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.