[Locke]

Blade 08.

So Kenzaki uses his first combo and it's...pretty underwhelming. There is nothing wrong with Lightning Blast itself, but I don't like how when he connects the enemy just stands there, before falling backwards and dying. It lacks impact, when he hits with Lightning Blast I expect a shockwave, or for the enemy to fly back, or something to actually suggest the attack even connected. That awkward pause has left me wondering if my computer has frozen.

Ironically, I much prefer the actual non special move fighting. I think the show does a much better job than Gaim of capturing a fight as a mad scramble, and I love the sense of impact from the huge explosion of sparks with every connecting hit.

And while we're at it, stop cockblocking! Tachibana is a pussy, we get it, now let him fight. You didn't let us get to know Tachibana before he started crying on the floor, so I just find it annoying, it isn't having any kind of emotional resonance inside of me.

Poor pacing impacts the whole Chalice and Blade rivalry as well. Not only is it really frustrating that they never get to finish their fight, but why do they hate one another that much? I can get mild dislike maybe, but you would assume Chalice shat on Kenzaki's birthday cake for the way he acts.

This episode gave a different backstory to the other one, so it wasn't a Human Undead, it was Humanity VERSUS the Undead, fifty three of them. Either way, I'm pretty sure they didn't have playing cards 10, 000 years ago, and I'm 100% sure humans were too primitive to seal monsters in playing cards from the future. I know it's just tokusatsu, but it takes its backstory so seriously and it holds it up as something of importance only for it to be SO stupid.

It doesn't even really work in a face value kinda way either, as this show has so little fighting or when a crucial fight does happen, the show REFUSES to stay focused on it or finds a way to end it as quickly as possible.

Okay so the top Undead are Ace's - they can be turned into Rider systems. Then you have a Trump (it's so hard to take that seriously) above them, who are able to mimic humans? A trump isn't even a type of card. Unless they mean 'trump card' but then they may as well have Category Race like the Race Card.