[ShyGuy]

Blade is finished. I had high expectations going into this one based on a lot of stuff I’ve heard about it, and it absolutely lived up to it. I liked basically everything about it. The narrative, the characters, the suits designs, all of it. I have almost nothing but positive things to say about Blade, it’s easily among the best KR seasons I’ve seen so far.

My single favorite thing about Blade is how likable the cast is, and how they’re all fundamentally good people who just want to help each other. Kenzaki of course embodies this the most, his entire worldview is defined by his desire to help others, and this is shown time and again throughout the series as he repeatedly puts himself in harm’s way to ensure the safety of his friends. Naturally there’s some element of this for every Kamen Rider just due to the nature of being heroes, but I felt like it was really heavily emphasized in Blade. Of course this is most apparent in the ending, when he willingly sacrifices his own humanity and happy life to allow Hajime to continue living as a human. That was such an excellent character moment, there had been several instances throughout the show of Kenzaki’s willingness to sacrifice his own self for others, and it was all a build up to this crucial scene. Kenzaki was a great main Rider who I think really embodies the kind of heroic spirit I feel like Kamen Rider is capable of at its best.

As much as I liked Kenzaki, Hajime was my favorite character. He’s immediately intriguing due to the mystery surround his identity, and as more of that is slowly revealed, alongside his motivations and general character, he probably gets the most overall development in the show. It’s interesting because even though he isn’t the main Rider, he’s pretty much the central figure the story ultimately revolves around. The contrast between his violent, destructive nature as Joker and his desire to change that nature so he can live peacefully among the humans makes for a lot of good characterization, and is handled excellently. One of my favorite things about him isn’t actually anything he does himself, but the way everyone else acts towards him. Despite starting out very suspicious of him, and understandably so, they start to increasingly trust him and befriend him, especially thanks to seeing how genuine his care for Amane and Haruka is. Kenzaki in particular vouches for him repeatedly, and their friendship is one of my favorite parts of the show. Even after discovering Hajime’s true identity and role in the Battle Fight, Kenzaki wants to help him fight against his own nature, and you can see the strength Hajime gains from this, and how much more effectively he can fight it when he has people trying to help him. His relationship with Tachibana is more strained, especially after Tachibana learns what he is. Despite that, Tachibana does end up giving him a chance, and even though he repeatedly states he believes Joker needs to be sealed, he can’t bring himself to do it when he finally has the chance at the end. I really liked this moment because despite their somewhat antagonistic relationship, in the end, Tachibana considers Hajime a friend as well. All of that is what I like most about Hajime, how his storyline and connections to the other characters is such a strong vehicle for the show’s primary themes.

I liked Tachibana a lot as well, especially throughout the middle and end. He starts off in a pretty similar role to a lot of secondary Riders, being antagonistic and kind of misguided or struggling with internal issues. It’s a common trope for secondary Riders, but whereas for most secondary Riders this takes place over the course of the whole series, for Tachibana it’s all over and done with very early on. I thought this was a really interesting and welcome development, as it gave him a lot more depth later on since we have already seen him go through all of that and it plays such an important role in his relationship with Mutsuki. I liked their dynamic, with Tachibana being the one trying hardest to help Mutsuki overcome the Spider Undead and essentially acting as a mentor to him. It’s clear that he saw himself in Mutsuki and wanted to help him the way he himself had received help with his own struggles earlier on. He does end up in an almost vaguely antagonistic role later on because of his association with Hirose and Tennouji, but he has good intentions and doesn’t fully understand who he’s actually working with and what their real goal is. He just wanted to help Kenzaki and save people from the Undead, and I liked how the two of them discuss this and compare and contrast their ideals and beliefs in several tense conversations. I couldn’t help but notice what a huge difference this was from Faiz, where these conflicts happened either for no reason at all or because everyone was a non-communicative idiot. In this case, the first thing they try to do is communicate and talk about it, and the conflict feels like it arises naturally from their intrinsic character and personalities.

Then we get to Mutsuki, and this is where unfortunately I have to end my streak of praise. I thought Mutsuki was by far the weakest part of the show, and the whole Spider Undead possession storyline lasted far longer than necessary. It worked well at first as it showed his struggles to fight back and Tachibana’s desire to help, but then it just keeps going beyond what should have been its natural endpoint. All of the build up to Shima’s sacrifice and seemingly final showdown with the Spider Undead is all pointless because it accomplishes nothing. Mutsuki ends up apparently corrupted even worse than before and ends up like some kind of weird gang boss and even has what seem to be hired thugs who hang around him for a bit before they just stop appearing. It’s very strange. I did like him when all of this finally ended and he got a very brief arc trying to redeem himself for his actions and become a true Kamen Rider, but it came far too late. That should have started way earlier than it did, right after the moment I mentioned before that was the real thematic endpoint to all of that. Unfortunately though we got a character storyline that became stale and repetitive very quickly, and is the one major misstep I think the show made.

Back to good things though, I have to say it was very nice to finally get a season with an ending that isn’t either a rushed mess or straight up garbage, the first good ending since Kuuga. Agito, Ryuki, and Faiz all had what felt like rushed and generally weak endings (Or in Faiz’s case no real ending at all, just a sudden stopping point), and Blade couldn’t be farther from that. The ending was the ultimate culmination of the show’s general themes and character relationships, and it’s one of the best Kamen Rider endings I’ve seen. I was very glad to see that bad ending streak finally ended.

Overall I loved basically everything about Blade. It was especially pleasant to watch right after Faiz, because it was the polar opposite in all of the best ways. A well-constructed and cohesive narrative, well-written and likable characters with a lot of depth, and clear and meaningful themes. Blade is easily among my favorite Rider seasons, in my top three for sure, alongside Gaim and Ex-Aid. I’m excited to check out Hibiki now, but will really miss Blade.