Kamen Rider Blade Q2

I'll be continuing to give my thoughts here, so my fellow first time Blade watcher Fredbob392 can continue to give theirs in Die's thread without worrying about spoilers.

Kara Miso (I know that's not its actual name but who cares?) is even more humorous in the show. Like, there's that scene with Tachibana taking Black Fang for an epic joyride which just ends with "Kara Miso! Kara Miso!" Yep, definitely my favorite Blade meme and for that reason, I can totally forgive it replacing Kakusei as the insert song. This could seriously compete with the legendary KR memes of Ryukiroll, IWAE and Running Touma. The action scenes are going to be so much more humorous now!

Other than memes, Blade is still shaping up to be a great show in its own right. Although, the staff change I've heard about is looming over it and I have no idea what to expect for the quality of the remainder. Well, maybe a little, I guess. Aikawa has already written a few episodes as a secondary writer and I can see some similarities between the dynamic of Tachibana and Mutsuki and the dynamic of Akashi and Masumi from Boukenger. I'm a Boukenger fan and I definitely prefer the first half of Decade over the second, so right now, I'm inclined to have faith in him that he's not about to screw everything up. I can only hope! But before that, I'm looking forward to seeing how Imai's going to wrap up his tenure on the show.

Episode 15 is the one to beat. I think the rivalry between Tachibana and Isaka deserves its own paragraph, cause it's the perfect transition for Tachibana from a pathetic loser to a surprisingly cool and barely competent hero. He was trying to delude himself that his problems didn't exist and Isaka sought to take advantage of that, by drugging him with almost extinct anti-fear plants. It made him a better Garren, but removed the sensitive Tachibana that Sayoko loved. When Isaka killed Sayoko to destroy the last part of the old Tachibana, he instead made Tachibana stronger. Strong enough to make Garren his own. I was expecting a typical revenge plot filled with hatred and wrath, but it was smarter than that. Tachibana immediately found clarity in the memory of Sayoko and only regretted that he couldn't have came to his senses sooner. The climactic final battle between Garren and Isaka on the beach, it's the moment where I decided, "this show is awesome!"

I've been thinking about the Undead a little more, especially after Eagle Undead's snobbish commentary on humanity's dominance. Can they even be called evil, merely for trying to topple humanity? I mean, to us, the Human Undead is the hero who gave us the Fire of Zeus, figuratively speaking, but to every other Undead, he's the villain who deprived them the same chance. But I guess that's also a very Kamen Rider way of drawing a moral connection between both sides of the conflict. Of course, some Undead are just depraved people who don't deserve to win the Battle Royale, like Isaka. And that Elephant Undead seems too lazy to even try to win.

On the topic of Undead, Chalice, or more specifically Hajime, could hypothetically have access to at least 52 forms! That's a record for his time. It's basically him wearing the skin of other Undead with his Driver, which makes him the Kamen Rider Decade of the Undead world before Decade was even a thing! Chalice is originally the name of the Category Ace of Hearts, which is intriguing since I don't recall the Spider Undead having his own unique name.

Hajime might only be an Undead posing as a human, but with Kenzaki's guidance and faith, he has the potential to eventually inherit the soul of humanity. Kenzaki's position in the show seems to be similar to Shinji, as a moral support for others. Helping people is Kenzaki's main motivation, so it makes sense that he would want to imprint that philosophy on Hajime. This show isn't really about Kenzaki, but he has a profound effect on people just by being an example of heroism.

Tachibana reveals that his Fusion Peacock is basically useless. Hmm.... I already know that Jack Form is a going to be a thing, so I presume there must be some other prerequisite for unlocking that.

Regarding Leangle's user, Mutsuki.... He might be even more of a dysfunctional weirdo than the other Riders. He expressed envy towards Tachibana's and Kenzaki's tragic backstories like, "Tachibana-san, you're so lucky to have a dead girlfriend to avenge!" and "Kenzaki-san, you're so lucky to have dead parents you failed to save!" Sure, having a tragic backstory you can actually confront can be a useful source of motivation, but it's not something you should ever wish for. This seems to be something Mutsuki has a personal problem with, rather than the Spider Undead's corrupt influence. But Tachibana's Akashi-like soft mentoring is helping him become a better person capable of making Leangle his own.

Kotarou has become aware of how useless he is and strives to become more useful. As I'm apparently one of like, maybe three people, who actually think Shunpei is an okay character, I like where his arc seems to be going. Kotarou wants to be more than just the guy who gives Team Blade a roof and I think he hasn't found his niche yet, other than being a good cook and writer. I hope he can figure that out. Hirose hasn't really got any new developments since the previous quarter, so I don't have much more to comment about her for now. She's still great at what she does and I consider her an above average heroine, but I hope she gets more stuff to do.

"All it does is charge the Rouser" is a great line of foreshadowing.

A secondary Rider that has a rivalry with a mad scientist named Isaka, who had killed their loved ones, spurring their vengeance path, ending with a beatdown on Isaka albeit also letting go of their revenge. Is this Blade or W? Otherwise, the Tachibana being less sensitive is exactly why Sayoko was killed, Tachibana was really fucked up and made terrible decisions after decisions. Tachibana is told multiple times by his friends, his boss, and his girlfriend that his problems are psychosomatic, and that if he can just conquer his fear, he'll have no problem fighting. Or Sayoko constantly trying to find and stop him, despite trying to dump her. There are many decisions he could've taken to prevent Sayoko's death, like for starter, listening and trusting Sayoko. Or letting anyone else know what was going on and/or trusted any others (and others aren't really hostile to Tachibana). Or for more harder one, trying to overcome his fear or quitting. The more jarring one for him is that Tachibana is 26 and as a scientist he's already a professional.

Well, it's like humans that there are good and bad apples, but for Undead, it's extremely few. It's probably spoiler, but think of Human Undead as like Yuji (pre-Yuka death) among the Orphnochs in Faiz, the rare good apple among them. And regarding the other Undeads, I personally prefer not to use the perspective argument to determine someone's morals. As there'd be loads of self-righteousness involved, making excuses after excuses for your bad deeds, because it'd be harder for someone to admit responsibility, blaming everyone else for depriving them for their wishes, regardless if it's harmful for others or such (like you said, painting others as villains simply for being their obstacle, ignoring what deeds they've done themselves, and even otherwise, there can be evil vs evil). Like, why the Undeads want to win the Battle Royale? If it's done for evil, then you're a villain that is deserve to be stopped (by Human Undead or such). The best case scenario would be if you beat other Undeads, but have a goal that didn't harm anyone as the winner.

And as usual, Kamen Riders IMO are bad in utilizing the power variation like that... I know Hajime rejects his Undead identity, but at least if Chalice, despite being refered as Kamen Rider, is just as similar to turning into other Undeads. Though still, quantity doesn't necessarily mean quality.

About characters trying to impress upon them the value of more heroic values, when these lessons bounce more often than stick, what'd you think about that (probably related too to "perspective argument" above)? Would it be actually the blame of the moral support like Kenzaki to butt in other's lives, dictating others on how they should live their lives? (I don't agree, but this is what I can receive from other's comments) And that nothing is actually right or wrong like if Hajime wants to be hostile and aggressive or hostile then so be it and that others just have to stick it? (not what I think, but some think like that, using naturalistic fallacy arguments like that)

Oh yeah, about Mutsuki's relentless view on Tachibana and Kenzaki's backstory, even a good number of people in fandom irl also have it and can use that to justify villains. Claiming that the villain's actions that brought misery are done to help the heroes save the day (probably the reason is if there are also other unrelated villains) in their own methods or unintentionally helping the heroes understand what the fuck is happening. Or probably employing social darwinist views (due to natural attraction to power) that you survive and become strong or you perish, it's ok for the strong to test others by mistreating them like that. Aside from that, as I know the most little about Blade before watching, I thought at first, Mutsuki was just a random joe, probably a MOTW victim or such, turns out that he's another major character in the series as being the 4th Rider. Probably they did purposely make him as average and unremarkable to put a bit of a twist that he's the next character the series revolves around. As Tachibana sums it up, Mutsuki thinks the fight is like a collectible card game.

Yeah, as I said, characters tend to be the most useful if they're either most powerful fighters (as Rider typically) or if they're toku scientists (which Hirose does have a part of it too). Kotaro is a normal person with a job unrelated to the fighting, so yeah naturally he'd be the most useless one. Him being self-aware is a nice touch yeah of how being an average person can feel among Riders and scientists, but yeah would be unfair to judge someone for not having special occupation.

Oh for sure, Tachibana spent 14 episodes being a total moron and didn't realize how much he valued Sayoko until it was too late. I really liked how his inner monologue during the beach fight wasn't so much directed towards Isaka, but rather towards himself for failing Sayoko. Tachibana's ignorance was always his true weakness. He tried to reject his fear, but only after accepting it, he found his own strength in Sayoko's message, the courage to fight honestly from the heart and live as both Tachibana and Garren, bringing both parts of his identity in to one. For a brooding red-colored Secondary Rider whose loved one was murdered by a man named Isaka, Tachibana has a very strong redemption arc! Or is this Build, since he's also a 26 year-old scientist?

I guess the Battle Royale might be kind of like a historical Rider War, where a winner is inevitable even if people try and stop it. Maybe the Human Undead only won cause all the others destroyed each other, which would make it the closest to a moral victory by being the only one who refused to play by the evil rules and justifies humanity's dominance by having the human heart. That's just a theory I came up with that might contest any possible moral perspective from the other Undead. After all, humans have the unique ability to defy the will of nature, so it would definitely be symbolic of that. Your Faiz comparison works as well, since Takumi makes no distinction between humans and the few Orphenochs who keep their human hearts and Kenzaki can see that potential in Hajime.

Category Aces are considered the best fighters among Undead, so it makes sense that Hajime wouldn't bother with the weaker form changes unless there was a practical reason, like taking Human Undead's form to blend in with other humans. Yeah, you're right, Chalice looks surprisingly a lot like a Kamen Rider despite really being a monster wearing a Driver. Although in-universe, he was still feared and seen as a monster by that mother he saved, before Jin ended their friendship. Chalice is a very unique type of Rider that I don't see very often.

What's different about Hajime is that he does the right thing but doesn't understand why, since the human culture is a curiosity to him. Kenzaki's approach to him has actually changed a lot since he didn't want anything to do with his antagonistic behavior at the start, then wanted him dead for a while, but now he seems pretty supportive of his moral development. Hajime's rudeness is encouraged by Amane, so of course not all attempt to imprint is good, but I don't see any harm in Kenzaki trying to file the rough edges a little, since that's the same thing I appreciate about Shinji.

Mutsuki's problem is that he doesn't have any problems, so he has to invent problems. He has his parents and his girlfriend Nozomi, who he loves, but he envies the loss of those loved ones, believing it will make him stronger. He's like a more passive Tojo. It's not even that Tachibana's and Kenzaki's loved ones were taken from them, rather they admit they failed their loved ones. Their job is to protect people and their tragic backstories remind them of their failure to do that. Mutsuki shouldn't aspire to fail, he should strive to succeed for his loved ones' sake.

Kamen Rider Zi-O Episode 17 & 18

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...83433/2022.png

IWAE! I promised I would rewatch these episodes on January 1st 2022! On the dawn of a new year, truly the moment has come to keep that promise!

Honestly, the date is just a convenient excuse. These episodes compose my favorite arc of the show for three very important reasons. First is the introduction of Shinobi, who is a ninja and therefore awesome by default. Second is the introduction of Kamen Rider Woz, who has an awesome design and will eventually become even more awesome when the real Woz inherits the title. Third is the prelude to what I consider the most exciting part of the show, the coming of the Day of Oma and the alternate future of Geiz Revive threatening to negate it, which leads to some excellent development for Sougo, Geiz and Woz (and some not-so-excellent development for Tsukuyomi). It also references a certain lyric from Over Quartzer, "Nexus Future", cleverly foreshadowing the outcome of two futures merging in to one.

The moral of the Shinobi arc references another lyric about, "believing in your future self", which in turn is a reference to the EXCITE lyric, "You gotta believe!" It's relevant to 2019 Kagura Rentarou, who has the desire to protect others but feels too weak to accomplish that, but it's also extremely relevant to Sougo's entire character arc, since he understandably doesn't have much incentive to believe in his path of becoming the greatest kindest demon king after seeing his future self being basically the opposite of that. But maybe that's Sougo's strength, his refusal to let the future define him. After hearing White Woz's story, it pretty much confirms what he already decided. If the future is in flux, then the same is true of his destiny. Oma Zi-O may have wiped out all the Riders, but here's the present Sougo, fighting to give his successor to the title of Kamen Rider, Rentarou, a future. The future can be better, you can be better, but only if you believe. I think that's a pretty fitting moral to have for New Year.

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen..._White_Woz.png

This scene provides some serious meta comedy on a rewatch, considering how Zi-O has like the least amount of bike scenes in the franchise. I mean, isn't that just the story of a modern Rider's life? Sougo finally remembers he has a portable bike in his pocket and then this happens. White Woz is such a troll!

My choice of Rider episode for the New Year was also Zi-O. But I went with the Hibiki episodes (which are more end of an era than end of a year, but I choose not to question the wiki’s choices at this point). I also went with Metalder’s penultimate episode, Gaoranger’s New Years episode and the Christmas episodes for Hurricaneger and Megaranger. It was a busy night.

The episode(s) of Kamen Rider that I watched for New Year's for me, even though it's purely incidental, is finally continuing right where I left off on Ryuki with episodes 25 and 26.

EDIT: I also watched episodes 27 and 28 of the same series.

I've been rewatching Ryuki with the official subs and I have to say the massive boost in translation quality is genuinely increasing my opinion of a show that I previously only thought of as "pretty okay". I've seen 19 episodes with the Shout subs so far, and everything is just CONVEYED so much better than the TV-Nihon subs I used years ago. Characters have distinctive manners of speech! I feel like Ren actually makes *sense* as a character! I can actually decipher the show's overarching themes about human desire! Basically everything comes across better! I don't think they will fix some of the more general issues I have with Ryuki, like the fact that a lot of plot points and character motivations are very stupid when you stop to think about them or the wildly inconsistent writing and characterization that can occur, but if I continue to enjoy my rewatch this much I'll probably start considering Ryuki a must-watch show when suggesting toku to other people.

I'm a little curious if some of the other shows I watched with terrible old TV-Nihon subs are actually secretly awesome. Is the first half of Hibiki more than just "cool in concept, but not for me"? Is Den-O actually funny? Is Kiva... actually no, never mind.

Like I said, it honestly made me glad that I waited on watching Ryuki until it got officially subbed by Shout Factory, at least in retrospect. Would also be great if Shout Factory also subbed the 13 Riders TV special as well as the Episode Final movie and maybe the show's own Hyper Battle Video just for funsies.

To be fair, the writing of the show is pretty much back and forth between Kobayashi and Inoue. Make of it what you will.

Just so everyone knows, Flame is doing Senki subs!

https://i.imgur.com/iV46oL6.png