[Fish Sandwich]

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Originally Posted by LeviathanBlossom

Blade, hilariously, is also where my Japanese listening comprehension actively and drastically improved, because I would literally record the episodes on a VHS tape (hiiiii, 2004) and then listen to lines over and over again trying to pick out the twelve words I knew and discover new ones.

Oh man, you used Blade to study listening comprehension? ｿﾘｬﾅｲﾚｼｮ!?

That really is hilarious. That whole anecdote made me so happy to hear. That's such a cool extra personal connection to have to this series. It also feels like it reinforces what I said about Blade being a party everyone is invited to? Like, f*** it, everything is nuts, nobody knows what's happening, apparently it's also educational? Total madhouse up in here. I love it!

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Originally Posted by Kamen Rider Die

Wow! Good episode, man!

I'm glad the show started clicking with you so quickly, Die. You're already starting to see why I think the choices the premiere made were so worth it. Blade essentially starts with the rug already pulled out from under all the characters. They're immediately put in a way more emotionally intense situation than usual for the start of a story, and that means development starts happening fast.

You're also seeing one of my favorite things about our lead character already:

Kenzaki kinda sucks.

As a person, he's lacking in strong motivation, not great at processing his own emotions, and not very smart to top it all off. As a Rider, he flails around a lot and constantly gets knocked around, all while other Riders put his fighting skills to shame. He's got basically nothing going for him, except one thing: this is his job, and he takes that much to heart. His big, easily manipulated heart.

The position Kenzaki is in, especially when it comes to these early episodes, is something I've always loved. He's basically the opposite of special in nearly every way, and, as plenty of people have already pointed out, comes off a lot more down to earth and approachable than other Rider protagonists. Easy as it to make fun of, I think Takayuki Tsubaki's performance aids in that a lot, bringing a real palpable sense of earnestness to the role at all times, which I'd argue is the oft-unspoken good thing about the line delivery. Not being able to say everything 100% clearly is a very real trait! It just makes him that much more relatable than characters who can beautifully deliver a monologue at the drop of a hat. It all makes you root for Kenzaki, you know? You just wanna see what kinda potential is maybe hiding under the surface.

The second and third episodes in particular are ones that always immediately spring to mind when I think of Blade for some reason. I don't if I've actually gone back to them more or something. I think it might just be the snowy fight scenes that make them stick out in my memory? I don't think that happens in Rider that often. The second episode in particular also has one of my favorite lines in the show in Chalice's "Everything is my enemy. And that includes you!" It's such a great, generic rival thing to say, but maybe it's also more than that? Who knows? Either way, the character made a pretty immediate and strong impression on me.

Plus, and you're never going to mention this, so I will, it's where the show first uses its initial insert theme, Kakusei (which translates to "Awakening"), and that's one of my favorite Rider songs ever. I'd honestly put it right up there with good ol' BELIEVE YOURSELF. It's so hard not to get pumped listening to it, and the lyrics are astonishingly fine-tuned to the themes of this stretch of the show, being all about pushing past doubts and confusion to realize your greater potential. Heck, just think about what Kenzaki's arc in this episode was, and then think about how the first two lines of the second verse are something like "If you believe betrayal is waiting around every corner, you'll never be able to move forward". It's great stuff.

Of course, before I knew a lick of Japanese, I mostly just liked it for how it goes "You Keep It Real~" at the end of so many awesome fight scenes. It's like... punctuation, or something? I guess there's no deep reason behind that. It's just cool, okay?!

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Next time on Kamen Rider Blade: Therapy! Reindeer monsters! Gritted teeth! And Garren versus Blade for probably the last time ever!

Also, are you watching the previews now? Is this another character arc I have to keep track of?