[DecadeW Climax]

I want to get into the rambling fun Let's talk Blade. (P.S. If you haven't watched Blade or plan on watching it, don't read this, spoilers will definitely ruin some of the experience and there's gonna be spoilers )

I'm not going to talk about the first 22 episodes since those SUCKED. Boring, slow, uninteresting characters don't make for a good show that's meant to be a flashy, in-your-face kids' show (don't kill me for saying that )

After those episodes however, there was a writer change and the show changed DRASTICALLY. I think I'm in the minority that thinks Round Zero~Blade Brave fits the show more than Elements, but other than that the show became one of my favorites after the change. Kenzaki became the prime example of how I want a main Rider IF they go the "I fight solely for other people" and super optimistic approach. His back story isn't the greatest... but his decisions felt like they had real weight to them and it was shown multiple times that Kenzaki meant it when he wanted to save people and there were consequences to prove it (the most drastic one I will explain later). Next is Tachibana. He's torn between Kenzaki and Hajime personality-wise. He wants to help people and really cares about Kenzaki and Mutsuki, but he wants power and he's easily the least powerful out of all the Riders. He allies himself with all the wrong people, which is why a lot of people dislike him, but I was okay with it. At the end of the show and in Missing Ace, it's shown that Tachibana learned from his mistakes and became a stronger person. Despite having his alliances in the wrong place for most of the show, him helping Mutsuki and creating new Riders show that all he wanted was the strength to help others. Now for Hajime, he's easily the fan-favorite Blade Rider. His mysterious backstory keeps you guessing and his alliances are never set until the end. Some might even say he's the main Rider as he gets a lot of screen time and is the most developed and interesting character in the whole show. When the Joker Undead part of him starts to take over, the conflict between all the other Riders grows as they have to decide how to deal with him. Hajime's relationship with Amane and her mother is also very strong, even if Amane herself is kind of annoying (even in Missing Ace when she grows up). Last is Mutsuki. He's probably the most hated Blade Rider as he's annoying when taken over by the Spider Undead, which is the whole middle part of the season. I actually didn't mind Mutsuki. He got his fair share of development with the Shima and the Tiger Undead to show how powerful the Spider Undead's control was (and to make it more satisfying when he FINALLY broke free) and his girlfriend was actually a good female side character that shows Mutsuki's dedication to his comrades. The side characters weren't annoying in this show like a certain show (you're expecting me to say Ghost right? I'm gonna say Den-O. Angry? Stop falling asleep and read my ramblings gosh darn it ). Hirose was pretty helpful, but not intrusive to the story and her arc about her and her father was pretty good and her Trial father dying was a sad scene, especially for what some could say was a villain. Kotaro was pretty forgettable though and was supposed to probably be like Keitaro, but in Faiz, Takumei was pessimistic and moped around a lot so Keitaro needed to be stupidly optimistic to balance that out, but Kenzaki is pretty happy-go-lucky so Kotaro isn't needed and just kind of blends in.

That may be a lot of text, but I haven't gone much in depth with the Riders since even Hajime isn't good on his own. All the characters compliment each other very well and make the show even better. First, the visual subtleties really surprised me when I first thought about it. At first, Tachibana was like a sempai to Kenzaki. It shows when they fought together in earlier episodes, Garren would be in front of Blade, his bright red stood out more than Blade's more quiet blue and the red have off a feeling of power and leadership. Then, Chalice appeared. Blade and Warren's designs are similar but Chalice's is very different, and it matches his personality. He's an untamed wild animal, like how he has two horns sticking out of his helmet and the more angry looking compound heart compared to the flat helmets of Blade and Garren and the more subdued round, green compound eyes. Then Leangle comes in, and in his first appearance he's the strongest Rider, even beating Chalice to start. His suit looks very regal with the gold, more armor and long staff. Then, later in the season when Blade gets stronger with his Jack form, the gold on him stands out more than Garren's Jack form, where the gold just blends in with his red suit and he has less gold and smaller wings. The gold also helps him look more equal to Chalice and Leangle, who are very strong and have gold on them. Then King form comes in and draws some inspiration from Leangle's design to cement him as a king and the strongest Rider. His chest plate is smooth with his symbol in the middle, like Leangle, he has shoulder pad that are big and have points at the end, like Leangle, and his helmet is has gold on the inside and two things on the other side sandwiching the gold with compound eyes holding them together, like Leangle. He even has a huge sword to compete with Leangle's long staff. Lastly, Wild Chalice takes on a red color scheme and the heart on his helmet is now green. This may seem like an odd departure from his original design but there is a reason. At the time, Tachibana wasn't helping Kenzaki and was sticking to Hirose's father Trial and Hajime was starting to become Kenzaki's comrade. Wild Chalice's design reflects this by mirroring Garren's familiar color scheme that one would associate with a comrade of Blade. This ironically makes Wild Chalice look less wild and look more like one of Blade's allies.

The ending is probably what most people remember about Blade and everyone agrees it's probably one of the best endings in all of Kamen Rider, especially compared to its predecessor, Faiz. It brings an end to all the characters' stories perfectly and really cements all of their personalities. It's a real tearjerker when Kenzaki makes the ultimate sacrifice and I think the scene when his first drop of Undead blood was REALLY well handled. A perfect end to a great season. I'd also like to mention the novel, where Kenzaki as the Navy Joker starts becoming suicidal. I would like a chance to read it as it sounds interesting, but quite sad. Also the Drama CD that was released for Blade's 10th anniversary, it's a nice epilogue to Blade. I guess I should also state my thoughts on Blade's alternate ending movie, Missing Ace, it was okay at best.

TL;DR I like Blade quite a bit