[DreadBringer]

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Also, he's just super into Money and Status... which ends up being part of this story's take on Blade, so I'll allow it.
This thing was totally Blade for me, as far as hitting the big themes of Accepting Failure and Helping Others Accept Failure.
First thing in the episode with Tsukasa is that his camera breaks! FAILURE! IMMEDIATELY!
Shit's gonna break, and you need to figure out what to do about it.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

AKIBASILVER: Yeah, this is where I think the Tendou comparisons come from

KAMEN RIDER DIE: He doesn't even like BOARD, but he's going to fix it if it's the eighth-or-ninth thing he does!

Tsukasa is frequently lumped with Tendou (though yeah I'd say not 100% similar like what I said at the beginning where Tsukasa seems to be more emotional and cracks under pressure more) so of course him having cooking ability would be inherent (though the most resembling one to me is what both did to the law to save the day). I'd think yes like Blade's theme people have to learn about coping with failure and rise, or deal with suffering, but what Tsukasa does throughout the episode is what I fear can be justified for developing through misery or such, by deliberately making other's live harder, and excusing (either themselves or others who watched this) those as only them trying to make others around them better. While it is true that people have become stronger in the face of adversity, this does not mean adversity always makes someone stronger. Tsukasa's money and status part, it seems that he also veers into power abuse as he insists any of his commands to be obeyed without question as it's absolute coming from him, which is the character of abusive bad boss.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Yeah, this story ends up building in things that I don't think of as integral to Blade's themes (a lot of stuff about status and ranks that existed for about 10 minutes in the first episode and that was it), but it goes all in on Kenzaki losing everything that's important to him, fully, and then figuring out how to move forward.
That's pretty much the main theme I think about when it comes to Blade, and I was thrilled to see someone call it out in a tribute story.

AKIBASILVER: Yeah, I was going to bring that up - Blade works for me because of the quarter of dysfunctional Riders who, by the end, are each trying to drag each other up
I know it's partly because we're compressing a whole series into 2 episodes, but Garren and Leangle are here to be jerks and then die, and Chalice is basically here as a suit

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

AKIBASILVER: I am very annoyed the Joker was downgraded from the ultimate symbolism of an unstoppable apocalypse, and a sign of Hajime's disconnect from the humanity he desperately craves, to a CEO
Well annoyed might be strong - disappointed, I guess?
Especially when they made a whole new Rider for Ryuki, designed by the original person

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I don't know, now that you put it that way? I feel like the Joker suit as an expression of apocalyptic disconnection from humanity maybe makes it the perfect form for a CEO.
Feature, not a bug!

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Not really? ZECT exists as the more franchise-standard Large Organizations Make Bad Decisions storytelling device. Kabuto The Series... it's not really (to my memory) something that spent a ton of energy on ZECT as anything nearly so regimented or interesting. If anything, ZECT was less functional and believable than this comedic version of BOARD. I mean, BOARD has rooms of furniture! And turned-on lights!

AKIBASILVER: It's a very grounded motivation you could imagine being from Amazons or something, and instead it's in the comedy company episode
"Union contract specifies one milk box per day to be provided"

It's even more overt for Kazuma (well sorry ) for the failures as he's outright resembling Ryotaro here for being treated like the pariah of people around him, especially Tsukasa, getting numerous physical and verbal abuse. I don't know if Garren and Leangle here are deliberately made to be unlikeable, of different alignment compared to their original versions in Blade, if you're talking about them being narratively thin (not that they're handled well here, just probably the way to improve also can involve not giving flashes of sympathy or such). For Chalice here, his role is just totally different from the original series one (focusing on Joker part instead of Chalice part as a role), but I'd think it has more interesting things going where the reality of heroism can be something that merely furthers the villains' goals where it seems to make sense here, the BOARD using monster fighting as something to fund them and they'd deliberately cause more monster fights to fund them more (though you claim it's misplaced as it's grounded motivation in comedy company episode, I find Ryuki 2-parter's Rider War before as something significantly more parodic), even then I'd find his Joker part to be underutilized if he's actually evil, just as the final boss fight without the threatening nature of Joker in original series. But Abyss/Paradoxa Undead wasn't even given more to do after extending his appearence.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER DIE: You mentioned that Chalice is just a suit in this one, but let me say something potentially controversial: Tsukasa is Chalice in this story.

AKIBASILVER: Now that's a spicy take, but I get where you're coming from - he's someone stronger than Kazuma, someone who refuses to emotionally engage with him, someone who puts him down

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

AKIBASILVER: I've just realised something
They don't ever bring up Hajime's interest in photography

KAMEN RIDER DIE: Well, if Tsukasa is the Hajime of this story, they sort of did?

Well true, Tsukasa has morality more resembling secondary Riders or often tertiary Riders for a main Rider, which'd make it suitable if you'd claim Tsukasa's the actual Chalice here, though of course for more reasons like not emotionally engage with him. I'd think that as Kenzaki was defined by failure, he wasn't usually on the losing ground against Hajime, where Kazuma here is quite Tsukasa's punching bag/lapdog. Kenzaki also was the one who influences Hajime to be a better person, while obviously for here, Kazuma cannot make any lasting impacts to Tsukasa. I'd think though Hajime has alien aspects, Tsukasa has some of that aspect too, as like Sh Ranger said. Tsukasa feels so ostracized and rejected by the world, due to excelling at everything the World Of [insert Rider] needs him to do, but sucks at the thing he actually enjoys as a hobby, photography. He can't have a dream for the future cause he doesn't even have a present or a past he can cling to. He's a passing through Kamen Rider, like a ghost who passes through his own life, without understanding his place or what he's supposed to do. As said there of course Tsukasa would be a help despite that he doesn't intend to help; he inadvertently helps not by moral but by hypercompetency.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

KAMEN RIDER DIE: But Onodera and Natsumi contribute basically nothing to the plot here. Onodera sort of does his one thing as the Tsukasa Translator, spinning Tsukasa's hectoring bullshit into strands of affirmations and assistance. Natsumi does nothing! Gets some lines, but that's it!

AKIBASILVER: Yeah, it's disappointing
They get one scene, and it's a very good scene, but then it's back to the background for them

KAMEN RIDER DIE: I really like the supporting cast, and god knows Decade Solo would work out about as well as it did for the Doctor in "Midnight", but there are times where I wonder if this show wouldn't work better if Tsukasa was the only recurring cast member.

Onodera's complaint is already infamous for Decade fanbase, earning him the nickname "Yuuseless", for Natsumi I guess her taking the maid job at BOARD should let her inflitrate more of it I guess right? The old man's name is Eijiro Hikari and he's Natsumi's grandfather. Decade tends to have praise for Tsukasa but criticism for most others relating to it.

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

AKIBASILVER: I'd agree - it would both make him more of an isolated wanderer, and give the secondary casts of the individual AR worlds, who by their nature have to be different every week, more room to show off
Speaking of people who get one scene, was that Zanki or Todoroki at the midway cliffhanger?

KAMEN RIDER DIE: It was Todoroki!

AKIBASILVER: Thank you Todoroki, very cool
Having one protagonist be the only constant throughout the series though, you can guess why they didn't do it
Maybe the solution was picking up a new straggler from every world - we got Kuuga, Kivala, we need someone from Ryuki
"The gang adopt a Mirror Monster"!

This is something similar to Punch/KickHopper's appearence at Kuuga's arc.. wondering what's the relation for him to appear here.... Todoroki's someone who is highly emotional and eager to become better disciple under Zanki's guidance (and in some parts are really flanderized to become out-of-reality-touch idiot), where what he did here was beating everyone in a battle against Chalice and Paradoxa Undead. I guess I've said that they didn't use Punch/KickHopper's feud against Tendou in their Decade appearence before, but probably Mutsuki, as derailed as he's in this story, was the one probably having the trait Todoroki have the most, being the 'disciple' of someone who is eager to meet their expectations (to Tachibana).