[Fish Sandwich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

Blade is a different case. It's not a slump, it's just that the first arc of the series is about Tachibana/Garren, rather than the titular Blade or the popular Chalice. So it feels like Blade is more of a set piece to Garren's story while sewing the seeds to Chalice's story at the start, which is why it feels slower or less interesting.

I like Blade's early episodes too, but I think they have problems beyond not being "about" Kenzaki. The way I'd put it is he's the audience surrogate, trying to piece the mystery of Board's downfall together, and there is plenty of character building with him early on, so he's not the issue. I haven't seen the show in long enough that it's hard to put my finger on, but the execution of that first arc just felt generally rough in a way the rest of the show wasn't. It's maybe not as drastic as it's sometimes made out to be, though. Just sort of like the show was struggling a bit to find its "voice".