Hi, hello, I'm still thinking about this part.

I'm coming around a bit on it, and I'm not sure how much is me digging out what's on the screen, versus me projecting my headcanon onto a plot. Either way, here's where I'm at.

It's Tachibana leaving the puzzle piece for Dr Ladyfriend, I think. That's the key. He leaves the puzzle piece because that part of his life is done. He's not planning on seeing her ever again. That was someone who meant the world to Tachibana, but now he's just Garren.

Because, see, Garren is powerful, fearless, deadly. Tachibana was weak, cowardly, broken. Now that he's had a taste of what Garren can truly be, he can't bear living as Tachibana. He doesn't see a way to have what Tachibana had without being diminished. He'd rather be alone and powerful than loved and weak.

It's a version of the story that makes Tachibana more responsible for his circumstances, and that makes me more invested in his arc. Again, not sure if I'm reading too much into it, but that's how I'm thinking about it right now.

Tachibana likes the drugs but the drugs don't like him.

And the Undead Information Kiosk is once more open for business.

Beat Lion

An Undead working for Isaka, who possesses powerful punching abilities.

* Suit: Spade
* Category: 3
* Effect Name: BEAT
* Card Name: Beat Lion (ビート・ライオン Bīto Raion)
* Consumption Points: FP 600

And for the memes, we’ll let’s just say that a character that first appears in this episode is at the centre of a meme not for a specific scene, but for his entire screen time.

I mean, partially it's Tachibana getting that nice steroid juice, but also, I think you're right? Part of him does find it liberating to no longer be scared, to be able to fight as Garren again without lasting five minutes. And if that means no longer eating puzzle pieces, so be it.

Either romanization is absolutely acceptable. There are a couple of different ways to romanize some of the hiragana/katakana, and people will argue based on what reason they pick for the romanization they're using, but they're all basically correct. The M vs N debate is one that I used to see people debate the most.

Re: the actual episode currently being discussed :lol The Spider Undead freaks me out SO MUCH, oh my god. I literally have occasional recurring nightmares about giant purple and green spiders. But it is in fact a banger of an episode :D

Edit: Oh! This was the episode where Kenzaki rescued the high school kid in the storm drain and was all Smiling Mysterious Kamen Rider Urban Legend! I LOVED that scene :D

I'm not sure he even does like the drugs? There's not much about Tachibana I'd call "happy" right now, you know? Like, I think part of his arc right now is convincing himself that this is what he's supposed to do, even if it's making him miserable. He's wrapped his self-image so thoroughly in Not A Coward that he's actually suffering more now than when he was a coward.

Excited to see more of Leangle, if I've cracked your code.

But now he's regurgitating them and leaving them for women to find as a way of connecting with them emotionally, which is much much worse.

They did a hell of a job on Spider Monster's suit. Not to trigger you or anything, but, those grasping legs behind the head, those three light-up eyes... really great suit!

And, yeah, fun scene with Kenzaki getting to be the successful hero. He's so happy to be helping people! And he's the only Kamen Rider on this show who smiles! At least at times besides when he's threatening to kill people or faking his way through an anxiety attack!

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 14

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Garren defeats the Category Ace, but is defeated by Trenchcoat Mastermind! Kenzaki and Hajime spend some quality time in the woods! And Dr Ladyfriend dies because she finished the puzzle that represented death!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade14a.png

There's a pretty even split in this story: one-half a Tachibana story, one-half an Everybody Else story. Can you guess which one I preferred?

The Tachibana story is definitely the bigger deal, so let's tackle that one first.

I didn't love it!

I'm struggling to get Tachibana's entire story in my head. I'll have an episode where I can see the arc of it, understand the psychology underpinning it, and then the next episode the show is like Nope Here's His Actual Deal. Like, thought I eventually got a handle on it from last time, where he's so committed to being strong that he can't do anything but Be Strong. It's not a thing that gives him joy, it's a thing he can't stop doing. In this episode, though, he's super excited to be strong enough to die historic on the Kamen Road or whatever, and it's giving him a bone-deep contentment that nothing else can match. And, I want to say he's lying about it. I want to say that's all bullshit he's spewing at Dr Ladyfriend when she's begging him to be weak and boring. (I'm paraphrasing, but her pitch is... it's a little dull? He's telling her he wants his life and death to mean something, and she's putting in a good word for bland domesticity with a woman who'd give up her medical career to sit around with Tachibana. I'm not sure which of them is more deranged!) But, like, he is fully, actively into leaving her behind and kicking Undead ass.

Which he does! With the power of positive thinking (and gallons of mind-bending prehistoric psychotropics), Garren defeats the Spider Monster and seals a Category Ace. It's a pretty big checkmark in the column of Let Weird Scientists Do Weird Science To Your Emotions, if I'm being honest.

But then Tachibana has a change of heart, and... man, I'm just not seeing it? He thinks back to Dr Ladyfriend begging him to be less awesome and powerful (again, paraphrasing), and he decides that he can't give Trenchcoat Mastermind an Ace that could be made to power a new Rider. He has to fight against the man who brought him back from pain and despair, because there shouldn't be any more Riders. Because being a Rider is a horrible, dangerous burden. I... what?!

Tachibana has spent every minute of this episode up until this turn saying (and thinking!) that he loves having this power, that he won't give it up for anything. And then he does precisely that to stop a thing that everyone told him about and he completely didn't care about for the last few episodes. I don't... DOES HE CARE ABOUT BEING POWERFUL OR NOT, SHOW?!

Like, I'm totally okay with Tachibana changing his mind and spurning Trenchcoat Mastermind. I just don't understand why he did it now, for these reasons. The timing seems pacing-defined, as in I Guess We Should Do This Now, and the reasoning is so unsupported by the text as to be completely invented for this scene. They might as well have said he wouldn't give the Category Ace to Trenchcoat because it was too far of a walk to hand it to him.

If the show is trying to say he doesn't care about power anymore, I need to have a bigger reason than yet another bland appeal by Dr Ladyfriend. If the show is saying he never really cared about power, there's too much internal monologue and external dialogue to support that. If the show is saying he does still care about power, then I can't imagine why he'd give it up now, for these reasons.

But, hey, we're lucky in that that's only half of the episode.

I liked the other half a lot!

It's a lower-key story, which is nice. It's small. It's mostly just Hajime and Kenzaki, as Kenzaki nurses him back to health. There's a sweetness, because Kenzaki is a sweet boy. He's attentive and considerate, but he's also inquisitive. He wants to know more about Hajime, wants to understand him. Hajime's grumpy about it, but he's also a little confused by it. He still doesn't really know how to let people in, and he's not in a position to run away from Kenzaki like he did from Haruka and Amane. That gives Kenzaki a little time to wear Hajime down, get him to stop being quite so monosyllabic and resentful. (I mean, he's not not resentful. He's still Hajime.)

Eventually Kotaro and Hirose show up, and... Kotaro actually makes some good points? He doesn't want Hajime anywhere near Haruka and Amane, no matter how different Kenzaki claims he is. Kotaro mentions all of the weird stuff that's happened around them recently, and, yeah, that stuff was all Hajime's fault! Monsters are definitely using Haruka and Amane to get to Chalice, as witnessed by this episode's subplot of Amane and Haruka being kidnapped by a monster to get to Chalice. Kotaro's being a small amount of mean about it, but he isn't even a little wrong!

Hajime heals up enough to leave, and there's a cute moment where Kenzaki wants to ask him to team-up. He can't even get the request out, though, because he knows it isn't going to happen right now. The look on Hajime's face is all Time And Place My Dude. This is not someone who is looking to join Team Blade today. But, there's an agreement that Kenzaki is a good person, and Hajime owes him. It's not a friendship, but there's a decent chance that Hajime won't murder Kenzaki now. It's progress!

So, that's our episode. Did the Tachibana turn in this one (his fourth or fifth turn to date) work for you? It didn't feel out-of-character to me, so much as it felt like maybe I've been getting his character wrong all this time. I'd love to hear other people's takes!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade14b.png

Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Tachibana wants revenge for the death of Dr Ladyfriend! Amane and Haruka are still being menaced by a monster! And there's a brand-new Driver!

It's said there though sempai is the (flawed) translation of senpai because of the Japanese's pronounciation. It should be senpai.

There's also a part where his dad said that he can't confide to anyone, but he confides with someone like Hajime.

That'd mean the former one as the answer then.

Well, the exposition doesn't matter unless characters are invested part, it's to you but doesn't mean others are going to follow this way, or (god help) that others are also forced to think that way.... such as the show itself ("show needs to understand"). Besides, for sure Kenzaki is central on this one with him affecting others. And also, the show being literally all about the main protagonist can lead to them getting irk from the audience actually, for hogging the spotlight from the other "potentially more interesting" characters.

So this is the part where Kenzaki finally rubs on Hajime? Where Hajime informs him about the current situation of Category Ace, and that Kenzaki's vow to protect people, which includes people Hajime cares about, is the one that rubs on him? And in inverse, now Kotaro is the one getting skeptical to Hajime, despite him the one informing to Kenzaki before that he had soft spot for Amane and Haruka.

Well, it's Tachibana's fault to send them to this state, as they (each one of them) already provided a solution for Tachibana that he chose to ignore. So what you're talking about Tachibana's instability coming from CBD oil here, is that, this is quite a shortcut to send Tachibana into that position instead of doing it the more natural way?

Which serves to hurt Hajime when he saw them doing this.

Oh is it like that? I thought by the sub saying Isaka (his name is mentioned here) to "dump them", I caught that as him disposing them as in killing them as they're no longer useful to them, which is seen in multiple villains that kill those that outlived their usefulness. BTW, for him not going outright bloodshed here, I'd say decent isn't the right word, that word applies to any normal people that isn't a pain in the ass. It'd mean for now, he has a sliver of redeeming qualities, not "decent".

Blade's super speed and the kick shouldn't be separated (speed only to move), the speed can increase the momentum in his kick! Also for Garren's, that caught me off guard, I thought that Garren was trying to hit both Chalice and Isaka with the Rider Dropkick but actually no.

And we’re back with the Undead Information Kiosk.

Float Dragonfly.

An undead who can release Dragonflies and flies. It possesses incredible flying abilities.

* Suit: Heart
* Category: 4
* Effect Name: FLOAT
* Card Name: Float Dragonfly (フロート・ドラゴンフライ Furōto Doragonfurai)
* Consumption Points: FP 1000

Next time, there’s no new Undead, but we get to see how Sakuya is taking his girlfriend’s death. And I’ll be spending my time guessing what names Bandai comes up with for Saber’s legend rider items (Zero-One’s is called “Hiden’s Hidden Story”, Vulcan and Valkyrie have one called “The A.I.M.S Animal File” and the show’s villains have published “Metsuboujinrai Monsters”).

:lol :lol :lol it IS a great suit, it really really is, it might be the best Undead suit on the show. Which is why it is so horrifying, lol


It is possible that Tachibana's motivation involves more of a Do As I Say Not As I Do type of mentality; just because he's finally doing his job as a Rider well and not about to implode in a ball of anxiety doesn't mean he wants it for someone else. Leave the innocents alone, they don't need to suffer, no one else needs to be miserable (and as you noted, he doesn't exactly seem entirely happy).

There is also a possibility that he doesn't want to share being a Rider with someone new, or that the prospect of another Rider under Isaka's control is something dangerous, and some remnant of a conscience thinks this is a Bad Idea. Isaka, for all that he is surprisingly humane, is still shady AF.

None of this is really textually supported.

I feel like a lot of Tachibana's story has been a Your Mileage May Vary type of situation.
https://i.imgur.com/uIoNnX0.jpg

(in other news, wow, I have an absolutely obscene number of 100x100 livejournal-sized Blade icons)

Kotaro is absolutely not wrong, and I feel for him. Also for his sister, and Amane, and Hajime. I like this storyline quite a bit, which isn't adding much of value to the discussion, haha. Same goes for Hajime and Kenzaki and their new understanding. They've come so far! Look how cute they are!

I think the way I read it is that Tachibana finally realised that, with his last bit of normal human-mind that BOARD didn't beat out of him during basic training, maybe dousing himself in seaweed drugs is messing with his mind, and that might not be a good thing, especially when the only person who he might have let close is willing to go full domestic bliss just to convince him to change. As much as Tachibana is a selfish semi-coward who wants to be strong, there's still some part of him that cares for other people, and while he might have made some mistakes that make him scared to listen, his moral core is in there somwhere.

Of course, being Tachibana, he does it at the worst possible time, but hey, he's trying!

Thanks for the insights! I'm glad other folks were able to pull out some details that make the story work. While I normally love when stories have additional layers you can read into them, I sort-of hated how this one needed the viewer to add those additional layers in order to make the story work at all.

I guess, for me, the problem is that the things Tachibana is saying aren't really motivations drawn from the character over the last dozen episodes, they're motivations that allow for a face turn at that point in the story.

Like, Tachibana's thing about how being a Rider is a weight no one should have to bear... that's a very Kamen Rider thing to say! It's just, it's a Kamen Rider Ryuki thing to say, and this is Blade. There really hasn't been any time spent on this show dramatizing the weight of service inherent in being a Kamen Rider. Kenzaki doesn't seem especially burdened (I mean, he's only been doing this for about five months, counting his two months of training, but still), and Hajime's story is so far outside of Tachibana's concerns that... I mean, there's been not really anything in this story that lays the groundwork for that motivation. Mostly because all of Tachibana's problems are brought on by Tachibana, not by being a Rider!

Him saying that he has to stop Trenchcoat to prevent other people from carrying the weight of being a Rider... it's like if he'd said he had to stop Trenchcoat to protect people's smiles. It's a very Kamen Rider motivation, but it's never been shown to be a Tachibana motivation.

The other weird thing about all of this, if Tachibana's doing any of this to protect future Riders... what? Tachibana has spent the majority of this series kicking the shit out of Blade, and last episode he Burning Divided Chalice right into a goddamn ravine. I'm not sure being a Rider is really the greatest threat to Riders, Tachibana! Pretty sure it's Garren!

Sure! That's why I specifically said that it didn't literally need to be all about the protagonist, but that the other characters' journeys need to be saying something about the protagonist. Hajime's story (for example) has a value if it's reflecting something about Kenzaki, or showing us something that affects Kenzaki. It doesn't need to feature Kenzaki prominently in order to do that.

Yeah, but the next episode (I think?) fills it in more, makes it more of a conscious decision by Tachibana. That made it work better for me.

Thanks, as always! Good luck on Saber speculation!

Though others have stated that Tachibana still has his moral code somewhere (well, I mean, anti-hero is another type of hero, they still had to have some good, either in actions or characterization), I think, it can also be this. Tachibana wants power, to feel powerful, not to let himself covered by fear anymore, probably coming from how the current monsters are stronger. Isaka wants to use the sealed Ace to power up a new Rider, but obviously, Tachibana won't give the card to him, he's probably doing things under Isaka under... facade? Other than what others mentioned, probably it's also because as I said above, Tachibana wants power and, therefore he wants to keep the powerful Ace card for himself and not for other Riders (therefore him keeping the card is a form of him caring about power)? I guess, Blade hasn't had any effective therapist for people like him yet here, with all his terrible decisions he made. And for the science, reminder that in toku, science is a form of almost everything creation, it's the other most important asset other than magic/fantasy, though as others have noted, it's like a drug effect on Tachibana. Though what does Sayoko truly see in this crazy guy with jerk issues....

Hajime realizes that Kenzaki is the compassionate human being that is ideal to confide in... perhaps. Though Kenzaki has more anger issues compared to his counterparts, and that he also made the worst accusations about him before like him doing the most depraved things as high leveled Undead. Well, it's still far cry for Hajime here to geuninely thank him. And Kenzaki's cooking getting proper love (so Rider protagonists are good cooks? Like Shouichi, Shinji, before).

Kotaro here reminds me of Jin, with the rejection of someone that is not human and blaming them for the situations others are put through. And this is the irony where the role is totally reversed that Kotaro now shows vehement hatred for Hajime, while Kenzaki defends him that he saved Amane....

In a metatextual sense, sometimes I get the feeling the writer(s) forgot about this and just sort of went, Well it's thematically appropriate. Which is not great writing. I don't feel like you're wrong about any of this.

Tho as far as Blade and the Burden Of A Rider bit goes - did Kenzaki complain about how low his salary was in the pilot? I forget. It's a very uniquely Blade complaint with regard to Why It's Hard To Be A Kamen Rider. (Also it doesn't apply to Isaka's potential new Rider, does it, not if all the Board employees were murdered and we have seen them do Nothing ever since; even if Isaka is more humane than most villains, I still don't get the sense that he would be planning on paying his new Rider. ...would that be the best or the worst unpaid internship ever.)

:lol If I argue that this just loops around to Tachibana not wanting to hand another axe-crazy Rider over to Isaka on the grounds that he's bad enough on his own and there doesn't need to be another one of him, does that hold any water? Or that he's protecting poor innocent civilians from the ass-kicking he will have to do to them if they put on a suit of armor? (I'm pretty sure it does not :D ) But I do want you to know that when I read this paragraph I laughed loud enough that the dog gave me a Very Concerned Look and ran across the room to leap right onto my chest. (She's a v small dog. It was only slightly painful :lol )

I guess? There's definitely a lot of things it could be, but I think it's problematic for the show that there's nothing it clearly is.

I'm not sure I can see Tachibana playing Trenchcoat, since he's done every other thing he was told, up to and including fighting Blade on multiple occasions. (He almost killed Chalice, but he probably would've done that anyway.) If he is working against him to obtain the Ace, it's not anything the show even teases beforehand.

Even the drug aftereffects... the show is pretty all over the place with regard to how in-control Tachibana is. There are times where he seems to contemplate what he's doing, and times where he is vocally supporting taking drugs to be powerful.

There doesn't seem to be any clarity to what exactly is motivating Tachibana in a macro sense, and I think the show pays for it with his turn in this episode.

Yeah! It's pretty heroic to be able to take of others, and that can easily take the form of a home-cooked meal.

Sure, they're both being very judgmental of Hajime for others' actions against him, but I feel like Kotaro has a bit more justification. Jin was putting all of his losses on Hajime, while Kotaro is trying to keep his relatives safe. He's not... Kotaro's not being very cool, but he's got a reason for being so uncool to Hajime.

I'm pretty sure Trenchcoat is funnelling any profits from his mad science into a contract for that limo. HE CAN FLY! Why does he need a limo?! Although, no one needs a limo, you want a limo.

Yeah, pretty much every Rider in this series is dead broke. Tachibana was sleeping at Dr Ladyfriend's office for "comfort", but after obliterating BOARD, I'm not sure he had anywhere else to stay. Also, Dr Ladyfriend's office got exploded and she died... and Trenchcoat ain't gonna let him sleep in that goo bath anymore, so he's totally homeless. Kenzaki got kicked out of his apartment for not paying rent while he was at Rider Training Camp, so I'm not sure if it's low-pay or just Kenzaki Forgetfulness. Chalice's whole story now is that he has nowhere to go.

I'd joke about them all selling out as Riders For Hire, but that's just Birth, isn't it?

"I can't let you have this Ace! I'm already so worn out from beating the living hell out of two Riders, I can't deal with a third. My burden is too great!"

I think to some extent, the show might've deliberately been aiming for having Tachibana's decision-making be messy on account him being, you know, a mess, especially at this point, but I can't argue too hard if you tell me that makes it harder to vibe with that plotline at the moment. I will say two things though:

- I'd imagine Tachibana is specifically referring to the burden of being a Rider working under Isaka's foot, like he is, and I think it's more than evident a huge part of Tachibana considers the state he's in a sort of prison he's all but given up on escaping. While it's hard to determine when Tachibana is being honest with himself and when he's not, he lays out to Sayoko in no uncertain terms that he likes getting hopped up on seaweed and fighting because it lets him forget.

- Which brings me to point two, that in the scene where he tells Isaka he won't give him the card, Isaka shortly afterwards points out that Tachibana's current dosage is wearing off, which would mean he's logically going to be sober enough to have trouble shutting up the part of him that knows how much he hates all of this.

Hmm.

Hmmmmmm.

Interesting take, and not one I'd considered. I guess I don't see Trenchcoat as being a really bad boss? Like, he seems to be all about getting Tachibana what he wants (more powerful), while not really making too many demands on him. Certainly nothing he wouldn't already do, like seal Undead and pummel Blade.

And, those things that Tachibana is forgetting... I guess I read it as him forgetting his weakness, not his circumstances. The thing he seems to grapple with, to my mind, isn't specifically working for a bad guy (something that's even up for debate at this point), it's that he's completely isolated himself in pursuit of strength. If he doesn't keep fighting, he'll have to go back to being a weak coward.

There isn't really a lot before this where we see Tachibana chafe under Trenchcoat's authority. I mean, Trenchcoat doesn't seem to think Tachibana's unhappy or likely to flip on him. He gives him a ton of autonomy to finish the task in his own way. He doesn't really micromanage him. Health benefits are way better than with BOARD. Seems like an okay boss?

I think, more than anything, and I'm only half-joking with this, Tachibana is just a terrible employee. Just awful at working for anyone. He blows up his old job and kidnaps his old boss in the first episode! There's precedent for Tachibana being a catastrophically bad subordinate!

Oh yeah, no, he's a great boss. Especially the part where he pumped Tachibana full of drugs to ensure his loyalty when he inevitably became dependent on them. Real swell guy, that Isaka!

I just don't see Tachibana as being so far gone that he can't see, even if just in brief moments of clarity, how his current power is essentially a total lie, and how working for an Undead is probably not the best way to fight the Undead? He said he forgets everything, so I'm sure his weakness is part of that, but I also guarantee you the dissatisfaction he feels with where he's at in life is part of it too. He definitely doesn't like having to push himself away from Sayoko, no matter how cool he tries to play it off in some of his scenes with her.

But yes, Tachibana is also just kind of a bad employee. You say Isaka seems okay, I say he seems desperate. Murakami would've stopped putting up with Tachibana's s*** ages ago. Way too much maintenance for the amount of work you get back out. Return on investment like that is just bad business no matter how you slice it. :lol

I have worked for people that I wished had only pumped me full of deadly chemicals designed to make me fight until I exploded like a firework. At least Trenchcoat is giving Tachibana the tools to succeed! That is not a given from every boss!

Good points! It would've been nice to have the show make that a little more clear before Tachibana's big turn.

To be fair to you, "clarity" and "Kamen Rider Blade" definitely aren't always things that go together. As the memes have no doubt shown. :p

Tachibana's just reached the point in his job where he's sick of it, and it mainfests in different ways. For Board, he blew it to smithereens, while here he's stealing that Ace card.

But yeah, I don't think there's one single clear reading for Tachibana's motivations here. Between his psychological trauma, downing psychadelic seaweed steroids for the last few episodes, and being Tachibana, it's a tough one to see. Whether or not it's good... eh, that's apparently up to opinions. But what I do know is that Episode 15 has a good meme, so that's fun

Caring for/about Tachibana is like trying to housebreak a dog. It's a lot of work, it's messy, you will spend time regretting that you ever started... but there's always hope that it'll be worthwhile.

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 15

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Hajime comes home! Kotaro freaks out! The new Driver tests go about as well as you'd assume, as long as this isn't your first Kamen Rider series! And Tachibana takes out Trenchcoat Mastermind, so I never had to learn his name!

https://kamenriderdie.com/images/kr/blade/blade15a.png

Outstanding episode! The Tachibana stuff shrugs off the weird motivations (or lack thereof) to tell a straight-forward story of redemption. Hajime gets to come home in a way that honors his journey and allows really great stuff from Kenzaki and Kotaro. Plus, the Garren fights are top-notch, with some huge emotional catharsis and really clever choreography. A+ episode.

We always talk about Tachibana first, it feels like, so let's save him for last this time. I really want to start off with the Hajime story, and what it means for him, Kenzaki, and Kotaro.

(Actually, I want to start by saying that, again, I love how easily Kenzaki defers to others. When it comes to his work as Blade, dude's got zero ego. When he sees Hajime racing by in the beginning, as everyone is looking for Haruka and Amane, Kenzaki looks up at Hirose to make sure he should go after him. She's in charge, and he never forgets it. Later, as he sees Chalice fighting Grasshopper Monster Or Whatever, Chalice orders him to go save the civilians, and Blade hops to it. He's so ready to be told what to do, it's kind-of adorable.)

Hajime has been dying to come home, dying to reunite with Haruka and Amane. But, as much as that would make him happy, he cares more about their safety than his own happiness. Leaving was to protect them. Staying away has been to protect them. He fought off the Grasshopper Monster Or Whatever to protect them, but now he has to leave again.

It's Kenzaki, hero of the show, who tells him that he might be torturing himself for nothing. Yes, the Undead attacks are occurring because of him. Yes, that's why Haruka and Amane are in danger. But, him leaving won't stop the attacks. This episode proved it. If anything, Hajime leaving puts the people he cares about in more danger than if he was around to protect them. If he leaves, he's miserable, Haruka and Amane are miserable, and no one's safe. Maybe him staying is what's actually best for everyone?

It's a sweet solution from a sweet boy. It isn't about Hajime's feelings, or Haruka and Amane's feelings. That's not the way to get Hajime to change his mind. Instead, it takes that stoic sense of duty and says that he can guard his cake and eat it too. (Metaphorically!) It means that Hajime can keep his pride and hide his heart by saying that he's only going back to Haruka and Amane to protect them. It's all the excuse Hajime needs to head back for an endearing homecoming. It's a little sappy, sure, with Hajime getting soaked in some TV Rain, but it's so earned that I'd forgive them buckets more water on that tiny man.

The Hajime homecoming not only works for Hajime and Kenzaki, but it gets a little moment for Kotaro that I loved. Hajime returning home is something Kotaro is not okay with. It's putting tAmane and Haruka in danger! He has to warn them, let them know that Hajime is an Undead! Kenzaki calmly points out that telling them the truth about Hajime would only freak them out, and it's better if Hajime's there if and when the Undead return. They're good points, rational points, and they're delivered with a kind tone.

And Kotaro 100% freaks out. It's a histrionic meltdown. He needs to be cradled by Kenzaki, and looked after by Hirose.

But, man, I thought it was super smart writing. Kotaro is feeling more and more useless as the episodes roll by. He couldn't help Tachibana, and now Dr Ladyfriend is dead. He can't do much for Hirose around the house. And now he can't even keep his family safe, instead needing a monster to save them from monsters.

The reaction is... maybe a bit much, but the emotion is totally honest. It's hard for Kotaro to continually feel like he's incapable of being useful, all while trying to keep a smile on his face. (Like, if you are in a group that includes Tachibana and you think you're the least useful one... that can't feel great!) He wants to be strong enough to help his friends, strong enough to protect his family, strong enough to contribute. It's echoes of Tachibana's story, but with a directness and purposefulness that I enjoyed a lot more.

And, hey, Tachibana! Great episode for that dude.

I mean, that suit! It's nice to see him in a suit that fits so well, you know? He's a slim guy, he needs a slim-cut suit. The black tie pairs well with it, and a nice one-button jacket (I think?) is very trendy, especially considering this is in 2004.

And he wears it to go call out a monster for killing Dr Ladyfriend! There's a kind of forceful competency that Tachibana displays this episode, and I never stopped rooting for him because of it. He walks into Trenchcoat Mastermind's lab, shoots him in the face, and then proceeds to have the second-best fight of his Rider career in a gorgeous cherry blossom grove. It's all Garren offense, as he mercilessly pummels Trenchcoat. There's no hesitation in his moves, no mistakes. It's a fight that makes Garren look like a million bucks.

Then he faces Trenchcoat on the beach, for a Feelings Fight, and it's the best fight of Garren's Rider career. He has an answer for all of Trenchcoat's moves. He gets in close with punches. He takes his opponent's sword. He shoots down projectiles. He hits him with both halves of a Burning Divide. And then, in the baller move to end all baller moves, he doesn't fling a card to seal Trenchcoat. He slowly walks over to his defeated foe, and just drops the card on his chest.

Epic. Epic.

It's a great episode for Tachibana beyond slim suits and boss battles, though. He seems... better now? I kind-of hate that it's even partially down to Dr Ladyfriend getting fridged. I don't think that's why he's better, exactly. I think it's a corner he turned with her help in the previous episode (for reasons!), and now he's paying the price for turning that corner so late. (It's always corners with this guy!) Like, her dying didn't fix him, she helped fix him and then she died. So it's a lot less problematic than it definitely could've been, but not zero percent problematic. There's still some elements of A Woman Died To Tell A Story About A Man's Pain, and... never going to be a great look on a show?

I did end up liking how Tachibana became a mostly-functioning human through this episode, though. It's not just his superhuman effectiveness as a Rider. It's the bravery in destroying his prehistoric drug tub. It's the kindness in matching Hirose's generosity with a compliment. It's the way he carries his guilt without succumbing to it. It's a Tachibana that has lost more than he thought he had, but won't cheapen that loss with selfishness or cowardice.

Great episode, man.

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Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: A new Rider! People exchanging Drivers! A lot was happening very fast and I didn't really follow it!

You're at the point now where most of early Blade's detractors feel like the show starts really picking up speed. Sayoko's death and the defeat of the Peacock Undead are the end of this phase of the show. Tachibana has his shit together and we reached the resolution of the ongoing Isaka and scientists arc. Your mileage will vary on how drawn out you thought that stuff was, but we're moving into newer and more exciting territory now.

At the core of this, at least at first, is that fancy new belt that got previewed here. We're going to see a lot more of that and it may tie into that one recurring character we've been seeing for the last several episodes. The same guy that looks a lot like the heretofore unexplained mystery guy in the fedora from the opening credits. Also, you'll get your answer to whether or not Garren is the weirdest Rider name on the show.

I have tons to say about this episode besides this, but first things first.

Learning Ondul the Easy WEEEEEEI! (#8)

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

Today's lesson is a majorly iconic moment from Blade, and I'd like to think it's not actually because it's funny. Dadi is a wacky guy, and people love to poke fun at him, but I think dramatic scenes like this laid the bedrock for dumb joke memes like Ondul to still be relevant well over a decade down the line. If we didn't all care about Tachibana unironically, it'd be hard to keep up the energy to make jokes at his expense this long.

All that adds up to Tachibana's showdown with the Peacock Undead in episode 15 being one of the series' defining battles, and Tachibana's anguished declaration of Sayoko's name before landing a Burning Divide on Isaka is as memorable as it gets. It's a big enough deal that it gets directly recreated in several different Rider video games, to give you an idea of the impact it left on viewers.

It's not strictly an Ondul thing, is my point. It's far, far bigger than that. However, this also means that it's still huge within Ondul. As per the usual exaggerated, harder sounds associated with the language, it's rendered as zayogo!!! With any number of extra "o"'s on the end, of course. Meanwhile, the finishing move itself has been dubbed Burning Zayogo, which is basically the same as a Burning Divide, except, you know, you have to shout "ZAYOGOOOOOOO!!!" while you're doing it. Does that make it more powerful? Does it throw the opponent off guard? All part of the mystique of one of Blade's best scenes!

DROP
FIRE
GEMINI

BURNING DIVIDE

OMO SAYOKOOOO OMO

I mean, umm, great episode. Yeah, the fridging stuff is not a good look, but I'm glad the end of Tachibana's development to being less of a dumbass was as enoyable to you as it was to me. Plus, Hajime!

Kamen Rider Die has passed the test. Now let us celebrate with an ice cold glass of Schuld Kestner juice. *raises glass*

Leangle. I'm excited to find out how that word relates to spiders and clubs!

Also, I'm not sure I'd lay any of the first-thirds problems at the feet of being drawn out. Most of the problems I had, when I had any problems at all, were more related to structure than pace. There's some difficulty with juggling three largely-independent plots, and I don't know that Kamen Rider Blade found a reliable balance. The more they could loop characters together into plots, the better it got, but there's a few episodes where it was just Okay This Is An Only Chalice Story.

I hope one day I love someone enough to scream out their name while I'm detonating a monster. I mean, I've loved someone enough to flashback on our history while I demolish a monster, sure. But screaming out their name while a monster explodes... that's what's it all about, you know?

Much like Kenny Omega and Kotaro, I will decline the glass of mind-bending chemicals in favor of some cool, refreshing milk. To the next thirty-four episodes!

It doesn’t. Like the other Riders’ names it refers to the suits of the Tarot deck. It means “wand.”

They should have went all the way with the tarot suit association. I want to see Chalice fighting with a literal cup.

It's a little weird to me, how 90% of the iconography of the show is A Deck Of Playing Cards, and then the names are all antecedents of playing cards instead. Like, Chalice is a Heart, but he's named after a Cup.

I'm not mad at it or anything, but I think it's a little strange. But, y'know, the franchise that would eventually give us Cross-Z, right?

So for a little recap
Blade: animal is a beetle, suit is the spades also known as the suit of swords, his bike is the Blue Spader, and his rouser Blayrouser (a sword) and Blade is another term for sword for his name

Garren: animal is a stag beetle, suit is the diamonds also known as the suit of coins, his bike is the Red Rhombus, and his rouser is the Garrenrouser (a gun), and Garren is a corruption of Galleon a type of coin in Harry Potter* the rouser being a gun might be due to guns and cambling for currency being tied together

Chalice: animal is a preying mantis, suit is the hearts also known as the suit of cups, the name of his bike is Shadow Chaser, and his rouser is the Heartrouser (his belt buckle), Chalice is a type of cup and his weapon is the chalice arrow

And for our new rider Leangle his animal motif is a spider and his suit is the club which is also known as the suit of wands and Leangle is a type of club/polearm while his bike is the Green Clover

So one of the thing that can be taken away is that Chalice is constantly subverting a lot of the theming his weapon isn’t his rouser and is named and modeled after the more modern suit instead of the Latin version. His bike doesn’t have his main color or a reference to his suit themeing in it’s name and with his weapon having more to do with a mantis essentially being a pair of mantis scythes fashioned into a bow

* Harty Potter was pretty popular in 2004 and was one of the inspirations for the 2005 sentai series Magiranger

And the suits have changed with the versions the riders get their names from being the Latin versions

we've reached it lads the most memed scene in not just the show but quite possibly the entire franchise(until Ex-Aid came around) sadly this is the last of the Big memes until the finale and much like this one it's almost impossible to talk about without spoiling anything(not saying there aren't anymore memes but if your into them you don't get another BIG ONE like this, Ondul, and Tachibana's horrified reaction until the finale)

Which reminds me...

Okay, so, Blade is one of those shows I watched so early on when I was getting into Kamen Rider that I don't always remember a lot about the actual experience of watching it that clearly. I literally can't even tell you for sure every show I had seen prior, and which ones I had left. It gets blurry that way. But I do very vividly remember the exact moment I really fell in love with it.

Tachibana's been taking baths in a big tub green seaweed water for a good chunk of episodes. It's a weird, kind of goofy, and extremely memorable visual burned in my mind to the point that to this day, it's one of the first things I picture when I think of Blade. Garren is completely off the rails, and his own weakness, his real weakness, has cost him just about everything he cares about except his fake solution. His dark pact with Isaka for more power is all that's left to him. And then Tachibana does this, and in an instant, goes from being an amusingly crazy madman to being the coolest character on the show in my eyes.

https://i.imgur.com/QtQyiZKm.png
https://i.imgur.com/FFE4SJ2m.png
https://i.imgur.com/pHR91MQm.png

It's only about six minutes in, and it's not the climax of episode, but it's most certainly the climax of Tachibana's initial arc. Defeating Isaka isn't the resolution for Tachibana. It's defeating himself. And the show chose such a perfectly visceral, physical way to show him conquering his addiction and starting to overcome his flaws. It's exactly the sort of heightened drama you want out of a Rider show. The sheer sense of catharsis in this scene has stuck with me ever since I first saw it.

For probably the first time, I was more than only passively invested in Blade's story. There's an endearing emotional vulnerability to Tachibana's romance with Sayoko, but on the whole, it's admittedly on the threshold of being painfully generic. It's far from the best realized plot thread in the world, and yet, when it comes to this point, I feel like I'm right there with Tachibana. And it's not really because I want to see him get revenge, even. Isaka was a really fun starter villain between his laid-back master planner personality and fashion sense that just screams "I liked The Matrix way too much." I'm not rooting for him being taken down anywhere near as much as I'm rooting for Tachibana finally picking himself up. That's what makes the fight scenes here so engaging, and when Isaka is eventually defeated at the end, it comes with this great sense of relief.

What really cemented this episode as a masterpiece to me is that there's no cliffhanger whatsoever, which is rarely Blade's style. There's not a new bad guy watching from the wings, or some shocking event right at the end to get you tuning back in next week. It's confident enough to end just on that note of Garren sealing the monster and watching the waves. It's a clean break as both Tachibana, and the show itself, put recent events behind to move into a new chapter, and just like Tachibana, it was clear the show was getting its act together. And what's really crazy is that all of this would only end up being one of my favorite episodes by the end.

I just wrote a bunch about Episode 16, and I didn't know if I'd have a lot to say in response to this post. (I got the notification while I was watching Episode 16.)

I don't think I need to? I mean, other than Yes Absolutely?

Tachibana's arc is so all over the place in the first-third that I'd be thrilled as often as I'd be frustrated, but I got next to no complaints about how it resolves. It's an ending that looks at all of his selfish mistakes and unforced errors and asks him to balance the scales. It allows him to find the inner strength that he needs to be the man Dr Ladyfriend knew he could be. A competent, capable hero that I'd've laughed at you for describing ten episodes earlier.

It's a great resolution. I can see why it won you over!

KAMEN RIDER BLADE EPISODE 16

This time on Kamen Rider Blade: Karasuma gives some backstory and then splits, again! Tachibana quits, again! Hajime fights in a way that worries Kenzaki, again! A new Rider debuts, again! And Honey Butter Fried Chicken is open for carryout, again! That last one isn't a Kamen Rider thing but I had it for dinner and it was delicious!

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When there was only one pair of footprints in the sand, that was Tachibana quitting again.

The "again” thing, me using it a bunch already, it's almost entirely a joke. I don't think this episode was especially repetitious or anything. I mean, the Karasuma thing, maybe. I love that that dude hung around for twelve minutes of an episode before he had to leave the country. Hilarious. I really hope we find out that he's ducking loan sharks or something. He gets suspiciously antsy whenever he has to hang around Team Blade for more than a minute.

There's plenty new in this episode, and it's pretty much all Leangle related, so let's talk about Mutsuki.

He's an interesting kid so far. I think he's fun, in a Normal Boring Teenager way. He's unlucky in love, prone to some terrifyingly bad luck in general, and sort-of hapless in an inoffensive way. He's, like, a blob of a character. Or, like clay, ready to be sculpted. He doesn't bother me, which is the least of what I want before he becomes a Rider.

(Also, I think he lives in Yuuji's house from the first episode of Faiz? That curved window in front of the house looked super familiar. Also also, him being curt with his mom, immediately running up to his room, locking the doors, closing the blinds, all so he could Blay His Buckle... show, you are killing me.)

Most of his story so far is wrapped up in the Leangle Driver, and... I really like what the show's doing with it? I like that it has a will and a presence, like the One Ring or something. It wants to be worn, wants to be used, needs to perpetuate its designs. That's a different kind of threat than I've seen a Rider show go with, and I'm into it being explored.

Tachibana's story... I joke about him quitting again, but I liked what resulted.

(It is sincerely funny that, at his most competent, he takes a sabbatical. That is 1000% Tachibana, to take a step back when things are still dangerous and he's actually capable of helping. He's still very bad at putting the needs of others ahead of his own! Kotaro needs to give him another pep talk!)

He's a guy that has made terrible, terrible decisions while being Garren. The worst of those decisions may've resulted in Dr Ladyfriend's death. I think it's reasonable and responsible for Tachibana to take a step back from superhuman destructive power until he's able to approach it without grief and guilt. Dude had a rough couple weeks, it's best if he went for a coffee or something.

Hajime's got a cute scene with Amane, and it's one I could've watched for an entire episode. They've got such a sweet bond, those two actors. Amane really lights up when Hajime's around, and Hajime is nearly in tears when she says that the only important thing is that they're friends. It's adorable, and the purest moment in this episode.

It's so pure that it kind-of makes Chalice more ruthless than ever? When Dragonfly Monster continues to taunt him into a fight by threatening Haruka and Amane, Chalice is off to end it. Kenzaki thinks that they can team up to take down Dragonfly Monster together, leading to a fun Blade and Chalice team-up fight scene. It's incredibly brief, though, since Chalice is so enraged at Dragonfly Monster's threat that he's putting tons of civilians in danger through his reckless combat. Blade's aghast, because the point of stopping the Undead is to save innocents, and Chalice is oblivious to the destruction he's causing. (Is the restaurant he's tearing up the one Asakura held hostages in from Ryuki?) Blade wants to save lives, but Chalice wants to protect Amane and Haruka first, seal Undead second, basically nothing third. They can't even work together effectively to do either of the first two, since Chalice can't figure out how to work with others.

...Which they're going to have to do in a hurry, since Leangle arrives under cover of immediate goddamn darkness to kick the crap out of Blade and Chalice. Should be fun to see how this group of super-powered sweet boys, grumps, and mind-controlled spider avatars are going to get along! I assume not great!

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Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Mutsuki goes full Teen Wolf on the basketball court! A guy that I randomly got a trading card of chokes someone else! And Leangle fights some more!

This fight is probably my single favorite fight in the entirely of the show. I loved it for all the reasons you mentioned, especially the ending where he just drops the card on Isaka. Tachibana went through such a wild arc leading up to this point, and while it had its ups and downs, the payoff of this fight made it all so worth it. One of the most satisfying climaxes to an arc across any Kamen Rider season I've seen.

I also agree strongly with all this, the scene of Tachibana destroying the tank is a great moment and such a strong declaration from him as a character that he's finally, truly overcome his fears. Fantastic stuff. This episode overall is definitely one of my favorites in the show as well, and it was at this point that I was totally sold on Blade. I liked it from the start, but this episode was the one that fully solidified it for me and that I can still remember vividly even years after first watching it.

Episode 15 just has a great Finale feel to it, where everything we've gone through with Tachibana gets addressed and processed. If Tachibana hadn't shown up in Episode 16, if Kenzaki was like He Decided To Become A High School Principal and we never saw him again on Blade, I'd feel like the show told his story well. It wouldn't feel to me like there was a ton left on the table. That said, it's interesting to see, in just one episode, how the show is finding some new Post-Rampant-Insanity stories to tell with Tachibana. He's basically a giant dork? Like, even in his flashbacks he's awkward and uncharismatic?

It reminds me a bit of Gentoku's story as Rogue in Build, where the show spent forever with him as varying levels of bonkers, and then when that part of the story was over and he was still around, they just wrote him as a complete weirdo.