'm not sure if Mutsuki's lying to Tachibana, lying to himself, or if this new motivation has come totally out of nowhere due to bad writing. (Feel like it's the third one, but I really hope it's not.) Nothing about Mutsuki has said Feels Guilt For His Actions As Leangle occupies a lot of space in his decision-making, but we'll see where it goes.

I mean, where it's probably going to go is a big ol' fight with Chalice, since that's who Tachibana (whom Chalice remembers as almost murdering him a little while back) and Mutsuki (who, through Leangle, called him a coward and also almost murdered him) run into at the end.

Hajime's story is a kind-of parallel to Mutsuki's, in that they're both about men who have secrets, and the women who want to help them. Hajime hasn't told Haruka and Amane that he's an Undead/Rider, and while they want to give him space to have secrets, it's causing a lot of unspoken friction. Not least of which because Kotaro does know, and wants explanations, and it's escalating the discomfort. Nozomi's going through the same thing with Mutsuki, where she knows he's hiding something, knows it's causing him problems, but all she can do is gently remind him that she's there for him.

It's a neat idea to explore, the consequences of trying to let people keep their secrets. It's easy to say, in the moment, that you value someone's friendship more than you worry about their secrets, but it's never that simple. Once you know someone's hiding something from you, you can't just not think about it. You're biting your tongue around them, wondering why they won't share with you, and meanwhile everyone's uncomfortable. Hajime and Mutsuki are reaching the limits of their friends' patience, and something has to change.

And change has arrived for Kotaro, and it's wearing a dress! The stuff with Kotaro and Meet-Cute is fine, some slow-burn Undead stuff that loops in Lazer But He's On Blade, the new cool-guy rockstar Undead. It's a series of possible fake-outs and red herrings (maybe she's an Undead!), but it's fun to see a story that puts Kotaro in a little bit more of the focus. Also, it gives Hirose and Kenzaki a chance to do some supporting-role comedy stuff, which kills. The part where Kotaro calls them freeloaders, and they're a little offended, but then they're both like Oh Shit We Totally Are, loved it. Great timing, funny joke.

It's a pretty solid episode of Blade! Very much the first chapter in a story, with some question marks over some plots, but I had a good time with it. Doesn't maybe feel so much like the show is nailing down what Mutsuki is all about, but we're getting there. (Really liked his phone call with Nozomi.) It's a building phase, I guess. I'm okay with it!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade20b.png

Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Kotaro in danger! Kenzaki enraged! And Chalice fights at least Leangle, if not Garren, so a 75% team-up percentage remains the score to beat!

That was good, yeah. The biggest laugh I got out of the episode, though, was Mutsuki opening up his window after the call with Nozomi and bam! There's Tachibana, just standing outside glaring at him. Probably not meant to be funny, but it absolutely cracked me up.

But anyway, on to the big guest star. Kotaro's new love interest, Meet-Cute, is played by model/actress Mika Hijii. About a year after this point she would turn up on Garo as that show's female lead/secondary protagonist Kaoru. She's a major part of the Saejima family branch of the Garo franchise and has reappeared in that role many times, as recently as last year. She is great on that show and has always been one of my favorite parts of it. I watched Blade long before Garo, so I didn't realize she was on both shows until my second time through Blade, which was a huge "Hey, it's that guy!" moment for me.

Today at the Unded Information Kiosk, we have something rare. Two of the same rank

Absorb Orchid


A cunning Undead, using others to get what she wants. She can summon vines to bind victims and fire a mist from the face on the back of her head.

* Suit and Category: https://powerrangers.fandom.com/wiki/Karen_Mizuki
* Effect name: ABSORB
* Card name: Absorb Orchid (アブソーブ・オーキッド Abusōbu ōkiddo)
* Consumption points: EP +2000

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20121110144739

Absorb Capricorn.

The Category Queen for the Spade Undead. He possesses a high pitch scream that can obliterate anything and the ability to drive a car.

* Suit: Spade (♠)
* Category: Queen (Q)
* Effect name: ABSORB
* Card name: Absorb Capricorn (アブソーブ・カプリコーン Abusōbu Kapurikōn)
* Consumption points: EP +2000

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20121110113733

Discussions about what constitutes freeloading and Tachibana creeping outside a teenager's window are funny and all, but I'd say the real comedy gold lies elsewhere in this episode.

Learning Ondul the Easy WEEEEEEI! (#10)

https://i.imgur.com/ZCHyZ4ul.png

The Capricorn Undead left quite the impression on a lot of viewers for his rather eccentric personality, but what really secured him a place as one of the true legends of Ondul was his habit of screaming in such an over-the-top manner, it gets written like this:

ﾌｫ━━(0∀0)━━ｳｩ!!

Yes, with an emoticon right in the middle. I guess to "translate" it, it'd be something like "FOOOOOO(0∀0)OOOOHHHH!!" That's still not really why he's so popular though. You see, Yazawa having such a uniquely wonderful set of pipes means clips of him shouting are a mainstay of fanmade Blade remixes. He's so prolific it took me basically no time at all to find the perfect example video. Consider it my gift to everyone working hard right now to understand the insane, and often inane, world of Blade memes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Nbh3xTabA

It's a very funny moment, yes! What made it for me was this surprised look Tachibana gets on his face when Mutsuki spots him outside. It's like he genuinely thought Mutsuki wouldn't see him down there, twenty feet from his house, in broad daylight, next to his motorcycle. I guess when you're hunting timeless monsters who've been freed from trading cards, they don't teach you stealth?

Thanks for the info! I probably would've rather heard about that Absorb Orchid card after, uh, the next episode, but I still appreciate the details!

Agreed! Hajime sensing Lazer But He's On Blade outside the restaurant, running upstairs, looking out the back door and being like He's Nowhere To Be Found probably was the funniest thing in the episode. Why did he think the only place an Undead could be was the back yard? Why not even look out the front door? Was Leangle wrong to say that Chalice had become a coward, when he's clearly just become enormously lazy?

(As always, thanks for the memes!)

To be honest, it’s been months since I watched this show (or indeed, any Rider series.) I’ve only recently got back in the game, by watching Hibiki, Agito and Black, with plans to start Build tomorrow. So some details about this show might be misremembered.

It's a fun thread :D Also we continue the Very Creepy subplot in which our heroes stalk a teenager and nobody in universe finds this odd. This will bother no one but me, forever :lol Tachibana lurking outside the window was definitely a moment of hilarity tho


Mutsuki strikes me as a really good depiction of a teenager, honestly; he knows he wants things but not why or what to do with them. I like it.

Hahahahaaaa, so much fun, this bit. Tachibana and his GPS finding the Undead after Something Mysterious has happened to Team Blade's equipment also made me laugh.

Hajime actively offering information to Kenzaki felt like a positive thing for Hajime, incidentally, even if he had to frame it as not wanting Kenzaki to interfere in Chalice chasing the specific Undead he has decided he is going to re-seal. Also potentially a positive thing for Kenzaki's social circle, haha.

Yeah, good point. He's a kid, so he's not going to think about things like consequences or goals or anything. He just wants to feel good about himself right this second.

I liked how Hajime is clearly trying to protect Kotaro through Kenzaki, by giving Kenzaki the warning, but he's also sort-of being an asshole about not wanting to say he's trying to protect Kotaro. That smile he gives Kenzaki afterwards, though, it's completely the smile you give someone when you're teasing them. Hajime cares! He really cares!

She's in this episode, but the show hasn't definitively revealed that she's an Undead yet.

Well, it's not that Mutsuki being stubborn and takes the belt that time (not talking about the one in episode, but the one before the team's lecture). Leangle belt returns to him. Shame no one knows about this. And for Nozomi, she likes that the usual clumsy Mutsuki returns here, while previously she likes Mutsuki's flawless play on basket? Yeah, for him sitting down moping, it's already seen in his previous fallout with Nozomi, that his explanation is too outlandish to be believed....

So, Kiryuu is actually not as rotten as this in past time. Hirose and Tachibana knew him well (as Tachibana convinces her to forget the past him), but I wonder what's Kenzaki doing against him back in the BOARD days (he gets introduced to Tachibana that time so...). Then I still wonder what actually makes Kiryuu fell from grace at the present time here, his acts are done before Leangle chose him. Previously he seems envious that Tachibana is chosen to be Garren instead of him, and mocks him while he can. Then it's revealed that Kiryuu actually pleads for Tachibana to fight in his place (something that finally made Tachibana return!). And what Kiryuu thinks is only his take, not a factual description about justice and power.

What differentiates this death scene, compared to death scenes like Sawada? That both of them has done nothing to redeem their vile acts but is being mourned by the heroes. I wonder what made Mutsuki lash up to his parents, and ouright talk about the belt even if nobody knows about it, Leangle influencing him outside Rider form? And Mutsuki getting the belt back is about Leangle choosing Mutsuki again, abandoning Kiryuu. And with Tachibana being able to beat Isaka, I've always wondered how'll he fare against the ordinary ones. Well this episode finally showed it. Now Blade and Garren can beat a horde of Undeads (no fodders like Guardian in Build in early Heisei and those Undeads aren't).

Well yeah, as you said, different things they do, but just because the different thing doesn't let you find something beneath the surface easily, doesn't mean they are worse. Like I said, don't force shaping other Rider series with one like your preference either, or only limiting the good and bad based on it.What you said of "it doesn't have the thematic depth that Faiz had" seems like an undisputable objective statement based on fact, when that's actually opinion. And even if he did a good job like this one, I don't want for Inoue as a person to be glorified tbh. Actually I was only half-truthing about only the wild, over the top, and weird way, there's more of that. I didn't talk about it because it would be spoiler-y. Inoue still had some form of restraint on TV series, and it's shown in form of the wacky melodrama parts. But outside of that, he outright went into taboo territory. He normalizes things that are too taboo for its own good, and I'm bringing him up upon that community, where it legitimately made someone truly uncomfortable, partly because they're a victim of that taboo thing Inoue wrote, seeing that in media just normalizes it, and it sickens them, and they're a writing major. To the point that the community pleads (in a non-hostile way) to not bring up about Inoue. I hope that you can understand about this part, I'm afraid with you writing about this, you can probably went into the "Fourze Cosmic States vs Magnet States" regarding Inoue, that can come off as disturbing even if probably intended as a joke (especially that, seems that nowadays people aren't allowed to be offended about any joke).

Kiryuu's change from past to present, it's definitely something that's left for the audience to connect the dots. I'm not sure there's an Answer, but my take is that he genuinely wanted Tachibana to succeed after he was injured. He hoped for the best for him. In the meantime, his inability to be a Rider, to have the power to dispense justice, it became a kind of envy that made him go further in the pursuit of justice than was right. That's why he's a merciless vigilante, because he's acting out his sublimated rage at the universe for denying him the power he thought was inevitable.

And then, on top of that, he finds out that Tachibana is just locking the Garren belt up in a drawer. For a guy who who wanted that power more than anything, it probably made him lose a ton of respect for Tachibana basically overnight.

I think it's a little different than Sawada? Kiryuu comes across as, like, a more homicidal version of Tachibana: a guy who got some wires crossed due to his proximity (or lack thereof) to power. It's only after he gets Leangle's power that he becomes a threat to innocents, and there's a strong argument to be made that it's Leangle's influence that causes Kiryuu's overt villainy.

I mean, Kiryuu still makes some heinous mistakes, what with the two people (minimum!) that we see him outright murder, but that can get filed under Misguided Justice. In Kamen Rider terms, that's barely a misdemeanor. Plus, Kiryuu never got a chance to atone! He got murdered! That's sad for his friends, who maybe hoped he'd get to atone!

I also said "Or, if it does, I can't find it as easily," right after that! It's all opinions. If you ever think I'm making a statement of objective truth, please know that I'm not. I would never want to diminish someone else's experience with these shows by stating that something IS. I can only say what I'm getting out of them, how they're making me think or feel. That's all I'm trying to express.

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 21

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Tachibana takes Mutsuki under his wing! Meet-Cute and Lazer But He's On Blade team up to take down Kenzaki! And Chalice so doesn't like Kotaro oh my god you guys shut up!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade21a.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade21b.png

Hey, Meet-Cute's an Undead, who'd have guessed.

Honestly, even if you weren't certain of it last episode (I was 75% sure she was an Undead, 25% thinking maybe it was a fake out), the Next Time teaser pretty much confirmed that she's an Undead. Not much of a surprise there.

Even still, cute little story. Not doing a whole lot, but the fights are good, and it weirdly progresses the Hajime/Kotaro story.

I think Hajime sees more of himself in Kotaro than he'd like. He doesn't really like Kotaro, but as he sees Kotaro's inability to be the best version of himself and protect Haruka and Amane, I think it strikes a chord. There's an indecisiveness within Hajime right now, this struggle to be an Undead who feels human emotions, and it's not a million miles from what Kotaro's dealing with. I think it's weakened Hajime's loathing for Kotaro.

I mean, maybe on the inside, because on the outside he is very loudly telling everyone that any actions that result in Kotaro's safety are totally accidental. It's never not funny, Hajime shrugging off the You Saved Kotaro comments with a sneered Nuh Uh Shut Up.

Besides that, not a lot to the Undead plot here? They're definitely scheming a lot more, the Undead. It's not the typical monster slaughter randomness. There's a little shading given to Lazer But He's On Blade, where he's frustrated by his early loss to Blade, but he's a very exciting performance (and fun wardrobe) around a very one-note character.

Meet-Cute fares better, which she definitely should if she's going to be hanging around longer. She's more about sussing out weaknesses, finding ways to manipulate her targets and surroundings to gain the advantage. Once she loses the upper hand, she bails. And as far as upper hands go, seems like she's found a new one in Mutsuki?

The Mutsuki and Tachibana stuff, it's probably the sub-plot for this episode, but I found it more interesting than the main plot.

Like, the main plot has a bunch of things happening, and some great tension (the climax was thrilling), but I don't feel like it was telling me a lot about Kenzaki or Kotaro. Kotaro gets manipulated, but it's not like he ignores anyone's advice or acts rashly. He goes on a date and his date turns into a monster and tries to murder him. It's something that happens to him, but it's not really brought on by him. The Kenzaki stuff... he cares about his friend and wants to save him? That's it? It's thin, and it's all external forces.

The Tachibana and Mutsuki stuff is the opposite, where it's all internally generated. It's all decisions those two make.

I get what Tachibana's hoping for with Mutsuki. He sees a way to give back, to keep someone from falling to the same darkness he did. Mutsuki's a kid who needs help, and Tachibana can give it to him. It's the early Tachibana/Kenzaki stuff we never got a chance to see.

Mutsuki's attitude is really interesting to me. It reminds me a lot of Luke Skywalker, and the way he had a brief apprenticeship with Ben Kenobi. (This is from the movie Star Wars. Have you seen it?) Ben's very quick to believe in Luke, very quick to move his training along. Maybe too quick? There's a lot of weird psychological damage in Luke, a need to be powerful that doesn't feel as much like altruism as it does selfishness. Mutsuki's got that same feeling, where he'll tell this story about childhood trauma that ends in I Want To Protect Smiles but all I'm hearing is This Dude Has Intense And Unresolved Childhood Traumas. I definitely feel like Tachibana is missing some big ol' warning signs from Mutsuki, as he tries to train Leangle like he'd train Blade.

But, like, what other choice does Tachibana have? It's unclear how long Leangle's going to keep toying with Mutsuki, and the more Mutsuki psychologically deteriorates as a result of that manipulation, the worse things might end up getting for Team Blade. It's a real rock and a hard place situation for the Team, and I hope Tachibana's up to the challenge. (Ha ha! He almost certainly isn't!)

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade21c.png
https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade21d.png

Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: More training with Tachibana and Mutsuki! Meet-Cute returns! And something about Chalice but it went by really fast!

Lol... you know Ex-Aid also has this kind of opening sequence, being together.

Tachibana's wreck moment is now useful as his experience to mentor Mutsuki with. And for Mutsuki's role, protagonist/antagonist isn't the same as alignments (protagonist =/= good, antagonist =/= evil). For now, it seems that his alignment is the one that is hazy. Probably Mutsuki wants to have power, but doesn't mean he wants to terrorize people with Undead so yeah that way he feels guilty, the one that released him also was partly the Spider Undead that controls the Leangle belt.

Though for here, Kotaro wants to know how Hajime can get involved with his family in the first place but obviously, the outcome is seen that way. Hajime also acting the same way as he did to Kenzaki also didn't help. Or Amane only being nice to Hajime that she's going to biasedly stick with him no matter what and even if there's an explanation of Hajime's situation, she's going to make excuses and have the story put Kotaro at fault at the end. Mutsuki can't explain shit to Nozomi as seen in their first fallout, that Nozomi vehemently distrusted him at that time with the weird explanation where he suddenly gets captured and when he woke up there's many other unconscious people around.

I don't know about Hajime, as I said above, it seems that Kotaro is the one that is still at fault here, he got kicked out by the house even by Haruka.

The writer stuff Kotaro has is brought out again... but it seems that Kenzaki is still against it. I do want to see how far he has gotten into though. For Lazer-Undead stuff, the difference is that his act here would be a genuine vile act, not a facade like Lazer's. And he seems to know the situation not to interfere with Kotaro and the girl, claiming that they're only dating.... it seems to refer to the red herring that she's a high level Undead that disguises.... wonder what's the reason when that's actually right and a girl just gets close to Kotaro because a disguise. That joke is funny more because it's right to me (and not really offensive).

Oh, not only talking about Tachibana, but also about how he's now has fallen in moral like his view of power and what he did in episode to murder innocents, he pleads for Tachibana to fight for good, and now he became his antithesis outside of Tachibana stuff.

I mean, he talks about his view of power and that it connects with Rider against Tachibana, obviously he's gonna do his stuff when he got a hand on Rider power. In tokusatsu, (Rider's) power is something that can enhance your alignments, whichever your alignment are. If you're good, having Rider's power is the only way to show more of your heroism by saving innocents, while if you're evil, having that power can give you a chance to express your threat to others with it. But I also don't want to casually label his deeds as misguided justice just because he's probably has more of depth in him inside (and in other medias, there are many people who downplays or cuts out the villains' evilness similar way you did here). At best he's in anti-villain that way, the "end justifies the means extremist". What he does is still heinous and it hasn't changed, and a potentially good motive isn't an excuse.

Yeah I know, but the part of "Or, if it does" seems like a secondary statement that is only a what-if, the "doesn't have the thematic depth" statement put in the primary and the more certain position. That way the statement gives the vibe of the objective truth to me even if there's the "Or, if it does" part, but that part is relegated into secondary what-if to me. Sorry that what I caught is like that between the wording choices. Also btw, can you take consideration of what I wrote about Inoue there? You said that you would be interested in hearing what they don't like, if folks got other problems. And it seems the problem is a serious one.

No spoilers, but there's something that I know you're going to really love about the next episode.

So we finally get to see Mutsuki's personal trauma here and, honestly, I've always thought it was really dumb. He was kidnapped as a baby and stuffed in a bus station locker, and the memory of that experience has forever hung over him. Yeah, I'm calling bullshit on that. There is no way he'd remember an experience from when he was that young. It really feels like a stretch to have that be one of his defining moments as a character.

You mean the opening sequence in which the riders are shown standing in a circle, then immediately start fighting each other? Are you sure you watched the right Ex-Aid?

You aren't alone in feeling that way, either!

Learning Ondul the Easy WEEEEEEI! (#11)

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Today's lesson is extremely borderline, as Tachibana shouting san! is entirely comprehensible. Still, the line, and the scene from episode 21 it comes from as a whole, are heavily associated with Ondul to the point of being considered a part of it, thus warranting a mention here. This is another time where Tachibana being genuinely cool became a joke specifically because it's Tachibana we're dealing with. Having the downright superhuman ability to read the tiny numbers on baseballs being thrown at 150 kilometers per hour is impressive, but it's mostly just adorable when it's Dadi doing it.

This meme is another one with some serious legs on it, too. To promote the release of its obligatory secondary Rider V-Cinema spin-off, Zi-O's official Twitter page did a daily countdown featuring memorable lines from secondary Riders past. The selection of quotes varied between obvious catchphrases, like Brave saying there's nothing he can't cut, to more obscure dialogue that gives a good glimpse into the personality of that Rider, such as Kaixa asserting "I'm the savior" from Paradise Lost. For Garren, though... well, I don't think I even need to finish that thought, do I?

To apologise for my cock up yesterday, I’ll just quote that message here.

And in case you missed the joke here and with Isaka and here, the links go to members of JAKQ Dengekitai whose designations match up with the suit and category (Dia Jack and Heart Queen) I’ll be doing it twice more, you have been warned.

Next time, a new significant face appears, both in front of and behind the camera.

I always liked Tachibana and Mutsuki's little thing, especially with how it continues through the series. Tachibana is screwed up, and with Mutsuki he sees a way to give himself a bit of stability in a way that doesn't directly involve fighting, and *maybe* make up a little for the whole "getting-addicted-to-seaweed-and0-not-facing-my-trauma" deal. Mutsuki is fine, just a kid getting in way over his head, I'm sure this will go well for him.

I'll also toss in that I'm quite fond of Tachibana's turn as a mentor for Mukki. It's like a pairing that was just born to fail, and that's why it's fascinating to see them trying to make it work. It's a very fun dynamic for the show to explore. It's pretty clear that Tachibana sees a lot of himself in Mukki, what with the first time he sees him being with his girlfriend right after Tachibana was reminiscing about Sayoko, and on a base level, you can understand why he'd want to make sure this kid doesn't become the walking disaster of a person that he was not too many episodes ago, but that also kinda underlines the issue that maybe Tachibana isn't the best guy to be taking on apprentices when he only got his own life together like a week ago?

The rest of these two episodes, they definitely feel like another set of just nice, cozy base-level Rider episodes. They've got a lot of heroic action, and the characters are all doing things, but they're not doing anything crazy. It's exciting drama without any particularly complicated stakes or dilemmas. Nothing that demands you think too hard about it, which I know is going to sound backhanded, but I genuinely think it's important for Rider to just be light entertainment sometimes.

Well, now that Die has long since passed the episode where it's no longer a spoiler.

*ahem*

DROP
FIRE
GEMINI

BURNING DIVIDE

SAYOKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!