Mutsuki: "Maybe me beating up a copy of myself is a sign of some psychosis? A sign not all is well with me, that perhaps I'm still being affected by the spider inside my soul, and I should seek some form of therapy?"

All the other Riders: "Time for some well-needed catharsis."

Mutsuki's' smug self probably thought more along the lines of "I'm the strongest Rider, ergo if I beat a copy of myself, that definitely proves that I'm the strongest of the strongest."

I am not looking forward to the next episode.

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 41

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: The Sealing Stone is now a thing we have to talk about! Tennouji brought Riders into this world, he can take them out of this world! And you’re tearing Mutsuki apart, Nozomi!

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There’s a lot of stuff in this episode, but there’s also some very deft character work happening. Can you guess which one I want to spend more time talking about!

Let’s go through the plot stuff first, since I imagine that’s where more people are going to have memories from this episode. The opening is really trying to center us in an It’s Time For Revelations mode, with every single Undead fighting in the previous Battle Fight from 10,000 years ago. (I really love the idea that this Battle Fight has been going on the better part of a year with no winner, while it looks like the last one took about an afternoon to have humanity win. Except, man, I did not see shirtless Hajime running around! I needed an insert shot of Human Undead whaling on monsters from eternity!) Tiger Queen drops her opponent, and then the Sealing Stone (definitely not the Monolith, this one twists, how dare you impugn Tiger Queen’s culture) arrives to seal the monster into a trading card.

Y’know, I don’t mind the Sealing Stone. It’s not more impractical than anything else in this series, and it’s got a presence that feels appropriately religious. The big thing about Tiger Queen that I like is how important Battle Fight is to her. She wants to win, she wants a Planet Of Tigers, but there’s a holiness to Battle Fight that makes her frustrated and insulted by the Riders running around. Battle Fight is for the Undead. The Riders aren’t just interlopers, they’re blasphemers.

Which probably makes the revelation that this particular Battle Fight was engineered (or at least profited from) by Tennouji sort-of devastating to her. This is a Battle Fight that only the Riders or the Joker can win. She’s got no chance, and literally every other Undead is just a pawn. It’s a huge change in the show’s status quo, and I sort-of love it?

I’m not crazy about Tennouji or whatever his scheme is yet, mostly because I don’t know what he’s trying to do. If it’s something that has thematic resonance, I’m all for it. Until then, I’m going to try not to dwell on it. The idea that the Undead have been manipulated, though, that’s an idea with some weight to it.

I’ve really enjoyed the parts of this show where the Undead feel less like inevitable antagonists or rampaging monsters, and more as individual characters. They may share a goal (save a Shima or two), but how they approach that goal, how they articulate what that goal means to them, I find that fascinating. I love a group of villains who have personalities, conflicts, levels. (Hi, I came in through Ex-Aid, can you tell.) Creating a scenario where the monsters can feel betrayed, and the show takes that idea and gives it pathos, holy shit. Doing something where I’m invested in how a monster from eternity feels about her culture and beliefs being appropriated and manipulated by humanity… I think my heart grew two sizes. I loved the Tiger Queen character already, and now this. It’s an idea far more appealing to me than whatever U.N.D.A.D. was up to, so this episode was working out great for me on those points alone.

(Also, boy, thematically? A plot where the pursuit of power is exposed as fraudulent and irrelevant? That is a very big Blade theme! Really really love that the Undead are getting in on it!)

But then they made it all about Mutsuki as well, and… it is not my birthday, but this all felt like a gift.

Mutsuki’s a tricky one, because he’s at this Not A Hero, Not Yet A Villain stage. He’s childish, and naive, and selfish, and cowardly, and petulant, and whiny, and and and. He’s not been much use to the plot, because he doesn’t seem to want anything tangible. He wants to be stronger, but there’s no clear pathway for him to achieve that. He keeps waiting for it to fall into his lap, like his goddamn belt did. (There’s a perfect example of this behavior in the beginning of the episode. Mutsuki is thinking aloud, and he mentions that since Blade and Chalice just got cool power-ups, he must be next. Like they’re being doled out in a sequence! I mean, he’s a kid who saw Kenzaki literally get handed his Rouse Absorber, so it’s not like he’s totally off-base.) Mutsuki’s plots lately are defined by him getting beaten up, tricked, insulted, and disregarded. It’s clear that the show is trying to get at something about Mutsuki, what with the increased screentime with him and Tiger Queen, but it’s not really clear what. It’s still not totally clear by the end of this one, but I love the questions it’s asking.

Nozomi’s back, and she’s looking for Mutsuki, and that’s almost all I needed. I like her dogged perseverance. I like the way she clearly only sees the old version of Mutsuki no matter which Sam Raimi Spider-Man film that Mutsuki is cosplaying from. I like how Mutsuki can’t ever seem to stop caring about her. It’s this relatable, human core to his character, something that dozens of weird episodes where he’s a joke can’t quite extinguish.

The broad strokes of this one are fairly routine. Nozomi wants Mutsuki to be normal, Mutsuki wants to get stronger, there are fights. Nothing in the early parts is a surprise, but it’s still a lot of fun. Nozomi just BEING VERY LOUD ABOUT THE FOOD SHE BROUGHT MUTSUKI as a way of distracting both of them from the very serious fight he was in, absolutely precious. Her breaking through a barricaded door to chase after him, delightful. But the part where Mutsuki is so adamant about not being Old Mutsuki that he terrifies her, that’s a stellar moment.

There’s this beat, after he Henshins, where his shoulders slump a bit. It’s him wondering if he’s got it in him to break Nozomi the way this would break her. To make her see him as a monster so he can give himself over to the darkness inside him. It’s so small, but the suit actor for Leangle nails it. Everything after that is theatrical, garish. He wants her to run in fear, he wants her to forget about Mutsuki and only see Leangle. It’s a great, great scene. But it wasn’t really surprising, for what it was trying to do.

And then Mutsuki rescues Tiger Queen, taking her to a waterside bench at sunset to eat handmade treats and just talk. It was phenomenal, and I had no idea what would happen next.

If I was making a list of things I love in Kamen Rider stories, scenes like this would be in my Top 5. Like, it’s all them sharing their feelings, their fears, getting to really address what their plots have been about. It’s not just random fluff, it’s integral. Even better, it’s got room for a viewer to interpret what’s going on.

The details in this part, again, really fun. Mutsuki’s been clutching Nozomi’s bag of food, symbolic of him holding onto that bit of humanity without really knowing why. He wants to know if Tiger Queen thinks he’s as weak as she said he was, and she tells him that there’s a light still inside him. That should be good news, and I think Tiger Queen admires it, but Mutsuki still sees it as what’s stopping him from getting stronger. But he’s got this food, and it’s been a long day, so they both start eating. Tiger Queen thinks it’s delicious, and Mutsuki says that Nozomi always makes delicious food. And she looks at him, for a second.

And then she stands up, punches him in the face, and runs off to confront Tennouji. I don’t 100% understand why she did that, but I’m okay not knowing. (There’s a reasonable chance we find out definitively in the next episode, and I’m good either way.)

There’s a chance it’s her feeling comfortable with Mutsuki, sharing a snack at dusk, and just hating herself for it. She’s a deadly hunter and now she’s eating snacks with a human? Is this what she wants? To end up as weak as Mutsuki?

Or, there’s a chance that she feels protective of Mutsuki, despite his many (many!) flaws. He’s a nice boy who likes a nice girl, and all of this shit that’s happened to him is covering that up. Better to deck him so she can escape his guardianship, then go confront the asshole behind everything that’s happened to both of them.

Like, I can see it both ways, and I love a scene that’s constructed to do that. If you want to read it as her despising Mutsuki, valid. If you want to read it as her caring a bit for Mutsuki as a pseudo-mentor, equally valid.

Just a really interesting character exploration, filled out with some big plot reveals. I thought this episode totally delivered. Very strong installment.

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Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: The return of the Scissors Undead! Tiger Queen is back in the spotlight! And Mutsuki is possessed by an Undead, but this time it’s a for real problem apparently!

So, what you mean is about them knowing which one of those 2 is worth approaching? That, Hajime seems to be able to be changed while Trial B isn't and better just leave him be? Hirose declared Trial B a fake, though what would Tachibana do if he knew about "Yoshito" being actually Trial B in previous ones (he also went livid when Trial B deals with Hirose).

Then, I wonder again, what if her in the past, was actually just the same as what you think now, still helping people/supporting her friends, just that it was revealed coincidentally her family is related to Undead's invasion, unlike what you declare of her just acting as extension of her family? If her family is related to the root of problems, what actually should be done to make that part not seem alien to you, but obviously, her dealing with the problem that is caused by her family (fighting Undeads)?

It's simple actually, Yoshito originally programs Trial B to protect Hirose, and transfered all his memories into Trial B, but Tennoji then reprograms Trial B to serve Tennoji's own sinister needs, to monitor the fixed Undead battle and remove potential threats. Here Trial B suddenly remembers his original programming and acts on that. Do Hirose get actually to know about that flashback though (Trial B didn't seem to strong enough to narrate)? It seems just like about her emotional ties to her father that Trial B does final good act with his original programming.

There's definitely a scene of Hirose together with the others, like with her deleting the last memory of her family, but here yeah, it was mostly dead silence.... Though sometimes, silence conveyed the scene more strongly, probably they thought that....

Can't say anything about it quite disrupting a more 'important' plot in this episode, but well, iirc, many Rider series contain another less important plot telling in the episodes. Hajime pulls a "family isn't always blood" thing, of him being integrated to there. Hajime's Joker problems probably gave him even more good reasons to bail out (Blade went King in this episode!), but Amane just doesn't want Hajime to go for any reasons, not merely mysterious reasons, she's completely clingy to him.

And... Tiger Undead in reality spends half of her screentime on the show with the corrupted Mutsuki, with him even offering her food, or saving him here. And ironically, for his corruption, having Tiger Undead by his side is one of the things that keeps Mutsuki from fall totally to Spider Undead's grasp. And don't be tempted... like shipping them, Mutsuki already has Nozomi, and she's also the other factor within that.

Hoo boy, this episode. If you liked it, ignore me, I'll just kill the mood, but here we go.

This is the episode that made me not just hate Mutsuki, but nearly made me give up on the later parts of Blade during my first watch.

First off, Nozomi is way too good for him. Either as a friend or a girlfriend, it's absolutely ridiculous what she goes through for someone who, frankly, isn't anywhere near worth it.

Second, we are around 30 episodes in with this constant pedantic, petty, whiny, absolutely droning bullcrap that is Mutsuki's' character arc. And to make it even worse, by this point it's made clear that the Spider Undead has very little influence over the guy, making his actions even worse. His body language, the dialogue from other characters, and his outright lack of traits he had when fully possessed in the early episodes say it all.

He's outright mentally(and physically!) abusive towards someone who's supposed to be someone he cares about and is an all around terrible person, and he outright embraces it because he thinks it makes him cool and "tragic." Again, after 30 episodes of this going nowhere and the show giving me frankly no reason to root for this guy(infact, quite the opposite), I got fed up, and I stopped caring. I know it likely wasn't their intent, but by this point is really came off to me like the show was going "Hey, if someone you know is actively being horrible to you, just wait it out! They'll come around eventually!" Which is, you know, bad advice.

It got the point that I honestly wanted Hikaru to not just punch him, but keep punching him and take the Leangle belt for herself. I've dealt with people like Mutsuki in real life; People who partake in destructive behavior(to themselves and others) solely so they can be(for lack of a better term) "edgy." And hey, if that's what the 2nd writer of Blade was going for with Mutsuki, mission-friggen-accomplished. This guy's' arc really should've ended with Shima.

And we’re back with the RIC. And we’ve got some big ones today.

Evolution Giraffa

An immortal creature who is the ancestor of the giraffa weevil (which is a thing, trust me). A powerful Undead who takes the Battle Fight and its traditions seriously, he desires to eradicate humanity to avenge his loss in the previous Battle Fight. He is armed with a pair of two-bladed swords and is immune to the effects of Rouse Cards. His human form is known as Kanai.

* Suit: Diamond (♦)
* Category: King (K)
* Effect name: EVOLUTION
* Card name: Evolution Giraffa (エボリューション・ギラファ Eboryūshon Girafa)
* Consumption points: EP +4000

https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20121110143139

Titan.


Titan (Mr. Titan)/One-Eyed Titan (タイタン／一つ目タイタン Taitan/Hitotsume Taitan, 1-13): A high-ranking officer of Black Satan. He and General Shadow are rivals. He can assume a human form, turn his scarf into fire in a technique called the Fire Ball Scarf, use a large revolver called the Titan Destruction Gun, and can heat up his body from 80,000 to 240,000 degrees Celsius. He was thrown into the sea by Stronger and destroyed. However, Black Satan performs a ritual that revives Titan into Hundred-Eyed Titan (百目タイタン Hyakume Taitan, 17-23). This form is thirty times more powerful, reta - Wait, this is the wrong guy.


Titan (ティターン Titān), or better known as the Titan Undead is a synthetic Undead created from the Scorpion Undead (right-half) and Chameleon Undead (left) being fused by Hiroshi Tennoji into one monster that had access to their attributes and two Undead Buckles on its belt.

I already talked about the Scorpion card when Leangle debuted, so here’s the Chameleon.

Thief Chameleon.


The Chameleon Undead (カメレオンアンデッド Kamereon Andeddo) is an Undead whose capable of changing itself into the appearance of anyone he sees, complete with their abilities.

* Suit: Heart
* Category: 10
* Ability Name: THIEF
* Card Name: Thief Chameleon (シーフ・カメレオン Shīfu Kamereon)
* Consumption Points: FP 1600

And since no-ones mentioned it, I’ll mention that Kanai is played by Akira Kubodera, fresh from starring as one of the villains in Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon. You probably recognise him as the doctor that diagnosed Akira Date with a brain thing. (But then again, you probably don’t, since that was a bit part).

Tiger Undead mvp of the whole series, glad you agree.

She has been a really, really fun character and I always love seeing her scenes.

Mutsuki is one of those characters that I tend to appreciate as a character - interacting with similar people in real life is often a net negative experience, and he's the type of person I try not to maintain any sort of relationship with. But as a character, he's just so much fun to watch.

Watching the story knock him down a peg and then another peg and then another peg as he continually does not get it and keeps doing the same shit over and over again without getting any sort of positive result only for the story to kick him in the balls again is satisfying.

Though I do also want him to actually experience some character growth and figure out that he's been super shitty to a lot of people, most notably Nozomi. (I would also say Tachibana, but Tachibana sort of has it coming.)

Boy, you spend a workday without reliable internet access (it was up for maybe 15 non-consecutive minutes) and there's so much Kamen Rider to talk about! Let's see what we've got!

Yeah, basically. It's a pretty common Kamen Rider story, the heroes trying to save someone out of misplaced altruism. On the one hand, they're heroes, of course that's what they should do. On the other hand, it leads to (for me) a little bit of frustration when they seem to be making assumptions about other people's motivations and agendas that are massively and obviously misguided. It's nice that Tachibana and Kenzaki want to do something kind for Hirose, but the thing with her dad was not just some minor family drama.

I'm not sure I completely understand the question, but, a small problem with the Hirose/U.N.D.A.D. stuff is that we hadn't really touched on her feelings about her dad's actions in quite a while. It didn't really seem hugely relevant anymore, you know? So it was easier for me to think that, with everything else going on in the show, it wasn't really driving Hirose the way it used to.

I mean, you can say "it's simple", but it actually sounds incredibly convoluted? Like, we've seen U.N.D.A.D. not give a shit about his daughter for eight episodes, and then we find out he was programmed to care about her, and then we find out that he was immediately reprogrammed not to give a shit about her. It's like they wanted a cathartic, sweet moment, but spent eight episodes making it more and more unreasonable until the last minute. That flashback has to tie itself in some dumb knots to create a context for an ending that has both actors trying incredibly to rescue something that the story just never justified to me.

This is why I post this stuff! Why on Earth would I ignore you?!

I think it might to help to imagine what Nozomi's going through. She doesn't know how far gone Mutsuki is, because no one tells her anything. All she knows is that the nice boy that she's been friends with for years is suddenly going through something, and she has no idea what. He'll disappear for weeks at a time, sometimes reappearing in a bad mood, and none of this makes any sense to her. A lot of her story is her trying to understand Mutsuki from next to no information. She just thinks her friend is struggling with something, and she desperately wants to help. From the viewer's perspective, yeah, Mutsuki probably doesn't deserve someone like her. But from her perspective, he clearly needs her help.

And, y'know, that's fair! I would never argue that the show is trying very hard to make Mutsuki a sympathetic character. He's very dedicated to Becoming Stronger in a way that is, at best, laughable. There's not a lot of moments where Mutsuki feels like a character worth caring about.

But that's why I really liked this episode? It feels like Mutsuki seeing his place in the narrative for maybe the first time, and trying to address it. He's so insistent on being strong that he's easily the weakest character on the show, with him terrifying his closest friend. One of the big themes on Blade is how power shouldn't be pursued, only cautiously accepted. Mutsuki gets to be the worst version of himself as a result of pursuing power, and he hasn't even gained anything from it. What does he think about that? What would he do differently? I like the show taking a couple episodes to focus on the most aimless character after dozens of aimless episodes. It's maybe not worth the trip for every viewer, but I haven't gotten sick of his story yet.

Neat, thanks!

It's either her or those guys who put banana filling in takoyaki.

Yeah, I don't think Mutsuki is being protected by the story! The writers don't appear to be endorsing his behavior. He's awful, but the show knows that and is commenting on it. I think that makes it okay!

The thing I'm curious about is how people really don't seem to like Mutsuki, while I'd argue that Tachibana is more frustrating and unlikable? Mutsuki is a moody teeanger who no one likes, but he's been (unless I've forgotten something, and not counting Shima's sacrifice) pretty harmless? I mean, sure, he kidnapped Amane, but she doesn't seem that upset about it. Tachibana, however, has nearly caused the deaths of multiple people on the show, multiple times. Why does Tachibana seem to get a freer pass? Is it because he feels bad about it? That actually makes it worse to me!

Her being out of the loop is part of the problem, yes, but the sheer amount of time is also a huge factor. Even if she doesn't know all the details, by this point the smarter course of action really would be to just cut her losses. It also in no way excuses Mutsuki's' direct actions against her either. There's only so much you can do for a person until you come to realize that, frankly, it's not working out. And trying to force help onto someone who clearly doesn't want it isn't going to solve anything. ESPECIALLY if they refuse to offer any sort of context or consolidation.

I know that might be asking alot for a kid's' show but man.

And I'm glad you're getting something out of it! Truly! But again, 30 episodes of this constant go-nowhere character is in no way entertaining for me. Had Mutsuki getting knocked the hell down happened even 5 episodes earlier, I'd be alot softer on it. But as it stands, yeah, no. Get him out of here. There's a tad bit more to it, but it technically qualifies as spoilers, so, we'll come back to it later, I guess.

Speaking solely for myself here, I actually don't give Tachibana a free pass either. Another reason I don't like Late Blade is that it seemed like the new writer had no idea what to do with Tachibana so he just did Tachibana's' first arc all over again. And while yes, relapses are very much a thing in real life, from a character development standpoint it is really frustrating.

Mutsuki also has most certainly not been harmless. Granted, he didn't cause any direct deaths, IIRC, but ever since "embracing darkness" he's actively been a hindrance to, well, everyone. And all while the other characters talk about how they feel sorry for him. Though granted, maybe that was due to Turn-Up Scrubs, because I could definitely see the other characters simply saying they more pitied him than anything.

When it comes to pitting the two against eachother, I do end up liking Tachibana more, mainly because I actually rather liked his arc during the first half of the show, and felt it came to a proper close. I looked forward to him being a proper supporting character there on, buuuut then we got this, which I already went over. There's a couple other moments too, but again, spoilers. The memes also do alot to help in terms of entertainment factor. Mutsuki's just boring at best and aggravating at worst.

So yeah, I really wouldn't be able to blame anyone who didn't like Tachibana, but for me, he had enough going for him to not totally hate him, just more hate where his story ended up going.

I guess I'm seeing it as a function of her age, as much as anything. She's a teenager, and she's probably known Mutsuki for as far back as she can remember. Him suddenly distancing himself from her, and she's already a very... let's say aggressive person, I don't think she's going to give up on Mutsuki. Should she? Yeah, probably! He sort-of sucks! But I get why she's dogged in her perseverance.

(Now, Dr Ladyfriend, her I don't get why she didn't change the locks to keep Tachibana from getting into her office.)

The thing is, I think the show did a decent job of pushing Mutsuki to the background just as his story was getting repetitive. He's been someone who only gets a random scene every episode since, what, 33 or 34? There really hasn't been anything with him as the main subject for at least a dozen episodes. Mostly he's been in as a mild antagonist, not really anyone that has a visible arc. I'm not arguing that's a good thing, mind, but he's definitely a tertiary character at this stage.

But, like, as an obstacle... he hasn't really been that formidable? Certainly not the apocalyptic terror he was at his introduction. Now he just gets backhanded by Chalice and that's it. He's an annoyance, at best.

Yeah, from the Excite subs, it doesn't seem like they're all that into feeling sorry for Mutsuki. There was a point, around the Shima story, where they were very We Have To Help Mutsuki, but now they're pretty much just Eesh Mutski Amirite. There's more of a sense that what happened to him is tragic, and they'd be more than willing to help him redeem himself, but there's really nothing they can do until he decides to change. I don't know if I'd be quite so willing to forgive him, but I get that Tachibana and Kenzaki would.

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 42

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Mutsuki on a rampage! Tiger Queen at a loss! And a very special guest star arrives to help Mutsuki become a Kamen Rider!

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This is a weird one to talk about, because I feel like I covered a lot of this in the last episode's discussion? It's the second half of a two-parter, and it's pretty much just about Nozomi, Tiger Queen, and Mutsuki. There's a hat-tip to Kotaro's investigation of Tennouji, and a brief fight scene between Chalice and Scissors Undead, but it's a very isolated look at the same three characters as last time.

(Which, man, where was this narrative precision when Hirose needed it? That story couldn't stop tossing in subplots, while this one relegates everyone but the main three subjects, who are all in one plot, to background roles. Hirose deserved better!)

Nozomi's story is probably not going to win over anyone who thinks she's wasting her time on a chode like Mutsuki, but I really loved it. It's just her as a Kamen Rider, right? She is going to save someone, and she won't let her fear or anything else stand in her way. She believes in him, and through her faith she's going to redeem him.

I mean, that moment where she tells Tiger Queen that she isn't afraid? Epic. (She showed up with more treats for Mutsuki to apologize to him for being scared of him trying to scare her!) It's her dedication to her friend as armor, as a light in the darkness. There is good in him, she knows it, and she's going to keep trying to reach him until he reaches back. That's it. Period.

Tiger Queen's story is one I probably shouldn't love. It's her sacrificing herself for Mutsuki's sake, and that can be some loaded storytelling. But it didn't bother me at all. The main reason it worked was because it was about her regaining control over her choices. Tennouji flat out tells her that this Battle Fight is rigged against her. She can either bend the knee to him, the man who has perverted the most important thing in her life, or she can wait to be sealed. There's no victory for her, in terms she understands. So the only thing she can do is set a new term for victory by choosing to seal herself to free Mutsuki from Tennouji's machinations. (She does it by herself! Mutsuki never gets to seal her!)

I think she genuinely cares for Mutsuki. I think she sees in him someone who's boxed in by indecision, someone who feels constrained by binary morality. He's always judging himself, too much one thing, not enough the other. Tiger Queen is someone who never gave a shit what anyone thought. She does whatever she wants, however she wants. She tries to give Mutsuki a chance to find some peace, to be less constrained. She wants him to realize that finding peace is a process, not a goal, but that there's worthiness in the struggle. Accepting what's in you, all of the good and all of the bad, that's the lesson she's trying to teach him.

I also think she's doing it as a huge Eff You to Tennouji. His plan was to use Mutsuki to wreck the other Riders, and she absolutely hates Tennouji, so why not use the life he's rendered pointless to rip Mutsuki from his grasp? Definitely seems like a Two Birds One Stone situation, doesn't it?

But it's not just Tiger Queen giving Mutsuki some added strength, because WAIT WHAT Shima's back! It looks like, thanks to Tachibana's borrowed Absorber and Tiger Queen's sacrifice, the pieces are in place for the Spider Undead to get ejected from Mutsuki's brain and for Mutsuki to finally access Shima's power. It's a fun fight, visually, with the Shima Undead suit switching out with Mutsuki, intermittently. The fight itself is a lot of grappling, but it has a unique hook to it.

So, in the end, Mutsuki seals the Spider Undead and... all is forgiven? I guess that can be problematic, depending on how you feel about Mutsuki. It's certainly a fairly big swing, having everyone take pride in Mutsuki's symbolic vanquishing of the darkness within him. It'd mean more if we weren't just told that the shit Mutsuki had recently gotten up to was pretty much all on him, but, hey, getting monsters from eternity out of people's brains is a positive no matter what. As it is, I never felt like Mutsuki was such a villain that you couldn't chalk most of his I Need To Be Stronger antics as, like, youthful indiscretion. He screwed up, people sacrificed to get him back on track, and now he needs to honor that. Between Nozomi, Tiger Queen, and good ol' Shima (that dude has a serenity that is iconic), I bought Mutsuki's redemption.

As with anything Mutsuki, your mileage may vary!

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Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Kenzaki versus Hajime! Tachibana versus Hajime! It's Rider versus Rider, and I'm not sure I've narrowed this episode description down in any way!

Next time on Kamen Rider Die watches Kamen Rider Blade: Hyper Battle Video time!

This is one I'll probably have more to say about later, but for now, let's just celebrate Mukki's redemption the best way I can think of.

Learning Ondul the Easy WEEEEEEI! (#15)

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It's been a long ride, but we've finally made it to the final installment of Learning Ondul the Easy Way, and who better to close things out with than Mr. Strongest Rider himself, my boy Mukki?

His constant declarations of being the strongest throughout the series, combined with his poor track record in combat after his first few episodes, make him just as much of a punching bag for the fans as the characters in the show, inspiring a lot of laughter in the process.

This moment from episode 42 in particular gets a lot of love, with the line ore wa saikyou da! being Mukki's most memed quote by far, frequently written in Japanese as 俺は最強(笑)だぁ!, with the parenthetical "笑" after saikyou (strongest) being the kanji for laughter, representing, well, you get the idea. It's basically a must whenever bringing up any of Leangle's dubious boasts. Think of it like saying "oh yeah, Leangle is totally the strongest Rider. (*snicker*)"

And unfortunately, that just about covers it for major Blade-related memes I wanted to take a look at. Now, there are countless more minor ones I never touched on, but I think in these 15 lessons, I've covered the best of the best, all-star internet joke material from this show (plus kecchako), and even if you shake your head at this sort of thing, hopefully you at least won't be confused when you see references still being made to these moments years down the line even from right now. Blade is truly the undisputed champion of Kamen Rider memes, and it was a pleasure using this thread as an excuse to explore the adventures of Kenjaki, Dadi, Mukkoro, and, of course, Mukki. We laughed, we learned, and maybe, just maybe, one day we'll even find out why Tachibana-san was watching. But until that day comes, I leave you all with one last gift.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oybP8m5VjY

I appreciated your explanations! +2 Rider Points, and Gentarou Kisaragi applauds your commitment to education. Please adjust your TokuNation scorecard accordingly.

no there's still ONE More tbf it doesn't have to do with Ondul and you literally can't talk about it without spoiling the ending but there is one more also the Gemn master Shin Dan Kuroto would like to have a word with you about being the meme champion also tfw there was a GOD TIER meme video about Blade's memes that I found in 2016 but it got pulled FeelsBadMan

Also I know we're WAY PAST That point in the show but this video's way too good to not post https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGSAnLLzyZs

Damnit it man, I called dibs on this one!

Well screw it, I’m doing it anyway.

The irony surrounding Mutsuki's weak will throughout most of the series despite Leangle being said to be the strongest Rider has been the subject of mockery and parody, particularly within the Japanese fandom. It is mostly defined by a line he says in episode 42 as he battles the Tiger Undead: I am the strongest! (俺は最強だー！ Ore wa saikyō da!)
* Many fans also make fun of Leangle being incapable of transforming into Jack or King forms in the series.


https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/...20191214053451

"You did it Mutsuki! You beat him with your own power!"

Except that he like, didn't. In nearly any sense of the statement.

Yeah, the resolution to the Mutsuki plot and how it intertwines with Tiger Queen deciding to give Tennoji a big "screw you, I make my own destiny" and how Shima's sacrifice finally pays off, it all hit home for me. I was always a fan of Spider-Man 3 Mutsuki just because of how pathetic he was, but there was always a part of me hoping for his redemption, his freedom from the corruption keeping him down. A kid doesn't suddenly start putting spider-webs everywhere without outside influence, you know?

But yeah, I'd heard mixed things about Mustuki, but none of them really wrung true. It just works for me, maybe not in the way that's intentional - we probably weren't meant to find his attempts at being "Saikyou-da!" so lame and funny - but I like him.

I didn't really care for the climax of this episode. I'm actually in full agreement with you about the Tiger Undead's perspective from this, how this is her way of fighting back in this rigged game, and she gets to help out this weird spider boy at the same time. It's probably the best way for her character to head out!

My issue is with Mutsuki, and maybe this is just me expecting something different from what the show was ultimately heading towards. All that time spent with Mutsuki pursuing strength above all else, and then repeatedly either getting beaten down or being forcibly reminded that he does still have attachments (well, one in the form of Nozomi) that make him 'weak', I thought it was all headed towards him finally realising that no, this path he's on does not have any good end for him and he goes back to being a good guy.

For them to instead, in the solution, to paint it all as being the Category King's influence, and that getting rid of that alone is enough to fix everything... It's incredibly lame! It's the least compelling decision they could have made. I know obviously he's always been 'possessed' to some extent, but I was most intrigued by his character when they implied that the Undead's influence was just drawing out his latent dark desires to the surface.

So he embraced that darkness, it did nothing good for him, and so then he needs to choose to push it back, and does so with some extra help from Tiger and Shima . As is though, I think he feels fairly uninvolved in how his own plot wraps up.

Also it was a while ago by now, but episode 40 is one that sticks out in my mind among Blade just for how all four riders came together to kick butt in that climax. Was literally the only thing I remembered as opposed to all that robot dad stuff. It's kinda like how for a long time, I remembered episode 40 of Faiz ending with all three Riders transforming to the theme song but nothing else about it.

Before I go through your commentary on the next ep - for me, personally, I love watching both Tachibana and Mutsuki, because they are both such trash fires. I can absolutely see where you were frustrated with Tachibana repeating the same asininity again (and the story was calling him out on it a little less than it does Mutsuki, I think), but since I actively enjoy yelling at characters for doing stupid shit, I'm more willing to forgive the narrative.

Not the character. Trash fires, both of them, honestly. But I do hope for character growth.

I do want to know why Team Blade apparently keeps giving Tachibana a pass, tho.

Edit: I also had positive feelings about Mutsuki's redemption arc - I don't think it's that he has no culpability in his terrible behavior throughout the course of the series. He's been an idiot teenager doing stupid shit. The aforementioned trash fire. And along came the Spider Undead, telling him all the things he wanted to hear about how to Be Awesome, and he ate it up.

His conversation with Shima and Tiger Queen, the moment in which he figures out that he's maybe not gone about this the right way? I kind of love it. He's still listening to Other People, but he's listening to people who have consistently demonstrated that they care about him.

It does crack me the fuck up that when he feels guilty about Tiger Queen getting sealed, he goes to Tachibana for the emotional resolution.

But overall, I think this is where he does show character growth. And I am here for it.

As much as I crap on Leangle for his lack of actual upgrades, I will point out that he was included in his video of “4th Riders Final Forms”. Opinions on it are welcome.

https://youtu.be/Ns9f50yfkcM

Mutsuki for me really was a case of This Just Keeps Going. I didn't necessarily dislike any particular part of his story, but it was just... too long? The path to his rejecting the Spider Undead literally took up more than half the series and when it looks like he's going to turn around so many times it just got really frustrating. Like, Shima sacrificed himself to help fix it; and nothing happened and it was barely even mentioned. I'm not even saying it should have been a quick fix but it didn't even slightly help! He seemed to get worse! So at this point the only emotion I was able to muster was "good god, finally."

same

Alright, so, I realized immediately that if I just try and write a post about why I liked episode 42 of Blade, it'd come out exactly the same as my post about why I loved episode 15 of Blade, so you know what? Let's just lean into that.

Take a Rider who's been known to be rather obstinate, more than a little insecure...

https://i.imgur.com/6xX86nGl.png
https://i.imgur.com/yECKiQ6l.png

...and often just plain silly...

https://i.imgur.com/oDLVPFWl.png
https://i.imgur.com/PSMQLKll.png

...and then give him one moment. One perfect, beautiful moment where he finally throws aside his delusions to take some real control of his life:

https://i.imgur.com/pj41Zyal.png

Congratulations, Blade. You've somehow made me a Leangle fan.

The first time around, at least, I would've been more than ready to agree with the problems people lay out with Mukki's development over the course of the series, but I simply can't deny that having him literally wrestle with his demons, culminating in this wimpy, unlikable teenager dramatically posing with a sword in front of a classic toku napalm explosion... it just worked for me. I recall being pretty done with the guy after Shima got sealed, but right there, watching this episode for the first time, I couldn't help but root for him. My heart isn't made out of stone. For once in his life, Mukki was genuinely cool, and I was happy to see him succeed. That's all there is to it.

The episode on the whole is maybe not quite on the same level as episode 15, but it's still a darn good one with a lot of touches that I love. One that jumped out at me skimming back through it to make this post is that the very last line of the episode is Mutsuki wishing he had been stronger. It's a moment of vulnerability, and an admittance of weakness, from someone who up until just a little bit ago would do anything before admitting he has faults. I really can't think of a better way to cement the growth he had here than by having him say the exact opposite of his usual "catchphrase". Just a really nice bit of writing, I think.

Ever since then, I've only come more and more around to his character, to the point where I'm tempted to throw around words like "underrated". He's a good kid, for a bad kid!

Also, while I'm on this subject, I might as well mention the video that I think was legitimately the point of no return in making me a mostly unironic Mukki fan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUUex8QToC4

I'd say this will be lost on anyone who can't speak or read Japanese, but I'm pretty sure I barely understood anything the first couple times, so I don't know. I'm mostly sharing it because A) it's a masterpiece, and B) it balances out the largely Mukki-less video I shared before this.

Friends, today was the day that just wouldn't let up. Work from hell to breakfast, and it's only now that I got a minute to do what I wanted to do for hours and hours, which is talk about Kamen Rider. I'm sorry this is so late! I'm still going to do the HBV after this because I need to!

In fairness, Mutsuki technically defeated the Spider Undead using cards won through combat, which is pretty much the definition of Your Own Power on this show.

Still, I take your point. There are some very... iffy interpretations of what Mutsuki's accomplished here, and Tachibana and Kenzaki are maybe letting their relief (Oh Thank God I Think Mutsuki Is Finally Fixed) amplify their praise. A simple Good Job might've sufficed, but they went and made it weird. To give them a little credit, I don't think they had anything prepared for this eventuality! It was not something they were counting on!

He's so bad at being bad that it's adorable.

I'm not sure the show is trying to say that getting rid of the Spider Undead is what makes Mutsuki better, it's that Mutsuki (through Shima and Tiger Queen) got better, so he could then defeat the Spider Undead. I definitely took it as him figuring out that where he was at wasn't where he wanted to be, like you're suggesting.

Kenzaki is literally the only Rider on this show capable of emotionally supporting other people in a healthy way, and that dude is way overworked.

I guess Mutsuki's plotline didn't really bother me, length-wise, because it was so backgrounded for so long? Tachibana's arcs, they frequently ate up way more screentime, and that could become a slog. Mutsuki, it was just, like, He's A Surly Club-Owner Now, and that's just his status quo for a dozen episodes. Them not progressing it... it's maybe why I was able to still give a shit about Mutsuki for so long?

The "I wish I was stronger" bit at the end, it's like, that's his character growth. He doesn't want to be stronger for himself, he wants to be stronger for the people who cared about him so much they sacrificed their lives. He's learned the lessons they were trying to teach him, and he gets to express real regret... all while Hajime watches awkwardly from a middle distance.

Mutsuki finally got the tragic backstory he always wanted!

In retrospect it really is interesting that the people who are growing and changing are those around Kenzaki than Kenzaki himself.

I think he is, it's just harder to see because the waveform of his personality doesn't oscillate nearly as much as the other three. In other words, Kenzaki doesn't need to change and grow as much as Tachibana or Mutsuki, so it doesn't seem like he is. He's already a very sweet boy!

KAMEN RIDER BLADE - HYPER BATTLE VIDEO

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: It's Blade versus Blade, as Tachibana and Mutsuki are no help! Hajime holds the key to victory! And Kotaro basically reads out this page from the Wiki!

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

It's cute! It's a cute little video.

I mean, boy, not that much to talk about in this one, really. It's very very about explaining how all the trading card powers work. That, and Kotaro s l o w l y r e a d i n g t h e w o r d s h e i s t y p i n g, was about 80% of this special. I don't know why they went that way with this? As a promotional tool, is it really that useful to explain the superhero rules for a series that's ending in seven episodes? Doesn't strike me as a worthwhile use of a 10-minute video.

The gags in this are funny, though. Of course Mutsuki screws up and attacks the wrong Blade, and of course Tachibana gets all Let Me Take It From Here and screws up equally bad. They're hopeless, these other Riders. It's fitting that the only one who's able to really see Kenzaki is Hajime, and is the only Rider who can tell which Blade is real and which is THE ONE OBVIOUSLY WEARING A SCARF.

(I actually think the scarf thing is hysterical. I love stories where characters can't tell which is the duplicate during incredibly obvious switcheroos. That gag always, always lands with me. Tachibana and Mutsuki being both oblivious and dangerous? Not exactly noncanonical!)

Hajime's answer for how he could pick out the real Kamen Rider Blade is that, when he shouted out "Blade", the U.N.D.E.A.D. turned to the sound a second faster than Kenzaki. It's a joke, Kenzaki Is So Slow, ha ha, sure. It's just, I don't think that's it? Hajime doesn't shout "Kenzaki", he shouts "Blade". The robot probably thinks of itself at that point as Blade, while (to paraphrase Inoue) Kenzaki is Kenzaki. I think Hajime knew that, and knew that Kenzaki would turn slower to being called Blade than he would being called Kenzaki. Hajime gets that very sweet boy!

Other than that, it's a trifle. Fun fights between Blade and Blade With New Scarf, but that's about it. A whole whole lot of explaining the cards. Weird choice, but it was still fun.

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

I might be thinking of a different thing and I hope I'm not, but my favourite bit of this video is when the question is brought up whether Tachibana and Mutsuki might be fakes too. Then when the two of them start doing their usual moping about themselves, Kenzaki very happily declares that must mean they're the real deal.

HBVs are always fun, and Blade's' is no exception.

It's not this one, unfortunately. The final Tachibana/Mutsuki gag in this one is them both arguing about whose borrowed cards most contributed to Blade's victory. There's some funny Very Broad Physical Acting in the background of one shot by Tachibana, as he's trying to one-up a teenager.

They are fun! I wouldn't put this one on the level of, say, Faiz, but it's still an enjoyable ten minutes.

Oh whoops! I now remember what I was actually thinking of, my bad. Perhaps... I was actually the fake Blade all along.

I knew it! Still, that's a nice scarf.

Gonna spoil it for you.










I'm sorry Die, but no HBV is on the level of Faiz. It's just too good.

The Wizard and Fourze ones come pretty close, though. My memory is nowhere, so there could be some great ones I don't recall, but I think those three are probably going to be at that God Tier for me.

Also as we're approaching the endgame of the show I feel like I have to give a semi fair warning Blade's ending is BY FAR the most divisive ending the franchise has put out you either love it or hate it and there's no in between tonally speaking I woukldn't say it's a downer ending though I can see why people would view it as such, (it's sorta like Ex-Aid's ending in the sense that s--t has consequences big time)but don't go in expecting a happy ending for everyone. I like how the ending actually has consequences and doesn't just reset everything to give everyone a happy ending(glaring right at Ryuki, Build, and Zi-O here) also I would have posted this on the penultimate episode but I don't think I can do it without making what happens obvious and there's no segway episode from one arc to the next it's literally 1 arc ends and another begins that same episode. TLDR the 2 things Blade is the most famous/infamous for is having the memes and the most divisive (closest to depressing) ending in the franchise

EDIT This is criticizing Build but AT LEAST Ryuki and Zi-O had narrative reasons for resetting everything beyond just giving everyone a happy ending (Ryuki was pointless violence/fighting/death are pointless each, and in Zi-O I'm told it's that we choose our futures)

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 43

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: It's the Hyper Battle Video, but played straight! A scheme by Tennouji forces Rider to fight Rider! And, uh, "forces", I guess, because we're talking about the cast of this show!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade43a.png

hi i'm writing this very late at night slash early in the morning so let's see how much sense this makes

I thought this worked pretty well as an epilogue for Mutsuki's redemption, but it still has its flaws. Very enjoyable, overall, though.

Crafting a story where Mutsuki wonders if he's strong enough to fight as a Kamen Rider after all of his weakness, and making the dilemma that (by all appearances) Kenzaki and Tachibana have been poisoned by Titan and are being ruled by the urges of an Undead... I like that idea! It's a little on the nose, but at least it's clear what the stakes are, and why the story's being told. This thing locked in for me fairly quickly.

Kenzaki and Tachibana's actors do an excellent job of selling the menace of their evil selves. Kenzaki, in particular, is terrifyingly effective. (I now get why he was brought back as the "villain" for that Ex-Aid Net Movie thing!) It's more than just the usual Happy-Go-Lucky Character Stops Smiling, though. There's a predatory look in his eyes, a creepiness to his stare. The shot where he pushes the fork through the eyes of the drawing of Hajime! So perfect! Unlike Mutsuki's freakout from his poisoning, this is less Feral Beast and more The Killer Is Inside The House.

And, while I really like that the type of menace is different than Mutsuki's story from last episode, the differences made it clear about halfway through that this isn't a poisoning, it's a switcheroo. Titan (presumably) is pretending to be Kenzaki or Blade or Tachibana or Garren, creating the kind of heroic misunderstanding that has Chalice and Leangle trying to almost murder their friends for their own good. (The big giveaway is the sound effect when Tachibana turns into Garren and attacks Hajime. It's the goopy Undead noise, not the Henshin noise.) And I'm okay with it not being the same gimmick as the last story! That's great!

Except, the Hyper Battle Video sort-of just did a switcheroo story, and they did it as a joke. It's... this one definitely comes off a little less effective by comparison.

It's not bad, though! Honestly! I like how much emphasis is being put on Mutsuki maybe not feeling super proud of himself after twenty or thirty episodes of hurting everyone around him because he was too weak to feel weak. It adds weight to Mutsuki's redemption that, while Tachibana and Kenzaki hilariously don't hold multiple murder attempts against Mutsuki, Mutsuki himself feels guilty about it. Or, it's guilt, but it's also this fear of relapse? A lot of Mutsuki's storyline was about addiction, about needing power because power blocked out his sadness, his weakness, his negative thoughts. There's a reasonable fear he has that, by continuing to fight as Leangle, maybe he'll fall back into those destructive thoughts and habits. It's a very thoughtful thing for the show to bring up, to give Mutsuki some conflicted feelings about being a Rider. God knows Tachibana doesn't seem to get hung up on continuous failures!

i don't know that's all i got it's 1:16am i'll try and get more into the next episode maybe good night

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade43b.png

Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: It's all about the thing from this episode I totally forgot to talk about! The Joker inside Hajime isn't sealed, and that's bad news for Hajime and everyone who cares about him! I'll try and remember to talk about it next time!

Thanks! This is... maybe a little more than I wanted to know, but I appreciate your feelings about the ending. There'll definitely be a lot of space after the ending to talk about how it all worked out. It's maybe a week away!

Oh no wonder I misremembered. There were multiple instances of evil dopplegangers going on! Combined with that switcheroo with Taiyaki Master, it's becoming like a trademark of this series

There'a no need to give warnings or hints about the ending (especially when the first post specifically asks for no spoilers?). Just let Die see it as it comes.