[Locke]

I decided I couldn't wait and picked up TVNs encodes of Blade. Honestly the quality isn't that bad really, it's just a shame that all the aspect ratios are fucked up for some reason. You can override it easily, but it seems pretty shitty to release a load of episodes wrong and have seemingly just left it like that for years.

Weirder still though is how bad a lot of the translation is. Considering the amount of effort TVN puts in making flashy fonts, I can't believe they didn't at least proofread this. Most of the time the bad grammar is easily comprehended but there are times where they are just using the words entirely and it makes no sense.



So anyway, Blade Seven.

This episode is really weird, and almost - I assume - completely unintentionally. The Undead looks exactly like Kamen Rider Sting, right down to his weapons. And there is one shot of this guy placing a bomb, who looks exactly like Maki from OOO only younger.

This episode took a while to get going, Tachibana's scuffle with Japanese Wesker is over as soon as it begins and despite the dramatic end to the last episode not a whole lot really happens to Kenzaki until he has to face the Kamen Rider Sting Undead.

And even when the Battle Fight (whatever that is) begins, it still doesn't really click. The actual action is fine, seeing our three Rider's and our Undead who looks like a Rider all battling at the same time is great but the episode refused to stay focused on it. I understand that other important things were going on, but the Battle Fight was the key ingredient of the episode and yet it was never allowed to play out as it had constant cutaways to that novelist being annoying or Amane giving out tea. Just let me watch the bastard Battle Fight!

I did love the focus this episode puts on the actual Drivers, though. Japanese Wesker's plan to make the ultimate Rider System is a great way of making the goofy costumes seem really special, a lot more than most tokusatsu.