Guess who had a busy day at work, is waiting for dinner to arrive (Steak & Shake!), and is going to do a big batch of discussion responses?

I don't think he was "kicked out" so much as his presence was upsetting Amane. He's just trying to make everyone safe and happy, and that was not working out. So he gave her space. Even Haruka is telling Kotaro that Amane's acting out, she missed Hajime, and that they're really hoping Hajime will share what he's hiding soon.

It's really the sunglasses and overall fashion that made me think of Lazer.

I don't really know? I'm not sure what the problems are. If you want to fill me in, that'd help!

So, here's my take.

I don't think Mutsuki really remembers this trauma from when he's a baby. That's... memories don't really work like that? I think he was probably told at a young age what had happened, and he's sort-of invented these memories of the event, focused on them as The Reason He Turned Out This Way. I think it's more about Mutsuki trying to create a framework for his feelings than it's a literal thing that occurred in the way he remembers it.

Tachibana looking for stability by mentoring the traumatized kid who's being taunted by his own Rider belt is... yep, that checks out as a decision Tachibana would make!

It's appropriately Tachibana to have him have one good day and then feel like he's able to solve everyone else's problems. Fish, he fixed his own problems, the most problematic problems in the universe! No one had ever suffered the way he had, and he overcame it! This Mutsuki thing is a going to be a piece of cake!

Also, yeah, these are very okay episodes of Blade! The villain plot doesn't have a bunch of moves on it, and it's not really About anything, and the show really needs to figure out a new overarching villain goal/scheme/leader/whatever to create more structured storytelling, but I still had fun watching it.

Like, I bought Kenzaki's rage at not being able to help Kotaro. It's just action-adventure acting, a hero in crisis, but it was well-executed. And there's this move from the previous episode where Blade throws his sword just past Lazer But He's On Blade, and it allows Blade to reposition for a better attack. Smart fight choreography, meat and potatoes stuff.

I'm okay with some fun stories, even if they don't provide a lot to talk or think about. I do feel little bad on these threads when that's the case, though. Tough to show up and just go It Was Fun, you know?

Burning Divide is my favorite name, but my least favorite move. Lightning Sonic is my least favorite name, but my favorite move. Spinning Dance is right in the middle.

Burning Divide also features the one card that Tachibana should be using in every single fight: Gemini. Yet, he doesn't. I assume due to budget reasons. Because really, having two Garrens dogpiling on fools is not only practical, but awesome.

Hey, this seems like as good a time as any to mention before how much I love that dorky cheap CG tornado Chalice spins around in before the thread ends and I realize I forgot to say it at any point.

Because, yeah, love that dorky CG tornado! It's just so blatantly two-dimensional I can't help but find it endearing.

Counterpoint: Not once in this series have I thought our heroes would be better off with two Garrens.

yeah but you would be

Erm, uh, I mean, yeah okay, they'd probably end up accidentally shooting eachother or something, but from a battle tactics standpoint it's still practical!

Bruh same. The more effects like that age the more I love them.

I mean the effects of the cards seem to last, like, ten seconds at best? And, knowing Tachibana, he'd probably just use the opportunity to shoot Kenzaki twice. Once by accident, once on purpose for ruining his other self's shot. And then he'd feel real bad about it.

I want a more realistic Burning Divide, one more representative of Tachibana's psyche: one dupe needs to rotate the opposite direction from the monster, and one needs to turn 90 degrees away from the other.

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

*gasp* OZAWA!

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 22

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Chalice gets a part-time job! Tachibana has a hilariously dim view of cowardice! And Mutsuki finds a reason to fight that's not just It Is Fun To Murder!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade22a.png

Ah, the But Why Heroism episode. A staple of the franchise, and the place where a creator can really put a stamp on what their Kamen Rider series is saying about heroic fiction. We get to see Mutsuki evolve from a callow teen into Kamen Rider Leangle, and... am I supposed to feel as nervous about this as I do?

His journey is fairly straight-forward. He's been training with Tachibana, mastering the skills necessary to fight as a Kamen Rider. He's even put some clues together regarding one of the current Undead, and tags along with Tachibana to take it down. The fight's going well, until Leangle's powers cut out again, leaving him to be dragged down into the monster's lair.

Deep underground, it activates Mutsuki's most primal fear. He's back in that locker, crying to get out, left all alone. When Garren shows up, Mutsuki bolts. His fear was greater than his desire to fight. Fighting is something he likes doing, likes how it makes him feel. But if the cost of it is that kind of terror, no thanks.

Mutsuki wants to be a hero because it feels good to be a hero. He sees Kamen Riders defeating monsters, being powerful men, and thinks that what heroism is. But being a hero isn't about defeating monsters, it's about putting yourself in the path of a monster so someone else can be safe. It's about being subjected to terror so someone else isn't scared. It's about taking that weight on so someone else can escape.

The problem is that Mutsuki doesn't know why someone would do that. Or, he does know, intellectually, but he doesn't feel that emotionally. He longs for the easy motivation of I Couldn't Save My Parents So Now I Fight or I Couldn't Save My Girlfriend So Now I Fight. He's just a kid from a nice home who's below average at basketball. Why would he fight?

We get a quick peek into Kenzaki's motivation, and I really love it. We know that he's driven to help others because of his inability to save his parents, but why be a Kamen Rider? His answer is that it's a job that needed doing, and he could do it, so he does it. Nothing high-minded, nothing about fate or destiny or even heroism. It's just, he can be Blade, so he should be Blade.

The solution the show has for Mutsuki is, on the surface, a good one. It's Mutsuki seeing what it means to others when Kamen Riders save them, and letting that smother his fear. He sees the tangible results of heroism (not just the dead bodies in a monster's lair) and he's all in, ready to fight. He even gets to play the other side of the What's Your Name, Heroic Stranger thing he did with Kenzaki on his first appearance. It's all about protecting people for Mutsuki, serving the greater good.

But, is it?

Mutsuki may not need the credit, but he sure as shit needs the accolades. The smiles and gratitude shouldn't matter that much to him, shouldn't be required, but it definitely seems like they were. How would he have felt if the survivors had been less grateful, more scared? Would this epiphany had happened, or would he still feel like it wasn't worth it?

Like, I want to take Mutsuki at his word. It's just, he didn't really overcome anything to claim the title of Kamen Rider, you know? He went to save his mentor, everyone told him he was a special boy, and then he went to save Blade. There's a level of narcissism there, where he felt motivated when he thought everyone needed him, or looked up to him, and that feels weirdly problematic to me. Be real interested to see where the show goes with that, if at all.

(The best part of the episode was Mutsuki running to tell Tachibana that he'd found a reason to fight and Tachibana just cuts him off with Don't Care Blade Is Getting Killed Go Help Him. Time and a place for your personal growth, Mutsuki!)

That's the fairly complete story in this episode. The rest is little bits of business for Kotaro, and some set-up for a Hajime story.

For Kotaro, it's just that he's still moping after being dumped/nearly killed by Meet-Cute. (More the former than the latter, judging by his mood.) There's not much to it, but it does become the focus of a really fun Team Blade dinner, where everyone's being totally weird. Hirose declares that Kotaro's only redeeming quality is his cooking. Tachibana eats like a man who's being timed. Kotaro drinks tea instead of milk, which, CODE RED. It's a neat little domestic scene, which I'm a fan of.

Hajime's story is so unbelievably open-ended that I almost don't feel like talking about it (he's got a new job assisting Amane's Dad's old assistant, Meet-Cute wants him to join her in murdering humans, new Undead mystery man Business Bird says he made a promise with Chalice 10,000 years ago), but I will anyway because OZAWA.

Hey, it's my second-favorite character from Agito! Last series gave me Houjou, this one gives me Ozawa. God bless this franchise, knowing what they've got in their talent. She's fantastic in this, naturally. Photozawa has taken up where her mysteriously-disappeared mentor left off, working as a photographer. She needs an assistant, so Haruka recommends Hajime. (I would dearly love to know when and how an Undead learned to appreciate the artistry of photographs, but I'm not holding my breath for answers. It's not Hajime's style to give them!) When she sees that Hajime has a photo of Amane's family that wasn't among the dad's recovered items, and she sees Meet-Cute have a weird interest in him, the gears start turning. (There's a hilarious scene of her investigating an old negative that is only missing her saying enhance to be the most Not How Computers Work television cliche.)

It's not a big part or anything, and maybe I'm bringing in Agito baggage, but I totally buy Photozawa as someone who could make these deductions, be this committed to the truth. I don't care what her profession is, I buy that woman as superhumanly competent. She's the best non-Houjou character from Agito, after all!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade22b.png

Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Business Bird and Meet-Cute are working together! Chalice is in a card, and that means Hajime has some explaining to do! And Photozawa returns because I demanded it! That's how time works!

I mean I already wrote it before.

Oh right. I didn't catch about Hajime's thing to Kotaro like this, because he seems to treat everyone equally, that he said everyone is his enemy, so I would just expect Kotaro to be treated like that. Even the thing about Kotaro here actually reminds me of Hajime's act to Kenzaki previously. Like his refusal to tell anything to Kotaro, and claiming that he's not helping him. And also about Kotaro saying him saving to Kenzaki.

Both manipulates, because with it being 2 instead of 1, they can work together, namely, by forcing Kenzaki to be vulnerable of not transforming by dropping the belt, or that Miyuki will strangle Kotaro. This one instead reminds me of Masamune in Ex-Aid, forcing Emu to not transform or he'll delete Saki's data. And yeah she still lives at the end, indicated by her Nissan Cube still driven around.

Not necessarily talking about Blade here, but causing the team trouble because of someone ignoring advices or acting rashly can be source of irk of audience from what I know by fanbase. Not being brought by someone can lessen audience's insistence to bash them. And even if audience is mad to those that doesn't brought up by them, they would blame them as if acts rashly, making up excuses as much as they can to blame someone for something that happened that causes trouble to others (ex: he's too guilible to have that happened to him, it's annoying to have him so stupid and causes troubles to others like this!). Kenzaki here also had it more personal for "Lazer" with him destroying his friend's feelings.

Tachibana and Mutsuki's stuff is the cliche "training arc" that is seen on obviously, many action-driven media. It's not only Star Wars thing, it happened in lots (see the cliche label I put there). So Mutsuki was apparently locked inside something when he was born (darkness), then he was freed (light). He was actually meant literal sense of what he said to Nozomil...He wants to be free of that, and also deep down, the darkness part translates to Undead killing other people. And Tachibana assumes that Mutsuki's weakness is the very reason of why the Category Ace wants to exploit him. But other than that Mutsuki's already tested to be the most compartible with Leangle belt.

I'm not seeing any specifics to respond to, though? I guess he talked about "taboo" things in his stories, and people got upset? Without knowing who got upset, and for what reasons, I'm not sure how to respond. I mean, it's art? People have a lot of different reactions?

The Nissan Cube! God, that takes me back. Those cubed cars were mildly popular, for a minute.

Yeah, but, conversely, having characters always be blameless in their predicament is boring storytelling? Say what you will about Tachibana's effectiveness as a hero (very limited!), but his ridiculous amount of flaws made him one of the most compelling characters on the show, if not the most compelling. And, honestly, the more a story is Good People Have Bad Shit Happen To Them For No Reason, that shit irks me. I want to see character growth. I want to see flawed characters get better. That can't happen if they don't get to be flawed.

Sure, but the Leangle belt is also an asshole? The story currently seems to suggest that the Leangle belt is just torturing Mutsuki psychologically.

I knew you'd enjoy seeing Ozawa again. Last major returning Agito actor for now, but not the last one ever. You'll have to wait a few seasons for that, though.

So, in addition to advancing Mutsuki's plot and starting to get more into Hajime's origins, this episode also marks a big milestone: this is the first episode of Blade written by Sho Aikawa. Not a name that has gotten tossed out much before, but he's really important to Blade. Blade is the first Heisei era Rider show that had a major change in the writing staff. Shoji Imai was the show's original writer, but he'll be leaving for good in about 5-6 episodes. Aikawa then takes over as the head writer for the rest of the series. Of the three shows with major writing disruption, I've always felt that Blade is the one that suffers the least (if at all). There are some things that I'll talk about as we get more into Aikawa's tenure, but the show never feels like it gets drastically overhauled or that the plot starts going in radically different directions (and I don't pretend those episodes don't exist, like I'll go into in the next Kamen Rider Die watches... thread). In many ways, I think the show actually gets even better once Aikawa fully takes the helm. That's a ways off, still, but it all starts here.

I think I saw somewhere (the Wiki, I'd assume) that Mana has the Poppy part on Den-O? I think that's fun, when an actor isn't just brought back a year or two later, when they're fresh in the minds of viewers; but six or so years later, when they might as well be brand-new to the audience watching. It's like Tachibana showing up as the Principal on Fourze, or how Ankh played every single role on Ex-Aid (citation needed).

Interesting! I'm not sure I'd've caught the difference in styles. It'll be neat to see what the 30s and 40s of this show look like under a different hand.

Why was Aikawa brought on? Did the other guy quit, or get fired?

And a few more guest stars left.

Seems like they made him step down cause honestly this show was Kamen Rider Garren pretty much till 20ish. :lolol

Yeah, Rina Akiyama was also Naomi on Den-O.

I honestly don't know. I've never heard an explanation behind it. The only real staff change I know a lot about is Hibiki's because it was such a massive clusterfuck and some of the cast openly complained. If I didn't know Blade had a writer change I probably wouldn't have known since, for the most part, the story feels like a continuous whole. A lot of stuff from the early episodes still factors into the conclusion, which leads me to believe that Aikawa either got a basic outline when he took over or really paid close attention to the lore that was already established. Sadly, the same can't be true for the later series where Aikawa was the writer who left halfway through.

Well today, I’m going to start things off with a meme.

A scene of Mutsuki screaming to the approaching Mole Undead became a subject for*Kamen Rider Blade MADs.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20191214052947

Fusion Eagle

An immortal creature that is the ancestor of the eagle and belongs to the Category J of Spade Suit. Using the claws on both arms as a weapon, it attacks enemies with high speed flight and amazing dynamic vision. In addition, a countless number of feather-like shurikens was used for long-distance battles.

* Suit: Spade (♠)
* Category: Jack (J)
* Effect name: FUSION
* Card name: Fusion Eagle (フュージョン・イーグル Fūjon Iguru)
* Consumption points (Guild Rouse Card): EP +2400

And now for the obligatory Card picture https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20190912140515

No wait, that’s the wrong one.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20121110113626

Screw Mole

An Undead with powerful screw punches and drilling abilities.

* Suit: Clubs
* Category: 3
* Effect Name: SCREW
* Card Name: Screw Mole (スクリュー・モール Sukuryū Mōru)
* Consumption Points: FP 600

Well, leave it to Blade fans to take something little and make it big.

Learning Ondul the Easy WEEEEEEI! (#12)

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

Today's lesson is a fascinating look into Dadi's dietary habits, as it turns out he's extremely fond of Kotarou's terrible pasta. Or at least, Hirose and Kenzaki insist it's bad. Maybe it's fine and Tachibana is just the only one there who isn't a picky eater. And maybe this line, kore kutte mo ii ka na?, once again fails to meet the usual criteria of being slurred and difficult to understand, but that's just the magic of Tachibana. If he says something and it's endearingly funny, then it's Ondul. End of story.

This was definitely a fun episode for Mutsuki, and I am looking forward to your impressions of his storyline going forward.

I think this is a solid assessment of Mutsuki's state of mind at this point. Which, you know, teenager who found something Really Cool and has suddenly discovered that maybe it's not all amazing. He thought he'd been Cursed With Awesome and is instead discovering maybe he's been Blessed With Suck, and his epiphany tracks with that very much.

Look at Tachibana being the stable reasonable one! :D

I would like to note that slurping noodles is how you are Supposed To Eat them :lol (No, seriously, ramen/udon/soba noodles are slurped, loudly. It's the polite thing to do. Then that transfered over to spaghetti, which makes for some interesting cross-cultural experiences.)

Random aside observation - does anyone else think Hajime actually got a haircut? Usually no one gets haircuts until filming is Over, as may have been mentioned near the start of this thread.

Ozawa being in this episode is something I really had to double take on. You know, one of those "Wait-- is that-- no--" moments

Yeah, I've had one of those. I think it was when I learned Barry's dad from CW Flash was THE John Wesley Shipp from the early 90s Flash.

He really is Tachibana's apprentice.

https://i.makeagif.com/media/6-07-2016/E0AcWy.gif

Here's a story.

I was dating this girl, and we went over to her parents' house one night for dinner. It was the first time I'd eaten with them, and they ate like Tachibana. My girlfriend, too, who'd never eaten like that at other times. Like, when we'd get dinner, just us, she'd eat at a normal speed. With her family, it was just No Brakes On A War Machine, shovelling food in as fast possible.

Afterwards, I asked her what the deal was. She said that, growing up with two siblings, you had to eat quick if you wanted additional helpings. Otherwise, you eat slow, there are no extras. Even as an adult, she was eating quickly because eating at that dinner table conditioned her to eat fast.

I'm saying, Tachibana maybe had an upbringing that made him a weird dinner guest. That's my theory.

I also think it's interesting that he wanted a formative tragedy that he can heroically overcome, but a formative tragedy where other people died to make him feel sad and heroic. Like, he's got a formative tragedy, but it's sad and personal and terrifying. If only someone close to him would die tragically, because that he could get over quickly and fight monsters better.

Mutsuki's got problems!

It wouldn't surprise me if Haruka made him get a haircut if he's going to work for someone else.

Some people I've got to really dwell on where I've seen them before (Kanzaki, for instance), but Ozawa! Such a distinctive face! She's so great!

If there's one flaw with this 2-parter, it's that she doesn't meet Tachibana and pull this line

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

In TV shows, Inoue's better part shines there, as he's restrained; he's on a leash and not left to his own devices, albeit still controversial with his edgelord tendencies. But there's remake/adaptations on Rider series in other form of media such as novel, which I don't know if you follow, talking about that will spoil. There, Inoue is free, and his infamy really shines there, the edgy stuff is off thee charts, with him outright crossing the disturbing, taboo, inappropriate, offensive, etc. stuffs, being normalized. Like I said, was more refering to Inoue as person. Those aren't seen much on the TV shows (at least for now).

Obviously flaws are the prefered character for obvious reasons. However, this (having them cause bad shit all the time) is not the only way for story to express flaws. It's probably undeniable that being blameless in predicament is it's thing, but I want to let it be known that, flaws can be shown in other ways, probably also something you neglect/forget as actual flaw. Talking about Tachibana also brings out the "turning existing non-asshole characters into assholes" topic, something I don't want to happen (and in inverse I also don't want turning any of assholes to nicer one like you), including characters acting OOC just for the sake of being responsible. Things like lack of confidence, fearfulness, inflexible thought, over-honesty, etc. are also flaws, each of which can manifest without meanness or abuse and still be a shortcoming. Being non-morally grey doesn't mean you're flawless.

I was refering to Isaka's test that Mutsuki is considered the most qualified. And as Tachibana said, Category Ace feeds on Mutsuki's weakness.

Reflex training that Mutsuki undergoes is related to something Mutsuki needs to suppress the Spider Undead. It'll also enhance Mutsuki's fighting capabilities significantly where he has to hit and dodge Tachibana's attacks, a man with considerable physical prowess outside Rider (he does impressive acrobatic stuff a few episodes earlier). And Tachibana expresses about believing in Mutsuki to Kenzaki, but this is inevitable as for now, it has to be done. Leangle belt comes to Mutsuki no matter what, it's not Mutsuki's fault to have them return to him, at least in the beginning. Mutsuki at first doesn't have reasons to fight unlike others, but he found himself one at the end from Tachibana's insistence to save people inside, probably the requirement for him to become full-fledged Rider.

For Kenzaki, like I said before regarding Kiryuu, being a Kamen Rider gives you the power needed to do more, to help others more, to show your heroism more clearly. Being stuck in a daily ordinary job won't get you able to accomplish more in that. But Mutsuki did things outside Rider form to lead others outside... but still, Kamen Rider gives you the power to accomplish much more than that.

Cooking is his good thing? Let's see how's his writing, something he actually aspires to be.

Kamioka is also actually a friend of Kurihara family, so she would contact them. And this is the showing of Amane being jealous, proof that she goes to in-love and clingy territory. Also with "superhumanly competent", did she just get smacked by Miyuki here and being locked in a room by Hajime to keep her safe?

Could be! I mean, Tachibana is a guy with a lot of ~interesting~ habits. It would not surprise me to find out he was actually so overly excited about that meal, he also watched Kotarou cooking the noodles from halfway behind a corner the entire time.

I mean, sure, maybe he's writing gross stuff in other fields? I'm happy to avoid that stuff and focus on his TV work.

Definitely. Moderation in all things.

I guess I still see it as Amane trying to replace her dad with Hajime. She wants a family unit, and Photozawa is getting in the middle of that. She's got issues, for sure.

As for Photozawa being superhumanly competent, she got heaved across a park, and she still tried to get a photo of the monster fight. There's no quit in that lady!

Yeah, alternately it's Tachibana, and why should any single thing he does be normal or predictable. I suppose Team Blade felt lucky that he ate the food, rather than eating the dishes or just sobbing uncontrollably. This was the most appropriate Tachibana has ever acted around them!

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 23

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Tachibana shares his love of card-collecting with Mutsuki! Kenzaki shares his love protecting humans with Hajime! And Hirose and Kotaro share their love of basically getting a week off of working on this show!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade23a.png

I don't really talk back to shows I'm watching, but there's a thing from this episode that brought it out of me.

Business Bird kidnaps Photozawa to draw out Hajime. Blade and Chalice end up fighting Business Bird to a draw, who escapes. Photozawa yells at Hajime, who rides off. Kenzaki makes an appeal with Photozawa for understanding, and he rides off, too.

Leaving Photozawa on a goddamn cliff with no way to get back to town. Like, stranded.

Minutes later, Business Bird pops out to restart the fight. It relocates, coincidentally, back to the same cliff where Photozawa was left behind. Chalice, regaining his Category Ace, protects her from a Business Bird attack. He tells her that it's dangerous, and she should leave.

Which made me shout at the show SHE'S ONLY THERE BECAUSE YOU DICKHEADS LEFT HER THERE!

(I know that the show left her there because she'd need to be there for the second half of the fight, but it's weird that Kenzaki left her there without even a throwaway line of "I'll call Hirose to come get you" or something. He just leaves her there! Not great writing!)

It's maybe the thing I'll remember most from this episode (other than that screencap up top), because this one was... y'know, fine! An okay episode.

It felt a little too much in Raising Questions mode, and that's not a blast for me. We're starting to dig into Chalice's situation, the specifics of his weird cards and powers, but it's mostly just the episode explicitly stating Yes His Cards Are Weird. There are weird things about how he can Henshin into different cards' forms, and it is weird that he uses a Spirit card to turn into Hajime. There's no real new information given, just making sure that Kenzaki is aware of all of it. It's a lot of This Will Be Important Later, and... yeah, just not that fun as an episode?

The stuff with him and Amane's Dad, I feel like we already knew all of that? This episode puts it all together in a straight line, but we'd already known that Hajime found the dad, the dad gave him the picture, he felt confused about why someone would value others more than themself, and he went to try and learn why that would be. Like, there's a more deliberate step-by-step process to it all here, but it's not really giving us new shading on it.

The one big positive to Hajime's story this time out is how he and Kenzaki deal with protecting people.

Hajime doesn't know how to process the idea of caring about people. He wants to protect Haruka and Amane, but he's more comfortable doing it without an explanation than really interrogating what he wants to get out of it, how it makes him feel. Like, he doesn't appreciate anyone questioning him, even himself. So he's capable of living with the contradiction of caring about those two, putting himself at risk for them, while still claiming to care about no one but himself. He can hold those two contradictory ideas in his brain by just refusing to think about them at the same time.

So Kenzaki has to get through to a man this stubborn, this obstinate, this Chalice. He's got to find a way to show him that what he doesn't understand about humanity, he's already surrounded by it. And he does it the same way Amane did, by telling Hajime that he believes he's a good person because he wants to believe he's a good person. He's going to help him because he needs help.

It's a typically grounded Kenzaki moral, more concerned with the immediate effect than a deeper philosophy. Kenzaki thinks Hajime is a good guy, and Hajime's in trouble, so he's going to help him. And that weirdly gets through to Hajime, who's maybe been overthinking all this? It feels like we've spent episodes of watching Hajime push back on his kindness, his worry for others, his desire for compassion. In this, it feels less like someone telling him something he didn't know, and more like him finally being honest with himself. We'll see if it lasts!

But that's only half the episode, with the other half being a Mutsuki/Tachibana thing that... I don't know, it didn't really do it for me.

Some of it is Tachibana going into the specifics on the cards that, as much as I love Androzani84 laying it all out on the boards, is not what I want Blade The TV Show to focus on. The minutiae of the magic monster cards that give superpowers to heroic mans... y'know, maybe better left to the imagination? Not that dramatically compelling to me.

The rest of their story is already evaporating from my brain. (In fairness, I probably started watching and writing this way too late to dig deep into a fairly basic episode. Please don't take my snark as a heavy criticism! I'm just punchy from tiredness!) Meet-Cute's ruse to swipe cards from Mutsuki is laughably simple, and does not say great things about Mutsuki's ability to retain his secret identity around a cute girl. It's not a particularly deep storyline, and I was honestly hoping for more from when we teased with Meet-Cute stalking Mutsuki.

The argument that follows her exit, where Mutsuki thinks he knows more than Tachibana, it's both totally in keeping with Mutsuki's arc (he is absolutely going to take his minor success and turn it into terrifying overconfidence) and also a little rushed. Or, I don't know, not rushed maybe, but... too much of an escalation? It felt like an overreaction, even for where Mutsuki's head is at right now. I didn't buy into it that much. It felt less character-based, more plot-driven. It maybe needed a little more space between I Want Tachibana To Be Proud Of Me and Screw You Dad(i). They're too close together in this episode for my tastes.

Yeah, I don't know if it was the episode, or me approaching it not in the right mindset, but it was basically okay? A couple things that didn't work great for me, but otherwise a basic enough Kamen Rider episode. Not one I'll remember, maybe, but not one I'm disappointed I watched. Still had Photozawa, still had that dog up top.

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade23b.png

Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Motorcycle races! Undead Hunters! And maybe, if we've all been very good, something for Hirose and/or Kotaro to do!

Oh no, there was definitely something new in there. Hajime isn't the Chalice that Business Bird remembered. This is our first step into really getting into the heart (pun intended) of exactly what Hajime is. He copies the forms of the cards he scans - he's not the real Chalice and I think it's safe to infer at this point that the human form may not be real either. Which begs the question of what is he really, then? This is going to be a major issue moving forward from here.

Don't think that you've seen the last of Mutsuki's new "gotta catch 'em all" approach to Undead cards, either. No way he's going to settle for a deck with no Blue Eyes Shiny Charizard.

Today’s episode marks (as far as I know. Somebody correct me if I’m wrong) the end of the Ondul saga. And strangely enough, it’s not a line in the episode, but more something from a song that debuts here.

There is a running joke among Japanese fans where he*is associated with a type of food known as*Kara Miso (辛味噌), due to the last line of his insert song, Rebirth, has the chorus (Gotta be strong) sounding similar to the name of said food.

https://youtu.be/qdPJd8DBWrQ

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20140414142024

If I’m honest, I see where they’re coming from with this one, since I misheard the lyric as “kagami soul”, which makes even less sense. Still, the song is my personal favourite from Blade’s soundtrack.

It's not ~quite~ over as far as I'm concerned, but a lot of the show's biggest memes are definitely behind it at this point. Also, and forgive me for pointlessly reiterating what was just said, but the thought of not getting to explain kara miso!, the pinnacle of Dadi memes, to Die in my own words fills me with such sadness I'm just going to do this anyway. So!

Learning Ondul the Easy WEEEEEEI! (#13)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nr_A1kje46w

Yeah, no screenshot for this one, because we're talking music lyrics in today's lesson. The show's second insert theme, Rebirth (normally stylized in all lowercase letters, but come on), debuts in episode 23, and yet another legendary meme was born as a result. The interesting thing about the song is that it's actually sung in-character by Tachibana's actor, Kousei Amano, making it the first instance of an insert theme doubling as an image song, something that would become more and more common in Kamen Rider from this point on.

The really interesting thing about it is that the last two lines of the chorus, a repeated English "got to be strong!" is basically impossible not to hear as "kara miso!" instead, making this the second instance of a Blade meme revolving around Dadi's bizarre enthusiasm for food. What relevance spicy seasoning has to a song otherwise about Tachibana bouncing back from Sayoko's death is unclear, but one thing's for sure: you'll never convince Blade fans he's singing about anything else there.

Well now I can never listen to that song seriously anymore.

If you want to be technical, he's not any less Chalice than Kenzaki is Blade, etc! All the riders rely on the power of Undead to assume a more powerful form, even if Hajime goes about it in a different way.

As for the actual episode, the thought of Die being so weirdly hard on it also fills me with sadness. :p

Now I'm kind of going to be repeating what Switchblade said, too, but this is MAJOR new information given here. It was completely unconfirmed up until these episodes, and especially him using the Float card in his belt, that the way his transformations work is by literally just turning directly into that monster. If you were already assuming that, than I mean, credit to your detective skills, but the info these episodes give is an absolutely massive hint towards Hajime's true nature, and once again, I think it comes at a really clever time, in an episode all about how much he's starting to fit in with humans, and even (mostly) get along with Kenzaki.

Which is why it's great that the show is bringing it up largely to immediately criticize the idea that any of it matters. We need a scene of Tachibana explaining the mechanics of the cards to Mukki so that Mukki can completely miss the point of the lesson, and start acting like this is some merchandise-driven children's show (!), obsessed with increasing his power by increasing his collection. This is exemplified by the moment where Leangle tries to pull a "I guess I'd better try out these new cards", a staple of that kind of story, and immediately gets chewed out by Tachibana for just thoughtlessly swiping those things for the sake of it. It's this really neat subversion that also subtly explains why the other Riders don't actually use the cards that much outside of finishing moves. Like a lot of things in this two-parter, it's a very refined and thoughtful portrayal of the show's world and characters.

Compare this to the first episode, where one of the many, many meme lines I didn't mention is Garren awkwardly saying "a Category 8, huh? Interesting" during the fight at the start to call attention to the Undead's ranks being displayed on their belt buckles when they're about to be defeated, a bit of exposition that you quickly realize is rather sloppy when Tachibana never uses that card, and thus we have no idea what exactly is so interesting about the fact that bat monster was a Category 8.

It's been mentioned that these were Shou Aikawa's first episodes of the show, and I honestly think even just right now you can how much sharper his writing arguably is in a lot of areas. Which is maybe apparent in that the thing you seemed to have the biggest problem with was the lack of thought with regards to geography, something so ubiquitous to Kamen Rider it's basically never worth bringing up.

Ironically, I only started legitimately liking Rebirth after finding out about that meme. I distinctly remember finding Tachibana's singing voice kind of grating the first time I watched Blade, which in retrospect was probably just me being disappointed I wasn't going to be hearing Kakusei anymore. Any song would've felt like a downgrade at that point.

Fair points! I guess it was just vague enough to me (along with some stuff that was hinted at enough that they didn't exactly feel like bombshells) that I wasn't too enthused. I get that there are fans out there who get way more into the mystery element of these shows, and it's not necessarily a failing of the show if I'm not one of them.

For me, plot stuff like this... I'm not a theory guy? It doesn't activate the part of my brain that gets me pinning up clues on a wall and running string between them. Like, this is not what I'm like in the aftermath of an episode like this one:

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/Reflecting...restricted.gif

When I'm given a Raising Questions episode, I'm far more likely to acknowledge it, and then wait for the answers. Once I get those answers, then I get excited, start dissecting it, start looking at what it means for the characters and the themes and the story. Right now, I just find myself thinking, "Okay... and?"

they just leave that woman on a cliff and then chastise her for still being on the cliff they left her on when they drop a monster fight on top of her

i feel okay calling it out

It’s a tokusatsu, they were probably just confused that she couldn’t easily jump out of frame and instantly arrive at Tokyo stadium or a fountain or something.

Nah we still have one big meme(that of course doesn't happen until the finale) TBF it doesn't have to do with Ondul at all

Also yeah we're at the point where the writers(and voice directors) start taking the show more seriously and it honestly becomes IMO the best Rider series of the 2000's (it's not Gaim/Ex-Aid tier but it's pretty close)

That seems up for debate. A lot of viewers at the time stil, preferred Ryuki and I myself still prefer Faiz.

But enough about opinions, I looked up who my next subjects for the UIK are and decided to foreshadow my running gag for the Decade thread by doing a silly hint as to what’s next.

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20190114064513

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20200515014028

See, Switchblade gets it!

Well yeah, TV had him on the leash, on restrained state, though later it got worse and the latest one from is close to the other fields (and the other field is the adaptation of existing Rider series like Faiz novel, for example). And yeah, him as a person, what he did on the other field with him being free, as there are no media to keep him on the leash should be known, and shouldn't be ignored (which the fanbase certainly don't ignore).

Lol, for Hajime, it's not wrong that he's a dickhead. For Kenzaki, probably he didn't know that Kaimioka was kidnapped there and thought she can get back to town by herself. Dunno probably my forced excuse regarding him.

Why don't you just treat the Hajime turning into Undead as another Rider fight scene (like Mutsuki vs Miyuki, etc.)? Just with a new breath of fresh air with Hajime turning into something else. It's also probably not a showcase of his card being weird, but more about his weirdness being an Undead that he can utilize those cards to transform to them like enemies on Build; he also has belts forming from himself. Probably the Kurihara dad scene is brought up corresponding to Kaimioka accusing him of being a murderer in the past.

Not only Hajime but audience also doesn't know how to process the idea of caring about people, which is why "not a scumbag" character got unfair treatment (and if something behind a catastrophe is a family member... you should let that run amok because you aren't supposed to be an extension of family?) like being treated as flawless even if flaw is not only about toxicity. That, the way that is considered understandable is that someone only wants to do something if it benefits themselves, which is a way to keep monstrosities like Kusaka in Faiz or Kuroto in Ex-Aid on protagonist side. I would like to hear more from Kenzaki, what's his argument of humans caring about each other and protecting themselves. Though his claim about caring for no one but himself is 90% true, other than Haruka and Amane, yeah, nothing to care about mostly.

For Blade mechanicals that you don't want the show to focus on, and saying it's better to be left on imagination, would that mean, anything about it is a fan theory? That people shouldn't have to come up with theories to get most of it to come together? That about basic mechanics of a plot that's paying off a year-long story, these aren't the sort of things that fans should need to have theories about? Though I'd say probably this part can be important to people like me, when I try to gauge the Rider/monster's powers and capabilities, like I also wonder that each Riders keep using the same card (Blade: Kick-Thunder-Sonic, Garren:Drop-Fire-Gemini). But yeah, Miyuki's thing with Mutsuki, it ends up too fast, just her holding Mutsuki's hand with that card, likely forgetting that the card can move by itself when Mutsuki henshins. For being close, I won't think they're too close together here, with previous episode being similar, and actually there's a bit of wedge here with Mutsuki being more disobedient to Tachibana.

yeah should have edited that

Neat! This one didn't super grab me (probably too tired to honestly engage with it?), but I'm excited to see where the series goes!

I don't know about "ignoring" it, but I'm necessarily going to spend my free time tracking down poorly-received work by someone, especially if that work is going to upset me personally. If he made something gross, that sucks, and I wish he hadn't, but I'm not going to go experience it for myself. I don't have that kind of time?

It was a good fight scene! Even though the revelations about Chalice didn't really get me going, I thought the story was still fun to watch.